TOP NEW METAL SONGS OF May 2022 [NEW MUSIC MONTHLY]

Happy New Music Monthly, and Happy Summer 2022! Even though it’s technically the unofficial start to the summer season, I think it’s safe to say Spring is over, especially since festival season has just begun! And this month’s list of the top new metal songs of May 2022 brings headbanger springtime to a close in the heaviest way possible.

The April showers gave us May flowers. But May 2022 also brought us some highly anticipated new music from bands like Lorna Shore and Municipal Waste. On top of that, this past month also delivered new and noteworthy EPs and albums, which is a common theme in the Monthly Highlights below.

As always, some songs and/or bands from this month’s playlist have also been added to my Underground Metal playlist. Listen to that here to discover even more underground music that extends well beyond this month’s list of the top new heavy songs of May 2022.

Listen to my New Music Monthly playlist and check out the Monthly Highlights below for more details on some of these new and noteworthy releases. And don’t forget to vote for your favorite heavy new tracks of the month at the bottom of the page! Voting will end just before next month’s edition, at 12am EST on June 29th. The songs with the most votes at that time will be added to our Best Songs of 2022 list at the end of the year.

NEW METAL SONGS OF May 2022: MONTHLY HIGHLIGHTS

“Attack of the Ghost Riders” – Cowards & Thieves

The new Cowards and Thieves album, Dedicated to Dead People, instantly caught my ear hypnotically heavy instrumentals. I have so many favorites from this album that it was tough to choose which song I’d feature on New Music Monthly. “Attack of the Ghost Riders” is just so damn catchy though, that there’s simply no way I couldn’t talk about it on this edition.

This is one of those songs that you’ll find yourself turning up louder and louder as it continues. “Attack of the Ghost Riders” is full of energy that will possess you to stop what you’re doing and jam. And once you start jamming to Cowards & Thieves, it’s impossible to stop. BTW, the current lineup for Cowards & Thieves features the same 3 members of No Coffin, who I’ve featured several times here, including on my 2021 EP of The Year list. Stream Dedicated to Dead People on these platforms or pick up a physical copy in the band’s online store.

“Set The World Ablaze” – Bang Bang Firecracker

I’ve been loving the new wave of classic heavy metal that we’ve been hearing more of in recent years with bands like Spirit Adrift and Jason Payne & The Black Leather Riders. So if you’re like me, you’ll love the new Bang Bang Firecracker EP, Hear Evil. “Set The World Ablaze” comes off of that. I couldn’t help but immediately start, not just headbanging, but full on body banging to this track as soon as I heard it. With its electrifying riffs, booming drums, and catchy chorus, “Set The World Ablaze” is sure to have you doing the same. Listen to Bang Bang Firecracker’s new EP, Hear Evil, on Apple Music or Spotify.

“Starscourge” – Veska

On the 1 year anniversary of their inception, Pittsburgh solo artist Veska released their new EP, V. While stylistically each of the tracks on this release are quite different from each other, they all have one thing in common. And that’s the raw, roaring sounds of black metal with an old school feel. It’s something that I repeatedly see requested in comment sections from black metal fans who prefer the brutal sounds of early Mayhem and Immortal. And if we’re talking newer black metal, think of bands like Wolf King. If you are one of those fans, then you need to check out Veska’s new EP.

This is another one of those releases that I had a hard time choosing just one track to feature, because it’s just that good. But I ultimately went with “Starscourge” because it’s the ultimate beastly heavy finale to this EP. Listen to V, as well as Veska’s other releases, on Spotify or Bandcamp.

VOTE FOR YOUR TOP 10 NEW SONGS OF MAY 2022!

Vote for your top 10 favorite heavy new songs of the month below! The 10 songs with the most votes by 12am EST on May 30th will be added to our Best Songs of 2022 list at the end of the year. Last month you chose:

• “Nosophobic” – Krypt
• “Hello Death” – Decapitated, Jinjer
• “Ligature Marks” – Meshuggah
• “Wake Up Dead” – Lamb of God feat. Dave Mustaine
• “The Forsaken Idol” – Blood Hunter feat. Rosalía Sairem 
• “Manta” – The Second Fovea
• “Grave Dive” – Municipal Waste
• “Choke on the Ashes of Your Hate” – Machine Head 
• “when we were young” – Architects 
• “The Jinn” – Kirk Hammett 

Songs marked with an asterisk (*) resulted in a tie and as such, all of them will be on our Best Songs of 2022 list at the end of the year. 

Think you may have missed some of the songs listed below? Then make sure to listen along with my New Music Monthly playlist here on Spotify and check the Monthly Highlights above for songs not on Spotify yet.

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