Heavy Song of the Week is a feature on Heavy Consequence breaking down the top metal, punk, and hard rock tracks you need to hear every Friday. This week, we highlight Courtney LaPlante’s cinematic theme for the video game 2XKO.
Spiritbox’s technical brand of alt-prog metal seems fit for a video game tie-in. Maybe it’s because their music sounds futuristic — lab-grade pristine.
Riot Games figured as much, with the League of Legends devs tapping Spiritbox’s Courtney LaPlante to sing “Ties That Bind,” the cinematic theme to the new 2v2 fighter 2XKO. Spiritbox’s Josh Gilbert also serves as a co-producer on the track, a techno-metal banger that should appeal to the band’s fans and the passing gamer alike.
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The heavier electronic instrumentation and synth-work is expected, befitting the game’s aesthetic, but it works well with LaPlante’s delivery — she’s in more of a pop-mode here — and blends seamlessly with the very Spiritbox-y guitar surges in the chorus. It’s a very nu-metal treatment and an example of what the Canadian outfit might sound like if they fully sent it on a techno or electro-industrial project in the future.
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 flourishes, and a decidedly pop element via the melodic, high-register vocals of Brett Boland — a very Coheed and Cambria-esque blend overall. The general sweep of the song is an uplifting one, the artistic reaction to the band members’ suffering profound personal loss in the span since their last album.
Bell Witch and Aerial Ruin – “Waves Became the Sky”
Bell Witch and Aerial Ruin are running it back, with their second collaborative album Stygian Bough, Vol. II due out November 14th. “Waves Became The Sky“ serves as the four-song release’s opener. In line with the first Stygian Bough LP and the general works of the artists involved, the 12-minute track is a journey of glacial doom, with vocals delivered in chorus, conjuring an air of medieval chant. Somber melodic leads run gracefully throughout the arrangement.
Black Label Society – “Broken and Blind”
The steady hand of Zakk Wylde deals out another stoner-rock groover. We’re loving how laid back and locked-in Wylde and his Black Label Society bandmates have sounded on these three recent singles, which apparently anticipate a new album in early 2026 (per the band’s latest press release).