Seven Hours After Violet’s “Paradise”

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 Seven Hours After Violet for their debut single “Paradise.”

Things have been pretty slow in the System of a Down camp in recent years. Aside from unveiling a pair of singles in 2020 and playing a handful of one-off concert/festival dates, the band hasn’t released a new album since 2005. Meanwhile, frontman Serj Tankian has been busy releasing solo material and a memoir, making his current priorities obvious.

While Tankian’s solo output is certainly accomplished, it lies more in a cinematic/neo-classical realm and doesn’t quite scratch the SOAD itch, per say. Here’s where bassist Shavo Odadjian’s new band Seven Hours After Violet comes in.

That’s not to say the band’s debut single sounds anything like System of a Down. “Paradise” introduces a vicious brand of slam hardcore/metalcore that falls more in line with modern acts such as Knocked Loose and Better Lovers. But it is heavy.

Shavo provides the underbelly to a satiating central riff that actually would sound at home in a SOAD song, but lead screamer Taylor Barber’s harsh howls push this into more extreme territories. We’re excited to see where this project goes, especially with the lack of new music from Shavo’s other band.

Honorable Mentions:

Mushroomhead – “Fall in Line”

Mushroomhead tapped Matt Wallace to mix their new album Call the Devil, reaching back for the engineer that helmed mixing duties on arguably the band’s strongest album, 2003’s XIII. His master’s touch is evident on the lead single “Fall in Line,” with layers upon layers of sound woven into a psychedelic swirl of pummeling industrial metal. This could sound like mud in the hands of a less competent engineer. Instead, it’s one of the more fascinating nu-metal songs of the year.

NAILS – “Imposing Will”

“Imposing Will” is the first new music from NAILS since 2019 and showcases each facet of band’s sound, impressively doing so in just a minute and 22 seconds. It opens with claustrophobic grindcore before giving way to a thrash breakdown and a locked groove that is sure to stir the moshpit at the band’s upcoming gigs. As one of the most respected modern grindcore acts, NAILS have a reputation to uphold, and “Imposing Will” should gratify fans and net the California group some new ones in the process.

SUMAC – “World of Light (Moor Mother Remix)”

The open-ended, explorative nature of SUMAC’s new album The Healer is remarkable, and one of the reasons why we’ve been so high on the record, placing it on our list of the best heavy albums of 2024 thus far. For instance, take this remix of “World of Light” by experimental rapper Moor Mother. The fact that the band’s sludge metal can be carved up into an entirely different, yet like-minded piece of music is another example of SUMAC’s transcendence. Here, Moor Mother transforms the 25-minute album opener into a smoldering 4-minute industrial hip-hop workout, as one great song bequeathes another.