Malevolence – Trenches
Few bands can inspire the fervor from a new track as Sheffield’s Malevolence. The Yorkshire pit antagonists aren’t making their devoted fans wait for as long between records anymore and though there’s not an official announcement yet, it’s a safe bet that ‘Trenches’ is the first taste of something new from the band. Vocalist Alex continues to show why he’s one of, if not the best in the business at the moment with every syllable dripping with venom and you can almost see the crowd going crazy. It wouldn’t be a Malevolence track with some lethal guitar parts or some of Konan’s pained, gritty vocals and on those fronts, it doesn’t disappoint. Finishing off with a city levelling breakdown, it’s the perfect track to keep fans sated yet whet appetites for what’s to come in 2025. – Chris Earl
Blank Atlas – If You Can’t Beat Them, Join Them
Bristol’s favourite power trio Blank Atlas return with their latest single ‘If You Can’t Beat Them, Join Them’, a riotous post-hardcore inspired riff fest with all of the lush vocal harmonies the band have become known for. Clocking in at just under two minutes, the Blank Atlas boys fly through their new single like they’ve got to run for a bus at the end with drummer Tom Thould providing a rapid rhythmic backbone to the Reuben inspired machine gun guitar riffs. With Blank Atlas moving into a new era following their 2023 debut album, the future is bright for one of the UK’s brightest young alt rock bands. – Tom Bruce
Praetorian – Fear and Loathing in Stevenage
Distorted feedback seeps in through the mire of Praetorian’s new track, ‘Fear and Loathing in Stevenage’ before a bludgeoning start sinks into a slow blackened sludge dirge much akin to UK doom specialists Wallowing. The latest track from the Hertfordshire foursome is a brilliant mix of punky grind, atmospheric dissonant black metal and drippy gooey sludge that is sure to please anyone willing to lend their ear to it. The new album Pylon Cult is due out at the end of January next year, hopefully with a stint of gigs, this music is crying out for the stage where its visceral delivery can be laid bare for all. – Rob Bown
Tayne – Fear (Feat. James Spence)
Cut from their freshly announced new record Love – released January 31st via MNRK Heavy / Inside Job – ‘Fear’ is a darkly seductive call from one of the most alluring new names in the national industrial scene. Channeling that fatal seduction synonymous with acts such as Nine Inch Nails, Boy Harsher and Type O Negative whilst featuring the talents James Spence of scene staples Rolo Tomassi, ‘Fear’ is the embodiment of a coalescence of it’s respective name and the album’s title. Quite frankly, it’s dark, tempting, persuasive and sexy in a way that’s just a wee bit scary, but still throughly enticing. – Dan Hillier
Frontierer – The Skull Burned
Good news, the band that sound like the musical equivalent of having strobe lights tapped your face are back. Taken from their upcoming EP The Skull Burned Wearing Hell Like A Life Vest As The Night Wept and dropping just a couple of months prior to their UK tour with Better Lovers, ‘The Skull Burned’ is apt title for the new single from Frontierer. Corrosive and chaotic in the most overtly abrasive way possible, this is music for melting your speakers, liquidating your conscience or absolutely nullifying any and all cognitive cohesion one might have. Yes, Frontierer have long held an ability to make music that does as above, but ‘The Skull Burned’ is a refreshing reminder of their ability. The Skull Burned Wearing Hell Like A Life Vest As The Night Wept drops December 20th; a lovely Christmas treat for one and all. – Dan Hillier
Jaws of Life – On My Knees
South Welsh pop punk unit Jaws Of Life have released their new single which is the first of what seems to be a string of new music from the band. Fresh off the back of their recent support slot for Punk Rock Factory at a sold out Cardiff show, the band have used the momentum from this milestone moment to release ‘On My Knees’, a heartfelt ode to love from the perspective of someone who fears or has experienced loss. Whilst tonally and visually (throughout its adjacent music video) the song takes an uplifting and heartwarming vibe, there is a subtle undercurrent from the song’s lyrical perspective that is reflective upon heartbreak and having positive relationships, friendships and companionships come and go. ‘On My Knees’ is an anthemic an infectious ear-worm with repeatability in strides. If you like your pop punk full of emotion then look no further, Jaws of Life have just what you need. – Jac Holloway
Whispers – Close Your Eyes
‘Close Your Eyes’ is the second single from Thailand metallic hardcore bruisers Whispers‘ new EP Yom-Ma-Lok due December 13th via Flatspot Records. Where first single ‘Retribution’ was crushing fury, ‘Close Your Eyes’ exudes menace from its every pore. It more than lives up to their moniker of Bangkok Evilcore, barrel-chested vocals and pulverising drumming throughout its sub-3 minute runtime. The band explain of ‘Close Your Eyes’, “this song is talking about how your life always has some bad people around and all those bad people don’t care about you or anybody, they will live their whole life with their bad attitude. Sometimes peace is not an answer if you would live your life with them. When the time comes when we run out of patience , we will judge them by fighting them back.” – Will Marshall
Hangman’s Chair – Kowloon Lights
French doomsters Hangman’s Chair have released the latest taste of their recently-announced new album Saddiction out 14 February 2025, in the form of ‘Kowloon Lights’. As they’ve become known for, it’s an emotionally fraught journey, morose melodies in the vocals counterpointed by forlorn guitar work. There’s a lot of shoegaze influence at work, the serpentine riff winding throughout and eventually descending into crushing weight. It’s a direct reference to the city destroyed in the 90s, and the band have issued a typically esoteric statement that describes its downtrodden nature; “Walking hand in hand into Kowloon lights in a no moon night, at a loss. Where the neons replaces the sunlight. Like in a Gaspard Noe’s film, Into The Void, we discover every lost souls hiding behind their windows appartment. Each of them with their own vices, regrets and dreams. Your home has become the barrel of a gun and finally the bones of your body become the only neons that enlight the lost souls of the city.” – Will Marshall
Grief Ritual – Gnaw
One of the UK’s nastiest new bands, Grief Ritual have shared the second single from their upcoming debut album Collapse due 31 January 2025 via tastemakers Church Road Records. Despite its vicious title and their heaving, hardcore-flecked death metal assault, the band share a positive message through ‘Gnaw’, one sorely needed in these trying times. As much as the band are necessary for their scathing takedowns of right wing ideology and bigotry, this shows their desire for change and to be a positive force in the world even as its riffs bludgeon and the vocals alternate between bowel-quaking gutturals and more mid-range screams. The band share, “Gnaw is about fighting for yourself and rising up through the systematic torrents of failure and frustration around us, to find support in our communities, through allyship and friendship, and to find LGBTQIA+ joy in expression and being ourselves.” – Will Marshall
What Will Be – Singularity
Manchester based rockers What Will Be have returned with their new single ‘Singularity’, a swirling and uplifting slice of alt rock that shows the band levelling up in terms of their musical composition. The band have clearly let creativity pave the way on ‘Singularity’ and the songs features brilliant chord patterns, guitar inflections, solo passages and backing vocals alongside the main vocal croon which soars at times during the track. Previous singles released this year include grunge-laden banger ‘My Days’ and the slightly more methodical but by no means stripped back ‘Always’, both of which saw the band take a step away from their initial indie rock roots into a heavier more alternative sound. Citing the likes of Incubus and Deftones as influences, the band’s emerging sound feels more akin to early brit emo/rock bands like Mallory Knox, Lower Than Atlantis and Deaf Havana all of which, combined with a brilliant vocal tone with melody and riffs, is exactly what What Will Be seem to be aiming for here. With an EP slated for some time in 2025, ‘Singularity’ is another positive addition to the band’s growing catalogue of music. – Jac Holloway