Following on from the first part of our feature – which you can find here – here is the second half of our list of the acts that are set to conquer this year.
Like riffs? Good, because El Moono have them in spades. With one EP to their name so far and their second, Temple Corrupted, due out in February, the whispers about them amongst those already in the know are sure to only get deafeningly loud. Mixing post-rock, noise and even some stoner doom elements, songs like ‘Final Execution’ play with dynamics in a similar way to genrephobes Sugar Horse while ‘Forced To Smile’ is filled to the brim with punk snarl and off-kilter rhythms. Vocalist Zac Jackson has some serious range too, from softer croons to desperate howls; he’s never less than a commanding presence across their work. If you’re in the market for a band that care little for genre convention and very much for obliterating eardrums, missing out on El Moono is simply not an option. – Will Marshall
Burner hail from London and have just a single to their name but with the new year, comes the anticipation of new music – and a cursory listen to ‘Ingsoc’ should explain everything as to why you should be excited for that. Produced by none other than Lewis Johns (the audio engineering genius behind Conjurer, Employed To Serve and more), Burner simply sound incredible. The guitar sounds monstrous and vocals switch between a rabid howl and guttural roars. Dedicating ‘Ingsoc’ to “the Uyghurs of Xinjiang, the peoples of Hong Kong, Tibet and Taiwan”, it’s a raging screed against brutally oppressive regimes that care naught for their citizens’ lives, only their fealty. In just two minutes, Burner say more than many say in a lifetime and the dizzying level of quality on display is more than enough to generate plenty of excitement for debut EP A Vision Of The End, due early this year. – Will Marshall
London’s Zetra occupy an oeuvre that manifests as a void bridging the future and past of gothic metal. Drawing from an encyclopaedic knowledge of the goth artform, the duo draw upon the lo-fi ambience signature of the pioneering age whilst simultaneously sounding irrefutably modern with their sense of exploration and experimentation. One only needs to look towards their modest output thus far to see why the band have already become such both a sensation. As proven with their immersive 2021 EP From Within, their work serves as an era-spanning vessel for their atmospheric storytelling, with crackling analogue synths, washed-out guitars, velveteen vocals and majestic melodies all alchemising to create a sonic concoction that’s both forward thinking and nostalgic. Yet, it’s set to be their forthcoming new EP From Without that will jettison the band from darkened obscurity and into the harsh light of recognition. Given it’s destined to be the full fulfilment of their amalgamation of gothic sensibilities, 2022 is set to be the year where Zetra remind the masses of the fatal romanticism of the goth metal. – Dan Hillier
Whilst it felt like a prolonged episode of déjà vu, there is absoutely no denying that 2021 was one of the best years for music in ages. We saw acts such as Sugar Horse, The Armed and MØL completely disregard the notion of genre, we witnessed legacy acts such as Mastodon, Every Time I Die and Gojira release their best work to date and we even caught Architects and Mogwai conquering the national charts. But mostly importantly of all, we saw a plethora of new names making their waves into the spotlight. Over the last 12 months we saw bands such as Last Hyena, Fightmilk, Pupil Slicer, Death Goals, Cherym, Bailer, URNE, Bicurious, Slash Fiction, Swamp Coffin and literally countless other names dropping phenomenal records and earning their rightful places within the alternative music echelon.
But that was last year. We’re now in a brave new world. One full of the same old problems as before, but with new amazing new artists and music awaiting us all. So with that in mind, here is the first part of our list on the new names set to make 2022 their own.
