It’s another bumper edition of our Singles Club, with DJ Astrocreep taking the helm of the ÜR decks of death. We had well over 200 submissions yet again over the past fortnight, so enough with the brief faffing and let’s dive straight into some music!
First up for this roundup, we have Canada’s Black Absinthe with ‘Witness’, bearing the hallmarks of some of today’s greats, with hints towards the likes of Motörhead meets Municipal Waste in that hard rock approaching crossover kind of feel.
Kicking along the same lines, we have American glamsters Wildstreet with ‘Three Way Ride’, which definitely owes inspiration to the ’80s LA strip bands like Motley Crüe et al. Enough sleaze to make Tommy Lee sit up and take notice!
On to something that is entirely my kettle of fish next in heavy blues duo The Cold Stares and their latest track ‘Into Black’. Sabbath-esque riffs, raspy vocals and a strong lyrical ability – great track!
On to an act a little closer to home now, with London-based alt-math-rock newcomers Civil Villains with ‘Soapbox’, a track that goes between soft and melodious and rather more into your face!
Brit easycore up and comers A New Hope have created a quite A Day To Remember track with their latest effort ‘The Triggering’, with pop-punk like choruses combined with the rather more angry sounding verses interspersing melody and agression in decent quantities!
Speaking of A Day To Remember, they have new single ‘Resentment’ just out, which is another cut straight from their usual sound – plenty of melody, plenty of pounding guitars and drums make for a real earworm!
Emo veterans Giants Chair are back after a 23 year hiatus with ‘Kids Running’, a road trip story that shows they have lost none of their ability to craft catchy hooks and a sound that crosses almost into alt-Rock territory.
Time to up the heaviness now, with Canadian metallers Hyperia and one of the more story based tracks from their forthcoming debut album with ‘Asylum’. The music is thrashy and the vocals seem to owe as much to 3 Inches Of Blood as some of the more gutteral styles, creating an interesting mix!
A real treat next with personal favourites Sons Of Apollo with ‘Goodbye Divinity’. With the prog metal supergroup being close to releasing their album, this single features both their heavier and an almost otherworldly sound at times, showcasing how strong they all are individually as much as collectively.
Irish electro-alt-rockers Sugarwolf have created a doozy of a track with new single ‘Scared Of The Dark’. Strong bass lines and vocals mix with well crafted riffs to formulate a rather likeable song.
Symphonic metallers Whyzdom seem to have uppped the ante somewhat with ‘As Time Turns To Dust’ creating a rather cinematic style of writing around a heavy rock base, with vocalist Marie bounding quite effortlessly between her rock and operatic sides!
Heavy-as-fuck metallers Mental Cavity have brought a dose of blastbeats, riffs and pinch harmonics in their latest single ‘Artifical Integration’, a comment on their disgust at peoples’ treatment of the planet.
Hot Snakes have been around for a while, with ‘Checkmate’ being a rather more old school punk affair than some of their usual post-hardcore sounds, losing none of their effectiveness nor songwriting ability in the mix!
Italian symphonic metallers Temperance have ‘My Demons Can’t Sleep’ out on Napalm as their new single, with a definite feel of power-rock as much as their usual symphonic stylings on yet another high octane, highly melodic track!
Our penultimate track sees us refind Calva Louise, an act I caught live suppporting Hunter And The Bear just over a year ago, with ‘Adelante’. Grunge pop sensibilities against a background of electronic rock darkness provide a great backdrop for Jess’s rather enticing vocals.
Instead of our usual chill out at the end, we have monolithic post-metallers Beggar, with ‘Nine Atmospheres’, a stand alone sludge-like track which somehow manages to blend musical harmonies with pit of hell vocals and still sound like something definitely worth your time!
That’s it for this round up – Monk will be back in two weeks’ time to fill your eyes and ears with the latest batch of singles to have wound up in the ÜR death decks. Until then, keep on rocking!