Single Slam: Biohazard, Carach Angren, Heartline, The Pretty Wild, GlassCastles, Mastiff, Bad Juju, As Everything Unfolds, divedown, Tribe of Ghosts, Chairmaker, and Conjurer!

Today’s single slam features Biohazard, Carach Angren, Heartline, The Pretty Wild, GlassCastles, Mastiff, Bad Juju, As Everything Unfolds, divedown, Tribe of Ghosts, Chairmaker, and Conjurer. You can read our thoughts about the latest singles from these bands below.

Biohazard – Death of Me

Brooklyn hardcore legends Biohazard have released their explosive new single ‘Death of Me’ from their upcoming album Divided We Fall, their first studio release in over a decade, out 17th October via BLKIIBLK. Reuniting the original lineup, the album delivers a blistering statement of unity amid chaos.

About the song, Danny Schuler (drums) comments:

‘Death of Me.’ One of my favourites! To me, this song embodies the frustration, miscommunication, and intolerance that we sometimes deal with in our lives. This song is a mid-tempo banger for anyone feeling like life is a never-ending battle against everything and everyone. Never give up!!!

I think we’ve got a Biohazard banger on our hands as each single released has been strong, and this new one doesn’t change that. Offering up a slow, nasty, beatdown groove that will transport listeners back to the heyday of the 90s. Thick and heavy, this is Biohazard at their best.

Carach Angren – The Resurrection of Kariba

Carach Angren reveal their latest single, ‘The Resurrection of Kariba’, from the upcoming EP ‘The Cult of Kariba’, out October 17th via Season of Mist.

Powerful symphonic black metal filled with storytelling theatrics, Carach Angren are back. Delivering horror and beauty in equal measures, but in their inimitable way. This is them at their most creative, filled with fire, and skilfully layering in grandiose melody and more. Another unforgettable effort from a band that thrives on being unforgettable. Check it out here.

Heartline – Dead Batteries

Adelaide alternative metal quartet Heartline declare their return with new single ‘Dead Batteries’, featuring guest vocals from Joshua O’Donnell of Banks Arcade.

‘Dead Batteries’ finds Heartline digging deeper into the frustrations of modern life. Says the band:

A lot of us are at a point now where we’re just exhausted. Exhausted from working so hard just to get by – and the payoff is really just that – just getting by. It leaves us with an emptiness that’s easy to lose our heart in. Sometimes we need a restart and a re-wire to find that heart again, whether it’s through talking about it or even joking about it, like saying, ‘there’s more life in a dead battery than me right now.’ It’s something almost everyone relates to at one stage or another.

This is a creative and notably anthemic track. Exploding out of the blocks with energetic alternative vibes, it grabs the attention with a lively combo that is effects heavy, but in interesting ways. It really stands out when they ‘heavy’ up though, proving that Heartline have layers. Check it out here.

The Pretty Wild – PARADOX

Rising metaphysical metalcore powerhouse The Pretty Wild have announced their debut album, “zero.point.genesis” out 21st November via Sumerian Records. The forthcoming full-length includes previously released fan favourite tracks ‘OMENS’, ‘Button Eyes’, ‘living ded’, and the smash-hit ‘sLeepwALKeR’ will be available as a physical bonus track. Altogether, the tracks have already amassed a staggering 20 million streams on Spotify alone and nearly 3.3 million views and counting on YouTube.

In celebration of the news, the sisters have released a new track from the album ‘PARADOX’ and the accompanying official video.

When asked about the album, the band shared:

‘zero.point.genesis’ is an album of collapse and resurrection, mythic, yet memeable in its rawness. For me, it’s about battling and ultimately healing the fake ego structures forged in trauma that kept me small, erasing my feminine gifts to fall in line. It’s crawling through the haunted shadow void society is too afraid to face, and emerging closer to my core essence through reclamation of those feminine gifts. – JYL

This record is layered with multiple dimensions of interpretation; the more you listen, the further you traverse through them with us. We pushed into concepts that once felt untouchable to us, we set external input aside, and wrote them anyway. It’s an album of poetic contrasts, brutally heavy moments, with haunting instrumentation and flayed open lyrics. Woven throughout are nods to our personal interests, theatrical elements, classical composition, and moments of rage and playfulness. – JULES

The more I hear from The Pretty Wild, the more I am convinced that they are going to be the next big heavy band. Not just because they are consistently releasing anthems (like this one), but because they’re releasing anthems that have universal appeal, explore different genres, and do it with confidence. It’s another lively effort with a huge chorus and a violent breakdown, what more could a head banger ask for?

