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 deathcore, hardcore, black metal 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.
Psycho-Frame - "Straightjacket" (Feat. Scarab)
Psycho-Frame's spring 2023 EP, Remote God Seeker, was so good that Revolver readers just voted them one of the top five deathcore bands in the game. Even crazier is that the proclaimed "spin-kick deathcore" band's second offering, Automatic Death Protocol, is better.
"Straightjacket," for instance, begins with a maddening hornet swarm of blasts and brees, and then delivers one pummeling breakdown after another, each heavier than the last.
As a handshake with hardcore, Scarab's Tyler Mullen (formerly of Year of the Knife) even shows up to do his signature ya-ya-ya-ya mic-cup sound. Now, stop reading and start punching.
Architects - "Seeing Red"
Architects experimented with some different, more industrial and mellower musical flavors on 2022's the classic symptoms of a broken spirit. Clearly, the U.K. metalcore champs aren't feeling mellow anymore — in fact, they're "Seeing Red."
The band sound totally reinvigorated on this towering new single, which boasts some of their heaviest breakdowns in years and one of Sam Carter's greatest, most instantly addictive choruses. It's barely been out a week and "Seeing Red" already feels like an Architects anthem.
Xibalba - "The Place of Fear"
Since the early 2010s, Xibalba have been masters at mixing death-metal savagery with heavy hardcore inertia. The Pomona, California, band last released an LP in 2020, but this week they surprise-dropped a four-song EP that, Aztlán, that finds them in peak form.
"The Place of Fear" is an absolutely nasty riff-fest that strikes the right balance of caveman nastiness and pit-clearing physicality. At nearly five minutes, the heavy parts just keep on coming, trapping the listener in Xibalba's hellacious ring of fight-metal fury.
Spectral Voice - "Red Feasts Condensed into One"
It's been almost seven years since Spectral Voice — the Colorado death-doom band featuring members of Blood Incantation and Black Curse — released their hauntingly heavy debut, and "Red Feasts Condensed into One" picks up right where they left off.
This 12-minute sidewinder sounds like falling into the chasm of hell and then blindly stumbling your way through the underworld while infernal beasts scrape and claw at your feet. It's terrifying. It's atmospheric. It's dastardly. It's fucking awesome.
thoughtcrimes - "Rose Bather"
On their 2022 debut LP, Altered Pasts, thoughtcrimes — the band featuring former Dillinger Escape Plan drummer Billy Rymer — proved themselves more than capable at dealing out discordant, wriggling mathcore surges.
"Rose Bather" gets a little weirder. There's a glitchy intro and a cerebral drum-and-bass bridge that break up the otherwise scathing flow, and the way Rymer's jazzy snare comes pattering in during the final climax — while Rick Pepa croons suggestively — is fucking cool.
HEALTH - "DSM-V"
HEALTH's brilliant new album, Rat Wars, finds room for ethereal goth, crushing industrial metal and weirdo noise-pop to co-exist harmoniously. We love every turn it takes, but we especially jive with "DSM-V" — it's just a fucking dance song.
This Ministry-esque stomper is the kind of track that's best served at ear-bleeding volume in a pitch-black warehouse venue, under the influence of who-gives-a-shit while who-knows is doin' god-knows-what on either side of you. Or just, you know, in your bedroom alone. Either/or!
