Proving that there’s no two genres that can’t be smooshed together like play-doh, Norwegian four-piece Blood Command combine chunky scandinavian death metal riffs with catchy, booty shaking pop. While their latest single ‘We Could Be Heaven’ leans heavily into the more upbeat side of their sound guitarist Yngve Andersen still provides enough chugging riffs and blazing leads behind frontwoman Nikki Brumen’s joyous vocals to keep the metalheads happy. ‘We Could Be Heaven’ shows off Blood Command’s songwriting chops with one of the band’s most memorable choruses yet accompanied by deceptively complex guitar work and dense gang vocals. Get used to hearing the name Blood Command, the only way is up for one of Norway’s most exciting up and coming acts. – Tom Bruce
A brand new A/B side following on from the release of their fantastic EP Null back in April of this year, new tracks ‘Hello, I’m Feeling Hostile’ and ‘That Was Actually Quite Murderous’ see Brighton’s electronic noiseniks channeling raw bloody murder. Equally ugly and intentionally brash as they document the sadism and cruelty that’s inherent to the human condition, whilst these tracks may be hideous, they present a more vulnerable and melodic edge for a band that has long held a constantly confrontational attitude. “‘Hello, I’m Feeling Hostile’ is an important track for me both musically & emotionally”,states vocalist Candi Underwood on the A side. “At its core, it’s the outpouring of the grief, anger and disgust you feel when those closest to you betray you. It’s unapologetic, more vulnerable than we’ve gone before and almost cruel at times. It’s ugly but I love it.” – Dan Hillier
Self-described Nu-Gothika quartet Knife Bride have dropped their new single ‘Territory’ ahead of a tour with Defects and Profiler. A slow-burning, more ballad-y number than we’re used to from the Brighton alt metallers, ‘Territory’ puts vocalist Mollie Clack’s impassioned performance front and centre. In spite of its lyrics and moody tone, she explains that it’s “a love song, believe it or not. It was written after a hostile exchange and I see it as a kind of diary entry, I guess. It’s very dramatic and purging and really highlights how crazy love can make you.” Knife Bride will also be playing at our very own Noizzefest next year – so if you like what you hear, come on down for them and much more. – Will Marshall
Straight edge wrecking crew No Cure dropped their latest album The Commitment to Permanence in 2023, and are following it up with a brand-new EP I Hope I Die Here via their new home of SharpTone Records in early December. Its lead single, ‘Don’t Need Your Help’, features two of their closest friends in their local scene and were picked deliberately for the band to give back and lift up local voices. As a track, it’s hard as nails, guttural vocals and a PINGing snare underpinning riffs that blur the line between metallic hardcore and death metal. Lyrically, it reflects the band’s touring experience throughout the country, and learning that many people still view the Southeast through a lens of negativity. “The meaning behind the song is broad, in the sense that it certainly acknowledges the painful past of the region,” say the band, “but it also makes clear that it doesn’t help anyone to continue shitting on the current people here that only want to make it a better place for everyone.” – Will Marshall
Cementing themselves as one of math rock’s most engaging new acts with their 2023 debut album Vantage, Liverpool based trio Real Terms are back with new single ‘As If’. Continuing their blend of gentle melodies and off-kilter staccato rhythms, ‘As If’ allows the three-piece to shine with a sound that nestles comfortably between the delicate math rock of Delta Sleep and the catchy pop-rock of The Police. Bassist and vocalist John Crawford’s elegantly smooth low end and sparkling vocal performance anchor the track allowing guitarist Christopher Lynn to fill out the band’s sound with subtly intricate flourishes and rich, bell-like harmonics. Carrying on their streak of sophisticated, calming math rock hits Real Terms once again prove themselves to be a name to keep an eye on with ‘As If’. – Tom Bruce
