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 alt-metal, hardcore, melodeath 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.
Slipknot - "Yen"
"Yen" is one of Corey Taylor's favorite songs on Slipknot's upcoming album, THE END, SO FAR, and it's easy to hear why. The Type O Negative-influenced joint begins with the kind of breathless silence that used to bury hidden tracks, but once the music kicks in, the brooding and eerie side of Slipknot comes to the fore. But it doesn't stop there, building into a grander and heavier cacophony until it ultimately explodes into a raging chug — laced ever so masterfully with one of their hooky chants. The singles for this record have been three for three.
In Flames - "The Great Deceiver"
The birds are singing, the sun is shining, and In Flames are a rippin' melodic death-metal band again. After many years of experimenting with different styles, the Swedish melodeath pioneers have finally returned in earnest to the sound they had a huge part in codifying back in the Nineties, and they're doing it in a way that doesn't sound like self-plagiarist nostalgia bait. "The Great Deceiver" has twinges of metalcore melody and groove, but the riffs are fucking savage and the galloping tempos are a refreshing change of pace.
Inclination - "Epidemic"
Inclination are a band who're retrofitting what metalcore used to sound like in the land before MySpace. Featuring Knocked Loose axeman Isaac Hale, the Louisville straight-edge crew bring to mind late-Nineties groups who dotted the rosters of Victory, Trustkill and Ferrett. The drums on "Epidemic" hit like a ton of bricks, the sludgy guitars are coated with a One King Down-style flanger effect, and the band honor one of their clear idols by tapping Indecision vocalist Tom Sheehan to let rip his one-of-a-kind scream.
Defacing God - "The End of Times"
Defacing God have a cool thing going on. Wicked corpse paint, fearsome imagery, a badass name and a sound that merges the tempos and riff styles of turn-of-the-millennium melodic death metal with the evil atmospheres and epic synths of symphonic black-metal. The Danish band's latest, "The End of Times," is an apocalyptic rager that recalls early 2000s Arch Enemy crossed with Dimmu Borgir. The production is crisp, the playing is tight, vocalist Sandie 'The Lilith' Gjørtz has a devilish shriek and the songwriting is there. Get hip.
Drowning Pool - "Mind Right"
Let's just get this out of the way up front — no, Drowning Pool's new song doesn't sound anything like "Bodies." The former nu-metal torchbearers have taken a long sonic journey since the Sinner days, recently settling into a breed of dirt-kickin', bull-snortin' groove-metal that's transparently influenced by the Texas band's state heroes, Pantera. "Mind Right" hits that sweet spot between heavy and mean, with tastefully raw production, gigundo riffs and sandblasted vocals that evoke Anselmo crossed with Mudvayne's Chad Gray. Give it a whirl.
City of Caterpillar - "Decider"
City of Caterpillar have now been reunited for twice as long as they were originally around, but until this week, they didn't seem to have any plans to follow-up their sole full-length from 2002. Out of the blue, some of screamo's original post-rock adventurers announced a sophomore record, Mystic Sisters, and dropped "Decider" on us — a crashing banger that finds the Richmond group in peak form, blending dynamic post-rock arrangements with the gnashing bite of screamo and post-hardcore. It doesn't sound like a comeback, it sounds like they picked up exactly where they left off.
