Here at Revolver, we're always on the hunt for great new music — indeed, it's a big part of our jobs. With that in mind, here are the tracks released this week in metal, hard rock, hardcore and beyond that have been on heavy rotation at Revolver HQ. For your listening pleasure, we've also compiled the songs in a Spotify playlist, below, which will grow each week.
Devil Master - "Obscene Charade"
Indecipherable lyrics, sloppy blackened riffs and a permeating air of outré spookiness infiltrate every second of Devil Master's existence, so why would any of that change just because they got picked up by major metal players Relapse? The ghoulish band maintain their lo-fi horror aura and benefit from a bit of cleaned-up production, but the resulting track "Obscene Charade" is far from polished. Fast, vile and fueled by filth, Devil Master are sure to make a wider name for themselves with this one.
Black Tongue - "Ultima Necat"
On "Ultima Necat," from the self-proclaimed "doomcore" band's forthcoming full-length Nadir, Black Tongue say, "Fuck it, let's start this sledgehammering cut with a detuned, knuckle-dragging breakdown." After an ambient pause, the U.K. crew return with a positively mammoth riff that begins a seething, doom-laden crawl out of the muck, during which the band steadily unleashes a succession of filthy, furious grooving breakdowns until the song's punishing, pit-inducing finale.
Mirrors for Psychic Warfare - "Tomb Puncher"
Perfectly timely in light of the industrial renaissance happening throughout current underground music, Neurosis' Scott Kelly and producer/musician Sanford Parker use their collaborative project Mirrors for Psychic Warfare to put their own unique spin on the genre. Kelly's detached vocal performance imbues the duo's latest single "Tomb Puncher" with a sense of unsettling sincerity, while Parker's programming skills work gymnastics around the central, unrelenting heartbeat of the track. It's like listening to a man fall into the latter stages of heartbreak, when upset turns to abject resentment but the existential pain refuses to dissipate.
Alain Johannes Trio - "Luna A Sol" (Feat. Mike Patton)
As cultishly revered as his Nineties alt-rock band Eleven is, multi-hyphenate musician Alain Johannes is best known for his work with Josh Homme, in both Queens of the Stone Age and Them Crooked Vultures. More casual fans will be heartened then to know that his latest single, "Luna A Sol," has all the familiar swagger and soul of a vintage QOTSA song. Add to that, Mike Patton's inimitable croon — in Spanish to boot — and you have a sultry, slithery, moonlight-soaked desert-rock cut that demands repeat listens.
Pictureplane - "Degenerate"
The title track of Pictureplane's excellent new album Degenerate reasserts the electronic producer's ability to weave different modes of electronic music into one beautifully captivating spell. It's pulsing Eighties-inflected synthwave that reaches far beyond the trendy bounds of Stranger Things soundtrack worship, creating a sense of weirdness and darkness that casts a ghostly shadow all its own.
Drug Church - "Strong References"
Drug Church's new "Strong References" has gotta be the first punk song we've ever heard that's main subject matter is a lead singer's decision to do nude modeling in his younger years and a particular session that became uncomfortable. But it makes sense and really works given Death Church frontman Patrick Kindlon's penchant for unflinching reflection and open vulnerability, the perfect match to the push-pull tension of the band's reverb-soaked attack.
