In another universe Anxious Arms are a straight-up punk band. The Californian outfit are adept at barrelling riffs, skating rhythms, and hard-edged melodies. In the here and now though, they are weighed down by the state of… well, everything. You can hear that in their lyrics, in lines like “A future with no hope, I’ve seen it all and I’m […]
Read moreNo Devotion have had it tough. Born as an escape from immense, intense pain in the first place, the band subsequently experienced record label collapse, addiction, poisoning and personal assault. When their debut record was suddenly pulled from shelves (and streaming services) just as it was supposed to be making its biggest splash, it was finally too much for some. […]
Read moreIt’s not often you feel short-changed by one of the best records of the year. But on first listen, ‘Hygiene’, the fourth Drug Church album, goes by in a blur. The New York outfit rattle through 10 songs in 26 minutes here, and some seem to stop dead just as they should go supernova. That feeling never really goes away […]
Read moreListen, this whole thing has been horrible. There really are no bright sides to a global pandemic. But maybe, just maybe, we’ll get to hear some music that might not otherwise have been made. Châtelet is one such example. This solo electronic project from erstwhile Maybeshewill member John Helps was actually conceived a decade ago but has lain largely dormant until […]
Read moreHowls are apparently not dead yet but there’s no denying they have been very very quiet for almost two years now. If this brilliant double-header does turn out to be the Brighton bunch’s last hurrah then it’s a compelling bang to go out on. ‘Eye to Eye’ and ‘Brick by Brick’ aren’t new songs though, they actually pre-date the band’s […]
Read moreThis is a special record. In fact, ‘Death Spells’ isn’t just another record, this is a real work of art. And this is one of those works capable of moving you, transporting you, maybe even changing you. This isn’t just another record, it’s a long hard stare out into the dawn or the dusk or some other time of low […]
Read moreYou can hear the time and effort that went into making this. There are signposts throughout ‘The Body and the Earth’ that this is a record born of long hours, dutiful diligence and deep concentration. It’s highly unlikely that anyone was doubting Eric Quach’s work ethic of course- Quach (for he alone has been thisquietarmy for over a decade) has […]
Read moreThere was little clue in Tengil’s first album, the admittedly epic ‘Six’, that they were capable of anything like this. Sure, the Swedish quartet proved that they could play- mixing dark hardcore and post-rock with aplomb- but from long, sinister stanzas and eerie spoken word passages to cover art of a grey face crying black blood, they seemed like a […]
Read moreLet’s get something out of the way quickly. No Devotion is the new band from old members of Lostprophets. Based on the ad campaign and the artwork here, that’s not something they want you to focus on though. And to be fair, you almost certainly wouldn’t guess it simply by listening to ‘Permanence’. Just as the boys in the band […]
Read more‘Beacons’, the second full-length from Cloudkicker, is a whirlwind of progressive, instrumental rock, dense post-hardcore, and complex metal. It sometimes sounds like two bands playing at once. Impressive then, that it is all the work of just one man. This hasn’t exactly come out of nowhere, Ohio native Ben Sharp has been kicking out solid solo jams for a few […]
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