Here we go, guys. One of my favourite bands currently and one of my most anticipated albums of the year, there was no way I wasn’t diving head first into this when it came across my emails. For those of you who don’t know, we loved their last couple of albums. Like a lot! They are one of the most promising bands in the heavy/power metal scene today, and have worked their asses off to get every opportunity they’ve gotten. The singles so far have been awesome, and I can’t wait to see what Dr Dead and his zombies have in store for us this time!
Opening on the one-two punch of their first two singles from this cycle, the album goes hard right from the jump! Now, I’ve already gushed over both tracks plenty in our reaction video to them, but I’d happily do it again! ‘The Circus is in Town’ is chaotic, heavy brilliance, and exactly what you’d expect as a fan of the band. However, that breakdown did take me by surprise, and is EXCELLENT. Meanwhile ‘Doctor Doctor’, while a little lighter and more AOR-based, is an awesome track in its own right, and that chorus has been stick in my head since I first heard it! Both are fantastic tracks in their own right, and up there alongside the very best of the bands previous output.
The first album track of the release, ‘Children of the Night’ is another grandiose, heavy power metal track, full of awesome riffing and catchy vocal melodies. The dynamics of the track are fantastic, dropping down for the first part of the verse, building more and more into that expectedly awesome, massive chorus. Dr Dead once again proves that he is one of the most underrated vocalists and writers in the game today, him certainly being a highlight of the track. However, the rest of the band kill it too, working their asses off throughout. All the backing vocals and harmonies only add to the hugeness of the vocals, making so very catchy. And we get a fantastic guitar solo tucked away in the middle of this, technical but also packed full of emotion, fitting the track perfectly. It’s bound to be a big crowd favourite live, and is yet another huge early album highlight!
The theatrics return for ‘Nosferatu’, that riff and melody being incredibly circus/folky in the best way. It follows a similar structure and formula as the previous tracks, but is done in such a fantastic way that it’s impossible not to get hooked in. It’s heavier generally than the previous couple of tracks, very much reminding me of the likes of Hammerfall and Dream Evil. The chorus isn’t as massive, but the whole song, from verse to bridge, is full of hooks. The ‘lie lie’ bit in the middle is excellent, and I love the growl at the end of the first chorus. It’s folk metal in a really fantastic way, and yet still feels like a song only Dominum could really make.
The other two singles from the album, ‘Dark Melodies’ and the title track, were excellent choices for pre-release songs. The former slows things down, it still having the heaviness and distortion but is also piano-led. It’s a beautiful track that once again highlights Dead’s vocal range perfectly. The writing of the track is incredible too, the instrumentation fitting the tone and themes to a T. The piano and vocal parts are perfect, and it explodes into another infectiously catchy chorus. It’s a truly excellent song and one that easily makes our playlist. Then, the latest single, features the amazing Battle Beast, and is another fantastic track. It brings the heaviness back, it being a typical Dominum track in the best way. Marina’s vocals are phenomenal on the song too and fit perfectly alongside Dead’s. Their harmonies are amazing, and it only makes the chorus even more massive. It’s a typical radio formula, but a fantastic power/symphonic metal track, and another that is well worth checking out!
Back to the album tracks, songs like ‘Jack the Ripper’ , ‘Devil’s Son’ and ‘I Don’t Drink Wine’ are more typical Dominum tracks. That is no way a bad thing; simply that they are exactly what I’d expect from this album and the band. It’s all heavy instrumentation and massive, catchy choruses with so much amazing harmonising. The latter is a particular favourite of mine, even if all are a little more “album track”-like than the previous songs. All are great in their own right though, fitting in with the rest of the album perfectly!
The now obligatory cover song for a Dominum album this time went to the MJ classic ‘Thriller’. As usual, they put their own heavy metal spin on the track, it fitting the tone of the album perfectly. And, thematically, it fits the band and their story perfectly, too! It’s a fantastic song to begin with, and this is just as enjoyable a version of it, honestly! The mix in particular on this track is amazing, it sounding huge and everything getting it’s time to shine and being so clear. It’s a really great addition to the album, and putting it this late in the album breaks things up perfectly.
‘Endzeit’ closes the album rather fittingly. Not only is it thematically a great finale, but it also draws together elements of just about every other track that came before it. A low intro into a massive, stomping folk-metal riff. The huge, uplifting chorus designed to play to huge festival crowds around the world. An awesome (albeit shortish) guitar solo. An epic, grandiose feel throughout, especially by the end. It’s excellent, and draws the album to a conclusion in the best way possible. Oh, and it’s a great song in its own right! It’s another huge highlight on an album honestly full of them!
We also get a couple of cheeky bonus tracks tucked away at the end; an acoustic version of two of their hits off their last two albums. Both ‘Don’t Get Bitten by the Wrong Ones’ and ‘Hey Living People’ fit somehow just as bad in this arrangement as they do with a full electric band, and it adds another, more sombre feel to both songs. Once again, Dr Dead’s vocals are the focal point, and the range and emotion on display through the songs from him honestly blew me away. If you like the previous two albums, give these a listen, they really frame both songs in an excellent new light. And goddamn, the size of those vocals on ‘Hey Living People’… *chefs kiss*.
Overall: How is it possible that this band just keeps getting better? Y’all know I’m a huge fan of their last two albums, but this somehow feels like a leap forward yet again; taking the very best parts of those two releases and moulding them together perfectly. It’s a huge release from start to finish, there being so many phenomenal tracks on here that stand out among the very top of their repertoire. Hell, there truly isn’t a bad song throughout. And, just to gush over it again, the production throughout is absolutely stellar. It’s no surprise the band are becoming as massive as they are; their talent and hard work is more than paying off, and their music really does speak for itself. Check this out, no matter what you are into, I’m sure you’ll love it as much as I do!
We chatted to the amazing Beyond Salvation the other week about their debut album, their live schedule and the state of the scene. Check it all out below!
Your album was released just over a week ago now [at the time of recording]. What’s it like to finally have your debut out?
Arun: Yeah, it’s pretty special. It’s kind of something we’ve been working towards for a long time. We do this in our spare time and we do it when we can, but it’s a labour of love. It is something we took a lot of care and a lot of attention over and we’re really, really proud of it. And so to finally have it out in the world is pretty special, actually. I stayed up until midnight and like went on Spotify and Amazon Music and waited for it to sort of come out. And it was like, oh, wow, it’s all there!
John: It’s quite surreal, actually. We’ve been working on this for a long time. And we always knew it would take… I don’t know… I felt like we felt that sort of like stereotypical, ‘we’re going to put an album out and it won’t take that long’. And then it took forever. But there’s been loads of good reasons why. And we’ve done releases in between. And I think then that sort of summed up this testament to how strong we feel about these songs; because we wrote these songs a long time ago. And I just love writing new stuff all the time. So for me, especially when I’m always writing stuff in the background, to still be so convinced of these songs that have lived with us for a bit, it makes me feel the flip side to what I’d usually be. Like, really convinced they are the songs they should be and sit together and just dead, dead, dead proud of it. And it’s like, I feel like it’s a bit like a tattoo, a real timestamp over the last five years of what we’ve been through.
It’s a passion project, isn’t it? And we’ve had line-up changes. If you take the very first song, ‘Incarcerate’, that’s with our old drummer, old bass player, which is mental. And then, yeah, that ended up being a single! So, yeah, a relief in a most positive way possible!
What went into the decision to do an album?
Arun: I actually think the reason we chose to do it as an album was actually artistic, so it was us, because if you look at our history kind of up to now, we’ve always released singles and EPs and, you know, we’ve done loads of those sorts of things. But we didn’t want to break this block of songs up. Like, there have been conversations between me and John about splitting the album into two and releasing it as two EPs or dropping a single here or there. But we feel really strongly about the album and it flows, particularly when I think the lyrics started being penned by John. The story it was telling… it’s not a concept album, but it is conceptual in its sort of flow. We didn’t really want to break that up. But I think it is just the strength of the songs. We just felt, no, these songs need to come out together as a block, as an album.
And although we’re told that the industry does push us towards singles and EPs and the frequency from the listener’s point of view, I think, from the other side, albums are still preferred. And again, maybe we’ve got a bit of an old school mindset in that. If I see a new song come out by a band, ‘I’m like, oh, that’s great. Right, when’s the album out?’ It’s still a bit of a stamp in time. Maybe that’s a little bit more of a metalhead way of thinking as well!
I’ve noticed it does feel like it’s a little easier to get a tour and do the festival circuit when you have an album as opposed to just the odd track.
John: Yeah, definitely. I think if I checked out a band that they hadn’t got an album that I could just invest in, I’d be a bit like, really? So, it still ticks that box for me. But, that’s me. It’s just constantly not trying to constantly say, oh, is it because I’m old? It’s just like, it’s a good body of work, you know, it’s a good way to get a good cross-section of a band. I’m not dissing singles or EPs at all. I think they’re great. They’re a great way to kind of dip your toe in. But I think particularly in metal, there is that thing of people like to invest and immerse themselves in the music. I would have a guess that probably doesn’t happen in R&B. I don’t know. Maybe it does. But, you know, particularly in metal, there is that sort of thing.
What’s the writing process like for you guys? Has it evolved as new members have joined?
Arun: There’s a general framework. Basically songs start either from John or from me. And they usually start with riffs. And often, like me and him, we’ll tend to sit back and forth between us. It’ll either be a verse idea or a chorus idea or something from me or from him. And then we’ll send it to the other person. That might spark some ideas. We’ll send it back, send it back. And we’ll sort of put a very rough but not final at all structure together just in a demo just so we can listen to it. And then we’ll send it on to the band. And then we’ll bring it into the room and the guys will have their ideas. Bringing Owen on board, he’s got some really good ideas for grooves and things that will lift certain parts in certain ways, which John and I don’t think of because we’re not drummers. So there’s definitely ideas from them. Sometimes we find the recording process can be a bit creative as well. We’ll sometimes, you know, we won’t change structures necessarily, but how something’s played or whether a fill goes in a certain place, for example, might change depending on when we record it. So, it is kind of quite a team effort, but it’s also very DIY.
Do you guys have a favourite track from the album?
