The last twenty years of living in Britain have been, let’s just say, unpleasant. From illegal wars to the ravages wrought on those at the bottom of the proverbial ladder, it’s no surprise that a great deal of music made by British bands has a flavour of rightful bitterness running through it. Grief Ritual are one of the more brutal propositions to emerge from these humble isles over the last few years. Blending bludgeoning hardcore with a furious blend of various other extreme metal genres, on a sonic level they’re probably most similar to new Church Road label mates Burner, albeit with a much more direct, punkier approach.
Their debut EP, Spiritual Disease, was a statement of intent, one which balanced a lyrical blast of scorn at the government while coalescing the band’s many extreme influences into one ugly, abrasive blast. There was also a sense of danger, of unease in the record, one that has been brought back and turned up a good few notches here on Collapse,
Liverpool based alt-pop trio The DSM IV had big boots to fill before they even played a single note. Led by Guy McKnight, former frontman of legendary noughties goth rock band The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster, The DSM IV sidestep comparisons to their vocalist’s previous work with an equally gothic yet far more synth-focused sound driven by dramatic melodies and pop sensibilities. With a full-length album already behind them, The DSM IV keep up their momentum with Negative Utopia’s collection of unreleased demos and remixes.
Opening track ‘Pink Lady’ does plenty to establish The DSM IV’s unique identity, clearly taking cues from classic goth acts such as The Cure and Bauhaus while carving out their own sound. With McKnight’s wailing vocals taking point over a bed of distorted riffs from guitarist Jade Ormesher and winding electronic noises from drummer/synth player Pav Cummins, ‘Pink Lady’ acts as a fantastic introduction to the trio’s retro inspired sound. Old school goths and newcomers to the genre alike will find plenty to love in The DSM IV’s mix of the old and new on Negative Utopia.
Across the six tracks of Negative Utopia, The DSM IV run the gamut from modern alt-pop to 80s goth and new wave without losing sight of their individual voice. While tracks like ‘Pink Lady’ and ‘Isolation’ may incorporate elements that sound familiar to fans of classic acts like Joy Division, other tracks such as ‘Pray Like A Fool’ take just as much inspiration from the mid-2000s new rave scene or Holy Fuck style experimental electronic on ‘Racist Man RMX’. Despite being saddled with the goth label The DSM IV refuse to simply repeat the past, instead mashing their vintage inspirations with modern influences for a genuinely unique sound.
Even before you dig into their back catalogue, the history of Iranian (by way of Norway) metallers Confess is not only inspirational, but fascinating. Charged by the government of their homeland with blasphemy and propaganda against the state due to their music and interviews, frontman Nikan Khosravi and DJ Arash Ilkhani were arrested by the Revolutionary Guards just two weeks after the release of their second album In Pursuit Of Dreams in 2015. Appealing the verdict, fleeing to Turkey and both eventually being granted asylum by Norway in 2019, the duo still face corporal punishment to this day in Iran. Having since tackled the issues and emotions of their exile in 2022’s Revenge At All Costs, the band have been honing their skills freely and pulling together the aftermath of revenge with new album Destination Addiction.
Cutting straight to the chase with opening track ‘Built On A Grave’, a fiery little headbanger of an opener. Primal percussive grooves are overlaid onto a tension brewing tapping riff before breaking out into some nasty syncopated fury. Lyrically the track is confronting past horror, killing your old life and building a new one on top of the grave of a past life and revisiting the painful history of the band. Singles ‘Slaughterhouse’ and ‘Expedition’ follow and make for an explosive, if slightly repetitive intro to the album. The former plays with a range of dynamic rhythmic shifts and careens into a tumultuous breakdown in its final moments, the latter plays with a spacious chorus and consistent groove metal punch. Single ‘After Goliath’ features celebrated stoner metal guitarist Marzi Montazeri (ex-Phil Anselmo and Illegals, ex-Superjoint Ritual, ex-Exhorder, Heavy As Texas), adding an extra dynamic to the thick guitar tones and a signature solo to boot.
