Rage Reviews: Recent Releases, August 2025

Welcome to Rage Reviews: Recent Releases! Here, we'll be covering some of our favourite recent singles for your convenience, so you can see what we thought was worth a listen! So, without any further ado, please enjoy our first selection with 11 of our favourite tracks from the last couple of weeks or so.

A Killer’s Confession - Heart Shaped Box 

A Killer's Confession have delivered their new single, 'Heart Shaped Box', a cover of the classic Nirvana track. This song will be featured on their forthcoming album, Victim 2, which is set for release on September 19th. The band's version delivers a powerful, expansive and cleaner sound with standout drums and solid guitar. While the cover is an interesting take on the original, the low-pitched vocals are too auto-tuned and mixed too prominently, overpowering the rest of the track. A more subtle use of these vocals would have created a more raw and haunting feel, which felt lacking compared to the original. 

Words: Katherine Russell

Agriculture - The Weight

The ecstatic sound of Agriculture is back, in a deeply changed form. Gone are those halcyon days where their music would bring an emotive tear to the eye, on 'The Weight' the queer black-metallers are turning up the rage factor to mine every last inch of anger and grit they can muster - at least for the first five minutes, before an end that's every bit as powerful but far more melancholic. As the second single off of upcoming album The Spiritual Sound, it's made an impression and certainly appears to be setting us up for an altogether more abrasive record than the last - but if it's all as good as this, not a soul will mind if it's a tad less tear-inducing.

Words: Jasmine Longhurst

Bad Omens - Specter

Bad Omens have returned, and taken the whole fandom by surprise. Not only have they announced an upcoming EU and UK tour, entitled the DO YOU FEEL LOVE tour, but they've also released a new single titled ‘Specter’ that sees the band exploring unknown territories. The single combines the band’s signature soundscapes with electronic components, creating a unique listening experience that is deeply complementary to Noah Sebastian’s melancholic vocals. With the rumble of Nick Folio’s drums and the swiftness of Nicholas Ruffilo’s guitar, the song has prepared the band’s fandom for possible new lore in the future.

Words: Katerina Stepanikova

Castle Rat - Serpent

Sinister wizardry meets doom metal in Castle Rat's newest single, 'Serpent'. This is the latest revealed track of their fittingly-titled sophomore album The Bestiary, to be released in September, and it's a perfect, ominous omen of what's to come. Groovy guitar riffs and eerie basslines are duelled by melodic vocals as Riley Pinkerton, aka the Rat Queen, leads a sung-through tale about the eponymous serpent. Before long, the audience are brought into an intense instrumental section that's captivating and spellbinding. As the track comes to an end after an electric three minutes, there's only anticipation left in the air as a question remains: what does the next page in this book of beasts hold?

Words: Naomi Colliar Duff

Death Goals - Even a Worm Can Turn

‘Even A Worm Can Turn’ is the second single released off the forthcoming EP, Survival Is An Act Of Defiance, from the queercore London legends, Death Goals. Chaotically monumental, the sound explodes out of this briefest of metal tracks. Erupting with relentless energy, it has a visceral sense of urgency, vibrating with anger, screaming out “Queer lives forever”. It is not a warning, but a rallying cry, letting us know there is nothing meek about this turning worm, as it convulses hard against the systemic boot on all our necks. With an imminent UK tour beginning at the end of the month alongside HIRS Collective, and one later on in the year with Conjurer, their upcoming EP release on the 29th of August is about to go off!

Words: Alana Madden

Joyce Manor - All My Friends Are So Depressed

Indie rock icons Joyce Manor are back with their first single since 2022, and it's definitely one to remember. ‘All My Friends Are So Depressed’ diverges from their normal sound with a catchy, easy listening chorus, somewhat reminiscent of The Smiths, that's sure to rope you in on first listen and leave you reaching for the loop button. If this is what they've come out of the gates with, we can't wait to see what else they've been cooking up over the past three years.

Words: Josh Brown

Kid Kapichi - Stainless Steel

Kid Kapichi’s new single ‘Stainless Steel’ marks their first release since a recent lineup change ahead of a UK tour this October, and it’s a strong comeback that proves the band hasn’t lost their bite. Rooted in their trademark working-class frustration, the track channels the everyday struggle of keeping afloat in a society obsessed with “always reaching for that higher social status”. The refrain that we’re “not made of stainless steel” but of “blood” and “bone” lands with raw honesty, highlighting the toll of modern pressures. Musically, it’s stripped back and unfussy, but that simplicity works in its favour, making it a punchy and infectious track with great potential to garner a rowdy crowd during live performances.

Words: Zuzanna Pazola

Millpool - High Speed Pursuit

‘High Speed Pursuit’ is the debut single from London’s Millpool, a maximalist mash up of jazz and post-hardcore, a combo which on paper leaves us a little wide eyed, but intrigued for sure. The track uses bass and percussion to build a snappy breakbeat with noughties jazz riffs; a clean, smooth backdrop in contrast to the unprocessed vocals, a rousing energetic yelling, à la Henry Rollins/Black Francis/Slint. It’s not the same originality heard in the experimental distorted vocalists around at the moment, Gilla Band for instance, but it is definitely convincing, with its own energy and grit giving an effortless edge to the single. 

We are excited to hear the full EP One Last Midnight, due for release in October 2025 via XVI Records. 

Words: Alana Madden

No Apologies - Grief, feat. Speed

Sydney hardcore champions No Apologies team up with legends Speed for an amazing single in the lead up to their new LP Life, releasing August 29th. ‘Grief’ lives up to its name with its hard-hitting lyrics detailing Pete Abordi’s struggle after his father passed away. With the combination of outstanding guitar riffs and gut punching lyrics like “I wasn't there to watch you leave, I wish I could have been and it's killing me”, this is definitely one to see live and get involved in the chaos.

Words: Josh Brown

Still In Love - Preserve & Cherish

Still In Love are building up towards their debut album Recovery Language in September, and what better way to do so than with a pummelling melodic hardcore track featuring Architects’s Sam Carter? The Londoners are already garnering a reputation for pulverising live shows, and the energy they’ve fostered there has been perfectly translated into the distorted, gritted-teeth atmosphere of their new single ‘Preserve & Cherish’. Biting guitars writhe in amongst grimaced vocals and precisely powerful drums, as the sub-three minute long track gasps from verse to breakdown and finally eases its grip upon your eardrums.

Words: Jasmine Longhurst

Zetra - The Angel Cries

British force of the Gothic Zetra is at it again with their fresh single ‘The Angel Cries’, that came out with their latest EP Believe. The rock duo, consisting of Adam Saunderson and Jordan Page, brings in dark guitar riffs, precise drumming and loads of beautiful vocals, that only highlight the heaviness of the lyrics. Finished off with synths that go seamlessly with the rest of the instruments, the song offers a pleasant listening experience that is complemented gently by Saunderson’s emotional guitar solo.

Words: Katerina Stepanikova

Editor: Jasmine Longhurst

Photos: Various Artists