Another week stacked full of new music, this time primarily metal. Also, both myself and Charlotte are tackling this one together, as I had a crazy busy weekend. Without further ado, let’s get cracking!

Motionless In White: Scoring the End of the World

I was never really a fan of this band. Another that my friends all liked when we were growing up that I never really ‘got’. However, this was great! Leaning heavier into the industrial side of metal as opposed to their earlier metalcore stuff, it’s like a heavier, catchy Marylin Manson. ‘Meltdown’ is a great opener with some catchy hooks and melody and suitible heaviness, though the lyrics being about the last couple of years felt just a tad cringy. Tracks like ‘Sign of Life’ and ‘Cyberhex’ also draw on the bands nu-metal influences with the rapping, it sounding like a great mix of Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park.

However, the biggest highlight for me is ‘Werewolf’. It’s heavily influenced by 80s pop and synth but still maintains the heaviness the band are known for. And it fits the song title perfectly, it feels like a horror song. It’s amazing. Subsequent tracks ‘Porcelain’ and ‘Slaughterhouse’ are also fantastic. A surprisingly great album.

Charlotte: Motionless in White’s Scoring The End Of The World embodies man’s inhumanity and explores the struggles we’re facing today – everything from violence and leadership to inequality and global warming.

As an album with an important but heavy message, I think you can subconsciously expect the music to be pretty either too heavy or too soft but I think this album hits it just right and it’s definitely something I’ll listen to again.

8.5/10

Kreator: Hate Uber Alles

German thrash legends Kreator released their whopping 15th studio album last week. I have to admit that as much of a thrash head I am, I have slept on the German scene for years without really any reason to. This album very much shows me the error of my ways. It is a brutal assault of the senses from start to finish and touches on some pretty interesting topics lyrically. It reminds me a lot of Slayer’s best work. The band did a good job at picking the singles too, as all of them (alongside the opening track) are definite highlights of the album. The inclusion of sofia portanet on ‘Midnight Sun’ was a nice addition too, adding an almost symphonic metal element to the album. Another good album. 8/10

Wind Rose: Warfront

Charlotte: Wind Rose’s album Warfront took me by surprise. For an album written specifically for a video game, I wasn’t sure if it would engage me enough but I can’t deny the composition is fantastic.

I don’t think this is an album I could listen to on repeat, it’s not exactly written for car sing-alongs or festival crowd surfing, but it’s impressive all the same.

Joe: Italian ‘dwarf metallers’ Wind Rose have gained quite the following thanks to their Tolkein-inspired lyrics and getup. Their last album was fantastic (who can’t love ‘Diggy DiggyHole’?) and this one very much continues that same energy. Opener ‘Army of Stone’ is a great track and one of the singles, ‘Together we Rise’, is still enjoyable even though I’ve already been listening to it for a month to get on the hype train. Sometimes power metal takes itself far too seriously, and it’s nice that some bands can still have fun with it, too. 7.5/10

The Dream Syndicate: Ultraviolet Battle Hymns and True Confessions

Switching gears away from metal for just a se3cond, we get alt-rock pioneers The Dream Syndiate and their eighth studio album. It isn’t especially my thing, but it is enjoyable. It’s chilled out, punk-inspired soft rock, and it’s amazing background music. There’s not quite enough going on to keep my little ADHD brain interested fully, but it is far from boring. ‘Damian’ and ‘Every Time You Come Around’ were particular highlights for me. 6.5/10

Yatra: Born Into Chaos

This band are on their fourth album in four years. Even if you don’t like death/extreme metal, you’ve got to at least admire their work ethic. Heck, it’s a tiny bit heavy even for me, with the growls being a little hard to hear at times. However, the instrumentation was fantastic and off-set a the vocals a fair bit for me. The riffs were incredible, venturing into black and doom metal with ease and almost grace throughout the album. I wouldn’t go out of my way to listebn to it but I also wouldn’t turn it off if it came on! 5/10

Wolfsbane: Genius (Wolfgenius)

Poor Blaze Bayley. He gets such a bad rep from the metal community because he simply wasn’t Bruce Dickinson. Sure, his tenure in Maiden gave us X Factor, but it also gave us The Clansman, so it was not all bad. Blaze’s original band, Wolfsbane, reunited the band when he parted ways with Maiden and has put out some great music since then. Their new one is no different. Having a punk edge to the NWOBHM sound, not too dissimilar to Wildhearts, the album is a fun collection of catchy choruses and grungy guitar riffs. Tracks like the opener and ‘Rock the Boat’ stood out to me as some of the best on the album and give off a good idea of what the band are like for new listeners! 7/10

Black Therapy: Onward

While it boarders black metal and regular readers know my feeling on said sub-genre, there is enough melody and death metal in here to keep me interested and enjoying it. It’s definitely not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but I again find myself drawn to the sick riffs and awesome drumming. Don’t get me wrong though, those deep growls are insane. ‘Blindness’ was a particularly great highlight, but the whole album is a pleasant surprise! 7/10

Megasnake: Charming

Charlotte: As a first time listener of Megasnake, I didn’t know what to expect. After listening to their latest release Charming, I’m left wondering why I haven’t heard of them before? I loved this album.

The style is right up my street – that classic rock sound combined with gritty and powerful vocals (reminiscent of Chris Robertson), and not to mention the quality of the album’s production is superb. 

I expect to see them hitting some major new wave of classic rock festivals in the UK next year. 7.5/10

And there we have it, another great week for rock music in the bag! Next week promises to be just as good, too, so make sure to keep an eye on our Facebook here for all of our content.