UK post-hardcore legends Svalbard have just wrapped up the UK leg of their farewell tour after nearly 15 years of making music together. However, the Bristolian quartet left us with a fantastic parting gift in the form of their latest track, ‘If We Could Be Saved’. It showcases why they were such a powerful force in the scene and why they will be deeply missed. It features everything we love about them: fast drums, captivating melodies, and powerful vocals from the incredibly talented guitarist and singer, Serena Cherry. The track is also enhanced by dreamy, shoegazey riffs, tying this emotional, heavy farewell together. In the release announcement, Cherry likened the song to a metal version of ‘Goodbye’ by the Spice Girls, which is an apt comparison. Farewell, Serena, Matt, Mark and Liam, and thank you for everything. – Nessie Spencer
Converge doesn’t need an introduction; they have been around for 35 years, and everybody knows what to expect when they release new material… and yet, ‘Love Is Not Enough’ transcends expectations once again, showcasing the raw energy and consistent quality that make you eager for more. The Boston hardcore legends are set to release their 11th album on 13 February 2026, and their title track is a 2-minute-22-second exhilarating banger for the books. The psychedelic riffs from the one and only Kurt Ballou, mixed with the sludgy rhythm section from Ben Koller, Nate Newton, and Jacob Bannon’s unmistakable razor-edge vocals, make this song clearly made to get the crowd going à la Concubine or Aimless Arrow. Forget Valentine’s Day, if Converge tells you that Love Is Not Enough, you do as they say, one mosh at a time obviously. – Nessie Spencer
There’s a ton of ways to describe this song, but truthfully, the only fitting way would be calling it what it is; absolutely thrilling. The latest track from the London art-punks Man/Woman/Chainsaw and the first single to be released via their new home of Fiction Records, ‘Only Girl’ is playful and downright adventurous amalgamation of indie pop hooks and left-field song writing that takes shape in the form of flourishing piano and violin riffs. It’s a true experiment, one formed of contrastive ideas due to it’s adolescent energy and studied instrumentation, but something that’s nothing but a unique and total success. There’s genuine reason why many are calling Man/Woman/Chainsaw one of the most exciting bands in the capital right now, and ‘Only Girl’ only provides further credence to such claims. – Dan Hillier
Returning with a bang and the second single off new album Dreamcrush, Danish blackgaze icons Møl are back with ‘Young’. Whereas their previous single ‘Garland’ softened the quintet’s harsh sound with clean vocals and lush, clean guitars, ‘Young’ leans further into the black metal with frontman Kim Song Sternkopf’s ferocious screech cutting through walls of whirling distorted guitars without losing any of the melodic texture Møl have made their trademark. Setting themselves apart from the tidal wave of miserable men in corpse paint, Møl clash brutal black metal beats and vocals with genuine heart and subtle harmonies for a uniquely listenable experience. – Rowan Bruce
London based DIY punk collective Dream Nails are back with a bang. The fourth single ‘House of Bones’ taken from their upcoming February album You Wish is laden with post-punk riffs, shout-along choruses, and a positive message about finding inner strength, freedom, and being comfortable in your body making ‘House of Bones’ a strong contender for the female empowerment anthem of the year. Taking inspiration from the bass line in Nova Twins‘ track ‘Bassline Bitch’, the syncopated riff against the confident swagger of lead singer and bassist Mimi Jannson makes for another exciting listen and the ultimate hairbrush karaoke song to sing in front of the mirror. – Ez Luscombe
Bristol’s premium doomgaze band, Sugar Horse, has delivered a double whammy this week with the release of two new songs via Fat Dracula Records: ‘What’s Your ETA? Let’s Have A Tear Up’ and ‘Would You Like Me to Be the Cat?’. All proceeds from these tracks will go to UNRWA, an organisation that provides essential assistance to the people of Palestine. The first song begins as a catchy post-hardcore track and culminates in a Reznor-esque outro filled with captivating distortions and heart-wrenching visuals of the ongoing situation in the region (which starts with the letter g). In contrast, the second track is more subdued and melodic, resembling an outtake from The Cure’s Disintegration period but make it post-rock. The accompanying video features an abundance of adorable cats, which beautifully juxtaposes the grim lyrics about a world where hope feels futile yet necessary. Donate to UNRWA here. – Nessie Spencer
The third LP from the Manchester post rock collective, DARK /// is a record that aims and essentially succeeds in capturing it’s respective namesake. Whereas the band’s 2024 record /// LIGHT served as narrational exploration of trying to find meaning, purpose and optimism amidst the chaos and drudgery of modern living, this new endeavour takes an ever so slightly different approach. In fact, as one might have guessed, DARK /// is the polar antithesis to the band’s last record. Releasing during a period where genocide, tyranny, war and isolation have become effectively normalised, DARK /// is an overt reminder of the rising dangers threatening our fragile existence.
