Closing off the tour for their new EP Our World, ALT BLK ERA played a sold out home town show at Nottingham’s Rescue Rooms. Nottingham‑born sister duo Nyrobi and Chaya are reshaping the UK alternative landscape with a sound that fuses rock, drum’n’bass, rap, trap and dark pop into something unmistakably fresh. Rising from their DIY beginnings during lockdown, to winning MOBO awards, the band have built a world where they cause genre boundaries to cease existence and where ide

Storied on an isle along the coastline, a singular music festival continues to lure in approximately 55,000 continuous festival goers and first-timers. Since the revival of the modern in 2002, the Isle of Wight festival is returning in 2026 for its 23rd edition with a three-day weekend. What an impossible weekend to miss! Rooted in pop and rock but rarely confined by them, the lineup blends future favourites with artists who’ve already earned a permanent place in fans’ hearts

Even in the bleakest scenarios, beautiful things can blossom - and it’s hard to imagine a bleaker circumstance than beginning your adulthood by being forced into isolation, whilst a deadly virus tears through the population. It’s even harder to imagine how a newly-formed band might survive such an occasion, but Norwegian noise-punk band HAMMOK did more than survive. They flourished. Originally formed by long-time friends Tobias Osland (guitar and vocals) and Ferdinand Aasheim

AUGUST BURNS RED. That’s it, that’s all we need to say to call to mind one of the most well-known, hard-grafting metalcore bands of the last 20 years, a band that have continued to expand the horizons of heavy metal and continuously see how much farther they can grow. They’ve returned to once again shatter their own limitations with their new album Season of Surrender, a ferocious onslaught of sound with instrumental intricacies and deep-rooted lyrics that awaken something in

For the better part of a decade, TURNOVER have occupied a unique position within alternative music. Ever since the release of Peripheral Vision, the Virginia band have found themselves constantly measured against one of the most influential emo records of the 2010s. Rather than attempting to recreate that success, the band have spent subsequent releases exploring dream-pop, indie rock and psychedelic textures, steadily moving further away from their roots. Down On Earth, the

Download festival is one of the biggest festivals in the UK and the largest gathering of metalheads you might ever see, so we want to help you navigate its 900-acre grounds. This list contains our top 10 bands you won't want to miss from the top end of the bill (The main Apex and Opus stages). This list isn't just the headliners but the performances that we truly think you shouldn't miss, whether it's a band that has travelled from far or bands that rarely visit the UK, the a

A.A. WILLIAMS has steadily and successfully conquered the uncharted space between dramatic metal and conceptual sound, laying the foundations of her empire with her self-titled EP in 2019 and building with visionary collaborations, boundary-breaking sounds, and relentless support and headline touring. She now adds another level to her solid monument with new album Solstice, an album that defies limitations, blends genres and concepts, and leaves you channelling the soul-searc

SIM have travelled six thousand miles over to the UK to play at Slam Dunk Festival, so while on their trip over, they surprised their London fans with a one off show! Taking place at the Signature Brew Blackhorse Road, the small venue was packed to the brim with their biggest fans. Their last show in London was in November 2024, so it is needless to say the fans have been waiting patiently. Supporting them was the UK’s own DEADWAX, coming over from Yorkshire. The band brings

The old-school death metallers in ANCIENT RIVALRY are ready to unleash hell on their debut LP WHAT LIVES BENEATH. Having relocated to Nottingham since forming in London five years ago, the five-piece have developed a reputation for groove-laden death metal that harks back to the 90’s, and they very much back themselves up on a record that screams for bloody gore. Opening on the title track, it’s obvious that their reputation is by no means overstated or undeserved - there’s d

Newly 4-piece, prior duo act LOVELOST are a noisy alt-rock band spawned only a couple of years ago within the quiet depths of South West UK, but the traction and quality tied to the group would easily have one think they’ve been kicking for plenty longer. Earning support from numerous radios and magazines, plus spots in official playlists from major music platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music and TIDAL, the collective demonstrate thorough determination when it comes to sprea

There is a sense of repetition running through DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE's I Built You A Tower. Not repetition in a negative sense, but repetition as a reflection of memory itself. The thoughts that keep returning. The conversations replayed long after they have ended. The people who continue to occupy space in your mind long after they have left your life. Across eleven tracks, DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE explore heartbreak, self reflection and acceptance, creating one of their most emoti

With HOUNDSTOOTH, SIIICKBRAIN builds a record that feels like stepping into a dark, sweat-soaked room and letting the walls close around you. It is abrasive, hazy, clubby, vulnerable, and strange in all the right ways, pulling from industrial grit, electronic production, hip-hop beats, alternative pop structures, and something far more instinctive. It never feels interested in sitting neatly within one sound, and that restlessness becomes part of its identity. The album opens

