Single Slam: Slipknot, Stick to Your Guns, Cult Burial, Polyphia, Future Static, Quitters, Norma Jean, Elessar, Strigoi, Seething Akira, Tenchpress, Lacuna Coil, Acres and Alter Bridge!

Today’s single slam features Slipknot, Stick to Your Guns, Cult Burial, Polyphia, Future Static, Quitters, Norma Jean, Elessar, Strigoi, Seething Akira, Tenchpress, Lacuna Coil, Acres and Alter Bridge. You can read our thoughts about the latest singles from these bands below.

Slipknot – The Dying Song (Time To Sing)

GRAMMY Award-winning Iowan icons Slipknot have announced details of their hotly anticipated new album, The End, So Far, which will be released 30th September via Roadrunner Records. The band has shared the album’s lead single ‘The Dying Song (Time To Sing)’, which is available now on all streaming platforms, accompanied by an official music video streaming on Slipknot’s YouTube channel.

Speaking about the forthcoming album, M. Shawn ‘clown’ Crahan asserted:

New music, new art, and new beginnings. Get ready for the end.

New Slipknot music always comes with a heady amount of hype but to be fair, the band rarely fails to live up to it. Slipknot deliver and with The Dying Song (Time To Sing) they give us some insight into what the future might hold for this band. One of the more technically proficient tracks the band have released, there’s a sense that Slipknot are drawing from all parts of their history and this album will combine everything that has made the band such a beast to date. In this track, you can hear elements of the bands’ more aggressive past melded with their modern penchant for melody. What does the bigger picture look like? Anticipation is even higher now based off the strength of this track.

Stick to Your Guns – Open Up My Head

Orange County, California hardcore band Stick to Your Guns have released a new single, ‘Open Up My Head’, alongside an accompanying music video.

The band states:

To quote Malcolm X: ‘If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing. This is incredibly true. In the age where massive multimedia corporations profit from disinformation, the search for truth becomes more and more important. This can be an exhaustive and painful process. It means challenging everything you think you know. We are going to need to find a way to connect with one another. A two-party system where both parties serve corporate interests is an authoritarian dictatorship. That’s just a fact. We live in a corporate dictatorship. We can do better than this. We need to do better than this. A better world is possible and we have nothing to lose but our chains. Solidarity with all working people across the world who are tired of being steamrolled.

Don’t even try to predict just Stick to Your Guns are capable of, they will always surprise you. This new track takes some of its prompts from early 2000’s rock but puts it through the Stick to Your Guns hardcore sieve. It’s impressively rhythmic and delightfully catchy, especially once the chorus comes around. It’s a really passionate track that oozes emotion and feels meaningful. Genuinely brilliant stuff from this band. Check it out here.

Cult Burial – Strive

Blackened death-doom studio project, Cult Burial have released their new single ‘Strive’.

The band says:

We are excited to release this track to the world. The aim was to create a nasty, deep, expressive piece of music that would leave the listener suffering under the weight of the death and doom parts. The new album is close to being finished and we expect to release it later in 2022.

Nasty, noisy, weighty, and substantial. Cult Burial’s new track is a cacophony of intensity that is akin to sinking into a swamp of darkness. It’s an intense piece of music that passes the 7-minute mark and doesn’t let up. In fact, the only chance to ever take a deep gulping breath is when the doomier side of the band takes over. The weight of this track, the guttural ferocity and the penetrating brilliance of just how meaty it is will delight fans of extreme. Check it out here.

Polyphia – Neurotica

Genre-bending instrumental band Polyphia have released the second track from their fourth studio album Remember That You Will Die. “Neurotica,” produced by guitarists Tim Henson & Scott LePage, is Polyphia’s take on a rage beat (originally made popular by artists like Playboi Carti and Trippie Redd). Featuring collaboration from Sims Cashion, Luke Holland, & Brady Watt, “Neurotica” follows the previously released lead single “Playing God”.

How weird is this? Yet, how surprisingly addictive and charming is it too? Polyphia showcase mind-bending music on this single, where any attempt to understand just what is going on, inevitably falls flat. The whole tone is off-beat, the wacked-out rhythm is entrancing and the melodies have groove. It’s going to need a couple of plays to settle in the brain but once it does, few won’t be amazed by what Polyphia have created here.

