From the volcanoes of Germany’s Eifel region rises one of the most exciting spearheads of the modern heavy scene: XO Armor. Since their formation in 2021, the quartet has established itself not just as a metalcore band, but as a rebellious force that fuses trap, techno, pop, and everything in between to free metal from its constricting corset—both musically and visually, oscillating between high-fashion attitude, streetwear, and dystopian aesthetics.

With their 2023 album Nublar, XO Armor crashed into the scene like an asteroid: a story of self-discovery that engages with the prehistoric world of dinosaurs in a metaphorical way not only visually but thematically. Inspired by Isla Nublar from Jurassic Park, they construct a musical universe that is just as dense, threatening, and unpredictable as its fog-shrouded namesake— a concept album that makes listeners dance along the fault line between primal force and the search for identity. Yet XO Armor do not linger in their own dino mythology. After their first European tour and a successful festival summer last year, they skid into entirely new territory on burning tires with their new single Pyromancer (featuring phonk superstar Isolate.exe). A musicalized Need for Speed race blending phonk, Memphis rap, and metal, raising the starting flag for a completely new era of XO Armor.

Building on this fresh direction, modern heavy scene’s most mischievous rascals kick off the new year with a true mind melter: Brainrot. A song about the joys of numbing escapism in a world that’s heading toward its thirteenth hour, wrapped in the dress (or rather Fortnite skin) of an energetic Deathpop banger.