Talk about a dramatic week. Around this time last year Sleep Token were kicking off their campaign for Take Me Back To Eden, kickstarting their ascension to metal's hottest new band on a global scale and picking up millions of new listeners. A year on, the band wiped all their social accounts amdist rumours of a privacy breach, leading to speculation they were about to close up shop entirely... only to announce a tour. Fair enough. Anyway, if you want more on toxic fan culture you can read our thoughts here as we're digressing - let's get back onto the best new metal songs this week, starting with the results of last week's vote!
We had a bumper offering last week as the metal world fully kicked back into gear, but by and large it was the newcomers that took the day. Metalcore mob Fit For A King took a very admirable third place, but were left in the dust of prog metal newcomers Whom Gods Destroy, who in turn were edged out by alt metallers Night Thieves, Through The Looking Glass taking top spot with pounding riffs and airy, alty vocals.
This week it's all to play for as the metal gods make a return, Judas Priest reminding us that they've got a new album coming in just a few weeks which is surely cause for celebration. There's also new material from Invent Animate, the final pre-album singles from underground heroes Chelsea Wolfe and Ihsahn, plus album announcements from Vltimas and P.O.D., as well as some new names to keep an eye on in 2024.
As ever, we need you to tell us which songs excite you most, so don't forget to cast your vote below - and have an excellent weekend!
Judas Priest - Crown Of Horns
The Metal Gods are still proudly flying the flag, 50 years on from the release of their debut album. With a few weeks still to go before the release of their 19th studio album Invincible Shield - and the massive arena tour of the UK that kicks off in March - Crown Of Horns reaffirming Judas Priest know their way around a massive power ballad just as surely as they do shrieking proto-thrash, Rob Halford delivering a sense of gusto that shows the band are still at the top of the game.
Invent Animate - Sleepless Deathbed
After making waves with 2023’s Heavener, metalcore darlings Invent Animate are setting out their stall for 2024 with swivel-eyed intensity and juddering beats with new single Sleepless Deathbed. For all the sheer vicious energy the band bring to bear, the track also showcases Invent Animate’s sense of soaring melodicism, tapping into metalcore’s capability to create songs that can conquer massive arenas.
Chelsea Wolfe - Everything Turns Blue
Sumptuous doom set adrift in an ocean of electronica, Chelsea Wolfe’s latest single Everything Turns Blue is a gorgeous showcase of Wolfe’s ability to straddle disparate genres and blend them together in a bewitching brew. New album She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She is only a few weeks away now and the singles so far have us suitably ecstatic, Wolfe also making a return to Europe and the UK in April for live shows.
Ihsahn - The Distance Between Us
Black metal innovator turned prog metal maverick, Ihsahn is bridging past and present with his forthcoming self-titled record, due Feb 16. The Distance Between Us is a gorgeous, unsettling showcase of menacing black metal sensibilities set against gorgeous, Opeth-like vocals and sublime symphonic elements, a grandiose composition that nonetheless has fangs and a seriously ambitious sense of scope.
P.O.D. - I Won’t Bow Down
Announcing their first new album in six years, nu metal veterans P.O.D. are sticking close to their roots on I Won’t Bow Down. Booming riffs, rapid-fire flow and a big breakout chorus show the band are still delivering the goods when it comes to empowering sing-alongs, suggesting that Veritas will be exactly what fans have been waiting for when it arrives May 3.
Vltimas - Scorcher
Five years on from their debut album Something Wicked Marches In, Vltimas ride again with the imperious, aptly-titled Scorcher. Former Morbid Angel growler-in-chief David Vincent is as ferocious as ever, issuing gravel-throated venom atop a blackened death metal rampage that has an air of occult menace and magic amidst its roiling guitars and blast-beats. New album Epic is due March 15, and already has us giggling with glee at the menace to come.
Tvinna - Two Staves
Otherworldly and powerful, German group Tvinna’s latest single Two Staves has shades of Nordic folk mixed in with a Chelsea Wolfe like ethereal doom. A captivating single taken from the upcoming album Two - Wings Of Ember, the release evokes a sense of driftless bliss before bringing everything crashing back in with a thundering riff that has a Led Zeppelin/rock gods of old feel. Powerful stuff.
Mastiff - Serrated
Like having a roof dropped on your head and then being savaged by an angry dog, Hull’s sludge brutes Mastiff announced the impending release of their new album with Serrated. A typically vicious assault on the senses, Serrated sees the band draft in members of Burner and XIII for a tooth-gnashing frenzy, new album Deprecipice likely to offer all kinds of glorious nastiness when it arrives March 22.
Profiler - Operator
What if Turnstile were formed at the height of nu metal? That’s the vibe we’re getting from Profiler’s Operator, melodic, bouncy hardcore giving to chugging riffs that sit somewhere between Korn and Killswitch, while scratching turntables chuck some Slipknot self-titled on the table. It’s a wild mix of styles, but comes together impressively and doesn’t get lost in the mire of influences. The band’s debut album A Digital Nowhere is due February 16 and, as Operator’s Matrix-inspired video shows, this band are bang up for partying like it’s 1999.
Crownshift - If You Dare
Drawing together members of some of Finnish metal’s biggest bands - Children Of Bodom, Nightwish, Wintersun and Finntroll - there’s a decided CoB-like sensibility to Crownshift’s debut single If You Dare, frantic melodeath underpinned with twinkling, swirling keys that could have easily popped up on the likes of Follow The Reaper. With a debut album set to arrive sometime later this year, this lot are already marking themselves out as ones to watch.
