September is here! Today sees the release of the new records by Chat Pile, Sleep and President, kicking off a real rush for the Autumn release calendar. The next few weeks look pretty stacked for new releases, so we’re here yet again with a round-up for this week’s best new metal songs.
Speaking of which, the results of last week’s vote! There were some big names in the running last week, but as ever that isn’t always enough to sway your vote on what songs excite you most. Amon Amarth galloped into third place with Eight Legs Of Thunder, but were beat by a hair by black metallers I Helvete. Our overall winners for the week however were In This Moment, the industrial/metalcore mash-up of I Want To Believe taking the crown.
As ever we’ve got a diverse selection for your listening pleasure this week, from sludge to black metal, alternative to death metal. Check out the selection of new songs below, and don’t forget to vote for your favourite – the big end of year lists are just around the corner now!
Blue Medusa – Crocodile
Alissa White-Gluz might’ve teased that she could go proggier with Blue Medusa when speaking to Hammer earlier this year, but Crocodile is pure annihilating force. Slaughter Of The Soul-style melodeath, it gallops in at thrashy pace and hits like a speeding cement mixer. For all the ferocity, Alissa doesn’t do away with melody entirely – there are some great cleans in the chorus and little quirky sonic asides that show this project is looking to do something different. Keep your eyes out for their debut next year, we reckon.
Fear Factory – Roboticist
It’s been a funny few years to be a fan of Fear Factory. The departure of Burton C. Bell in 2020 shook the band up immensely, and even with new vocalist Milo Silvestro joining in 2023 and the band heading out on tour, it was hard to imagine what new material would sound like. Turns out, pretty much the same as the old material. Sounding like they’ve got a fire lit under their arses, Roboticist delivers well on FF’s foundational sound with gattle-gun beats and a relentless sense of force. Silverstro sounds more like Robb Flynn than Bell, but the difference is negligible – if you’re a diehard fan of the band, it’s hard to see you not loving this.
Evanescence – Tell Me When You’ve Had Enough
Picking up where 2021’s The Bitter Truth left off, Evanescence’s new album Sanctuary is as fired up as we’ve ever heard the band. Don’t believe us? Check out new single Tell Me When You’ve Had Enough, a slick and hard-hitting track that proves not only did Amy Lee and co. survive nu metal, but they don’t need to look back to create something vital and powerful. Vive le Evanaissance.
Blind Channel – Stars We See
So your singer quit to make Rasmus-y pop rock with, erm, one of the blokes from The Rasmus. What’s a band to do? If you’re Blind Channel, you knuckle down and lean in on your metalcore elements and kick out a few bangers. That’s where the Finnish band are at with Stars We See, at least, an emotional track that brings to mind the arena-sized singalongs of Architects. It might lack the nu metal bounce of their last album, but it suggests the band are starting fresh on new album Painstream (out October 30).
Lacey Sturm – Forever & Ever (feat. Lindsay Stirling)
Lacey Sturm’s been kept busy with Flyleaf in recent years, but clearly not so much that she hasn’t had time to hit the studio and make new songs. Forever & Ever sees Sturm reunite with violinist Lindsay Stirling, the pair having worked together on 2023’s Kenotic Metanoia. With Eastern European-like folk melodies and thumping, hefty guitar lines, it’s a track that has great – and dramatic – sonic range, proving that even with her return to Flyleaf, Sturm isn’t abandoning the work she’s done since.
Saxon – Gods Of Thunder
Saxon have been kicking out heavy metal tunes for over half a century and they’re not about to stop now. Unlike many of their contemporaries who are slowing down on releases, the boys from Barnsley are keeping up the pace with Gods Of Thunder coming on January 22. Lead single – and title track – Gods Of Thunder is very much Saxon as we know and love them, an implacable march with some howling guitars laid atop like sonic ballista.
Boss Keloid – Landslide
Given how much of stoner rock is dedicated to mind-altering substances, the amount of novel invention remains disappointingly low. That is, until you get to Boss Keloid – the UK’s answer to the cosmic sludge of Mastodon. Landslide is a typically dextrous and trippy track, chucking up delightful, stompy riffs in a 9-and-a-bit-minute epic that feels like a full sonic journey in itself. New album Float & Aperture is due October 23.
Hansen – Wait And See
Considering he’s best known for his work with Helloween, you might be surprised at the sound of Kai Hansen’s Wait And See. There’s no power metal nor fantasy themes in sight (though we do detect a little of the iconic Halloween theme in the keys). Instead the track has the slick, almost industrial tone of turn-of-the-millennium metal (though crucially, not nu metal) with a massive riff front and centre and an irresistible beat that’ll make you want to headbang, mosh or just shake your ass. Hansen’s new album Born With A Hammer is out September 18.
Illan Kaapan – The Rising Tide / Keeps Me Alive
Sri Lanka isn’t an obvious hotbed for hardcore, or maybe it is and we’re just idiots for overlooking it. That’s the prevailing thought after hearing Illan Kaapan this week, the Aussie/Sri Lankan band putting out easily one of the most refreshing beatdown tracks we’ve heard in a while in The Rising Tide / Keeps Me Alive. Put it down to the frantic, tribe-like drums that skitter beneath the lumbering riffs, or just that this track swings like its got wrecking balls for arms. New EP Undeniable is out now and if it’s half as ferocious as this, we could be looking at new stars of the scene.
Jasmeno – His Rebirth (ft. Bart Krysiuk)
What the hell can you classify something like Jasmeno’s His Rebirth as? Doom metal, prog, symphonic… there’s little bits of all of the above and more crammed into the song’s five minutes and 39 seconds. It’s wild and unique, droning vocals suddenly meeting cosmic synths, which give way to gorgeous, glorious guitar solos. The Polish band’s new album Assemblage of Cinematic Idioms is out next week (September 11) and we reckon you need to hear it.
Nails – Dollar Bin Generation
Need a palate cleanser after that absolute headfuck? Leave it to Nails, the grindcore brutes dropping a surprise double-single this week and serving up no frills nastiness that’ll put a massive grin on your face. It’s fast, it’s hard, it’s heavy… it’s Nails.
Love Sex Machine – The Herd
Oppressive and menacing like a bad neighbourhood given a nervous system, Love Sex Machine’s The Herd is exactly the kind of song you don’t want to listen to when walking home alone at night. Set somewhere between industrial (albeit Godflesh/Ministry’s end of the spectrum – no dancing here!) and sludge it’s a real brute of a track.