Heavy Song of the Week is a feature on Heavy Consequence breaking down the top metal, punk, and hard rock tracks you need to hear every Friday. This week, No. 1 goes to BABYMETAL and Slaughter to Prevail’s collaborative single “Song 3.”
BABYMETAL’s new album METAL FORTH is shaping up to be quite a diverse collection. Seven of the album’s 10 tracks are collabs, and based on the five tracks we’ve heard as singles, they all sound pretty different from one another.
The most remarkable of the bunch is the Japanese trio’s collab with Slaughter to Prevail, “Song 3.” Don’t let the nondescript title fool you — this uncompromising track is wildly expressive and so batshit insane, it takes a couple listens to unpack.
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A true cross-continental affair, “Song 3” was composed between the UK and Russia by Slaughter to Prevail’s Jack Simmons and Alex Terrible, who crafted a twisted, mangled, and brutal piece of deathcore — even by their standards. Add on a vocal stew of signature Slaughter to Prevail gutturals mixed with BABYMETAL’s kawaii triple team — plus a surprise cameo by Trivium’s Matt Heafy on shamisen — and you’ve got controlled chaos bordering on the avant-garde.
Honorable Mentions:
Chevelle – “Jim Jones (Cowards, Pt. 2)”
Chevelle’s latest single touts thick groove-metal riffs and an inspired performance from singer-guitarist Pete Loeffler, who puts his falsetto to work across the five-minute runtime. His high register combined with the prog underbelly of the arrangement warrants the obligatory Tool comparison, although Chevelle keep things tempered enough for this track to still slot nicely into airplay rotation — the Illinois band maintaining its reputation from bringing some headiness to the mainstream rock circuit.
Pendulum – “Save the Cat”
We’re here for Pendulum’s reinvention as a metal act. “Save the Cat” melds the reunited band’s unrelenting drum-and-bass breakbeats with elements of harsh industrial and screamo — and to great effect. This casts a large genre net and could easily appeal to fans of any of the aforementioned styles, moshers and ravers alike.
Pig Pen – “Rabid Beach”
Pig Pen, the hardcore supergroup fronted by chef/actor Matty Matheson, are two-for-two. The band’s second single “Rabid Beach” is another fast ripper during which Matheson is completely unhinged on the mic, spewing words in a cathartic frenzy. A man of many talents, he appears to be a natural hardcore frontman.
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