GlassCastles – Gravestones

Perth-based melodic metalcore/post-hardcore outfit GlassCastles have unleashed their highly anticipated debut EP ‘Digital:Heart’, led by the emotionally charged lead single ‘Gravestones’.

I urge you to check out the whole EP, but if you only have time for one, this isn’t a bad choice as it shows off the potency that GlassCastles has and how alive their metalcore sound is. This is a darker, more emotional effort, but that just helps create deeper atmosphere. The melodies, the different vocals styles, the explosive heavier parts… it all results in a banger. Check it out here.

Mastiff – Decimated Graves

Whether spreading plagues, turning the Earth to ash or teetering on the precipice of depression, you can always count on Kingston Upon Hull’s premier misery merchants Mastiff to ruin your day. Now well over a decade into their parade of embittered misanthropy, the East Yorkshire quintet have definitively burned their mark into the UK’s extreme music scene with a fistful of mangled hardcore and sludge riffs and an endless well of spite.

‘Decimated Graves’ is the second single from their forthcoming EP ‘For All the Dead Dreams’, out 24th October via Church Road Records.

The band have this to say about the track:

Despite having every intention of writing a mostly hardcore-leaning EP, ‘Decimated Graves’ spewed itself out of us and all bets were off. The track is something of a scathing assault on anyone enabling the current genocide happening in Gaza, and musically feels like a spiritual successor to ‘Acid Breather’ – our track from the Cyberpunk 2077 soundtrack – a kinda grind/death hybrid with lots of nauseating riffs and blasts, which then lurches into a massive wall of doom at the end that feels like a return to the sound Mastiff specialised in our first couple of releases.

F**king Mastiff, man. I love ‘em and every time I think they’ve peaked in the heavy department, they drop something new that makes my insides shake. This is a beast, a riffy beast, and a bit of a throwback to an earlier form of the band. The doomy end is f**king horrific, and I absolutely love it. This new EP is going to be very special.

Bad Juju – Unwind

Melbourne-based alternative rockers Bad Juju announced the release of their upcoming EP, ‘Simulacra’, out Friday October 24th and available for vinyl pre-order via Thirty Two Records. Now, they share new single ‘Unwind’, which launched live this month at BIGSOUND and Converge Festival.

‘Unwind’ cuts to the heart of toxic power dynamics. The track captures the experience of being strung along by someone with bad intentions, where your hopes and needs are used like bait, and the eventual moment of clarity and escape.

Bursting out of the blocks, this new Bad Juju single is animated, exciting, and very appealing. Especially as it has got some really cool psychedelic twists to the alternative rock formula and still manages to deliver a catchy as hell chorus. Check it out here.

As Everything Unfolds – Point of View

As Everything Unfolds, who recently announced their signing to Century Media, have now released a brand-new single, ‘Point of View’, hot on the heels of ‘Set in Flow’, released earlier this summer.

Speaking of ‘Point of View’, vocalist Charlie Rolfe says:

You give everything you have, your whole being, your whole life, to help someone but it’s never enough if they don’t want to help themselves. I really struggled to understand how someone close to me couldn’t see my point of view in the awful situation we were in. They were angry when I helped, they were angry when I gave them space, they were angry when I stayed, they were angry when I left.

It destroyed my confidence and myself worth having to live in an environment where nothing I ever did was good enough. It hurts deeply to watch what can only be described as a car crash in slow motion, being unable to stop it but just having the strength to walk away and value your own mental health, your own sanity helped me gain back a small amount of those parts of me I lost. I really hope that someday, that person can listen to this song, and truly understand what it was like to be in that situation from my point of view.

