Beloved isn’t fully back (officially), but they’ve now released two tracks in the past year, so there’s hope. Their cover of U2’s “Like a Song” was unexpected and fun, but this is another level. Their unique brand of indie rock + post-hardcore developed on 2003’s Failure On has the follow up it deserves. There’s nothing too fancy in the track, but everything is so tightly written and performed. It’ll be hard to top “Death To Traitors”, but this is another masterpiece that at least challenges it.
This is easily my favorite Veil of Maya track to date. I absolutely love their softer sound (“Members Only”), and they’ve managed to combine those insanely catchy vibes with the techy experimentation of their heavy stuff without compromising anything. The structure of this song should not work AT ALL. Metalcore intro. Clean prog metal verse. Pop chorus (seriously, on its own sounds exactly like something by The Chainsmokers). Breakdown. Chorus. Iron Maiden bridge riff. Instrumental breakdown into outro. Zero smooth transitions. Somehow it works, and is one of the most fun songs of the year.
Sacrifice – The Devil Wears Prada
An absolute masterclass in metal songwriting. TDWP have perfectly combined the atmosphere of The Act and Transit Blues with the dark energy of 8:18 and Dead Throne, while constantly subverting structural expectations. The production is sublime, the chorus is absolutely brilliant, and the ending is legitimately shocking. Hopefully we get a full album of this sound next year.
Almost a year since this came out, but it’s a great return to form from the band, and with a little more follow up could easily be foundational in defining a new sound in metalcore. As always from these guys, the music is stunningly impressive (please focus on the drums only for a listen) without compromising the catchiness. Incorporating vaporwave into a futuristic atmosphere is brilliant, and truly fresh.
This Town Needs Guns – Foxblood
Foxblood has only released two albums (both incredible), but they’re already functionally in their third era as a band thanks to never ending member changes (and returns!). In light of that, their current tact of releasing standalone singles that let them experiment a bit more makes total sense. In the past their best songs have had an incredibly dark and heavy atmosphere, so if you told me this song was built around undistorted guitar, hand claps, and a sax solo, I’d be skeptical. But somehow, it works incredibly well. The rhythmic vocals adapt surprisingly well to this lighter bounce from the usual breakdowns, and the clean vocals have never sounded better.
I did not like Atena’s last album at all, but this (along with their recent Norwegian language singles) points to a very promising future. On the surface, their style doesn’t differ much from mainstream metalcore. Dig a little deeper though, and while the structure is familiar, the tones are totally unique. Their guitar tones are incredibly bassy, like deathcore but less distorted. The electronics either replicate the underground electronic scene, or borrow an almost liturgical atmosphere. The big change here is that everything is just a little brighter, now that their trilogy of connected albums is finished, and the relatively upbeat sound suits them quite nicely. Hopefully this finally gets them the recognition they deserve.
Another triumphant return! It’s pretty likely that Anberlin will be releasing more music, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see this end up on a new album, but for now nothing has been announced. It’s one of the more aggressive tracks they’ve released over their career, and combines the commitment to complex anthemic rock of Vital/Devotion with the retro soundscapes and detailed production of Lowborn. It might not be the easiest entry point for new fans, but for existing fans it’s a perfect return.
This is pretty straight forward metalcore, but it’s just such a good song. It perfectly combines the early 2010s scene with modern ideas. There’s a level of energy in the vocals that can be somewhat hard to find, and the chorus is beyond catchy. The band has quite a few releases over the past several years, but this is a massive step forward for them in terms of both songwriting and production. Hopefully it isn’t a one off, and we get more along the lines of this song in the near future.
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