Single Slam: Jinjer, Nealix, Lies We Sold, Mirrors, Straight for the Sun, Truism, Pleiades, Common Tongue, Sure, Great American Ghost, Upsetter, and Grief Ritual.

Today’s single slam features Jinjer, Nealix, Lies We Sold, Mirrors, Straight for the Sun, Truism, Pleiades, Common Tongue, Sure, Great American Ghost, Upsetter, and Grief Ritual. You can read our thoughts about the latest singles from these bands below.

Jinjer – Green Serpent

Modern progressive leaders Jinjer have unveiled their new single / video ‘Green Serpent’, taken from their long-awaited fifth studio album, Duél, set to be released on 7th February, 2025 via Napalm Records.

Jinjer continue to showcase an incredible amount of range, none more than vocalist Tatiana, on their new dark, ethereal and hypnotic sounding heavyweight offering. A spectacular track that showcases the incredible growth of this band, how smart their technical delivery has become, and how anthemic they can be, all without compromising their intense sound. This, when added to what we’ve already heard, is certainly suggesting that Duél might be Jinjer’s magnum opus.

Nealix – End

Nealix, the instrumental solo project of Solars guitarist, Chris Neal, as released a brand-new single called ‘End’.

Arriving in energetic fashion, this new single from Nealix has an anxiety-inducing tempo that seems to get faster and more intense as it goes on. Which certainly makes for a more heart-racing experience. Yet, what really makes this track special is how emphatic the riffs are and how the big emotive guitar sounds are displayed, all while a thick and dark vein throbs throughout. It’s always a delight with you can head bang to some instrumental heaviness. Check it out here.

Lies We Sold – Fragments

Having shared the stage with bands such as Any Given Day, Bleed from Within, Betraying the Martyrs, Dragged Under and recently, ten56, as well as having spent the last year on the road throughout France and Europe, Lies We Sold are back with a new, powerful single called Fragments.

The power in this track might come from the melodies, but the cacophony of heavy noise that Lies We Sold unleash throughout is mightily impressive too. Their metalcore antics are exciting and there’s plenty of interesting twists on familiar touches here and there. It’s a focused banger.

Mirrors – Vestige

Australian metalcore outfit Mirrors return reinvigorated, teasing a second album with the anticipated new single ‘Vestige’, out now via Resist Records. The band will debut the track live at Ocean Sleeper’s holiday throwdown Christmas Show in Traralgon on December 13th.

Says the band:

We wanted to get something out to the fans who have been so patient with us waiting for new material,” says the band. “Life happens, but now we are as invigorated as ever, writing material for our second album.

A passionate outpouring of melody from Mirrors, this new track has a lot of metalcore elements that will be familiar to listeners, but is delivered in such a hearty way, it ends up feeling impressively fresh. Clearly inspired and clearly have learned a lot, this song leaves an impression and shines a bright light on a band with an exciting future. Check it out here.

Straight for the Sun – Fall Away

Birmingham-based alternative metallers Straight for the Sun have released their moving new single and lyric video for ‘Fall Away’. The track, which closely follows previous single ‘Pulling Teeth’, is the quintets latest offering since their appearance at Bloodstock 2024 and recent UK tour with Temple Balls.

On the new single, vocalist Callum Green comments:

‘Fall Away’ is a song I’ve been trying to write for years. I lost my dad when I was 15 and I’ve always wanted to put into words how it’s affected me and made me feel but could never quite get it right. I didn’t just lose my dad but my best mate too. ‘Fall Away’ really shows the grief and struggle I’ve felt, while still trying to make him proud. My dad is the reason I started music and wanted to be in a band from a very young age, and although he isn’t here to hear this, I hope he would be proud of what me and the lads have become.

Oozing emotion and all the riffy power we’ve come to expect from Straight for the Sun, this new single is a banger that hits you right in the feels. While it is lacking in the energy department (their best stuff is often the groovy stuff), the passion from the vocals and the heft of the instruments makes up for that.

Truism – Photon (feat. Zbigniew Krzywański of Republika)

Truism, the modern groove metal band from Wroclaw, Poland, have just released their new single, ‘Photon’. The track features contributions from Zbigniew Krzywański, the renowned guitarist from the legendary Polish band Republika.

Moody, dark, intense, fast, and very heavy, this new Truism track goes hard in all departments. Aggressive from the start, the drum and guitar combo has an industrial feel, but it’s the force that proves to be memorable more than anything else. Had this been all the track had to offer, then it would be notable but unremarkable, however, this track also comes with garish vocals and a more colourful palette as the track goes on. That’s what makes it special. Check it out here.

Pleiades – CV5 (Constant Variation)

After a 2024 filled with high notes, Pleiades return with new single ‘CV5 (Constant Variation)’. Recorded in their hometown of Manchester between festival appearances at ArcTanGent, Strangeforms and Portals, the track is the band’s first release since their 2023 debut album ‘Affinity With’.

