Rage Reviews: Recent Releases, 17th June 2026
- Out of Rage Team
- 38 minutes ago
- 7 min read
It's well and truly festival season - with a few major ones already having just past - and we're seeing tons of subsequent announcements across the board. Mainly upcoming tours across the UK and Europe, but we've had quite a few albums, and of course, singles. Here's what we've been listening to lately:
As It Is - Live, Laugh, Love Los Angeles
Confronting the ever worsening political climate in vocalist Patty Walters' home country, AS IT IS have chosen to release a final single from their upcoming self titled album, infused with their bright riffs and even an expected saxophone. Live, Laugh, Love Los Angeles is a track that unpacks Patty’s relationship with the USA and having to watch from afar as tensions rise, where “you’ve got no cash for the ambulance” and “you can’t afford to live, you can’t afford to die”. As the band have clearly stated themselves alongside the release of the single - fuck fascism.
Words: Lou Viner-Flood
Carsick - Social Smoker
Rising Salisbury four‑piece CARSICK have released Social Smoker, a bleary post‑party confessional track, where their undeniably loveable rogue persona and soft accent comes blaring through. The band give similar vibes to THE LAFONTAINES and KID KAPICHI, and their new single, a love song at its core, is a a tribute to those Saturday nights spent with someone whose energy is so infectiously bright that anywhere you end up feels like the right place to be. CARSICK have a busy festival filled summer ahead of them and this track is surely going to get everyone dancing.
Words: Lou Viner-Flood
Chat Pile - Deep Blue
CHAT PILE seem on track to keep up the momentum after their first two stellar studio albums with new single Deep Blue, the first taste of the upcoming Who Loves the Sun. Their brand of nervous yet visceral noise rock presents itself via Raygun Busch’s disaffected vocal performances in the verses, blood-curdling screams in the chorus, and tense harmonic notes picked on the guitars. There’s a suffocating atmosphere on here that the group have mastered at this point, but also a strangely cool groove to the rhythm section. It’s an exciting start for a new album cycle.
Words: Noise Leonard
Cult of Luna - In The Shadow Of Your Shadow
CULT OF LUNA can’t help but uphold their reputation as one of the most consistent groups in sludge metal. 2022’s The Long Road North was a highlight of its year, and they don’t seem to be showing any signs of slowing down, even 25 years after their debut album. New single and title track for the upcoming album In The Shadow Of Your Shadow is a seven and a half-minute epic with a crushing vocal performance in the first half, and later on, an instrumental section where the song completely opens up before crashing back down to earth again. It’s some of the heaviest they’ve sounded in a while, and we’re extremely excited to hear more!
Words: Noise Leonard
Hollow Tongues - Bootlicker
HOLLOW TONGUES fuse the raw edge of heavy punk with the restless energy of their pop‑punk roots in debut single Bootlicker. Formed in Northampton from the ashes of two local bands, the four‑piece channel urgency and defiance through the lyrics of the track that pushes back against a world losing sight of basic human dignity. With vocals that bury themselves straight into your ears, HOLLOW TONGUES are a band to watch out for.
Words: Lou Viner-Flood
Imminence - The Sword That Never Bends
A new era has begun for alt metalcore giants IMMINENCE, releasing The Sword That Never Bends. Leaving behind self published album The Black, the band have reached for a new sound and have also now signed to Sumerian. If you’re an IMMINENCE fan following hearing The Black, The Sword That Never Bends is probably not what you expect, but that doesn’t stop the immaculate riffs and steadfast vocals coursing through you, and of course that violin. To accompany the track is a music video so cinematic that it could be fresh out of your favourite medieval fantasy show, with plenty of blood and drama to keep you on the edge of your seat.
Words: Danielle Henderson
Lake Malice - Ghost In A Hell
Frantic from the off, LAKE MALICE drive forward like an uncontrollable freight train on Ghost In A Hell, a fusion of dramatic anime inspired sound effects and heavy nu-metal drums slicing through with a rampant beat, singer Alice Guala giving clean, powerful harmonies of "what does it mean to be alive?" as she leads us up to the hammering alt-metal breakdown of Blake Cornwall's furious guitar riffs over deafening beats and synths. Released just in time for the Download crowds to lose their minds to and ahead of their debut album (Sept 11th), Ghost In A Hell has an emotionally driven centre wrapped in futuristic alt-metal. It's further proof that LAKE MALICE are a force to be reckoned with.
Words: Julia Stark
Mouth Ulcers - Space
Ahead of the release of their debut EP, Silent Pictures, MOUTH ULCERS have unveiled another gothic post-punk offering that taps into society’s enduring appetite for nostalgia, Space. While the track’s two verses repeat throughout, Zac Watson’s vocals are gradually mirrored by those of Josephine Rose, creating a layered and emotional sound that emphasizes the human longing for lost connections. The atmospheric instrumentals, which invite slow movement, seamlessly complement the previously released singles, sustaining anticipation for the EP’s full release on 10th July.
