Reviews

Can you believe Slam Dunk Festival has come round again? The yearly Bank Holiday celebration of noise and shenanigans officially holds its own as a gigantic bat signal, announcing the arrival of festival season to masses of alternative music fans across the UK.

Zeal & Ardor brought their unique sound to London in December, and the results are captured in the aptly titled 'Live In London' album for us to experience.

Glasgow’s OHNOVA bring their mix of alternative meets big-riff rock on five track EP 'I Can't Sleep'. The neoteric desert rock trinity of Paul Morton, Matthew Sharp and Ciaran Whyte has started to reap rewards, after finding latest single Heavy Smile surface on the radio waves, and they’ll be hoping to continue that trend with this latest release.

Over the course of its fourteen year history, The Great Escape has set itself an extremely high standard to maintain, yet each year it somehow exceeds expectations. We leave Brighton with a fresh new list of unearthed talent and immediately hit the countdown timer in anticipation for doing it all again next year. Here's what we got up to on our third and final day...

After a successful first day at we’re welcomed on day two by glorious sunshine, so what better way to start than to head to The Great Escape's purpose built pop-up stage directly on the beach. Here's what we got up to on the Friday of the festival!

Brighton’s annual festival of musical discovery, The Great Escape, is one of the major opening acts of the British festival season and every year it sets an ever-raising bar for the rest to follow. The endearing, close-knit setting combined with a line-up that covers all genres imaginable, from an array of countries, provides a level of diversity and variation that you simply can’t find anywhere else over the festival season, making this annual weekend of discovery a truly unique and memorable experience.

Now in its sixth year, StrangeForms is a celebration of all things math-rock, post-rock and post-hardcore, from the legends of these alternative rock sub-genres, to new bands looking to make a name for themselves. 2018 was a landmark year for the Leeds-based festival, as it moved across the city to a larger venue at the Brudenell Social Club; evidence of the event’s growing popularity and ambition. After a successful debut year in its new home, allowing for its largest audience yet, StrangeForms is back for another instalment at the Brudenell.

'Born A Cynic', the first full-length from Bristol’s Weatherstate comes with the caveat of reputation based pressure, but has all of the touring led them towards a standout debut?

It's been a whirlwind six months for UK five-piece Employed To Serve. The end of 2018 saw the band ink a deal with Spinefarm Records, with the first half of 2019 preparing them for the release of their third album Eternal Forward Motion. After the success of 2017's The Warmth Of A Dying Sun, is this highly anticipated release going to propel Employed To Serve even further or leave them stagnant?

Lord Dying are back with their third full length release 'Mysterium Tremendum', an album that sees the band searching for solace in their art following the untimely passing of guitarist Chris Evans' sister.