As war rumbles across the world, the political landscape rots and as making ends meet becomes increasingly difficult thing to bridge, here, Civil Service pretty much capture the mood of a country faced with with uncertainty. It all makes for a stark listen; even for a post rock record, a genre typically known for being a conduit for artists to instrumentality articulate their frustrations and anxieties regarding the state of our world, this feels urgent and timely. DARK/// plays out like a soundtrack to an apocalypse that no longer feels hypothetical but tangibly plausible, a record that harkens all the thoughts of acts like Coldbones, We Lost The Sea and Last Of Eden with it’s atmospheric delivery and portent posturing. But it’s also a record that bares the quietest whisper of optimism, something that results a brilliantly bleak listen that’s further enhanced with guest features of from members of artists such as Overhead, The Albatross, Hidden Mothers, Midas Shape, Groan Room and Blackshape.
The new record from the project of multi-instrumentalist Neil Erskine, Leviathan Carcass is a record that’s just as unrelating as the grind of modern living and blunt as the boot that’s repeatedly stamping on the face of humanity. But such potency is to be expected. Between Erskine’s very DNA becoming entwined with musically extreme from their time previously performing in Chronocide and this album being hellishly inspired by the festering online political landscape and the lack of critical thinking being attributed towards it, Leviathan Carcass is record designed to be as violent possible. But this is not just noise being released at a time where people would rather incoherently shout than actually listen.
A vital outlet for the relatable frustrations felt by Erskine regarding modern politics, late stage capitalism, rising tyranny and those profiting from cultural and kinetic wars, Leviathan Carcass feels like an authentic release of tension that’s abound to be as cathartic for listeners as much as it feels for Erskine. By forgoing the schlocky slasher gore stereotypically associated with extreme metal in favour of well articulated intellect that’s required to suitably tackle such subjects, this is a release that addresses the rot embedded in our social and political landscape with the kind of rage, vitriol and energy such a feat requires. It’s loud, brash and violent, but in a world where such things have become normalised, it needs to be order to be heard and heeded.
With that in mind, and with Leviathan Carcass out now, we got in touch with Erskine to break down the record, track by track.
Related: Chairmaker – Leviathan Carcass | Album Review
One of the first songs written for the record, ‘Ratlicker’ sets the tone both musically and lyrically: tremolo-picked riffs, dissonant chords, blastbeats, and livid screams. It’s a scorched-earth tract about self-victimised paranoiacs who see basic accommodations for others as Orwellian overreach. Loudest in the room, convinced they’re the last free thinker alive, mistaking every minor inconvenience for tyranny.
Forty-eight seconds of grinding an axe over survival-through-subjugation. ‘Making Nails’ targets the cowards who throw others under the bus to save themselves — aligning with bullies, bigots, or fascists to dodge any hostile gazes coming their way. Whether through tokenism, assimilation, or the sacrifice of solidarity, when the hammer comes down, some always make sure someone else takes the hit.
Half beatdown, half blastbeat maelstrom, with flashes of Full of Hell chaos and a hint of Scott Hull’s precision, the title track erupts at the suffocating absurdity of modern labour. It confronts the futility of “efficiency” in a world where constant auditing replaces progress, and where automation meant to free us only accelerates the system’s implosion. Soundtracking the yawning moment of realisation that the capitalist monster is dying — far too late for anyone to climb out of its corpse.
