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 metal, hard rock and hardcore that have been on heavy rotation at Revolver HQ. For your listening pleasure, we've also compiled the songs in a Spotify playlist, which will grow each week.
Blackwater Holylight - "Motorcycle"
Continuing in the RidingEasy Records tradition, Blackwater Holylight's "Motorcyle" is a greasy, sun-baked rock jam calling back to the genre's classic days while showcasing a heavy doom edge that gives it a modern spin. Light, ethereal vocals add a melodious touch, alleviating just a bit of the grit to make for a smooth and beautiful ride.
Portrayal of Guilt - "Moral Decay"
Suffering Is a Gift is the title of screamo upstarts Portrayal of Guilt's new EP, and if suffering produces songs like "Moral Decay," then it is indeed. Haunting and echoey, the song scrapes and crawls along its one-and-a-half-minute path, finally erupting and then collapsing, a slowly fading nightmare.
En Minor - "On the Floor"
Phil Anselmo has gone acoustic many times before. Pantera's "Suicide Note Pt. I" and Down's "Jail," come to mind. But En Minor is a fully acoustic project, and while the early hype referenced the Cure and Sister of Mercy, the artists the group more accurately evokes are Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds or Tom Waits. Gravelly, somber and utterly captivating, En Minor's "On the Floor" captures an artist growing older and finding a brilliant new lane.
SeeYouSpaceCowboy - "Armed With Their Teeth"
"Sasscore" rising stars SeeYouSpaceCowboy's ultra-heavy "Armed With Their Teeth" is a gnashing, raging sprint that takes no prisoners and refuses to quit. It's not for the faint of heart or those seeking easy listening, but anyone comforted by the more abrasive sounds in life is sure to take solace inside the tune's razor-sharp edges.
Refused - "Blood Red"
The shape of punk that was? Refused are back with a real return to form after the somewhat underwhelming comeback album Freedom. "Blood Red" calls up the unhinged fury of the Swedish hardcore heroes' earlier days, but also pulls on the roll & roll maturity of a band who've been there, done that, broken up, then lived to rage another day.
Korn - "Cold"
Just when we thought we were going to get a solid and polished, if somewhat by-the-numbers, Korn album with The Nothing, out they come with second single "Cold" and knock us all on our asses. Vicious and snarling, the Californian kings of nu-metal move from shredding faces with a blackened hellish assault into exuberant lightness in the flick of a switch throughout this compellingly bipolar banger.