As appealing as ever, Pleiades post-rock/hardcore sound continues to delight as the band experiment in style and with substance here. Offering up a unique showcase of instrumental melody, subtle vocals, and explosive blasts of rock heaviness in a powerful chorus. It takes very little time for this track to grip, and once it does, it’s a tight one. If this is a sign of what’s to come, then 2025 is going to be another great year for them.

Common Tongue – Done

Formidable Brit two-piece Common Tongue have thrown down a prominent marker in the shape of their engrossing new single and video, ‘Done’, out now.

Fuzzy bass lines and groovy riffs, Common Tongue’s new track will make you move, especially as it’s very catchy too. There’s not a lot to say about this one, the rhythm compels the foot to tap, the hips to sway, and the fingers to rap along with the beats. It’s an earworm of a track. Check it out here.

Sure – Deeper

Channeling Depeche Mode’s timeless hooks, NIN’s experimentations, and Health’s modern production, French trio Sure continues to alter post-modern disarray into visceral melodies,
irresistible dance-floor beats, and a fearlessly versatile voice. Their new single, ‘Deeper’ is out now on Frozen Records / Krod Records.

With wicked sensuality, engrossing industrial intensity, and haunting melodic effects, Sure’s new single is an experience. One that everyone should look to have as it is highly inventive, filled with intriguing flair, and develops in thrilling ways. You can feel the vibrant hues of this one in your soul.

Great American Ghost – Kerosene

Great American Ghost have shared their new track, ‘Kerosene’, the fourth single from the band’s upcoming album ‘Tragedy of the Commons’ out January 31st on SharpTone Records.

Vocalist Ethan Harrison comments on the song:

Kerosene is a song about absolute nihilism. If the world is truly hopeless, forlorn, irredeemable, then this is its anthem.

A wild and furious showcase of twisted industrial heaviness that has intense shades of Ministry and bands of that ilk. Except that Great American Ghost have really taken the sound and style in a modern direction. It’s carnage, but it’s addictive carnage, and the kind of head-turning music that ensures this band’s stock is going to continue to rise. Check it out here.

Upsetter – Distance

Brisbane/Meanjin dynamic emo rock trio Upsetter share their introspective new single ‘Distance’, offering a glimpse into the emotional turmoil of life lived on the road. The single will be launched live at The Bearded Lady in Brisbane on January 4th, 2025.

Explains Upsetter’s Jasper Webb:

Distance was written after I’d spent almost 6 months without a break mixing bands on the road. It’s about the blur of trying to connect with my partner, my friends, my family over the phone, trying to be earnest in my longing to give them more of myself while having nothing left of me to give of my broken body and mind. Distance is about the melancholy of longing for more than a remote exchange of words I could barely speak to those I love, while questioning my time spent playing pretend in a music industry that has always taken more than it returns.

A mood-altering listen, Upsetter’s emo-tinged rock sound is heavy with emotion, and through a powerful combination of instruments and vocals, they are able to aptly portray this. Adding in a thin layer of grunge, drawing some inspiration from an older style of alternative rock, but combining it all into something acutely modern sounding. It’s memorable, even if it’s not the sort of thing you’ll want to listen to over and over again thanks to the melancholy of it all. Check it out here.

Grief Ritual – Recursion (feat. Rachel Aspe of Cage Fight)

On their debut album ‘Collapse’, the anger, frustration, and disenfranchisement Grief Ritual feel about the UK and the wider world are laid bare. It will be released via Church Road Records on January 31st, 2025. Now, the band has released the third single from the album, ‘Recursion’, which features Rachel Aspe of Cage Fight.

Says the band about the new single:

Recursion is about feeling that whatever you put in to life, that nothing can change without the way the world works changing. That you are having excessive pressure and events put on you to grind you down and make you subservient and apathetic.

It’s about being completely drained and exhausted by suffering all around you. At being unable to break away from the cycle of misery you see and feel everywhere because there’s no support for yourself, or those who need it most, be it through war, natural disaster, or poverty, and that you can only give so much of yourself without breaking down.

It’s about the generational rise in mental and physical health issues due to the deliberate neglect and cutting of vital services and support. It’s about these crises being caused by living in a world that feels so insecure, due to broken systems, with events often feeling as if they are deliberately manufactured or inflicted on the poorest in society to allow further divides to be created.

A person remains trapped in a rotting rental property, working as much as they can, paying their life away on ever higher rent, food, and utilities, to landlords, councils, and companies all making exorbitant profits, as they waste and fade away. Meanwhile, those at the top of the chain become richer and richer, but everyone should be entitled to the help they need, everyone should be entitled to shelter, heat, water, food, care, and more. Everyone should be entitled to all they need to live a progressive and fulfilling life, not only those lucky enough to have the support blanket of wealth or status.

Incredible, but you already know that. Grief Ritual’s debut album is going to be one of the most chaotic of 2025, and having the uber-talented Rachel Aspe of Cage Fight as a guest on this track only makes things even more intense. Which, if you know this band, says a lot, but intriguingly, as feral as this is, there’s a heavy accessibility that makes it kind of catchy. This is very strong stuff.