When the king of party rocking has taken a sharp turn to the dark side, does that sum up the modern world in one succinct action? Whilst the world is simultaneously recovering from and being further battered by Covid, political differences and agenda’s coming out of every orifice, heavy metal provides a grounding we can all fall back on. So let all those worries slide, lose yourself amongst the defenders of metal on this week’s Metal Track of the Week.
The mighty Swedish warriors Sabaton are back with another new track Defence of Moscow. If you could bundle up what modern era Sabaton is all about then this is textbook. Grand movie theme-eque intro and epic bouncy riffing. Thematically about a historic battle and standing tall facing adversity. A grandiose solo that sounds straight out of The Legend of Zelda. These nordic folks have found a winning formula and tend not to stray far these days. But when they smash out hit after hit why would they?
Legendary vocalist Howard Jones is not letting up at the moment. Along with his project SION with Jared Dines, he is putting out more material with Light The Torch. The former Killswitch Engage vocalist has long established himself as one of the premier vocalists in heavy metal. New track More Than Dreaming just adds to the lore. Very limited aggressive vocals this time. There are select few scream & clean vocalists who can pull off only being either equally as confidently. Howard Jones is atop that list.
UK quartet Skarlett Riot have released their latest single Breaking The Habit to coincide with the release of their latest album Invicta. Mixing a modern metalcore sound with a hint of symphonic metal helps this stand out from the usual metalcore crowd. Vocalist Skarlett Drinkwater is terrific at the helm, with a tasteful use of growled vocals in the background.
Andrew W.K is continuing show us his new found darker side with latest track I’m in Heaven. Since signing with Napalm Records, the king of party has toned down the fun times and embraced the melancholy. I’m in Heaven is heavily influenced by grim industrial metal. “Take me to Heaven, I’m in Hell” offers an existential premise, very few lyrics leaving much to the interpretation of the listener.
Rap-metal is roaring back at present. Whether it’s the influx of trap-metal/post-industrial/metallic hip-hop/whatever you want to call it, or the classic nu-metal a la Limp Bizkit, P.O.D. and the like. If you lived through the nu-metal boom of the early noughties like me you likely have a strong baseline love/hate relationship to this movement. Nonpoint with their latest track Ruthless are straight in with the rap heavy nu-metal approach. You can feel the 2001 energy brimming from the speakers.
Vive la France! More rap-metal this week, from Smash hit Combo. In this guise however, there is a much heavier, modern djent overlay. Smash Hit Combo mix in a heavy dose of the nerd-dom concept into their work, with the hint of electronica feeling a little like Mad Capsule Markets at times. Their latest track Peine Perdue perfectly wraps up what nu-metal sounds like in the modern age.
Enough of the modern music already. Would you rather have some filthy, unadulterated and unholy back metal? Well French purveyors of the most blasphemous of genres Seth give it both barrels on La Morsure du Christ. The title track from their latest album is 6 minutes of blast beats, tremolo picking and wailing vocals, wrapped around a creepy and desolate interlude. I might have to recite a few Hail Mary’s to cleanse my soul. Just kidding. Embrace the darkness.
Turn up the aggression to max, and snap the knob off. Convictions pull no punches on a sharp shot of metallic hardcore on Teeth. It feels strange to call this Christian metal – I have explored this in a previous article. Convictions call their music aggressive worship. Is that an oxymoron? Who knows. Nothing wrong with the track though, if you want something to crush your chest with some downtuning chugging.
Weeks with the widest variety are always the hardest to judge. I’m not going to complain though, variety is the spice of life and all that. However when amongst the defenders of metal we get another stunner from the hit-machine Sabaton with Defence of Moscow it must be victorious. They’re certainly building anticipation for what is highly likely to be another stunning upcoming album. Onward we march!
WINNER: Sabaton – Defence of Moscow
Check out last week’s Metal Track of the Week
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