Despite having been around for five years and a handful of releases now, Troubled Coast have never quite got their shit together. They’ve been on the right lines, sure, but no single element of their poetic hardcore was elite. They seemed destined to be one of those perennial support bands, another group left on the edge of things. ‘Awake and […]
Read moreThis is classy. The sneakily-self-titled ‘Your Love’ is neat, tidy and tightly packed. Oh, it won’t blow any socks off but Tu Amore don’t really put a foot wrong here either. And for the debut material from a band barely a year old, that’s pretty bloody impressive. The Peterborough quartet make an impact early as well. First track ‘I’m a […]
Read moreThe formula here might be familiar- South coast quintet Acres mould their post-metal mini-epics from slow-motion riffs, soaring melodies and raw emotion- but the end results are rare indeed. Sure, they do everything you’d expect from a band citing Devil Sold His Soul and This Will Destroy You as influences, they colour inside the lines, but they’re also blessed with […]
Read moreThere will be two schools of thought here. Those that feel Gallows lost an x-factor when pocket dynamo Frank Carter stepped down as frontman and might even refuse to listen to this record, and those that think the band gained a final key ingredient with the appointment of former Alexisonfire man Wade MacNeil and will hope it’s their best yet. […]
Read moreThis is slick. Really slick. Sugary too. It could be a pop album, straight-up chart-bothering pop. But somehow the debut record from Bedford four-piece Don Broco isn’t sickly, sticky sweet but awesomely addictive. Like the best candy it’s simple and effective, so while there are no big surprises or experimental flavours here, there are big fat choruses, memorable melodies and […]
Read moreThis is the musical equivalent of pouring water on boiling oil. An itchy, fizzy, violent fireball of a record, ‘One Wing’ is bold, belligerent and, you better believe it, beautiful too. And it might just be the best Chariot album yet. It’s barely been two years since this band last recorded new music but as ‘Forget’ squirms into life here, […]
Read moreBark, bite, blood, and everything in between. The third full-length from Salt Lake City sludgecore crew Gaza is a furious, feral, cornered wild animal of a record. Cuts and bruises inflicted by bad tours, bad blood, betrayal, politics, war, and the never-ending trudge of human existence haven’t beaten the band down but made them stronger, harder, more cynical. And they’ve […]
Read moreThis is space rock. A message from the gods. A map of the mind. No, not a map, an invitation. Old Man Gloom, the musical council made up of members of Cave In, Converge and Isis, have reconvened after eight years of silence to stretch music, pull sound, and shape something new. None of the band’s signature moves are missing […]
Read moreYou have to be up close to this to feel the heat. Oh yeah, despite that band name there’s definitely a fire here, but the debut album from Guildford five-piece Polar is a little too small, a little too samey to truly impress. Opener ‘K.C.M.’ is all teeth and claws and killer guitar tone, ‘Bruiser’, actually one of the less […]
Read moreThis is a burly record. A brawny record. London five-piece Pariso might have been caught up in the UK swell and toured with plenty of emo and screamo outfits but ‘Nothing Beyond Everything After’ sounds like it wants to punch a hole in your face. There’s a weight to this thing, an emotional one sure (you don’t get more emotional […]
Read more