Heavy Song of the Week is a Heavy Consequence feature that breaks down the best metal and hard rock tracks you need to hear every Friday. This week, the title track is “Yellow Dawn” by SUMAC.
Last year I witnessed SUMAC perform live as part of a local experimental music festival in my hometown of Columbia, Missouri (mention Dismal Niche). It was the best metal set I've seen post-COVID: an exercise in musical chemistry that left the audience speechless. And this wasn't a metal crowd, but a handful of music lovers and adventurous listeners from all walks of life. SUMAC had us captivated.
The band’s new single, “Yellow Dawn,” takes me back to that scene. Fascinating repetitions, post-hardcore angular shifts, crushing tones, sinuous arrangements that move from controlled cudgels to tornadic fights. The trio of guitarist and vocalist Aaron Turner (formerly of ISIS), bassist Brian Cook and drummer Nick Yacyshyn have the synchronicity of a jazz ensemble, connected in a way that makes the improvisational elements of “Yellow Dawn” They seem totally deliberate and written. That much of this is, in fact, improvised is surprisingly impressive.
Honorable mentions:
Best Lovers – “The Blossoming”
“The Flowering” has been a mainstay in the Better Lovers setlist since their first shows, but the studio recording only surfaced last week. The verses are structured around breakneck riffs and fast tempos, slowing down to crushing chugs for the chorus breaks. Meanwhile, frontman Greg Puciato bounces between raspy howls and layered melodic cleans.
Kittie – “We are shadows”
Kittie's second single since their return is a little more in line with the group's classic nu-metal era material. This is mainly due to Morgan Lander's highly melodic vocal delivery on this track, although the groovy thrash metal riffs follow in the vein of previous single “Eyes Wide Open”. All signs point to an imminent feature film from the reunited Canadian team.
Knocked Loose – “Don't Get Me”
If you were to make a future bet on “hardcore album of the year,” Knocked Loose would certainly have some favorable odds. The two singles from their upcoming LP are among the band's most extreme tracks to date. Frontman Bryan Garris called the final song, “Do n't Reach to Me,” the “baddest” song he's ever written, and it sure sounds like that. His unhinged howls cut through the mix, and the implementation of extreme metallic percussion gives the track a sense of unpredictability, as the blast beats morph into thrashy gallops.
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