Future Static – Venenosa

One of Australia’s most talked about breakthrough acts, Melbourne-based alternative heavy outfit Future Static have returned with their potent new single ‘Venenosa’, via Wild Thing Records.

Future Static explain the meaning behind ‘Venenosa’:

‘Venenosa’ (Spanish for ‘poisonous’) is based on Amariah’s experience of coming to realise that the negative energy surrounding her was in fact due to her own toxic behaviour towards the people who she was supposed to care for. It takes the listener through the very intense journey she took to rid herself of this toxicity that was festering inside the depths of her subconscious, and how she came out the other side full of love and respect for herself and those around her again.

Future Static have been killing it in recent times and Venenosa is just further confirmation of this band’s quality. A punchy and powerful blend of alternative ideas and raucous metal, the instrumentation is scathing but then we get these immense vocals. Where soaring power switches to guttural growls in an instant. Filled with frenzied energy, downright dangerous sounding at times and with a chorus that can simply be called immense. This is a freaking banger of a track. Check it out here.

Quitters – Borders

French punk rockers Quitters have just shared a new single called ‘Borders’ from their album to be released on 30/11/22 via Krod Records.

Stupidly catchy in that familiar pop-punk way, there are things that makes Borders stand out from the standard fare. The riffs are really infectious, the melody is sweet but powerful, there’s just a touch of punk bite and the chorus is very singable. It’s a smile-inducing listen but also capable of getting the body to move.

Norma Jean – Sleep Explosion

Norma Jean, who last month announced the release of their forthcoming new album, ‘Deathrattle Sing For Me’ (out Aug 12), have now shared new single, ‘Sleep Explosion’.

Says singer Cory Brandan about the track:

Destruction is a variant of completion. We were nearing the end of a tour in January 2022, after a series of house shows. It was a couple of months before we started writing Deathrattle Sing For Me when I first heard the demo for this song. [Guitarist] Grayson [Stewart] texted it to me. Immediately, I put on headphones and listened. Why hadn’t I heard this yet? It just got me so excited to start writing.

A challenging listen that features a lot of the belligerence that makes Norma Jean so appealing. Sleep Explosion has this barely contained rage running through it like a thick vein, every so often, it erupting bloody and gratifying fashion. That’s the stuff you can just lose your mind too. The challenge comes from the eccentric tempos and complex rhythmic switches. It keeps you guessing all the way through, which makes the breakdown all the more intense. Check it out here.

Elessar – Gold

Forming in 2016, pop-rock trio, Elessar made waves in the underground scene with their unique sound. Continuing to embrace a formidable rebrand in 2019 the charismatic trio’s sound embodies modern rock by infusing pop influenced vocals with riff heavy guitars. A sound that has been utilised heavily within their new single ‘Gold’.

Ricky Powell (vocals/guitar said:

I wrote Gold at a time when the entire world had been locked up, it’s about the good vibes only with friends who have inevitably moved on to their next stages in life, kids, marriage, houses. And how the pandemic lockdown made us realise how much we took our friends for granted. I’d have given it all up to go back to that one weekend when money and inhibitions weren’t an issue.

Something to put a smile on faces, Elessar’s new track ‘Gold’ is a feel-good combination of pop and rock. Where the rhythm is both chilled and energised, the chorus is inherently singable, and it oozes nostalgic vibes. A track to have some fun too, it’s nothing ground-breaking but it has a sweetness that cuts through sour times.

Strigoi – Viscera

Blackened Death Doom outfit Strigoi are now proudly releasing their brand new single ‘Hollow’, which is taken from the band’s upcoming album “Viscera”. The album is set for worldwide release on September 30, 2022 via Season of Mist.

Strigoi comment:

We chose Hollow as the first video single as it lends itself perfectly to giving the listener a broad overview of Viscera. It’s dark, brooding yet violent cinematic qualities allude to the delightful misery contained within the new album. A scathing commentary on human weakness, we feel Hollow typifies the evolution of Strigoi, as a band and as a concept. It was also a perfect fit for the amazing videography work of Dehn Sora, who has presented a remarkable visual interpretation of the track.

It has been far too long, and it is so good to have new Strigoi to listen too. Even more so when it becomes clear that this band has evolved and grown. Made clear by the cinematic value that this incredible track has. Where dark atmosphere meets a wave of blackened death and doom to create a cyclone of heaviness. Very ominous, extremely ruthless, intensely dark and shockingly addictive. Based off this track, this new album is going to be an album of the year contender. Check it out here.

