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 honor goes to Kittie’s thrashy comeback single “Eyes Wide Open.”
For a band that’s been on hiatus or recently reunited, the comeback single is a chance to reignite a career and reinvigorate a fanbase. It consummates the return — and serves a sonic benchmark of how an artist or band has evolved — or devolved, in many cases — over the elapsed years/decades.
This week, Canadian metallers Kittie dropped the epitome of the ideal comeback single in the form of “Eyes Wide Open.”
The band’s first new song in 13 years offers a modern update on Kittie’s pre-established sound — best exemplified on their lauded albums Spit (2000) and Oracle (2001) — with tight groove-metal riffage and a compact, no-bullshit arrangement. Vocalist Morgan Lander’s domineering howls are a highlight, and the whole package recalls early Pantera and Machine Head with its combination of riffs and badass attitude.
Honorable Mentions:
Deicide – “Sever the Tongue”
There’s something about seeing the classic Deicide demon medallion on the cover that has us particularly stoked for the Florida death metal vets’ new album Banished by Sin. It’s a bold move to directly reference your most hallowed work, and with it comes expectations and the preconceived notion that this album is cut of the same blasphemous cloth. Well, it sure sounds like it is — if “Sever the Tongue” is any indication. This is an ornate brand of brutality, with barrages of technical riffing and unrelenting gutturals from Glen Benton, who remains the most dedicated Satanist of the first-wave Floridian death metallers.
Hot Water Music – “Menace”
Hot Water Music dropped a pair of singles upon the announcement of their new album Vows. The track “Menace” is our pick of the two, as it delivers the multifaceted post-hardcore that has become the band’s calling card over the past three decades. We’re treated to the the gruff-yet-melodic vocals of Chuck Ragan, big pop-punky chords, and a bombastic chorus — via the cleaner vocal delivery of Chris Wollard — that sounds like three hooks in one.
Sonic Universe – “I Am”
Sonic Universe is a new band formed by Living Colour frontman Corey Glover and Adrenaline Mob guitarist Mike Orlando. The music follows the same vibrant funk-metal formula that made Glover’s main band arguably the face of the sub-genre. If you like Living Colour, a song like “I Am” will sound joyously familiar, anchored by the charismatic presence of Glover himself.