BLACK LABEL SOCIETY have been a band that have been wowing audiences since 1998. For a band to have this much notoriety they must be doing something more than right, and their latest UK tour has solidified why they have evolved into the iconic band they are today. Opening the evening were DARK CHAPEL. Fronted by Dario Lorina from BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, the band are fairly new in their formation, however played as though they had been doing this for decades. Opening with Afterg

Bearded Theory is a festival built upon the collective love of music. A true celebration of everything that makes festivals so magical. Everyone who attends seems to be there for the same reason: to see some great acts with a great crowd. Every hour you’re there, you will have another insightful conversation with a stranger. You can attend without knowing a single act on the bill, but you’ll end up with a list of people to see, recommended to you by anyone you run into. The

HAGGARD CAT are a band that are consistently pushing the boundaries of what it means to be creative. Having released their third album The Pain That Orbits Life, the Nottingham duo are on tour to celebrate not only the new release, but the fantastic work they have created up until now. Taking to the stage first was ARID WAVE, a Southampton based grunge metal three piece that had the prospect of warming up a crowd on one of the hottest weeks of the year. The band managed to s

DEAD PONY didn’t arrive so much as evolve into the scene. What began as a scrappy Glasgow project, found its shape in cramped rehearsal rooms and late‑night arguments about riffs, identity, and how heavy was “too heavy.” By the time they re‑emerged under their new name, the edges had sharpened: Anna Shields’ vocals carried more bite, the guitars more swagger, the rhythms more intent. Their sound became a kind of forward motion, restless, adrenalised, impossible to pin down.

One of the most renowned progressive rock instrumentalists, PLINI rose up high from Down Under, taking his third studio album An Unnameable Desire on tour right after its recent release last month. An almost entirely silent show, it still possesses the force to leave the visitors speechless, crushing them with the immense sound of electric guitars and layered melodies that create a mesmerising effect. Even when there is little movement across the room, this night is turned in

What better way to start a warm bank holiday weekend than with the first of several Slam Dunk side shows, headlined by the wonderful DRIVEWAYS, with support from Brighton-based alt rock duo HELL HOTEL. Manchester welcomed the Boston-based 2000s-inspired pop-punk band to the Rebellion stage with open arms for their first time performing in the city, ahead of their weekend performance at Slam Dunk Festival. HELL HOTEL were up first, with the dynamic duo Demi Jay Broadhead and T

For their 15-year anniversary, Outbreak Festival isn’t pulling any punches. Started in 2011 by 14-year-olds Jordan Coupland and Lee Fellows, Outbreak has blossomed into one of the biggest hardcore festivals in the UK, bringing fans from all over the world to the North of England for a weekend of barrier-free chaos. Since 2022, the festival has taken place in Manchester, and this year will see hardcore’s biggest and brightest talents return to Manchester’s Bowlers Exhibition

If you’ve been mourning the absence of 90s grunge like we have, mourn no longer - VIOLET GROHL is hauling the fuzzed movement into the modern era, with bold, hefty riffs, cutting vocals, and a flair inspired by visual cinema and 40 years worth of music, packaged beautifully into her debut album Be Sweet To Me. Sweet the title, gritty and bitter the sound, Grohl captures the essence of 90s grunge rock and peppers through modern elements that shape her album into something that

Silence is never really silent. It hangs in the corners of rooms after arguments have finished, the hollow quiet after they’ve left and the air still feels shaped like their bodies. It settles into empty train stations at midnight and breathes out a heavy sigh under a starless night sky. It creaks, not in the claustrophobic loneliness of crowded rooms or on the floorboards of dead-end conversations, but in the gravity of the world suddenly opening itself too wide and swallowi

When covering a remaster of an album that’s already so utterly brilliant as Rheia, what can be said? OATHBREAKER have long been known to be a stunningly good band, even if they did decide to leave us without new shows or music for a decade. Ten years on from the release of the original version of Rheia and it is as highly appreciated as an album in that scene can get, quite frankly bordering on legendary status - if not already firmly in that top echelon of the blackgaze and

Alt-rock newcomers THISTLE. are releasing their new EP backflip on 29th May. Right from the start, the song pieces creates a complex, genre-bending mix that immediately defines the sound of the record. From synths to heavy drums and almost shoegazy vocals, the track is able to capture the energy of the EP really well. The song feels dark and introspective, underlined by mythical sounding synths and layered instrumentals that slowly build into something chaotic yet emotional.

Finding the words to describe Glasgow duo DOSS is a difficult job; their genre-blending style combines distorted rhythms, ambient electronics, and a dash of social commentary into something fresh and unexpected. They’ve played shows alongside the likes of DEADLETTER and FAT DOG, and soon, they’ll be putting out their self-titled EP DOSS. It’s fittingly titled: when you think ‘DOSS’, you should think this EP. Starting off the record in an incredibly ominous fashion is PREFACE,