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 hardcore, death metal, synthwave 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.
Jesus Piece - "An Offering to the Night"
It's been four long years since we last heard new music from Jesus Piece, but the Philly band only seemed to have gotten heavier in the time since 2018's crushing, Only Self. On their first single as a Century Media band, their knack for pulverizing breakdowns is in full force. Basically every second of this song is something you could mosh to, with plenty of double-bass chug sections and guttural growls from frontman Aaron Heard. It's like they never left.
Crosses - "Holier"
The previous singles off Crosses' new PERMANENT.RADIANT EP showcased a heftier, more guitar-heavy side to the electronic-rock duo than longtime listeners were used to hearing — not that fans of singer Chino Moreno's other band, Deftones, were complaining. On "Holier," the group fall back on the sultry, sinuous, synth-driven sound at their heart, and the results are rapturous.
To the Grave - "Axe of Kindness"
Driven by their outrage at society's widespread cruelty towards animals, activist Aussie extreme-metal outfit To the Grave pull no punches on "Axe of Kindness." "If it's a war they want — we'll give them one!" vocalist Dane Evans roars before a bulldozing breakdown, and the band delivers, smashing elements of deathcore, melodeath and more into a bloody pulp that goes down surprisingly easy.
Buggin - "Attitude"
It only takes Buggin 54 seconds to prove why these hardcore upstarts need to infect your playlists. "Attitude" is their contribution to Flatspot Records' upcoming Extermination Vol. 4 comp, and it situates them smack-dab in the center of all the sounds on that tracklist. It's heavy enough to give the fist-swinging pit denizens some shit to go off, too, but the riffs have a springy, Turnstile-ish flair that offer more than just routine NYHC homage.
Sanguisugabogg - "Caught in a Vise"
Sanguisugabogg are one of the hottest new death-metal bands everyone's listening to but nobody knows how to pronounce. Frankly, learning to say their name is irrelevant, it's the sounds they unleash on tracks like "Caught in a Vise" (the latest Decibel flexi single) that deserve your attention. Like all of their best material, this is a total ass-whooper that opens up with OSDM gnarliness, but really gets interesting once the tempo changes start flying and you find yourself stomping around your house like a caveman to its finishing groove.
Witch Ripper - "Enter the Loop"
Melodic stoner-sludge outfit Witch Ripper hail Queen and David Bowie as core influences right next to more obvious heroes like Black Sabbath and Sleep. Those diverse sources of inspiration play out on the soaring, skittering, oddly soothing "Enter the Loop," which burrows into the brain like Mastodon leaning into their catchier, mellower, most exuberant inclinations.
