Single Slam: The Halo Effect, Pissrot, Gout, and Downturn!

Today’s single slam features The Halo Effect, Pissrot, Gout, and Downturn. You can read our thoughts about the latest singles from these bands below.

The Halo Effect – Lest We Fall (ft. Marcus Bischoff & Brian Eschbach)

Swedish melodic metal force The Halo Effect have officially launched their highly anticipated European tour alongside Heaven Shall Burn and The Black Dahlia Murder, which kicked off on February 27th. To mark the tour’s opening night, the bands treated fans to a special gift: the release of a brand-new single, ‘Lest We Fall’, a collaboration featuring all three vocalists.

Mikael Stanne comments on the collaboration:

In order to kick this tour off properly we have a treat of epic proportions for you guys. As we are in full production for our next album we decided to take a bit of a detour and create something specifically for this tour throughout Europe. So here it is! “LEST WE FALL” featuring none others than Marcus Bischoff from Heaven Shall Burn and Brian Eschbach from The Black Dahlia Murder. Enjoy and see you out on the road!”

And Maik Weichert from Heaven Shall Burn adds:

Without the musical contributions of each and every member of The Halo Effect, the sound of Heaven Shall Burn simply wouldn’t exist in this form. It’s a huge honor for us to finally join forces with our friends and present this song to you! We’re also incredibly excited to have the guys on tour with us; this is going to be the best school trip ever! Be there!”

And Brian Eschbach from The Black Dahlia Murder says:

Very honored to have been asked to join in on this one with these melodic death metal legends.

This is so damn cool. A track that features three heavyweight vocalists and recognisable Halo Effect melodeath groove. A high-powered riff-driven banger with a tons of melody and one hell of a big sounding chorus. There’s nothing game changing here, but damn it if it’s not a ton of fun to listen to.

Pissrot – Sunless Embodiment of Repugnance

Kingsport, Tennessee death metal horde Pissot erupts from the underground once more with ‘Absolute Form’, set for release April 17th via Iron Fortress Records on vinyl, CD, and MC formats. The new single, ‘Sunless Embodiment of Repugnance’ is out now.

Speaking about it, guitarist Arian Mauk states:

‘Sunless Embodiment of Repugnance’ is a raw and visceral attempt at a dark descent into the bleak world of human perception and consciousness. Stylistically this song (and album) is a lot stricter than what we’ve previously done with this band.

A very harsh listen, Pissrot’s extreme style is on garish display here and this new single will leave you wondering if there will ever be light in the world again. Ok, that’s a bit hyperbolic, but the point is that the music they make is dark, evil, and savage sounding. A cacophony of horrible noise that, try as you might, manages to get under the skin. Check it out here.

Gout – I Am a Beacon of Health and Wellbeing

Gout is the doom-inducing metal project from members of Glasgow bands Lucia & the Best Boys and The Ninth Wave. They will release their new EP, ‘Actual Bastard’, on 17th April and the first single ‘I Am a Beacon of Health and Wellbeing’ is out now.

Doom metal, but not as you know it. Gout’s approach is extremely non-conventional and not just because they inject self-deprecating humour into what they do with their tongues jammed firmly in their cheeks. This single is a noisy beast, one that has a hardcore edge, and shows off some experimental thinking. Ugly to the ears, but addictive, nonetheless. Check it out here.

Downturn – Yoof

Downturn, the UK-based heavy hardcore-infused band, have released their debut single, ‘’Yoof’.

A short, sharp, and violent introduction to Downturn, a band with hardcore fire running through their veins, but built on the foundations of heavy head-banging metal. Fast and furious, the group deliver relentless intensity with the vocals in particular sounding venomous. It’s over and done with in less than two minutes but rest assured, it leaves one hell of an impression.