In February this year, Big Big Train, the award-winning, international progressive rock band, released their 16th studio album Woodcut. The landmark release for the international group marked their first-ever full-length narrative concept album, exploring creativity, sacrifice and the thin line between inspiration and madness.
Now, the band is pleased to share a new Digital Deluxe Edition of Woodcut, complete with demos of each track from the album, as well as two acoustic tracks. The Digital Deluxe Edition is out on the 7th August and is available for pre-order here.
Lead vocalist Alberto Bravin says: “The demos featured on the digital deluxe version of Woodcut are the final ones that I put together shortly before we went into Sweetwater Studios in Fort Wayne in the USA in April 2025. While we had the overall shape and flow of the album largely worked out before we started recording, there were some significant musical developments at Sweetwater. File sharing has a role to play, but creatively nothing can rival the seven of us all playing in the same room together, interacting and sparking off each other with arrangement and performance ideas.”
Bassist Gregory Spawton adds: “With this digital release, we wanted also to take the opportunity to make live acoustic versions of a couple of key Woodcut songs available. Back in February this year, Alberto, our violinist Clare Lindley and I performed short two-acoustic-in-store sets in the UK to mark the release of Woodcut. We really enjoyed doing so and might consider more acoustic performances at some point down the line.”
Watch the video for “Chimaera” live below.
Big Big Train recently announced a warm-up show to take place on Thursday 24th September 2026 at Thornden Hall in Eastleigh, UK to kick off The Woodcut & Other Stories tour.
This will be the first of 19 shows across the UK and Europe this autumn where the band will play this year’s acclaimed Woodcut album in full as well as over an hour of other material from their extensive back catalogue.
SCATTERBRAIN is back with their third ever track, and the drama and decadence keeps on getting bigger and bolder.
Titled ‘BITTER’, it is hard rock at its most direct and devastating. An angry, unrelenting piece of honest battery that is clearly allowing Brian to express some very necessary feelings, it is as catchy as it crushing. It’s the heaviest offer from the project so far, showcasing that anything is possible and no stone is going to be left unturned.
Get stuck in:
It follows on from ‘FAST LANE’, which sounds a lot like this:
SCATTERBRAIN is on the cover of the latest issue of Rock Sound.
In This Moment have announced their ninth studio album, Witch, and released its lead single and music video, “Crawl.” Due August 28, the album marks the band’s debut on Better Noise Music and arrives on the heels of prior single “Sleeping With The Enemy,” which drew more than one million streams and earned favorable notices from Rock Sound and Revolver.
Maria Brink said of “Crawl”: ““Crawl” is a reckoning — a reflection that those who dominate and cause pain will ultimately reap what they sow. As above, so below. The fall is inevitable. Bearing witness to the harm they inflict, the song declares that those who once stood tall will be brought to their knees.”
Co-founder and lead guitarist Chris Howorth added: ““Crawl” is a visceral track that delivers the undeniable observation of powerful entities dominating and abusing the weaker and compromised masses — something that continues to repeat itself throughout human history. The song empowers and, at its core, is about standing up and fighting back.”
On the album as a whole, Brink said: “Witch is my declaration of inner transformation. It’s about embracing the duality within — taking pain, persecution, and struggle — and alchemizing them into strength and power. The album reflects both ancient trials and my own journey — where being a ‘witch’ means being a creator, connected to the universe, manifesting my own reality.”
Witch features guest appearances from Dayseeker on “I Want To Believe,” Kim Dracula on “Heretic,” and Kat Von D on a cover of Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick In The Wall.” The 11-track set:
In This Moment formed in Los Angeles in 2005. The band — Brink, Howorth, bassist Travis Johnson, guitarist Randy Weitzel and drummer Kent Diimmel — has amassed more than two billion global streams, earned a Grammy nomination in 2020 for “Best Metal Performance” (for “The In-Between” from Mother), and registered gold-selling certification for their 2012 album Blood. Their most recent album, Godmode, was released in 2023 via BMG and featured collaborations with Spencer Charnas of Ice Nine Kills as well as a cover of Björk’s “Army Of Me.”
This Week In Metal rounds up six songs you need to hear right now — a Kat Von D-featuring Pink Floyd cover teaser from In This Moment, Mastodon’s first Josh Homme collaboration in nearly 20 years, Marilyn Manson’s second single off his upcoming album, a genre-blurring team-up between Loathe and Static Dress, Employed To Serve’s return, and a Corey Taylor-adjacent deep cut from Motionless In White’s brand new album.
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1. In This Moment — ‘Crawl’
The lead single from In This Moment’s upcoming ninth album, “Witch” (out August 28 via Better Noise Music), “Crawl” hits with the band’s signature combination of a crushing riff and Maria Brink’s seismic vocal delivery. Brink has described the song as a reckoning: those who dominate and cause pain will ultimately reap what they sow. It’s the clearest taste yet of an album that also features Dayseeker, Kim Dracula, and — most surprisingly — Kat Von D fronting a full cover of Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick In The Wall.”
2. Mastodon — ‘Snakes For Dinner’
Mastodon’s new single doubles as a genuine reunion: it marks Josh Homme’s first Mastodon studio appearance since he guested on “Colony Of Birchmen” from 2006’s “Blood Mountain,” nearly two decades ago. The track comes off the band’s upcoming ninth album, “Marrow Deep” — their first full-length since the death of founding guitarist Brent Hinds — arriving August 28 via Loma Vista Recordings.