John: Like you say, you’ve had them for a few years in the chamber now, so it might have changed since you first wrote them. I also had the reactions to the songs and people doing, like, little top threes really, really cool and really interesting. And it being really, like, quite broad, like, it seems to have been, like, a really different mix, which is really cool. So, that kind of spreads it across the album. And then, I think, I don’t know, emotionally attached, I’ve got a different, probably, stance because there’s lyrics in there, aren’t there? And they’ve changed and developed over time. And I think I’ve written some songs in the past where I’ve written them about someone else. And then you fast forward two years and suddenly realise I’m relating them to even more than when I wrote them about a friend or a loved one or something like that. And that’s happened on numerous occasions. The single we put out called Aftermath is a really good example of that, but that’s definitely happened on a few of these. So, yeah, I don’t know, but I think if I had to pick one for me, I think it’d just be the final nail. Like, it’s that kind of sad but true sort of groove, headbang, but it still goes fast and heavy.
Arun: for me, I think it really depends what day you ask me, because it’ll be almost a different song every day. But if I had to pick just one, it’d probably be Broken Reflections. But I’m also very, you know, I really like The Storm. The Storm means a lot. I think that’s quite a good indication of where we might be going. Yes, I think. And it was quite collaboratively written, which I quite like as well. that song is quite a few people picked up on that. And I feel like at the moment it’s not one of the singles, so it’s not been one that’s pushed in people’s faces. So the few of the people that have checked out the album for them to zone in on that song is quite cool.
Do you have a busy rest of the year show-wise in support of the album?
Arun: Yeah, we’ve got a few. So the main thing that we’re pushing quite a lot is on the 18th of July, we’re doing what’s essentially an album launch show. And it’s kind of the closest thing to an evening with Beyond Salvation. But what we’re doing is we’re playing the entire album in full from start to finish. And then some old songs at the end as well. So that’s the one we want to push the most. Yes. But aside from that, we are doing a few shows around the country. we had to take a conscious decision to go, right, we’ve got to fucking stop gigging. Yeah. We’re going to get this album finished. that’s been something that we’ve not done much of. So hopefully it’ll all work out like a perfectly oiled machine. We’ve got this album. We can push that. We’re going to be dotting around the country with some great bands.
John: What’s going to be really cool about the gigs this year. So until this point, we’ve constructed sets in a certain way with, as any band does, which is largely from your released music and particularly with what you’re promoting at the time. Live, we have played Incarcerate a few times, not since we released it as a single. We played it back in 2021, actually. But we haven’t really played any other song off the album live before. We didn’t want to fall into that trap of like just playing new stuff and getting excited about it and then no one can buy it. But actually, when we start writing sets for the gigs coming up, we’re going to be primarily, it’s going to be new for us, actually, because, you know, we’re going to have to write new sets that we’ve not done before.
What do you guys make of the music scene in the UK at the minute?
John: I think we’re spoiled in Manchester because it’s brilliant! I was talking COVID. It’s quite weird now because it’s half a decade ago. But like, the band started like four or five years before COVID. And it was interesting to come back after COVID and then suddenly you’ve got this like whole fresh generation younger bands suddenly coming out and feeling like they’re already like, Tortured Demon would be a really obvious example. But yeah, I think Manchester genuinely were like pretty spoiled because a lot of the gigs get a really, really good turnout for like an underground scene. So that’s really nice. And then broader… I don’t think we’ve had good gigs. We’ve had iffy gigs. So it’s just one of those where I’m really, really intrigued, excited, curious to see what this back half of the year holds. But I mean, particularly with stuff like Metal to the Masses that happens around the country for Bloodstock that gets such a good reaction. I mean the Manchester Metal to the Masses final was the weekend just gone and was rammed from the second the doors opened. I also know that other ones around the country get really, really busy as well. I think I saw like one or two of them were sold out a couple of weeks before the finals, a couple of weeks before the actual date. It’s almost like are there more bands than fans now?! That’s got to be a good thing, right? Because it means more people want to have a go. More people are feeling inspired.
Arun: Also, I think these days, some of my very, very favourite bands are British. Not even just like, oh, I like it because they’re from the UK. Like, they’re genuinely some of my favourite music that I’ve listened to lately. I remember being a teenager growing up. I don’t want to name anyone, but it was all America bands that were like, the ones. Do you know what I mean? It just meant nothing really from the UK seemed to click with me at all. I would say growing up, obviously you had your UK pioneers, like your Judas Priest and your Black Sabbaths and stuff, but we were a little young for when they first came on the scene! But growing up, all my favourite bands were American, and quite a lot of them still are, but there are lots of really, really cool British bands. Everyone seems to, you know, kind of go along to each other’s gigs and everyone’s pretty supportive. And it’s, yeah, it’s quite a nice vibe at the minute.
You guys are quite up on the whole social media thing, any advice you could give to bands just starting out?
John: You’ve just got to do it! Arun’s more the daddy on this and the guys we’ve been working with from DC Sound Attack have been a massive help and stuff. But try and make it as fun as you can. But you know what, I have really fucking funny, happy, fond memories of just me and the guys trying to pull things together to try and get content together. So you know what, just be genuine, I think. Be yourselves and have fun with it. But unfortunately, it’s like a necessary evil.
Arun: Planning ahead actually works really well. And you know, we’re doing this for the music, so the music’s still got to be really good. You don’t want to let the music suffer because of the content you’ve got to create.
An absolutely massive week of new music for us to check out across the spectrum. Let’s dive in!
Muse: The Wow! Signal
It’s always interesting when we get new music from the Devonshire trio. One of the biggest artists of my childhood, they are still one of my favourite bands now. You never quite know what to expect from them, and even the singles have been pretty varied. However, all have been great, so to say I’m hyped for this release would be an understatement. Plus, it’s their first new music since 2022’s Will of the People, and damn did we love that album!
Well, it certainly doesn’t disappoint! This is a 45 minute journey through the very best of rock, pop and even metal. All four main singles have been fantastic, and fit even better within the context of the album. The rest of the tracks are just as awesome too, the whole release having a grandiose, epic feel to it like only Muse can do. ‘The Sickness in You & I’ is maybe my favourite track on the album, and up there in the upper echalone of their music for me already. Heck, the Gojira-like breakdown at the end is honestly phenomenal. Then you have the Ellie Goulding-featuring ‘Hush’, and the equally Bond-esque opener, and the beautiful, epic closer, and the album as a whole is so incredibly solid. It also feels like a culmination of their career so far, honestly. ‘Cryogen’ is a straight-up Origins of Symmetry track, ‘Be With You’ would comfortably fit on Resistance or 2nd Law, ‘The Dark Forest’ would fit perfectly on Black Holes and ‘Unravelling’ is very much a ‘Drones’ track. Then you have the out-there ‘Nightshift Superstar’ that is straight-up disco-rock in the best way.
I may be becoming across as a fangirl, which I certainly am, but I cannot adequately tell you how great this album is. It’s excellent from front to back, and after 45 full minutes (twice already this weekend, I may add) it has just left me wanting more. It’s my favourite release from them since at least Drones, but it is more varied and well-rounded than that album, so may grow on me even more than that with more listens. Surely it’s not their best release since Black Holes, right..? Almost all of this has ended up on my personal playlist, and it’ll likely end up very high on our top albums of the year list come December. I can’t give it anything less than 10/10. Wow indeed!
The Pretty Reckless: Dead God
Momsen and co. finally brought us a followup to 2021’s massive Death by Rock and Roll this last Friday. I’m going to say right from the jump that that album grew on me in a big way the more I listened for the months after. Hopefully this one does too…
While I wasn’t a fan of the cold open, single ‘For I Am Death’ is a great track. Stuff like ‘Dragonfire’ and the Audioslave-like ‘Dark Days’ are also pretty good. However, the rest kinda blends together; not much stood out and I found myself getting a little bored. The band are damn talented, but they haven’t really evolved much in their 16 years of releasing music, I’m kinda over it now. They’ve never been an ‘album band’ per say, yet the closest they came was their last release. This feels like a step back in that regard. A few good tracks and then stuff that will be breezed over and forgotten about by the next cycle. In the nicest way possible, like I said in my review of them from Download: if it wasn’t for Taylor Momsen being involved, I don’t think anyone would care. If you like this album that’s awesome, and as I said I do hope it grows on me like their last did. But for now after a spin or two, I can’t give it much more than 7/10. Not bad but my least favourite of their albums so far.
Cody Johnson: Banks of the Trinity
One of the biggest international country stars around currently, and well and truly cements himself as just that with this release! It’s the perfect combination of early 2000s radio country with a modern edge to it, and even at over 50 minutes it goes by quickly and easily. It’s packed full of highlights too, from the opener to the Brothers Osborne featuring ‘Fool Proof’, ‘I Have’ to ‘Kissing a Married Woman’ to ‘Thank Somebody Country’. There is certainly a bit of downtime throughout, but he’s so good that even the slower or not quite as good tracks are hugely entertaining. He even manages to get away with some of the typically country-cheese lyrics from being such a great vocalist and songwriter. And it helps that his band work their asses off throughout, too. While I do still prefer Ain’t Nothin’ To It as an album as a whole, this is up there with his last couple as a close second. If you are at all into country, give this album a spin, you certainly won’t regret it! 8/10
Butthole Surfers: After the Astronaut
The alt/noise rock legends are back with their first studio work in two and a half decades. Though the tracks were originally recorded back in ’98, it’s at least given a modern mix and production to set it apart from their previous stuff. Having said that, you can still tell at times that it was written at the turn of the century, certain elements like the scratching giving it away. However, it is interesting that some of the topics and issues they sing about are still relevant today, all these years later. It’s honestly kinda sad. While not quite my sort of thing typically, I have always found the bands work interesting, and this was another release I found myself enjoying. ‘Jet Fighters’, ‘Venus’ and ‘They came In’ are all tracks I found myself enjoying and will certainly listen to again, even if I won’t repeat the album as a whole all too much. If you like the quirky stuff, this is worth a listen, but it certainly won’t be for everyone (most people). Still, there is no denying their impact to music, and this release fits in perfectly with the rest of their discography. 6/10
American Aquarium: New Ways to Lose
Fuck, I forgot how much I love this band! They are like country’s answer to Social Distortion or The Pogues, and I can’t get enough. Southern punk, almost. Honestly, the whole thing from front to back is incredible, too. Much like Muse, most of this ended up on my personal playlist, and I’ve spun it multiple times over the weekend already! It’s impossible to not have a good time listening to this, even when your getting your heart broken by the bittersweet ‘Favourite Hello’, and 34 minutes goes by in a flash! And, as such, it is impossible to pick just one or two highlight songs, all of them are fantastic in their own right. It may be my favourite album from the band, which is honestly saying a lot! It’s chilled out, rocky and emotional all in the perfect measures. If you are a fan of any of the bands or genres I’ve mentioned already, do yourselves a favour and check this out ASAP, you’re sure to love it as much as I do! I cant give it any less than 9/10, and it may grow on me even more through the rest of the year!
