Ten reviews you might have missed

Reviews from Tuesday 24 April 2018

LIVE: Pillow Queens / Ganglions @ CHUNK, Leeds

Not much should come as a surprise to Pillow Queens anymore. Being name-dropped by Steve Lamacq on BBC Radio 6 Music off the back of their first EP? No problem. Headlining a UK tour? Yeh, of course. Selling out a hometown show? Sure, why not. So, when

Monday 23 April 2018

Blaspherion – ‘Restus Corpus’

When most people picture Rio de Janeiro, they probably think of flawless beaches, joyful people dancing in brightly coloured carnival costumes, or massive statues of Jesus. They probably don’t think of blistering old-school death metal. But, if four piece Blaspherion have anything to say about it with their debut

Friday 20 April 2018

Møl – ‘Jord’

For a hot minute back in 2013, it really looked like ‘blackgaze’ was about to take over the entire world. Though the mixture of dreamy, ethereal shoegaze and harsh, uncompromising black metal doesn’t sound like the kind of music the mainstream rock world would ever

Nosebleed – ‘Scratching Circles on the Dancefloor’

Wrapped up in the finest tailored suits, Leeds three-piece Nosebleed lay the gauntlet down in their breathless debut album ‘Scratching Circles on the Dancefloor’. They’re here to demonstrate the pure ethos of a Nosebleed party – to which anyone who has witnessed them in the flesh can

Coldbones – ‘Where It All Began’

Post-rock, beautiful and captivating though it may be, can be a bit predictable. The earth will always travel round the sun, metal fans will always love arguing on the internet, and post-rock bands will always have long songs with drawn out, gently-drummed quiet sections that gradually build into massive

Wonk Unit – ‘Terror’

For many of us, music is medicinal. It’s a way to escape the trials and tribulations of life by hiding in headphones. It’s cathartic. And for Wonk Unit’s Alex Johnson, it’s no different. With the release of ‘Terror’, Wonk Unit’s sixth studio album, Johnson continues to use Wonk Unit as his

Cancer Bats – ‘The Spark That Moves’

Cancer Bats have never done things by the book. Whether it is playing five shows in one day in London venues to drawing out a pentagram, creating a Black Sabbath tribute band and supporting themselves, or touring the world collecting charity money in a wellington boot, they’re

Monday 16 April 2018

LIVE: Rolo Tomassi / Palm Reader / Cryptodira @ The Deaf Institute, Manchester

Rolo Tomassi must be feeling pretty damn smug right now. They’re just back from a successful run of European shows, all five of their UK headline shows are advance sell-outs, and their latest album ‘Time Will Die And Love Will Bury It’ is already being named Album Of The

Sunday 15 April 2018

LIVE: StrangeForms 2018 @ Brudenell Social Club, Leeds

Now in its fifth year, StrangeForms returns with a brand new line up and a brand new home. After four successful, sell-out years celebrating the best in post-rock, math-rock and post-hardcore at Leeds’ Wharf Chambers, the 100-capacity venue could no longer contain the festival’s ever growing character. 2018 begins

Friday 13 April 2018

Tiny Kingdoms – ‘Realms’

Since the release of their first single, Tiny Kingdoms have been spoiling fans of emotional and intelligent alternative music with a series of consistently brilliant EPs, one-off songs, and compilation appearances. Yet despite building a sizeable fan-base and gigging all around North America, they have held back

Thursday 12 April 2018

Queen Kwong – ‘Love Me To Death’

Queen Kwong’s sophomore album ‘Love Me To Death’ hits like a sonic blow to the gut. The enigmatic Carré Callaway – singer, song writer and founder of Queen Kwong – channels the raw, frenetic energy that brought her to the attention of Trent Reznor over a decade ago, into

Wednesday 11 April 2018

LIVE: Earthless @ Islington Assembly Hall

In the broad spectrum of things, there are two kinds of bands. The first kind find their niche, their signature sound, and settle into it for the long haul, happy to keep sailing the same sonic seas. The second kind constantly seek to innovate, to mix things up, and

Monday 09 April 2018

Underoath – ‘Erase Me’

When Floridian screamo/metalcore heroes Underoath called it a day in late 2012, for once it seemed like a breakup that would stick. The band members spoke openly and very frankly about their road fatigue, and even released a documentary film, ‘Tired Violence’, to commemorate their own ‘final’

LIVE: Bell Witch @ Boston Music Rooms, London

It’s been three years since the Seattle funeral doom two-piece has played in the UK, alongside Ulcerate. During that time, founding member Adrian Guerra sadly passed away, leaving the future of the band uncertain. This tragic occurrence, however, did not stop co-founding member Dylan Desmond from booking Bell Witch

Friday 06 April 2018

LIVE: Milk Teeth @ The Underworld, London

There’s been a special kind of excitement around Milk Teeth’s sold out headline show at the Underworld. A band that has toured relentlessly since the release of their 2016 debut ‘Vile Child’ and deservedly carved a reputation for iconically explosive live shows – to see their name finally hang

The Wonder Years – Sister Cities

Being one of the most underrated bands in the world is a hard life to lead. Being one of the most underrated bands in the world for nearly your whole career? That’s something maybe only The Wonder Years can feel. ‘Sister Cities’ is an album about connections, how distance can

Spider Kitten – ‘Concise & Sinister’

There’s a trick many lazy reviewers use to describe an artist as ‘The UK’s answer to…’ whichever intercontinental band they’re drawing an (often tenuous) comparison to. While such a device is obviously old hat at best, it’s definitely warranted when it comes to Spider Kitten – ‘The UK’s answer

Thursday 05 April 2018

LIVE: Black Foxxes @ The Key Club, Leeds

The intimate surroundings of Leeds’ Key Club seem a world away from the frozen, expansive landscape of the Icelandic countryside but they are about to be brought together. Wandering through the Nordic wilderness provided the inspiration for Black Foxxes’ front man Mark Holley to begin penning the

Tuesday 03 April 2018

LIVE: All Time Low @ Alexandra Palace, London

It’s 2018 and All Time Low are playing to 10,000 people in a city across the world from their hometown. There’s a blizzard outside, but it hasn’t deterred the crowd that is swelling outside the venue, huddled together under the snow whilst chatter about the set list and earlier

Thursday 29 March 2018

FACS – ‘Negative Houses’

We’re very much in the era of pop-punk which, whilst awesome, creates a generic vacuum that makes anything outside the norm seem especially unusual and grating. Enter FACS. Rising from the ashes like a post-punk phoenix, FACS is a rebirth of Chicago band Disappears after the departure of bassist