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.
Year of the Knife - "First State Aggression"
If you've been paying attention recently, you might notice we're pretty huge fans of Delaware straight-edge hardcore band Year of the Knife. Out of nowhere, they dropped a new EP today, and title track "First State Aggression" is a living embodiment of exactly why we've been down. The band goes all in on heaviness, jackhammering a metallic hardcore intro à la Integrity or Hatebreed, before hitting the gas pedal and speeding up. Four-plus minutes is a pretty hefty length for a modern hardcore jam, and they use the time well, shaping a mosh-ready tour de force that's dynamic and propulsive.
Thou - "Diaphonous Shift"
No group understands the art of noise quite like Thou. The Louisianans resemble ear-splitting mystics more than metal musicians, conjuring feedback-laden storms and ambient abysses on a crushing, cosmic scale. Taken from from the group's new, surprise album The House Primordial, "Diaphonous Shift" casts a familiar but effective spell, casting a drone-y pall over every last square footage of sonic space. Its title might technically be a typo, but make no mistake — this is nothing if not an immaculately-constructed crusher.
Dead Cross - "Skin of a Redneck"
For the most part, SoCal supergroup Dead Cross' output has leaned toward the spasmodic hardcore sound most associated with band members Justin Pearson (the Locust, Retox) and Michael Crain (Retox), within which Dave Lombardo contributes some of the most aerobic drum workouts of his life and Mike Patton stretches his vocals into all sorts of horrific squawks, shrieks and bellows. But on "Skin of a Redneck," the lead cut off the band's surprise-released new self-titled EP, Dead Cross show unusual restraint and patience (at least, for them). A more slow-burning and, at moments, even cinematic sing-along, it wouldn't feel out of place on Faith No More's last album.
Lucifer - "California Son"
If you couldn't already tell by the accompanying video's Rob Halford–approved aesthetics (motorbikes, leather jackets, bikers' caps, huge-ass rings), Lucifer's new song "California Son" is more or less the musical bastard son of Judas Priest, with stacked riffs and soaring melodies for days. Repeated nods to the trio's stylistic forebears aside, it ultimately hews to the band's preferred route: a light-speed jaunt through doom-rock country, with a palette that's sweltering, surging and, for those partial to chug-athons, downright scenic.
Petyr - "Salt Lake"
Fronted by pro skateboarder Riley Hawk (before you ask, yes, he is related to a certain X Games icon), Petyr are a heavy-psych outfit who combine the massive, smoldering riffs of Black Sabbath — and Earthless — with the hard-hitting skate-punk typical of his dad's associated video-game soundtracks. If you're looking for a record you can take from the smoke sesh to the skate park, look no further than Smolyk, their meditative sophomore LP. "Salt Lake" is a limber standout on an already-lithe LP, tempering steeled aggression with trippy expansiveness for an insidiously cerebral listen.
Just Mustard - "Deaf"
If the name Just Mustard indicates a singular taste, then the band is thematically pulling from the entire condiment aisle. At times recalling the sound of Anika or early Chelsea Wolfe, their primary avenues are post-punk, shoegaze and goth, using sparse instrumentation to create an open and cavernous atmosphere. There are moments where you hear the influence of Fugazi, the Sundays, Joy Division and others, or when the band goes straight away into a dreamlike shoegaze track, something that might fit on a Nothing or Beach House record. "Deaf" comes off as a long-lost Cranberries experiment, a highly repeatable cut that is pensive, darkly emotional and very, very beautiful.