Hawxx: The World Splits Open
We’ve already checked out this awesome album! Read the full review here.
Boneripper: Radiant In Ruin
The sophomore album from the Netherlands metallic hardcore outfit goes hard right from the offset! ‘Oracle of Lies’ sets the tone of the release immediately, as well as being a big early highlight. Then you have tracks like ‘Damnation’, ‘Borrowed Breath’ and ‘Refuse Persist’ that are also bangers in their own right. However, the whole album is fantastic, there not being a bad song throughout. And for a fairly long album (12 tracks) it goes by in a flash, not at all feeling its length. I like the couple of interlude tracks thrown in too, making the album feel more alive, and the closer in particular was excellent.
The band are all hugely talented and so damn good at what they do. Wearing their inspirations on their sleeve, they straddle the line between beatdown, metallic and metalcore amazingly, the closest comparisons for me being the likes of Hatebreed and even Pro-Pain. I was new to the band upon checking this out, and they have a big new fan in me! I am already desperate to see some of this live (a trip to Europe sounds perfect right now) and I can’t give it any less than 8.5/10. Amazing stuff!
Willow Avalon: Pink Pocket Pistol
This third album in three years from the neo-traditional country artist, and it has a tough job following up Southern Belle! Spoiler alert: it sadly doesn’t quite reach those heights. Don’t get me wrong, tracks like ‘Easy on the Eyes’, ‘Hell in a Handbag’ and all three with guest features are great. She is still a fantastic lyricist throughout, too. However, I found a lot of this was just a touch slow, and as such it all blended together a little for me. None of it is bad by any stretch, and if you like an old-school, chilled out sound you’ll probably love this. However, her last release felt like a bit of a breath of fresh air, an exciting blend of old and new, and this isn’t the follow-up I’d hoped for. As I said, there is definitely some fun, great stuff on here, but as an album as a whole I won’t be revisiting it all that often. She still has a hugely bright future ahead of her, but it doesn’t quite live up to my hype for it, given her previous output. Still, the tracks I named are awesome, and fitting additions to her discography! 7/10
CJ Wildheart: Devil
The punk legend followed up his 2025 release in quick fashion with another banger of a release! If you know CJ, you know exactly what to expect from the album, and I mean that in the best way! Between ‘The Art of Being Free’, ‘Diva’, ‘One of the Boys’ and ‘Twenty Two’, there are some tracks up here that I’d honestly put up alongside his best. It’s punk through and through, whether it’s his older brand of Wildheartsy stuff, or a more Celtic tinge to it. As much as I loved SLOTS, I may like this even more! If you are at all into punk, this is an absolute must-listen. It’s just a lot of fun, showcasing that CJ still very much has it decades into his music career! I’ll be spinning this a fair bit moving forward, and can’t give it any less than 8.5/10!
Georgia Webster: EVERYTHING MUST GO!
Album two from the country pop rising star is a chilled-out affair, and a very easy listen. At only eight tracks across 27 minutes, it goes by in a flash, and has some great stuff up there with some of her best. ‘2 YEARS’, ‘SYDNEY’ and the closer are all personal highlights, but there certainly isn’t a bad track on the release! She fits perfectly alongside other modern popish artists like Olivia Rodrigo, and is most certainly going to keep getting bigger and bigger the next few years. It’s certainly not going to be a release for everyone reading this article, but I had a good time listening to it, and will certainly be spinning it a fair bit over the coming summer. For now, it gets a solid 7.5/10 from us!
Druidess: Trip Meadow
The Newcastle-based doom/stoner metallers dropped their highly anticipated debut album this last Friday. Spoiler alert, it’s a bit good! It’s seven incredible tracks packed full of insane riffing, solid drumming and some catchy-as-fuck vocal melodies. It immediately reminds me of The Sword’s heyday (goddamn I miss when they were pumping out great music), but also has elements of everything from Clutch to Red Fang to Orange Goblin. And as I said before, every song is as good as the last, it being nearly impossible to pick highlights. Having said that, the proggy, epic title track is pretty rather excellent! Everyone involved in this is so talented; from the playing to the writing to the production, it’s all excellent. As far as debut albums go, this is fantastic, and the band are going to go incredibly far if they keep up this quality. It won’t be for everyone, but if you like your metal sludgy, epic and massive, give this a spin, you won’t regret it! 8/10
Amberian Dawn: Temptation’s Gates
The first album from the symphonic metallers with new singer Nicole Willerton at the helm, this feels like another big step forward in the bands already sprawling discography. The first studio work from the outfit since 2020 (aside their 2022 ABBA tribute album), it shows how far the band have come in that time, refining their sound into the genre’s purest form. Nicole is the perfect fit, her vocals being a huge high point of the release, while the other four compliment her perfectly and work their asses off throughout. From ‘The Vision of Dreaming’ to ‘Unchained’ (those screams were unexpected and awesome!), ‘Undying Colours’ to the epic closer, it’s all so good. My only complaint would be that it’s a little samey throughout, but when it’s this good it’s hard to be that mad about that! If you are into the genre, do yourselves a favour and give this a listen. Another very easy 8/10
James O’Hurley: A Beggars Belief
This four track EP follows his album from last yearrather perfectly. Combining two live-recorded tracks from said album with two brand new ones, it’s a short yet great blues release! It’s rather stripped-back and chilled out, but offers a different perspective on the rising star. The new tracks fit perfectly alongside the other two, and it creates an awesome 15 minutes of music. ‘Roulette’ is a personal favourite, it almost having bond-song levels of grandiose to it. However, all of it is great. If you are a fan of James or blues rock as a whole, this is well worth giving a spin! I’ll certainly be listening again, that’s for sure! 7.5/10
Taxi Girls: Static
Some more punk for us this week, this time the debut album from the Montrèal four-piece. It’s a lot of fun, and gives off big Distillers vibes in the best ways. From the opener to ‘Auto Hysterics’, ‘Kill Your Darlings’ to ‘Don’t Leave me Hanging’, there is so much to love throughout. It’s somehow the perfect blend of old-school and modern punk, but also has a unique vibe to it as well that is very Taxi Girls. I’d never heard of them before I got emailed about this release, but they have a big new fan in me, and are set to be a big name in the scene sooner rather than later! They encapsulate that DIY punk energy that the likes of Amyl and Wet Leg have brought to the dance before them, with the added bonus of actually making good-sounding music on top of that. If you are all interested, give this a listen, you’ll love it as much as I do! A very easy 8.5/10
Stonecast: Expand Crimson Chaos
Firstly, what a badass artwork! And, while we’re at it, what a badass album! The bands first since 2019’s I Earther, while it still maintains it baseline of traditional heavy metal, they experiment a lot through their 46 minutes here. The opener is straight up Doom metal, and it’s awesome! ‘A Ce Lieu’ has more of a thrashy, groove metal edge to it. ‘King of Hell’ goes in more of a metalcore/melodeath direction. The title track has an air of power metal to it, even. Between these, ‘Against the Tide’ and the closer, there is so much awesomeness to love throughout. There isn’t a bad track across the entire release, and it goes by surprisingly quickly. The band are all insanely talented musicians and songwriters, and have crafted their most cohesive and best album to date with this! I’d recommend it to absolutely anyone into metal, and I can’t give it any less than 9/10!
Fox N’Vead: Playing the Game
Album three from the North Carolinian four-piece perfectly blends alt rock with their country/southern background, and continues to grow their discography amazingly. The title track was slightly rocky for me, though they are clearly all accomplished blues players. However, ‘Waiting’ is a phenomenal southern-tinged hard rock track that called back to the early 2000s rock scene when it was so prevalent perfectly. Tracks like ‘Waste Away’, ‘High Agenda’ and ‘Grounded’ are also fantastic. There are some tracks that I don’t enjoy as much as others; the slower, softer ones don’t quite hook me in as much. However, overall it’s a damn good album! It’s up there alongside their previous two, the group building up an incredibly strong back catalogue. They feel wholly unique, finding a fun niche for their sound that works for me more often than not, and I’ll certainly be listening again! If you like the rockier side of country, or the alt side of Southern rock, give this a try! 8/10
The punk-metal trio are back with their highly anticipated follow-up to their 2023 debut, Earth, Spit, Blood and Bones. While I’ve seen the name around, I don’t think I particularly know any of their music. However, having checked out a single in the lead up to this, it seems like it should be right up my street! Without further ado, let’s dive in!
The album starts out showing exactly what it’s about, and showcasing exactly what the band stand for. An audio clip of a woman talking about her brother jailed for protesting for Palestine gives way to a huge vocal wall from the trio, giving rise to the track name ‘Resistance is Justified’ perfectly. The heavy instrumentation behind it fits the vibe perfectly, the drumroll building excellently, while the Gojira-like guitars complement it excellently. As it explodes in we get chants of ‘Free Palestine’ and honestly, fuck yeah, this is punk metal awesomeness. The vocals remind me a little of a Dead Kennedy’s type, but also with plenty of anger and scream to them too. And of course the lyrics are phenomenal, matching the angst a lot of the world is feeling currently. It’s heavy and anti-establishment in all the very best ways. And, as I said, it’s the perfect way to set the tone for the release as a whole, and an excellent way to introduce the band to any new listeners. A MASSIVE early highlight!
‘Macho Bullshit’ continues the vibes from the pervious track perfectly. The opening riff is both heavy and groovy in equal measure, almost feeling like a modern/nu metal song at first. Otep was where my mind immediately went to, and that certainly isn’t a bad thing! The lower-level verse, builds perfectly through the pre into an almost hardcore-like part, and then gets even bigger with a melodic, doom-ish chorus. All of it is excellent and so very catchy! It’s a bit more radio friendly a track, a very good choice for a single. The outro is awesome too, proper metallic punk greatness. To I’m sure no surprise, this is another awesome song and one that makes our playlist!