It’s no secret that Heriot love themselves some death metal, and in celebration of their current first ever US tour (supporting the legends in Trivium, no less) they’ve unveiled their ode to 90s death metal in ‘Commander of Pain’. To call it bruising is an understatement – as ever, the guitar tone is heinous, HM-2 being (ab)used to great effect along with squealed harmonics and some of guitarist/vocalist Debbie Gough’s most guttural roars yet. Produced by Erik Bickerstaffe of Loathe and mixed/mastered by Randy LeBoeuf (Dying Wish, Orthodox, Boundaries to name but a few) it sounds as colossal and filthy as its influences, continuing to evidence Heriot seem to be able to master just about any heavy style they turn their hand to. – Will Marshall
Could Mallavora be the UK’s answer to Spiritbox? Well, it certainly sounds like this could be the case on the band’s latest explosive single ‘Waste’ which boasts anthemic contrasting vocals fluctuating between metalcore’s furious rage and pop’s suave sensibilities, wall-of-sound djenty riffs that could make an arena crowd jump in sync and the crisp, punchy modern metal production that fully brings the band’s vision to life within a tightly packed, intense three minutes designed to leave a lasting impression. ‘Waste’ will feature on Mallavora‘s debut album What If Better Never Comes?, to be released on 26th March next year via Church Road Records and if this is just a taster for what is yet to come, then the anticipation around this debut is fully warranted. – Avrian O’Brien
It takes a lot to stand out as a metalcore band these days, especially from Australia where their ‘core legacy is up there with the best. Thankfully, Future Static have Amariah Cook in their arsenal and it’s her ridiculously powerful voice that helps the band stand out. Balancing soaring, glorious hooks with vicious screams alongside bassist/vocalist Kira Neil with a backdrop of technically minded metalcore, the Aussies made a firm impression with their 2023 debut album Liminality and look to continue their upward trajectory with their new single, ‘There’s Nowhere Else To Go’. With Amariah and Kira’s duelling vocals and the swirling guitars the highlight, it’s a clear sign that Future Static aren’t slowing down and are coming for the modern metalcore crown. – Chris Earl
After cementing themselves as one the best live bands on our continent following the release of their 2023 record Mind Yourself, Dublin’s The Scratch are flying from the leesh with new single ‘Pull Like A Dog’. Taken from their freshly announced record of the same name – released March 13th via Music For Nations – ‘Pull Like A Dog’ is a rowdy, ready and immediate rager of a single that brilliantly embodies The Scratch’s ability to channel classic Irish folk lilt through a sweat-coated metallic prism. It’s totally brilliant – the closest thing one can imagine to a mash up of Meshuggah and Irish folk whilst still being totally removed of anything resembling a gimmick. – Dan Hillier.
Regardless of what some narrow-minded drips may say within social media comment sections, electronic and heavy music are genres forever entwined. After all, what other genres can trigger such primal, violent and visceral reactions in people? There’s just something about these two styes of music that activates something ancient and hardwired. 601, the project of Nat Slater and George Miller, know this oh-too well.
Founded in 1993 just as UK EDM reached peak cultural prominence, whilst 601 are an entity rooted in the fertile grounds of breakbeat and jungle, they are a project that take inspiration from the primordial power of extreme music. It’s this willingness to mare sounds and take inspiration from more shadowed corners of music that has allowed them to commender stages at Glastonbury, Glade and Beat Herder whilst performing sessions for Radio 1 and even Kiss 100. But it’s their new record We Are Not The Same that embodies this creative ethos of taking inspiration from the dark.
Dropping following a much needed break, We Are Not The Same is a record rich in inspiration and abundant with guest features. Containing collaborations with members of Hidden Mothers, Din Of Celestial Birds, Fakeyourdeath, Tribe of Ghosts, DeathCollector and Concrete Hyena that have been facilitated via Miller’s work in music journalism, this is a dirty, unsanitised and grounded record that forgoes the artificial sheen and plastic lacquer that has come to long plague both electronic and contemporary heavy music.
Instead, We Are Not The Same embraces the sweat that is synonymous with both independent live spaces and the frantic energy that comes from collaboration with likeminded artists. From the spaciousness and ponderous moments that carry the ambience and atmosphere of post rock to the frenzied passages of jungle and breakbeat, We Are Not The Same is a record most brilliant and genuine. It’s a record perfect for junglists long deep in the reeds and fans of left-field experimental ambient music alike, an album that carries the tangible energy that can only come from collaboration and from an artist that has a need to create something genuine and provocative.
We Are Not The Same is released tomorrow independently. 601 will also be appearing behind the decks between sets at Hidden Mother’s hometown headline show with Din Of Celestial Birds, Pleiades and Baosbheinn at the Yellow Arch, Sheffield, on November 21st. Find tickets here. In the mean time however, stream We Are Not The Same a day early exclusively below.
I feel fortunate that I’ve got the chance to speak to you as you blow up. You’re here at ATG playing what I believe is your second ever show.
Lewis: Yeah, first booking but second show. We did a warm-up show for family and friends local to us, which was really good.
So, I want to know how this story has played out from your perspective. A lot of people reading this are very aware of 2 Promoters 1 Pod and they’re very aware of Gav, a lot of them go to Damnation. There’s a lot of crossover with ATG as well. From our side of things what we heard was a podcast in which Gav threw out a name and said, “I’ve heard this name from someone else, I listened to the material, I think it’s incredible”. And then, we’re here at ArcTanGent. You’re three hours away from playing a pretty sizeable stage to probably a pretty sizeable crowd. How are you? How are you guys feeling at this point?
