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Welcome to the third edition of The Soundcheck's "Soundcheck" segment, where we check out 5 x new tunes that have just dropped this week.
This week we've got an extremely poignant yet gargantuan new track from In Hearts Wake, featuring none other than Parkway Drive's Winston McCall's first ever non-Parkway music video appearance, plus Mayday Parade are bringing some positivity to this mad world, STARSET bust out a hulking sucker punch, Gloam get magnetically introspective, and Wargasm team up with Corey Taylor for a bruising rave.
In Hearts Wake - The Flood (ǝɔᴉʇsnɾ)
For anyone in the vicinity of the 2022 floods in Northern NSW, you'll know not only how quickly it all unfolded; but you'll also know how long the cleanup and recovery took, with the media cycles and the rest of the country moving on swiftly while the piles of debris lay strewn on the streets for weeks, and shattered lives took months if not years to regroup. For myself, I'd just moved back home to the border of NSW and QLD and found myself very suddenly unable to leave due to surrounding flood waters. With no internet or phone reception, I had no contact with the outside world, no food in the house (save for a packet of pasta, tinned tomatoes and one emergency valium). Between trying to reconnect my DVD player and waiting to see how others would fare, I was ultimately one of the lucky ones, my house survived with no damage - but for so many others, their worst fears transpired, losing everything in the process.
One of the many who witnessed these floods firsthand was none other than Byron Bay metalcore group In Hearts Wake, with frontman Jake Taylor ultimately bumping into Parkway Drive frontman (and fellow Byron local) Winston McCall during the clean up period. And that meeting would ultimately go on to shape The Flood (ǝɔᴉʇsnɾ), aka the most recent single taken off the group's brand album Incarnation out today.
A voracious outing from both In Hearts Wake and McCall, it's also the underlying message that hits the hardest in this pinnacle of modern metalcore. ""In the weeks that followed, I was out in Lismore NSW delivering emergency supplies with the rest of the band and I bumped into Winston (vocalist of Parkway Drive) who was helping out on a food run," shares Taylor. We couldn’t believe the destruction we were seeing, and yet at the same time, the resilience and strength of the people. 12 years since Winston’s last feature on Divination and it felt right to reconnect and collaborate on such an important event that happened to our community.”
For more In Hearts Wake insight, check out our exclusive chat with Jake Taylor himself taking us behind the new album artwork and exploring the innate connection between Incarnation (out today) and 2012's Divination.
Incarnation is out now.
For more In Hearts Wake info, head here.
Mayday Parade - Pretty Good To Feel Something
It's been a pretty, if not very, good week to be a Mayday Parade fan, and it's pretty damn refreshing to be served up such an infectious reminder to not sweat the small stuff in the form of the group's bouncy new single Pretty Good To Feel Something.
Another sharp addition to the Mayday Parade's recent run of self-released material, Pretty Good To Feel Something is certainly a swirling testament to the group's enduring legacy as much as it showcases how having full creative freedom fits this Florida five-piece like a proverbial glove.
With plenty of bounce, just the right amount of polished sass and plenty of uplifting lyricism, this is some good old fashioned pop punk goodness; and a must-listen for anyone having a bad day. “Pretty Good To Feel Something is a song about bad things happening that alter your life and how eventually you have to let those things go and move forward," shares vocalist Derek Sanders. "It’s about appreciating what’s left after it’s all said and done.”
Pretty Good To Feel Something is out now.
For more Mayday Parade info, head here.
STARSET - DEGENERATE
Opening with razor-blade riffs and an alien landscape underpinning proceedings, DEGENERATE, the brand new single out now from Ohio hybrid merchants STARSET is a soaring follow up from their earlier 2024 track Brave New World.
Never shy of crafting cinematic sonic skyscrapers, DEGENERATE is a transformative beast, fluctuating between electronics, glossy vocals, and plenty of grunt that would be equally at home soundtracking a sci-fi epic on the silver screen.
With the group firmly leaning into a clear-cut aesthetic in their latest era, DEGENERATE brims with melodics, a Nine Inch Nails-meets-electronica breakdown and a sharp delivery from vocalist Dustin Bates as he declares: "Don't fall behind, don't fall away / The wolves are at the gate / And no one's safe."
With two new tunes out already in 2024, it's safe to assume there will be plenty of noise and nuance still to come from STARSET on the horizon.
Degenerate is out now.
For more STARSET info, head here.
Gloam - Diving Heavy
Perth post-shoegaze quartet Gloam have been weaving their dense magic since forming in 2022, and their latest single Diving Heavy brings another stunner into their repertoire.
Tackling themes of disconnection and distraction, Diving Heavy shimmers in an ambient haze, with thick textures coated in an immersive journey through emotional struggles."Often it’s only when we are on the other side of the trough that we are able to look back and take stock, move on and work on ourselves," shares the band of their latest single. "Diving Heavy investigates what it’s like to look back on these periods of emotional dissonance, only to find a fog and shadow of feeling, requiring you to sift through and try make sense of where you’ve ended up, and how best to move forward."
Following on from their recent single Hinder, Diving Heavy showcases the group's multi-faceted craftsmanship without losing cohesion along the way. Gloam have already become firm favourites via their vulnerable, gripping and cathartic wares in a very short space of time, and dreamy shoegaze and melancholic beauty floats your boat, you'll absolutely want to dive into this new tune.
Diving Heavy is out now.
For more Gloam info, head here.
Wargasm Feat. Corey Taylor - 70% Dead
What happens when one of the most enigmatic acts on the modern scene teams up with one of heavy music's all-time greats? Pretty much exactly what you'd expect from a monster new track 7featuring the iconic team-up of Wargasm and Corey Taylor: meet 70% Dead.
Wargasm are no stranger to the ol' collab, with the band previously joining forces with the likes of Crossfaith, Bad Omens and Mr. Fred Durst. And while Wargasm's explosive ability is certainly no secret, the duo find rave-metal nirvana alongside Taylor, with 70% Dead exploding with obliterating snarl and sensuality.
With plenty of cyperbunk sonic hues that would also play a very appropriate home to any Blade rave scene re-makes, 70% Dead thrives with coquettish interplay, gleeful distortion and the shared chant between all parties declaring, "We're so pretty / We're, we're so pretty / Don't you look better now I know that we won't live forever". Another scorching outing from Wargasm with some familiarity and fun from Slipknot's own Corey Taylor, grab your glow sticks and go celebrate the end of times with 70% Dead at full blast.
70% Dead is out now.
For more Wargasm info, head here.
For more Corey Taylor info, head here.
BY TIANA SPETER