Ten reviews you might have missed

Reviews from Tuesday 02 June 2026

Converge – ‘HUM OF HURT’

In 2024, the BBC aired a four-part series called The Listeners. Based on the Jordan Tannahill novel, the drama follows Claire, an English teacher driven to insanity by a continuous and inexplicable ambient sound. While the story is fictional, the phenomenon, known as “the hum”, is well-documented. Instances of

LIVE: Slam Dunk South 2026

What’s rarer than a Bank Holiday heatwave? A Slam Dunk lineup this scorching. Slam Dunk South might have seen temperatures high enough to make us regret wearing our black scene gear for our day out, but it would turn into a day of revelations: acts we’d relegated to the

Friday 29 May 2026

Sparta – ‘CUT A SILHOUETTE’

Imagine the scene, if you haven’t already experienced it. You’re sitting in a dentist’s chair. You’re nervous, you don’t know what’s going to happen. Your wandering eyes settle on a humorous sign that reads: “Dentists don’t die, they just lose their pull”. You’re unsure if it’s a

LIVE: Desertfest Sunday

It’s the final day of Desertfest and the skies over Camden are decidedly greyer than they have been for the preceding days. With less draw to mingle outside, this does mean that the smaller venues are once again full from the moment they open. It’s obviously fantastic for bands

Thursday 28 May 2026

LIVE: Desertfest Saturday

The lunchtime beers are already flowing, and Camden is buzzing with activity for day two of Desertfest. It’s already one in, one out at the Black Heart, with the queue snaking through the busy pub downstairs and onto the street. Words: Ellie Odurny // Photos: Jessi Lotti, Sam Huddleston and

LIVE: Desertfest Friday

London’s Desertfest sees swathes of doom, psych and stoner rock fans descend upon five venues throughout Camden for three days. Greenland Place, outside The Black Heart, is closed off for the weekend; the narrow lane becoming a bustling epicentre of merch, media, drinkers, chatters and smokers. The juxtaposition of

Wednesday 27 May 2026

All Them Witches – ‘HOUSE OF MIRRORS’

Longevity is an underrated skill. To keep a band alive and still be making music years after breaking out is something to be valued. It takes persistence and commitment just to keep it going, let alone make a quality album. After six years without releasing new music,

Friday 22 May 2026

MARMOZETS – ‘CO.WAR.DICE.’

There’s a particular kind of dread that comes with a long-awaited comeback. You want it to be good. You need it to be good. And the longer the absence, the higher the stakes. Marmozets have been away for eight years; long enough for an entire generation of

Thursday 21 May 2026

The Howling – ‘SALVO’

Style is everything. Bowie constantly reinvented himself, Creeper burned their stage costumes after their album tour, and The Black Parade is as much about the uniforms as the music. When creating theatrical music you can embody it, you can live it and you can make it an

Wednesday 20 May 2026

Wrex – ‘SADWORLD’

Mental health problems are confusing. The sorrow can be consuming. Maybe voices are vying for your attention, they don’t seem to agree. Anger and sadness snake between each other. Perhaps there’s a spark fizzling and crackling. Perhaps something feels wrong, like your body doesn’t quite fit properly.

Tuesday 19 May 2026

A – ‘PRANG’

If there was a competition for the least Google-friendly name in history, A would score pretty highly. Back in 1993, it wouldn’t have been a problem but subsequently searching for ‘A Band’ proved futile. So what happened? It went like this; Back in 2002 there was a

Friday 15 May 2026

Daisy Grenade – ‘SO MUCH TO SAY’

Sooner or later you have to grow up. No avoiding it. No other option. The only choice is how. Daisy Grenade have released an impressive number of singles since 2022. Fittingly their third EP is called ‘So Much To Say’ and, for them, it’s time to make

Thursday 14 May 2026

Dead Pony – ‘EAT MY DUST!’

Names are important. To name something is to define it. Doing so gives you power. And for years it felt like Dead Pony’s name was all too fitting. They were going nowhere, not fulfilling their potential, never catching a break; flogging, as the saying goes, a Dead

Friday 08 May 2026

LIVE: Creeper @ Islington Assembly Hall, London

Islington Assembly Hall hasn’t been this packed since the last local elections, or perhaps a wedding between two people with very large families. It’s an odd choice of venue for modern vampires Creeper to finish the UK leg of their Sangui-Tour in support of their Lost Boys-esque duo of

Thursday 07 May 2026

The Flatliners – ‘Cold World’

Sometimes you just need a break, a rock to clamber onto in the middle of a raging river, and that’s exactly what The Flatliners have provided in the form of ‘Cold World’. By their standards, the Canadians’ seventh outing is a very calm record, but it’s what we’re craving

Wednesday 06 May 2026

Basement – ‘WIRED’

Eight years ago, Basement released ‘Beside Myself’. The band took a break after this release, extended into uncertainty by successive lockdowns. In one world, this could have been the last anyone ever heard of Basement. Thankfully, driven by renewed perseverance and creativity, Basement have now found themselves reborn with

Tuesday 05 May 2026

Frozen Soul – ‘No Place Of Warmth’

“I invoke war” roars Frozen Soul’s powerhouse vocalist Chad Green on the second track of ‘No Place Of Warmth’, the band’s mammoth third full-length album. One can’t help but hear it as a battle cry, a statement of intent, one that aims to

Wednesday 29 April 2026

LIVE: Supersonic Festival 2026, Birmingham

Hidden within the increasingly gentrified confines of Digbeth, Birmingham, Supersonic Festival has been a sanctuary for underground and experimental music for over two decades. Now earlier in the year than usual and scaled-back to two days, the festival nonetheless continues to champion music and culture indiscriminately. It’s for this reason

Friday 24 April 2026

Portrayal Of Guilt – ‘…The Beginning Of The End’

Trying to pigeonhole Portrayal Of Guilt’s sound has always been a fruitless task. The Austin threepiece have been releasing their own brand of twisted darkness for nearly a decade now, effortlessly fusing influences as broad as black metal, death metal and noise rock to create their own

Wednesday 22 April 2026

Knife Bride – ‘SORRY ABOUT THE PLAGUE’

When the black death struck Europe in the mid-1300’s it was devastating. Maybe there was something in the air. Maybe it was punishment from an angry God. People died. They weren’t ready. They tried to protect themselves with sweet-smelling herbs, they held up charms, and they called