Lay Siege – Hollow Hands
While there is a lot to be said for the wide-eyed enthusiasm of youth, it’s equally pleasing – particularly for anyone on the wrong side of 40 – to discover a young band that are compelled to evoke the crushing horror of mortality. Lay Siege are remorseless in their occupation of heavy music’s bleakest shadows; from their pulverising, mid-paced riff assault to the calculated monotony of frontman Carl Brown’s scabrous vocal delivery, the Northampton crew’s debut album hopeisnowhere paints a vivid and compelling portrait of mankind’s slow trudge towards the grave. On a slightly more cheery note, they have also been generous enough to ensure that their malicious missives provide a perfect soundtrack to frenzied headbanging and booze-fuelled moshpit skirmishes.
Enslaved – Thurisaz Dreaming
Consistently one of the most inventive and fascinating bands in the extreme metal world, Enslaved’s evolution from blackened whiteout merchants to progressive explorers has been a joy to behold. The Norwegians’ new album is their 13th in just over 20 years, and seldom has their unerring passion for experimentation been more infectious. Thurisaz Dreaming takes off at full pelt and harks back to Enslaved’s early days, but it’s the way the song warps and mutates as the seconds pass that makes this yet another mesmerising addition to that opulent catalogue of questing heaviness. Both wonderfully rich and melodic and deliciously dissonant and peculiar, this is the sound of metal being rebuilt with several fresh dimensions and the spirit of adventure blazing proudly away at its tautly focused core.
Shattered Sun – Hope Within Hatred
People were debating the creative death of metalcore five, maybe even 10 years ago, and yet the US continues to churn out new bands that rarely exhibit any desire to even tinker gently with the subgenre’s well-worn blueprint. Shattered Sun may not be the radicals needed to truly shake things up, but their new album Hope Within Hatred is the strongest debut record of its kind in over a decade . Combining the melodic suss of Killswitch Engage with a more flagrantly metallic collective execution, this Texan sextet promise to breathe life into a flagging scene, not least because they get the balance between teen-friendly accessibility and balls-out heaviness just right.
Royal Thunder – Forget You
A gloriously distinctive and soulful antidote to all the turgid, idea-free 70s rock revivalists currently garnering plaudits from a rock media that should know better by now, Royal Thunder are only honorary members of the metal fraternity – thanks in part to the unassailable reputation of their Relapse Records overlords. But, as any metal fule kno, heaviness is a more complex and amorphous phenomenon than most people seem to realise: Imbued with the raw, weatherbeaten evangelism of prime Zeppelin, but far from beholden to any one influence, this elegantly powerful quartet write songs that aim straight for the heart, bypassing every conceivable cliche along the way. In a more sane world, new album Crooked Doors would be giving the tame likes of Royal Blood a run for their money. As it is, more discerning rock and metal fans will relish the discovery of a new and irresistible off-the-radar hard rock revelation.
Ranger – Defcon1
One of metal’s greatest strengths is its malleability. There are countless bands doing great things in the name of progress, but sometimes the only thing that really hits the spot is a juicy chunk of unapologetic heavy fucking metal, delivered with bug-eyed intensity and a faint hint of lunacy. On the surface, Sweden’s Ranger appear to be just another bunch of retrogressive maniacs, up to their necks in denim and studs and fuelled by as much cheap booze as possible, but while many of their revivalist contemporaries are guilty of exploiting nostalgia for an era they didn’t experience first time round, this lot intuitively nail everything that makes the old-school sound and vibe such an ageless and invigorating blast. It’s a simple test: down a few shots of budget whisky, play Defcon1 at maximum volume and if you don’t start to bang your head and throw the horns, you’re either not very metal or dead.
