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, trap-metal, death 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.
Dying Fetus - "Compulsion for Cruelty"
Dying Fetus couldn't have picked a better time to return with new music. The Baltimore vets pioneered a brutal form of moshy death metal that has a massive influence on the current generation of rising knuckle-draggers — from Maggot Stomp death metal bands like Sanguisugabogg and Undeath to hardcore evildoers like Terminal Nation and Sunami. "Compulsion for Cruelty" is everything they've been doing exceptionally well since the Nineties — knotty fretwork, militant snare thwacks, gurgling vocals and chug-a-lug mosh sections — except right now it sounds more relevant than it has in well over a decade.
Mimi Barks - "nihil"
Trap-metal is a sub-genre that's become pretty saturated over the last few years, but Mimi Barks' new song "nihil" offers a breath of fresh air for the idiom. The self-described "doom trap" Londonite harnesses the deep bass wobbles of U.K. drill and raps over them with a delivery that alternates between emotionally frenzied and icy cold. Screamed ad-libs sound off in the background of the shifty, spacey beat, eschewing the tired formula of overbearing shrieks placed over straightforward 808 blasts — and Barks' dashes of emo-rap cadence offer the ear something to latch onto.
Raw Breed - "Damnation"
Hailing from the hardcore hotspot of Denver, Colorado, Raw Breed play a form of no-nonsense NYHC that throws it back to the late Eighties — but in a way that doesn't feel redundant. The second single from their upcoming LP, Universal Paranoia (out later this month on the prolifically crucial Convulse Records), features metallic riffs that bring to mind crossover icons like Cro-Mags and Cause for Alarm-era Agnostic Front, but deliver their music with a haggard ferocity that keeps their feet squarely planted in the hardcore punk milieu. Unrelenting, noisy and mean.
Architects - "deep fake"
Architects are really going for it with these new songs. The U.K. band have flirted with crossing over into more melodic metal for years now, having perfected a style of metalcore that few bands on the planet accomplish with such sleek, cutting precision. "deep fake," the second single from the classic symptoms of a broken spirit, adds synths that flash in the mix with a Times Square level of brightness, and guitar riffs that're tonally deeper and more rhythmic than we've typically heard from them. Don't worry, there're still plenty of opportunities to bang your fuckin' head.
Pierce the Veil - "Pass the Nirvana"
It's been a long six years since we last heard from Pierce the Veil, the scene-core kings of the 2010s who forged a fruitful fanbase in the fields between neon pop-punk and sugary metalcore. However, if you wrote these guys off after "King for a Day" (or never gave them a shot to begin with), you owe it to yourself to give "Pass the Nirvana" a faithful go. The gigantically crunchy main riff brings to mind Smashing Pumpkins and Deftones, and every vocal part is a lot rawer, screamier and more unhinged than the nasally pop-punk of their older material. If this is their new direction, we're onboard.
Tallah - "Shaken (not stirred)"
A lot of bands claim to be influenced by Iowa-era Slipknot, but Tallah are one of the few who actually channel that album's monstrous character through a modern lens without making you want to just flip on the original. "Shaken (not stirred)" hits the band's sweet spot — blistering mathcore riffage, a restless songwriting structure, gobs of scritch-scratching DJ warbles, and bleating vocals from frontman Justin Bonitz that shift between deathcore lows, dramatic babbles and wickedly catchy sing-songs à la Corey Taylor.
Megadeth - "Dogs of Chernobyl"
Of course, this roundup wouldn't complete without a cut off Megadeth's triumphant new album, The Sick, the Dying... And the Dead!, which finally dropped this week. The band's first LP in over six years — the longest gap in the thrash stalwarts' catalog — The Sick is packed with high-velocity speed-metal rippers, but for us, it's finest moment might be "Dogs of Chernobyl," a dynamic thrill ride and early fan favorite that doesn't push the pedal to the floor until the four-minute mark. Up to that point, its a moody, mid-tempo dirge in the vein of "In My Darkest Hour." Which only makes the explosion all the more neck-snapping when it comes.