Seething Akira – Nozomi

Six-piece nu-metal rockers Seething Akira continue their rampage towards their highly anticipated album Nozomi with massive new single ‘Something In The Water’.

States Seething Akira:

‘Something in the Water’ is a study into how outsiders can either succeed or attempt to control our hope. When this protocol commences, the feeling of losing control, like an entity taking over and causing a self-destructive route with no clear view of what the future will now hold for us.

If there’s one thing you can always guarantee with Seething Akira, it is that they will deliver a track that makes you want to move. A guarantee that is once again met with the tempestuous nu-metal noise of this track. A track with blistering guitars, explosive rap/rock vocals and electronica groove. The combination is very much in keeping with this band’s style but once again, it’s sure to have wide-spread appeal.

Tenchpress – Muscle Up

Surfacing once again from the jellied depths, Tenchpress delivers another dose of Avon damage in the form of ‘Muscle Up!’, the first single from third album Tombmagic. Muscle Up will be released on July 27th, whereas Tombmagic is released digitally on the 19th of August and on cassette on the 2nd of September by Cruel Nature Records.

How to describe Tenchpress. It’s very experimental and it’s very odd. Yet, it’s impressively addictive. Harmonic but uncomfortable, dissonant but rhythmic, melodic but severe; all without stepping into heavy territory. It’s impossible to recommend to a specific fan of a specific genre because genres just don’t apply to Tenchpress. It’s a peculiarity that needs to be heard so you can make up your own mind. Upon release, you can check it out here.

Lacuna Coil – Tight Rope XX

Italian metal legends Lacuna Coil have announced the release of Comalies XX, which is set for release on October 14th via Century Media Records. To celebrate the announcement, the band have dropped their new single and video for “Tight Rope XX”.

Comalies XX is not just a re-recording, but an entire deconstructed and remade version of their third full-length record, Comalies, which was originally published in 2002. The band explains:

Welcome to ‘Comalies XX’, a brand-new record. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of ‘Comalies’, we felt this special album deserved more than a remastering. We didn’t just give it a new dress, we built a new skeleton and gave it new skin and a new life. ‘Comalies XX’ is alive and walks alone, this is not a remake or a reboot, it’s ‘Comalies’ on steroids! ‘Tight Rope XX’ and its video are just a taste of what’s coming, and we couldn’t be more proud.

While few may have been asking for this record, there’s no denying that it’s going to have a lot of appeal. After all, Comalies is arguably one Lacuna Coil’s strongest records and certainly one of their most successful. Tight Rope XX offers the first example of what fans can expect, showcasing how the modern band’s influence is shaping the music from the past. Darker sounding and with heavier moments, the growth of this band over the 20-years has them transform this into a more interesting anthem.

Acres – Burning Throne

South coast four piece Acres return with their first new music after a three year silence. Reinvigorated, determined and armed with an arsenal of heavy riffs, ‘Burning Throne’ is their new single.

Says vocalist Ben Lumber:

Burning Throne speaks about how one minute you can feel like you have everything you’ve ever needed around you and then all of a sudden it all gets taken away. The track reflects on the emotions we were feeling during the pandemic not only as a band but as individuals.

A high-point in this band’s career, they are back and with one hell of a banger. One that drifts on wings of melody but has this weight, thanks to the guitars, that makes for a heavier alt-metal sound. With bursts of energy, some really strong, moody atmosphere and a top-shelf chorus, Acres are sounding grander than ever. The evolution of this band is really taking shape now and the monster that stands before us is quite gob-smacking. Check it out here.

Alter Bridge – Pawns & Kings

Acclaimed rockers Alter Bridge return with their seventh album ‘Pawns & Kings’ which is scheduled for worldwide release on October 14th via Napalm Records. The epic closing title track “Pawns & Kings” is now available via all digital service providers around the globe.

Epic is the right word to describe this track, Alter Bridge going big and delivering what they are so well known for – massive, soulful rock anthems. Yet, there’s also a bit of meat to the bones of their sound here. This is got a fair amount of heaviness to it; the percussion in particular is hitting quite hard. Of course, the vocals offset a lot of that, yet the power in them is simply amazing. If this is an example of what we might get over the full-album, we might be looking at Alter Bridge’s heaviest work so far.