unpeople – friends
Following on from April’s excellent ‘clouds’, the UK’s most exciting new rock band unpeople return with not only a new single ‘friends’ but news of their forthcoming debut album we are unpeople, incoming 9 October via SharpTone. ‘friends’, for all its upbeat riffing and multi-part vocal harmonies, lyrically deals with the fear of being vulnerable and, as vocalist/guitarist Jake Crawford explains, “a love song from the perspective of someone who is wholly sceptical about the very concept of love and what it’s come to mean in a modern context… I’d rather not bother than risk saying something I don’t mean, and then pay for it emotionally down the line. I’m fully aware that this is not necessarily healthy, but the mind takes you to some strange places when strong feelings are involved.” From its thunderous, hip-shaking riff to earworm chorus though, you’ll have no choice but to fall in love with unpeople. – Will Marshall
Chat Pile – Deep Blue
Lifted from their freshly announced new record Who Loves the Sun – released 4 September via The Flenser – ‘Deep Blue’ sees Chat Pile doing what they do best: offering suffocatingly heavy soundtrack scores for the surrealist horror that is modern living. Perfectly setting the tone for the album it belongs to, ‘Deep Blue’ probes how technology has gone from the saviour of humanity to the thing that will ultimately lead to our inevitable end. In true Chat Pile fashion, it’s utterly horrific – a sludge and viscera-coated song that’s in the key of livestreamed genocide and art drowning in the mire of AI slop. When the funeral of humanity comes, it won’t be a tender and mournful song that plays, but probably something closely resembling this. – Dan Hillier
Pancho – Honey
In truth, ‘Honey’ should probably be called money, or rather, the lack of money. The latest release from the new indie-math project that features members of Delta Sleep and TTNG, ‘Honey’ sees Pancho detailing just how exhausting it is to be perpetually skint in a world that charges you at least 20 quid every time you leave the house. It’s a great little track, one that carries an air of relatable lethargic frustration, but one that features all the intricacy one would expect from a band featuring members from some of the best math rock bands in the UK. – Dan Hillier
Lake Malice – Ghost In A Hell
It’s been a long time coming, but Lake Malice have finally announced their debut album I Wanna Know If It’s Real, slated to release 11 September via Blood Blast Distribution. Alongside it comes the anime-influenced ‘Ghost In A Hell’, a collision of hyperpop, electronic music and crunching alt metal. A pulverising drum beat lifted straight from drum & bass propels the song at times, while at other times it’s Alice Guala’s multifaceted voice as she switches effortlessly from shimmering melody to ferocious screams. There’s extra oomph from an excellent production job, partly from their guitarist Blake Cornwall. As an album, it tackles themes of growing up amidst multiple once-in-a-lifetime crises, from recessions to the rise of AI. The result, as Alice explains it, is “something autobiographical, but also able to capture a moment in history and the feelings of a generation.” A tall order, but they’ve not put a foot wrong yet. – Will Marshall
Cult Of Luna – In the Shadow of Your Shadow
The consistency with which Cult Of Luna delivers is frightening at this point. Four years post The Long Road North, ‘In the Shadow of Your Shadow’ (taken from the upcoming album of the same name) has all the signature hallmarks you expect from the Umea natives. Marching drums, that inimitable wall of sound, and ever revealing layers on repeat listens are par for the course for Cult Of Luna. However, everything just feels that little heavier. The guitar tone is molasses thick, while Johannes Persson’s signature bellow is gruffer, closer to a death metal growl than his usual otherworldly tone harkening back to the early days of the self titled and The Beyond. At this point, it’s hard to argue that anyone does it better than Cult Of Luna. Roll on November. – Kevin Ashburn
Coilguns – Carbon Magic
