For the third straight year, we’ve hunted out the best songs from Europe and the UK in a bid to crown the best heavy song. We’ve dug deeper than before - there’s more independent and smaller label bands because we want to bring you some new stuff you might have missed upon first release. There’s twenty one songs this time so check out their bio below and give each track a listen. Voting closes Friday 10th May. A couple of rules:
- Songs must have been released as singles or on EPs/Albums since July 1st 2023
- Bands and songs are listed under a country listed in their biography, even though members might have been born elsewhere.
- Vote below for your five favourite songs from the contenders. Your first place gets 5 points, second gets 4 points, third gets 3 points, and then it’s 2 and 1 for your last two spots in order.
- You can’t vote for the same song more than once per entry.
Austria: Visions of Atlantis - ‘Armada’
Symphonic power metal with a great sense of pirate adventure. Formed in Styria in 2000, their ninth album Pirates II - Armada is out July 5, 2024. https://youtu.be/FOov0vMnkEA?si=TUpdcSrr2N-x9dxt
Belgium: Carnation - ‘Replicant’
Old school death metal though they’ve expanded their sound on Cursed Morality. They’ve had the same lineup since forming in 2013 and their growth is obvious on ‘Replicant’. https://youtu.be/4AqGLUDLzKA?si=105s91JMKza8hns7
Cyprus: Receiver - ‘Starchaser’
An epic metal band focused on battles and lore, captured on their debut album Whispers of Lore. Frontwoman Nikoletta Kyprianou is a star. https://youtu.be/f_Ru2GK-LOk?si=o4R5prGO5XO3z3OB
Denmark: Advocacy - ‘Star Formation’
Progressive metal band whose first album The Path of Decoherence is tremendous. Three guitars that weave a tapestry of melodic movements and hard riffs. https://youtu.be/y1mk1ecnXpA?si=QuG4Uno82u9bgCQi
Finland: Wheel - ‘Empire’
Finnish prog-metal three piece whose third album, Charismatic Leaders, came out May 3rd. ‘Empire’ starts with a heavy groove before “smouldering” as the opening line says. https://youtu.be/jYfb53AjQwc?si=SoIsiPdA6h8oXz9I
France: LANDMVRKS - ‘Creature’
French band Gojira won last year and this year that title is defended by Landmvrks. They rap in French then growl and sing in English. Scene stealers. https://youtu.be/MTfot89Ddqc?si=OMPcKBFo2TT78Yem
Germany: Gutrectomy - ‘Rough Justice’
Stupidly brutal and efficient. Label it deathcore, hardcore, slam death metal, whatever. They claim they hail from a Black Forest in Germany and I’m not going to argue with them. https://youtu.be/yIwQMRRuEiI?si=vacIvK2bfr5CJ8pV
Greece: Diviner - ‘Mountains High’
Greek heavy metal in the Dio tradition whose third album, Avaton, offers delightful riffs and soaring choruses. You’ll sing along on first listen. https://youtu.be/TXPDT_miKk8?si=agRn-sCnNPDxx0nl
Ireland: Gama Bomb - ‘Egypton’ (ft The Egyptian Lover)
Irish thrash metal, complete with mascot Snowy, but on ‘Egyptron’ they get real weird with Egyptian influenced riffs and a rap verse from The Egyptian Lover. Perfect for this contest. https://youtu.be/4vzt7bQgbZE?si=a5pFjdzntHUAZXpR
Italy: Lacuna Coil - ‘In The Mean Time’ (ft Ash Costello)
Italian stalwarts return with a new single featuring New Years Day’s Ash Costello. It’s about how awful society has gotten, with Costello’s inclusion giving the song a trio of awesome vocalists. https://youtu.be/63z4mNFXJGY?si=-ccuF2fXa8ZbCvgX
Netherlands: Sieste de Krieger, Sugar Spine - ‘The Weakest Predator’
Dutch guitarist de Krieger is a rising star, capable of bending metal and EDM genres. Here he collaborates with Netherlands-based Australians Sugar Spine and bassist Vincehatred. It slaps hard. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=M6Y6pkxsD7c
Norway: Bokassa - ‘The Ending Starts Today’
Norwegian power trio, whose album All Out of Dreams is full of stoner punk anthems (review here). Opener ‘The Ending Starts Today’ is a hell of a statement of intent. https://youtu.be/OmZ91nE9ldM?si=YznXxV3YSMGG337p
Poland: Dopelord - ‘The Chosen One’
Stoner metal from Lublin, whose specialty is horror fueled lyrics and equally doom laden riffs. https://youtu.be/oXY43T2nA_s?si=O6H9g1wb-jw0JmUU
Portugal: The Voynich Code - ‘A Flicker of Life’
Straight out of Lisbon, The Voynich Code sings of misery and despair, exploring these themes in a technical deathcore style that more people need to hear. https://youtu.be/y4pS5vZJ9lM?si=BC3QgV7auf4qYZ-j
Romania: Taine - ‘Neuralgia’
They’ve been around since 1993, but Taine make their song contest debut with the prog death metal epic ‘Neuralgia’. It’s from their 2023 album Chaos & Contemplation. https://youtu.be/JzvuEQxvju8?si=BO0efdvQCxePwkbq
Serbia: Quasarborn - ‘Urobor’
If you haven’t heard Quasarborn then ‘Urobor’ will open your ears, eyes and mind to a band that moved beyond their technical thrash roots with a glorious approach to heavy metal.https://youtu.be/uqmaqXiZN5Y?si=PiZOc_YbLqtimj_A
Spain: Iron Curtain - ‘Rattlesnake’
Murcia thrash band with a love for the 80s production and dress sense. For fans of Megadeth or Motorhead. https://youtu.be/0uFG65gdLAg?si=CFUAcJ3LdeCd-1th
Sweden: Imminence - ‘The Black’
Swedish metalcore whose fifth album The Black was released April 12, 2024. The title track is an immersive, atmospheric experience (review here). https://youtu.be/NEhSK6BMRiQ?si=wgSOVrPWHqcdP32I
Switzerland: Zeal & Ardor - ‘to my ilk’
Swiss/American collective whose soul-jazz-black metal mix has proven irresistible. They have just announced their new albumGRIEF, leading off with the slow burning fire of ‘to my ilk’. https://youtu.be/m9_HnHPd1ik?si=H-GArBTJLbzJ1Qjf
Ukraine: Zombie Attack - ‘Prisoner of Merch’
Thrash/hardcore crossover who hit hard and are capable of being amusing and serious. Third album Labyrinth is blistering, fueled by the war in their homeland. https://youtu.be/iA4CfoZ8bWo?si=LYA5S0ZwErvfZmRq
United Kingdom: URNE - ‘Becoming the Ocean’
London trio with shades of prog and post-death metal. Beat out an all star field in our UK national vote to represent their country with a loyal fan base from two critically acclaimed albums. ‘Becoming the Ocean’ isn’t quite like anything else in this contest. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QsHmQwtziI4
VOTE HERE
Words - KJ Draven (Twitter X and Instagram). Listen to each track on Apple Music. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3Io0WsZZy7ftorJfJjisGX?si=7d6f32ce9ed74e50
