Rage Reviews: Recent Releases, December 10th 2025

We're officially in December, and it's well and truly time to crack out the Christmas decorations. As the great Mariah Carey would say, "it's tiiiiiiiiiime!" - not just for the holiday however, but also for the last few weeks of music that 2025 has to offer. We're looking forward to seeing what the new year brings, but for now, here are the tracks we've been enjoying lately:

Artio - Seven Suns (ft. kahal)

ARTIO are gearing up for the release of their 3rd full length album Soul Rot in early 2026 and have released another single to get everyone prepared for the carnage. Seven Suns is a fusion of modern metal and techno, featuring KAHAL another alternative artist hailing from Leeds. The breakdowns are jam packed with electronic elements attacking from all sides and beats that ARTIO haven't really ventured into before. Lead vocalist RAE explodes in the track with their vocals strong and emotive, layering and emphasising the lyrics perfectly. This track shows just a small part of their range and we have the new album will display their full spectrum and unleash their potential as the new young alternative wave.

Words: Amy Smyth

BILMURI - HARD2TELL

2025 has been a huge year for BILMURI with supporting artists like BAD OMENS, doing their own Summer Slammer tour in the US and joining massive festival line ups like Reading and Leeds and Lollapalooza. HARD2TELL is the second single they've released this year along with MORETHANHATE and it brings their classic, unique mash up of styles. It experiments bringing metal and country together using a range of instruments to do so. The verses are on the lighter side before dropping into a heavy chorus that will be stuck in your head for days. The track slips into a double time breakdown with all the classic metal elements and more for the bridge section. This single is another example of BILMURI’S unique blend and how well they can pull it off.  

Words: Amy Smyth

Charlotte Sands - one eye open

Alt-pop singer CHARLOTTE SANDS is back with the announcement of new album Satellite on the horizon, and that’s accompanied by the haunting single one eye open. It’s intense, both musically and emotionally, and the singer’s melodic vocals draw us into a track that’s almost ballad-like in the ways it soars and falls. At its heart, the track is about how love shouldn’t feel like survival - that you shouldn’t have to sleep with one eye open; it’s a call to reclaim control over your own autonomy. This open, heart-on-her-sleeve honesty is what we’ve come to expect from the singer and when her sophomore album drops in March, we hope it’s as heart-wrenching as this offering is.

Words: Naomi Colliar Duff

Cowboy Hunters - Money For Drugs

A minute and a half of psychedelic punk rock might not be what you're looking for but maybe it's what you need. COWBOY HUNTERS' brand new track Money For Drugs is exactly that. It's quirky, and with no two bars being the same, it takes you through a chaotic and fun filled journey. The Scottish duo are known for their unserious and almost nonsensical lyricism and this song channels just that. The track is short and repetitive yet easy to get lost in. As with a lot of their music it's a moshing starting, headbanging escape.

Words: Amy Smyth

The Dunts - Waste of Space

Glasgow’s THE DUNTS have been away for a long time. A few months ago, they made their grand comeback at multi-band fundraiser event No A Mean City III, and they’ve been on a roll since, making up for all the lost time with back-to-back gig appearances and now, much-anticipated new music. They waste no time at all getting into the tune of Waste of Space with an initial rolling drumbeat before groovy guitars kick into gear and stir up a mosh-worthy, catchy as hell chorus. The drumwork in this track is a standout element, relentless and punchy, refusing to let up until the song’s brought to an end. We’ve all been waiting to see just what the band’s comeback will bring, and this release is a great indicator for their future.

Words: Naomi Colliar Duff

Fever 333 - Just Play (ft. Last Hounds)

FEVER 333 has just dropped another powerful song. They’ve teamed up with the Birmingham hardcore punk band LAST HOUNDS. The song directly criticises the state of the world’s governments; lines like “Now you’re crushing like we’re all to blame” reference the pressure governments place on the lower classes after failing to meet their expectations. The heavy verses and powerful breakdown section convey this anger and readiness to fight back. The rhythmic chorus emphasises this, with lines like “You always think it’s fun, now we’re fighting from the backseat.” The song’s heavy and upbeat melody keeps you moving, while the heavy breakdowns, especially towards the end, remind you that FEVER 333’s fire is still burning as brightly as ever.

Words: James Darnell

THE HARA - Kings

For the first time in 3 years THE HARA are ready to release another full album. Kings is the 6th track to prerelease before the album drops next year and shows another side to the band. The track runs more melancholic, giving us more of an emotional rock atmosphere with JOSH really displaying the range of his vocals. The chorus is catchy with large industrial drums beats that are great to bang your head along with. The breakdowns builds and throws you into a final chorus heavier than the rest, one you can really picture in live shows. We will all have to sit patiently and wait to see if the rest of the album will deliver even more bangers!

Words: Amy Smyth

Karnivool - Opal

Australia's KARNIVOOL have just released a beautifully tragic single, Opal. While still being a progressive core band, this track couldn't be any more of a hauntingly open ballad, carrying the immense pang of hurting and the grief of losing someone to a passing, or watching someone desperately try to get back something they lost. This single definitely stands apart from the other singles on the band's upcoming album IN VERSES in February next year, as well as compared to the rest of the bands discography. The track matches the feeling the album art gives, devoid of joy and colour, withering trees in a cold depressing winter. Of course while the differences still are there, it has progressive guitar rhythms from the bridge leading the song to the end, along with subtle strings and a piano outro similar to how the single opens. This single and the other two bring a welcome return for the bands long awaited album after having not released an album in over a decade since 2013.

Words: Lucas Grayson

SOAPBOX - Boiling A Frog

SOAPBOX have a reputation for their loud, aggressive punk tunes, and their latest track Boiling A Frog is no different. There’s no easing into this one; we’re hit right in the face with a grimy, rapid strum of strings mere microseconds before TOM ROWAN’s shouty vocals forcibly take the stage. "I can’t tell, are you lot daft?" he asks, sounding more like a statement than a question. His rapid-fire vocals are strung together like a dynamite fuse, culminating in an fiery, instrumental explosion that is sure to have venues caught alight with movement and moshing.

Words: Naomi Colliar Duff

Thermality - Lost Inside

The Swedish melodeath five piece THERMALITY released their third full album Concept 42 at the end of last month, with single Lost Inside being at the forefront. Lost Inside is a track reminiscent of the 2000s with comforting melodies and scattered drums, accompanied by vocalist Ludvig Sommar’s raspy tone and flair. The track's title hints at the song's themes, which include compelling and relatable lyrics that make you wonder about your purpose in this world. THERMALITY’s sound hits hard as a band hoping to bring back one of the greatest eras for melodic death metal.

Words: Danielle Henderson

VUKOVI - Bladed

VUKOVI’s latest release Bladed marks a magnificent closing chapter to MY GOD HAS GOT A GUN, bringing new life and recognition to the album’s final track with a stunning music video. Against a backdrop of the album’s signature red and black landscape, frontwoman JANINE SHILSTONE appears in a wedding dress bejewelled with bloodstains whilst fighting to escape from a prison of red ropes, accompanied by bandmate HAMISH REILLY shredding on guitar and MARTIN JOHNSTON filling in on drums. At once enticing and dangerous, Bladed cuts through the noise with dynamic breakdowns, insatiable riffs and guttural lyricism - a powerful epilogue to their best album yet.

Words: Heather Swift

Editor: Naomi Colliar Duff

Photos: Various artists