Single Slam: Insomnium, Dead End Finland, Narrow Head, Pockets of Resistance, Hanging Garden, Rotten Sound, LeBrock, Shell Beach and Naut!

This week’s single slam features Insomnium, Dead End Finland, Narrow Head, Pockets of Resistance, Hanging Gardens, Rotten Sound, LeBrock, Shell Beach and Naut. You can read our thoughts about the latest singles from these bands below.

Insomnium – White Death

On February 24th 2023, Finnish metal melancholists Insomnium will release their ninth full-length, Anno 1696, via Century Media Records. The second single and music video for ‘White Death’ is out now. A track that features guest vocals from Rotting Christ’s Sakis Tolis.

There are several guarantees when it comes to Insomnium’s music. The first is that it will sound immensely miserable. The second is that it will be heavy, and the third is that both will combine to make something so special sounding. Which is exactly the case with White Death, and that’s before you even take the guest vocals of Rotting Christ’s Sakis Tolis into account. White Death is epic melancholy and Insomnium at their absolute best.

Dead End Finland – Heavy Rain

Finnish melodic metal band Dead End Finland have released a new single and music video called ‘Heavy Rain’. The track is taken from the upcoming fifth studio album ‘Victory’ which is set to be released on March 31st 2023 via Inverse Records.

Guitarist & Bass player Santtu Rosén comments:

The recordings of Dead End Finland’s fifth album have been completed. The new single “Heavy Rain” from the upcoming album, which will be released in March 2023, will be released on December 15th. Like the previous albums, it will be released in collaboration with Inverse Records.

The single is about that crushing feeling when gloom and doom take over the mind again. It’s about the powerlessness you feel first thing in the morning and the inadequacy that doesn’t leave you until the next night. The feeling when every day is hard in the wind and in the heavy rain.

A powerful melodic metal expulsion that is tinged with darkness. Dead End Finland express and portray relatable feelings in epically heavy fashion here. It’s a track that has the ability to send you spiralling into dark depths while also lifting your spirits to immeasurable heights. The contrast in feelings coming from the blend of melody and metal, delivered in familiar but effective melo-death fashion. Check it out here.

Narrow Head – Gearhead

US rock quintet Narrow Head have released their new single/video ‘Gearhead’, the second glimpse of their new album Moments of Clarity, out 10th February via Church Road Records.

Heavy rock with a killer main riff, Narrow Head’s new single really gives off early Deftones vibes and for those of a certain age, it will take them back to teenage years filled with angst. There’s a lot of moody and psychedelia-tinged atmosphere in this track and at times, it can get quite wild sounding with an intense vocal switch-up.

Pockets of Resistance – Cast Aside

Pockets of Resistance is a modern groove metal ensemble, all the way from Kolkata, India. The band, which started out back in 2019, had since yet released Make Them Fall, a single, in which they tried their best to put up the clear image of how today’s society often becomes deaf to the pleas and cries of women. Now, with a more evolved and technical soundscape, better production and an elevated expression of wordplay, the band is back with their upcoming track, Cast Aside.

Rito (guitarist) says:

Cast Aside is not just a song, it is an auditory experience. You get to immediately understand the urgency this track has, and follow along the trail of what you’ll soon come to understand – it is all too relatable, because, let’s be honest, we have all gone through something like this at some point in our lives.

There are a lot of things to take away from this track. Some more immediate than others, such as the urgency and technical prowess of the band. However, as it goes on, Pockets of Resistance introduce haunting melody and ferocious death metal style heaviness, adding even more layers. All while delivering focused anger and relatable intensity. It’s a meaty head-banger with a strong message. Check it out here.

Hanging Gardens – The Four Winds

The Four Winds is the title of the new single from Finnish melodic, gothic, doom, death metallers, Hanging Gardens. The song foreshadows the band’s eighth studio album, The Garden (due March 24th on Agonia) and is available alongside a scenic music/lyric video.

Be transported to cold and distant lands with The Four Winds. A track that sends a shiver through the body as though a drop of ice fell on the neck. The combination of lingering melodic doom, death infusion, and ethereal atmosphere makes for an effective and enjoyable listen. Check it out here.

Rotten Sound – Sharing

Rotten Sound come crushing down, right on time to grind away that jolly Christmas mood of yours. The Finns are proud to announce the ‘Apocalypse’, a brand new album containing eighteen short sharp chops that hit home perfectly in these deeply troubled times.

The ‘Apocalypse’ will be here on March 31st, 2023 via Season of Mist.

In celebration of the end of the world, Rotten Sound have now released the first track called ‘Sharing’!

Rotten Sound comment on the track:

Sharing is a track about how wealthy instances in control provide mainly cosmetic help towards the ones in need to improve their public image, while the world is in turmoil. Riffs were written by Mika and it’s one of the faster ones on the album (tempo-wise) with some heaviness at the end.

One minute and forty-six seconds of eye-watering and ear-bleeding intensity. Rotten Sound deliver a destructive, belligerent and furious slice of speeding heavy noise here. This is more than just circle pit mayhem, it’s the sound of an orgy of unmitigated devastation. It is phenomenal.

LeBrock – Chemistry

LeBrock is back with their signature brand of retro-flavored rock with new single ‘Chemistry’, the third track from LeBrock’s next album.

Explains LeBrock:

The tale of two people making that unbreakable connection, the friend or partner you just can’t be without. Rich or poor, good or bad, it’s all the same when you have chemistry.

Old school rock blended with synthwave; Chemistry is a delightfully old-school anthem that will put a stupidly big smile on the face. All thanks to LeBrock’s commitment to making it so retro and their abilities to make it still sound so refreshing. It’s like a face full of cold water on a warm Summer’s day.

Shell Beach – Absolution

Hungarian experimental quintet Shell Beach have announced the release of their new album Solar Flare, out 17th February 2023 via Australian label Wild Thing Records. The band have also released their new single ‘Absolution’, and announced their first ever UK performance at UK Tech Fest in July.

On the new single, vocalist Zoltán Bodóczy comments:

The feeling of being totally left behind, seasoned with the already glimmering hope that one day this will end, because time will solve it anyway. This is also the tragedy of this lyrics, because the memories fade and it is no longer possible to turn to them.

A track with many layers and an impressive level of expansion as it goes on. The heavy rock melancholy matches up nicely with Shell Beaches experimental tones. In fact, so exciting is the development of this track, that the early touch of intensity pales when compared to just how uniquely interesting things become. If this is any kind of barometer to what the full album might hold, then things are looking extremely positive. Check it out here.

Naut – Dissent

Evocative UK post-punk quartet Naut have unveiled their second single ‘Dissent’, taken from forthcoming debut album ‘Hunt’, to be released 24th February via Season of Mist.

Comments Naut:

The singles we have selected demonstrate different facets of the band and ‘Dissent’ is a perfect track to highlight certain things we think are key to NAUT’s sound. ‘Dissent’ is Hunt’s opener and one of its “heaviest” offerings, thematically and musically. The video is stark and works as a lyric video of sorts, where key words and phrases are splashed up on screen like a dissenting voice speaking its truth, daubed across a bleak corporate wall.

If anticipation for Naut’s new album wasn’t already high, this new single has sent it into overdrive. Taking their Cure-esqe tone and giving it a provocative push. Their experimental style of post-punk pushed to the limits in exciting and fascinating ways. It’s inventive and infectious gloom as only Naut is capable of producing. Expect to be challenged.