PHOENIX LAKE are a UK-based melodic metal band from Nottingham, formed in 2018. They are known for their vocalist’s powerful vocals and blend elements of metalcore and hard rock to create a sound that’s unique and nostalgic at the same time. Having been on tour with bands such as SKARLETT RIOT and appeared at festivals such as Bloodstock, this debut headline tour seems like the perfect start for fans to see what a headline set sounds like. Unfortunately off the bat there was a change in lineup. Following a bout of illness in the band, the initial support act AETHORIA were unable to play. Despite the unexpected change, there was a last minute twist that allowed the other support act CIRCUS 66 to step in and play a longer set for the audience. Hailing from Maidenhead this self proclaimed hard rock band were ready to start the night off just right. Vocalist Annabelle Zaychenko is an enigmatic frontwoman who engaged the audience from the start. Her raw and brilliant vocals showcased a classic rock range from heavier songs through to softer melodic tracks. She could have sung a shopping list and the audience would have been hooked. The band itself had cohesive and tight riffs to match the head-banging vocals. Songs seamlessly moved from one to the other with no hesitation and questions about confidence. This was a band that was confident in what they do and do it well. Their set was non stop energy from first song to last truly getting the crowd ready for what is to come. They included songs from a new album Elements that was a softer version of what they are capable of and allowed Zaychenko to truly showcase her range. The songs felt familiar but different; like a hug from a band that you love. This was a band that has mastered their craft and ended their set to a rousing room that was definitely ready for the headline act. By the time PHOENIX LAKE came onto stage, the audience were ready and raring to go to see some fantastic melodic metal. Following the release of their album Seraphina: The Fall From Eden, fans were eager to hear not only songs from this album, but songs from their eight year discography. Kicking off the show with a melodic and almost cinematic intro, the band bursted into song after song without missing a beat. With a mix of harsh breakdowns blended with an incredible vocal range, they would not have been amiss amongst a bill of PARAMORE or EVANESCENCE with the vocal athletics of the singer Lana Phillis. With the band decked out in red accents, it felt like unity across the band, reflecting how tight they felt musically on stage. Nothing seemed out of beat, and nothing truly felt less than perfect, like they had poured their heart and soul into these shows. And it well and truly paid off. Both Zak Smith and Ash Wilson on bass and guitar spent the evening headbanging in sync and joining forces for some incredible riffs. Coupled with Joe Synnott on drums, this is a band to be reckoned with. Phillis’s seamless skills at transferring from harmonious vocals to guttural screams showed the versatility of the band and their back catalogue. Throughout the set they charted songs from their earliest days whilst also covering a large amount of songs from their new album, showcasing their development across the years. The crowd welcomed the band with open arms and celebrated this debut headline tour as if they had done this a hundred times over. Whatever happens next to PHOENIX LAKE is only an upwards trajectory. Slick riffs, glorious lyrics and vocals that just make your brain melt is a recipe for success and they have the potential to skyrocket to success. Words: Laura Davies Photos: Ben Young

Birmingham’s MIRRORTALK opened the show, bringing a polished take on emo revival that pulls their grunge and shoegaze influences together into a shimmering wall of fuzzy guitars and 00's nostalgia. It is not the most original formula in the world, but when it is delivered with this level of heartfelt enthusiasm, it is hard to not end up won over. Making the most out of an unfamiliar crowd to test out fresh material that takes in some modern hardcore influences, adding in the chorus heavy melodies and low end grooves that made TURNSTILE’s first record so popular into the mix you can see some real potential behind their easy smiles. LASTELLE's sweeping, cinematic post-hardcore takes the most anthemic moments and epic arrangements of acts like DEVILSOLDHISSOUL or THE ELIJAH and places an even greater emphasis on the vocal hooks and supporting melodies, that made their forebears so memorable, showering the audience with a rolling barrage of potential ear-worms. Frontman Adam Rigozzi, bassist/vocalist Freddie Whatmore and drummer/vocalist Mike Hayden's complimentary voices are the active ingredient in LASTELLE's sound, and prove that even pulling double duties behind the kit can't hold back good chemistry from winning out, that is, when you can hear them over the crowd. The pure love and sincere attachment that fans have for LASTELLE is literally overwhelming, the audience was pulled back and forth with each soaring chorus and lent their lungs to the songs entirely. With a seemingly bottomless momentum the set continued to escalate with Rigozzi launching himself into the crowd over and over again, and by the time an epic rendition of Breathe Me In rolled around to end the set, both the band and the crowd had screamed themselves hoarse. To those who were not around for the wave of creativity that emerged in the immediate aftermath of BEING AS AN OCEAN dropping their classic debut Dear G-d, the sheer speed with which the bands and labels cropped up, pushing the boundaries of the brutally candid and emotionally vulnerable sound of melodic hardcore is hard to explain. It spread like wildfire through forums and social media, and the global phenomenon took a particular grip on the UK, and it was in this feverish atmosphere that CASEY emerged from the valleys of south Wales with hearts pinned firmly to their sleeves. Now after twelve years, three albums and a mercifully brief hiatus they're back and stronger than ever. Times have changed since the heady days when a memorable lyric with a good edit on tumblr could launch an unknown band into the limelight, and with time the more expansive elements of CASEY’s sound, touches of emo, post-rock and other alternative that used to be the garnish in the formula for melodic hardcore have now elbowed their way through to the front of the mix. Opening with a string of songs from their comeback LP How to Disappear, it was that matured and developed sound that shined brightest at the set. The energy and raw emotion behind songs like Unique Lights and I Was Happy When You Died created a tangible sense of intimacy in the room from the moment CASEY took to the stage. Tom Weaver was a humble frontman and alongside his powerful voice, it was his earnestly articulated gratitude that secured the connection with the audience and showed with perfect clarity just how they have managed to maintain that connection in spite of their hiatus and subsequent measured return to performing. There were no frills in their set and as they touched on some older material, it was clear that they simply did need them, being able to rely purely on the strength of the songs like breakout favourite Hell, which got a deeply cathartic airing before a triumphant Little Bird closed out the show. Words: Anton Smeeton Photos: Jynx Cosgrove

