From the big picture perspective down to the finest details, this album is a spectacular triumph. Skyharbor’s struggle to make their latest opus more than just a fanciful dream is finally over – and they’re evidently revelling in the results, as well they should. Read more…
Outside Brighton’s favourite seafront venue, the wind is whipping up white waves that crash heavily into the shoreline. Inside, the air is moving even more violently as Idiom tear through a barnstorming set, followed in short order by Heart Of A Coward‘s crushing djent-fuelled brutality. Both bands deserve their dues for effortlessly eliciting manic reactions from a crowd set on saving their energy for the headliners. Read more…
Somewhere in the labyrinthine depths of the Scala, Allusondrugs got this Friday night off to a raucously grungy start. Stir remained as shiver-inducing as ever, while the Reuben-esque Am I Weird? elicited laughter followed by hectic headbanging. Throughout this short but perfectly formed set, Allusondrugs shone through the dirt like a five-piece Nirvana, with jagged guitars rending the air before climaxing amid a frontman-versus-guitarist wrestling match. Read more…
Kyshera’s new album may be delayed until March 16th, but on this evidence it’ll be worth the wait. Although Kyshera really shine live, their tracks are more than enough to tide fans old and new over until their next face-to-face fix. Inertia is grim, gritty, and custom-designed to weld itself into your memory banks; a must-hear for fans of bands able to summon the gutsy and authentic attitude of classic alt-metal at will. Read more…
Cea Serin’s upcoming sophomore album The Vibrant Sound of Bliss and Decay will be more than worth the ten-year wait. Fusing a multitude of styles both metallic and non-metallic and sprawling over almost 50 minutes despite being composed of only five tracks, The Vibrant Sound of Bliss and Decay is a tad epic, and raises a number of questions. TMMP posed a set of said questions to multi-instrumentalist J. Lamm – and the answers were nothing short of fascinating… Read more…
The first time I heard the intro to Can’t Explain The Tide, I definitely didn’t realise that it was a live recording. However, things quickly became clearer with the arrival of second track P.I.P (Persuasion Is Power) and what I initially felt was an awkward shift in production style. Read more…
Pure punk-metal grit, guts, and glory. Stick-in-the-head songcraft; one-inch-punch drums; confident and melodic guitar work; sick beatdowns – all that and more is present on opening track and lead single Follow Me alone. Personal highlights abounded on Last One Standing, but it you were to stick a gun in my ear and force three choices I’d have to pick Tell Me Something‘s epic drum work; second single I’m Not Leaving‘s slick and slinky electronic touches; and Living In A Hurricane‘s modern rock chorus-writing mastery. Read more…
I’m not one for golden-age thinking. Although the alt-metal movement that got me into music birthed some breathtaking albums, a lot of it was shit. Alt-metal’s new breed, however, are taking the best of the past and using it to forge a better future. Read more…
It’s weird to think this gig would never have happened had the Boileroom’s licence been suspended – but the former did happen, because the latter wasn’t. The peacefully dubstep-loving crowds were out in droves last night to check out: Read more…
BEAR know how to fucking rock. Tighter than a gimp suit that’s been left in the wash and as dense as a black hole’s singularity, on Mantiis Belgium’s loud-and-clear answer to the Dillinger Escape Plan take on desire, exploitation, and self-centredness via much brutal riffing and a no-nonsense video. Not for the faint of heart, but an undeniable blinder for the rest of us. Read more…