With Bossk set to turn 20 in 2026 and intending to mark the occasion with a new album and a studio debut for vocalist Simon Wright, the release of .4 sees the band pensively gazing into the rear view mirror of their riff wagon. There are re-imagined versions of songs, previously unheard tracks from the vault, and guest appearances aplenty here. That said, .4 is being billed as an album, so we’ll treat it as such.
Things get off to a suitably brave start, with opening track Kobe X Pijn being, as the name suggests, instead a reworked version of their 2016 track performed by fellow Brits Pijn. It’s fascinating to hear a familiar song approached by different minds, and by and large it’s pulled off very well. The addition of strings is a welcome replacement for the dated faux-Battles guitar loops of the original, and Pijn continue to flex throughout the 6-and-a-half minutes, turning the awkwardly composed original into a much more satisfying musical journey. Unfortunately, the overall impression we get is of Pijn doing their best while hamstrung by the much narrower musical breadth of a Bossk song, so while it’s a lovely ride, it leaves us wanting to go and listen to the guest artist rather than continue with .4.
Bossk themselves swagger into action on second track Truth II, a re-imagined track from the early days inspired by a vocal cover uploaded to Instagram by Sheenagh Murray. The journey from Instagram cover to full blown collaboration with the artist is an incredibly cool story to tell, and a wonderful gesture of mutual support and love between artists and fans. The track itself doesn’t have an awful lot to offer outside of stock “post with vocals” tropes and a few flourishes of electronica to accompany the signature lumbering Bossk rhythm section, and the muddy guitars and flat production don’t help matters, but for the hardcore fans, it’s a fascinating alternate reality version of a deep cut that comes with its own story to tell.
Delta has been a long time in the making, initially starting the songwriting sessions in late 2019 and continuing through to 2023, Belgian progressive collective Thot have taken as much time as they needed on the path to their fourth full-length album. Another victim of the pandemic, Delta has been through several iterations throughout the writing process before landing in the form that is now releasing in 2024.
The band are well known to play with an eclectic mix of styles throughout their discography and the same is true across Delta. Songs like the opening track “Euphrate” have a very experimental electronic and industrial feeling to their sonic presentation. Others stem from a more grounded home in progressive guitar music, with a particular focus on emptying and exploring the dynamics and songwriting features typically associated with post-rock and more orchestral stylings, such as eight minute powerhouse single “Hüzün”. Similarly, the wonderfully effervescent “Sleep Oddity”, featuring an uplifting and heavenly vocal feature from Czech singer/songwriter Lenka Dusilová, follows from a similar progressive ilk and makes for one of the standout tracks on the album. Bubbling forth from a rather intense synth line that feels as though it may burst into rave territory, sweeps into into a sultry and dreamlike affair that saunters softly onwards towards a compelling and infectious chorus.
Riding on the wave of talent emerging from an exciting scene, AWOL asserted their dominance following the strict lockdown in Melbourne. Making music as a necessity to escape the harrows of the pandemic, their 2021 self-titled EP cemented their relevance with the growing scene, leading them to tour amongst the big dogs of Australian hardcore. Debut album, Tear Em’ To Bits continues the blunt force aggression, yet feels more refined and mature. The earlier hardcore influences of Madball and Biohazard persist but with an infusion of modernity and heaviness, that allows them to sit amongst current powerhouses Speed and God’s Hate. The record checks off the key features and places great emphasis on unity and creating a record that the community around them enjoy and can get behind.
Aside from the gentle acoustic strings in the opening track, ‘LEJOS DE DIOS’, Tear Em’ To Bits does not let up from delivering straight up, no frills hardcore. As opening track effortless leads in ‘AWOL’, you are launched into a wall of boisterous barks and groovy riffwork. This carries into the furious title track and the barrage is continued with a thundering of drums and face-smacking breakdown in ‘Who You Were’. The unifying backing calls repeating “we win, you lose” in the title track make up for the lack of quintessential band name call outs, nodding towards the appreciation of their community.
The Pleasure Dome has proved their importance within the independent alternative music scene as they have performed alongside modern icons DITZ, CLT DRP and Heavy Lungs, playing sold-out European headliners and festivals as well as gaining radio traction. Since their last release, The Pleasure Dome have endeavoured some big changes within their lives, including a lineup change, recruiting Loz Fancourt on bass and Harry Flowers on drums, as well as their original vocalist Bobby Spender dealing with some hardship in his personal life. Spender has been very vocal about his recent relationship struggles and couldn’t wait for another album cycle to showcase his raw, emotional songwriting about these struggles. It may seem like a short touring lifetime for the trio’s debut album, Equinox, only released in September 2023, but the band have carefully crafted a 6 song EP to be released through the independent label Hound Gawd! Records.
Liminal Space begins with an instrumental intro and then lead single, ‘The Old Duke Part I’ and ‘The Old Duke Part II’. The band sets the scene perfectly by using simple arpeggiated chords alongside samples. The listeners are sat at the bar where Spender works and spends the majority of his time when not touring or songwriting with the band. Part I transitions seamlessly into Part II where it’s obvious that the vocals take the forefront of storytelling.
Its rather staggering thought on how long Doom has been with us – yep, it goes right back to those legendary boys from Birmingham. While the genre still retains its template of traditionally slow rhythms and meaty power chords, over the years it has grown outwards with a variety of interwoven additional flavours. Sunnata (deriving from the Sanskrit word Suynata meaning emptiness or voidness) take that template but adds grungy vibes, doused generously with psychedelic colourings as well as pursuing mostly the lengthy songs approach. They melted minds on their previous album Burning in Heaven Melting on Earth and they duly take the listener on a mind-expanding journey once again.
While they are never in a rush, Sunnata do enjoy holding our attention, and indeed their own as they do partake in the ebb and flow of switching between the loud/quiet, and everything in-between formula. This keeps it interesting and prevents any notion of nodding off. And there no chance of that especially so in the first half of Chasing Shadows. Opener ‘Chimera’ kicks off in grand style with as a loud and proud strident bass, a pummelling beat-down, as well as softer choral stylised vocals which elevates (and this is all just with the first few minutes) before they rock out in an enjoyably direct fashion. It’s a great 8 minutes’ of an album opener.
Beginning 2020 off of successful tours for your debut album, with a few new songs ready to be played live must have felt like the perfect time before having everything hit pause. This would put any band in an exhausting position, but post an unannounced hiatus, Indoor Pets are a band that has evolved and changed their sound, while still managing to keep their identity. Returning to Alcopop! Records, Pathetic Apathetic is an evolution in their sound, with their influences from the garage and surf influenced mid 10’s indie scene fading to be replaced by a love of big riffs, hardcore and d-beats, almost mirroring the moves Turnstile have been making with their recent output.
Singles ‘London (Love to Hate)’ and ‘Dopamine Girls’ tackle the fall of London as a comfortable place for working class people and the intense overpowering nature romance can become respectively, with lead singer Jamie Glass’s signature vocals being paired with heavier riffs, songwriting and guitar tones. Gone are the loose, hard to pin down euphemisms of their early work, with lyrics more literal yet keeping the same metaphorical edge. There is a more serious tone lyrically, whether that’s political (‘Dying by the living wage, Trying to repress my rage’) or pseudo seductive (‘Hey, what’s your blood type?/We can do this all night, I’ve got nowhere to be’), with some of the same self depreciation (‘I’m one-part Casanova, and two parts clinically insane.’)