If the name ‘Lambrini’ sends a shiver through your soul and an ache in your head just to hear it, it’s time to realign those thoughts to something powerful and daring – LAMBRINI GIRLS, the punk-rock band that have the chaotic, dazzling energy of firecrackers. Hailing from Brighton, the enigmatic duo is made up of vocalist Pheobe Lunny and bassist Lily Maciera, touring drummer Misha Phillips, and the fourth unsung hero that is their absolute grit and ambition to get their sound and message out. Since their first leap into this project in 2019, LAMBRINI GIRLS haven’t stopped working or allowed themselves to slow down, intent on producing and releasing riotous tracks to bear your teeth and fists to, or else touring around the world in support of IDLES, THE LIBERTINES, and IGGY POP, not to mention hitting as many festival slots as they possibly can, including as an opening act on the Reading & Leeds Festival 2025 main stage. Spotted by the label Big Scary Monsters at Brighton’s local artist event The Great Escape Festival 2021, the band have gone from strength to strength in their personal lives and their musical career, producing punk bangers back-to-back, as well as the music video for their 2023 track White Van, a song about catcalling being unwanted and outdated, with visceral screams and a primal outburst of beats and riffs. “Put your hand up if you’re a gay legend” is one hell of a way to let the crowd know what kind of vibe they’re in for with their debut track Help Me, I’m Gay. When they first announced this in their 2022 shows they were lucky to get one person react in the crowd - flash forward to 2025, where LAMBRINI GIRLS are met with deafening cheers of legends and allies. But slogans like these aren’t new or performative for them, they’ve been representing their stalwart activism since day one, telling NME magazine in 2024, “A lot of people are being celebrated for shouting these slogans. It’s the bare minimum, and everyone should be acting on it. We’ve got a long way to go.” Their refusal to stay silent on real world issues and insistence that music is always political echoes loudly through their revolutionary lyrics calling out for awareness and change, mixed with edgy, rebellious punk-rock instrumentals that rattle your teeth. This is heard loudest in tracks like Cuntology 101 and Big Dick Energy from their 2025 album Who Let The Dogs Out, released under their new label City Slang, as well as their singles Boys in the Band, God’s Country, and Terf Wars. LAMBRINI GIRLS aren’t afraid to go for the jugular and speak up for marginalised groups, no matter how much criticism they get. But the tides seem to be turning where there are less protests against them and more protesting with them, finding unity in the band’s raw and tenacious sounds and their refusal to be disillusioned by society’s issues, all while careering around their stage and calling for mosh pits. Ready to take the world on yet again, they’ll be delivering their high-intensity, crashing sound across America on their April tour, before returning to kick off the summer’s festival circuit at Bearded Theory Festival on 20th May. LAMBRINI GIRLS lit a fire back in 2019 and they’re still building into an absolute fireball of blazing power and heat. Words: Julia Stark Photo: James Smith

As we're finishing up with whatever chocolate we've got left over from Easter, here at Out of Rage we're getting ready for the summer; sunglasses on, drink in hand, and fresh new music blaring from our speakers. Here's what we've been listening to lately: Against The Current - Heavenly It may start with an uplifting electro melody and feature a lifting guitar riff and drum beat, but don’t be fooled; AGAINST THE CURRENT are feeling anything but angelic in their new single Heavenly. It’s deceptively upbeat and steady-paced until vocalist Chrissy Constanza expressively sings about letting “the empire fall for a chance at peace”, holding a sinking note on the emotive breakdown, while guitarist Dan Gow and drummer Will Ferri deliver their classic pop-punk sound we’ve loved for 15 years. The tune swells again to a crashing of instruments and clean vocals before fading away to Chrissy’s lone voice asking for a reprieve from this hell. AGAINST THE CURRENT are ready to build their new empire in 2026. Words: Julia Stark ANKOR - DANZO · lying ghost (ft. SiM) An electrifying collaboration between Spanish alternative metal band ANKOR and Japanese genre-blenders SiM, “DANZO · lying ghost” delivers a high-octane punch wrapped in a mischievously eerie atmosphere. The anime influences continue as the song's inspirations are found from Naruto’s Danzo Shimura. The themes of manipulation paired with unsetting tone shifts are evident. Despite the band’s contrasting styles, the track’s intensity is maintained with the inclusion of heavy breakdowns and melodic lyrics. SiM’s MAH screams pierce through the chaos that anchors the aggression within the track. With the release of new singles, fans are speculating about a new ANKOR album. Words: Theviya R Karunaharan Converge - Hum of Hurt CONVERGE, fresh off releasing the album Love Is Not Enough last month, have shocked everyone, announcing upcoming album Hum of Hurt. Better yet, it’s one of the best songs the band have released in 35 years of making music. While perhaps not as overwhelmingly loud as much of their previous work, it still manages to feel just as, if not more, in-your-face than ever, with an oppressive atmosphere persisting throughout the multiple phases the track goes through. CONVERGE managing to fit several songs’ worth of ideas into such a short runtime certainly isn’t new for them, but this is easily one of their best efforts on that front. Words: Noise Leonard Holding Absence - Whisper of a Dream Back with their first release in three years, HOLDING ABSENCE kick off the start of a new era with new track Whisper of a Dream. With Lucas Woodland pushing his voice to its most silken and most savage extremes, and the band meeting him with a crushing intensity that turns every peak into a jolt, it’s the kind of song that snaps you to attention. Lyrically and conceptually, the track leans hard into cyberpunk influences, exploring contemplation, sentience, and the act of dreaming