Single Slam: Massive Wagons, Borders, Antropofagus, Polar, Mist of Misery, Dunwich Dreams, Casket Robbery, Aphyxion, Fit for A King, Obvurt, Distant and Epica!

This week’s single slam features Massive Wagons, Borders, Antropofagus, Polar, Mist of Misery, Dunwich Dreams, Casket Robbery, Aphyxion, Fit for A King, Obvurt, Distant and Epica. You can read our thoughts about the latest singles from these bands below.

Massive Wagons – Please Stay Calm

British scallywags Massive Wagons have dropped their new single and its official video. With “Please Stay Calm”, Massive Wagons capture the Yacht Rock scene that’s infiltrated today’s culture, from club nights in London to dedicated radio channels and carefully curated, platinum-subscribed Spotify playlists. The track is taken from their forthcoming album, ‘Triggered!’, due out October 28th via Earache Records.

Frontman Barry ‘Baz’ Mills explains:

PLEASE STAY CALM….The song is about being on a pedestal, and being expected to act a certain way; about putting on a face or a front to deal with this life created by being in a band, or any job where you’re in the public eye; having to create a character to deal with life day to day. It’s about losing the plot and crumbling under the stress of being someone else, brought about by outside pressures. The track is dark and humorous, I’m taking the piss out of myself. It’s a sarcastic take on my life being this pathetic attempt at what people think I am, but underneath that the message is quite dark.

A foot-tapper of an alt-rock track. Massive Wagons have released a very catchy piece of music here. The rocking melody and rhythm hides a dark subject but few won’t be singing along loudly with the chorus. It’s an amusing track but kind of harrowing at the same time, if you can believe that. A pure earworm of a song.

Borders – Fix This

UK genre-defying quartet Borders have released their new single / video ‘Fix This’, taken from new album Bloom Season, out 18th November via Arising Empire.

Trying to describe Borders is a challenge and this new track is the perfect example of how they completely and utterly reject genre specifics. A track that combines rapping, electronica, djent and metal in the most unique of ways. It can reach absurd levels of heaviness but has an accessibility that fits the modern stylings that encapsulate the band. If you don’t get it, your teenage kids will. Check it out here.

Antropofagus – Origin

Italy’s Antropofagus (brutal/technical death metal) have released their new album’s title track, Origin, in anticipation of the album’s upcoming release on October 28th via Agonia Records.

A beastly and brutish offering from this nasty band. Origin is intense when it comes to heaviness but downright horrifying when it comes to the technical touches. Complex music but not overtly so, Antropofagus balance technical death and brutal death to deliver something that is unrelentingly savage. Check it out here.

Polar – Burn

Polar have announced their new album Everywhere, Everything, due for release on 13th January 2023 via Arising Empire. To celebrate the quartet have released a video for their new single, ‘Burn’.

Vocalist Adam Woodford comments on the single:

We started creating ‘Burn’ pre-pandemic and this was the first song we had written together as the current line-up – then, the pandemic took over. Just like everyone else’s lives our spun into chaos and confusion, we felt immense pressure of whether the band would still have its place. We navigated how to create music while being isolated and individually each of us wrestled with our own mental health, but one thing rang clear – that we we’re going to survive whatever we faced in front us. Once ‘Burn’ took shape, we felt the energy and drive the song has would work perfectly with a lyrical idea about the burning desire to push even harder, both personally and as band. That our flame was brighter than ever and not burning out. That flame is burning brighter than ever in the form of ‘Burn’.

A kickass riff, meaty blast beats and furious energy, Polar are back and delivering a passionate display of metalcore and post-hardcore intensity. At times, the track threatens to descend into carnage but Polar manage to keep their grip and lift the music to epic sounding heights. Notable with the chorus lead-in and when they let the guitars rip.

Mist of Misery – The Long Road

Swedish symphonic black metallers Mist of Misery unveil ‘The Long Road’, their second single taken from their upcoming album ‘Severance’ to be released via Non Serviam Records on November 4th 2022.

Comments the band:

‘The Long Road’ is the second chapter of the concept album ‘Severance’. It’s quite an unusual song for Mist of Misery and differs a bit from the other tracks of the album. Yet the grandeur of the orchestral arrangements really stand out here with the harpsichord, glockenspiel, wind instruments and choirs.

There’s a chill in the air as Mist of Misery come blowing in with one of their most elaborate tracks to date. The focus is on melody, the prominence of orchestral arrangements, but it’s still undeniably black metal. In fact, as it develops, the talented group showcase an incredible array of layers that make this one hell of a special track. Black metal really shouldn’t sound this pretty. Check it out here.

Dunwich Dreams – Rise of the Seventh Sun

Dunwich Dreams is an industrial metal band from Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. They will release their new single ‘Rise of the Seventh Sun’, the title track from their upcoming album, set to release early next year. Based on a Buddhist legend this song invites you to sit back and enjoy the end of the world.

One of the oddest songs heard in some time, Dunwich Dreams certainly live up to their name as the music that assails you is nightmarish and horror laden. Even after several listens, it still feels like a hazy, sweat-filled lucid dream. It’s quite a raw sounding track, where disorder reigns and there is little semblance of rhythm. That might sound painful but it’s actually quite fascinating. The sonic equivalent to gazing upon something the mind just can’t comprehend, sending it spiralling into madness. If that’s not a reason to check it out, nothing is.

