“A Buddhist monk from Japan sets out on a seemingly endless search for perfect stillness and peace. He eventually encounters an old hermit in a dark and cramped cave, an extraordinary being, and requests the secret to the permanent silence of his mental faculties. The hermit laughs, and replies that he has never had a silent mind, not in over 100 years.”
Alt Metal
Sensational new music from alt-metal band A Million Little Fires hits this season in the form of a highly-anticipated full-length album. Violent Halos is as conceptually profound and gritty as its title and artwork suggest, and the opening track alone sets the bar exceedingly high.
Superb tone, heavy rock smoothly captured – a new metal take with a twist of grunge, indie, post-punk. Jessica (Fucking) James gifts iconic vocals, to the infectious and timeless alt-metal anthem No Such Thing.
An elusive and impassioned performer, freely and boldly uniting the distortion and darkness of metal, with the evocative and heavily produced vocal sound and fluidity of emo rap. |W| Vitality creates a gripping modern soundscape, with relentless vocals pouring vulnerability and gritty contemplation into the space, for the breakthrough single Demise.
Atmospheric progressive metal of extensive meandering soundscapes – an EP of genre-fusing takes both dissonant and harmonised, beginning with a nine-minute epic that feels like multiple tracks in one. Swedish composer and musician David Blomgren creates under the project name Valfreyja, and The Rose Of Rebirth is a multi-coloured, chaotic and conceptually profound look at the artistic freedom that drives his approach.
Star-crossed lovers recapture their truth in a post-apocalyptic world. Empty Spaces celebrates Margarita’s fascination with fantasy and folklore, whilst delivering an original story and song that proves fearlessly artistic. The song releases in unison with the Japanese festival of the stars, Tanabata.
Celtic metal, alt-folk and rock – bold and beautiful vocals, distortion and delicacy consistently ebbing and flowing – Morganway carve out an unmistakable lane, with this piercingly emotive and gritty new anthem I Feel The Rain.
Indie champion and lifelong contender for the best rock and metal vocalist (and lyricist) of the scene – 3mind Blight’s latest release Hollow maintains these connections to the alternative metal realm, but also weaves in a surprisingly mellow, bass-heavy production and vibe, for something that feels infectiously emotional as it rolls along.
Jake Edwards and Kid Piccolo make up the Nu-er Metal act Human I Was, a creatively poignant and conceptually provocative act, with equal parts ambient and intense layers of expression all devoted to a single story.
Introducing a compelling fusion of genres, an explosive collaboration between the unique spiritual consciousness of rapper Souleye, and the fiercely intense new metal weight of We Are PIGS – Ghost Town is a fast-paced and fascinating original track, that manages to feel both nostalgic and unrivalled in originality.
The project is quite faultless in its musicianship and songwriting, a mighty contender to re-animate the alt-metal scene, and a worthy reminder of the legendary rock sub-genres that first built this multi-faceted universe of reflection.
Irish fourpiece Chiral note hints of influence from the likes of Tool, Rage Against the Machine and The Prodigy, but ultimately carve out their own unrivaled art-rock alternative, which proves both seductive and unsettling in its gentle to explosive unpredictability.