Words: Theviya R Karunaharan
Public Opinion - When Kevin Gets Free
Back in April, Denver, Colorado punk band PUBLIC OPINION announced their second album, The Curse of Public Opinion, along with their kickass lead single, Balloon Man Running. Good news for fans: their second single When Kevin Gets Free builds on the band’s thunderous garage rock sound with caustic, biting lyrics that convey lead vocalist Kevin Hart’s angst about choosing to hold back emotions. In a just under two-minute track, the five-piece group shows that they’re ready to let loose, as gang vocals, blistering drumbeats, and energetic power chords will have listeners headbanging. Walls of noise and pure anger run through the track’s entirety, including a furious bass riff break from Sebastian Stanley that’s likely to get one’s blood pumping.
Words: Bill Cooper
Polyphia - CAN YOU FEEL IT
Though POLYPHIA hasn’t announced a 5th album, the band’s latest single CAN YOU FEEL IT will build hope for an eventual arrival. Regularly, the Plano, Texas-originating prog rock foursome mashes various music types together, some of which could be heard in their last LP, 2022’s Remember That You Will Die. Still, this disco-infused opening of warbling synth lines, heavy Balearic-adjacent club beats, and screaming guitars will push listeners’ excitement to the next level. When it culminates with an intense breakdown near the end of the piece, they’ll know for sure that the group is more all over the map than it ever has been - in the best possible way.
Words: Bill Cooper
Rozemary - Bleed Me Dry
The Northwest baddiecore legends ROZEMARY build on their previous work, releasing a hefty new single Bleed Me Dry. Izabel’s vocals sound phenomenal as ever, while also seemingly effortless. Initially inspired by the likes of SPIRITBOX, the band has already developed their distinct identity, both sonically and visually. The eerie instrumentals completely immerse us into ROZEMARY’s world, its progression keeping the listener hooked all throughout the song. The band’s sophomore EP It’s Harder Now to Breathe comes out very soon on the 8th of July.
Words: Mariia Bulkina
South Arcade - DEADMEAT
Ahead of their packed and manic set at Download on the coveted Apex stage, SOUTH ARCADE have once again dropped an absolute banger with DEADMEAT, the type of track you scream along to with your friends as you jump in a crowd of strangers-turned-companions. With a gradual build of instruments and singer Harmony Cavelle leading us in with "bite your tongue, don't tell anyone", DEADMEAT picks up the pace and unmistakably high-energy fun that SOUTH ARCADE have cultivated in their Y2K pop-rock sound. With upbeat and uproarious guitar riffs over crispy drums over catchy lyrics, it tells the age-old story of finding someone and getting the hell out of dodge to start a new life.
Words: Julia Stark
Spitting Glass - Full Send
The immediate vocal onslaught from Joe Bad threatening to "leave you slumped" will wake you the fuck up for SPITTING GLASS's latest release Full Send, a track that feels like a teeth-rattling crack to the chin with a ferocious rhythm that speeds forward before dropping into a menacing pace. Utilised as their opening track on their live shows, including their dusty, bruising Dogtooth stage opening slot at Download, Full Send sets the expectation for listeners to fully lose their shit to the venomous lyrics, battling guitar and bass riffs and obliterating drums, resulting in absolutely delightful carnage.
Words: Julia Stark
unpeople - friends
Easing us in with a quick drum roll, UNPEOPLE rip into new track friends with gritty guitar riffs and gut-punching bass, high strings cutting through the rhythms for an aggressively enjoyable fight track. Vocalist Jake Crawford belts out powerful lyrics in a cynical view on developing love in "I gotta make sure that I mean it / when I say "I wanna love you to death", harmonising with bassist Em Lodge on the second verse, before they descend into explosive screams on a deliciously turbulent breakdown, rising back up with a clapping sing-along that will be a sight to behold live. friends is an anthem for those navigating love and those just looking to throw their feelings down in the pit.
Words: Julia Stark
Witchsorrow - Hades Chains
In the buildup to their album The Devil And All His Works next month, doom metal pioneers WITCHSORROW give the final push with track Hades Chains which came out recently. Hades Chains is a certified headbanger, with slick metal goodness that you can’t help but move to. The last minute is just pure power, a true masterclass to the genre. There is a refreshing contrast to this and their previous single release Bacchus, where Hades Chains is more upbeat, and Bacchus delivers the classic sludgy doom sound. Whilst both are great, Hades Chains feeds perfectly into the anticipation as the countdown begins for the album release.
Words: Danielle Henderson
Editor: Naomi Colliar Duff
Photos: Various Artists
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