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, the top track goes to Bleed From Within for “In Place of Your Halo.”
Bleed From Within have billed their upcoming LP as a new beginning of sorts, boldly titling the album Zenith as a mark of confidence.
With tracks like the vicious “In Place of Your Halo,” it’s clear to see why they’re so high on the project. This is a leaner and more to-the-point BFW, taking a cue from some of the other UK hardcore bands by adding some physicality and visceral riffage. While not quite beatdown hardcore, the Scottish band definitely ride the slam riffs and breakdowns pretty hard here, culminating with the epic turnaround just over halfway through when the bagpipes kick in.
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Yes, bagpipes. In a nod to their homeland, Bleed From Within make killer use of them — maybe the best in a heavy music context since AC/DC (lest we’re forgetting something).
Honorable Mentions:
Arch Enemy – “Blood Dynasty”
Arch Enemy‘s previous single “Liars & Thieves” is one of our favorite classic-sounding metal cuts of 2024, and the metal veterans have followed that up with “Blood Dynasty” — the title track from its forthcoming album. The song is more mid-tempo death metal — Alissa White-Gluz is hitting her deepest gutturals — but still has plenty of Arch Enemy’s signature melodic flourishes and riffwork, including some shreddy Schrapnel Records-style solos.
Dream Theater – “A Broken Man”
Dream Theater have definitely gotten heavier with Mike Portnoy back in the fold. The opening of “A Broken Man” — the second single from Parasomnia — is crushing by latter-era DT standards and sets up James LaBrie’s vocals as he sings impressionistic lyrics about the horrors of war. Running over eight minutes in length, it’s not all bleak: near the song’s conclusion, the band breaks into a full-on blues bridge that ever-so-briefly shoots a beam of positivity into the mix. Then it’s back to the tectonic prog riffs.
Tremonti – “The End Will Show Us How”
That Mark Tremonti is not the lead singer of his two most popular musical projects — Creed and Alter Bridge — is one of the anomalies of mainstream hard rock. The guy sings like a bird (just ask the Sinatra fans), and thankfully he has his eponymous project in which to showcase his voice and songwriting. Tremonti’s latest single “The End Will Show Us How” is a genuinely beautiful slice of somber alt-rock, delivered with the humble honesty latent to the post-grunge era from which he hails.