in a world that never stops evolving. With the music video introducing the bands robot mascot “Y4-BB0”, HOLDING ABSENCE has evolved into something entirely new but still entirely familiar. Words: Lou Viner-Flood Lambrini Girls - Cult of Celebrity If you're also sick of the 1%'s knack for escaping justice, LAMBRINI GIRLS have taken that disgusted fury and channelled it into Cult of Celebrity, a scathing take down of the predatory rings in celebrity spaces and the rings they run round the authorities. Distortion off the charts, bassist Selin Macieira-Bosgelmez delivers a sickening bass line at bone rattling levels to rival the thrashing drumbeat. Guitarist and vocalist Phoebe Lunny kicks off the song with a strong riff before going all in on the lyrics, sounding wearied by the world's bullshit and letting out cathartic screams. Never meet your heroes, but always punch a pedo in the face. Words: Julia Stark LEAP - The Downfall / Do Or Die (Stripped) Amid their breakthrough European and US Entropy tours, LEAP have again shown their raw talent and gifted fans with stripped back versions of their hit tracks The Downfall and Do Or Die. Hector Cottams switches his drums for soulful piano, while Adam Mason and Declan Brown echo softly in the background on guitar and bass, at times building in sound and then falling away. Jacky Balfour Scott holds back his vocal power, but delivers more emotion that enhances the stripped back sound, swapping to a lower octave. Evoking both devastating and hopeful feelings, LEAP truly can’t miss with their refined sound. Words: Julia Stark muti - juliet If you’re looking for a brand new shoegaze, hyper-pop influenced non-binary artist, MUTI might be exactly what you’re looking for! juliet is their first single in a while, being accompanied by the incredibly atmospheric and spacious instrumental you dropped that mask and wrapped up my bloody hand by the wall. juliet is an emotion-filled track, the yearning echoing through their voice as they sing the lines “is it too late? ‘Cause I can’t stay away, when those eyes keep calling my name”. The distortion rings through the entire track making it sound full, an especially well produced track for a debut single and we can’t wait to hear what he has to bring next. Words: Amy Smyth Opus Kink - Come Over, Do Me Wrong After half a decade of building up goodwill via some stellar EPs, making them a shining example of what has been dubbed “Windmill Scene” by some, OPUS KINK are finally gearing up to release a debut album. In preparation for The Sweet Goodbye at the end of July, as well as various tour dates lined up around the UK, their new song, Come Over, Do Me Wrong, debuted on Radio 6 a few days ago. While technically not the first song released to be on the album, as a lead single there’s a lot to love. Playful as ever, with an earworm-y trumpet hook and surreal breakdown in the middle of the track, anyone following modern UK post-punk at all needs to keep their eyes out for this one. Words: Noise Leonard PRESIDENT - Mercy The faceless band taking the UK by storm has released their second single of the year, now marking their eighth song overall. Their 2026 has already taken off with a headline set at takedown festival in Portsmouth followed by a huge Europe and US ‘campaign’ about to kick off this new single Mercy has dropped at the most opportune moment. The track is one of the band's more vocally impressive, higher and longer notes held by the mysterious lead vocalist, with devastation raining over the pre-chorus and chorus. The chorus runs extremely catchy, the kind you can catch onto in just one listen, with a bouncing bass line and beats to accompany. We’re left to wonder if there's more new music to come. Words: Amy Smyth Static Dress - Nostalgia Kills (ft. Underoath) For the longest time, STATIC DRESS were hiding in the shadows, plotting big news the fans could only dream of. Within two days, not only have the Leeds-based quartet announced the new and highly anticipated sophomore album injury episode, but they've also released the emotionally charged single Nostalgia Kills. Taking onto this project with the powerhouse that is UNDEROATH, both bands created a haven that is not pretending to be pretty or appealing, yet draws the listeners in the more they listen to it. Unveiling the rawness of the lyrics, coupled with the powerful sounds of guitars and drums, it is a statement that STATIC DRESS are here to escape the hunger of the industry and implement their own rules. And their supporters are living for it. Words: Katerina Stepanikova WREX - Paranoia After an agonising 2-month wait from their last single, Consume, WREX have fired back in with the haunting single Paranoia, a guaranteed boot-stomping track that showcases vocalist Mae Seaton’s full range and power and guitarist/producer George Donoghue’s bone shaking riffs, overlaying nu-metal-esque pulsing drums and a bass line that rivals KORN. WREX don't shy away from addressing mental health issues, and Paranoia demonstrates their respect for this; from lyrics that could be aimed at someone or an internal attack, to how the instruments rise in sound and strength before falling away, staying unexpected and dangerous. Otherworldly vocals and blurred instruments give way to a gradually building drum roll, Seaton's vocals swooping from dreamlike to absolutely cutting, layered with Donoghue's raw screams. Words: Julia Stark Editor: Naomi Colliar Duff Photos: Various Artists

LOVE RARELY were created in the Leeds alternative music scene in 2023. After touring the country with THE CALLOUS DAOBOYS and set to play at some of the UK’s biggest festivals, their debut album Pain Travels has come just at the right time to show what vulnerability can sound like surrounded by heavy music. Exploding into the album is the opening track and single Will. A track that perfectly summarises what’s to come on the record. Indie-esque guitar riffs juxtaposed with harsh screams and melodic math-core moments showcasing the themes that will run through the album and giving a taste of influential bands such as PARAMORE and ROLO TOMASSI. The album is a complete blend of short songs filled with emotional fury laced with longer tracks that weave amongst emotionally complex themes. The former feels like angry interludes of emotional release amongst the cathartic lyrics of the latter songs. Vocalist Courtney Levitt sings the lyrics “Am I lost now? Where do we go?” in the song Severed, with pain and rawness flooding through the speakers whilst the next track I’ll Try leaves you feeling like you are on a rollercoaster of emotions as she screams “I’ll try, you’ll find out’. The album touches on some heavy themes with moments spoken about generational trauma, toxicity of growing up in complex homes, and the band’s own personal experiences throughout their