Emo and pop-punk bands tend to travel through a series of stages as they get older. At first, their work can easily come across as immature – often because it is – before they gradually shift towards rockier sounds and come face to face with adult, not adolescent, challenges. Real Friends have taken that path, and it’s currently culminating in Read more…
Great bands demand your attention, reward it with awesome music, and leave you excited to help spread the word. Whether embracing vividly colourful visuals, putting out consistently creative videos, or dropping a near-perfect eponymous debut album, Vukovi have made all the right moves and set themselves up for serious success. I got chatting to vocalist Janine Shilstone about a certain upcoming festival, and a stage show plan that needs to be Read more…
Although music is technically always an experience, some bands fit that description more accurately than others. Vodun are one such group, dealing in heavy and soulful afro-psych.
What is afro-psych? Well, it’s basically this:
Music festivals are clearly Vodun’s natural habitat – and appropriately enough Read more…
British festivalgoers are spoilt for choice year after year, but 2000 Trees remains top of the list for connoisseurs of alternative and underground music. Its lineups are legendary, each day carefully scheduled to ensure minimal clashes and more time spent watching bands, not tearing your hair out trying to Read more…
As one of the world’s most respected musicians, Trent Reznor rarely needs much in the way of introductions. The Nine Inch Nails mastermind, famed industrial rock and metal producer, and movie soundtrack guru has been plying his trade under the NIN banner for thirty years. Even those unfamiliar with Reznor’s main band have almost certainly Read more…
Few musicians manage to spoil their fans as thoroughly as Devin Townsend does. Since this guy’s generosity is backed up by consistently prolific creativity, his discography represents a treasure trove of tracks spanning multiple genres, from extreme metal and prog to more chilled out styles. There is nothing Devin Townsend can’t do, and he never fails to Read more…
First things first: Hyro The Hero is about to drop one of the best – and most explosive – albums of the year.
As anyone with the slightest degree of political awareness knows, our world and culture has been thrown into disarray in recent times. Madmen trade insults, bringing the world to the brink of nuclear war, before shaking hands and smiling – and division is everywhere Read more…
When it comes to authentic, sweat-soaked rock, Orange Goblin have it nailed down. The Wolf Bites Back – Orange Goblin album number nine, no less – keeps their consistent streak of solid tracks almost Read more…
With few exceptions, metal has become creatively malnourished in recent years. Old ideas have been recycled over and over again, while alternatives are met with resistance at every turn. Bullet For My Valentine are the latest band to step into the breach, preparing Gravity for its time in the spotlight Read more…
Ghost possess a reputation built on a perfectly crystallized creative vision. Rock fans the world over are by now familiar with their Satanic-Catholic image and the sight of demon-pope Papa Emeritus – and they’ve at least heard of a set of albums bursting with wicked lyrics and increasingly groove-focused rock songs Read more…