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, alt-metal, post-hardcore 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.
Kim Dracula - "Hysterics"
You never know what you're going to get from Kim Dracula. The TikTok-famous multi-hyphenate's last song, "Seventy Thorns," was a Patton-esque metal banger that tapped Korn's Jonathan Davis for the hook, and their new song, "Hysterics," practically sounds like a different artist. Over a skittering drum 'n' bass beat and space-age synths, Dracula raps with a disaffected cockiness about how their former haters have suddenly become their fans. There's some insane Davis-style scatting in the middle, but other than that, there's not a trace of metal to be found. It still smacks, though.
Better Lovers - "30 Under 13"
Better Lovers are the Dillinger Escape Plan's Greg Puciato going apeshit with three former members of Every Time I Die and Fit for an Autopsy guitarist/metalcore producer extraordinaire Will Putney. So yeah, their first single, "30 Under 13," absolutely fucking rips. It basically sounds like latter-day Every Time I Die — a band who were operating at the peak of their powers when they acrimoniously split up last year — with Puciato pulling out his signature, sassy shrieks from the Dillinger years. If you've ever liked either of these guys' other bands, there's no chance in hell you won't love this.
Sleep Token - "DYWTYLM"
Sleep Token's songs hinge on tension and release. Tension from the immaculately composed and sweetly sung pop hooks that usually begin their songs, and release from the enormous djent wobbles and crushing breakdowns that ultimately burst through the sugary sheen. "DYWTYLM" is all tension. There is no metal part in the fifth single from the masked anonymous band's new album, Take Me Back to Eden, just a bubbling synth pattern and choir-like pop vocals singing the moody, Drake-tier taunt, "Do you wish that you loved me?" It works because it has metalheads at the edge of their seats the whole time, and when it ends without a single chug, your consolation is a new chorus bopping around your head for the next several hours. Good deal.
Never Ending Game - "Tank on E"
Never Ending Game are low-key one of the best bands in hardcore right now. Their music is typically extremely brutal, cold-as-concrete metallic hardcore that channels the hardest bands in the genre's history, but with lyrics that are stuffed with poignant, real-deal emotion. "Tank On E" is a bit different for them. With beaming melodeath leads and a catchy gang-chant chorus, it's the most melodic track they've ever made, and easily their biggest sing-along. Don't let that fool you into thinking they've gone weak, though. There's still plenty to mosh to within its runtime.
The Acacia Strain - "Chain"
Acacia Strain frontman Vincent Bennett described "Chain" as "possibly the hardest song we have ever written." That's a strong sentiment for a band who've been churning out savagely decimating deathcore songs for over two decades, but it just might be the truth. The minute-long ripper (short for an Acacia song) is a full-on grindcore assault that sounds more like Full of Hell or Brutal Truth than Despised Icon. It's still got the band's signature, knuckle-dragging chug, but interspersed with intensely fast sections. Hard is right.
Militarie Gun - "Very High"
It can't be mere coincidence that Militarie Gun dropped a song called "Very High" the week of 4/20, but this isn't your typical stoner jam. The West Coast post-hardcore conglomerate (feat. members of Drug Church, Regional Justice Center and Modern Color) lean fully into their Britpop side on this tune, a heroically springy, hooky little ditty that still has a shot of hardcore bite from Ian Shelton's scraggly vocal yelps. Their songs only get catchier each time a new one drops, and "Very High"'s addictive hook, "I've been feeling pretty down/So I get very high," is so cleverly simple that you wish you thought of it first — but ya didn't.
