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 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.
Scour - "Piles"
Phil Anselmo has a long history with black metal, and was even part of a short-lived Scandinavian-American supergroup Eibon in the late Nineties, with members of Darkthrone, Satyricon and Mayhem. But his finest black-metal hour may be with his current supergroup Scour, which also features current and former members of Pig Destroyer, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Cattle Decapitation, Animosity, and Misery Index. On "Piles," the ex-Pantera screamer and Co. summon a weeping sludge-storm reminiscent of Darkthrone or Mayhem's most ferocious fare.
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross - "John Carpenter's Halloween"
Rule No. 1 in the law of covers is don't do an iconic song unless you feel like you can completely reimagine it or improve on the original. Considering that, it's a tall order, even for Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, to remake a track as iconic as the Halloween theme — a landmark composition that not only screams "serial killers," but also terror in general. Reznor and Ross retain much of the original's minimalism, adding in swirling ambient synth darkness before going fully modern in the very tail end, channeling the spirit and the darkness of the original with just enough modern touches to remind you that this is 2017, not 1978.
Enslaved - "Feathers of Eolh"
Enslaved's new album E is ostensibly titled in homage to the band who made it, but the "E" could also stand for excellent. Fourteen albums in, the Norwegians continue to push the boundaries of prog-metal songcraft on tracks like "Feathers of Eolh," the LP's eight-minute centerpiece. A dynamic tour-de-force book-ended by arcane chants, the highlight stands as tinnitus-inducing testament to Enslaved's protean capabilities. Ambitious prog metal and graceful acoustic rock aren't always the most amicable partners, but in these veterans' hands, they're a match made in heaven — or rather, hell.
Cane Hill - "Too Far Gone"
New Orleans outfit Cane Hill traffic in trippy, twisted metalcore with an avant-garde bent, aural acid for the mosh-pit set. The five-piece know a thing or two about the perks and pitfalls of a bad trip; their unsettling new single, "Too Far Gone," is more or less a musical flashback to the band's whirlwind romance with LSD, and the psychically taxing breakup that resulted. As you can tell from its anguished, warped arrangement, all melted grooves and creepy deadpan vocals, the band's venture down the rabbit hole's left them with plenty of scars, but mostly newfound power.
Left Behind - "Early Mourning"
Left Behind are keen students of the blackened hardcore playbook as written by Xibalba and their ilk. Whereas last year's debut Seeing Hell introduced the West Virginia group's razed-earth thesis, "Early Mourning" — the latest track off their upcoming album Blessed By The Burn (out October 27th via Unbeaten) — represents their searing final draft. Lead vocalist Zach Hetfield leads the charge, spitting and scowling over his bandmates' sludgy din like a young Corey Taylor fronting Eyehategod in a room full of weed smoke, tucked off in some ferocious parallel universe.
Narcotic Wasteland - "Return to the Underground"
Dallas Toler-Wade is best known as Nile's ex-guitarist, but soon he might be more famous for Narcotic Wasteland, a death-metal outfit driven by imposing riffs, surging backbeats and most importantly, social awareness. Rather than write Satanic odes or bruising breakup songs, the band — who are named after the drug epidemic presently plaguing the axman's native North Carolina — pen cautionary tales detailing meth addiction, opioid abuse and the evils of the pharmaceutical industry. "Return to the Underground" is but one of many empowering anthems off their great new album Delirium Tremens, out now.
