Five heavy new albums will get heads banging

These records, ranging from post-punk to metal, will help unleash any pent-up pressure

We all know that feeling of the weight of the world bearing down upon us. When it does, one of the best escapes is to crank up the stereo with something other than pop on the program and do some headbanging.

There is just something cathartic to be found in the way a really loud power chord unleashes on the listener. It's for good reason that some of the world's biggest and most-enduring acts tend to be hard rockers. They make music that has a great beat you could dance to, or just swagger to. Maybe both, depending on your mood.

Here are five records running the gamut of post-punk to metal and more that provide just the ticket to release some pent-up pressures.

ACTORS

Reanimated | Artoffact Records Genre: Post-punk/electropop Key track: Post Traumatic Love (Humans Remix)

Vancouver post-punk outfit Actors has been garnering great reviews for its 2021 release Acts of Worship. It only makes sense that a band with such club-ready sounds should let the remixers loose on its songs, and that is exactly what the 15 tracks on Reanimated are all about. From the retro darkwave marching pulse of opening track XYX to the seven different takes on the band's breakout single Post Traumatic Love.

That track turns 10 this year, so the original single and its B-side, Nightlife, are included here, as well as some other gems.

It Goes Away should have been a huge hit.

AMON AMARTH

The Great Heathen Army | Metal Blade Records

Genre: Viking metal

Key track: Heidrun

One of the key acts in the Viking metal scene, Sweden's Amon Amarth, has been pairing the history of “these vicious demons from the north” with workaday metal to great effect for decades. Somehow, the band manages to revisit the well time and time again without running out of crushing riffs and storytelling.

Part of the appeal is that Johan Hegg's vocals sound like he's vomiting in Valhalla, while the twin guitar attack ensures constant attack. This isn't solo-laden Northern European-style metal. It's far more like '70s doom meeting thrash.

BOX

Cherry Blossoms at Night | Miserable Pyre Of Secrets

Genre: Experimental metal

Key track: Devayne's Lament The project of Andrew Stromstad, Portland's Box just doesn't fit into its name. The opening rager Succumb is full on thundering gutter thrash with elements of death metal. Then comes the psychedelic stoner beat of Pulse or trippy acid haze of Soft Is the Motion. No song ever heads where you expect it to and the title track sounds like an '80s gothic pop crossover dance hit.

By the time the symphonic arena march of Devayne's Lament arrives, you know that this Box holds nothing but surprises.

THE FLATLINERS

New Ruin | Dine Alone Records

Genre: Punk

Key track: Rat King

On its first new release in five years, this Juno-nominated Toronto quartet shows what being together for 20 years means. The band moves from near noise to singalong choruses with absolute control, never every veering into excess.

Rat King just bristles with the kind of melodic punk slashing that pastes a smile on fan's faces as they bash about in the mosh pit, while Performative Hours is a perfect mix of noisy attack paired with spitting vocals courtesy of singer/guitarist Chris Cresswell. The satirical video for the track introduces the sad sack TV host Ron Regal, who embodies so much of what is wrong with contemporary culture. Fun music that isn't afraid to have a message. The Flatliners play on their 20th anniversary tour on Sept. 8 at the Rickshaw Theatre.

IAN BLURTON'S FUTURE NOW

Second Skin | Seeing Red Records

Genre: Hard rock

Riding in on a massive drum roll that hearkens right back to the heyday of bands like Blue Oyster Cult and even new wave of British heavy metal acts such as Saxon, Ian Blurton's Future Now is completely devoted to everything louder than everything else. This goes in different directions over the nine album cuts.

Songs such as the title track, Beyond Beholds the Moon and Trails, to the Gate/second Skin Reprise come near to heavy progressive rock with their six minute-plus lengths, while the other material is more concise and pop-oriented. Everything is heavy, however.