Heavy Song of the Week: Pigs x7 Tap into Their Dark Side on Doomed-Out “Detroit”

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, No. 1 goes to Pigs x7’s standalone single “Detroit.”

UK heavy psych act [deep breath]… Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, aka Pigs x7, returned this week with their first new music since 2023’s Land of Sleeper. “Detroit” is a mysterious track, a lurching doom creeper that shares similarities with the spooky camp of fellow countrymen Uncle Acid and the acerbic noise rock like The Jesus Lizard (who also appear on this week’s rundown).

Just like typing Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs out in full (no copy and pasting), the repetition of the song starts messing with you, like when you look at a word or repeat a phrase to the point where it suddenly becomes abstract. The band creates a swirling goopy cloud of low-end, riding the riffs through a deliberately paced arrangement that, at one point, comes to a near-halt before gradually building back up to speed, as if a speed fader is being slowly pushed upward — the type of synchronized gradient effect that only an tight and well-practiced ensemble can pull off.

Honorable Mentions:

Destruction – “Destruction”

A self-titled band anthem is a heavy metal staple. Destruction took over 40 years to write theirs, but better late than never. Complete with references to past songs and a shout-able chorus mantra (“We are Destruction!”), the full-bore thrash attack pays homage to the German thrash heroes’ four-decade legacy and their legion of fans.

The Jesus Lizard – “Cost of Living”

Left off the band’s recent comeback LP Rack, the new song “Cost of Living” is a fun experimental jam from the reunited noise rock vets. The twist-and-turns between the melodic riffing and barreling punk section are as mathy as The Jesus Lizard typically gets, and the brevity of the track works to its benefit. Some might say it sounds unfinished, but the short burst of lyrics from David Yow compacts his message into only a couple stanzas, adding poignancy to his theme: “the dread and self-loathing that addicts experience on a very regular basis.”

The Sword – “Locomotive Breath”

It’s always a pleasure to hear new music from The Sword — and that they’re still making new music, even if it’s a cover song. The Austin rockers — who have been laying low since the pandemic — have a long history of covering the music of their forebears, and here they take on Jethro Tull’s “Loctomotive Breath” for an upcoming Aqualung tribute album. With some help from Steve Moore (Zombi) on keyboards and Jason Frey (Doom Side of the Moon) on flute, The Sword honor the source material while rendering a track that could pass as an original from one of their own albums, a testament to their authentically anachronistic brand of heavy rock.