Casket Robbery – Return to the Sky

Midwest death machine Casket Robbery have released ‘Return to the Sky’ off their upcoming album, Rituals of Death. The album will be released on November 11th, 2022 via Blood Blast Distribution.

Vocalist Megan Orvold-Scheider comments on the song:

‘Return to the Sky’ came about after I was reading a book about death and burial practices around the world. I read about Tibetan sky burials and knew I had to write a song about it. We tend to fear things that we don’t know, and while this practice can seem gruesome to some, there is something so incredibly beautiful about your body being returned to the earth in the end.

A straight-forward blast of heavy, this is Casket Robbery on a mission to leave you feeling utterly dazed by their death metal assault. The instruments are being played by demons and the vocals are the strained roars of the devil itself. It’s an unhuman sounding blast of death metal, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. It doesn’t get much heavier or faster than this. Check it out here.

Aphyxion – Roll the Dice

‘Roll The Dice’ is a new single from Aphyxion, taken from their forthcoming new studio album ‘Ad Astra’, which is due for release on February 10th 2023 via Circular Wave.

Says bassist Jais Jessen:

‘Roll The Dice’ is about listening to your intuition and being courageous enough to follow your dreams and desires. We want the people hearing it to stop and really ask themselves: am I happy with the way I live, or do I need to roll the dice and try something different for a change? Just take a leap of faith, jump in the deep end, follow your gut and trust that the pieces will fall into place along the way. This is what we felt we did back when we started the band: jumped into a project that gave us joy and the feeling of being part of something bigger than ourselves.

Holy *insert expletive*, Aphyxion have released a freaking banger here. A track that has heavy head-banging groove and one hell of an anthemic chorus. It’s a masterpiece of heavy metal, where the slam of the instruments and roaring vocals are perfectly balanced with the cleaner chorus. It will be stuck in your head for days afterwards. Especially because the ache in your neck serves as reminder of how hard you banged your head to it.

Fit for A King – Times Like This

Fit for A King release their new album The Hell We Create on October 28 via Solid State Records. Now, the band have shared a new single, ‘Times Like This’, featuring Jonathan Vigil of The Ghost Inside.

Says singer Ryan Kirby:

Times Like This is about how as a society, we have accepted misinformation as a part of life, and in some cases, even embraced it. Those in power keep us at each other’s throats using these tactics, and when we rise above the noise, we can finally give the throne back to the many — not the few.

They’re on fire at the moment and this new track only helps increase the power and intensity of the flame. This new track just happens to feature a collaboration that is both crowd pleasing and punishing. Melodic metalcore, the pace is intense and the chorus soars. It’s a really enjoyable track and yet more proof that this new album is going to be an album of the year contender. Check it out here.

Obvurt – Invisible Enemy

Canadian technical death metal trio Obvurt return with new album Triumph Beyond Adversity, due to be released via Unique Leader on 2nd December. Alongside the announcement the band have released a new music video for the album’s first single, ‘Invisible Enemy’.

A frenzy of tech-death, Obvert’s new single is a complex beast of a death metal track. Continuing their trend of being ferociously fast and heavy, while being intensely technical. It’s not quite as maddening as some of their other work but it’s still on another level when compared to almost every other band in this genre. Don’t even think for a second that you can predict where this track is going… you can’t.

Distant – Human Scum

Distant – the multinational down-tempo, deathcore juggernaut from Rotterdam (The Netherlands) and Bratislava (Slovakia) – has launched another standalone single today: Human Scum.

Distant comments:

‘Human Scum’ is a deathtrap of a track, with a hooky chorus and an impeccable atmospheric soundscape. The tracks adds on to the never ending evolution to Distant songwriting capabilities and the sound of hellscape. After Tyrannt’s crucible with his father – Tsukuyomi – he suffered a great defeat. Stranded in this new world in his mortal body, he’s found by his silent worshippers of the Covenant, who work to help Tyrannt’s rebirth into full power again – and, raising his army against the forces of Tsukuyomi to get the ultimate revenge.

If you know Distant, you know they create mayhem and this new single is them to a tee. Brutally heavy, with stunning ambience and effective use of effects. Distant’s good roll continues and fans of their savagery will revel in this. Darker than anything they’ve done before? It’s certainly up there. Check it out here.

Epica – The Great Tribulation

With “The Alchemy Project”, out on November 11th through Atomic Fire Records, symphonic metal titans EPICA finish their 20th anniversary year with a bang and will deliver seven new songs that were all created with a unique concept in mind: They invited 13 bands and musicians to co-write and perform the tracks with them.

For this new single, that once again thematically dives into apocalyptic realms, the band teamed up with none less than Italy’s Symphonic Tech Death pioneers Fleshgod Apocalypse.

Mark Jansen explains how the new song came to life:

We know the guys and girl from Fleshgod Apocalypse already for quite a long time and toured together. There’s a lot of mutual respect for each other’s music, so when we approached them to work together on a track, they were right away enthusiastic. I did send them some very basic ideas I had for two songs, so they could pick what they liked the most. They ended up using all the ideas and combining them into one song. That was already very promising. From there on, we organized several sessions where we worked on the song together. The process was very smooth and very inspiring. I think the result is a perfect blend between both bands!

What a fascinating collaboration this is and what an epic track it results in. The magnificence of both bands, albeit from two different worlds, coming together to create something quite spectacular. It’s the most brutal Epica have ever sounded even if that brutality comes from Fleshgod Apocalypse. Who would have thought that such a marrying could result in something so good?