Heavy Song of the Week is a feature on Heavy Consequence breaking down the top metal and hard rock tracks you need to hear every Friday. This week the top spot goes to Better Lovers’ “30 Under 13.”
New supergroup Better Lovers features ex-Dillinger Escape Plan vocalist Greg Puciato, guitarist Will Putney of Fit for an Autopsy, and three former members of Every Time I Die: guitarist Jordan Buckley, drummer Clayton “Goose” Holyoak, and bassist Stephen Micciche. It’s a strong tandem on paper, and vicious debut single “30 Under 13” lives up to its billing.
Aspects of each of those bands can be heard on the track, with Pucciato’s desperate screams being the most immediately obvious. As the singer explained, the song woke up a side of him that he thought was “fully extinct”, and hearing him let loose over manic, angular chords is the most Dillinger-esque throwback we’ve heard since the band broke up in 2017.
Meanwhile, Buckley, Putney, and company send the song through a mathematical progression that touts everything from Pantera-style southern thrash to breakneck hardcore — creating the effect of there being three songs in one. Rather than fire off a warning shot, Better Lovers signaled their arrival with a crushing banger of the highest caliber. An easy choice for Heavy Song of the Week and an early contender for Heavy Song of the Year. Check out the song below, and be sure to catch Better Lovers on their just announced tour with Underoath, The Ghost Inside, and We Came As Romans (tickets available here).
Honorable Mentions:
Man on Man – “Showgirls”
The joyous celebration of LGBTQ+ life that is Man on Man — the project of Faith No More’s Roddy Bottum and his partner Joey Holman — is unapologetic and downright fun. It’s refreshing to see Bottum and Holman continue to openly espouse their love for one another through upbeat noise pop jammers like “Showgirls,” hopefully inspiring more artists to do the same at a time when LGBTQ+ awareness is paramount.
Portrayal of Guilt – “Devil Music”
We had technically heard the entirety of Portrayal of Guilt’s Devil Music, but only the orchestral version of the album that runs across its B-side. It’s interesting to approach the actual songs, especially the gnarled title track, having heard those alternate versions. The Austin band’s black metal is cold and bleak, but there’s a lot going on under the hood compositionally — as highlighted by those aforementioned orchestral takes.
Spiritbox – “The Void”
Many great songs have been written in a moment of spontaneity, when an artist is at their most comfortable and letting the ideas flow. Spiritbox’s latest single “The Void” is one such song, with singer Courtney LaPlante stating that it “came about very quickly.” It’s exemplary of the band’s modern take on prog-tinged alternative metal, as LaPlante and company flex their creative muscles for this succinct sub-four-minute banger.