Formed in the Northeast of England and releasing their first fiery batch of riffs in 2015, Osiah have grown from a gentle whisper in the ears of extreme music enjoyers, to a category five hurricane capable of ripping the doors and windows out of your house. The band have been releasing consistently brutal music since their inception, signing to Unique Leader Records just a few years into their reign of terror. 2021’s Loss saw the group achieve heaps of critical acclaim and much deserved praise from fans across the world – and now the band are back with a new offering – Kairos.
Rapid, furious, precise and fiery – Kairos comes across more like a tactical missile strike than just a heavy album, with drummer Danny Yates’ supercharged assault on the kit providing an electric experience. From the creativity and passion behind his drum fills on songs like ‘White Feather’, to the staggering speed of his limbs across more or less every song here, Yates injects the urgency an album like this needs and deserves.
Sticking to the percussive onslaught like hot glue, and occasionally spitting dangerously out at you, are the white-hot guitars laid down by shredders Andy Mallaby and Chris Keepin. Their absolute mastery over their instruments is readily apparent when you’re in the midst of a cascade of their technical chug grooves and mind-bending riffs.
Having been a notable force in LA’s alternative/underground electronic scene dating as far back as 2007, HEALTH are finally seeing a true blossom in viral popularity through their dedicated and relentless grind over the past decade and a half. Known for their noisy and industrial influenced brand of electronic rock, the band have captured widespread attention over the years through their range of credits; video game soundtracks, remixes, reels and reels of collaborations (thanks in large part to previous release DISCO4::) and their studio albums. RAT WARS sees HEALTH return to their true form to follow up their fourth album, 2019’s aptly named Vol. 4 :: Slaves of Fear.
Opening track ‘DEMIGODS’ revels in grandiose goth energy, the opening moments home to one of few prominent guitar melodies on the album, with a clean glassy synth melodies following along, staying relatively restrained before bursting into methodical industrial beats. It regularly shifts back and forth between the two across four minutes, before a final refrain switches things up completely, pulsing to life and flipping into a triplet beat, embracing sonic cyberpunk energy racing to the chaotic climax. The final moments glitch and stutter straight into following track ‘FUTURE OF HELL’, which embraces a choppy and pulsing instrumental that sounds like stuttering and glitching machinery before another frenetic pace change towards the end that almost veers head first into old-school Gabba. Each track is absolutely stuffed with sonic detail on their own that still reveal layers upon layers to unpick with repeat listens, let alone their context’s within the album as a whole, it is incredibly hard not to get lost in the discussion finer detail of every single moment on offer.
Hardcore is alive and well – go to any small town’s local venue on a Thursday night and there’s a chance you’ll enter a hot room filled with sweaty people lining up to throw or catch an elbow to the face. The genre is as in demand as ever, with new bands like the young five-piece Glower baring their teeth, claiming their territory and showing that the next generation of politically-pissed off rebels are kicking things up a notch.
Formed in 2019 by a group of uni friends and matured over the course of the pandemic, the band bring an exciting mix of metallic hardcore and prog metal, with emphasis on groove and big moments, instead of the constant intensity that other hardcore bands bring. After a solid first EP release in 2021 with Eyes Full of Spite, the band now look to develop their sound and incorporate wider influences.
Straight off the bat, Gaunt Sun delivers its first blow, with the blistering drum flurries and dense guitar churning of ‘Killing Floor’ delivering a shock to the system, as vocalist George Wright begins to scream and howl like his grapefruits are in a vice. Giving way to a series of pummelling grooves before diving headfirst into an expansive breakdown, the track sets the pace for savage but calculated beating to come.
Armed with Enterprise Earth duo Gabe Mangold and Brandon Zackey to create the foundations for this self proclaimed furious rebirth, AD Infernum is the debut EP from Dead Icaarus, the new project from original Ateryu vocalist Alex Varkatzas. ‘Sellout’ bursts out the gate in breakneck speed that Unearth connoisseurs will be familiar with, only to settle into unspectacular radio friendly territory in its chorus. Gabe is given a fairly creative license on guitar and there is nothing insulting instrumentally but a return to ‘uncompromising’ and ‘brutal’ leaves one expecting it to bear heavier fruit. ‘Vultures Circle’ is breakdown laden and dominated by harsh vocals but it ultimately feels meandering and lacks direction.
Single ‘I Set Myself on Fire’ is perfectly fine and heavy enough to give the Enterprise Earth duo the platform to plant their flag on the track but it wades into the territory that goes against the mantra of the EP of wanting to be antithesis of what Atreyu has become. the title track present is the standout; it has the bounce of a well crafted metalcore track and unfamiliar shrieks of “I don’t care where it goes from here” gives a glimpse of that true heavy confessional assault Alex is determined to translate. The Pantera cover of ‘Yesterday Don’t Mean Shit’ is meant to enhance the attitude of the EP but it feels totally unnecessary and greatly hinders the progress of the tracks coming before it.
Influences from Lamb of God and Killswitch Engage are apparent and a quick scope of the reaction to the singles proves there is a dedicated audience for this. Fans feel Alex is back to his true self and no longer held back, so if the mission is to win over the lapsed Atreyu followers then he’s onto something. But for a casual listener it doesn’t live up to the mission statement.
With the energy and passion of the UK’s modern alt-rock scene, channelling popular 2010s bands like Mallory Knox and Young Guns, and the heartfelt honesty of Springsteen inspired Americana punk acts like The Gaslight Anthem, Kent based quartet The Young Hearts bring an upbeat positivity to their anthemic punk sound. On their sophomore album Somewhere Through The Night The Young Hearts celebrate their influences, finding a balance between retro heartland rock and modern anthemic punk.
Between soaring blues rock inspired lead guitar lines from guitarist Connor Maguire and stadium ready vocals from frontman Craig Lawrence the melodic heart of The Young Hearts shines from the first lines of Somewhere Through The Night. Album opener ‘Famous Last Words’ captures the Americana meets 2010s alt-rock spirit of The Young Hearts perfectly, with a sing-along, Springsteen-esque chorus and propulsive rock energy there’s plenty to enjoy from the very beginning of the album. This solid melodic bedrock can come across as a bit of a double edged sword at points in the album with the dual guitars and full vocals causing the drums to become a little lost in the mix.
After the block buster release of their fourth album Descent and touring slots with metal heavyweights Meshuggah and Trivium, the rise for Sweden’s Orbit Culture has been astronomically fast over the last few years. Now Eksjö’s finest return with three more crushing, riff filled tracks to shatter your skull. Dedicated to the diehard fans that have helped them achieve their dreams, and even though The Forgotten is a confutation of Descent it stands tall and strong in its own right.
During the writing of Descent, songs ‘Sound of The Bell’ and ‘The Upheaval’ emerged as forerunners to be on the album, however as the writing process progressed they were much more experimental than the rest of the album. After heading home from touring with Avatar, the final track to glue the EP together ‘While We Serve’, was created. Usually when you think of off cuts they’re the tracks that sound the weakest and are confined to bonus track status. However, Orbit Culture’s versatility, creativity and abundance of explosive energy shines through across the three tracks.