Having steadily plugged away for a few years, sludge metallers Heriot recently welcomed a new guitarist and vocalist to their ranks in Debbie Gough and opted to start afresh. Leading with singles ‘Cleansed Existence’ in 2020 and ‘Recreant’ in 2021, the band were swiftly snapped up by Church Road Records, a label whose name has fast become synonymous with quality and forward-thinking bands. The single released alongside that, ‘Dispirit’, is a seething mass of riffs, screeches and industrial flourishes like the bastard child of Nails and Code Orange. Their hybrid of sludge, hardcore and razor-sharp grooving breakdowns is as incendiary as it is enamouring and represents one of, if not the best new metal band in the UK right now. Having supported the likes of Raging Speedhorn and Svalbard already in 2021, with a Bloodstock slot confirmed for 2022 and new music on the way, the world is theirs for the taking. – Will Marshall
Larynx shredding vocals, impassioned vulnerability and a penchant for melancholic chaos are the name of the game for emo newcomers Treehouse. Tapping into the exposed and urgent fervour of acts such as Pianos Become The Teeth, Nai Harvest and Birds In Row all-while retaining a raw and fluid DIY approach that’s reminiscent of Youth Man and God Damn, the South West based troupe create sidewinding modern emo that serves as therapeutic outbursts of bottled emotion and anguish. Their 2020 EP Unappealing took its name from the overwhelming feelings of depression, worthlessness and despondency that served as the crux of the sonically pummelling record, and with the band being totally unafraid to lay their vulnerabilities bare in a display of honest musicianship, Treehouse are a must listen for anyone requiring musical companionship in the shadow of mental insecurity. With shows with the likes of Lastelle and Gender Roles completed and with appearances with Death Goals and Punch On! forthcoming, Treehouse are the sound of inclusive and unfiltered anguish in 2022. – Dan Hillier
Formally known as Buggin Out, there’s hardly any surprise why Chicago’s Buggin are dominating their native hardcore scene. As proven with their work so far – particularly in the case of their latest two track single ‘Brainfreeze/Gratitude’ – Buggin retain and amplify hardcore’s core integral component of fun without sacrificing the seething violence one would expect from the genre. On the contrary, what makes Buggin so appealing in such a saturated genre is just how tight, vicious and punishing they are, where one can easily draw comparisons between them and the likes of Take Offence, Guilt Trip, and in the case of their respective groove, Turnstile. But yet, their sense of light-hearted fun is evident. Buggin emit a sense of joy that’s a welcome contrast against the commonly stone-faced and stoic masculinity of the global hardcore aesthetic, with their shows fully embodying such a sensibility. With the aforementioned Turnstile bringing groove-laden hardcore to the masses, Buggin are set to ride that wave into acclaim this year. – Dan Hillier
An act of total sonic immersion, the Belgian shoegaze collective came into prominence just shortly after their formation with their hypnotic and universally acclaimed debut long play Aurora in 2018. The band where jettisoned right into the public eye; vinyl pressings where swiftly depleted, they became one of the most lauded acts in the European scene and the band rode a wave of sudden and well deserved popularity that allowed them to relentlessly tour the world until it came to a sudden whiplashing stop last year. But whilst it seemed Slow Crush where on a seemingly imminent course for world domination, cracks where beginning to form under the surface. External pressures from peers and industry types along with the stress of relentless touring where creating fissures in the bedrock – and once the world as we all knew it came to an end – Slow Crush where faced with the realisation that a collective assessment was long due.
Following on from tours with the likes of Torche, Gouge Away, Pelican and appearances at the likes of 2000 Trees, ArcTanGent and Roadburn, the band where forced to slam the brakes and evaluate just where to go next. Not an ideal situation in any means, but this halt in motion allowed the band to process and manage creeping burn out that was swiftly bubbling upon the surface. With a new lineup shift and a game plan in place, Slow Crush headed to the studio and forged their latest body of work under the cold steel skies of midwinter. The result was Hush, their most accomplished and atmospheric record thus far that surpasses both lofty expectations from peers and the songwriting on the album that kickstarted this journey in the first place.
Released via Church Road Records, Hush is the natural evolution of Slow Crush. A more darker, brooding and dynamic affair, it’s an irresistibly compelling call from the shadowy depths in which the band reside; a full musical immersion into atmospheric waters that’s are so beautiful and pressurised it’s nigh on impossible to even notice a return to the surface is too late. Not that one would care away, for Hush tempts you further deeper as it’s enveloping textures of shoegazing abrasion gets more tempting and enigmatic the further they unfurl.
