“Spell of the Skull” Burning Witches – Carswellfamilyfoundation

Heavy song of the week is a Heavy Consequence column highlighting the best metal, punk and hard rock tracks you need to listen to every Friday. Burning Witches’ only single, “The Spell of the Skull,” takes first place this week.

A week like this makes us grateful for heavy metal. Catharsis of brutal, tactile sounds; an escape of fantastical, otherworldly lyrics and theatrical vocals. This functionality is one of the defining characteristics of metal. And damn, it was a much-needed distraction from the turmoil of the outside world.

Swiss band Burning Witches are one of those outstanding power metal bands whose music is full of pure, exciting joy. Anthemic vocals, driving riffs and a classic ’80s-style solo that will send shivers down your spine—the band’s latest single, “The Spell of the Skull,” has it all. And for five minutes the external noise and negativity subside. Long live the timeless heavy metal of this genre, and let’s go!

“The Spell of the Skull” will be available physically on December 10th as part of a 12″ vinyl maxi-single with B-side “Mirror, Mirror”.

Honorable Mentions:

Deline – “Harvest”

Many American bands have been predictably quiet this week, although the European heavy metal contingent has continued to announce albums and schedule releases. Dutch symphonic metallers Delay were among the latter, offering the melodic track “The Reaping”. Diana Leah’s clean vocals shimmer over slam riffs and powerful synth beats, reminiscent of the alt-metal of Evanescent and industrialists HEALTH at their metal peak.

Death – Animal Self

The latest single from veteran bassist David Ellefson. Dit“Animal Me” is somewhere in between Chaos of our eraPrevious thrash metal endeavors – the Sepultura and Ellefson era: a three-minute barrage of groove metal riffs, not filtered through pure, unadorned music. Of Ellefon’s post-Megadeth projects, Dieth is perhaps the most extreme and edgy – they sound angry – which can be seen as a reaction to his falling out with Dave Mustaine and as a challenge to his former band to stand up to the aggression on display here.

Malice – “Trenches”

Absolutely brutal stuff from the UK maliciousness. Much like Kublai Khan TX’s hardcore beatdown and the breakdowns in Knocked Loose’s set, the aptly named “Trenches” is sure to result in bruises and broken bones as the moshes start spinning. Malevolence’s metal core sets their sound apart in many ways from the aforementioned bands, although they are all cut from the same HXC cloth. Someone take them on a tour together and make sure there is medical assistance on site.