ABORTED, SIGNS OF THE SWARM Among Gimme Metal's Top Tracks of the Week

Gimme Metal Program Director Brian Turner delivers the week's top 5 office buzz-worthy tracks.

ABORTED – Drag Me To Hell

Despite their 20 years of incessant goofball gags and lyrical headscratchers, Belgium's Aborted are serious as a heart attack as they continue their guttural path on the new 'ManiaCult' out on Century Media. This teaser track from their 11th LP synergizes their brutal vision taking death metal to some epic heights, albeit dotted with pig squeals to remember where they're coming from in the first place.

HATE – Rugia

The Polish death metal combo turn up the blackened flame on their latest Metal Blade offering. Dragging out imagery of Slavic battles of yore, they've arrived again with a new drummer to propel their fantastic attack, crammed with slaughtering riffs and rhythms amidst unholy guttural growls. It's all blanketed with a thick layer of atmospherics and is one of the more sonically advanced DM stabs this year.

GLASSING – Burden

Vets of a past Gimme DJ special, Austin's Glassing are back and still fueled with a chaotic mess of explosive riffs, guttural hysterical vox and ambitious genre-swing. Post-hardcore, echo-flanked scrapings and piercing feedback segue into menacing drones and psychedelicized stop-start passages of tension and explosion.

MUSK OX – Weightless

While the academic zones of chamber arrangements and classical guitar may not be the most forefront aspects of the metal genre, Musk Ox's focus on the sheer darkness they exude in their analog/raw setting sets them a breed apart. Sedate and swelling string figures consume any need for flash (despite their classically-trained prowess), theirs is a pure demonstration of emotion, minor key dissonance and painting a square picture of sublime downer vibe glory.

SIGNS OF THE SWARM – Death Whistle

While the frequent sonic paths travelled by most deathcore outfits can be counted on a few fingers, Pittsburgh's Signs Of the Swarm differ. Any band implementing slam risks the possibility of chasing their own tails around in a song, but SotS embrace the mania with vigor and create an environ where resolution is just something never attained but always reached for, which is their brilliance. It also helps that their sheer power, riffage, and nutzoid vocals are way off the Richter scale.

Gimme Metal is the premier online radio station for metal fans around the world. It’s the first 24/7 metal music-focused community where listeners can tune in to hear world-class DJs like Dave Mustaine, Randy Blythe, Johan Hegg, Danny Lilker, Jessica Pimentel, Brian Posehn and many more play the sounds that you just don't hear anywhere else. Check it out for free at GimmeMetal.com. Also available for iOS and Android. Be sure to browse their store for killer selections.