Alex: I mean, it’s incredible. We put it out with zero expectations. It got to the point where we’d written it, we’d recorded it. And we were just like, you know, we had no plans to do anything, and we were just like, let’s just put it out. Like, we’re sick of it, just being sat on a laptop. We just put it out and we expected absolutely nothing and within, what was it, two weeks, we’re getting talked about on the podcast, and then was it that evening? Yeah, yeah, that evening, we get an email from Mr Scarlett going, “Do you want to play ATG?”, which is mad.
I’m assuming from the band’s perspective it was a pretty easy ‘yes’ when you were given the offer.
I mean, yeah, how could you turn it down? We’ve been coming here since 2016 as just punters. So it’s a bit of a dream to be asked to do that literally two weeks after we put the record out. But it meant we had to scramble to get everything ready, because we’ve barely been in a room together for months beforehand. So we had to get together and practise. It’s been a manic couple of months to get ready for it. But yeah, obviously, you can’t say no to it.
And Sam, you’ve done a warm-up show prior to coming to play this. How did that go? How did it feel to step on stage as Dimscûa with this project being so nascent?
Sam: Yeah, so it was, it was pretty crazy, but to be honest, it was really easy as well, because, as we mentioned, it was mainly for family and friends, so we didn’t really advertise it much at all. It was more for us to get a feel of playing in front of a crowd, as Dimscua. So, yeah, it felt fine. But this one today is obviously a huge step up!
‘Dust Eater’ is an incredibly accomplished sounding record. How did it come together, and how have you got the sound that is so large and affecting?
Sam: So, we’ve all known each other since we were in school at about 13 or 14 years old. We’ve always played in bands together. We’ve always done music together and we’ve always had that chemistry. It was just with Dimscûa it was more of a passion project, and we just wanted to do something heavy, which is what we love doing, and it’s what we listen to. In terms of the record and how it sounds, it was actually recorded, mixed, and mastered by our other guitarist Adam, who’s arriving today. We did it all in his home studio, just in his office at home over the period of four years. But it would just be a case where we’d write half a song, and then we’d pick it up six months later when we had the time between life. So it took over four years for it to properly be finished, but realistically, if you stick us in a room, it’d probably equate to more like two weeks.
The record is made up of four tracks at around half an hour and the two final tracks are ‘Existence (Futility)’ and ‘On Being and Nothingness’. Was it a tough four years?
Lewis: We all went through various levels of grief and there were painful moments for a few of us. Adam, I mean, I won’t speak for him, but he had a tough year. I think just combining all of our journeys through the last four years, this record really just speaks for itself in that regard. You can clearly hear Alex’s pain and anguish in his vocals, and I’d like to think the rest of the instrumentation is pretty much the same. But maybe Alex can say a few words on that.
Alex: So it took four years to write. The first two tracks were done, I would say in the first two years. It averages about a year per track! But, I did all of the lyrics for the first two tracks. And that, for me, was a lot of catharsis for this really dark period I had in my late teens and early 20s. I always played drums before, and you don’t really get much in the way of poetic expression playing drums. So it was a really cathartic thing almost akin to therapy for me. And then Adam had all these things happening, all this loss. Particularly for the last track, he and I sat down to hammer out the lyrics for that. We were very insistent we didn’t lose the meaning behind the lyrics, but we had to make it work really well as a song, so we spent a whole day sorting that out to put this really raw, emotional vibe into the record, like we had with the first two tracks, which had come a bit easier than the last two, which were a bit more raw at the time. It’s been a deep journey, to say the least.
‘Elder Bairn’ was most people’s introduction to the band as it opens the record. Those forums are full of nerds, and I’m one of those, and so as soon as something’s thrown out by a trusted source, I think people jump on it, and I felt that the first track on the record really hooked people in, because it seems like such an instant demonstration of the power and heft of the sound. And so, when it came to tracking the album, how easy or difficult was it to decide on your running order?
Alex: The tracks on the record are in the order they were written, and it kind of just worked. I think we had maybe two or three conversations about the order, and it was just like, no, it just works in the order we wrote it in.
Lewis: Yeah, I think it kind of represents the journey that we’re on. We felt that if we messed around with it too much, it wouldn’t be the past four years; it would just be a bit of a mismatch. I think the sound, you know, we made a conscious decision to stick with it and make everything flow as well as we could.