The third single to be taken from Cultdream’s upcoming record Love Won’t Let Me Go & Death Consumes Me, ‘Halloween (Queer Magic)’ is a dreary and ghastly ode to the safety that comes with donning a mask, be it cheap and plastic from the supermarket or something more substitutional. Coded in the key of The Cure and positively drenched in the reverb that permeated their last full length, the track is both a lamentation of how only can only safely present their true self whilst in hiding, and more subtly, a celebration of the joy that comes from embracing one’s true identity, even if only briefly prior to getting truly comfortable. – Dan Hillier
Released just in time for Halloween – or Samhain for the pagans among us – ‘Reliks’ is a suitably haunting funeral shawl of noise from Glaswegian doomgazers Cwfen. Documenting one’s final thoughts and the unravelling of what one thought to be true come the arrival of death, ‘Reliks’ is a brooding yet poigant documentation of finality and a timely reminder at all of us will one day discover what lies beyond the veil. Bleak, yes, but with this existential reflection reminiscing thoughts of Chelsea Wolfe, King Woman and Emma Ruth Rundle, it’s hard not to find comfort in this track. Should one not be familiar with Cwfen yet be a fan of the acts aforementioned, then now is the time to be so. – Dan Hillier
Taken from Out Of Love’s upcoming EP Tuff Luv – released November 29th via Venn Records – and featuring Wade MacNeil of Alexisonfire, Dooms Children and Black Lungs, ‘It Is What It Is’ is a snarly growl of garage punk that doesn’t need the aforementioned Canadian legend guesting in thanks to its own merits, but certainly benefits from it regardless. Wonderfully capturing the Luton mob’s breathless and organic approach of modern, hardcore-influenced punk, ‘It Is What It Is’ is an empowering and optimistic melee that’s enhanced by Wade’s gravelly tones. “I’ve known Wade for a few years, since working with him on a song for the Arnold Schwarzenegger Netflix series FUBAR”, states vocalist Jack Rogers. We had this song written for a while and whilst recording it I had been listening to the Black Lungs LP a lot. I could always hear his voice over the second verse and knew it would suit the vibe of the track instantly so I took my shot and hit him up! He heard the song and said yes! Absolutely smashed it. We couldn’t be happier with the take and have him part of this single.” – Dan Hillier
Joining the already confirmed likes of Brontide, Mouse On The Keys and Cats and Cats and Cats – who will be performing their 2006 record Sweet Drunk Everyone complete with an ensemble – are UK post rock legends Yndi Halda, returning French math rockers Totorro, Chinese post punks Fazi and bonafide supergroup The None. They will also be joined by fellow newcomers I Hear Sirens, Poly-Math, Spurv, Thot, Peach, Love Rarely, Codices, Teiger and Black Aleph, who will be appearing in celebration of the festival’s 10th anniversary.
Originally beginning as a one day event at the New Cross Inn, Portals has become of the biggest celebrations of post rock, math rock and general underground contemporary in the UK, with the likes of Mono, If These Trees Could Talk, Lite, Bossk, ASIWYFA and some of the best names in the scene appearing lately. As for this year, Portals Festival 2025 will take place at EartH, Hackney, on 24th and 25th April. With headliners still to come, see the line-up thus far below and find tickets and additional information here.
For the first time in the history of the festival, 2000 Trees Festival have announced all of their headliners; including two more than normal. Confirmed to all be playing full headline sets, next year’s event will feature Kneecap and Pvris co-headlining Thursday alongside Taking Back Sunday and Coheed and Cambria co-headlining Friday night. On top of this, Alexisonfire will also be headlining Saturday. All acts aforementioned bar Kneecap shall be making their debut at 2000 Trees next year.
But of course, it wouldn’t be 2000 Trees without it’s commitment to the emerging scene. As well as featuring brilliant big hitters such as La Dispute, Kid Kapichi, Fidlar, Employed To Serve and a freshly reformed Million Dead, 2000 Trees 2025 will also play host to a brilliant range of emerging talent from the UK scene and beyond including THANK, Hidden Mothers, Benefits, Tayne, Spaced, Cyan Kicks, Love Rarely and almost 40 odd other names from the fertile scene many other festivals of this size chose to overshadow rather than champion.
