6 New Songs You Need to Hear Now: 11/2/18 | Revolver

6 New Songs You Need to Hear Now: 11/2/18

Boy Harsher, Slipknot, City Hunter and more
boy harsher 2018 PRESS, Samantha Casolari
Boy Harsher, 2018
photograph by Samantha Casolari

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.

Boy Harsher - "Face the Fire"
Through echoes of gelid detachment and nearly subconscious whispers, darkwave duo Boy Harsher have molded an air of extreme coolness without eschewing the emotional intensity that gurgles right below the surface of their minimalist sound. All the right pieces in all the right places, the aqueous filtered notes fall lithely into place in perfect ordered meter. Sexual undertones of yearning and desperate fulfillment populate the atmosphere between lines, supplementing the quiet electronic austerity with a space for listeners to derive their own impression and experience, a cornerstone of Boy Harsher's signature draw.

Slipknot - "All Out Life"
Twenty years into their career and still out-pacing nearly every band in the metal game, Slipknot have returned with yet another raucous nu banger that's already racked up nearly six million views on YouTube and basically took over heavy-music journalism's news cycle for 48 or so hours. Corey Taylor's lyrical criticism of modern culture's hype-machine craving for constant new stimuli drives the song through its shifting paces, bringing to mind classic 'Knot but taking captivating digressions into black metal–esque squall and beyond. Concluding with a chant-along cry of "We are not your kind!," the song both whets the taste buds for the Nine's next full-length (promised for 2019) and re-confirms that Slipknot are indeed in a league of their own.

City Hunter - "Beyond Recognition"
What makes a band "hardcore"? In an age of groups like Title Fight coming out of the scene but not necessarily reiterating the sound, it's hard to know what the term means anymore. City Hunter does little to clarify that definition on their debut full-length Deep Blood, blurring the line as they do between the black-metal aesthetic of Beherit and gnarly pummel of hardcore stalwarts Negative Approach on cuts like standout "Beyond Recognition." Regardless of how you classify it, though, this shit is evil.

Old Wounds - "To Kill For"
Gothy New Jersey hardcore crew Old Wounds paved the way for Glow — the forthcoming return LP for OG vocalist Kevin Iavaroni — with lead single "Give a Name to Your Pain," a bruiser typical of the group's sound to this point. The band's latest offering, "To Kill For," represents a stylistic shift toward melodic rock territory, more latter-day AFI than old-school Hatebreed. But the song still hits hard, with Iavaroni unleashing his ferocious scream and lyrical venom when needed: "We are so self destructive/Give me everything/I will take it all/And then give me more/I am yours and I will kill." Fucking get ready and get your glitter.

Chamber - "Final Shape"
It's a pretty excellent time to be a fan of metallic hardcore, and with their new two-song offering, Chamber put their name in the running to be listed among the genre's rising stars. On "Final Shape," the Nashville crew reference some of the best, from Norma Jean's early material to the more nutso material Botch put out. The song constantly twists and turns, leading mosh calls into breakdowns with unexpected instrumental deviations.

Melvins - "In the Flesh?"
The Melvins have made their name on doing whatever the fuck they want, including putting their own weird spin on music by artists ranging from Merle Haggard to the Ramones. Now they've taken a crack at the Pink Floyd's The Wall opener "In The Flesh?" King Buzzo and Co.'s take on the song is unsurprisingly sludgier and scuzzier, as they gleefully drag the iconic classic-rock number out of the cathedral and into the parking lot.