lives. It feels like an almost coming of age movie soundtrack where the actors are at their personal turning points, standing on the top of a hill screaming their emotions away. Guitarist Lew Taylor’s lyrics in the song Haunted feel wrapped in an aching sense of self reflection with the line “I’ve been haunted by you all my life, couldn’t leave you if I tried” layered amongst Levitt's screams. As the album progresses you can definitely see that the album itself is mainly a DIY project, but for all the right reasons. With all band members writing their parts separately before coming together to form each track into what it is today, you can see that this messy and chaotic approach to songwriting and track building is testament to a band who can work so cohesively together to create something rather spectacular for a debut album. Shorter songs Blame and Whiplash feel like LOVE RARELY songs that have been concentrated into pint sized songs that explode onto the speakers and feel like they are over as soon as they have started. They catapult us into the latter half of the album with Dormant where vocals and instruments feel a mix of softer and harsher at the same time, leaning into chaotic riffs and ghostly, almost haunting layers of vocals. Throughout Disappear the instruments begin to feel almost like an orchestra of sound as Levitt screams “I want to be something”. By the time we reach the closing track Through Families the emotions feel like they have moved from fury to exhaustion. It ends with a melodic explosion as Levitt screams “how could we possibly be fine after this”. A truly cathartic ending to an emotionally fuelled album. Pain Travels feels like a ferocious emotional release full of vulnerabilities. It feels like an album of a band that has been doing this for a long time. It’s an uncomfortable listen that is full of chaotic energy, but in all the right ways that make for a brilliant album. Score: 7/10 Pain Travels will be released on 10th April 2026 via Big Scary Monsters. Words: Laura Davies Photos: Love Rarely

2026 has already been an excellent year for fans of more extreme styles of metal, with comebacks from NEUROSIS and CONVERGE, so it feels like an absolute treat to be covering a new offering from death metal legends IMMOLATION. Known for a consistently excellent discography from 1991 to the present, with albums like Close to a World Below being considered a landmark death metal album. Their most recent release, 2022’s Acts of God, managed to garner a fair bit of attention as well, even this far into their career. So with this in mind, how do you follow an album like that up to prove without any doubt that you’ve still got it? Lead single Adversary was released in January this year, the first taste of Descent. It’s certainly one of the highlights on the album, four tracks in. An absolute barrage of killer riffs, throwing about ten different ideas at the wall and somehow making them stick, with BPM changes, solos, and even a little bit of call-and-response from the performers for good measure, somehow managing to feel completely natural over the course of three minutes. In the final minute, it suddenly shifts to a backdrop of chugging guitars, with a doom-y riff almost gliding over it, before finally returning to the riff from the start of the song. For the world’s first look into Descent, perhaps they couldn’t have chosen a better option. This was followed up with second and final single Attrition, coincidentally the following track on the album. Not quite as fast-paced, but equally as smothering - they really know how to make a song feel like the end of the world, with dissonant solos performed over harmonic-laced riffs. At almost five minutes, it manages to break up the pace slightly after the previous tracks were so high-octane, going from 0 to 60, proving once again that IMMOLATION are by no means one-trick ponies. Later on the album, we have False Ascent, another intense listen, which you should be used to by now on the album, as the eighth track. But then something happens towards the end of this one. It retreats to the mid-tempo, a crawl by this album’s standards, before going straight into Banished, an instrumental interlude focusing more on creating this sort of ambient soundscape. With a string section and piano, it’s an instrumental palette we haven’t seen on the album up to this point. The electric guitar plays over all this, with a tone as decadent as ever, with a morose solo. This track is mostly to act as a bridge between False Ascent and the upcoming closer, but it’s not a wasted effort by any means. So now we reach the longest song on the album, the closer and title track, Descent. It manages to follow the trend of the title tracks on their records as one of the standout moments on here. If you thought the rest of the album might be an accurate depiction of what Hell feels like, the infernal riffs and claustrophobic atmosphere of this track will convince you. In fact, the pitch for this album is along the lines of Earth descending into Hell. We may have been Close to a World Below before, but this album documents its Descent. “We’ve reached the point of no return”, growls vocalist Ross Dolan halfway into the song, this statement perfectly matched by the instrumentation, never once letting up but being undeniably gloomy. The song fades out on this note, the choice to leave the song and album as a whole without resolution feeling like a conscious choice from the band. So have IMMOLATION proven that they’ve still got it? Absolutely. To be releasing material of this calibre this far into your career is surely a joy to see for fans and distant onlookers alike. Even with a different approach to songwriting, they’ve not lost what makes them so intriguing to listen to. While unlikely to be seen as a classic in the same regard as their earlier work, when the bar is set that high, an excellent album is still an excellent album. Score: 9/10 Descent will be released on 10th April 2026 via Nuclear Blast Records. Words: Noise Leonard Photos: Immolation