With the record out now, we got in touch with Isa Holliday (Vocals, Bass) and Jelle Harde Ronsmans (Guitars) to discuss trails and journeys they’ve navigated that led to the result of Hush and the next chapter of their career.
Consisting of Luke Booth (We Never Learned To Live, ex-Human Futures) on bass/vocals and Jérôme Barré (Finis Omnivum, Screensaver) on guitar and again vocals, THÅRN is seemingly the product of two distinctive things. Firstly, they’re a result of the ever beginning European post-metal scene, being cut from the cloth first weaved by acts such as Cult Of Luna, Amenra and Year Of No Light. Secondly, and perhaps more noticeably, they’re a band born forth from negativity, misery and anguish.
Such qualities are often core characteristics within the genre of post-metal, but what differentiates THÅRN from their scene contemporaries is how they manifest such emotion. Within their work, iron clad post-metal is compounded with shades of post-hardcore, sludge and black metal; motifs reminiscent of bands such as Birds In Row, Ghost Bath and Kowloon Walled City smoothly combine to create a sound that is both cerebral and nuanced. Whilst their two track 2020 debut I tentatively hinted at this dexterity, it’s their latest record Collisions that truly showcase it in a way that’s patient, textured – and at times – apocalyptic.
Produced by Joe Clayton (Pijn, Leeched), mastered by Will Killingsworth (Orchid) and recorded with Gary Marsden (We Never Learned To Live, Earth Moves) as a session drummer, Collisions is a brilliant display of emotive dexterity that’s far more than it’s impressive credentials. As an album that harbours an air of melancholy, one best suited to be enjoyed in the ever so slightly suffocating dead air of night, it ebbs and flows between bombastic passages of bottled rage, hulking density and meditative stillness in a manner that’s purely organic and natural. The ruminations of genre dynamism that serve as the crux of this record allow it emit an air of pressure that results in an experience that’s weighted and ensures it’s emotional gravity is crushing in the process. This is even crushingly evident when such subject matters are ambiguous or fictional in nature, such in the case of the calamitous ‘Shadow Of Another’, a devastating track exploring celestial apocalypse. Truly, it’s a powerful and devastating record, one made more impressive given the fact that the band have played a total number of shows that lie in the single digits.
With Collisions out now and THÅRN now comfortably sitting alongside other extremely promising post-metal focused bands such as Hidden Mothers, Still and Aerosol Jesus, we got in touch with Luke and Jérôme to discover more about their work and approach.
With mere hours of 2021 left remaining, we present the third and final part of our albums of the year list. It may have been a nightmare ranking this list as a whole, but cracking down the top ten records of this nightmare year was a challenge like none other. Nevertheless, after hours of debate we got there in the end. If you haven’t read the first two parts of our end of year list, you can catch part one here and part two here. Now without further ado, here’s our top ten records of this year.
