Reviews from Friday 07 March 2025

HotWax – Hot Shock

HotWax have been bubbling up under the radar since the release of their 2023 debut EP, ‘A Thousand Times’ and its follow-up, ‘Invite Me, Kindly’ later the same year. 2025 sees the release of their first LP, ‘Hot Shock’, through Marathon Artists. The tone of ‘Hot Shock’ is alternately

Spiritbox – ‘Tsunami Sea’

When Spiritbox announced ‘Tsunami Sea’, there was an anticipated hush across the music industry. Their debut ‘Eternal Blue’ was received to cries of adoration from fans and critics alike, with claims that the band was one to watch out for. It can be hard to live up to such

Wednesday 05 March 2025

Architects – ‘The Sky, The Earth & All Between’

It’s been a good couple of years since the release of Architects’ last offering, ‘the classic symptoms of a broken spirit’. Therefore, it’s no wonder that fans have been eagerly waiting to see (and hear) what has been conjured up this time, in the form of ‘The Sky, The

Tuesday 04 March 2025

Oversize – ‘VITAL SIGNS’

‘You remind me of my ex’ – are there any more hurtful words? The reference to you in relation to something else, something that came before, something, maybe, that you might not be. Was that initial interest driven by familiarity to something else? Something, better? Listening

Thursday 27 February 2025

LIVE: Green Lung / Unto Others @ O2 Forum Kentish Town

Nearly eight years on from their first ever gig at The Black Heart, London cult heroes Green Lung have turned the beloved Camden institution into a shrine for all things occult ahead of their biggest hometown show to date. From the “Goaty Boutique” pop-up shop with a queue stretching

LIVE: Spiritbox / Periphery / Stray From The Path @ Alexandra Palace, London

For one night only, Spiritbox are gracing the UK with their presence. We all knew they’d be back after their slot supporting Korn last year, but selling out the ten thousand strong Alexandra Palace is a whole different ball game for the Canadians. It’s all part of their quiet

Tuesday 18 February 2025

Anxious – ‘Bambi’

A sophomore album can be a tricky one for the artist, but for the listener? It holds the promise of vindication in your faith in a band. When Connecticut’s own Anxious dropped their debut back in 2022, we knew they were on to something special with their bubblegum-emo-with-hardcore-roots sound.

Church Tongue – ‘You’ll Know It Was Me’ EP

Metalcore is an incredibly exciting genre to be a fan of, especially in recent years. Bands like Chamber, Boundaries and God Complex are just some of the names that come to mind, all lending a hand to reignite the fire the genre had in its golden years and carving

Monday 17 February 2025

HANDS LIKE HOUSES – ‘A T M O S P H E R I C S’

Australia’s Hands Like Houses are back, ready to blaze into their new era with their latest offering ‘A T M O S P H E R I C S’. A sixteen track double album, the group have split this into four volumes – Tropo, Strato, Meso, and Thermo. Each

Wednesday 12 February 2025

Lacuna Coil – ‘SLEEPLESS EMPIRE’

Late one night, you can’t sleep, you’re flicking through the channels and you see a nature documentary. It triggers something; thinking about time. Thinking about life cycles. Mayflies famously live for less than 12 hours. Some cicadas appear every 17 years. Both types of creatures start out

Tuesday 11 February 2025

Dream Theater – ‘Parasomnia’

A lot can happen in fifteen years for the average person, but for Dream Theater, who float in their own dimensional bubble distant to the rest of us, the time can pass in the blink of an eye. Drummer Mike Portnoy is back after a three album absence for

Thursday 06 February 2025

Jinjer – ‘Duél’

If every time someone said a band tore up the rule book, we’d probably be facing a global shortage of reference guides to metal. But how often do we see a band writing their own story in the world of heavy music, with each song a narrative wrought in

Tuesday 04 February 2025

Dead Air – ‘ELEMENTS’

Time moves on. Bands form and fold. Songs that once meant something fade into the past. As you grow older and tastes change, sounds go in and out of style but there’s a time that’s your era. A time where everything is new and exciting, that defines

Wednesday 29 January 2025

LIVE: Better Lovers / Frontierer / Greyhaven @ Electric Brixton, London

It’s Saturday night in Brixton and it’s as cold as the Arctic in the streets, but if you’re one of the lucky folks with a ticket to tonight’s shenanigans at Electric Brixton then you’ll find warmth and a whole lot more waiting for you inside. Fans pile into the

Tuesday 28 January 2025

RØRY – ‘Restoration’

Success has been a long time coming for RØRY, but who else can channel four decades of hardship into a debut released at an age when many rockers are considering slowing down? The songwriter, social media activist, author and split-hair-aficionado channels a bared soul and unflinching honesty on ‘Restoration’

Friday 24 January 2025

Slowly Slowly – ‘Forgiving Spree’

Aussie four-piece SLOWLY SLOWLY’s latest offering, ‘Forgiving Spree’, has one simple goal – to be “a really solid rock album that has no filler on it.” It’s a bold and daring claim to make ahead of release, and off the back of a second Top Ten album in the

Wednesday 22 January 2025

Vukovi – ‘MY GOD HAS A GUN’

Vukovi pride themselves on walking the road less taken. They might be slightly disappointed to learn that their fourth album, ‘MY GOD HAS A GUN’, is perhaps their most accessible yet, it’s provocation open and inviting to those who seek just a little bit more from their heavy music.

Tuesday 21 January 2025

Pet Needs – ‘Kind Of Acoustic’

Pet Needs had a mission: to create “something warm, raw and organic. Something acoustic. Something that felt like the most true take as opposed to the most perfect” as frontman Johnny Marriott put it. The acoustic album that offers the other side of the coin on a band’s sound

Monday 20 January 2025

State of You – ‘On A Knife’s Edge’

Introductions are important. If you’re introduced to a band and told they’re ‘Hardcore’s most exciting newcomers’, you’re going to have a very different opinion to if you’re told ‘They Suck’. State Of You do not suck. Hyperbole aside, this is a band with pedigree. It’s made

Monday 23 December 2024

LIVE: Slipknot / Bleed From Within @ The O2

Never underestimate the power of the most magical time of the year to bring people together. Not Christmas, of course, but Slipknot’s first UK tour in four years which closes out tonight at London’s O2. You’d be mistaken if you believe that the band who’ve taken great pleasure over

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