Oftentimes, the best metal is primal and emotional, reptile-brain music that hits you in the gut and leaves a permanent imprint on your subconscious. With that in mind, and with one listen to Primitive Man's remorseless sludge, it's easy to understand why the band's moniker is more than appropriate. On its latest track, "Oily Tears," the Denver-based trio delivers a six-plus-minute masterclass in slow-burn hate, taking a moment only to blast you with a black-metal chill and then return to its stuttering, off-kilter doom thunder to finish you off for good. If you're familiar with the band's blunt-force approach then you'll rightly suspect that this is another banger to add to their already very sick canon. Stream the single for the first time below; it's culled from a split between Primitive Man and HELL due February 22nd. You can order yours here via Translation Loss.

"'Oily Tears' is about how the earth is decaying right before our fucking eyes," says vocalist-guitarist Ethan McCarthy. "We chose to do a split with HELL out of a mutual respect for their art. MSW has easily written some of the best doom/sludge songs of the last five years and we're excited to be able to share a release with him."