Helms Alee
Helms Alee (photo by James Rexroad)

14 New Metal Songs Out This Week

It’s been a big week for metal. The first Candlemass album with original vocalist Johan Längqvist in 30+ years (which features a guitar solo from Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi) is finally out, and I wrote about it in this week’s Notable Releases, along with new albums by Hate Force (death metal from members of Harms Way and Weekend Nachos) and Pounder (NWOBHM revival from Exhumed’s Matt Harvey). This week’s also got new albums from Overkill and Sanhedrin, a new Gatekeeper EP, the Primitive Man/Hell split, and more, and you can read about even more of this week’s new metal releases in this week’s ‘Upcoming Metal Releases’ at Invisible Oranges.

This week also gave us a second song from the anticipated Inter Arma album, the announcements/lead singles for the anticipated new Helms Alee and Wormwitch albums, and more. Keep scrolling down for all the new metal tracks (and metal-adjacent stuff like Marissa Nadler, Vaura, Perturbator, and Steve Moore of Zombi) we posted here on BV this week.

HELMS ALEE – “INTERACHNID”

Helms Alee’s new album Noctiluca comes out April 26 via Sargent House, and they’ve shared the lead single “Interachnid,” which still has hints of the band’s usual sludge metal sound but goes in more psychedelic and more melodic directions than ever. It was produced by Sam Bell (who’s worked with Bloc Party, R.E.M., Minus the Bear, and others), who helps them achieve a cleaner sound than usual, and the new approach suits them very well.

INTER ARMA – “STILLNESS”

Inter Arma announced their anticipated fourth album Sulphur English and shared the very heavy lead single “Citadel” last week, and now they’ve already premiered a second song from the album, “Stillness.” It came out via the Adult Swim Singles Program, and it sees Inter Arma exploring a softer side, with acoustic guitar and clean vocals in the forefront, before building to a very psychedelic guitar solo and a doomy climax. It’s almost ten minutes long, and with all these twists and turns, it very much earns its lengthy running time.

WORMWITCH – “DISCIPLE OF THE SERPENT STAR”

Canada’s Wormwitch, who recently announced a tour with Uada, will follow their great 2017 debut album Strike Mortal Soil with sophomore album Heaven That Dwells Within on April 5 via Prosthetic. The first single is “Disciple of the Serpent Star,” and like their debut, it finds the middle ground between black metal and D-beat/crust punk, and it’s a ripper.

BLACK ANVIL – “IRON SHARPENS IRON”

NYC black metallers Black Anvil are releasing the Miles EP on March 4 via STB Records, and they’re now streaming lead single “Iron Sharpens Iron.” Their black metal fury is still in very fine, very heavy form, but Black Anvil also work a melodic side into this song. Listen at Decibel.

HAUNT – “DEFENDER”

Having already released the Mosaic Visions EP this year, Haunt (the classic-metal revival band of Beastmaker frontman Trevor William Church) are set to drop their new full-length If Icarus Could Fly on May 17. They’ve also now shared its third single, “Defender,” a triumphant rocker that should transport you right back to the NWOBHM era.

NEW IDEA SOCIETY – “NOW IS HERE”

New Idea Society, the project of Mike Law (Eulcid, Wild Arrows) and Stephen Brodsky (Mutoid Man, Cave In, etc), are back with a new release after an eight-year hiatus. They’re putting out a new two-song single on Sargent House, “Now Is Here” b/w “Wave Goodbye,” and the A-side is now streaming. They made these with past contributor Alan Cage (Quicksand) on drums, and new bassist Brian Cook (Russian Circles, Botch, Sumac). In the past, New Idea Society gave Stephen Brodsky and Mike Law a chance to explore a softer side of them, but “Now Is Here” is closer to the sludgier sound that these guys are best known for. Check it out below and stay tuned for “Wave Goodbye,” which is “premiering soon.”

TRIUMVIR FOUL – “URINE OF ABOMINATION I”

Portland death metallers Triumvir Foul (who share members with Ash Borer) are releasing their new album Urine of Abomination on March 29 via 20 Buck Spin (North America) and Invictus Productions (Europe). It’s four tracks long, all with the same title as the album, and “Urine of Abomination I” is out now. If you like your metal with an extra layer of noise and filth (and urine), check this out.

