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 Tailgunner’s “Midnight Blitz.”
NWOBHM revivalists Tailgunner are in top form on “Midnight Blitz,” the title track and opener from their forthcoming 2026 album.
One of the strongest traditional metal cuts we’ve heard all year, it checks all the boxes for premium throwback metal: surging power metal energy in the ’80s vein, tasteful lead work from guitarists Rhea Thompson and Zach Salvini, plus melodic high-register vocals from Craig Cairns.
There might have been some added adrenaline in the studio considering former Priest axeman K.K. Downing was behind the board, serving as producer for the album sessions.
Downing was so impressed by Tailgunner when the upstart British act opened for a recent KK’s Priest tour, he took the band under his wing. That’s a mighty endorsement from heavy metal royalty, and Tailgunner rise to meet the expectations that come with a production credit as esteemed as Downing’s. He only helped invent heavy metal as we know it. Here, he passes the proverbial torch.
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“They are loud and proud, and totally descended from everyone in metal that has gone before – their energy and rawness, together with their brand of metal, incorporates all of the godfathers and much more,” enthused Downing in a press release. “Maiden, Priest, Motörhead, Def Leppard — the list is endless. The band has a youthful freshness and a uniqueness that will no doubt elevate them to being a true metal favorite of the fans.”
Honorable Mentions:
Evergrey – “OXYGEN!”
The start of “OXYGEN!” is supremely heavy, begging the question: Is this Evergrey’s foray into death doom metal? Then the synths come in, as the band settles into its more familiar blends of gothic prog metal, highlighted by the soaring emotive vocals of Tom S. Englund. There is a heavy underbelly of riffing throughout, so the intro isn’t a total 180.
Mayhem – “Weep for Nothing”
Mayhem’s legacy tends to overshadow their more recent triumphs, such as the excellence of 2019’s Daemon. This is a band that’s still in search of progression in its sound, and while we’re referring to the concept of progression rather than progressive in the musical sense, there is some prog on “Weep for Nothing,” the lead single from Mayhem’s freshly announced LP Liturgy of Death. The variation in the arrangement — from fast blasts to doomy, haunted arpeggio riffs and even winding prog — is delightful in its rigorous grandiosity. Likewise, frontman Attila Csihar exercises his many voices to match the shifting moods, moving between harsh rasps and operatic eloquence.
Nothing – “Cannibal World”
Philly shoegazers Nothing add a little ’90s techno to their sound on “Cannibal World,” taking a page out of Slowdive’s book when the latter released the electronic-tinged 5 EP over 20 years ago. Nothing’s take on techno shoegaze is less ambient however, driven by breakbeat-esque percussion and laced with spikes of feedback. It’s still too melodic to be an industrial raver, but it ain’t far off.