Will Marshall
Last year’s single ‘Ingsoc’ was a bruising affair and Burner‘s new single ‘Rat King Crown’, that debuted alongside the announcement they’d signed to Church Road Records, is just as savage. Death metal, hardcore and blackened tremolo moments are all tossed into their melting pot of brutality, with the end result being a just over two minute blast of ferocious, blasting metal punctuated by a gargantuan breakdown. As if this maelstrom wasn’t enough already, it’s also peppered with Converge-esque riffs that twist and turn through the song. Taken from their upcoming debut EP, it was recorded with the legendary Lewis Johns, whose involvement is a sure sign of confidence from someone in the know, that Burner are something special indeed. – Will Marshall
Hailing from Washington D.C., Design Flaw are a post-everything band who cite influences from Cult Of Luna to Deftones to Alcest and Caspian. Such a broad church of influences could sound messy but on all their songs it’s masterfully executed, especially latest single ‘Andromeda’, with swirling post-rock and soaring vocals underscored by desolate screams. Drawing in elements of shoegaze, it paints in vivid colour and poetic lyricism their experiences during the writing of the EP, which was informed by the Black Lives Matter protest and Capitol insurrection; unsurprising given the events occurred in their home city. ‘Andromeda’ culminates in Cult Of Luna-esque pulsing post metal laced with blackgaze; it’s a scintillating blend and for a band only on their debut EP, shows the sky really is the limit for them. – Will Marshall
Another outburst from the Oddworld™, Ocean Grove‘s latest track ‘Sex Dope Gold’ is a big fat rock anthem, with silky smooth vocals, sweltering guitar and a big beat behind it. The band seem to be going for a more anthemic approach with new material for their upcoming album Up In The Air Forever, yet as always for the Aussie trio there’s a lot of room left for genre variety and musical experimentation,. Fusing together tried and tested elements from popular 90’s genres like rock, britpop and grunge, the band have concocted their own recipe to bring classic, familiar sounds into a fresh and vibrant new future. With that familiarity serving as a thematic bridge for the record, this leaves the band able to explore all kinds of pathways branching outwards, fusing old with new, creating their own hybrid of retro-future sound. This is the sound of the Oddworld™, any there’s no telling exactly what could come next. – Elliot Grimmie
Tokyo based metalcore outfit Earthists. have unleashed a killer new song, titled simply ‘Yours’. Diving headfirst into melodic, Architects-adjacent guitarwork and vocal style, the Japanese four piece throw in upbeat, glitchy electronic noise to really flesh out the sound here, and with the further addition of violins coming in towards to the end of the track, this is a real work of art for a metalcore track. There’s raw emotion pouring out from the heart here, hitting hard with big singalong moments in the chorus. Earthists. aren’t new to the game by any means, but they’ve well and truly excelled, expanding on the type of noise we come to typically expect from the genre and using outside elements to further push for an interesting and creative approach that could really net them a lot more attention should it fall gracefully into peoples ears, especially at a time such as this where ‘core style sounds are beginning to breach into more mainstream popularity. – Elliot Grimmie
Taken from their upcoming EP of the same name, the new single ‘Kings Today’ from nu-metallers Sicksense features plenty of bouncing grooves and attitude. Taking aim at the often echo-chamber nature of modern discourse and its unwillingness to listen to others, preferring to shout them down rather than opening up conversations, it’s an all-too relevant topic. Even with that, the band still want the song to be fun; the video features a food fight to playfully illustrate their point, as well as a particularly judgemental bear. Vocalist Killer V says “The song is about moving forward together by having a willingness to understand others and that it’s okay to disagree and challenge ideas. At the end of the day, I believe we’re all more alike as people than we are different.” – Will Marshall
Alt-rock outfit downcast have released their latest single, ‘mistakes that i have made’ from their upcoming debut album ‘i saw hell when i was with you’. It marks a shift from the previous single, with darker lyrics and tone. Drawing on mental health struggles and personal experience, it’s a hooky and memorable number sure to get crowds bellowing it back. Frontman Liam Edwards says of the song, “this song is about the struggle of trying to be a happier person whilst dealing with bad mental health following trauma and how it can often leave you feeling like you’re going around in circles and not making any progress at all”.- Will Marshall
Already the undisputed kings of the British underground, Malevolence took a leap forward with 2020’s The Other Side EP that blended sludge, fist-pumping metal and hardcore breakdowns to incendiary effect. Their latest single, ‘On Broken Glass’, is the first taste of their upcoming third album Malicious Intent and it’s a monster. It opens with squalling feedback before an arena-sized riff promises to open devastating circle pits and the chorus is the kind of gruff melodicism we’ve come to expect from them after ‘The Other Side’ showcased a more tender, but no less anthemic side to them. If there’s any justice, Malicious Intent will see Malevolence finally conquer the stages they’ve always deserved. – Will Marshall
Stray From The Path have always been politically minded – just look at Goodnight Alt Right, for one – but their new single ‘Guillotine’ is perhaps their most charged statement to date, with the lyric “1776 ways to die, pick one” not messing around in the slightest. Taking aim at dark money and the corruption of political life by the super rich and lobbyists, it’s a savage, straight to the point anthem, such as with the brutal mosh call of “off with their fucking heads”. It’s also a masterclass in powerful drumming – the opening fill from Craig Reynolds is lightning fast, technical and captivating in its ferocity before the chorus kicks the door down. If nothing else, the last few years have only made Stray more pissed off and vital than ever. – Will Marshall
Another track from the collaboration project that is the AA Sessions, this time a synth laden, 80’s pop inspired bop along song with love and romance at its core. With vocals supplied by Mykl of Sick Joy, and crafted with “knackered 80’s digital keyboards”, it’s a real throwback to a bygone era, and likely would have gone down a treat a few decades ago. Heck, it still goes down a treat now, and AA Sessions remains one of the most exciting ongoing projects that’s yet to break free of the underground. With another 10 tracks still to come through the year, there’s no knowing exactly who else will appear or what genres will be experimented with, but regular contributing members from CLT DRP, Arxx, Sick Joy and Blood Red Shoes could all potentially feature again sometime in the coming months.