It’s mad to think it’s been exactly eight years since As It Is released their widely-cerebrated record Dial Tones. However, for previous member Benjamin Langford-Biss, now is not the time for rose-tinted retrospection. In contrary, it’s time to look towards the future, something they’re doing with their latest single under the Bleak Soul moniker, ‘Suffer Through’. The first of a string of monthly singles to come this year, ‘Suffer Through’ is a celebration of Langford-Biss’ newly embraced queerness that not only see’s them growing as artist, but Bleak Soul as a creative vessel and collective too. “What started as a song about the fact that I don’t remember dreams and our formative experiences, has now become a tribute to my late-blooming, long repressed queerness”, states Langford-Biss on the track. “Growing up where I did, surrounded by the fragile American Pie-esque masculinity, meant I didn’t come to realize things about myself until closer to my 30s. There is an underlying self-aware sarcasm with the chorus lyrics, in that I am fully aware I lived with straight privilege for the majority of my life, and have not faced the discrimination other members of our community have, for simply just existing. Bleak Soul isn’t my solo project anymore – we are a band composed of three LGBTQ+ people that I love dearly, and since my self-actualisation I’ve been pretty happy in life – not very on brand I know – so it was time to start looking outward and backwards for new inspiration. Our last record took a dig at the noise of people with nothing to say, and this time, this year, I feel we have some things to say.” – Dan Hillier
In the current age of fantastic and intriguing collaborations appearing week in week out, even the most hardcore of music fans will be treated to something special. And Full Of Hell and their friends in Primitive Man have crawled out of the mangiest cave of sounds to provide a disgustingly dark and offensive gift to us all. The lead single from ‘Suffocating Hallucination’ a gloomy mix of Primitive Man’s doomy heaviness and Full Of Hell’s chaotic, throat scratching grindcore. As insane as this all sounds the two work in a blood bond like harmony. Layer upon layers deafening noise accompanied by the varied vocal styles of Dylan Walker and Ethan Lee McCarthy is brutal but oh so satisfying. – Adam Vallely
Kicking off 2023 with a slower affair than their usual high tempo rhythmic stylings, ‘Hopper on the Dial’ is a dream like affair. “The title eludes to the contemplative characters of Edward Hopper’s paintings” and this also shines through the grittiness of the music. John Newton’s vocals and Johnny Healey’s guitars offer an industrial harshness yet spatial dynamic. This track is certainly a reflection on the surroundings of the modern world. As John mentions the duo are “really pleased to be able to still feel like we’re developing as a band after almost a decade on the road.” And this is a grand example of the next steps JOHN are taking. – Adam Vallely
As Everything Unfolds have been drip-feeding singles teasing their new era for a couple of months now, and Ultraviolet, their second album, has just been announced accompanying the release of its title track. It’s a sonic departure unlike anything they’ve done before, introducing a nu-metal bounce in the riff and even scratches. That’s not to say it’s unrecognisable; it’s still easily identified as their work, but with a new slant on it that shows they’ve refused to stand still musically. The album itself is a document of how the band were thinking and feeling during its creation, from progressing musically to the frustration felt by everyone in an exceptionally difficult few years. Of the song itself, vocalist Charlie Rolfe explains “This song is about taking back control, and that internal power you feel in taking back the control. Using the overarching concept of ultraviolet light, it’s a great metaphor for how there’s now a new perspective on life in this new version of ourselves.” They’ve well and truly shown us that new version, and Ultraviolet can’t come soon enough. – Will Marshall
After half a year touring the planet in support of their phenomenal double album Phanerozoic, one would safe in assuming that The Ocean would be taking some well deserved time off. Such isn’t way the way of The Ocean though; to coincide with their upcoming tour with Karnivool, the Berlin-based post-metal titans are back with ‘Preboreal’. Whilst the sub-five minute track is far removed from the band’s more Odyssean work, the track see’s the band condensing their wide-angled approach to songwriting into short albeit powerful lamentation of our failing mental faculties a species. Perhaps this shorter track is a reflection of that, but regardless, this is set to rattle some stages when the band return to the road soon. – Dan Hiller
‘(pls) set me on fire’ isn’t just the first single to be taken from the group’s upcoming record. For the band and fans alike, it’s far more than that. The first taste of the band’s new record A Kiss For The Whole World – due for release April 21st via Ambush Reality / SO Recordings – ‘(pls) set me on fire’ is the ushering in of Enter Shikari’s second career arc, one that see’s the band reignited with a newfound sense of passion and urgency. Vibrant with the techniclour energy that has the made so renowned the world over, the track is a flash flood of the synth-led dynamism that characterises their sound, albeit with even more zeal for life now that shadow of covid has receded. Truthfully, it’s the sound of a band that has come to realise just how crucial of a lifeline their work is to themselves and the community they have fostered over the years, and with this as a taster of things to come, A Kiss For The Whole World may be the band’s most passionate and incendiary body of work date. Enter Shikari will be also undertaking a string of residency shows this Spring in celebration of their second arc, see here for details and dates. – Dan Hillier