The other single from the release (damn this album is front-loaded!) ‘Feral Mother’, opens on vocals and a simple guitar chug. It once again builds perfectly, exploding into a huge, heavy soundscape. It takes an almost prog vibe to it at this point, though the vocal melody instead is very Serj Tankian. It’s surprisingly catchy, and again works excellently as a single. It’s less angsty than the previous songs, but provides a really interesting change of pace, almost all the elements of punk stripped away, left with an epic metal vibe. The album has already kept me guessing in the best possible way, and this is another great example of that!
‘We Are Nature’ gives off a similar vibe to the previous track, though with a slight bit of that punk attitude injected back into it. The same could be said for ‘Bind’ and ‘Sacred Water’. Both have a Middle Eastern tinge to them, giving off vibes of Igorrr or Lowen on top of their own style. They are similar in their sound and execution, but are so very different from some other tracks on the album, making it constantly interesting and rather fascinating. The former is probably my favourite just for the HEAVY dum outro. However, all three are fantastic songs, packed with great melodies, instrumentation and lyrics.
Then you have the more frantic energy of songs like ‘Arm the Animals’ and ‘Shriek’ Both have more of that hardcore punk energy to it, with the former being another huge high point of the album for me, both lyrically and musically. The band are SO GOOD when they are angry, almost equalling Sam Carter levels of excellent in that regard. However, the latter at least has elements of that Middle Eastern melody to it too, yet still has the aggressive edge of stuff like the opener. It’s a fantastic combination of all their sounds!
‘Me Her and the Birds’ is the ballad of the album. It’s a dark, beautiful track mainly built around a simple, clean guitar chord progression and the ladies’ vocals. Having said that, it still builds gradually into a heavier, more distorted, huge crescendo. However, it stays at a slower pace, being truly epic and menacing in all the best ways. It’s another track that somehow feels completely different while also sounding distinctly like HAWXX What a track!
The closer, ‘Be That Whore’, is truly a culmination of everything that came before it. From the punky attitude to the prog-metal structures and riffs to some incredible screams, it all blends together masterfully. It’s the longest track on the record at comfortably over six minutes, but it means everything gets the perfect time to breathe. It’s ambitious and heavy and so very well written. A perfectly fitting way to close out the album, and in a way that only HAWXX can!
Overall: I absolutely loved this album! I didn’t really know what to expect heading in outside of what I got from their presser, but I emerge from this release as a massive new fan of the band! All three of the trio kill it from start to finish, and every song on it is great, with a good handful standing out as truly excellent. If you are at all a fan of your music a little heavier or punky, this is absolutely the release for you. And damn, if some of the lyrics and the messages aren’t fantastic. I’ll certainly be listening to this again, and don’t be surprised to see it high on our albums of the year list come December! I can see them being a big name, sooner rather than later!
A slightly quieter week this time, but we still have some great releases to be checking out! Let’s dive in!
The War and Treaty: The Story of Michael and Tanya
The second album in two years from the Southern soul duo and honestly, it may take a little growing for me. Tracks like ‘You Can’t Hurt Me Anymore’, ‘Holy Ghost Fire’ and the closer are high points, but the album as a whole is a touch slow. Don’t get me wrong, they’re not known for high pace generally, but they at least have some smattered throughout their projects. This is just all ballads aside for closer ‘High Heels’. Said track is up there among their best, honestly, but it certainly took some getting to. While I did very much like Plus One, it was a slight step below Lover’s Game for me in hindsight, and this release once again takes another sad step down. I did enjoy the concept of the release, the pair highlighting the ups and downs of their marriage from each perspective. However, it felt like they didn’t lean into each other as much, more having each track be a solo one with the other as backup. The emotion is still there, but it can make for a damn depressing listen at times. When they do sing together though, it still very much works to perfection. They still have two of the best voices in music currently. They just felt less of a team sharing each song than usual.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not exactly their target audience, and I’m sure plenty of their fans will love this. It’s still not a bad album by any stretch. However, it’s nothing we haven’t had from them before, except it leans hard on the stuff that I like a little more in moderation from the duo. As I said, hopefully it grows on me, as I’ll certainly be giving it more listens. For now, I can’t give it much more than 7.5/10.
Hard-Fi: Sweating Someone Else’s Fever
Having known the name for a while, I don’t think I’ve ever actually heard a track by the UK indie rockers outside of their big hit. However, the first album in a decade and a half and since their 2022 reunion, there was no way I wasn’t checking it out to see what all he hype was for.
It’s at very least interesting. The opener is terrible, but I did enjoy the Latin-infused single ‘Digo Nada’. Tracks like ‘Looking for Fun’ and ‘Now and Then’ are also pretty good! However, overall it isn’t really the sort of thing I’m into much. None of it is bad at all, and does have a bit of a nostalgic twinge for me from when this sort of style was big in the bands heyday. If you are big into this sort of music, you’ll almost certainly have a lot of love for this. The band are clearly talented! Krysten Cummings also does great on her two guest tracks, adding a lot to the sound. However, the whole album is a bit boring and samey, dragging across its 40 minutes. It’s nothing that hasn’t been done before, and feels kinda dated; a little expected given their time off. As I say, if you’re a fan of the band or 2000s/2010s indie music, this is worth a listen. Outside of that though, I don’t think it’s win many new fans over. If it was on I wouldn’t turn it off, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to listen to this again. 5/10
When Rivers Meet: Rhythm Rust & Static
Coming just one year after the awesome Addicted to You, the husband-and-wife blues duo are back with album number five. I feels like the pair have gone a bit heavier with this release too, which was awesome to hear! I was hooked right from the opener, and not let go for the full 41 minutes. ‘Caught in the Middle’, ‘I’m Ready for You’ and ‘My Time Is Done’ are big personal highlights, but honestly the whole album is fantastic and has a great flow to it. Heck, as a soon-to-be-parent, hearing the pair of new parents write and perform a track like ‘Bring Life’ was truly beautiful. They are such a phenomenal combined talent, and I honestly feel like they have the ingredient that I was missing from War and Treaty above; they play off each other and compliment each other perfectly throughout. The pair and their backing band are all insanely talented, and I think they’ve maybe crafted their most cohesively high-quality release yet! Another incredibly solid 9/10 from us!
Endseeker: Coffin Born
The farewell EP from the German death metallers is a fittingly brutal. It’s 22 minutes of fast paced, heavy music, and each track is as good as the last! ‘Enemies of Peace’ is an amazing opener packed with some truly great lyrics. ‘Coffin Born’ goes hard too, and the Lord of the Lost-featuring ‘True Survivor’ not only closes things out perfectly, but adds some great dynamics to the release with some clean vocals. As I said though, the whole thing is great from beginning to end. It’s a shame to see the band go, but what a note to end it on! If to are into the heavier end of stuff at all, this is definitely worth a spin! I can’t give it any less than 8/10
Warning: Rituals of Shame
The first album from the British doom band in a whopping two decades finally dropped this last Friday, to much hype from its cult following. It’s 45-minutes of darkness and despair, the band picking things up like they never left it off in the first place. It’s only five tracks long, but each is proggy, doom-filled epicness, and it all flows surprisingly well together. Don’t get me wrong, on the whole it’s maybe a little slow for me personally, but I still very much appreciate the talent and writing that went into creating this! Having said that, I really enjoyed ‘Stations’, and closer ‘Teacher’ is awesome too. It all just feels a bit similar to me, and the slower doom stuff doesn’t hit as hard when that’s all it is, if that makes sense? For fans of the band, I imagine this is like Christmas, and it is certainly a worthy successor to Watching from a Distance. And while it is damn good doom metal, I can’t give it any more than 7/10
Pond: Terrestrials
Following up 2024’s Stung!, the Australian psychedelic five-piece show off their incredible talent once again here! While not typically my sort of thing on paper, I had a blast listening to it in full! Nestled comfortably between Yes, Deep Purple and ELO, their sound is awesome, and each member plays their asses off throughout, all getting their own time to shine. Personal highlights include ‘Casuarina’, ‘Roebuck Plains’ and ‘Personal Hell’, but the whole album is pretty damn good! If you like the softer, proggier side of rock music, this is absolutely an album for you. It’s not something I’ll be spinning too often, but will most likely be checking it out again in the relatively near future. It’s a solid 7.5/10, and is another that may grow on me even more through the rest of the year!
Inherits the Void: The Silent Abscission
This atmospheric black metal album is honestly awesome! Y’all know by now that I have an up-and-down relationship with black metal, but this was interesting and entertaining as hell throughout. Having elements of almost tech death added to the rest was awesome, the sheer playing and writing ability on display being off the charts. From the opener to ‘In the Shadow of the Falling Star’ to ‘A World Unmade’, the album is packed full of great songs! It’s another release that flows fantastically too, not at all feeling nearly 50 minutes in length. It’s not a release for everyone, but I really enjoyed it, and will certainly be spinning it again plenty moving forward. Even if you aren’t typically into black metal, give this a try, it will almost certainly win you over like it did me! 8.5/10, great stuff!
Kashus Culpepper: Act I: Summer Nights
The new EP from the rising country star is a short but very sweet affair. Three new songs, backed up by a fantastic cover and an interlude, and it makes for incredibly easy listening! It’s 13 minutes of chilled-out, beautiful pop-country/Southern soul, and I can’t get enough! ‘Let me Show You Love’ is fantastic, as is ‘Til the Sun Goes Down’. However, there is no beating that fantastic Glen Campbell cover, it opens things up perfectly. I remember checking out his debut album back at the start of the year and not minding it, but honestly this was a step up in quality for me! I feel like the brief nature of this release (Act I is long) helped it a lot, it being all-killer, no-filler. I’ll definitely be listening to this again, probably a fair bit over the summer, and would urge anyone reading this to check this out! Another incredibly easy 8.5/10 from us!
