Will Marshall
Fans of psychedelic, progressive doom rejoice – Wyatt E. and Lowen vocalist Nina Saeidi have joined forces for a collaborative album releasing 29 January on Heavy Psych Sounds and it’s exactly what fans would hope for from such a union. The “ancient doom” Wyatt E. have formulated over the years swells and thunders, while Saeidi’s voice is as impassioned and remarkable as ever, the melodies she and the band conjure winding through lyrics in Farsi, English and even Akkadian, an ancient language from Mesopotamia. As Saeidi explains, it’s “a song of mourning over the destruction of innocence and nature at the hands of warmongers and despots.” There are three tracks yet to be unveiled and we suspect they’ll all be as fascinating and grandiose as this. – Will Marshall
It’s no secret that we love Soot Sprite. After all, there’s a very good reason why we named their debut LP Wield Your Hope Like a Weapon the 14th best record of last year. Thankfully for us and emos nationwide, it doesn’t appear that we’ll be waiting long for another release. Lifted from their forthcoming EP Carbon Copy, ‘Cautious Optimist (Reckless Version)’ serves as the first taste of the reworked tracks that form the EP and sees the South West group redressing the solemn and quiet closer of the record into a defiantly rousing singalong. Should this be played live on their upcoming tour this month, it’s going to be massive. – Dan Hillier
In the UK ‘core scene, Crowquill have been a powerful force for the last two years. An unhinged blend of Converge and On Broken Wings, their unrelenting style combined with frantic live shows has clearly struck a chord as they just announced their debut album, Slept With Cannula and it’s being released by DAZE and Hardlore Records, which is a mighty seal of approval. While it’s out on 20 November, ‘Cannula’ is the newest track (as three were teased in an LP promo earlier this year) and the word rager doesn’t do it justice. A gloriously deranged slab of metalcore, its raw production and edge of the seat style performances are just breathtaking. It’s shaping up to be a late contender for album of the year, so don’t sleep on Crowquill if you like anything heavy and chaotic. – Chris Earl
Norway’s least self-conscious export rarely disappoint when it comes to serving up irresistible slices of hooky punk goodness. ‘Tequila Sunrise’ is an unashamedly poppy ode to unrequited horn for someone with “Megan Fox’s eyes, Kagney Karter’s ass and thighs” and we’re very much here for it. Dropping a Pamela Anderson reference onto her lyric sheet offers Nikki Brumen the miniscule encouragement required to get her into the famous red one-piece for the exuberant accompanying video, and it’s clear the band are having a hell of a time. With a string of singles building anticipation for a full-blown follow-up to 2023’s World Domination, it seems a fair bet that Blood Command will be reasserting their dominance in these parts once festival season returns. – Pete Wall
In 2026, one of the most unique mathcore bands, The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza, made a triumphant return with their comeback track ‘Say When’. They’ve now followed it up with a brand-new single in ‘Nothing_Can_Stop_What_Is_Coming, whose title choice reeks of millennial mp3 nostalgia but whose chuggy riffs remain heavy enough to believe that we’re being threatened with a good time. The Tennessee-based, recently reunited Danza promised at the end of their European tour that this isn’t a one-off and that we should expect more from them in the near future. Although we still don’t have many details about this 5th album (and their first since 2012), it’s clear Danza is back, and this is a great appetiser. The energy in this track is off the charts and faithfully bonkers, and it’s set to wreak havoc in the mosh pit. Now, we’re waiting for the main course, hopefully arriving in 2027. – Nessie Spencer
Leaving us plenty of time to brace ourselves for the release of their next record, Lowest Form in February next year, 200 Stab Wounds whet the palate with the groovy, menacing ‘Sweet Suicide’. The Cleveland death metal unit have shuffled the deck again following the release of 2024’s Manual Manic Procedures, with Todd Thompson replacing founding bassist Ezra Cook. The lineup switch has done nothing to detract from the imposing old-school-inflected assault that fans have come to expect. ‘Sweet Suicide’ blends slow-burn extraterrestrial passages at either end of the track with blasts of intensity and typically tight grooves across its runtime. The whole thing feels like it’s drenched in cosmic sludge, and it serves as a promising portent of the glorious horrors to come. – Pete Wall
Following on from her EP earlier this year, Mothica has unveiled more new music in new single ‘My Confession’. Presumably taken from her upcoming fourth album next year, it sees her continue to explore heavier textures with more prevalent guitars, all while keeping her penchant for dark alt-pop. Exploring more epic soundscapes and with a fantasy-inspired video to boot, lyrically it’s focused on her own struggles and whether she holds onto pain because it’s more comfortable. As she explains of the song, “I have sought out chaos because it’s what I’m used to. Who would I be if I finally learned my lesson?” – Will Marshall
The Scottish electro and alt-pop trio are back yet again. Having announced a UK tour for May next year to promote their January release All The King’s Men, Chvrches‘ second single off of their sixth effort is another successful attempt to incorporate sounds and genres that are not synonymous with the group. ‘Overthinker’ is poppy, there’s no doubt about that, but there’s an obvious indie and alternative rock influence that’s undeniable, and frontwoman Lauren Mayberry shows off her vocal chops with excellent finesse with a chorus that’s designed to get stuck in your head. Judging by the first two singles of their latest era, All The King’s Men is sure to be an interesting listen that may well unite fans of electro, gothic rock, indie, and everything in between. – Ez Luscombe
Icantdie have returned with their new single ‘This Is Indeed A Disturbing Universe’, and they sure do mean it as the band point fingers at the world and what it’s become, speaking of the declining nature of our world in juxtaposition with those that rule it and those that endure it. With an often cryptic nature to the lyrical content, there is a degree of interpretation but this may equally be a sign of the times in and of itself. Brimming with pure snarl and explosiveness as icantdie do so well, this really is three minutes of pure adrenaline-fuelled aggression in the best way. Opting for a punk-style breakdown that leads to the song’s purposefully abrupt conclusion it manages to bottle up the perfect balance of absurdity and defiance that icantdie harness in their music. With riffs galore that cleverly articulate the urgent nature of the song’s tone alongside blistering drums and fun parts of math rock inflection, ‘This Is Indeed A Disturbing Universe’ feels like a perfectly constructed stab at our very disturbing universe indeed. – Jac Holloway
Fans have been waiting a decade for this moment. The band’s first single with original vocalist Dave Jakes in well over ten years, ‘So Nearly’ sees Cambridge’s Lonely The Brave returning to prime form following some serious uncertainty. Bound by the band’s anthemic alt-rock that takes subtle cues from the world of post rock and Jakes’ iconic vocals, whilst ‘So Nearly’ is a fantastic song in its own right, what truly makes it so impactful is that classic and dearly missed sense of chemistry. This is a song that sounds like it could have been released at the height of the band’s success all those years ago and doesn’t carry a sense of the vast time since the original lineup was fractured. With a tour and more new music on the horizon, the future of this band hasn’t felt this exciting in years. – Dan Hillier