Possibly the heaviest bill ever to grace the famous Kentish Town Forum occurred on Saturday the 11th of November, as Malevolence came into town with three other bands. A celebration of heavy music, it was the culmination of a sold out UK tour for the northern riff powerhouses.

Purveyors of scathing, noughties worshipping metalcore Dying Wish arrive at that famously difficult second album with an intensity rarely seen in bands. Could they be the ones to beat the trope and actually make the elusive heavier yet more melodic album?

Belgian math-metal pack BEAR show incredible resilience, triumph and spirit as they return from adversity more pissed off than ever on their latest release, VANTA.

The sheer gall to not be a grindcore band and put out a 20 track album has to be admired, but will the new Blood Command album, the second in about a year and a half be quantity over quality?

It's a wonderful time to be a fan of intelligent, articulate pop punk at the moment. Gone (Mostly) are the days of thinly-veiled misogyny and cursing your hometown, replaced by an introspective, gloam eyed view of the current world. Two of the bands at the forefront of this movement are Spanish Love Songs and Hot Mulligan, admittedly currently at different ends of the spectrum sonically. Would the mix of almost apocalyptic indie-emo and sarcastic, angst ridden pop punk work well on a bill?

Technical metalcore riff merchants Heart Of A Coward look to escape from the shadows of their own past with "This Place Brings Only Death". Will they be able to shake off a mixed reception to their last record, or is the band's time in the spotlight coming to an end?

On a Thursday night, the recently renovated and newly branded Newcastle NX hosted three of the most exciting bands metal has to offer. From the melo-death slinging Swedish band Orbit Culture, to the in your face swagger of Scots Bleed From Within and of course, the mighty, by now legendary Trivium.

The figureheads of the New Wave Of British Death Metal look to cement their place on the world stage with their sophomore album, An Insatiable Thirst For Torment.

LA based sad crew explore their electronic and indie rock side on their fourth record, and seek to once again make you sit and stare out of the window in a mix of despair and fracture hope on No Joy.

Noughties metalcore legends fail to justify their continued existence in 2023 with their new four track EP.

Tennessee agitators Chamber look to set new levels of metalcore heaviness on their sophomore full length, A Love To Kill For.

Summing up the experience of living on planet Earth in 2023 by releasing a no holds barred, nihilism fuelled blend of scathing extreme metal, Burner are here to leave a mark on the metal scene.