The icey sub-zero depths of winter make the perfect backdrop for the first LP from Praetorian, from blistering slabs of disgusting sludge metal to the ethereal haunting atmospheres of black metal, Pylon Cult, strides from the forest, swinging its maul and sweeping enemies aside left and right. Praetorian already have a few releases under their belt, but Pylon Cult, really solidifies what the band are about, crushingly heavy riffs sit juxtaposed against an atmospheric breakneck melody straight out of the corpse paint playbook. Of course, there’s also the dark tongue-in-cheek humour the band is known for writ large over the entire record.
The record opens with the devastatingly heavy “Fear and Loathing in Stevenage,” which starts like a rabid dog’s bullrush before descending into a darkness-riddled doom metal cacophony, as crushing as it is beautiful, especially when followed by the contemplative atmospheric stylings at the end of the track. As a lead single for the album Praetorian got this absolutely right, it strikes the balance between calm and maddening fury that the band strive to achieve.
After the opener they do not hold back, delivering blow after blow to the cranium. Despite its punishing pace and style, it does manage to worm its way into the grey matter, where the latent melodic elements reside for a good while after the music comes to a halt. Alongside the cerebral bore-like riffs, the vocal delivery is haunting, powerful and grating in equal parts bringing to mind the stylings of Iron Monkey, Mastodon as well as newer acts like 200 Stab Wounds.
Sisters Nyrobi and Chaya Beckett-Messam, aka Alt Blk Era, have been on the radar of the alternative music scene for the past few years after their appearance at huge festivals such as Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds and being nominated for the Heavy Music Awards. There is something so captivating about these two artists who, with their complementary voices and their alternative style mixed with EDM, are conquering the hearts of all the young outcast kids of their generation.
Rave Immortal starts with ‘Straight To Heart’, a previously released single which is the perfect track to introduce you to the band’s versatility, with soft drum and bass blended with slightly distorted guitars in the background. Perhaps not the strongest start in terms of energy levels, however a really good showcase of good, clean, poppy vocals.
The second track ‘Come on Outside’ is a straightforward indie rock song, in the best possible way. The sound is young and pure and seems to be coming straight out of the early 2000s. It could easily be an Avril Lavigne‘s ballad. The band shared that a lot of the music in this album is about Nyrobi’s hidden disability, a result of chronic illness that took hold during her teens and left her bed-ridden for years. She says that songs like ‘Come on Outside’ are especially important to them as it perfectly encapsulates the importance Chaya had on her for support, solace and inspiration to go back into producing music together. It might be considered the most mellow sound of the album but these two singers are definitely suited for this genre.
From here on there’s a sudden 360° flip, starting with the defiant energy of ‘Crashing Parties’ waking us up into their world of crossover drum and bass. This track defines what to expect from the rest of the record: finely crafted beats blended with some nu-metal and pop punk sounds. The sisters’ vocals, one perhaps more aggressive and the other softer and angelic are both polished and on pitch and blend together perfectly into a fresh tone.
Over twenty years after their initial inception, it seems rather hard to believe that ancient folk specialists Wardruna came to be as a side project from second-wave Black Metal legends Gorgoroth. Spearheaded by Einar Selvik, Lindy-Fay Hella and Gaahl (who amicably departed ways in 2015); whilst the emotional intensity of black metal played a formative part of the make up of the collectives energy, their music couldn’t be further from relentless blast beats and arctic howling. Focussing on traditionally performed pre-christian/pagan Scandinavian folk music, they became well-known and critically regarded for their soundtrack work for the wildly popular Vikings television series with Trevor Morris as well as more recently with video game scoring work for Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla.
Wardruna’s previous works conceptually delved deep into Norse pagan folklore and esoteric spirituality. Now with new album Birna (translated as: She-Bear), the band use their past experience and knowledge to form something new; a conceptual exploration of man’s ancient relationship with nature.
“Slowly driven out of her habitat by modern day societies, she has entered a stage of permanent hibernation. As a result, the forest is gradually dying, longing for its pulse and heart – its shepherd. Birna calls for her return.”
