5 Songs to Get You Through the Week #160

5 Songs to Get You Through the Week is a feature I run on Young Ears, Fresh Perspective on Sundays/early hours of Monday morning where I pick out 5 tunes that I think are notable and tell you a bit about them. The point is to give you some rocking music to help you deal with your weekday blues. You can either listen to one each day, listen to them all at once, or any other combination that you feel. As long as you can get through the week without the man getting you down, that's all I care about. Without further ado, here are the 5 tracks I've picked out for this week:

1. Bonded By Blood, by Exodus

When people think of thrash metal, it's easy for the Big 4 to come to mind and forget all of the other great bands out there who deserve just as much, if not more of the spotlight. One such band is Exodus, who incidentally Metallica lead guitarist Kirk Hammett was a part of until he left to join Metallica in 1983 to replace Megadeth front man Dave Mustaine. This title track from the band's 1985 debut album is pretty spectacular and is a good taste of what the band is about.

2. Thrasher, by Evile

Evile is a pretty awesome newer thrash metal band from the UK. Their sound is pretty reminiscent of the classic 80's heyday of thrash metal, but done completely in their own sped up, rougher style. This is the track that introduced me to them quite a few years back when I saw this video posted to a fellow metalhead's Facebook page. I dug the ridiculously fast tremolo picking of the main riff and was sucked right in.

3. Hardwired, by Metallica

Believe it or not, Metallica's most recent album, 2016's Hardwired...to Self-Destruct didn't suck in the slightest. I wouldn't say that it was on the same level as their classic material, but it definitely sounded like a much welcomed return to form after years of writing and playing commercial hard rock. This tune sounds like something that could have been on the band's 1983 debut album Kill 'em All, though James Hetfield's voice has definitely aged and there is better studio production on this.

4. Raining Blood, by Slayer

This is a thrash metal classic. Its riffs are iconic and has some of the best guitar work that the band ever did. Believe it or not though, Slayer's music is NOT pro-Satan despite the image they have presented over the decades. A lot of it has more to do with real world topics like war, politics, anti-religion, and other tough hard hitting topics. Definitely not a band for the faint of heart, but you definitely can't say they didn't have something passionate to say.

5. Pink Fluffy Unicorns Dancing on Rainbows, by Andrew Huang

And now for something completely different. This is one of my absolute favorite songs of all time and I have absolutely no shame in admitting it whatsoever. It's bright, upbeat, cheery, and always puts me in a better mood if I'm feeling like absolute dump trucks. It might just do the same thing for you as well if you are willing to give it a chance. If it doesn't, well then maybe go find something that will and share it with the class?