The 12 best new metal songs you need to hear right now

Happy Easter! Alright, we’re just a little early, but with it being Good Friday and all, it’s only natural we’ve headed off into the long weekend to chase fleeting glimpses of the sun. That doesn’t mean we don’t have a marvellous selection of new songs for you to explore, however – quite the contrary!

First, the results of last week’s vote. There was some serious jostling for position as bands bumped each other off the podium to make the final three, but by the time voting closed some clear winners had emerged. Sweden’s melancholic prog metal masters Katatonia took third place with Lilac, narrowly knocking newcomers AlphaWhores out, but were themselves beat by fellow Swedes Ghost. But last week’s winners – and a band clearly deserving of the crown – were Warkings, the euro power metal heroes storming to the top with Armageddon.

It might be Easter weekend, but we’ve got a wonderfully ‘orrible and grotesque selection for your listening pleasure this week. Whether it’s the thumping riffs of Vader, the wailing psych rock of Electric Citizen or even smooth sax from Rivers Of Nihil, there’s a bounty of delights for you to explore – just don’t forget to cast your vote in the poll below. And with that, we bid you a very happy weekend!

Cryptopsy – Until There’s Nothing Left

An Insatiable Violence is the perfect title for a new Cryptopsy record. The Canadian death metallers have been kicking around since the late 80s and releasing music for over 30 years, their appetite for furious, high-intensity DM not wavering in all that time. With that new album set to drop on June 20, the first taste they’ve offered is the suitably pummelling Until There’s Nothing Left – business as usual, sure, but when your business is making music this serrated and vicious, who’s arguing?

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Rivers Of Nihil – Water & Time

Rivers Of Nihil have fully given over to their proggiest inclinations on Water & Time – and it’s wonderful. A gorgeous, melodic track that the band self-admit channelled 80s pop stars Tears For Fears, it somehow still manages to fold in their death metal stylings and even some gorgeous sax solos. Progressive in the truest sense of the word.

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Electric Citizen – Static Vision

Yeah, it might be Easter this weekend, but it’s also 4/20 and the perfect chance to celebrate some top notch stoner metal. In that spirit, Ohio’s sometimes-stoner-doom pysch heroes Electric Citizen have announced new album EC4 for a June 27 release, offering up a first listen in the form of riffy rock’n’roll banger Static Vision. Dripping in 70s proto-metal vibes – just listen to those keys – it’s an absolute belter.

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Vader – Unbending

When Polish metal fest Mystic wanted to pick a band to offer up an anthem for this year’s event, who else could they pick but homegrown heroes Vader? Over 40 years in the business – 33 since their debut – and Vader are still an indomitable force. Fittingly, the tune they’ve written specifically for Mystic is titled Unbending – an apt description of their own path and a perfect summation of what we can expect on new EP Humanihility on May 30.

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The Devil Wears Prada – For You

Now in their 20th year, The Devil Wears Prada have come a long way from their howling metalcore roots. But then, metalcore has changed a lot in the past 20 years and the band’s latest single, For You reflects a more pop-oriented direction mainstream metalcore – and the band themselves – have headed in, courting massive crowds with choruses you can practically hear an arena belting out. We won’t have to imagine it either; the band will be supporting Ice Nine Kills on their own arena jaunt later this year.

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Blood Command – All I Ever Hate About Is You

Spunky, spiky and all kinds of tooth-gnashingly delightful, All I Ever Hate About Is You is exactly the kind of stompy anthem punk needs in 2025. The injections of melody offer a slight reprieve on the senses, but otherwise this is snotty old school hardcore with no frills. Lovely.

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Witchrot – Possession Deepens

Be honest, without even hearing a note of their music, you already know what Witchrot sound like. Doooooooooooom, right? And yeah, you’d be pretty on the money – except for the fact that Possession Deepens isn’t doom in the typical “we love Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath from the album Black Sabbath” sense. This is gorgeously sumptuous, deeply layered dark psychedelia as you might’ve heard at the tail end of the 60s, expanding out slowly and swallowing you whole in glorious, all-encompassing fashion. New album Soul Cellar is due May 23 and the band will be over in the UK in August. You’d be mad to miss it.

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Svarta Havet – Härlig Är Jorden

Post-hardcore meets explosive black metal on Svarta Havet’s latest single, Härlig Är Jorden. It’s an emotionally charged, punishingly scouring track that comes from new album Månen ska lysa din väg, due in a couple of weeks on May 9. If you ever wondered what Svalbard would sound like with extra Immortal, the Finns may well have the answer – brilliant.

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Royale Lynn – Greed

Nashville newcomer Royale Lynn is the last figure to shift metal’s scene barometer away from metalcore and towards the realms of a new alt. metal boom. Greed is a stomping powerhouse with powerhouse vocals and a massive chorus, drawing a throughline with the likes of Evanescence, Spiritbox and Amaranthe with pop sensibilities helping cement a sense of enormity. With debut album Black Magic due on June 27, we’d say Royale Lynn is an act to keep eyes out for.

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Bratakus – Final Girls

Want more stompy, howling punk flavoured heaviness? Scotland’s Bratakus have it in spades with Final Girls, a Doc-wearing shitkicker anthem with a video inspired by Carrie. Signed to Venn Records – the label run by Gallows’ Lags – it’s a great first taste of what the duo might have in store.

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Alchemize – Unbound

From straight-ahead punk rock to ultra-technical, djenty metalcore. UK newcomers Alchemize might be relatively new to the scene, but they certainly don’t lack for ambition on Unbound, a propulsive track that folds in elements of Meshuggah-like heft with everything from metalcore arena-baiting choruses to nu metal-style turntable scratches.

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Blood Vulture – A Dream About Starving To Death

Newcomers out of New York, Blood Vulture’s debut single A Dream About Starving To Death combines a gothic sense of dread with some gorgeous, Mastodon-like riffy prog metal, with a suitably trippy music video to match that chucks up some homages to A Nightmare On Elm Street and old school horror. Featuring 2 Minutes To Late Night’s Jordan Old, the band’s debut album Die Close is due June 27 and if it’s half as inventive as this, we’re very, very excited.

Staff writer for Metal Hammer, Rich has never met a feature he didn’t fancy, which is just as well when it comes to covering everything rock, punk and metal for both print and online, be it legendary events like Rock In Rio or Clash Of The Titans or seeking out exciting new bands like Nine Treasures, Jinjer and Sleep Token.