Listen To This: 5 Songs You Need To Hear Right Now (March 23, 2020)
Weirdo indie rock and bitchin’ splatterthrash feature in this week’s round-up of new goodies.
A lot of new music passes through the Kerrang! offices on a daily basis, from pop-punk to gore metal. And while we like plenty of what we receive, there are just some tracks that we need to tell the world about the minute we hear them. Welcome to Listen To This, a new weekly column where we share five new songs that make us excited to be rock fans. For everyone out there looking for something new and interesting to start off their week, get in here – you’ve got to hear this stuff.
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Week two of quarantine proper begins to test the limits of how much isolation even shut-ins are willing to undertake. However, plenty of musicians around the world are doing their part by releasing both awesome new material and rare old goodies to please their adoring public. Here are five tracks that’ll help you weather the calm…
Dregg – Hectic (Epitaph)
For fans of: downset, Sum 41, Papa Roach
A lot of heavy modern bands throw nu-metal around as an influence, but Dregg are one of the few where it's genuinely audible. This Melbourne, Australia-based quintet don’t embody the genre’s passion for the low end or whatever, they play straight-up rap-metal about how rad they are. The video for Hectic sees the band creating some low-fi cartoons with a color scheme and attitude that’s extremely pop-punk, which helps explain how they got signed to Epitaph (they even shout the label out in the video) when they go full Ozzfest ’01.
Creepshow – Bump In The Night (self-released)
For fans of: Ghoul, Axeslasher, Nekrofilth
Hell and damn yes! Chicago's Creepshow aren’t here to play the nuance game – these dudes grind out gnarly synth-thrash metal about horror movies, and it fucking rules. Their new EP Bump In The Night is an awesomely spooky rager, and the title track is a perfect example of why. The song stomps with Scott Ianish enthusiasm, but still has enough reverb and howl to give it an atmospheric underground quality. For those slasher flick-worshipping thrash fans who have worn out their Vanik records, here’s something new with which to shake the rafters.
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Birthmarks – One Pulse (self-released)
For fans of: Muse, Portishead, Deftones
There’s a masterful crash at the center of both Birthmarks’ new single One Pulse and its video. The track rests on its crescendo, with massive waves of shimmering synth cascading down a skeleton of guitars and drums to create a dreamy moment of continuous climax. The video – well, you’ll just have to see, but rest assured the gravitas of the cinematic experience reflects that of the band’s music. One’ll be interested to see how this London trio extend their ever-widening explosion of sound, but rest assured, we’re here for it.
Malokarpatan – Filipojakubská noc na Štangarígelských skalách (Invictus Records)
For fans of: Carpathian Forest, Enslaved, Tribulation
Man, Slovakia’s Malokarpatan are proving that epic black metal is anything but dead. Rather than pushing the genre’s more furious or brutal side, the band go all-in on occult atmosphere and kickass riffs, resulting in killer long-form tracks that never lose their leathery touch. Filipojakubská… clocks in at almost eight minutes, but stays headbang-able the entire time, with its moments of Peer Gynt-esque folkishness (what an ending!) imbuing it with a diabolically old-school side. Sounds like a woodcut of a witch riding a stove over a pine forest.
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The Homeless Gospel Choir – Art Punk (Hassle Records in the UK, A-F Records in the U.S.)
For fans of: Bomb The Music Industry!, Spanish Love Songs, FIDLAR
'Art punk fuck-up locked inside / In the middle of summertime / I don’t want to go out…' The lyrics of the Homeless Gospel Choir’s new single Art Punk could be the rallying cry for those who secretly love quarantine. The Pittsburgh-based one-man-project-turned-punk-collective certainly exude a sense of snotty emotional introspection on the track, with the video showing off the kind of simple special effects that made old-school MTV so damn fun to watch. A big, loud anthem for the indoor kids.
The Homeless Gospel Choir's This Land Is Your Landfill comes out April 24.