Heavy Track of the Week is a function on Heavy ipromiseyoumedia breaking down the highest metallic, punk, and laborious rock tracks it’s essential to hear each Friday. This week, we spotlight Courtney LaPlante’s cinematic theme for the online game 2XKO.
Spiritbox’s technical model of alt-prog metallic appears match for a online game tie-in. Perhaps it’s as a result of their music sounds futuristic — lab-grade pristine.
Riot Video games figured as a lot, with the League of Legends devs tapping Spiritbox’s Courtney LaPlante to sing “Ties That Bind,” the cinematic theme to the brand new 2v2 fighter 2XKO. Spiritbox’s Josh Gilbert additionally serves as a co-producer on the observe, a techno-metal banger that ought to enchantment to the band’s followers and the passing gamer alike.
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The heavier digital instrumentation and synth-work is anticipated, befitting the sport’s aesthetic, however it works properly with LaPlante’s supply — she’s in additional of a pop-mode right here — and blends seamlessly with the very Spiritbox-y guitar surges within the refrain. It’s a really nu-metal remedy and an instance of what the Canadian outfit would possibly sound like in the event that they totally despatched it on a techno or electro-industrial undertaking sooner or later.
Honorable Mentions:
Astronoid – “Third Shot”
On “Third Shot,” Massachusetts post-metallers Astronoid meld their signature spaced-out textures and atmospherics with driving rhythms, prog guitar thrives, and a decidedly pop component through the melodic, high-register vocals of Brett Boland — a really Coheed and Cambria-esque mix general. The final sweep of the tune is an uplifting one, the inventive response to the band members’ struggling profound private loss within the span since their final album.
Bell Witch and Aerial Break – “Waves Grew to become the Sky”
Bell Witch and Aerial Break are working it again, with their second collaborative album Stygian Bough, Vol. II due out November 14th. “Waves Grew to become The Sky“ serves because the four-song launch’s opener. In keeping with the primary Stygian Bough LP and the overall works of the artists concerned, the 12-minute observe is a journey of glacial doom, with vocals delivered in refrain, conjuring an air of medieval chant. Somber melodic leads run gracefully all through the association.
Black Label Society – “Damaged and Blind”
The regular hand of Zakk Wylde offers out one other stoner-rock groover. We’re loving how laid again and locked-in Wylde and his Black Label Society bandmates have sounded on these three latest singles, which apparently anticipate a brand new album in early 2026 (per the band’s newest press launch).
