Here at Revolver, we're always on the hunt for new songs to bang our heads to — indeed, it's a big part of our jobs. With that in mind, here are the tracks released this week in thrash, metalcore, industrial and more that have been on heavy rotation at Revolver HQ. For your listening pleasure, we've also compiled the songs in an ever-evolving Spotify playlist.
Fugitive - "Hell's Half Acre"
Fugitive is a new Texas-based thrash outfit featuring Power Trip guitarist Blake Ibanez, as well as members of Creeping Death and Skourge. While this new project carries a little bit of Power Trip's relentless drive, there's a bit more dirt and death-metal malevolence in the mix on tracks like "Hell's Half Acre," a raw and nasty thrash cut caked in crusty guitar tones and splattered with monstrous vocals that recall Obituary's John Tardy. It's time to clear some extra space on your battle vest.
Gates of Hell - "Fortress of Torture"
Gates to Hell's 2021 EP, Dismembered and Reconstructed, offered a crash course in how to craft an efficient and economical set of metalcore, dripping in venom and always on the verge of spiraling into chaos. At just under 90 seconds, the Louisville, Kentucky group's new single "Fortress of Torture" leaves its mark without letting a moment go to waste, from its blistering blitzkrieg of an intro and raucous riffs galore, to its growling, mosh-pit crawl. No-frills, no-nonsense metalcore that cuts through the bullshit and gets straight to the wrecking.
SpiritWorld - "Moonlit Torture"
Las Vegas' SpiritWorld describe their sound as "death western," but the first new song they've released since 2020's Pagan Rhythms is a riff-driven, full-frontal assault that leaves the cowboy hat on the bedside table. Featuring a cameo from Integrity vocalist Dwid Hellion, "Moonlit Torture" is a menacing sprint designed for stirring up some circle-pit mayhem. It's stacked with power-chord crunch, melodic leads, start-stop dynamics and a sample of a preacher's incantations, dialing up the blasphemy and blanketing this ripper in a coat of evil.
GEL - "Guided Meditation"
Right now is a great time to be a hardcore fan, as there seem to be another batch of bruisers coming out of the woodwork seemingly every week with a set of pit-worthy pummelers. New Jersey's GEL is one such troupe, and their new split with the garagey Cold Brats is rife with brawlers and bangers. "Guided Meditation" is among the best of the bunch, an old-school punk rock powerhouse that follows a familiar formula — dirty-as-hell bass intro, followed by total chaos and a half-tempo mean-as-hell ride out — but when it whips this much ass, why mess with it?
Slaughter to Prevail - "1984"
The first new single from Russian deathcore outfit Slaughter to Prevail since 2021's Kostolom, "1984" nods to George Orwell's dystopian novel while drawing attention to atrocities happening in their own backyard. The band's most overtly political song to date, it's an urgent and crushing act of protest against Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, pairing a ferocious sonic intensity weighed down even heavier by its conscience. Climaxing in Alex Terrible's growls of "please stop the violence/please stop the bloodshed on Earth," it's an urgent plea for peace at maximum volume.
Weeping Wound - "fourthh.love"
The opening, mechanical pulses that kick off Weeping Wound's "fourthh.love" are a little bit of a red herring — you might go into this expecting a sleeker electro-industrial sound. But the Florida band don't dangle that red herring very long. Within seconds, "fourthh.love" reveals itself as a massive hybrid of metalcore and nu metal, though the industrial influence is ever-present throughout, right on up to its melodic, alt-rock radio bridge. As more and more bands begin to explore hybrids between hardcore and industrial, such as Code Orange and Candy, Weeping Wound offer another explosive angle on a lethal combination.
