This week in heavy music, we got new singles from Wode, Zao, Genghis Tron, Heavy Heavy Low Low offshoot Bone Cutter, Wristmeetrazor, Triggerman, Fiddlehead, Cruelty, and more, plus the new Serj Tankian EP, the Pain of Truth/Age of Apocalypse split, and records from Batushka, Mare Cognitum, and more. Read on for all that and more of this week's metal and hardcore...
WODE - "LUNAR MADNESS"
Wode's upcoming album Burn In Many Mirrors is shaping up to the best and most accessible thing this band has done yet, without sacrificing any of their usual black metal fury. New single "Lunar Madness" is a great example of the band's new and improved sound.
--
ZAO - "SHIP OF THESEUS"
Metalcore vets Zao have shared the second single off their upcoming 12th album The Crimson Corridor, and like the previous single, it finds this long-running band sounding as vicious as ever.
--
SERJ TANKIAN - "ELECTRIC YEREVAN"
System Of A Down frontman Serj Tankian has released his new five-song solo EP Elasticity, a more "rock"-oriented release than his usual solo albums and featuring material that was originally written for SOAD. Along with the release came a new video for closing track "Electric Yerevan," which was inspired by the Electric Yerevan protests in Armenia in 2015.
--
GENGHIS TRON - "PYROCENE"
Genghis Tron's anticipated comeback album arrives next week, and here's the third single, which you can read more about here.
--
PAIN OF TRUTH / AGE OF APOCALYPSE SPLIT
Two up and coming Northeast hardcore bands, Pain of Truth and Age of Apocalypse, have teamed up for this very cool split. Pain of Truth is straight-up, in-your-face, tough-guy hardcore shit, whereas Age of Apocalypse have bellowed melodic vocals and sound a little more like '90s alt-metal. Both bands rip.
--
BONE CUTTER - "MY DEAD WIFE IS A CAT (MEOW)"
Heavy Heavy Low Low offshoot Bone Cutter's self-titled debut EP is on the way, and here's its second single. Compared to the ridiculously heavy "Sea of Broken Needs," this new song is more in the sass/post-hardcore realm, and it's yet another ripper.
--
WRISTMEETRAZOR - "LAST TANGO IN PARIS" (ft. KNOCKED LOOSE'S ISAAC HALE)
Virginia metalcore maniacs Wristmeetrazor have announced a new album produced by Knocked Loose's Isaac Hale, and Isaac also features on the lead single, which you can read more about here.
--
TRIGGERMAN - A PLACE IN THE SUN SIDE 2
West Coast melodic hardcore vets Triggerman have released the second side of their upcoming double album A Place in the Sun, including "Dissolve," which features guest vocals by Peter Cortner, who sang for Dag Nasty in the late '80s (and now sings for Dag Nasty offshoot Field Day). Read more here.
--
FIDDLEHEAD - "MILLION TIMES"
Fiddlehead, the Boston post-hardcore band who share members with Have Heart and Basement, announced their sophomore album and you can read more about lead single "Million Times" here.
--
CRUELTY - "A LIE THAT MAKES LIFE BEARABLE"
UK metallic hardcore band Cruelty's debut album is coming in April via Church Road, and you can read more about this intense lead single here.
--
TECH LEVEL 2 (JUSTIN BROADRICK) - DEPTHS EP (1999-03)
Justin Broadrick (Godflesh, Jesu,e tc) has put out four previously released songs by his electronic project Tech Level 2, which were originally recorded and intended for release on the Tecknologikal imprint between 1999 and 2003 but shelved. Justin retired the moniker in 2004.
--
CANAL IRREAL (MARTIN FROM LOS CRUDOS/LIMP WRIST) - "PESTES"
Canal Irreal is a new-ish band from Martin Sorrondeguy (Los Crudos, Limp Wrist), and as No Echo points out, they've got an LP arriving this spring. First single "Pestes" applies Martin's vicious hardcore bark to a post-punk backdrop, and the result is as awesome as just about everything he does.
--
LIVING CONDITIONS - "WE DID IT FOR THE ROSES"
Omaha screamo band Living Conditions have a new record on the way via Middle-Man Records, and you can read more about this harsh, chaotic, '90s-style single here.
--
BATUSHKA - CARJU NIEBIESNYJ
Batushka (Bart's version) released a new EP and in his writeup for Invisible Oranges, Greg Kennelty said it "finds Batushka at its most aggressive to date, seemingly tearing the veil off their usual reverent religious selves and charging headlong down the aisle and straight out into the freezing cold." Read more here.
--
MARE COGNITUM - SOLAR PAROXYSM
Mare Cognitum is back with a new record that IO's Andrew Rothmund called "a blossoming slab of space black metal" and "extreme and atmospheric music, both sharp and evocative." You can read more about it here.
--
BEWITCHER - "VALLEY OF THE RAVENS"
Portland's Bewitcher change it up from their usual speed metal style for something a little more Tribulation-sounding on "Valley of the Ravens," which will appear on the band's third album Cursed Be Thy Kingdom, due April 16 via Century Media.
--
Vinyl on sale now in the shop...
Crumbsuckers - Life of Dreams on limited splatter vinyl (order yours)
Pupil Slicer - Mirrors on red/black swirl vinyl (order yours)
Cannibal Corpse - Violence Unimagined on "bone white" with red vinyl (order yours)
The Obsessed - The Church Within on limited transparent blue with black smoke vinyl (order yours)
The Living (Duff McKagan's pre-GNR punk band) - 1982 on limited translucent ruby vinyl (order yours)
Frozen Soul - Crypt of Ice on limited baby blue vinyl (order yours)
The Acacia Strain - Wormwood on yellow/orange vinyl (order yours)
Killswitch Engage - Killswitch Engage 20th anniversary edition on green splatter vinyl (order yours)
--
For even more new songs, browse the ‘New Songs’ archive. For new metal albums, browse ‘Upcoming Metal Releases’ on Invisible Oranges. And browse our ‘Metal’ category for even more heavy music news.