Curated by DJ Astrocreep
It’s DJ Astrocreep back behind the wheels of steel and we have even more submissions for this feature that normal – a whopping 231, to be exact – so it’s time to get listening and whittling down through a lot of rather good tracks to make the shortlist.
What better place to start than one of the hottest properties in metal right now, Jinjer? ‘On The Top’ shows their usual melodic metal approach, showing both sides of Tatiana’s vocal style and veers between a prog metal battering and a softer, laid back melodic approach for a breakdown.
While we’re on the heavier end, let’s add some Blood Incantation into the mix, with cosmic death metal song ‘Inner Paths (To Outer Space)’ sounding something a lot closer to Tool than I would generally give them credit for, in the main. While their heavier sound does come out, it’s the laid back side that definitely catches the ear, adding more intrigue to their already well known heavier side.
In what is one of their most melodic and widely listenable for those not so into their usual prog metal leanings, Leprous have a new single out in the shape of ‘Distant Bells’. A soft, highly melodic track that builds to a crescendo in the way a wave will gather pace and strength before crashing on the rocks, it’s a track of unusual quality.
After 3 more metal takes, it’s time for a change up and what better way to do so than our old friends in Airbourne with ‘Backseat Boogie’. Another old school hard rock track that the Aussie rogues do so well – not much more can be added without just having a listen to the song!
While we’re on the rock spectrum, it’s time to take a breather slightly and take in Welsh rockers Scarlet Rebels, with their latest single ‘Heal’ – a song that goes between old school ballad and ’90s Aerosmith-esque sing along. Plenty of melody, plenty of feeling and plenty of soul combine for a strong track.
Melodic hardcore from Germany may not be the first thing you think of, but Rising Insane seem to be on a warpath to change that opinion with a track that works well on both the soft melodic and dissonant, aggressive hardcore side that they have, in deeply personal track ‘Last Fragments’:
Another track with that much aggression that it’s not just in your face, but it’s sat at in your lap at your dinner table, grabbed your wrists and is now making you feed it your dinner, Uneven Structure have turned the notch up even more with their progressive take on post-Metal. New single ‘Everyman’ is taken from their ‘Paragon‘ album, released at the end of this week, and akin to taking a cheesegrater to your nether regions with the odd bit of salve in there with their melodies.
Ring up another one for the prog titans The Flower Kings now, with ‘Miracles For America’ sounding like they should join Rick Wakeman in his cape wearing with this highly melodic old school prog track which features their usual exceptional musicianship and ridiculous levels of melody.
A new act to us now with Rusty Shipp proving they’re far from a wreck yet with ‘Detonator’, an alt-rock track that features riffs, melodies and quite bewitching vocals – check it out with a click below!
Aussie pop-punkers Homestate have take is a ‘Sick Sad World’ with the first single off their upcoming EP. It features plenty of energy, singalong parts and is quite reminiscent of the early 2000’s school of pop-punk whilst taking it’s name from 90’s hit series ‘Daria’ and her rather sardonic way of looking at life.
Taking things back towards the brutal now, Maltese metallers Align The Tide are adding a touch of groove into their traditionally heavy stance with ‘Blacklist’. While not a personal song, but rather an incidental look at a mercenary/hired gun from a neutral point of view, it certainly still rips the fuck out of your eardrums in all the right ways!
London based math-alt-rockers Civil Villains have their debut single just out, ‘Dead Still’, which is a rather intriguing mix of melody, dissonance and something just a little bit batshit, with plenty of energy and verve, a style of songwriting that makes a mockery of their short time together.
Breakout melodic rock act Bad Wolves have another song out in the form of ‘Crying Game’, a good mix of melody and power in a style that Breaking Benjamin fans would definitely find appealing.
Green Day are back again and the iconic pop-punkers have served up yet another aural treat for us with ‘Fire, Ready, Aim’, a single taking aim at the daily outrage some people need for their daily fix on social media – something I’m sure we can all appreciate!
Keeping with the generally melodic theme of this Singles Club instalment, we have South African post-metal act Constellatia now, with ‘All Nights Belong To You’ showing a great amalgamation of post-metal with black metal hints, with some rather sumptuous melodies forming a great deal of the track.
Post-hardcore/metalcore act Only The Righteous are rightfully making waves at the moment and it’s easy to see why with tracks like ‘What We Could Have Been’ spewing forth from them! Plenty of energy, plenty of talent and a certain something you can’t put your finger on. A hugely enjoyable track!
A step to the old school now and Angel Witch are back at it again with ‘Condemned’. Another slice of what these guys do best, melodic NWoBHM, bringing forth memories of a time prior to the million new genres a day acts we get some times now!
A switch to some country rock now, with Jason Aldean providing a rather different look at video making for ‘We Back’. The song itself is a catchy rock track with plenty of hooks and hidden little guitar parts that just seem to blossom in your ears as an underlay rather than the primary focus, making for a good depth of song writing.
MakeWar have followed up their previous track with ‘Sails’ taken from their forthcoming Fat Wreck Chords release ‘Get It Together’. It’s another dose of punk rock which cements their place as one to definitely keep an eye and ear out for in the current wave of up and coming punk acts.
Our penultimate track sees us take in some power pop in the form of The Speedways and lead video ‘They Don’t Know’. A melodic slice of aural heaven, with dreamy vocal melodies over some good old fashioned rock fun – certainly one to keep a watch for!
As I’ve been on a bit of a punk kick recently, what better way to end this feature than with punk icons Anti-Flag and ‘Christian Nationalist’, another politically charged track from them – quelle surprise! It’s a good slice of old school punk served up with more than a side order of social wokeness – Anti-Flag at their best!
So finally we get to the end of this bumper edition of the Singles Club feature. We’ve brought you the pick of the 230+ submissions we received over the last two weeks, and we hope you’ve enjoyed our chocies! DJ Monk is back on the twin-deck attack for our next instalment in a fortnight’s time so, til then, keep on rockin’!
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