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 metal, hard rock and hardcore that have been on heavy rotation at Revolver HQ. For your listening pleasure, we've also compiled the songs in a Spotify playlist, which will grow each week.
Dying Wish - "Enemies in Red (Ft. Bryan Garris)"
"Enemies in Red" lives up to its bloody name by pulling zero punches with an all-out explosion of vitriolic intensity. Throat-shredding screams — courtesy of Dying Wish's own Emma Boster and guest vocalist Bryan Garris, of Knocked Loose fame — take front and center, terrifying while a solid uptempo symphony of thrashing hardcore drives the underbelly of the action.
Greyhaven - "A Match Where Great Fire Should Be"
Greyhaven's new standalone single "A Match Where Great Fire Should Be" is as unpredictable as it is catchy, a blend of numerous styles with a progressive stop-and-start approach that explores spastic, tense movements alongside spacious weightlessness with equal grace and surefooted swagger.
Left Behind - "Outside the Body"
There's something special to the heavy groove that bands concoct below the Mason-Dixon line, and West Virginia's Left Behind capture it brilliantly with the energy of a young Pantera or Crowbar on "Outside the Body." Knuckle-dragging riffs and gut-deep roars hold down the heart of the song, while death squeals and a heart-stopping breakdown add dynamic texture.
Wicca Phase Springs Eternal - "HARDCORE"
Wicca Phase Springs Eternal, a.k.a. multi-hyphenate Adam McIlwee, has a strange knack for blending airy, emotional themes with chill hip-hop beats in a relaxed, unpretentious manner that's downright earworm material on "HARDCORE." The VHS aesthetic of the DIY music video is a bonus, giving a nostalgic Nineties edge to the thoroughly modern sounds.
Jinjer - "Retrospection"
Tatiana Shmayluk, the superstar vocalist of Ukranian rising force Jinjer, breaks into native tongue at the open of "Retrospection," a standout off the band's new Macro LP. It's a striking shift from the group's mostly English lyrics, and it serves a purpose: The song is almost an inverse of Metallica's "Wherever I May Roam," a deeply felt and heavily delivered paean to homesickness on the road. Jinjer's instrumentalists deliver a stunning djent-spiked racket, but as always, Shmayluk steals the show, with a performance as vulnerable as it is powerful.
Nine Inch Nails - "Watchmen End Credits"
Flexing his skill for scoring while maintaining a signature sound once more, Trent Reznor and his creative partner Atticus Ross knocked the Watchmen theme song out of the fucking park. The electronic instrumental calls up plenty of NIN's signature flair, but the graphic novel's nihilistic, future-noir essence is expertly captured through driving segments that veer off into dark jazz and mid-tempo techno.