It still seems that only yesterday, Trivium were a fresh-faced promising new metal band from the hotbed of metal that is the Florida scene. Since their 2004 breakthrough album Ascendancy, they’ve weathered all manner of storms; a near-constant revolving lineup of drummers since original drummer Travis Smith’s departure and something of a critical nadir over a few albums. All that changed with the addition of Alex Bent on drums; now the strongest, and arguably best lineup of their career, they’ve delivered three phenomenal albums since The Sin And The Sentence. In The Court Of The Dragon is everything a modern metal album should be; there’s towering riffs, soaring melodies and arena-ready choruses built on a bedrock of phenomenal drumming and basslines. The opening run of the title track, Like A Sword Over Damocles and Feast Of Fire is incendiary and they keep the momentum up throughout. There’s callbacks to the proggier days of Shogun on the utterly phenomenal ‘The Shadow of the Abbatoir’ while closer ‘The Phalanx’ has been kicking around since those days and has perhaps the best final few minutes of music that Trivium have ever committed to tape. In The Court Of The Dragon is the sound of Trivium on top form and firing on all cylinders. – Will Marshall
From the murky and foggy valley of Where Owls Know My Name, Pennsylvania’s prog-death dealers Rivers of Nihil open up to the howling, dark, and beautiful expanse on The Work. The temptation to deliver another riff centric and megalithic record was eschewed for a record that swims through moments of vibrant colour and poignant, melodic emotion, while pushing the boundaries with suffocating soundscapes that contain some of the most pervasive darkness in the band’s discography. This is a record that has no qualms about incorporating the sonic sensibilities of Steven Wilson in its lighter moments as it does from the most abrasive noise rock bands in its heaviest. The band has pushed themselves instrumentally further out in all directions than ever before, and though there are glimpses of trademarks like the sax on certain tracks, this is a band hell bent on breaking all of their own expectations and gloriously succeeding. The musicianship and care put into the songcraft is astounding, and the lyrical growth shows great maturity; speaking to a deeply personal and colloquial examination of the meaning of struggle in this life, and hitting an aching, resonant core all can understand. “The Work” is an unbelievable and beautiful watermark for the band. – Kris Kielich
Mastodon are no strangers to concept albums, but Hushed And Grim is arguably their greatest achievement so far in this regard. Putting to one side the allegory and fantastical imagery that has cropped up in the past, the band instead opted to embark on an exploration of the shared grief they experienced in the wake of the death of their manager, Nick John. The result is a raw, emotional journey that captivates from start to finish, effortlessly segueing from more traditionally Mastodon material like ‘Teardrinker’ to the likes of ‘Skeleton of Splendor’ and ‘Had it All’, more brooding and spacious than past material but darkly atmospheric and lyrically heavier than ever. The influence of 70s prog is also very apparent, serving not only to broaden the sonic palette, but also providing a very worthy tribute to the favourite music of their departed friend. To craft a double album that remains engaging from start to finish is no mean feat, but Mastodon are one of the few modern metal bands that can be trusted with such a daunting task, and they have succeeded – Hushed and Grim is nothing less than enthralling. – Matt Watts
Following on from the first part of our albums of the year feature, we’re now into the second instalment, counting down from 25 to 11. If you’re yet to read the first part of the list, you can read it here!
The cathartic use of music to not necessarily cleanse but at least recognise pain and wrap the performer and listener together in some comfort is as critical as it has ever been. Emma Ruth Rundle through her most stripped back and bare has certainly done so here. Acoustic guitar, piano and her soft tones hold you close throughout. This is music at its most raw talking of loss, addiction but also a glimmer of hope. Her storytelling through harrowing songs such as ‘Body’ and ‘Blooms of Oblivion’ are tough not to shed a tear to. A sombre but superb musician of our time. – Adam Vallely
Is there a band out there that sounds like While She Sleeps? The incredible release of ‘Sleeps Society’ saw While She Sleeps take their fanbase and create a community around themselves, more inclusive, forward thinking and diverse than any other band has managed in recent years. Ahead of the game and showing no signs of stopping, the band released an album full of beautiful melodic metal anthems and a fresh take on their punk infused metal. Another truly astonishing addition to the band’s back catalogue. – Sam Evan
An adrenaline-soaked celebration of all that is wonderful about rock music, The Dirty Nil have upped their game to deliver more earworm vocal melodies and fist-pumping riffs than ever before. The exuberance, confidence and swagger is somehow matched by the sheer songwriting nous on display, and despite feeling instantly arena-ready there isn’t an ounce of compromise in the rough and ready production. From opening rager ‘Doom Boy’ to joyously sardonic sign-off ‘One More and the Bill’, every track is an instant hit. – Matt Watts
To be simply and unequivocally, horrible and miserable is exactly what the debut record from London’s chaotic hardcore duo Death Goals is. Looking into how the rise of far right rhetoric has affected both queer communities and the personal lives of the band without filter nor censorship, this is a shrieking and berserking outburst of justified rage that’s expressed with mathcore tendencies and panic chords galore. Truly, it’s musical lashing that is both aimed outwards and inwards, a musical flagellation that’s violent, unpredictable and served with tear-streaked fury. – Dan Hillier