In the time you read these words about Regal Cheer’s new single ‘Behavioural Patterns; will probably already be over. Clocking in at just over a minute this is a direct rumbling punk song of ‘about the repetition of daily life. Your 9-5 job, your commute’ the daily grind and its frustrations. It will certainly have your head bobbing and singing along with its catchy hooks. Catch the duo next month touring their debut album Cans across the UK which is released February 3rd. – Adam Vallely
Ahead of the progressive metal titans first release in four years, Periphery have just dropped two singles filled with over fifteen minutes of techy goodness for our ears to enjoy. The first two songs from Periphery V : Djent is not a Genre are ‘Wildfire’ and ‘Zagreus;. The former is a sumptuous mix of all things Periphery, with chugs, riffs and some great vocal work from Spencer. ‘Zagreus’ (Someone’s been playing Hades) is a heavier proposition lyrically and musically, throwing out some absolutely crushing guitar work and breakdowns. Both are fantastic teasers for the upcoming album, which is out on March 10th. Definitely an early contender for one of the biggest releases of the year. – Chris Earl
Bristol four piece Cuffs are notorious on a nationwide scale. Whilst their touring schedule in 2022 was restricted to the South West region, there is an undeniable element of mystique surrounding the band right across the country. This is a band that are powerful, provocative, and right in the faces of anyone who looks to deny their right to kick down the door of every venue within their reach. Individually they are a group of skilled musicians, but together they create an unstoppable force that stands for something greater. If you have yet to wrap your ears around their sound, then allow us to introduce them to you here and now.
Following a string of hometown dates in Autumn 2022, the band took to their social media channels to announce their debut full length record To Hell & Back which is scheduled for release independently in February of this year. For any band, a full length record is an enormous earmark – but as anyone who has had the pleasure of meeting the group can tell you, there are few that grind as hard at their craft as Cuffs.
We caught up with vocalist Brodie Morgans to hear all about the record, the creative process and plans to take their new material out on the road in the new year.
After an exceptional couple of years mysterious, masked, post-metal collective Sleep Token return with a pair of new singles flexing their heaviest, most fascinating work since their debut album in 2019. The first of these two singles, ‘Chokehold’ is perhaps the more expected of the pair, slowly building upon an atmospheric, buzzsaw synth line with their trademark melodramatic R&B style vocals before breaking into a thunderous air-raid siren guitar riff for a chorus that’s bound to send circle pits around the world spinning. ‘The Summoning’ is one of Sleep Token’s heaviest tracks to date, with layers of metalcore style guitar riffs and vocals flying between dramatic auto-tune, whispered breakdowns and the occasional scream. An absolute highlight of the track is the truly unexpected and funky prog slap bass breakdown and accompanying fuzzed out guitar solo, clashing the first half of the track’s extremely modern styling with a splash of retro swagger. Two tracks perfect for worship. – Tom Bruce
The Welsh post-hardcore legends Casey surprised and delighted fans with news of their return and first single ‘Great Grief’ late last year. Now into 2023, they’ve released their second reunion single and announced it’ll be part of a special run of 7″ singles containing both songs, as well as embarking on a run of shows that sold out within minutes. Their cult status evidently never diminished, and ‘Atone’ continues proving why that is. Returning to their familiar roots of heartache, it’s an emotionally fraught journey that sounds closest to their debut album while still showing a level of growth over their years both as a band and apart. Desperate screams in its opening verse give way to a half-time chorus that soars and wrenches at the heartstrings; just as ‘Great Grief’ before it, this is one for the long nights and morose days where all those little things just feel a bit too much to bear. – Will Marshall
Given how the Brighton punk duo have already shared stages with the likes of Nova Twins, Bob Vylan and Kid Kapachi, one may assume Snayx may have already made significant headway in their career. However, the band haven’t even released their debut EP yet. A surprising tidbit yes, but ‘I’m Deranged’ clearly shows why the band already have become an adored entity within the UK scene. Taken from their feverishly anticipated debut EP Weaponized Youth: Part 1, ‘I’m Deranged’ is a snapping and kicking whiplash of punk sensibilities bounded by confrontational vocals and serrated riffs. Much like the rest of Snayx’s work thus far, it perfectly captures the explosive nature of the modern punk scene unfolding across the nation right now, effortlessly yet violently capturing a sense of newfound liberation not scene since the inception of the original punk scene all those decades ago. Crucial listening for those wishing for musical rebellion in the key of progression. – Dan Hillier
Following on from part one and part two of our top 50 albums of the year list, we’re finally at the very end. With mere hours left to go until 2022 comes to a close, we present to you the top 10 records of the year.