TIGERCUB are at the forefront of alt-rock bands leading the new wave of sound that’s impacting the rock scene, soaking the music world with their momentous new album, Nets To Catch The Wind, releasing 10th April via Loosegroove Records. Recorded over barely a week and produced by Tom Dalgety (who’s worked with legends ROYAL BLOOD and GHOST), it shows TIGERCUB at an emotional and intense level not yet seen. Consistent in its sound and impeccable production, Nets To Catch The Wind is trancelike, ensnaring the listener into a full body sway and head bang. There’s an emotive quality to it that feels just out of descriptive reach, evoking feelings of yearning and a sense of danger where the risk is worth any consequence. Sensually evocative and expressive, Nets To Catch The Wind is an atmospheric journey through the darkness. Starting slowly and introducing one instrument at a time, Silver Smile is a heartbeat in song form, with a pulsing drum beat, guitar chords that complement perfectly against the faint strings in the background, the bass blending into the melody before rearing up. Jamie Hall’s vocals have a desperate and despairing feel to them, as if begging to be released from whoever’s got their hooks in him but also not wanting to be let go. Fall In Fall Out kicks in with a deceptively upbeat guitar riff and Jimi Wheelwright’s deliciously heavy bass notes, that both quickly fall into minor chords while drummer James Allix makes his presence felt with shoulder swaying beats and a gradually building snare roll. Stuck in the Melancholy fades in with a funky and eerie riff reminiscent of THE KREEPS, feeling slightly understated until the instruments crash in together in a catchy cacophony. Hall delivers ranging and yearning lyrics of “wake me up again, so I can pretend” over his crispy distorted rhythms and stirring solos; Allix switches from an understated beat to hammering tones; Wheelwright consistently delivers a bass line guaranteed to sway bodies. By this point, it’s clear to see no two songs are the same, yet all are consistent in their tones and production. I’m Breaking Out evokes a ROYAL BLOOD feel in its sound. Instruments and vocals are packed with power before suddenly falling away for the stripped back breakdown of Hall’s echoing solo vocals. They tear back in for a final adrenaline rush in its crispy, pounding melody. A Black Moon holds juxtaposing chords against high-pitched guitar notes, while Hall’s singing swells in a smoothly captivating manner. It’s the breakdown that really hits different though, for a moment feeling like John Murphy’s In The House – In a Heartbeat, dropping down to a tasty riff and Wheelwright’s pulsating bass beat before climbing back into a dark atmosphere. Starting with a soft falsetto, Head Over Heels pivots to a thundering chorus and a breakdown of haunting vocals echoing over guitar solos and jarring feedback, epitomising the push and pull of being in love or obsessed with someone. Nightmares slows down with a simple instrumental introduction that reverbs in the background while Hall bears all his vulnerability, before soaring into a clash of distorted instruments over the lyrics “let the world collide”, accompanied by a spicy, descending riff. A deceptive ballad start of stripped back guitars and faint acoustic, My Paper Heart grabs you by the neck and slams you into an atmospheric sound that feels like ROYAL BLOOD and RADIOHEAD cooked together. 12-second interlude Golden Sands breaks up the album with muffled piano and snare, before launching into the fast-paced and edgy Magic Sleep. Allix and Wheelwright crash in from the first bars and command your attention while slick riffs dominate throughout the track. Cut The Eyes Out Of The Photographs is hypnotising in its rhythm and vocals, switching from an understated verse of unstoppable drums and bass, to an electrifying chorus where the band ramps up into a daring, pulsing beat. CLUTCH’S Neil Fallon features for a borderline ominous spoken word section, giving way to a charged guitar solo. Closing out Nets To Catch The Wind is a tempo building, bass heavy Sadness, Don’t You Worry that weaves between pitches and moods, falling back only to boom back in again. Nets To Catch The Wind is an album you can feel yourself sinking into with ease. Score: 8/10 Nets To Catch The Wind will be released on 10th April 2026 via Loosegroove Records. Words: Julia Stark Photos: Andreia Lemos

BODYSNATCHER have never exactly been a band for easy listening, but Hell Is Here, Hell Is Home might be the most suffocating and confrontational record they’ve put out yet. Following on from Vile Conduct, this fourth full-length doesn’t just double down on their usual themes. It sharpens them into something uglier, more direct, and more real. From the opening seconds of The Maker it’s clear they’re not interested in easing you in. The track hits like a blunt-force trauma: dense riffs, relentless drumming, and Kyle Medina sounding like he’s ripping something out of his chest rather than just delivering vocals. It sets the tone for a record that feels less like a collection of songs and more like a sustained outburst. Lyrically, this is still very much BODYSNATCHER territory - there's grief, betrayal, anger, survival - but it doesn’t feel recycled. There’s a noticeable shift here where the personal and the external start bleeding into each other. It’s not just about individual pain anymore; there’s a wider frustration with the world baked into these songs. You can hear it in tracks like Writhe And Coil and Violent Obsession which carry this constant sense of tension, like they’re seconds away from snapping completely. May Your Memory Rot is probably the emotional core of the album, and it’s as uncomfortable as it is intense. There’s nothing abstract about it. It’s specific, bitter, and openly hostile in a way that makes it hit harder than the usual vague heaviness a lot of bands lean on. It feels lived-in, not written. On the other end, Survive or Die brings in Scott Vogel which makes perfect sense given how much hardcore DNA runs through BODYSNATCHER’S sound. It doesn’t feel like a gimmick feature either. It fits naturally into the track and adds to the album’s underlying theme of pushing back instead of folding. Musically, nothing here is trying to reinvent deathcore, and that’s probably the point. The band sticks to what they do best: punishing breakdowns, bleak atmosphere, and riffs that feel designed to wear you down rather than hook you in. But there’s a confidence to it now - everything feels tighter, more deliberate. Even at its most chaotic, the album knows exactly what it’s doing. Tracks like Blade Between the Teeth and Two Empty Caskets keep the momentum going without feeling repetitive, while closer Hell Is Home leaves things on a bleak but fitting note. There’s no resolution here, no sense of things getting better, just acceptance of the mess and a refusal to be passive in it. If anything, that’s what defines this record. It’s not just angry for the sake of it. It's anger with direction. The kind that comes from experience rather than image. It won’t be for everyone, and it’s not trying to be. But for anyone who’s followed BODYSNATCHER up to this point, this feels like a band fully locked into who they are, pushing that identity as far as it can go. It’s heavy, it’s ugly, and it doesn’t let up. Exactly what you’d want from them, just taken a step further. Score: 9/10 Hell Is Here, Hell Is Home will be released on 10th April 2026 via MNRK Heavy. Words: Jack Norris Photos: Bodysnatcher

