Heavy Song of the Week is a feature on Heavy Consequence breaking down the top metal and hard rock tracks you need to hear every Friday. This week the top spot goes to “The Falling Sky” by Greta Van Fleet.
People like to compare Greta Van Fleet to Led Zeppelin as if it’s a bad thing. The sound-a-like argument has become the biggest knock on the former’s young career, though somehow bands that came before GVF — Wolfmother, Kadavar, and even The White Stripes, to name a few — also fielded Zeppelin comparisons, but without the negative connotation.
“The Falling Sky” is a song that won’t do much to stem the Zeppelin labeling, but that’s kinda why we dig it as our Heavy Song of the Week. Rather than change their identity based on critics, Greta Van Fleet seem to be settling into their role as modern proliferators of grandiose hard rock. Crispy southern-rock-inflected riffs, delivered through a fine tone, are at the crux of this one — along with singer Josh Kiszka’s upper register vocals. It’s the most direct and compact of the singles from the band’s upcoming album, Starcatcher.
Honorable Mentions:
Incantation – “Concordat (The Pact) I”
Old-school death metal is mostly associated with themes of horror, gore, and, well, death. But a handful of bands like Deicide, Morbid Angel, and Incantation took a more unholy approach to the genre, using it as a portal to the occult — something the early black metal bands found to be inherent to the sonic extremities of heavy music. Incantation, in particular, have made a three-decade career out of their dark death-metal dabblings. Their vast discography acts like a continuous exploration of the obscure and abyssal — the band’s new single “Concordat (The Pact) I” being its latest ritual.
Mammoth WVH – “Take a Bow”
We certainly understand why Wolfgang Van Halen is hesitant to blanket himself in the legacy of his late father Eddie Van Halen. Wolfgang has staunchly expressed his desire to establish his own musical path with Mammoth WVH, letting his own personality as a musician and songwriter shine on songs like “Take a Bow,” the latest single from the upcoming Mammoth record. At the same time, Wolfgang is able to pay homage to his father in other, more subtle ways, playing one of Eddie’s axes through one of Eddie’s amps on this particular track. “It makes me happy to capture some of dad’s history on this song forever,” remarked Wolfgang.
Sore Dream – “Blown Optics”
Sore Dream is the latest collaborative project from Full of Hell’s constantly-collaborating chief member Dylan Walker. Here he is joined by bandmate Spencer Hazard and drummer Hisham Akira Bharoocha, formerly of Lightning Bolt and Black Dice. The first taste from the group’s upcoming album is “Blown Optics” — a delightfully bitter piece of industrial noise that’s best described by Walker himself: “A world being torn apart from the inside, the frailty of our planet, and the cruelty of our own hands.”