Representing the starting pistol on a long arduous process to the unburdening of one’s mind, body and soul from the deepest depths of trauma; the Kilwinning duo blended the lines between nu-metal, shoegaze and “extreme pop” for a conceptual expedition which perfectly epitomises the space rock opera genre without alienating longtime fans with their unmistakably irresistible charm. In blasting off into previously unknown sonic territory with the objective of providing a universal safe space; the hyper-noise pop rockers Vukovi, fought to find their inner strength in a science-fiction universe with the immersive storyarch of their third studio album Nula.
In following the titular character of their latest album and namesake, we find the precariousness of their situation to be a bleak yet defiantly hopeful one; for an extraterrestrial held captive on a malevolent capitalist planet, who after an elongated term of forced confinement break their bounds for their first taste of freedom. Such an arch feels especially aspirational, especially when considering just how utterly dystopic contemporary civilisation has already become. With such ambitiousness radiating out of every aspect of this wondrous excursion into the emancipation of the spirit, plus the existential parallels into the yearnings of personal rejuvenation, it’s no wonder why many consider this soundtrack to be Vukovi’s most remarkable return to the airwaves. – Bennie Osborne
Conjurer blew the doors off the UK metal scene with 2018 debut Mire, and anticipation was high for its followup. So of course, Páthos upped the stakes yet again and delivered a more mature, expansive sound that in their words, was “more Roadburn” than before. That is to say, they doubled down on the more out-there influences, dialled up the atmosphere and filtered it all through their own unique lens. The end result is an album that seethes, writhes and even flourishes with stirring, unexpected melodicism.
Opening duo ‘It Dwells’ and ‘Rot’ address the impact of fear on the psyche, both from the subject and perspective of fear itself, sprawling while ‘All You Will Remember’ expands their sonic palette into prominent clean vocals. Elsewhere, ‘Basilisk’ features a deliriously heavy breakdown, while ‘Suffer Alone’ condenses all the rage and speed they can muster into two and a half minutes of bruising extremity. Conjurer proved once again that they simply can’t write a bad song; every single one here stands out for its own reason and on its own merits, but when taken as a whole, Páthos becomes even greater than the sum of its parts. Misery never sounded so damn good. – Will Marshall
It’s hard to believe it’s only been a couple of years since A.A. Williams made her spellbinding debut onto the alternative scene, and yet she’s already throwing out strong album of the year contenders this early into her career. Her sophomore record As The Moon Rests sees her take elements of doom, grunge and other genres, twisting and melding them into her own gloomy, ethereal concoction of beautifully emotive resonance.
As The Moon Rests is an album that commands to be listened to, appreciated in full, no less, a work of art that only Alex herself could have been capable. The ambient hues that build towards fuzzy oversurges of electric guitar, the soul reaving notes of twilit melancholy that pave way for softer, more delicate strumming, the unwavering control Williams demonstrates over her impressive vocal capability, every part of her musical journey has led to this career defining moment, this one spellbinding, near perfect outpour that for many artists simply never comes, As The Moon Rests is truly an astounding body of work, and yet it seems to mark just the beginning for someone who is certain to be a very prestigious presence in the music world in the years to come. – Elliot Grimmie
Noizze (N): Thank you for your time, really appreciate opportunities like this. Let’s start simple, how are you doing?
Dave Hunt (D): I’m alright ta. I’m actually managing not to be nervous so far. It’s all going to come crashing down around my ears any minute now I imagine but yeah.
N: Really? You get nervous before gigs?
D: Oh god yeah.
N: Oh really?
D: No I always get nervous before gigs. It’s one of the reasons I’m drinking.
Both laugh as Dave is actually drinking a non-alcoholic beverage.
D: You might expect that, even if you’ve been doing it a while, that from day one until the end.
N: It’s always interesting from a fan’s perspective. You get into bands and you big them up and you don’t think of them ever feeling nervous.
D: Maybe not. But we’re all pretty much more human than you might think.