Swiss post-hardcore veterans Coilguns are back with the second song from their upcoming album, and ‘Carbon Magic’ suggests they’re stepping things up. As venomously political as its riffs are angular, it opens with a sharp, coiled intensity before dropping into noisy dissonance, then barks back to life in a galloping finale that sounds absolutely massive. The melancholia is still there underneath, that very Coilguns strain of bleakness that sits at the heart of everything they do. Here it’s held in tension with the sheer propulsive force of that incredible final riff, which makes the whole thing hit harder than it has any right to. Lovely stuff. – Paul Stephenson
Show Me The Body – Eat For Peace
Distorted banjo-beatdowns, hardcore punk, an acerbic lyrical delivery and a great ear for an anthemic hook. Show Me The Body are the sort of band who shouldn’t work on paper… so why then do they go so hard? “Radical love, it compels me to fight” they howl on their latest single ‘Eat For Peace’ and it ought to go down as the theme tune to 2026. Only New York City could produce a band as vibrant, wacky and effortlessly cool as Show Me The Body. ‘Eat for Peace’ precedes their fourth studio album Alone Together and it could be their most career-defining album yet. – Niall Creane
Cancer Bats – Long Tooth
Like a fine whiskey matured in oak barrels, Toronto’s Cancer Bats only appreciate as the years go on. ‘Long Tooth’ (the latest single from their forthcoming eighth full-length Give Me Dirt) sees the band reflect on the aging process, as they enjoy 22 years as a band. “Half dead and fully crazy – might as well just carry on” laments Liam Cormier, seemingly in response to the ludicrous state of the world. Their doom-inflected hardcore has always hit like a shot of adrenaline, but if they’re feeling a bit long in the tooth, they have never sounded more sprightly. – Niall Creane
Bring Me The Horizon – Black & Blue (2026 Repented)
Nearly twenty years after its original release, Bring Me the Horizon have given ‘Black & Blue’ a new lease of life with ‘Black & Blue (2026 Repented)’, the first taste of Count Your Blessings (2026 Repented) ahead of its release on 9th July. Whilst the original was buried beneath the glorious chaos of early deathcore production, this version allows every riff, drum fill and vocal layer far more room to breathe. Rather than a revisit, this sounds like they’ve fully stepped back into that era, recreating the ferocity of the original whilst bringing two decades of experience with them. Nostalgia projects can often feel unnecessary, but ‘Black & Blue (2026 Repented)’ already feels like much more than that. – Esther Domnu
Movements – Everything Is Fine
As anticipation continues to build around Happier Now, ‘Everything Is Fine’ arrives as one of Movements’ most immediate, emotional and memorable releases from the album so far. Built around a huge chorus and a standout vocal performance from Patrick Miranda, the track taps into the emotional honesty that has defined the band from the very beginning. There’s a rawness to the songwriting that longtime fans will instantly recognise, whilst the chorus feels destined to become a live favourite. Equal parts cathartic and brutally relatable, ‘Everything Is Fine’ is the kind of song that reminds fans of why they fell in love with Movements’ sound. – Esther Domnu
Silly Goose – Set It Off
Silly Goose return with ‘Set It Off’, pairing groove-heavy riffs, bouncing basslines and sharp vocal hooks with some of the most breakdown-driven songwriting they’ve released so far. The track takes its time getting where it needs to go, using slower tension builders before dropping into heavy breakdowns and a massive chorus. Having debuted the song live at London’s The Lower Third the day before its release, those moments already felt completely at home in a live environment. ‘Set It Off feels purpose-built for the chaos that surrounds a Silly Goose show. – Esther Domnu
The Menzingers – Better Angels
Soon to be eight albums into an illustrious career, Philadelphia’s The Menzingers already have their fair share of punk-tinged, Springsteen-esque bangers to their name. Throw one more on the pile, however, as latest single ‘Better Angels’ is a slab of anthemic midtempo folk-rock, the likes of which The Boss himself would probably approve of. Simultaneously criticising the current administration wreaking havoc on the United States and appealing to people to find their inner humanity, ‘Better Angels’ sees The Menzingers at their most infectious and poppy but not without their trademark guitar and drum heavy delivery. In a career full of them, it’s sure to be another anthem, as they hit up festivals around Europe and the US this summer. – Niall Creane