Swim Deep: Hum
Album five from the indie collective is another chilled-out release for us this week. I can’t say I’d really heard of them before checking out this album, and while it’s not usually my sort of style, I definitely had fun with it! It’s simple and relaxed and gives off a real early-mid 2000s vibe that I can’t help but be a little nostalgic for. And, from ‘You, Me and Mary’ to ‘Such a Fool’ to ‘In Dreams Alive’, there is a lot to love. It’s maybe a little too similar for me in terms of pace and sound for an album as a whole, but I’ll definitely be coming back to the aforementioned tracks pretty regularly! For any indie fans reading this, this is certainly an album for you. I’m at least curious to go back and check out the rest of their back catalogue to see if it’s all this good. And, while I do so, this gets a solid 7/10
Shadowborne: Heaven’s Falling
Time for a debut album, us having surprisingly few this week. The power metal newcomers kill it with this release! From the excellent opener ‘High and Low’ to ‘Hold the Door’ to ‘The Wall’, there is so much to love throughout, though the whole album is pretty excellent! If you are even a passing fan of power or heavy metal, give this a spin ASAP! From the soaring vocals to the solid drumming to the excellent riffs and synth, it’s all so damn good. And the choruses, they are easily a high point of the release as a whole, they are all so infectiously catchy. The band are going to go very far in the scene if this release is anything to go by. I already can’t wait to hear where they go from here, but for now I’ll certainly be listening to this a lot moving forward. I can’t give it any less than 8/10!
Mork: Monolitt
The ninth album from Thomas Eriksen’s black metal project is another brutal addition to their growing discography. It’s a perfect encapsulation of the 2nd wave of the genre, though with some real top-notch production that honestly helps it a lot. There are some awesome riffs throughout, and some truly heavy drums and screams. It’s a little more straight forward than Inherits the Void above, so did struggle to hold my attention a little more. However, there was enough more death metal-like parts that I still found myself enjoying it! Single ‘Ødelagt’ is a big high point of the release, as is ‘Martyr’. And the rest all sounds fairly similar, so if you generally like your metal black, you’re bound to love this! Another solid 7/10
Tucker Zimmerman: Dream Me a Dream
The criminally underrated folk singer-songwriter put out his fifth album this decade so far this last Friday. It’s a stripped-back, relaxed affair and a 37 minutes I found myself enjoying far more than I expected to! The lyrics were amazing, and sometimes the swell of the strings and other instrumentation around Tucker bring out so much emotion. ‘Don’t Feel Like Doing Nothing Today’ is probably my favourite, but I also really like the Lou Reed-like ‘Rooftops of San Francisco’. He’s an old-school storyteller through and through, and it’s cool to still be getting this sort of music being released. It’s probably not something I’d revisit a huge amount, but I can appreciate the hell out of the musicianship that went into it, and certainly liked it. It was cool to just throw on and get lost in the lyricism and feel of it all. And, for that, it gets an easy 7.5/10
The last day of the festival kicked into high gear immedialy with Kublai Khan TX. The new kings of hardcore brought the heavy and swagger right from the moment they stepped on stage, and had a surprisingly long set filled with bangers. Matt is such a good frontman, making everything from his growls to his interactions look so effortless and cool. The rest of the band very much give it their all though, putting on a show enough to match. The setlist was great too, a full 12 tracks of attitude and brutality. And the crowd were all for it, even at barely midday, throwing down and shouting back to the band at Matt’s every command. I am already desperate to see the band again, hopefully in a smaller, more intimate setting, but I’m shocked that even seeing a band like this on a stage as big as this was so good! What a way to shake off the cobwebs and start the day off with a bang!
Next up was the legend that is Mammoth. Another one that we’ve seen once or twice at Graspop, not only do Wolfgang and co. keep growing more each year, but they somehow keep getting even better, too! I was a big fan of their album last year, and to hear a good chunk of it live was awesome! Honestly, it was just a really great set to sit and chill out in the sun to after a busy weekend (and the madness of Khan). I don’t really have much else to say about it other than it was fantastically good hard rock music, and if you’re into that you should absolutely go and see them ASAP!
Over in the Avalanche tent we saw one of my new favourite bands next in The Pretty Wild. Sisters Jyl and Jules are absolute powerhouses not just on track but on stage too, and their band absolutely back that up in a massive way. The sheer talent of both of their vocals is off the charts, but the fact that they can sing and scream like that while also putting on the performance like that is honestly phenomenal. The setlist was perfect, giving us the very best of their album and single stuff, and actually felt like the best possible length (though I’d have happily taken another ten minutes, honestly). They already had one of my favourite albums of last year, and now on top of that they have one of my favourite sets of this year! I already can’t wait to see them again, we need a headline UK/EU tour next year please!
Bloodywood absolutely tore apart main stage next. I’d only seen them the once before, and I think the sound quality played a big part in me being ever so slightly let down by the set. This more than made up for that instance. For once they got the sound right on the main stage; this hit hard and loud in all the right places. And you could tell too, as the crowd popped OFF throughout. And while I do still think they talk a little too much between tracks, I know a lot of people are into that, and they were certainly saying some great stuff. On top of that, it was another perfect set, giving us the very best of their two albums. They are still such a unique and interesting sound, it makes it impossible not to get on board with it, and the fact that they very much bring it live too makes it even better. I was always a fan, but this definitely won me over to the band in an even more massive way. Another band I need to see again like yesterday.
After that were The Pretty Reckless. Another band that it’s been almost a decade since I’d last seen, and it’s kinda sad that in all that time, they haven’t gotten much better live. I’m sorry y’all, I just don’t get it. And still, I find it hard to put my finger on exactly why that is. The band are all talented, and Taylor has a great live voice. She’s not the best front-person in the world, but I’ve certainly seen worse, and from bigger artists. I think that might be it though; they throw their weight around like they are the biggest band in the world. They drag everything out so much, stretching their 10 track setlist by easily 10 minutes than the studio versions to make everything interractable. Don’t get me wrong, they have some damn good songs, but I hate to say that if it wasn’t for Momsen being the face of the band, I don’t think they’d be nearly as big as they are if they had the same tracks still. She’s a rockstar through and through, standing out among an industry now of more clean-cut, calmer musicians, but I’m not sure that’s necessarily a good thing. They’re certainly good, and I know that their fans there loved it, but I sadly kinda found myself thinking ‘just get on with it’.
Social Distortion didn’t have nearly a big enough crowd on the Opus stage. They definitely had some stiff competition from the other stages, but the punk legends don’t venture over here all too often, and just put out a banger of a new album, they deserved more love! They still sound great live too, even with Mike’s recent health issues. However, while I did dig the new album stuff, I have to say as my first time seeing them, I was a little let down they didn’t do literally anything off their massive, self-titled album. It’s what got me into the band all those years ago, and I was excited to finally hear some of it live. Clearly I just need to hear a longer set from them, as they sounded great and put on a good show, I just wanted more!
Possibly my favourite band at this point were up next, Ice Nine Kills. This was a weird one for me, honestly. We saw them back in Decemberand they were incredible! However, something here felt slightly off at times, though I’m 90% convinced it was the sound. The vocal mix, for once, was actually impeccable. I’ve never heard Ricky and Joe so loudly, and they filled in around Spencer excellently. However, and it’s the same complaint as I had all weekend, the main stage was just too damn quiet. They’re a heavy-ass metalcore band with pretty brutal breakdowns and almost death metal parts, yet we were at the first crowd-breaker and none of it really hit.
However, the band and the stage show of course killed it, just as always. A set packed full of incredible songs, be it off Welcome to Horrorwood, their recent singles or even a cheeky NOFX cover. Each one was complete with costume changes, props, extras and pyro, proving that they are truly one of the best live bands around today. I didn’t even mind that it was essentially the same set that we’d seen from them in the winter, because it’s all so good live and on track that it’s impossible not to love! Plus, Hannah Greenwood coming out to do Grace’s parts on ‘Twisting the Knife’ was amazing, she absolutely KILLED it all weekend (pun intended). It’s another case of if I was down the front, I’d have had even more fun, and it is a shame that the sound was so quiet that being further back had a big impact. But, even still, this was one of the best sets of the weekend!
After INK, we finally chilled out a bit. It was tetting warm and we couldn’t decide on who to see, so we kinda milled around, catching bits of whatever we fancied. Ash didn’t stand out to me much beforehand, and were simply fine live. We watched a bit of a meat smoking show, that was good fun and took me back to years of Long Roads. We caught the last two tracks of Mastodon, curious how they would sound without Brent. Honestly, I wasn’t digging it too much until ‘Crack the Skye’, and then that and ‘Blood and Thunder’ were excellent and I was really into it. They’ve never been the biggest band for me, but I’d happily see them again at another festival. Oh, and we popped up to Dogtooth early and caught the last few from the criminally underrated Spineshank. They killed it, and were honestly my biggest surprise of the weekend!
Creeper set two, Dogtooth tent. Now, I will happily hold my hands up and say that their packed out set at Trees the other yearis one of my favourite live music experiences of all time. And fuck, the boys (and Hannah) only went and did it again, didn’t they? There is something about Creeper in a slightly more intimate, darker venue that makes it somehow even better, and it helps that the crowd were all in right from the start. And, while we got a fair bit of the same stuff as Friday’s set, the extra 20 minutes certainly helped! ‘The Ballad of Spook & Mercy’ is one of my favourite tracks they’ve ever done, and hearing it live is always amazing. And to hear new tracks like ‘The Crimson Bride’ and ‘The Black House’ live was amazing, too. Heck, we even got the live debut of Sanguivore closing ballad ‘More Than Death’, which I never thought we’d ever get live. Will absolutely blew everyone away with it and, to absolutely no one’s shock, made the wife cry again.
Everything about the set was honestly perfect. The sound was great, the band performed masterfully, the crowd was packed in to the rafters with genuine fans and, outside of me maybe wanting an older track or two sneaking in again, the setlist was amazing. The band have very quickly made Download their home the last few years, and this capped off one hell of a weekend for them. Looking back, this may very well have been my favourite set of the weekend, maybe even of the year. Goddamn.
And with that, the final band of the weekend took to the stage. A lot has been made about Linkin Park finally being the first female fronted band to headline the festival, and honestly it’s about fucking time. However, and don’t kill me for saying this, I wasn’t really feeling the set. They played a massive set packed full of career spanning hits to a packed out crowd, a lot of whom seemed to be loving it. And the From Zero stuff, from ‘Two Faced’ to ‘IGYEIH’ and plenty in between, sounded awesome! However, as much as I wanted to enjoy the older stuff, Emily’s voice just isn’t cut out for it. She wasn’t awful at the Thousand Suns or ‘Burn it Down’, but anything from the early stuff didn’t hit at all for me. I felt nothing when she sung the Hybrid Theory or Meteora tracks; it was all very one-note with no real emotion there. It made it feel even more like a Mike cash grab than it did before. The stage show was interesting, though there was far too much down time between songs, and the chemistry between Mike and Emily on the rare times they did interact with the crowd felt forced. If you enjoyed it and it scratched that LP itch for you, that’s awesome, but it sadly did not do that for me. We left during ‘Numb’, it was just too sad.