N: What’s it feel like gigging again?
D: Really weird.
N: Yeah?
D: Yeah really strange. Because there’s a weird condition of familiarity and apprehension and novelty as well. So doing a gig, I’ve done that before. I’m fairly aware of how that works. Doing the sound check. This is routine stuff. But obviously, not having done it a while for very obvious reasons. It’s been more than 3 years or something.
N: Yeah, it felt like you were really actively gigging before the pandemic right up until the release of Endarkenment.
D: Yeah, we’ve never been like road dogs. We did things, we did a fair bit, gone to places, did some stuff. We did some pretty cool things not long before we did Endarkenment. So, in the not too distant past, at that time, we toured Japan with Watain and stuff. We did a headline tour before that. Not to sound at school but mum was dead proud!
Both laugh.
D: So ok it was time to do an album and we thought it was really good and obviously that’s just us saying that, me and Mick, but we did. We were thinking what do we do next? We’d done some pretty cool stuff and we had a new album, what’s next? OH! That’s what’s next!
N: Yeah that was a weird one, no one could have predicted that. Okay, we’ll touch upon the pandemic and then move on, cos we’re all done with the pandemic. Has it been a time to rediscover anything? What have you been doing during it?
D: For a long time, being scared to be honest. I suffer from health anxiety sometimes. That’s a thing that someone would be nervous about doing gigs and that um but I am subject to anxiety and stuff like that. A pandemic was quite an interesting place to be. So that was weird. But also, at the very inception of the pandemic I finished my studies, as I’ve been studying for ages. And at the end of that you have to do a thing called an a Viva, when you talk to experts about your topic, but one of the people in the Viva was from Holland and instead of flying out – if you do obscure bollocks that no one wants to talk about you have to get someone to come over from Holland to talk about it.
Dave Laughs
D: But we had to do it as a video conference. But yeah getting all that done and graduating.
N: Congratulations.
D: Thank you. But my partner in crime, Mick, his production stuff really took off, really ironically, really took off. In places like Russia funnily enough. And in Mexico… So yeah, as a result of that, that’s why he’s not here. He’s so busy with that, that he’s not around to do gigs any more. So to bring it all round. We had this album, that happened to Mick in the mean time, but we were left with this weird sense of unfinished business, because we would have expected to do some cool stuff with the tour around it but that’s why he’s not here today.
N: There’s also a rumour that this is the last Anaal Nathrakh show, what’s going on there?
D: it’s the thing with my partner in crime. There’s been various times, over the years, when we’ve been offered things and Mick couldn’t do it or whatever and I’ve always said no, no way then. Mick’s always said no, you go ahead and I’ve said no, we’re not doing that then. But now we get to this point where he just can’t. And because of that sense of unfinished business it seemed to make sense, if people wanted us to do some gigs, even if Mick couldn’t be there, then it’d be cool to do so. I wouldn’t want to do loads, but to get a sense of that unfinished business done. But I wasn’t sure if people would want that and to a certain extent, doing live shows and that, that’s an act of service. If people don’t want to come and see it then it’s not going to work. I was wary of the fact that people might not be receptive of it if Mick’s not around. OR, they might not give a shit and we’ve got a stand in guitarist and they really don’t care. They don’t really know us and they don’t really give a shit. But I didn’t know how to work it out between those two extremes.
N: That’s interesting.
D: So we approached this one… Okay let’s do it, see how it goes. If people want to see it and they understand. They understand that that’s the principle and they’re okay with that then maybe we’ll do some more. We’ll see what happens. But this could have just bombed. I mean Sigh are here and all of that and it wouldn’t have bombed but from our perspective it could have.
N: That’s interesting to hear from a fan’s perspective. It’s like we were robbed of the tour from Endarkenment so this is like great, thanks for bringing it back for us.
D: Well I’d love that that’s the way that it’s received as well but I don’t want to assume… People could have turned round and said well piss off, not interested. It’s not for me to go, ‘well you fucking should’, that’s not how it works. Basically, we’re not arrogant,
N: That’s only a good thing.
D: Well I dunno sometimes it helps not to be humble I think. But that’s who we are. Who I am. So it had to be something that’s in concert with the people – pardon the pun – in concert with the people who are going to turn up.
Interviewer laughs
D: But I mean the switch side of that is. You’ve heard of Immortal I’d imagine? Demonaz didn’t come out for years and years and years but Abbath was still touring and they were together in the studio. There’s a precedent for that kind of thing being fine but it would’ve been arrogant to assume that people would have been fine with it. Today’s gig is almost like asking.
