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 honor goes to Boris and Uniform’s “You Are the Beginning.”
Few bands are more malleable than Boris. The Japanese act has collaborated with a plethora of artists including Merzbow and Sunn O))), and their latest joint effort sees them teaming up with Sacred Bones labelmates Uniform for the forthcoming Bright New Disease LP.
The collab originated from Boris and Uniform’s 2019 tour together, when each band recognized a kindred spirit in the other. “You Are the Beginning” serves as a fine introduction to their sonic union, fusing Boris’ galloping thrash with Uniform’s more industrial-tinged elements, such as the barked David Yow-esque vocals of Michael Berdan and the swaths of noise percolating under the surface.
Overall, this particular track leans more Boris — the main instrumentation hails from the band’s 2020 studio sessions — but a press release for the album hints at the collaboration running both ways, with Uniform also providing the basis for various tracks. If “You Are the Beginning” is any indication, we’re in for a vicious melding of minds.
Honorable Mentions:
3Teeth – “Merchant of the Void”
3Teeth’s latest single “Merchant of the Void” fixates on humanity’s obsession with materialism and the doomed future it presents. The band’s classic take on industrial metal serves as a fitting score for such apocalyptic ruminations, with hints of Nine Inch Nails and Rammstein coursing through the synth-heavy instrumentation and electro-metal harshness. The track sounds huge, a credit to 3Teeth tapping DOOM sound designer Mick Gordon for assistance with the recording process.
Angel Du$t – “Very Aggressive”
Angel Du$t have functioned as a Baltimore hardcore institution since forming in 2013, with frontman Justice Tripp surrounding himself with like-minded artists such as Turnstile’s Daniel Fang, Pat McCrory, and Brendan Yates, all who have been members of Angel Du$t. It would seem some of the latter band’s influence has rubbed off on Tripp (or vice-versa?), as “Very Aggressive” has tangible Turnstile-isms via its pop-injected take on hardcore and the lack of adherence to genre barriers. And we’ll take a gander that the song title is piss-take at the idea of it being considered “hardcore” in the first place. Very clever.
Poppy – “Spit” (Kittie Cover)
It really was a banner week for industrial music, as we round out our SOTW rundown with Poppy’s sonic makeover of Kittie’s “Spit.” The second single from Poppy’s forthcoming album sees her updating the 1999 nu-metal track for the year 2023, injecting it with manic hyperpop and maximalist electroclash brutality.