On today’s announcement, festival head booker James Scarlett states, This is quite literally the biggest 2000trees announcement we’ve ever done. We’re delighted to bring some huge classic bands in, that we’ve been after for years, for their long-awaited first ever Trees performances. We’re also honoured to usher in the likes of PVRIS and Kneecap for their first ever UK festival headline performances. Tickets are already flying out, and to say it’s going to be a legendary year is an understatement. Miss 2000trees 2025 at your own peril.”
As always, 2000 Trees 2025 takes place at Upcote Farm, Cheltenham, between 9th – 12th July 2025. Tickets and more information can be found here, but see the line-up thus far below.
The latest cut to take taken from Still’s upcoming second LP A Theft – released November 15th via Floodlit Recordings – ‘LIGHT’ sees the Hull post-black metal trio offering everything but the track’s namesake. Outwardly brutal and inwardly tortured in equal measure, the track is a claustrophobic release of the pain, fury and total discontent that serves as the linchpin of Still’s sound. As the rapturous blast-beats and discordant riffs coalescence into a mire of total misery that’s nurtured by the production of Joe Clayton, it’s impossible not to envision the spittle of and sweat lancing one’s flesh as they perform right before you.
The track is a bleak, artful release of black metal free of contrived cliche, but yet it’s the the accompanying video that makes all of this palatable though.Directed by vocalist and guitarist Fraser Biggs, featuring input from bassist Adam Williams and additional photography from Gary Mitchell, the video for ‘LIGHT’ is a bleak dive into an abstract colourisation of Still’s sound that’s swamped with nowt but shades of rot and blight. It’s quite a horrid experience, but one that fully visualises and embodies the Still experience.
Still’s new record A Theft is released November 15th via Floodlit Recordings. Pre-order the record here and watch the video for ‘LIGHT’ below.
The second full length from the project formed of Gavin Purcell (drums) and Taran Plouzané (guitar, vocals), Your Life Is Over Now… see’s Bicurious further building upon their renowned take on once instrumental rock. A far more lyrical and vocal-led body of work compared their previous output, whilst the record may see’s the band pushing their sound into new lyrical pastures, this second record is by no means a departure for the band. Instead, that playful, technical, delirious and loose sound that we all know and love is retained and only augmented by lyrical work and personal ruminations that define this album.
With the record out now via Big Scary Monsters, we got in touch with Gavin and Taran to break down Your Life Is Over Now…, track by track.
Gavin: This was the first vocal-led song Taran brought to me. I remember he had an instrumental version on a logic session done with pre-programmed midi drums and than Taran told me after listening to the song that he was going to sing over it. I love albums that open with a fast paced heavy energetic drum groove like ‘Heart Attack American’ by The Bronx or ‘I Think You Ain’t Worth A Dollar’ by Queens Of The Stone Age. I love that this track opens the album and the lyric “and then I had a son and then another one” because it’s true…he did…and they’re both class!
Taran: I was inspired by DFA 1979’s ‘Freeze Me’ – I love that main riff, and I wanted to have a riff that uses the same structure, jumping back and forth between melody and bass line. I remember sitting on the couch at home and hashing out the main riff, which paved the way for the verse riff, and so on. It felt like a pretty natural thing to put vocals on it. When I started adding vocals to some of these song ideas, I was mainly just singing the guitar line, as I didn’t want them to become “proper” vocal songs… So you can hear that in the verse and the outro of ‘Coming Around’. The chorus vocal melody, however, was something that took about two years to sort out. There were multiple different versions of it, none of which I was completely happy with. Eventually we just ran out of time, so I went with the one I liked the most! Lyrically, the song is about family. The chorus opens with the line “I’m the captain”, which is something my 4 year-old son was shouting around the house one morning, and that somehow inspired me to write the chorus lyrics. Overall, I really like this song, its positive power, the way it just bursts open right from the start – which is actually the reason why we have it as the album opener, and also our new live set opener!
