Music Reviews

When we saw The Lottery Winners for the first time in November 2022 at ‘The Barras’ supporting indie rockers The Reytons, we knew we were watching a band that had something special. Now the band release their new album 'KOKO', once again proving they're the real deal.

The album represents a triumphant return to form, especially after the lukewarm response to 2021’s 'You’re Welcome'. While that record leaned toward a somewhat confused mishmash of sounds, 'Big Ole' sees the band rediscovering the perfect fusion of pop-punk and metalcore that made their earlier work so beloved.

While their previous albums followed grand, concept-driven structures, clipping.’s latest project feels more like a mixtape – an expertly assembled collection of tracks, each one paying tribute to a potential present. ‘Dead Channel Sky’ feels sharp and timeless, evoking a sense of déjà vu for both the past and the future. This tension between the digital and the physical lies at the heart of the album, questioning whether virtual worlds are any less real than our own. With that, clipping. constructs a vision of a present-future that’s loud, tense, and impossible to ignore.

Picture the scene if you will. Out the back of a sweaty, packed metal venue and System of a Down, Rage Against the Machine, and Gojira are having an almighty tear up. A chaotic, sweaty, riff-fuelled rager in a back alley. And just when you thought it was over, they grabbed a meaty, bone rattling chorus, smacked you in the chops, and threw you into the pit. That’s 'Nu Delhi', the second album from India’s loudest, proudest, and most unapologetically ambitious metal export, Bloodywood.

Armed with scars and lessons learned, Countown demonstrate that resilience and raw emotion can drive both artistic and personal evolution. ‘Chairekakia’ proves to be a testament to their unwavering identity and refusal to conform. As they carve their place in the Greek underground pantheon, their unrelenting energy and authenticity ensure that their voice – loud, impassioned, and distinctly their own – will continue to be heard.

Hastings-via-Brighton alternative rock trio HotWax have released debut album 'Hot Shock', one that we've been anticipating for a while after seeing them live on three occasions in 2024.

If you ever needed proof that the ‘80s never truly died, 'Thrill of the Bite' is the irrefutable, iron-clad, smoking-gun evidence, swaggering into 2025 with more leather, hairspray, and fist-pumping bravado than Motley Crue on the Sunset Strip in their pomp.

Hawthorne Heights commemorate two decades of emo and post-hardcore influence, reaffirming their ability to evolve while staying true to their roots. To that end, ‘Sandpaper & Silk’ serves a greater purpose than just being a retrospective – it’s a celebration of growth, resilience, and keeps an eye on a promising future ahead.

'Vaxis - Act III: Father of Make Believe' is a quintessential Coheed and Cambria album. It’s quiet and sensible in some parts, heavy and high-octane in others, and as theatrical and bombastic as one can expect from the mind of Claudio Sanchez. This third entry into a five-album saga takes elements from their entire past catalogue, both in terms of canon and soundscapes, and polishes them up for this new chapter in the overarching canon.

When New Jersey singer/songwriter Sharon Van Etten released her debut album 'Because I Was In Love' way back in 2009 she was in complete charge, but step forward to 2025 and her eighth album release is a collaborative effort with three other bands members, all playing a big part. Van Etten describes the scene when rehearing for a tour in the desert: “For the first time in my life I asked the band if we could just jam. Words that have never come out of my mouth – ever!” Within an hour they had come up with two songs and, as they say, the rest is history.