Hailing from the leafy South-West of England, OVERSIZE are updating the sounds of the 90’s for modern fans of heavy and alternative music alike. Bringing together a delirious concoction with elements of Deftones, Pixies, HUM and even sprinkles of Linkin Park, the five-piece have seamlessly stitched these pieces together into an excellently crafted debut, that could well be more than the sum of its already impressive parts.
Vital Parts is a shoegaze lovers dream at its core. With dreamy, expansive guitars that will gently guide the listener aloft down a river of melancholic soundscapes, the LP never falters or wavers, merely meandering from concept to concept in a deeply enjoyable fashion. Genre boundaries also seem a foreign concept to the band, as – whilst this is first and foremost a shoegaze album – it clearly takes notes from nu metal, dream pop, post-hardcore and even indie, in order to keep things fresh and allow the band to define their own sound, whilst still showing their influences clear on all ten sleeves.
Whilst opening track ‘Stalling’ feels very much like an introduction to the album, sonically raising the curtain as much as setting up the store front, immediately after there’s the stand out one-two punch of ‘Are You With Me’ and ‘Fall Away’. The former rains down solemn chords to wash away any resistance to falling in love with this album, and opens up the floodgates for the latter to dive deep into a discussion of grief, heartbreak and isolation. As ‘Fall Away’ kicks off, the nu metal trappings are more visible than ever, and open up into a melodic and airy anthem to the desperate need for connection, when it’s seemingly impossible to find.
It’s time to cake a month’s worth of grime beneath our fingernails, pull out a well-used meth pipe, sell the family dog for rocks and settle in for a dirty protest which would put GG Allin to shame; because Pissgrave has a new record out: Malignant Worthlessness.
Anyone who has ever gone on a countryside walk in the summer and stumbled upon a sheep’s corpse, or discovered a rotting crow under the bed which the cat has hidden, will know that death and decay have an utterly unmistakable stench. Thanks to Pissgrave, it also has a sound. The Pennsylvanian death metallers give us an entirely pragmatic sound. They have gone on record saying that they try to distance themselves from the more fantastical aspects of death metal, and it appears they have achieved this, as this record comes across as about as serious as a sleepover at Fred and Rose West’s house.
Comparing Pissgrave‘s sound to more popular death metal bands, such as Cannibal Corpse, is like comparing Darth Vader to King Leopold II of Belgium; the reality is far darker than the fiction could ever hope to be. Pissgrave’s efforts to get that message across with this record demand respect. Malignant Worthlessness can make something like Tomb of the Mutilated sound almost twee. Pissgrave begins the abomination that is Malignant Worthlessness with ‘In Heretic Blood Christened’. The song structure starts as though it’s in the middle of a particularly disgusting death metal beatdown, telling their fans that there’s no time for messing around with this record and that they’re right in the thick of all the filth they’ve come to expect from Pissgrave immediately. The vocals from Tim Mellon don’t even sound human, the gurgling of phlegm can almost be heard from the back of Mellon’s throat as he regurgitates stomach acid into the mic.
In sampling ONE OK ROCK’s latest offerings, an unfortunate profound sense of disappointment reigned supreme over any capacity to enjoy their latest sonic boom, or more like a crackle and pop effect bouncing through the speakers. ONE OK ROCK have stayed true to their genre parameters, leaving some level of intrigue in its wake. But despite what should be an interesting mix of alt-rock, post hardcore and emo pop, concentrating on the album only gets more difficult the longer it goes. There are some gems hidden amongst the rough, but a flurry of potent mediocrity seemed to be the norm, which made such diamonds as ‘Delusion:All’ and ‘Tropical Therapy’, all the more incongruous. .
‘Delusion:All’ proved itself to be the best foot forward ONE OK ROCK could have chosen as lead single. Presenting itself as an ode to rebellion and the uncomfortableness associated with being traumatised by the normalisation of catastrophic social, institutional and environmental events. With its mature sounding beats, a truly inspired instrumental arrangement and frontman Takahiro Moriuchi’s impressive vocal performance, it all amalgamates to create a welcome slice through the mind’s eye, emboldening a disenchanted generational struggle for progression and betterment.
‘Tropical Therapy’ is an ode to disconnection from a personal problem or outlook on the dire state of current affairs. While its charm centres on a fascination with old school pop punk, it’s not clear who the band truly are beneath the noise, which felt especially troubling when remembering that this band has been around for the best part of two decades. ‘Tropical Therapy’ did present some positives, but ultimately seemed to represent the point of no return as far as producing an engaging listening experience, as a desire to withdraw from the album’s runtime became more and more intense as time went on.
It’s been four years since the release of their second album, A World on Fire, which earned praise from a wide audience. While it explored themes of climate disasters and human oppression, The Five Hundred builds on that narrative with Ghostwriter, moving into a dystopian world. Given how the world is at the moment, it feels right on time.
Bursting out of the gate, the album opens immediately, showcasing cinematic riffs and soaring clean vocals. This provides a melody worthy of a full stadium singing the words—an impressive feat for a band that hasn’t been picked up by a major label. With its rich texture and anthemic vocals, this opening track has the potential to draw in a broader audience. Perhaps, in time, it will. The album guides the listener away from the opening track, building the narrative and imagining the world told in this story in a darker light. Sombre and more foreboding, the album feel abandons the cinematic atmosphere in favour of a heavier, more intense vibe. Aaron Matts of ten56 also lends his raw, barking vocals on ‘Rainmaker’, adding a gritty edge to the track’s already intense energy.
As the piece unfolds, it reveals a compelling balance between intricate melodic passages and guttural growls, creating an experience that never lets the listener rest in one place for too long. The album weaves towering riffs that gradually give way to more straightforward, yet catchy compositions. Listeners are transported into the futuristic landscape, imagining grey stark habitats and burned environments amidst hopeful riffs and soaring vocals.
tunic probably need very little introduction now, having established themselves as purveyors of noisey, sludgey punk rock in the vein of fellow countrymen KEN Mode and Bay area stalwarts Kowloon Walled City. For the uninitiated, tunic is a grating dissonant shadow creature, producing bleak, challenging and anguish ridden music for those in pain, and those in search of catharsis. The new record, A Harmony of Loss Has Been Sung, is no different, as it chronicles frontman David Schellenberg and his wife’s pain centred around the miscarriage of their child in 2023.
During the writing process the band met up for 8-hour long sessions, that were defined by their gruelling but organic nature. Throughout these sessions of long-drawn-out noise, the members riffed off each other, growing the songs like some sort of discordant houseplant.
Blisteringly cold, supremely evil, and about as haunting as a graveyard after midnight. An unsettling cocktail of soaring atmospherics, straight up black metal and just a hint of folk instrumentation, the Siberian forest dwellers Grima have returned, adding in traditional Eastern European folk instrumentation without it coming off as just a bit silly. Grima have managed to merge all of this together with their latest release Nightside.
Sonically this album is stunning, the guitar tones, sharp and piercing when the aggression is picked up, but with a lamenting grandness to them, which helps to build an oppressive wall of sound, cementing the all encompassing loneliness of its sound. It would be easy to find oneself lost in the murky depths of these riffs, they are about as massive as black metal riffing can get, hammering on your ears with relentless intent. Sitting atop it all, neither dominating nor fading into the background the caustic shriek of the vocals. Sounding like acid being spewed from the very depths of their gut, layering the whole record with an unnerving despair. This hits its peak on the title track, a driving force of melancholy underpinned with deep and dark death growls so often omitted from the black metal sound, but providing a welcome juxtaposition to the pained wails.
