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.
A Perfect Circle - "The Doomed"
Half apocalyptic Sunday School sermon, half alt-rock soap opera, "The Doomed" picks up where A Perfect Circle's last album, 2004's eMOTIVe, left off, and then some. Maynard James Keenan's warbled, inverted gospel ("Blessed are the fornicates/May we bend down to be their whores") bears the same Spartan cadence he previously trotted out on songs like "Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums," while Billy Howerdel's guitars remain as echo-steeped as ever. But there's a compelling edginess to the new cut that seems particularly attuned to 2017's polarized, end-times vibes. APC have returned when we need them most — if they can't save us from ourselves, who can?
The Soft Moon - "Burn"
The lead single off the Berlin outfit's upcoming Sacred Bones debut, Criminal, slithers through the darkness with clenched fists, hitting like a long lost but A+ Pretty Hate Machine B-side. It scans significantly more intricate than the Soft Moon's previous output, propelled by 32-note hi-hat, a distorted synth bass line and a cascading guitar part tailor-made for dimly lit, fog-ridden dance floors. Nonetheless, its message remains simple: Get up and fuckin' dance, dammit!
KEN Mode - "Fractures in Adults"
Canadian noise rockers KEN Mode are taking care of some loose ends (or rather, loose tracks) before they enter the studio in December to record their follow-up to 2015's Success, and we couldn't be happier. Their latest barnstormer, "Fractures in Adults," forgoes the usual math-y flourishes for crisp, caustic riffs and skittering fills — one diabolical band's shared reptile brain, caught up in a surprisingly catchy nightmare.
YLVA - "Lapse"
The exact pronunciation of the Australian post-metal outfit's name is anyone's guess — is it eel-vah? why-ell-vay? why-ell-vee-ayy? But on "Lapse," the forlorn new single off their upcoming album M E T A, YLVA's immense potential shines crystal clear. Come for the thunderous sludge and stay for the dynamic twists and turns.
Bell Witch - "Mirror Reaper"
You want heavy? The Seattle doom duo have got you covered. Their latest full-length, Mirror Reaper, is an 83-minute doomscape so prolonged and anguished as to render multiple tracks obsolete; instead, Bell Witch embark on one, long, titular voyage to oblivion, wading through the Black Sabbathian abyss with delirious wanderlust and diabolical purpose.
God Mother - "Weak"
When Dillinger Escape Plan founder/guitarist Ben Weinman proclaims, "Torch officially passed," of spazcore upstarts God Mother — whose new album, Vilseledd, just dropped like a birthday-present-wrapped nail bomb via Weinman's Party Smasher Inc. — don't take it as label honcho hyperbole. The Swedish outfit does indeed pick up where Dillinger are about to leave off, come their final shows in December, and spin off into spazzy, spikey new directions — as standout cut, "Weak," vigorously demonstrates.