BOUNDARIES – MY BODY IN BLOOM (EP STREAM)

My Body In Bloom is heavy as all hell, and it proves that Boundaries are not a band who can be easily pigeonholed. They’ve got everything from bone-crushing metalcore chugs to tech-y leads to sludgier and more atmospheric parts, and beyond. McDougal’s clearly got a ton of passion in his voice, and can go from an angry bark to a more pained, emotional scream. They work in some cleaner, more melodic vocals too, and end up covering a lot of ground over the course of these six songs. If you dig any type of hardcore or metal, this one is worth a spin.

LOW DOSE – “LOW”

“Low” is the third single off the upcoming debut album by Low Dose (ex-Fight Amp, Legendary Divorce). Low Dose fall somewhere between sludge, punk, and grunge, and this new song “Low” especially channels the latter. It’s the slowest and most melancholic song released from the album so far, and it sounds like it could’ve been a minor hit during the grunge era.

MARISSA NADLER – “POISON” (ft. JOHN CALE) & “IF WE MAKE IT THROUGH THE SUMMER”

Marissa Nadler has released a two-song single featuring two songs that she recorded during the sessions for For My Crimes (one of our favorite albums of 2018). “Poison” features The Velvet Underground’s John Cale, and talking about that one, Marissa says: “Sometimes it’s best not to know in advance; that’s what I continually remind myself about how this duet with legendary songwriter John Cale came together. Had I known that Justin [Raisen] and Lawrence [Rothman] would arrange for Cale to sing ‘Poison’ with me before I wrote or recorded it, I cannot be certain I wouldn’t have become frozen with hesitations and second-guessing. How do you even start to go about writing a duet with a member of the Velvet Underground? Surely I might have nervously changed the lyric that accidentally namechecks a title of a Velvet Underground song (‘Run Run Run’), at the very least. For me, Cale is one of the most influential rock musicians, remaining admirably hard to pin down. His appearance on this song was a complete surprise to me, but the instant I heard it I knew that this was the way the song was meant to be heard.” The single is out on KRO Records, the new label from Justin Raisen, Lawrence Rothman and Yves Rothman, and both songs should instantly appeal to anyone who liked For My Crimes.

VAURA – “THE RUINS (HYMNE)”

Vaura — the Brooklyn collective featuring Josh Strawn (Azar Swan) on vocals, guitar and synthesizers, Kevin Hufnagel (Gorguts, Dysrhythmia) on guitar, Toby Driver (Kayo Dot) on bass, and Charlie Schmid (Tombs) on drums and electronics — are releasing their first album in six years, Sables, on April 26 via Profound Lore. The first single is “The Ruins (Hymne),” which sorta sounds like a slightly proggier version of The Cure.

PERTURBATOR – “EXCESS”

Perturbator, who’s touring with GosT soon, also has a new as-yet-untitled album in the works and he released its lead single, “Excess.” It’s a bit closer to the industrial/synthpop of Perturbator’s HEALTH collaboration than the horror score-inspired synthwave he’s most known for, and it’s good stuff.

https://youtu.be/JzVkP6qqsbE

STEVE MOORE – “YOUR SENTRIES WILL BE MET WITH FORCE”

Zombi’s Steve Moore is releasing his new album Beloved Exile on May 10 via Temporary Residence Ltd, his first for the label (pre-order). He made the album with Tunisian protest singer Emel Mathlouthi, harpist Mary Lattimore, and percussionist Jeff Gretz, and The Mountain Goats frontman John Darnielle named the album and all of its songs. The first single is “Your Sentries Will Be Met With Force,” which sees Emel providing wordless singing over Steve Moore’s dark, synthwave/film score-inspired instrumentals.

MOTLEY CRUE – “THE DIRT (EST. 1981) (ft. MACHINE GUN KELLY)

A new Motley Crue biopic called The Dirt is coming to Netflix on March 22, and to further promote that, Motley Crue have released a new song from the film’s soundtrack called “The Dirt (Est. 1981)” and it features rapper Machine Gun Kelly, who plays Tommy Lee in the movie. You probably have a pretty good idea of what to expect from this one. Observe:

For even more new songs, browse the ‘New Songs’ archive. For new metal albums, browse ‘Upcoming Metal Releases’ on Invisible Oranges.