Last week, Boston quartet Courage Cloak released "Danse Macabre" (streaming below), the blistering third song off its forthcoming seven-track album. Starting with plaintive drums that quickly give way to guttural vocals and chugging basslines, the metal-girded cut emits a surprising sweetness despite its sonic and thematic heaviness. The fittingly-titled song does, in fact, mine such grave ideas as ultimate doom but, perhaps unlike straight metal tracks, lets in at least a little hope for redemption. Courage Cloak plays at O’Brien’s Pub in Allston, MA on 12.9. – Zach Weg
