Written by Tyler Johnson 

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As 2019 comes to a close, it’s time for music enthusiasts-such as myself-to start collecting our thoughts on which bands put out the best material of the year. Following our recent article ‘Our Top 5 Albums of 2019’, I have undertaken the difficult task of compiling a list of the best singles of the year. For the sake of inclusivity, I am going to include only one track per band, even if one band *ahem* Falling In Reverse *ahem* have put out multiple tracks worthy of the top 10 position. So without further adieu, here is my list of the 10 best singles of 2019. 

10. Dying Wish - “Enemies in Red”

Coming off the feature in “A Serpent’s Touch” on Knocked Loose’s A Different Shade of Blue, Emma Boster delivers a vocal performance for the record books on “Enemies in Red”. This song builds intensity from the get-go and pummels the listener for the entire 4 minutes and 9 seconds, while the transition between Emma and feature from Knocked Loose’s Bryan Garris keeps the song fresh and engaging. Given the critical reception of A Different Shade of Blue, there isn’t much better of a move in 2019 than bringing in Bryan Garris to add some intensity. The next logical step is for these two bands to go out on tour together so we can throw down in the pit; although, I’m not so sure I’d make it out alive!

[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aez_t6DiuSE&w=640&h=480]

9. The Used - “Blow Me (Ft. Jason Aalon Butler)”

A very late addition to the list, The Used surprised fans with “Blow Me” roughly three weeks ago on December 6th. I was fortunate enough to have covered the news and reviewed the song when it first released, which can be found here. Briefly, The Used bring back a 2006 post-hardcore sound on “Blow Me” that made me fall in love with this scene in the first place. Feature from Jason Aalon Butler takes this song to a whole new level of intensity by lending his famous chaotic vocal delivery to some of the heaviest material ever released by The Used at the end of this absolute banger of a single! The band has since announced an intimate tour across the United States in 2020, which is speculated to coincide with the release of a new album. 

[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCvbyZn24t4&w=854&h=480]

8. Motionless in White - “Disguise”

Motionless in White led off the release cycle for their fifth studio album Disguise with the release of both “Brand New Numb” and the title track “Disguise”. While I thought “Brand New Numb” was fun, “Disguise” was next level with how simultaneously heavy and catch it was. It’s clear that the band perfected their choruses on the album, but “Disguise” is particularly anthemic in its lyrics “I found myself by losing hope / Iost my way to find a home / I hid myself to stay alive / Now I’m ready to face my disguise”. The combination of the creepy intro and the explosive break-neck metalcore perfectly encapsulated the vibe of this album and the band itself. They will be joining Beartooth on a co-headlining tour in early 2020, which I highly recommend attending.

[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIEc_11Aydc&w=854&h=480]

7. HAWK - “Mileage”

Formerly This Or The Apocalypse, HAWK put out their first official single “Mileage” on March 22, 2019 and it was on this day that I added the song to my regular rotation playlist, where it has remained to this day. I first discovered HAWK through the horror-metalcore icons Ice Nine Kills, as Rickly Armellino is both the guitarist/back-up vocalist for Ice Nine Kills and the vocalist for HAWK. “Mileage” is fast-paced, riff-heavy, and perfectly suited to the beautiful vocal melodies heard throughout this song. Ricky has said “‘Mileage’ is the first of about 20 songs on deck”, which is beyond promising as a new fan itching for more! It will however be interesting to see how Ricky balances his involvement in both Ice Nine Kills and HAWK, given the tremendous potential each of these bands will provide him.

[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6p03KD5IBrI&w=854&h=480]

6. Polaris - “Masochist” 

Polaris blend pop-punk influences with their patented brand of “in-your-face metalcore” established on 2017’s The Mortal Coil. While the topic of mental health has been extensively explored in this scene, Polaris convey a level of emotion-both sonically and in the accompanying music video-that many bands quite frankly cannot, and I attribute much of this to the vocal delivery of Jamie Hails. I had the pleasure of seeing them open for Parkway Drive on the ‘Reverence Tour’, and they arguably performed the best set of the night, with a stage presence as if they had been playing on the biggest stages in the world. This show alone solidified them as a must-follow band for me, so when I saw that this song was attached to the announcement of their second full-length album The Death of Me, I had to pre-order immediately.

[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmU2HH0LHmY&w=854&h=480]

5. Make Them Suffer - “Hollowed Heart” 

“Hollowed Heart” is a violent track dedicated to calling out those guilty of committing sexual abuse, and was created in direct response to an incident where keyboardist and singer Booka Nile was groped on stage. Sonically, this track is fast, angry, and aggressive; perfectly complementing the lyrical content. Make Them Suffer channel every ounce of frustration and it certainly comes across in this onslaught of unrelenting deathcore, exemplified by the lyric “Fucking coward, that’s somebady’s daughter”. Although it is unfortunate that this song had to be made in the first place, it certainly earns this band a spot in the top 10 singles of the year. 

