Ten reviews you might have missed

Reviews from Thursday 18 April 2019

LIVE: In Flames / Norma Jean / Light The Torch @ The Roundhouse, London

Whenever In Flames announce they’re paying a visit to UK shores, metal fans across the country waste no time lapping up all the tickets. Not only does their legendary status within metal speak for itself, but they also have brand new record ‘I, The Mask’ to showcase to their

Wednesday 17 April 2019

LIVE: The Xcerts / Paris Youth Foundation / Novacub @ The Garage, London

Between Brexit protests, shitty weather and the slow but unceasing process of replacing areas of interest and character with even more branches of Pret, London isn’t the cheeriest place right now. So it sure is nice to have joyful Brighton-based rockers The Xcerts descend on The Garage

LIVE: The Hunna @ O2 Academy, Brixton

If there’s any one band that should be acknowledged for their strength, resilience, and unrelenting motivation, it’s The Hunna. Not only are they one of the best British bands around right now, but they’ve had to fight harder than most to get to where they are

Monday 15 April 2019

LIVE: The Maine @ O2 Forum, Kentish Town

“The Maine are the best band in the world”. It’s a phrase heard many times across the course of the evening, and while quite clearly a subjective opinion, there’s weight in this bold claim. Not only have The Maine just put out an incredibly dynamic, powerful,

Friday 12 April 2019

LIVE: Dream State / Parting Gift / Oxbloods / Grief @ Deaf Institute, Manchester

Following the demise of two smaller Manchester venues in recent years – Moho Live and, more recently, the loss of the well-loved Sound Control to yet more student flats – Deaf Institute has comfortably slotted into the gap they left, picking up more and more shows in recent months

Thursday 11 April 2019

Blood Command – ‘Return Of The Arsonist’

Show some musicians the word ‘genre’ and they will laugh in your face. At the very least, they’ll let their music do the laughing on their behalf – and Norwegian four-piece Blood Command are definitely among those who refuse to sit in a labelled box. That’s not to say there

Friday 05 April 2019

Martha – ‘Love Keeps Kicking’

Break-ups are horrible. No matter whether it comes in the form of a volcanic argument, the slow, drawn-out death of two people drifting apart, or the heartbreaking mutual decision that this is all “for the best”, break-ups are horrible. It takes a band like Martha to

Wednesday 03 April 2019

PUP – ‘Morbid Stuff’

If you don’t already know PUP, it leads us to ask – where the fuck have you been? Their sophomore album ‘The Dream Is Over’ was one of the best records of 2016, jam packed with punchy punk classics. From the hilarious, anthemic ‘DVP’ to the meaty, macabre ‘The

I Prevail – ‘Trauma’

Over the last few years, Michigan metalcore five piece I Prevail have been through one of the biggest challenges a band could face – ‘Trauma’ is the album that may never have happened. In the midst of touring to support debut ‘Lifelines’, clean vocalist Brian Burkheiser suffered a severe

Tuesday 02 April 2019

LIVE: Stand Atlantic / In Her Own Words / SHADED @ The Key Club, Leeds

Another day, another night in Leeds’ Key Club – it feels like barely a week goes by without paying a visit to this sticky-floored paradise (seriously though, don’t wear your good shoes). Tonight it’s gone international, with bands from the UK, US and Australia taking to the stage for

LIVE: Normandie / Sun Arcana / Led By Lanterns @ Dingwalls, Camden

London has more than it’s fair share of well-known venues – understandably, given the whole ‘capital of the country’ thing it’s got going on – and probably nowhere more so than Camden. Alongside Koko, the Underworld, and Electric Ballroom, is Dingwalls, a tiered, sweaty venue hidden away in a

Saturday 30 March 2019

Whitechapel – ‘The Valley’

Whitechapel are a true force of nature within metal. They’re considered to have been one of the pioneers of deathcore when the genre was at it’s highest point. Phil Bozeman is widely regarded as one of the best metal vocalists to ever wrap his hands around a microphone. They

Friday 29 March 2019

Brutus – ‘Nest’

“A nest is a safe environment created in order to protect the people you love.” So say Brutus in their description of new album ‘Nest’, the band’s second full length release that “takes you to that moment where you feel like all of the things you’ve built are crumbling

The Maine – ‘You Are Ok’

Following the huge success of their 2017 album ‘Lovely Little Lonely’, The Maine had a lot to live up to when it came to the calibre of their next full-length release. This record carried the band through a year and a half of their career, ending with

Wednesday 27 March 2019

High Rise – ‘Endeavours’

London based metalcore mob High Rise have been making moves these last few years. Not only have they put out a string of solid material with 2015’s ‘Tides Will Tell You’ and the 2016 follow-up ‘Left It For Everything’, they’ve earned themselves a string of spots on big stages

Tuesday 26 March 2019

LIVE: Holding Absence / Luke Rainsford @ The Key Club, Leeds

To some, it’s a hard and fast rule that Saturday nights are all about going out on the town and consuming as much alcohol-infused liquid as possible. In few places is that more true than Leeds, now fairly notorious as a stag and hen party location (among other things);

Monday 25 March 2019

LIVE: Deaf Havana @ O2 Academy, Bristol

It’s a damp and windy evening in Bristol, and Deaf Havana’s first full U.K. tour since the release of their most recent album ‘RITUALS’ has arrived at the o2 Academy. Splitting opinions with it’s pop-heavy sound, this isn’t their first experience of metamorphosing through music; they’ve previously

Nightmarathons – ‘Missing Parts’

The great state of Pennsylvania has a knack of producing stellar punk bands. From the evocative poetry of The Menzingers, the raging political voice of Anti-Flag to the feminist anthems of Cayetana, there is something in the water in the Keystone State that makes the music here

Friday 22 March 2019

The Xcerts – ‘Wildheart Dreaming’

As a fan of The Xcerts, it can be frustrating to continually see their music fall on deaf ears. Having easily relatable lyrics and powerful choruses, it consists of the exact ingredients required to make massively popular art. Their latest release, ‘Wildheart Dreaming’, is no exception,

Thursday 21 March 2019

Follower – ‘Against The Ropes’

Guildford five-piece, Follower, are introducing themselves to the world with their debut EP ‘Against The Ropes’. A relatively new band, they’ve only been around since 2016 but they’re already making a name for themselves, filling venues in their home town. Initially meeting on music forums, vocalist Luke Archer and