3. Marilyn Manson — ‘Front Toward Enemy’
The second single from Manson’s upcoming album “One Assassination Under God – Chapter 2” (out August 14 via Nuclear Blast), “Front Toward Enemy” takes its title from the warning label stamped on Claymore mines. It’s a defiant, combative track co-produced and co-written with longtime collaborator Tyler Bates, continuing the industrial intensity established on the album’s first single, “Exit Wound.” A limited “the claymore” vinyl edition, capped at 1,800 copies, is also now available for pre-order.
4. Loathe & Static Dress — ‘Block Of Flats’
“Block Of Flats” is the second track on Loathe’s long-awaited new album, “A Stranger To You” — out today, July 17, via SharpTone Records, six years after their last full-length. The song builds from warped, industrial guitar into an explosive post-hardcore passage lifted by a guest turn from Static Dress frontman Olli Appleyard. It’s not a one-off pairing, either: Loathe and Static Dress toured Australia together earlier this year, and Loathe also spent time on the road this year supporting Mastodon in Europe — meaning two of this week’s six songs are connected by the same tour bill.
5. Employed To Serve — ‘A Moment Gone Too Soon’
UK metalcore mainstays Employed To Serve return with their second single of 2026, following May’s “Dead Reckoning.” The band describes the song as being about taking what you have for granted — not a track about looking back with regret, but one about grabbing the present with both hands. It arrives via the band’s own label, Church Road Records, run by married members Justine Jones and Sam Paget, alongside news of a full UK/EU headline tour this fall with Cabal.
6. Motionless In White — ‘Fight Like Hell’ (feat. Outlier)
A bonus track off Motionless In White’s seventh studio album, “Decades” — out today, July 17, via Roadrunner Records — “Fight Like Hell” features a guest turn from Outlier. The album itself arrives loaded with collaborators, including Skylar Grey on “R.I.P.” and Corey Taylor on “Playing God,” which already gave the band a genuine chart moment: lead single “Afraid Of The Dark” hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Hard Rock Songs chart, the band’s first time topping that chart.
TL;DR
In This Moment’s “Crawl” previews their album “Witch,” out August 28
Mastodon’s “Snakes For Dinner” marks Josh Homme’s first Mastodon appearance since 2006
Marilyn Manson’s “Front Toward Enemy” is the second single from his album out August 14
Loathe and Static Dress team up on “Block Of Flats,” off Loathe’s new album out today
Employed To Serve return with “A Moment Gone Too Soon” and a new UK/EU tour
Motionless In White’s “Fight Like Hell” appears on their new album “Decades,” also out today
FAQ
What are the best new metal songs this week?
This week’s top picks are In This Moment’s “Crawl,” Mastodon’s “Snakes For Dinner,” Marilyn Manson’s “Front Toward Enemy,” Loathe and Static Dress’s “Block Of Flats,” Employed To Serve’s “A Moment Gone Too Soon,” and Motionless In White’s “Fight Like Hell.”
Who guests on Mastodon’s new song?
Josh Homme of Queens Of The Stone Age appears on “Snakes For Dinner,” his first Mastodon collaboration since 2006.
What album is Loathe’s “Block Of Flats” from?
It’s the second track on “A Stranger To You,” Loathe’s new album released July 17, 2026, via SharpTone Records.
Are Motionless In White and Loathe’s new albums out the same day?
Yes. “Decades” (Motionless In White) and “A Stranger To You” (Loathe) both released July 17, 2026.
When does Marilyn Manson’s new album come out?
“One Assassination Under God – Chapter 2” arrives August 14, 2026, via Nuclear Blast Records.
Which of this week’s six is on repeat for you? Let us know in the comments. Follow Loaded Radio for daily rock and metal news.
Spacey-gauzy alt-rock band Blackberry Crush started off as a duo in Wyoming before moving to Denver and expanding into a four-piece. They make woozy, riffy music that’s at least shoegaze-adjacent. But they’re more direct than most shoegaze bands, and their sighing harmony vocals set them apart.
Publicly, Matt Berninger’s been in solo mode for well over a year now between the rollout and the touring for his album Get Sunk. It seems he is not ready to shift out of that gear yet. The National frontman has a new solo single out today with an extremely memorable title.
Andromeda Relix/Maracash Records [Release date 17.05.26] www.elektradrive.com Any album that has a wildcat shredding guitar on the cover has my vote. My interest in Elektradrive goes a bit deeper than cat worship though. In 2009 we reviewed the band’s last … Continue reading →
Sicilian thrashers XENOS A.D. show no signs of slowing down. Following several festival appearances across Europe and Italy, the band return with their new single, “Necronemesi (The World Obliteration Pt. 1)”. The track marks the first XENOS A.D. recording to feature new guitarist Roy Zappia. Mixed and mastered by Tommy Talamanca at Nadir Studios in […]
I’ll admit: The song title had me worried. As in, what would we do if we found out that either of the surviving Beastie Boys was really into crypto? Or if they owned companies that built AI data centers or some shit like that? Doesn’t that at least seem plausible? Mike D is obviously a cool guy, but he’s also old and rich. With plenty of our aging gen-X icons, we’re starting to see the “old and rich” tendencies win out over the “cool” ones. It fucking sucks. Thankfully, though, this is not one of those cases. Mike D has a new song that is both called “Crypto” and about crypto, and I’m happy to tell you that it’s about how crypto is bad.
Today, AOP Records announces October 2nd as the international release date of the highly anticipated fourth album of Germany’s Servant, Lux Ex Inferis. Servant have been unleashing their melodic-yet-furious black metal since 2021, quickly establishing themselves within the underground and beyond. With the release of their first two albums, Blessed by the Light of a Thousand Stars (2021) and Aetas Ascensus (2023), the band built a strong […]
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