It's mid-October, but we've already had our first Christmas songs of the year. Good God. Still, despair not as even with the holidays apparently bearing down on us with all the hateful force of a collapsing building, there's still some brilliant new music to sink your teeth into before everyone packs up.
Which takes us to the results of last week's vote! There were strong turnouts for Black Label Society and Crystal Lake, but ultimately third place went to the return of Rob Zombie with Punks And Demons. But while he might once've been the king of Halloween, the vacant throne looks to have been snatched by Ice Nine Kills, who handily took second place with ease. But even they couldn't compare to the high-velocity heavy metal of Mexico's Jet Jaguar, who took the crown with Mach 10 - good on them!
This week we've got a healthy mix of styles for you, from thrash and black metal to blackgaze and nu metal. As ever, we need you to let us know which tracks excite you most so don't forget to cast your vote in the poll below. Happy listening!
Gaerea - Hellbound
Portugal's Gaerea have been steadily evolving beyond their black metal roots for a while now, but Hellbound feels like the clearest indication that they've officially moved on. There's still some thundering heft to the track and the more death metal flavoured energy they adopted on the last album shines bright, but there's also a sense of enormity that spells plenty of excitement for new album Loss, due March 20.
Cavalera Conspiracy - Piledriver
We won't lie, we saw that the Cavalera brothers had written a song about Street Fighter and immeidately thought, 'Yeah, Blanka's pretty fucking metal.' Turns out we were jumping to conclusions though; the Brazilians have instead lent their considerable groovy thrash talents to craft an anthem for Russian wreslter Zangief, and if you're a big fan of thick, burly riffs and music you could batter someone senseless to. Well...
The Pretty Wild - Afterlife (ft. Magnolia Park)
Are The Pretty Wild the first band to explicitly come out as baddiecore? It certainly feels like it, but there's no denying some sonic similarities to the pop-baiting energies of Sleep Token and Bad Omens in their sound. All that said, Afterlife also has more than a tinge of nu metal to its genetic make-up, big Linkin Park energies coming out in the rap flows and emotive, explosive choruses, giving way to a snarling breakdown. The Pretty Wild's debut zero.point.genesis is out November 21 and with a sold-out UK tour with Sleep Theory early next year, it looks like 2026 could be their breakout.
Despised Icon - The Apparition
Tapping into some of the frosty blizzard force of black metal, Despised Icon's latest single The Apparition shows how deathcore continues to evolve and thrive. Across four furious minutes, the band evoke a sense of sheer terror and ferocity, all intense double-bass and snarls until the song takes a groovy swerve at the two-and-a-half minute mark to tee up a particularly gruesome breakdown. Given its menacing tone, it feels appropriate that the band's new album Shadow Work arrives October 31.
Set It Off - Pathological
Pathological might just be the most explicitly nu metal flavoured track Set It Off have ever done. Although still cut with massive American radio rock sensibilities, the uptick in rap metal elements and chugging, chunky riffs suggests the band's new self-titled album, due November 7, is a reinvention of their style and a shift in direction for the band.
MØL - Garland
Just when you think you've got a grip on blackgaze, the genre shifts. Or at least, Denmark's MØL have shifted, Garland still maintaining some of the core shoegaze-meets-black-metal elements without giving over entirely to the familiar hazy, drifting realms that have become more common over the last decade. Taken from new album Dreamcrush, due January 30, it looks like we're heading into bold new realms - and very excited about the fact, as it happens.
Eva Under Fire - Awakening
There's something gloriously, potently unstoppable about Eva Under Fire's new single, Awakening. Put it down to the bounding beats, arena-baiting guitars or Amanda Lyberg's powerful vocal, but the track hits with an irrepressible joy in the face of adversity. Considering old school metal was practically built on that ethos - just look at Judas Priest or Saxon - it's good to see the flag still being flown even in more contemporary strains of alternative metal.
Cage Fight - Pig
Metalcore might've had a seismic shift towards the mainstream in the past 15 years, but there are still plenty of bands who keep to the genre's roots. Cage Fight's thumping Pig puts them squarely in that bracket - not just for it's thrashy, two-step friendly clatter, but also in its lyrical content which expresses contempt for sexual harassment many women have faced online. And, given the name, of course there's a gnarly pig squeal dropped in.
The Hara - Violence (ft. As December Falls)
There's only a couple of weeks to go before The Hara head out on the road with As December Falls, so the UK bands have celebrated the fact with a good ol' fashioned team-up. Violence is anything but old fashioned, mind: bounding alt. metal beats with a smattering of electronica underneath, As December Falls vocalist Bethany Hunter Jiménez bouncing off Joshua Taylor brilliantly.
Nowhere2run - Motives
With Code Orange apparently buried in a shallow grave for the foreseeable, it's freed Jami Morgan and Eric Balderose to focus on their new electronica project Nowhere2run. Though nowhere near as heavy as CO, new single Motives has a claustrophobic sense of low-end that wouldn't have been out of place on Forever. The band's new EP What Did You Do? is out October 31, so it'll be interesting to see how else they develop going forward.
The Veer Union - Sunk Your Teeth In
Throwing back to the radio friendly post-grunge/nu metal crossover that conquered charts two decades ago, The Veer Union's sound balances out heavier bites and jolts with a sense of anthemia and melody that makes it feel seriously massive. Taken from new album Reinvention, due Feb 20, it marks them as a band to watch going forward.
Excide - Call Box
Speaking of songs that could've ruled the roost 20 years ago, Call Box definitely has "early-2000s metal club banger" energy. Taken from their upcoming second album Bastard Hymns, due November 28, its bouncy, riffy and has a forceful energy that lends it a timelessness.