As powerful and as personal as it gets, As Everything Unfolds are masters of making their music matter, ensuring the messages cut through, and that everyone can relate in some way or another. Even if that’s just enjoying the more melodic tone of this new single. It’s not the most memorable track they’ve released, but it is intoxicating, especially when the breakdown hits.

divedown – In My Head

Melbourne’s alternative rock scene welcomed a new voice with divedown earlier this year, who debuted their first single alongside news of their signing to Ninth Life Records. Now the band unveil their second single, ‘In My Head’.

Frontman Sam Bianco offers:

This song is about dealing with intense anxiety and all the feeling surrounding it. I have been with dealing these feelings for a while, and I’ve felt it come in waves throughout my life. This song captures a very specific and difficult period for me. The lyrics aren’t subtle, I wanted to be straight to the point, and I feel they capture exactly where my headspace was at the time.

Showing off a different side to themselves, but one still rooted in the alternative rock world, divedown take us on a moodier, and more affecting journey with this one. A bit grungy in places, a bit gazy here and there, but with plenty of poppier anthemic aspects too, it’s the kind of offering that turns heads. Keep a close eye on this band. Check it out here.

Tribe of Ghosts – Forever Falling Upwards

Brighton’s Industrial Post-Hardcore quartet Tribe of Ghosts are back with their brand-new single, Forever Falling Upwards. Forever Falling Upwards marks the first installment of the introspective EP ‘Open Wounds’. A collection of 4 tracks exploring the fears, emotions and inner worlds that helped to construct their 2024 debut album ‘City’ as well as the bands notorious ability to viscerally connect with live audiences.

Says vocalist & guitarist Adam Sedgwick:

‘Forever Falling Upwards’ is about fear, phobias and giving into them. That when you give into your fear and take that step off the edge, it’s not hitting the ground that scares you – it’s that the falling won’t ever stop.

Sounding more developed than ever, experimenting even more with an already expressive style, and pushing themselves to the limits, Tribe of Ghosts new single is mightily effective. Layered to the point that you’ll be unpeeling it over multiple listens and loving every moment of it as it is so appealing. It’s filled with industrial vibrancy, haunting melodies, unruly blasts of vehement heaviness, and features some of the band’s best vocals to date.

Chairmaker – Ratlicker

Chairmaker is the grindcore brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Neil Erskine. Fuelled by the perils of the late capitalist society we inhabit, Neil has been able to craft a fierce sound as a solo outfit. The debut album ‘Leviathan Carcass’ is set for release on November 14th. The first glimpse of the record is the lead single ‘Ratlicker’.

Well… how about that!? 48-seconds of grinding and gnashing chaos. Nothing more and nothing less. As an eye-watering and ear-bleeding introduction to Chairmaker, it really f**king hits. You’re going to come away feeling a bit shellshocked. Check it out here.

Conjurer – Let Us Live

British metal heavyweights Conjurer have revealed another glimpse of their third album, Unself, due 24th October via Nuclear Blast Records. ‘Let Us Live’, the second single released ahead of Unself, is out now.

Conjurer’s co-vocalist and guitarist Dani Nightingale comments that ‘Let Us Live’ is based on:

The idea that, even though trans and gender non-conforming people have existed for thousands of years, in all cultures, of all races, we are considered a blight on the earth and don’t deserve the rights that every other human being should be allowed upon birth. We try to educate people about our situation, to make people aware of our existence in the hopes that we (and anyone who questions their sex/gender) will be accepted and understood, yet are demonised as predators, corrupting and indoctrinating everyone around us. The song takes the form of a conversation between the Oppressed and Oppressor, just trying to understand what it is about us that causes this vitriol, when all we want to do is survive – a plea, to let us live.

A new side to Conjurer, but one that comes from time, events, and growing as a person, as well as a band. This new album is shaping up to be their magnum opus, and this new single proves it. Not just because it is a brash showcase of beauty and brutality, but because it has such a powerful point behind it. The lyrics are stunning, and the vocals deliver them with potency and resolve. I don’t think Conjurer have ever sounded this necessary and all will all be screaming “let us live” alongside the band.