On "Maniac," Shadows Resurrects Heavy Metal's Dramatic Roots (Early Track Stream)

I’m really enjoying the resurgence of traditional heavy metal that we’ve got going on, but there are still some eras and sounds of metal that badly need to come back. If melodic death metal can get an early-1990s Gothenburg revival going on, what’s stopping the rest of the wider genre from bringing back all the cool stuff? Shadows is on the right track here, unifying a lot of what is often missing from modern heavy metal: namely a sense of drama, and a willingness to be completely unpredictable. Their upcoming debut album Out for Blood is a gothic, mystical slice of heavy metal that delights in the sometimes-roughshod, always-fun theatrics from bands like Mercyful Fate and Death SS, but wraps these trappings in rich, velvet shades of reverb and intrigue. Toying with both pure heavy metal and occult, weird rock, Out for Blood laser-focuses on darkness, danger, and evil delights, while trying a lot of different things musically to make it happen. For a small window into this, check out the track “Maniac,” streaming below.

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Eminently dangerous, “Maniac” kicks off with a beefy riff and gruff vocals, but quickly shifts into a half-clean chorus with distant falsettos-it’s a dynamic shift that only makes the grisly main riff that much heavier. The song’s combination of artful melody and heavy metal grit echoes the rest of the album. Out for Blood is a thrilling exercise in making metal weirdly beautiful–and we definitely need more of that.

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Out for Blood releases May 19th via Sentient Ruin Laboratories.