Having a sunburnt, pregnant wife tagging along, we got in a touch later than hoped on the Saturday. However, we made it in for most of the amazing As Everything Unfolds on Opus, and what a way to start our day! The alt rock/metalcore rising stars owned the massive stage right from the jump, proving that they very much deserved to be up there. It’s crazy too, as they were originally supposed to be on the much smaller Dogtooth stage later on, but swapped with Drowning Pool because their flights were delayed. It proved to be a fantastic decision on both counts, as I think AEU got heaps of new ears and exposure from this move. Seeing ‘Gasoline’ live was awesome, as it’s become honestly one of my favourite tracks from this year so far. But the whole set was amazing, and the band played their asses off throughout!
Over to the Dogtooth tent for the first time of the weekend, we saw proggy, middle-eastern infused metal band Lowen. By far the quirkiest band for us of the weekend, it was damn interesting to watch. They were all insanely talented musicians, and I loved the video and images they had playing behind them, really adding to the atmosphere of it all. While it’s not typically my sort of style in a live environment, I had a good time watching them and have listened to them a few times on track since coming home. They are well worth seeing if you are into this side of metal music, and would honestly go down a storm in the European market! Nina has such an interesting voice and she fronts the band spectacularly, while the rest of the band back her up and make their wall of sound absolutely massive. They definitely have a new fan in me!
Over to the Apex stage, we caught emo-metal legends Black Veil Brides. The last time I saw them properly was here back in 2012. Back then, they were so hated they were getting bottles and mud balls hurled at them. The metal world has softened on them since then, and we’re fairly receptive to the band this time around! The crowd for them was pretty massive, and the front half were hanging on every note. However, something about it just didn’t land for me. Maybe it was because we were a touch further back and, for as big as the new main stage is, it isn’t very loud. Or maybe it was because they did a setlist primarily consisting of new tracks, bookended by a few classics. It’s not exactly a bad thing, and their fans certainly seemed to enjoy it, but it didn’t hook me in for too long, despite how talented the band all are.
Because of that, we instead headed over to see our friends, the mighty Those Damn Crows. It had already been too long since we’d last seen them, it being the very start of 2025. They were excellent at Winters End and, to the surprise of I’m sure no one, they were also excellent here! The bands sound and energy is built for huge festival stages like this at this point, and they put on the set to prove it. From ‘Find a Way’ to ‘Sin on Skin’, their awesome, extensive back catalogue was on full display. My only slight complaint is that we didn’t get much off their recent chart-topping album, God Shaped Hole. However, that was most likely because they didn’t have a huge amount of time. It just means that they’ll have to do a headline tour soon as well as the Shinedown support, so we can see a full set… Shane is a truly excellent frontman, getting the crowd going as well as coming across genuinely sincere and likeable. And the rest of the band played their asses off throughout, just as they always do. Another fantastic set!
Speaking of fantastic sets, Drowning Pool were up next. After their set-switch earlier in the day, they were now packed into the smaller Dogtooth tent, and I’d rarely seen a crowd as big trying to watch a band in there! The last time I’d seen the band was at Rescue Rooms when I was just a teenager, so to say I was hyped would be an understatement. Especially with the recent re-addition of Ryan back at the front! He sounded better than he has in a few years too, I know he seemed to be struggling a little last time we saw him with Soil. We’ll get the elephant in the room out of the way first: they only had time for four songs. However, those four songs were all excellent, and brought me back to my youth in a big way. A Sinners-full set of the heaviest hitters from that album, and the crowd hung on every note. As a big ‘Mania X8 guy, ‘Tear Away’ will always be a huge song for me, and they played it amazingly on Saturday. Then, of course, sending the crowd home in a frenzy from the massive ‘Bodies’ was absolutely the right call, it being the main reason most were near that tent to begin with. I’m really hoping this means that they’ll be back sooner rather than later, and hopefully finally start getting more of the love they deserve in the UK. Too short, but an excellent set!
As we left the tent, we managed to catch the back half of Babymetal’s set. It once again wasn’t the first time we’d seen them, and while I once again enjoyed previous sets, this was by no means a bad one! We came over from the solos of ‘METALI!!’ onwards, and got treated to four more excellent songs after that! While I do still think Callboy do ‘RATATATA’ better live, it’s still a lot of fun to hear, especially two days in a row. And the one-two punch of ‘Headbannggerrr!!’ into ‘Road of Resistance’ to close was awesome! The trio put on such an amazing, energetic show between them, while they are backed by some truly awesome musicians, playing some incredible stuff. If you haven’t seen them live already, they are an absolute must!
After a brief changeover, Trivium took to the stage. The band have been a powerhouse live for over 20 years now, so it’s no surprise that this was also a storming set. Matt’s vocals are somehow better and more powerful than ever, and the bands cohesion and talent individually and as a group is incredible. You can really tell they still all really enjoy playing together. It was a classics/anniversary tour-heavy set, with the likes of ‘Gunshot to the Head’, ‘Dying in your Arms’ and ‘Down from the Sky’. As an almost life-long Trivum fan, it certainly tickled that itch. However, we had seen a similar set before. And, incase anyone hasn’t heard, I LOVEtheir last two albums, and to only get ‘Catastrophist’ off them was a little sad. Still, I get it, it’s a festival, so play the ones people know. I know they mentioned a tour for ’27, hopefully it’s near the release of their upcoming album and we get some stuff off it live this time! However, it’s a minor gripe really, as I did enjoy their set a hell of a lot! Each song was excellent and played to perfection. If I was down in the pit it would have most likely been one of my favourite sets of the weekend, no question. One of the best live metal bands around today!
We then took a slow stroll over to Opus to see the black metal legends Behemoth. I’ve recently become a fan of them on track, and my god did they blow me away here! Everything about it, from the sound to the production to their live skill was impeccable, and made them feel MASSIVE. They fully owned the stage, and made an incredibly solid case as to why they’re headliners in Europe and at the likes of Bloodstock. The setlist was perfect, too. Whether it was the heavy-hitters from the bands magnum opus, The Satanist, the title track from their latest album or even a cheeky Bathory cover, it was all so damn good. They made it feel like their darker genre of music belonged at a typically lighter festival, and most definitely turned some heads. Nergal is a fantastic frontman and conducted his brutal symphony to perfection.
After a short pause, Opus headliners of the day Architects took the stage by storm. The crowd were raring to go right from the offset, and the set proved that the band could arguably be headlining the festival as a whole the next time they’re there. The crowd were so into it, in fact, that the opening half was rather stop start due to those pesky pits getting a little too hairy and security intervening. ‘Blackhole’ and ‘Impermanence’ in particular were a pain, but both restarted and went just as hard afterwards. I’ve seen some saying that Sam [Carter] didn’t handle it very well, but if anything it just revved him up to go even harder the rest of the set. Even with it being the most stop-start set of the weekend, it just goes to show how much the Download crowd love the band, and how hugely popular they have become.
The setlist was rather perfect for me, too. Being Sky Earth heavy was amazing, as I LOVE THAT ALBUM. ‘Blackhole’ when it was finally played fully, was a particular highlight, but opener ‘Elegy’, ‘Seeing Red’ and the Florent Salfati-featuring ‘Brain Dead’ were all just as awesome. And, we still got some of the very best of their back catologue between. From ‘Deep Fake’ to ‘Gravedigger’, ‘Black Lungs’ to the touching Tom tribute of ‘Doomsday’ and now-perennial closer ‘Animals’ it was all SO GOOD. Hell Sam’s voice even held up a lot better live than I expected it to from recent clips, and he is such a good frontman these days. His and Adam’s lows combined still itch my brain in the best way. They were one of my most anticipated bands of the weekend and they certainly didn’t disappoint!
On the way out of the arena, we caught a couple of songs from mainstage headliners Guns n’ Roses. Now, I’ve seen them three times before since their reunion, I knew what I was getting into. Still, hearing Axl murder some of my favourite minutes in all of music in the close of ‘Coma’ still hurt just a little. We caught that, a big widdly solo from Slash (expected) and then watched ‘Sweet Child O Mine’ from the back. It was exactly what I expected it to be. A slightly thinner crowd going nuts for one of the four songs from the three plus hour set that they actually wanted to see. The band are still pretty tight; Slash still noodles with the best of them, even if his technicality is slipping now that he’s *checks notes* SIXTY. And Axl was… also present. I don’t want to clown too hard on the guy as he is a legend and performs long-ass sets on the regular at his age, it’s no mean feat. Heck, he still has the energy of a toddler… he just also has the voice of one. Still, I know plenty of people who enjoyed it and got some nostalgia out of it, and good for them! They still put on a great show, no matter their sound, and are truly one of the biggest bands ever. It’s just not for me any more, nothing will top that first show back for me. I am, however, jealous of those who got to see them do ‘Dead Horse’ live, I do love that song!
The first time I had been to Donington for a full weekend since 2019, the line-up was so good it was impossible to pass up! Three days of insane rock and metal music among 90k+ likeminded people, what could possibly be better than that?! From rising stars to legends and everything between, it was one of the most stacked weekend in recent memory. There really was something for everyone! We saw so many amazing bands across the weekend, there was no way we weren’t letting y’all know what we thought! Strap yourselves in boys and girls, it’s a long one!
Sadly we missed Native James due to it taking a little longer than expected to get into the arena, something about running out of wristbands. However, we made it in to get a prime spot in the Avalanche tent for hardcore newcomers Silly Goose. Thank god we did too, as they were fucking awesome! Their blend of old-school nu-metal and more modern hardcore was infectiously fun, and they put on one of the highest-energy sets of the weekend right off the bat. The packed-out tent gave that energy right back to the band, too! They didn’t have long, but made more than the most of the time they had, and won over more than a few new fans in the process, I’m sure. I immediately want to see them grace the UK again ASAP, seeing them in a smaller venue would pop off. A fantastic start to our weekend!