Taran: ‘Gutless’ written after my son June, just a one year-old at the time, spent a few days in hospital, fighting what seemed to be gastroenteritis. Before we brought him to the hospital, he was unable to keep down any food or drink, which quickly got him very weak and dehydrated, almost zombie-like. In hospital, he was hooked up to IVs to be fed and hydrated, and thankfully got better after a while. The song is written from his perspective, as a baby who doesn’t have a clue about what is going on around him – doctors, nurses, parents are running around trying to find out what’s wrong and trying to get him better, and he is just clueless, helpless.
Musically, I weirdly tried to channel my inner Jamie Lenman when writing the opening riff. I don’t know if there actually is any similarity to a Jamie Lenman song, but that’s what I had in my head at that point. The rest of the song just flowed naturally after that. The bulk of the song was written at home, apart from the bridge section, which we wrote in the rehearsal room together.
We created the music video by asking a bunch of our friends and fans to film themselves singing along to the song. I then edited all the footage together, and ended up with a really cool music video that shows the strong relationship we have with our fans, which I find really wholesome and powerful.
Gavin: It was awesome to see how much people put in so much effort for the footage they shot of themselves for the music video. It was really wholesome to see people filming themselves enjoying our music with their family members which I suppose ties in to the whole concept of the album being about family and community. Then on the other scale there were some people who literally filmed themselves eating dirt to our music which was impressive and very entertaining to watch.
Alternative powerhouse unpeople have already proven themselves with their self-titled debut EP released earlier this year delivering five tracks of lush harmonies and thunderous riffs, now with their new single ‘the garden’ the four piece continue their lightning fast upward trajectory. Building the track around a straightforward, fuzzed out bassline, unpeople build up layers of four part vocal harmonies and off-kilter guitar riffs before exploding into an enormous, cathartic climax. Growing far beyond their association with dual guitarists Jake Crawford and Luke Caley’s previous project Press To MECO, unpeople continue to show again and again why they’re one of alt-rock’s most talked about new bands. – Tom Bruce
The first track to be lifted from the upcoming EP Echoes – released November 20th via Marshall Records – ‘It’s Not Enough’ is a raw, personal and deeply cathartic battery of alt-metal from Mallavora. Delving into the endless and relentless battle that is surviving every day with both anxiety and a chronic illness, this track manifests as both a scream of release and a rallying cry for further understanding of the debilitating nature of chronic illnesses in the wider music industry. It’s impossible not to feel the frustration and anger in the bellows of vocalist of Jessica Douek and this scathing and authentic track further see’s Mallavora standing as drivers for much required change many falsely perceive as completely inclusive. – Dan Hillier
It’s been two years since cult favourite noise rockers DITZ released their acclaimed debut record, ‘The Great Regression’. Now, following extensive touring and a live album release, the band are gearing up for their sophomore effort, ‘Never Exhale’, due to release 24th of January next year. The debut single from that record not only picks up where ‘The Great Regression’ left off, but demonstrates just how DITZ have polished and expanded that sound. ‘Space / Smile’ takes that noise rock and post punk flair that the band originally presented with, and pushes it in a notably more punk rock direction. The riffs are scrappier, the thunderous bass is more groove-laden, and the vocals are sharper than ever before. It’s only a short cut, but the way in which DITZ build the track with layers of repetition towards a claustrophobic, crushing climax demands your attention. – Ryan Ward
After establishing their position as one of the more promising hardcore-influenced emo acts available with their fantastic 2022 LP Little Green House, Connecticut’s Anxious are heralding their next arc with the massive ‘Counting Sheep’. Taken from their forthcoming record Bambi – released February 21st via Run For Cover – this is just one of those singles that is instantly lovable. Quite frankly, it’s impossible not to charmed nor swayed by it’s shimmering leads, warming harmonies or it’s massive, instantly gratifying chorus. It’s a raw maximalist power pop haymaker, one that will leave one reminiscing over memories of hearing acts such as Basement, Millilitre Gun, One Step Closer and even Title Fight for the very first time. Should one be a fan of the bands aforementioned and not be antiquated with Anxious, then now is the time to get familiar. – Dan Hillier
