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, first place goes to Job for a Cowboy, “Beyond the Chemical Doorway.”
Last year, Job for a Cowboy returned with their first new music in almost a decade and they did not disappoint. Comeback single “The Agony Seeping Storm” became one of the strongest heavy songs of 2023, generating great excitement for the death metal band's new album. Lunar Healer.
The album's third single and opener, “Beyond the Chemical Doorway,” describes the broader concept behind the LP: a complex, psychological story that is heavily influenced by Gnosticism. In fact, the song's lyrics function as an exploration of religious ideology (an introduction, for the uninitiated) with frontman Jonny Davy acting as narrator.
This is not a spoken word track; far from there. The song's twisted, spastic progressive metal arrangement is matched by Davy's wild vocal performance, which sees him reach his full range, from guttural gurgles to nasal screams. Despite being just over four minutes long, the song seems epic.
Honorable mentions:
Fragile Body – “Chorus”
Screeches generate galloping rhythms as Illinois' Frail Body blurs the line between scream and black metal on their latest single “Refrain.” If you speed up the scream, it can certainly resemble black metal, especially the vocals, and Frail Body tests those limits here, playing at such a pace that blast beats are required to keep up. The band eases the tension with some more melodic breakdowns and transitions, creating a linearity throughout the song's three-plus minute duration.
LIVEALIE – “Don't forget me”
Former Oceans Ate Alaska frontman James Harrison has resurfaced with a new project, LIVEALIE. The group released their debut single “Forget-Me-Not,” tapping into the same deathcore sound that Harrison fronted in his former band. Their distinct howls are combined with Jordan Lee Corman's clean singing, presented in a simultaneous duet style, with each vocalist gliding over some pretty peak metalcore. Check this one out if you like the deadlier, more progressive sides of metalcore, as well as the more emotional interpretations of the genre.
Purest form: “broken” ***[EMBARGOED till 10 AM ET]***
Purest Form is a new industrial band formed by members of underground groups Choking on Ash, Vacant Future, Fury and Object of Affection. Drawing comparisons to Depeche Mode and Nine Inch Nails, Purest Form’s debut single “Broke” should endear itself to the target audience with its harsh synths and deliberate drum machine thump. The central riff here is a particularly catchy earworm that quickly works its way into the psyche. Sign us up for more.
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