Overpower – Terminus
If you’re going to wear chainmail while performing live, you’re going to need to have the musical chops to justify the getup. Thankfully Overpower more than warrant such gear, something that ‘Terminus’ proves. Dropping before their upcoming set at Bloodstock like an executioner’s axe, the new single from the Bristolian bruisers is a sharp and serrated slice of crossover thrash that sees the quintet putting over-produced modern metalcore slop to the blade. There’s no gimmickry nor algorithm appeasing ploys here; just shit-kicking riffs designed to lay festival fields to waste. – Dan Hillier
Kulk – We’re Worried About You
Ferocious, aggressive and brilliantly noisy, Norwich based duo Kulk have made quite the name for themselves over the last few years. Taking performing alongside Portrayal Of Guilt, Pigs x7 and Part Chimp as well as collaborating with Gaffa Tape Sandy and playing ArcTanGent in their stride, Kulk are back with another sludgy, hard-hitting single ‘We’re Worried About You’. With shouted vocals and brutal, fuzzed-out guitars backed by stomping percussion, this latest track is pure Kulk chaos, burning for only a minute and a half but leaving a trail of wreckage in their wake. If you like your music deafening and intense yet intimate and personal then get ready for Kulk to be your new obsession. – Rowan Bruce
God Mother – Dopamine Wire
Almost ten years since their last full-length album, God Mother are back with a ripper of a new track. ‘Dopamine Wire’ is the lead single from the upcoming Köttvärld and it packs as much punch into one minute and thirty eight seconds as a heavyweight haymaker. Stuffed with everything from blackened riffs and dissonant harmonised leadlines to blistering drumbeats, harrowing vocals and a Mötorhead-esque solo, all whilst sounding like Sweden’s answer to Converge. It’s absolutely stuffed to the gills and bodes well for an album that many have been waiting a long time for. – Niall Creane
Jake Healy – Grand Stretch
Regardless of it being his guitar work in post-everything doomsters Sugar Horse or his own uncompromising noise project, Bristol’s Jake Healy has mostly dealt in all things oppressive and harsh. With this in mind, ‘Grand Stretch’ comes as a surprise. The first single to be lifted from his second solo LP Life Splice – releasing 30 October via Totality – ‘Grand Stretch’ is a sunkissed ray of ambience that takes inspiration from childhood summer evenings spent basking in the glow of the golden hour. Sure, its compounding loops and echoes ultimately come to carry haunting reminders of how our precious childhood memories are fraying and decaying with the passage of time, but with its gilded ambience, this feels like memory turned musical textures that are warm to the touch. “My Dad is from Cork, and I’d seemingly spend all my holidays in Ireland as a kid”, states Healy. “Because of that I like to even now stay quite tapped into some of the sayings and wordplay that comes from Ireland, cause it’s all class. One that sticks with me is the iconic “There’s a Grand Stretch in the Evenings”. Basically, to say that is to comment on that moment in the year where evenings get longer, sunsets seem to last hours and hours, and people wrecked by winter start to feel some optimism. That loop used in the song just makes me think of that, and for me that is my kind of idea of processed imagined nostalgia, certain images & phrases stick in your brain seem to mean a lot.” – Dan Hillier
Tony Iommi – World Alone
After more than fifty years in the spotlight with the godfathers of heavy metal Black Sabbath, Tony Iommi would be well within his rights to rest on his laurels and quietly retire. However, the 78 year old guitarist isn’t ready to go gentle into that good night quite yet with the announcement of his first solo album in over twenty years and his first full-length release since Sabbath’s 13 just over a decade ago. The lead single on From The Dark, ‘World Alone’ puts Iommi’s signature chugs and dark, bluesy shredding front and centre alongside Dio style vocals from Norwegian power metal mainstay Jørn Lande. While many of the titans of early heavy metal have either burnt out or faded into humiliating obscurity, Tony Iommi proves that he’s still got a few more heavy and evil riffs in the chamber. – Rowan Bruce
Cowboyy – The Mountain Chair
A welcome return to a fun and vibrant world where acts like Tera Melos and Don Cabellero reign supreme, the new single from the latest Big Scary Monster signees Cowboyy is a technicolour torrent of fretwork abuse and sticky adolescent energy. Whilst previous singles from the band have seen the band taking a psych-inspired approach to a sound reminiscent of acts such as Thank, Johnny Foreigner and even Dananananaykroyd, ‘The Chair Mountain’ essentially sounds like those bands drenching themselves in neon paint before throwing Ikea furniture down the stairs. An absolute madcap rush of math rock that’s going to make their new EP Revcoder crucial listening come its release on 25 September. – Dan Hillier