Headed across to the Apex stage, we caught the last half of P.O.D.. A band that I’ve caught briefly at Graspopbefore, this was the closest we’ve been able to watch them before. The nu metal legends are still at the top of their games live, both sounding and performing awesomely. Their set was short but sweet, rattling off the very best of their discography. ‘Youth of the Nation’ took me back to my childhood, while ‘Alive’ had the whole crowd singing along instantly. And yet still, they managed to squeeze in a new one, ‘Drop’ fitting perfectly alongside the rest. Sonny is a fantastic frontman, still having the energy and stage presence that would put someone half of his age to shame. And the rest of the band backed him up amazingly, them sounding remarkably close to how they do on track. It was slightly lower energy after the craziness of Goose, but still a great set!
Switching stages again, we finally got to see the mighty Paleface Swiss tear apart the Opus stage. I’ve been wanting to see them since I first got into them a couple of years ago, and even more so after last year’s album. I’d seen videos and had hyped myself up plenty in my head beforehand, yet still they blew me away. Their rise has been undeniable over the last four years of live shows, and for clearly good reason! Firstly, the energy was off the charts, the four twenty-somethings bringing so much energy and fire (metaphorically and literally) to the stage. Marc is such a force up on stage; he’s charismatic and entertaining and how his vocals can do what he does on track live for a full set honestly blows my mind. And as for the rest of the band, they are all so insanely talented, and put on such an incredible show individually, as well as together.
The setlist too… *chefs kiss*. Marc coming out to start off saying “we’ve been told we can’t ask for a pit but…” and then them immediately launching into ‘Hatred’ was fantastic, and it only kept on being awesome from there! Whether the brutality of ‘The Orphan’ and ‘Please End Me’ to the surpising sentimentality of ‘Everything Is Fine’, it was all awesome, if expectedly too short! The crowd went nuts from start to finish too, hanging on every single note. Honestly one of the sets of the weekend for me!
Long-time readers here know that we are certainly partial to some country, so Lakeview were a must for us. Especially after the carnage of Paleface! To say it may not typically be their sort of crowd too, the duo and their band knocked it out of the park! They are surprisingly heavy live, or at least heavied it up for this show in the best way. Every drop and riff hit HARD, and it contrasted extremely well with Jesse and Luke’s southern drawls. ‘Wrong Side of the Track’ was probably my favourite track of the setlist, but every song hit just as hard. They really held the crowds attention too; I was shocked at how full the tent was and barely anyone left throughout. I’m already desperate to see them again, so hopefully they hit the country festival scene next year!
One of our favourite bands were up next on the Opus stage. Creeper have been killing it the last couple of years or so, and this was yet another great example of that! Right from opener ‘Mistress of Death’, the band sounded on top form, somehow even more polished than I had heard them before. And the Nosfera-two stuff somehow grows on me more and more every time I hear it live. ‘Headstones’ always goes hard, but the big high point for me was ‘Razor Wire’. Hannah’s vocals and emotion throughout brought my wife to tears, so that alone should show just how good it was (she is pregnant though so it’s maybe slightly easier…). However, Will has evolved into one of the best frontmen in the game right now, though more on him later, and between them they are sure to catapult Creeper into the stratosphere sooner rather than later. The crowd were once again into it too, and ‘Cry to Heaven’ is such a good closer that everyone went nuts for it. If you haven’t yet seen them, what are you playing at? They’re on the road a lot the rest of the year, so get your asses to a show, you won’t be disappointed!
After a very short rest for us, the mighty Electric Callboy graced the Apex stage. We have caught them at multiple festivals the last few years, and always have a good time with them. Download was no exception! The new stuff, ‘TANZNEID’ and ‘Let the Good Times Roll’, came across better live for me and certainly got me hyped for the upcoming album. Between those and tried-and-true classics like ‘Pump It’, ‘MC Thunder II’ and the Babymetal-featuring ‘RATATATA’, it was one hell of a setlist. Heck, we even got some Electric Bassboy in the middle, dubstepping up some Drowning Pool and Blink 182. It was awesome!
I do think I’ve seen them slightly better, it’d take a lot to top their Graspop set for me, but they are such a phenomenal live band that we still had a blast throughout. It was just a shame ‘Mindreader’ got cut short due to an issue in the pit (sadly a running theme of the weekend, more on it later). However, Kevin and Nico are such consummate professionals that they stopped immediately, getting the issue sorted and right back to the music. Their dynamic together is always so fantastic to watch, and their live vocals just keep getting better and better. It won’t be long before they are headlining festivals of this size, mark my words!
We quickly high-tailed it back over to Opus to catch the latter half of Daughtry. Somehow we hadn’t seen them live before, but they were every bit as great as I expected them to be! Chris’ vocals are so damn powerful, and just as amazing live as they are on track. And the setlist was top-class, too. We got plenty of heavy newer stuff off SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM, yet still got the radio classics in ‘Over You’ and ‘Heavy is the Crown’. The crowd were more than happy to sing along to the ballads, too! They felt like good old-fashioned hard rock music live; go out there, rock the joint with a tight set and let the music do the talking. I’d happily see them again, and would love to see a full set from the quintet! Hopefully we get a rare UK headline tour soon! Especially when the wind was a little troublesome with the sound all day.
Cypress Hill felt like a bit of an odd-one-out on paper, but packed out the place and had the crowd pumping throughout. Over an hour of West Coast hip-hop from some of the best to ever do it. Their back catalogue is incredible, from ‘When the Shit Goes Down’ to ‘Dr Greenthumb’, ‘(Rock) Superstar’ to ‘How I Could Just Kill a Man’ to their megahit ‘Insane in the Brain’, and it all sounds just as good live as it did on track! However, they didn’t just stop there. We also got two awesome covers: RATM’s ‘Bombtrack’ and instant crowd-favourite ‘Jump Around’. B-Real and Sen Dog play off each other perfectly and sounded awesome, while DJ Muggs and Eric Bobo back them up so well. It may not have been to everyone’s tastes, but they most certainly won some people over during their set, and had the crowd in the palm of their hands throughout. I’m glad I finally got to see them live, and they certainly didn’t disappoint!
After a short break, the mighty Limp Bizkit took to the stage to finally headline the festival, 23 years after they were first supposed to. We saw them at Graspop a couple of years back and loved it and, while it was a fairly similar setlist to then, I still had an absolute blast. The band strolling out and getting the hype to a fever pitch with some ‘Thieves’ riffing before launching into current open-closer ‘Break Stuff’. Whether it’s their massive hits like ‘Nookie’, ‘Rollin’’ or ‘Take A Look Around’ to smaller tracks like the newer ‘Dad Vibes’ and ‘Livin’ it Up’, it was a great setlist. Add to that their massive covers of ‘Faith’ and ‘Behind Blue Eyes’, bringing out the awesome Lauren Sanderson to rock ‘Hot Dog’ with them or bringing some fans on to sing ‘Full Nelson’, and it was a hell of a lot of fun. Hell, we even got ‘Eat You Alive’, which we at least didn’t get from the last set!
As for the performance itself, it was amazing! Fred is one of the most charismatic people around, and barely even needed to do anything to hold the crowds attention throughout. His vocals are iconic and hold up still to this day. Meanwhile, DJ Lethal, John Otto and newcomer on the bass Richie Buxton all kill it as always. Meanwhile Wes Borland is a guitar god at this point, and such an amazing performer in his own right. And, while I’ve seen some people complaining about the between-songs stuff, I quite liked Lethal playing easy-listening classics, it kept the crowd pumped and kept the fun, party vibe going. Once again, however, we had the set paused mid-way through a song due to crowd issues. The ending of ‘My Way’ got cut, and I feel like we lost another song with how long the pause was, too. I completely respect Fred for stopping the show to make sure people were okay, but it became a running theme of the festival, sadly. However, until that point, it was awesome, the crowd were fully in, and it was a fantastic set. Spoiler alert, it was my favourite headline set of the weekend, and I already want to see them again!
Today, the genre-defying instrumental rock innovators Polyphia announce their 2026 World Tour produced by Live Nation across Europe and North America. RJ Pasin will support all tour dates worldwide. Perturbator will join all European dates including the UK while North American shows will also feature Ladrones with select dates including Intervals or Plini.
Last week, the band released their first single in over four years, “CAN YOU FEEL IT,” pushing boundaries in ways the band never has before. Today, they released a new music video for the track, showcasing an electrifying performance by the band amidst a crowd of fans. Directed by EVERS, this video captures the band’s captivating live energy and their infectious sound.
Tickets will be available starting with VIP and Artist Presales from Tuesday, June 16 at 11am ET / 4pm BST. Additional presales will run throughout the week ahead of the general on-sale beginning Friday, June 19 at 10am local time. For complete details, visit Polyphia.com.
Another big week of new music, with plenty of awesome rock, metal and country for us to dive into!
Sublime: Until the Sun Explodes
An album three decades in the making, the band return to the studio for the first time since the 1996 death of iconic frontman Bradley Nowell. Now fronted by his son Jakob, honestly… man does he sound like his father. And, it’s exactly what I wanted from a return from the band. This is a full nearly hour of chilled out, fun and well written ska punk, and I loved every second. It’s also packed full of amazing songs, from the opener to the FIDLAR-featuring ‘Backwards’, ‘F.T.R.’ to ‘Evil Men’ to ‘Gangstalker’ to ‘Until the Sun Explodes’. And that’s certainly not all of them!
Can you tell I love this album yet? And it somehow goes by in a flash, not feeling like 57 minutes at all! The band have very much still got it, and I kinda hate that they are touting this as their last album. I know that was the sentiment about their self titled for years, so never say never I guess. However, if this is their last hurrah, what a way to go out. No matter what you are into, give this a listen, you’re sure to love it as much as I do! They could have been one of the biggest bands around if it wasn’t for the tragedy, but this is a fitting tribute to both Bradley and the band as a whole. I’ll be spinning this plenty for most likely months to come, if not longer, and it more than lives up to the expectations. I can’t give it any less than 10/10, this is phenomenal.
Koe Wetzel: The Night Champion
We’ve already checked out this awesome album! Read the full review here.