For a band that hasn’t yet released an EP, BLUSH PUPPY are the band on everyone’s radar, already hitting the “Ones to Watch” and “Emerging Artists” lists from multiple music outlets after their successful support slots with BAD NERVES and POOL KIDS. It’s not hard to see why they’re already on everyone’s watch list with the arrival of their debut EP Here You Dream, a cinematic blend of emo/alt/grunge rock, set to release on 10th April via Venn Records. This is their initiation to the world and it’s absolutely stunning. Here You Dream started its humble journey in a garden shed, before progressing to the Midlands four-piece working with Grammy winning producer Adrian Bushby, to produce a visionary sound that will captivate a huge audience, from the playlist listeners to the gig-goers looking for their next energetic band fix. A quickfire, distorted riff leads us into Here You Dream’s opener Polish the Chrome before vocalist Luke Osmond leads the teeth-shaking fusion of instruments and backing vocals, the verses brief but the choruses hard-hitting with lyrics of “I’ll never let you in unless I know you could be trusted”, accompanied by swelling vocals. Bassist and vocalist Isabelle Smith makes her presence known throughout with a steely sound and a menacing riff between the chorus and breakdowns, with drummer Harry Rogers thrashing at his kit in a synchronised frenzy. Osmond descends into a powerful scream that fades into a dangerously soft breakdown before BLUSH PUPPY crash back in as a high-energy unit. Tears In Rain starts on a slower but no less impactful pace, guitarist Ciaran O’Sullivan’s dual clean and distorted riffs echoing hauntingly in the background, throwing in prolonged notes that add to the cinematic feel of the track. Osmond, Smith and O’Sullivan sing in an emotionally charged harmonisation, while Rogers progresses from an understated drumbeat to pulsing beats in tandem with the guitar solos and rising synth. Tears In Rain feels like the song for a protagonist standing in a downpour while they contemplate life, a la Bladerunner. Their first hotly anticipated single and video from Here You Dream takes on a fluid form in Under The Water, weaving floating vocals across the trio with Osmond’s agonised cries of “(under the water) you said that you could breathe”. Reverbed guitar and bass echo behind the commanding drum beat, while a clean riff balances alongside the vocals, plinky keyboard notes making an uplifting appearance. The vocals drop down to a low spoken word before reascending to a raw scream. Stay Awake is where the genre blending really stands out, giving DON BROCO mixed with THORNHILL vibes. With a brutal beat and bass line, the track begins in a near-stripped back form before the guitars drop into a foreboding pitch. Keys and sound effects are peppered in to make the track all the more compelling, before BLUSH PUPPY together pivots into a massively enjoyable, rapid-paced, screaming breakdown that’s guaranteed to generate pits when played live. Closing out their electric debut EP, Still Asleep falls in with dreamy, harmonised vocals from the trio, with simple guitar chords from Osmond and O’Sullivan, before Rogers snaps in with the drums and Smith delivers a low bass riff, both carrying us through the progression of this emotive track. BLUSH PUPPY drift between enchanting, disarmingly calm pitches and tempos, to abrupt screams and heavy instruments – it feels like when you’re trying to fall asleep and jolt yourself awake with adrenaline. If this is where BLUSH PUPPY are starting out from, then their dreams of drawing in more fans and filling arenas won’t be far away. Score: 8/10 Here You Dream will be released on 10th April 2026 via Venn Records. Words: Julia Stark Photos: Blush Puppy

Real Life have been running the Punks For Palestine event at New Cross Inn, London since 2021 and this year, on 4th May, they are returning with more incredible live music, activism and more information about how you can support Palestinian-run businesses and projects in London. Since the start of the event, which brings together the underground hardcore, punk and hiphop scenes to support Palestinian charities, Punks For Palestine has raised over £10,000 for groups including The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), MAP (Medical Aid for Palestinians), The Palestinian Children's Relief Fund and many more. The proceeds from this year's event will be split between The Sameer Project - a Palestinian-led mutual aid initiative, and Da’m - an organisation set-up to support those who are facing state persecution in the UK as a result of taking direct action in solidarity with Palestinian people. This year's event has artists from every musical genre imaginable; from Bristolian hardcore band PERP WALK, metalcore from KILA KOSA, queercore band SHOOTING DAGGERS melodic punk rock/emo from BUDS and London based Post-hardcore/noise-rock from RITUAL ERROR. New London hardcore band UNWITNESSED will also be playing their first show. Powerful, hardcore/chain‑punk band from Bristol, PERP WALK are rising fast in the scene. They are best known for their South West hardcore identity, raw energy and a steady run of releases that have quickly made them a staple of the UK heavy‑music underground, with The Chain Of Infection and Permacrisis being released in 2023. As an exciting addition to the UK metalcore/nu‑metal scene, KILA KOSA are known for industrial‑leaning riffs, bruising breakdowns, and a South‑London‑meets‑South‑Coast identity that’s quickly pushing them further into the spotlight. Singles Pulse and Bodies showcase their crowd‑igniting breakdowns and aggressive vocal interplay, with new music being teased in recent live shows. SHOOTING DAGGERS are a London‑based queer‑feminist hardcore/queercore trio who manage to fuse blistering hardcore, riot‑grrrl energy and even shoegaze into intentionally confrontational tracks. Driven by their mission to carve out space for queer and marginalised voices in heavy music, Love & Rage was released in 2024, and was praised by critics for its dynamic songwriting, emotional depth, and ability to dip into multiple punk subgenres. BUDS hail from Southampton and deliver a melting pot of alternative punk, grunge and emo, through emotionally raw tracks delivered with punk energy. Self described as “a support group for recent divorcees,” they have played Manchester Punk Festival and 2000 Trees Festival, with their most recent release Picking Wounds being one of their most emotionally direct tracks, blending punk urgency with introspective, self‑critical lyricism. RITUAL ERROR will be bringing their politically charged, noise‑leaning post‑hardcore to the stage, following the release of their debut album Dial In The Ghost, which fuses nostalgic emo punk, with mid‑90s noise‑rock precision. Known for their sound that feels both paranoid and cathartic, as well as their incendiary, tightly controlled live sets, they are a part of a new wave of UK bands making punk feel dangerous and relevant again. Activism sits at the intersection of human rights, foreign policy, public accountability, and the UK’s own social fabric. The importance of the activism itself is undeniable and events like Punks For Palestine are more relevant now than ever. Writer: Lou Viner-Flood