A-Tota-So – Masks
The third single to be taken from A-Tota-So’s somewhat self-titled record I Told You So – releasing 4 September via bUTTONpUSHER – ‘Masks’ sees the alt / math rock trio continuing to refuse to settle into a nicely pigeonholed sound. A track of two sides, here, A-Tota-So accurately detail the exhaustion and frustration that stems from having to put on appearances while the world continues to grind you down into a fine powder via a blend of thorny riffs and a sense of melodicism that sours to discordance. A great song, one that sees this band further their mercurial sound and a song that will no doubt be relatable with those struggling to uphold a smile in a world that gives no reason to do so. – Dan Hillier
Lake Malice – Chrome Red
The latest single taken from upcoming debut album I Wanna Know If It’s Real, ‘Chrome Red’ sees Lake Malice weld thumping dance rhythms to downtuned, thundering guitars with yet another belter of a chorus. It’s intense, with breakdowns that glitch as much as heave, while Alice Guala’s vocals move from towering melody to layered with effects. While there’s a nostalgic feel – particularly with its stellar music video, heavily inspired by Final Fantasy X – it’s clearly also refusing to live in the past, a futuristic take on the music that inspired the duo. They explain of the song, “‘Chrome Red’ is about the breaking point of one-sided friendships and the cost of unchecked individualism. It explores the moment you realise someone has been taking more than they’ve ever given, and that sometimes the strongest thing you can do is walk away. The song was inspired by my own experiences and by reading The Climber, a psychological manga about loneliness and extreme individualism. It’s about realising a friendship has become one-sided, where someone only values you for what you can do for them, and finding the strength to let go.” – Will Marshall
The Shania Twainsaw Massacre – Bloat
If you’ve never heard of The Shania Twainsaw Massacre before, then you might expect blisteringly heavy deathcore but instead, they are a grunge five-piece from Bristol that combine the classic sounds of bands such as The Smashing Pumpkins and The Pixies with emotional breakdowns and themes that tackle feminism, veganism, and other social causes. Dealing with viscerally honest lyrical themes of bulimia and the guilt that comes with eating disorders on their latest single ‘Bloat’, the nonchalant rage of lead singer Connie Matthew’s delivery against a crashing wall of guitars might not be a lighthearted listen but the subject matter in question isn’t glamorised, and the brutal honesty displayed helps remove stigma around these real disorders that affect people across all backgrounds. – Ez Luscombe
The Skints – Home
Combining elements of ska, reggae, dub, and rock, The Skints have been kicking for almost twenty years and with another tour in October and their upcoming album SOUR TOOTH set to release in the same month, there’s still no slowing down for the London four-piece. ‘Home’ is an electronic and almost industrial-tinged track which still combines the classic sounds of reggae and ska and the tight drumming during the last few seconds adds another layer of 90’s skate punk to ‘Home’. The commitment that The Skints have when combining wildly different styles of music together is something rarely seen in the modern alternative scene and despite the lyrical themes being torn between two places, their latest single is anything but boring. – Ez Luscombe
Frontierer – Ultraviolet Parasite
Frontierer love inducing medical emergencies, if their new single ‘Ultraviolet Parasite’ is anything to go by. Simultaneously sounding like a panic attack and a brain aneurysm is no easy feat but they do, and seemingly they do it just for the sheer hell of it. Pulverising bass and drum grooves sit beneath frenetic, violent guitar lines and it’s all peppered throughout with harsh noise and distorted acid-house breaks. If healthy hearing and feelings of safety and comfort are your thing then maybe this one isn’t for you. If, on the other hand, you get a kick out of feeling like you’re being sonically assaulted, ‘Ultraviolet Parasite’ demonstrates Frontierer‘s absolutely mastery of harsh, uncompromising music. – Niall Creane
TNL VZN – Chameleon
Moody, heavy, dreamlike and sprawling in scope, Birmingham’s TNL VZN have got it all in spades. Their new single ‘Chameleon’ weaves between densely layered guitar textures and crushing rhythm guitars akin to Deftones, with shades of shoegaze, grunge and nü-metal thrown in. Led by a powerhouse vocal performance, ‘Chameleon’ meanders through a wall of guitars and reverb-drenched vocals and it all builds dynamically to a punishing breakdown. They show an impressive maturity in their songwriting for such a youthful outfit, all topped off with a crisp, earthy and spacious mix that drives home their ethereal alt-metal. Exciting things to come from these youngsters. – Niall Creane