East Texas Adrenaline: Knockout
The brand new album from the metal-punkers picks up right where their collection of 2022-2025 EPs left off. It’s nearly half a hour of heavy, balls-to-the-wall punk, and is a lot of fun! Tracks like ‘Lawnmower Fistfight’, ‘Day by Day’ and the bluesy single ‘Misfortune’ are all personal highlights. However, the whole album is pretty good, and goes by in a flash! My only slight negative would be the production, however that either comes with being a small band, or just adds to the punk-nature of the record, so it’s not exactly a hugely bad thing! If you are into either of the genres, this is well worth checking out. The closest comparisons my mind kept going to were things like The Wildhearts and Die Spitz. The band definitely have a new fan in me, and I’m curious to see where they go next! 7.5/10
Olivia Rodrigo: you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love
So, while typically not the usual sort of thing we cover here, her last couple of albums had a fair bit of rock tinge to them. And heck, we did Avriland Charlotte Sands, so there isn’t too much difference there! I’d even say I’m a bit of a fan, at least in terms of her bringing a punkier edge back to mainstream pop. Having said that, the singles from the album I’ve heard so far haven’t filled me with hope, so I am tentatively curious…
Sadly, my suspicions were correct. This album is slow. There is certainly a slight bit of rockier instrumentation and arrangement when the tracks reach their crescendo and final choruses, definitely adding an epic feel at times. But, outside of that, it’s a lot of slow, sad, piano pop. Tracks like ‘maggots for brains’ and ‘expectations’ are fun indie/folk rock tracks, but they don’t reach the heights of her previous works. The closest track to her usual sound is ‘my way’, and even that feels rather de-fanged. I know her previous albums as a whole aren’t fully rock, but this definitely has the edges sanded and rounded more than ever before. The punk and attitude is almost non-existent here. She’s clearly still a fantastic vocalist, and the lyrics on ‘the cure’ are some of my favourite she’s ever put to paper. It’s not a bad album, and definitely a step above a lot of pop music coming out these days, but it’s certainly not the direction I’d hoped Olivia would be going in. I don’t even think it’ll grow on me, honestly. 5/10
Circle of Origin: Gallows
The second EP from hard rock/metal Brits, after the phenomenal Guilty ‘til Proven Innocent from last year. To the surprise of I’m sure no one, this is another banger of a collection! It’s heavy and melodic in equal measure, packed full of awesome riffing, some solid drumming and some damn catchy choruses. Tracks like ‘Life Without’ and ‘Nothing’ are personal favourites, but there really isn’t a bad song throughout. The band sit somewhere between Alter Bridge and 90s groove metal, and are all so very talented. They are clearly on the up-and-up and I can see them being a big name in the UK underground scene sooner rather than later! This is up there with their debut for me, building on everything great about Proven Innocent and dialling it up to 11. I’d highly recommend it to anyone interested! A very solid 8.5/10!
Dreamspy: The Dance of Illusions
Album three from solo, experimental project of vocalist-bassist Anssi Tamminen deserves so much more love than it’s going to get! For one man to get this massive a sound is damn impressive. And, even if I wasn’t a bassist myself, I’d still be damn impressed by the depth of sound he gets throughout this album! There’s some drum and synth behind Anssi, but both are fairly simple, designed to frame his playing and vocals, and done so fantastically. Both his playing and his vocals are incredible throughout too, proving just how criminally underrated he is as a musician. From the opener to ‘Poison Girl’ to ‘Holding Back the Blues’ there is a lot to love! It’s hard to pin down to a specific genre too, having elements of sleaze, AOR, melodic rock and even tinges of prog, doom and gothic. It’s short and sweet and a lot of fun; well worth checking out if you have a spare 28 minutes and are into an older school rock sound. An easy 7.5/10 from us, good stuff!
Stitched Up Heart: MEDUSA
The first album from the alt metallers in nearly three years, and my god is it a doozy! It’s also packed to the rafters with collabs from some of the very best in the sub-genre today! Finding themselves on a new record label after parting with Century, Judge & Jury have not only given the band more creative freedom, but also clearly had a hand in the entire record process. And, on top of that, we get everyone from Austin John Winkler to Butcher Babies, Nonpoint to Conquer Divide throughout, all adding their own spin on their tracks and each killing it as much as SUK do! From the opener to single ‘GLITCH BITCH’ to ‘DEAD TO ME’, there’s so much to love, but the album as a whole honestly slaps, there not being a bad song throughout! It’s a lot of fun, having plenty of lightheartedness, bounce and sass, alongside moments of deeper emotion.
I love that this sort of style, alongside the likes of The Pretty Wild and even Poppyto a point, is getting so much traction recently. The future evolution of metalcore is in very good hands, and more and more exceptional albums keep dropping in the genre, this very much being one of them! Check this out if you are at all interested, it’s truly fantastic. A very easy 9/10 from us!
Midland: Stages
Album five from the country trio follows up 2024’s Barely Blueperfectly! It’s a chilled-out, beautiful half an hour of traditional country music from honestly masters of the style. ‘One Day You Won’t’, massive single ‘Glass Half Empty’ and ‘Drunk Enough’ are all personal highlights. However, then you have the beautiful duet with Mackenzie Carpenter and a cover of Gary Allen’s ‘Drinkin’ Dark Whiskey’, and the whole album is packed full of awesome songs! The harmonies are of course spectacular and the best part of the album, but the songwriting is once again incredible, as expected from the band at this point. I absolutely love that this sort of style has come back in a big way the last few years, and Midland are definitely one of the front runners of the pack, in that regard. There isn’t a bad song throughout, and if you are at all into country music, you absolutely must check this out! I’ll certainly be listening to it again plenty moving forward, and can’t give it any less than 8.5/10!
Micko & The Mellotronics: The Trinity
Album three from the indie-infused post-punk quartet is a damn interesting listen! While typically not my sort of thing, I found myself having a great time listening. It had elements of surf rock and even horror punk at times; the bands love for 70s punk being clear even though they wrap it in a more modern package. And it’s 41-minute run time went by in a flash, an incredibly easy listen. Tracks like ‘Shadow’, ‘Misery Guts’ and ‘All at Sea’ are all personal highlights, but if you’re into the style you are very likely to love all of it! It’s not a release I’d revisit often, but I certainly wouldn’t turn it off if it was on, and the band are all insanely talented at what they do. A solid 7/10!
Redferrin: Been There Done That
The debut album from the rising country-pop megastar has finally arrived. We loved his first two EPs, and even chatted to the guy about the first, so to say that we have been excited about this release since it was announced may be an understatement! To say it doesn’t disappoint may also be a big understatement! Right from opener ‘If I Was California’ I was hooked, and not let go for the albums entire 38-minute run. From ‘Crazy’ to ‘3 Day Bender’ to ‘Straight to the Chapel’, there is so much to love. However, every song on this is awesome; even the Wiz Khalifa-featuring ‘Palm Trees’ is fun if nothing else.
Being a longer format has given Red the chance to really explore each side of his style. There’s plenty of variety through the album, and each style gets plenty of attention and time to shine and breath. His voice is phenomenal as always, and his way of writing radio hooks is utterly phenomenal; every chorus on here is amazing. I honestly think he’s the front runner in his sub-genre from a purely quality-output perspective (Mr Wallen be damned). If you are at all into a more modern radio-country style, this album is an absolute must. Another incredibly easy 8.5/10 from me!
Still Remains: Spirit Breaker
The first release from the US metalcorers in well over a decade, this EP is very much a welcome return! It’s five absolutely killer tracks spread across nearly 20 minutes of excellent heavy music. Whether it’s crushing screams, awesome riffs, solid drums or melodic, catchy cleans, this has it all, and all are dialled up to 11. It’s also impossible to pick highlights, as every track is as good as the last. And it spans plenty of different sounds in its short time, from first-wave metalcore to some synth elements to even moments of blackened death metal. I am so damn glad the band are back, and the fact that they have returned after years of silence right back to the top of their game is a true testament to their talent. I already can’t wait to hear where they go from here, but for now I’ll be spinning this a lot moving forward. I can’t give it any less than 10/10, truly amazing!
Leoni Jane Kennedy: Synthetic
The sophomore album from prog/blues rock artist, while not hugely my sort of thing, is an insanely impressive release! I do generally enjoy prog, but it’s a little slow and stripped-back for my tastes, not reaching the grandiose heights I’d personally wish it to. However, the talent on display throughout is honestly incredible. The playing to the vocals to the arrangement and writing is all off the charts, and all the pieces fit together perfectly. It’s no wonder the prog community have accepted her so readily, she is truly a one-of-a-kind talent. ‘Closer’ was probably my favourite of the release due to its last minute or two, but ‘Test the Water’ is a close second. It’s a release that may very well grow on me, but for now it still gets a solid 7.5/10 from me!
Another debut album from a country-pop artist this week, I feel like those are weird odds. This is exactly what you’d expect from the album title, for better or worse! It’s trap-infused country music, and I’m almost disappointed in myself for saying that I actually loved it! It’s shit in the best possible way. From the underlying country guitars, voice and lyrics to the electric beats, the rock instrumentation behind the choruses to the rapping, it all works far better than it ever should do, and is an incredibly fun combination. It very much feels like the evolution of Kane Brown’s sound the last five years or so. It’ll most likely piss off a lot of country purists, but honestly is more enjoyable than a fair few current pop-country stars’ work (Wallen catching all the strays this week…).
From the opener to ‘SO LONG SATURDAY NIGHT’, ‘MARLBORO STYLE’ to the silly ‘MCCONAUGHEY’, there is a lot to love. It does drop off slightly in the middle, but there is enough greatness that it makes up for it! It flows better than his EP last year, and has definitely won me over into a big fan of his. It feels like the evolution of a new sub-genre, and I for one am surprisingly down with it. 8/10, it’s a whole lotta fun!
Kenny Whitmire: Fool in a King Size Bed
Lingering somewhere between an album and an EP, the first non-single release from the traditional country Georgian is honestly fantastic! It’s chilled-out and stripped-back and utterly amazing from start to finish. From love songs to breakups to self-affirmation, Kenny writes it all so well, and does it all so catchily and seemingly with a smile on his face. It’s another release where it’s seemingly impossible to pick a couple of highlights from too, as I love each song as much as the next. And for a guy who generally isn’t as fussed about a mostly-slower release, that is surely saying a lot! This is the start of a massive career for the guy, I’m sure, and it’s an album I’ll be listening to a good amount moving forward. Check this out if you are at all into old-school country music! 8.5/10