There’s an old book out there your more mythologically inclined friend most likely owns. It’s a tome in a beautiful black hardback with a glossy golden embossed title, Folklore Myths and Legends of Britain. The front also displays a horned screaming face, the Ooser of Dorset. Within the pages is an exhaustive compilation of the wyrd and wonderful traditions of this very ancient land once known as Albion, and hardly a stone is left unturn’d. The book goes region-by-region and uncovers peculiarities from even the deepest and darkest corners of ye olde dragon’s back. No band encapsulates the vibe of that book quite like them; the eminence of British folklore themselves, the GREEN LUNG. The legend of the Lung began in the far-off year of 2017, when they were something of a supergroup formed of members from various doom metal bands. Londoners by the grace of god, they began by playing shows around their local haunts, spots like the New Cross Inn, The Dev, and The Bird’s Nest, and the ones who got to see them during these nascent days knew they weren’t destined for them forever. They had hunger, and they had style. They also had only one EP out back then, the extraordinary Green Man Rising, a phenomenally sludgy endeavour that very much still holds up. To the band now though, it represents something more like a child’s drawing on the fridge, a first attempt. Founding members Tom Templar, Scott Black, and Matt Wiseman were quick to up the momentum, releasing another EP that year of original songs and some more refined numbers from their first effort, this would come to be known as the Free The Witch EP record in 2018. Bassist Joseph Ghast also recorded backing vocals and organ for this one, and the band also recruited a permanent organist in the form of John Wright. Older fans will know the cover art was once different, more in line with what you’d expect from a London doom group. But with the development of their sound, so too did their aesthetic morph into the ones you see now. The artwork of GREEN LUNG is fundamentally tied to the lino work of Richard Wells, whose instantly recognisable inky style has become the staple of the band’s visuals. Drawn in by their strong aesthetic, catchy riffs, and their “Sabbath-meets-Queen” sound, the band attracted more and more fans. The following year would herald their first album, the now classic Woodland Rites, which would elevate them into the stratosphere. For a while before the world was plunged into lockdown, in metal circles it was nearly impossible to miss the beautiful Branca Studios designed Let the Devil In shirts featuring a dead-eyed nun praying to heaven. Many songs from this album are still show staples, Templar Dawn, the title track, the aforementioned Let the Devil In, and Call of the Coven. With this, they established themselves as an alternative offering to the London doom scene, something faster and more traditional, but as deft and chunky as the best of them. And a bit like those feet in ancient time, GREEN LUNG soon embarked upon England’s mountains green and began to tour extensively. With each show the fanbase grew. Word-of-mouth saw attendance at the shows grow and the band cultivated something of a cult following. This culminated with their 2021 show at Bloodstock festival. All around the camps, the festival goers seem to all have had one friend who said he was excited to see the “cool band what had the awesome album come out” and that the camp should “give ‘em a chance”. This resulted in the Sophie Lancaster stage being packed straight to the back for the band’s Bloodstock debut, where they proceeded to blow the faces clean off of everyone who attended. This was the catalyst of their superstardom today. Soon afterwards, the follow-up album emerged, Black Harvest. The album is still immense, larger and louder than their previous endeavours with a fat organ lazing underneath the whole damn thing. Beautiful stuff. Old Gods, Leaders of the Blind, Reaper’s Scythe, Born to a Dying World - all killer, no filler, and now the big dogs in the metal press were also getting in on the action, you’d be hard pressed to find a review that didn’t love this thing to death. More touring ensued, more amazing shows and more publicity. The band was going relentlessly from strength to strength with no signs of slowing down. After signing with Nuclear Blast the following year, they began to tour with some larger bands. Their tour with CLUTCH awarded them more exposure, and their later tour opening for OPETH did much of the same. By 2023, they were a force to be reckoned with in the scene, with increasingly large stage productions and a mighty legion of fans – they even managed to get their own Ooser. You could go to any metal festival in the country, and there’d be at least one GREEN LUNG shirt or patch (a principle that still remains today). With their third and most recent album, This Heathen Land, the bangers continue. The Forest Church, Mountain Throne, One for Sorrow, Oceans of Time. Here they doubled down, and the album doubles as a guidebook to various magical sites on the isles. The release cycle saw them return to Bloodstock festival, this time on the main stage (which also included the worlds slowest circle pit, perfection). Their tours now extended beyond England, and over the oceans wide and far. But when they did play in England, it was to massive fanfare, their headlining show at the O2 academy Islington being the most potent example, as bodies were thrown and crowds surfed over evermore to the tunes like a rough sea. This leads us to today, where they’ve just announced they’re headlining the amazing Desertfest, a festival the boys have always gone to as attendees in previous years. Not only that, but the recording of their highly anticipated fourth album is now complete, and like the waning of the moon, we enter a new exciting phase of the Lung. It’s exciting to see these guys get to where they are now, and if you’re just hopping on for the ride now, hang tight, there’s plenty more goodness to come. That should do for a basic GREEN LUNG primer. Now go and lowball some guy on Vinted for his copy of Folklore Myths and Legends of Britain. You won’t regret it. Green Lung will headline Desertfest on the 17th of May 2026. ths

