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 groove-metal, mathcore, screamo and more that have been on heavy rotation at Revolver HQ. For your listening pleasure, we've also compiled the songs in an ever-evolving Spotify playlist.
Callous Daoboys - "A Brief Article Regarding Time Loops"
Callous Daoboys' Die on Mars is revered in some circles as a modern mathcore classic, and "A Brief Article Regarding Time Loops" is bound to win over any nonbelievers. Their band name, the inconveniently long song title, their skronky, spazzy sound, the fact that they have a goddamn violinist in their ranks all plants them in the idiom of absurdist, a-melodic 'core music that gets described as "chaotic" — and by jove there's chaos aplenty. But there's stuff to latch onto here as well. A curiously stitched together spoken-word flashback, a devastatingly heavy deathcore breakdown, and a lyrical instruction to "jerk off in your car."
Lamb of God - "Wake Up Dead" (Feat. Megadeth)
"Wake Up Dead," the first song on Megadeth's timeless 1986 LP, Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?, is an overflowing bucket of some of the greatest riffs in thrash history. The original recording is amazing and stands the test of time, but Lamb of God's remake, which features Dave Mustaine himself and other Megadeth members, is still a fuck-ton of fun. LoG's sound inherently adds a couple extra layers of weight to the guitars and a little more heft to the drums, and hearing Randy Blythe's growling duet with Mustaine on the vocals takes it to a place the original never went.
Home is Where - "names"
Home is Where became emo's hottest young prospects last year with their excellent mini-album, i became birds — a grab-bag of melodic emo, Elephant 6-indebted folk-punk and politically incensed screamo that carved themselves several pathways they could venture down going forward. "names," a song from their upcoming split with fellow screamo innovators Record Setter, which features art from SeeYouSpaceCowboy's Connie Sgarbosa, takes the heavy route. It's a harrowing and emphatic plea for trans liberation ("No more victims/No more missing girls/Arm trans women by any means") that blasts, squirms, and defiantly shrieks for a minute and then dissolves into threatening feedback.
Devil Master - "The Vigour of Evil"
What are Devil Master? A death-rock band? A black-metal group? A gang of musically sharp crust-punks who worship Satan leaning into their hesher sides? Maybe they're all three at once, or maybe they're just a band who've been beamed into this earthly realm to channel "The Vigour of Evil" in whatever ways they see fit. The Philly band's latest taste of their upcoming LP is rife with tasty licks and crumbly black-metal textures. Horns-up type shit.
Cancer Bats - "Pressure Mind"
Cancer Bats have been chugging along on the fringes of hardcore, sludge metal and hard rock for almost two decades now, and they're still making music that's perfectly suited for diving off tables and doing keg stands a solid decade beyond your prime. "Pressure Mind" has the warm-blooded soulfulness channeled through a hardcore shrill that Every Time I Die did so well, but it's dipped in a potent hash oil formula of mischievous stoner-rock in the vein of Red Fang. It's a rippin' good time.
Moreru - "知恵"
Tokyo's Moreru make violently loud music that combines the power-washing textures of black metal, the gripping emotionality of screamo and the tongue-in-cheek fury of noise-rock's most dedicated practitioners. "知恵," a standout from their new album, 山田花子, sounds like the Armed's Only Love with every volume knob cranked to the point where all the high-end clips and it sounds like it's being blasted through a broken car speaker. For as discordant and tinnitus-inducing as it is, the exuberant energy of the performances is dangerously infectious.