[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFauI97wSfc&w=854&h=480]

4. Dayseeker - “Sleeptalk”

In an era where bands are trending towards the more accessible sound, it may appear that Dayseeker is attempting the same on “Sleeptalk”; however, there is an essence of truth and passion in this track (and the whole album for that matter) that resonates so well with listeners. Despite drifting away from their metalcore roots, lead vocalist Rory Rodriguez’s emotionally-charged delivery on lines such as “Sunset, sunrise / It’s better you’re not mine / I had everything to lose / Always find a way to prove that I’m not deserving of you” completely makes up for any loss in instrumental intensity. Dayseeker have shown us that you don’t need blast beats and endless breakdowns for fans in this scene to relate to your music.  

[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KV5ffXxFI38&w=854&h=480]

3. Falling In Reverse - “Drugs”

Falling in Reverse are absolutely killing the scene with these recent singles. I was between “Drugs” and the more recent “Popular Monster” for this spot, but “Drugs” is just so outrageous that I had to include it. This band has historically dabbled in various genres, but in this song alone we have synth-driven hip-hop verses, a powerful stadium rock chorus, and an insane deathcore breakdown featuring Corey Taylor of Slipknot. On top of that, the music video is not only visually stunning, but chaotic enough to match the intensity of the track; at one point Ronnie Radke literally kills his other self with a chainsaw … yeah, that happens! To this point we’ve received four excellent singles (“Losing My Mind” and “Losing My Life” in addition to the ones mentioned), but none of which have been attached to an album announcement, so I am interested to see what the next step is for this band. Overall, I am floored by the quality of music this band continues to produce; you certainly won’t find this style anywhere else.

[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRAG2NG5bkQ&w=854&h=480]

2. Knocked Loose - “Mistakes Like Fractures”

Given my praise for Knocked Loose’s A Different Shade of Blue, I realistically could have chosen any single from this pinnacle record, but I decided to go with “Mistakes Like Fractures” because it was the lead single and sets the tone for the entire record. Knocked Loose have bridged the gap between metalcore, deathcore, and hardcore punk in an unrelenting attack of breakdowns and intense vocals, all of which are represented in “Mistakes Like Fractures”. I admit I could not get into the bands previous releases, but when I heard this song for the first time, something just clicked and I knew Knocked Loose were going to put out one of the best records of 2019. Not much else to say about this one other than go check out this band, if you haven’t already stopped reading to pick up the album.

[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOB3IYBcJEE&w=854&h=480]

Honorable Mentions:

The Devil Wears Prada’s “Lines of Your Hands” was the first song released building off the live-recorded sound executed so well on the cover “Sour Breath” that likely led to the vocal style on the entire album. While I enjoy the album from start to finish, and was included in my list of top 5 albums of 2019, there wasn’t a standout single that would have beat out any other track included on this list. 

A Day to Remember’s “Resentment” is a selection that comes with many years of bias ingrained into my soul. “Resentment” combines the electronic elements of recent releases with the chuggy heaviness that will be familiar to any fan of this band. While this song is a significant improvement over the first single released on this album cycle “Degenerates”, the relatively simplistic structure has left this song just outside of my list.

Stray From the Path’s “Kickback” featuring Brendan Murphy of Counterparts was included in this list for quite some time, but as I went back and listened to all of the great singles of the year, this one just barely fell short. I will say however that this list is quite fluid, so any of these tracks could have easily made the list on another week, which is why I wanted to mention them here. 

1. Bring Me the Horizon - “Ludens”

I don’t think anyone was expecting to get new music from Bring Me the Horizon so soon after the release of their sixth studio album Amo earlier this year. Although you may not have enjoyed the sound direction this band has gone on recent releases, you can’t deny that they’re one of the biggest and leading bands in this scene. 

“Ludens” is a complex amalgamation of every sound “era” of this band. The first half is them demonstrating that the new style they established on Amo isn’t going anywhere, while the second half is a “return-to-form” of sorts. The opening sequence sounds like the twisted love child of Billie Eilish and something you might hear off the upcoming Poppy album, with the distorted, choppy instrumentation backing up the melodramatic verses delivered by Oli Sykes. We then transition into a very “rock anthem” style chorus that is reminiscent of the That’s the Spirit era of this band. Electronic samples then break this song down and build back into the highlight of this track, being the absolutely filthy breakdown following the “GIVE ME A BREAK!” mosh-call. There is no doubt in my mind that fans of Sempiternal era Bring Me the Horizon will go wild for this song in the pit. 

[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9wvTuDC-H0&w=854&h=480]

Of course, music is the most subjective of topics, so please tell me what other songs I should have included on this list. With the current singles from Polaris, HAWK, Make Them Suffer, Falling in Reverse, and the handful of other bands that have released outstanding singles not included on this list, we as a scene have plenty to look forward to as we transition into 2020.