BROADSIDE has never been a band built for standing still. Over the past decade, the trio from Richmond, Virginia has treated pop‑rock less as a genre and more as a moving target, reshaping their sound with each release rather than settling into a familiar formula. Their palette spans the emotional volatility of Taking Back Sunday, the cinematic sheen of The Killers, the brooding grit of AFI, and the arena‑ready swagger of Kings of Leon - touchstones that emerge less as imitation and more as influences filtered through their own modern lens. With Oliver Baxxter at the mic, Domenic Reid on guitar, and Patrick Diaz handling bass and harmonies, BROADSIDE enters a pivotal new era with Nowhere At Last. Cherry Red Ego Death opens the album, lyrically and musically as it means to go on. With heavy guitars from Reid and Diaz, and lyrics that have Baxxter lamenting he’s ‘become unlovable, waiting for somebody to rescue me’, the track is one of those openers that gets you excited for what else is coming your way. Title track Nowhere At Last follows, with an unexpected 80’s electro feel, where Baxxter sings that he is “finally nowhere, at last”. The lyrics give an insight into the incoming paranoia that we feel throughout the rest of the album, where the narrator opens up his inner thoughts to us. Warning Signs captures the irresistible chaos of a relationship you know is toxic but can’t bring yourself to leave. The track circles that familiar emotional loop with sharp precision and when Oliver Baxxter admits that “the same high that gets me off will probably put me in my grave,” it becomes the track’s defining admission. The track sits in the band’s sweet spot as a glossy, melodic pop‑rock anthem. It’s catchy, conflicted, and painfully self‑aware, which is BROADSIDE at their most compelling. The second single from the album, Control Freak is a sharp, slow‑burning confrontation with emotional manipulation. Rather than focusing on the fallout, the track zeroes in on the precise moment of awakening, with the track featuring some of Baxxter’s most incisive writing. He describes the experience as “being controlled by someone else, the quiet violence of being told it’s all in your head.” The phrase quiet violence captures the song’s entire emotional architecture. Dead Roses presents itself as a self deprecating confession with the narrator slipping into a familiar negative headspace, fully aware he’s edging toward “an early grave” if he doesn’t pull himself out. It is one of the heavier tracks on the album, pairing this with melodic lift, turning self‑reckoning into something quietly hopeful. Someone You Need is tender, bruised, and painfully human. The track is one of the band’s most vulnerable moments as a raw, self‑reckoning pop‑rock confession about wanting to be enough for someone while feeling fundamentally broken. The track opens with the devastating admission, “I wish I could give you all of me, But I’m just pieces of a man I used to be,” setting the tone for everything that follows. BROADSIDE wraps that honesty in a melodic, aching pop‑rock frame, letting Baxxter’s voice lean into fragility rather than force. Returning to the earlier 80’s electro pop feel at the midpoint of the album, the lyrics of Mushroom Cloud talks about waiting for the end of the world with your love, with Baxxter admitting “To die next to you would be heavenly”. It is potentially the only track on the album that doesn’t quite fit with the rest; despite the “impending doom”, it seems like the track with the most upbeat feeling, which catches the listener off guard a little. I Think They Know plunges us straight back into the spiralling, anxious inner monologue, capturing the band at their most paranoid and self‑interrogating. The track traces the contours of social anxiety and the fear of being watched, “I don’t belong here, everyone’s staring, I swear” drifting into dissociation. Intrusive thoughts take shape as voices on the radio, a recurring motif that blurs the line between what is real and what is imagined, with the production mirroring that feeling. Oliver Baxxter’s vocals swing between tight restraint and unravelling emotion and an urgent, pulsing rhythm section drives the track like a racing heartbeat, while atmospheric guitars wrap everything in a tense, fog‑like haze. Blissed Out is a meditation on burnout, disillusionment, and the emotional crash that follows years spent chasing every possible high. The track traces the narrator’s slow unravelling: the exhaustion of constantly trying to be “enough,” The track pairs BROADSIDE’s melodic pop‑rock instincts with a heavier emotional weight, with a mid‑tempo, reflective pulse anchoring the song, while atmospheric guitars drift like emotional fog around Baxxter’s voice. The chorus lands with a mix of resignation and clarity, and Baxxter leans into vulnerability rather than urgency, letting the cracks show. Track Dark Passenger was unveiled alongside the album announcement and sets the emotional tone for Nowhere, At Last with a shadowy, introspective punch. The track dives into the inner shadow of anxiety and depression, tracing the exhaustion that comes from fighting the same harmful patterns over and over. The track is atmospheric and emotionally heavy, blending the band's nostalgic rock influences with a sharper modern edge, resulting in a brooding, cinematic track. What Are You Leaving Behind is perhaps the darkest track on the album, both lyrically and musically. The track is another confessional admission from the narrator, with “I know what it feels like to want to walk away when nothing feels right, not enough to make you stay” giving further insight into the dark corners of his mind. The guitars from Reid and Diaz mirror the darkness of the lyrics in a perfectly complimentary way. Closing track Is This It is the final lament of the narrator, the last chance he has to tell us his story. It lands heavy; with Baxxter asking “Is there a right way to cope? Is there a cure to being alone?” and wanting to know if there is more to “this”. The track is an open and honest reflection into mortality, which bookends Nowhere At Last expertly. Nowhere At Last captures BROADSIDE at their most grounded and self‑aware, reflecting on movement, identity, and the quiet clarity that comes from finally arriving after years spent searching. Where earlier releases sketched the blueprint, Nowhere At Last feels like the culmination, shaped by experience and rooted in a deeper understanding of who they have become. It’s a meditation on the physical, emotional, and creative place, with the realisation that sometimes “nowhere” is exactly where things start to make sense. With a packed touring schedule ahead including a set at Slam Dunk Festival, BROADSIDE stands on the edge of their most impactful chapter yet: fearlessly evolving, unapologetically themselves, and more certain than ever of the path they’re carving. Score: 9/10 Nowhere, At Last will be released on 10th April 2026 via Thriller Records. Words: Lou Viner-Flood Photos: Broadside