CULT OF NOISE

Evil Island – Terraform The Afterlife [ALBUM REVIEW]

Evil Island is the new outfit composed of three-fifths of ex-Blood Brothers members, fronted by Johnny Whitney, with Cody Votolato on guitars and Mark Gajadhar on drums. They’re joined by Autry Fulbright (ex-…And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead) on bass, with previous Blood Brothers collaborator Ross…

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Marilyn Manson – One Assassination Under God – Part 2 [ALBUM REVIEW]

Alright, let’s get this disclaimer in first and foremost. It is important to acknowledge the serious allegations of sexual assault and abuse that have been made against Marilyn Manson (Brian Warner) by multiple women since 2021. Manson has denied the allegations. A four-year criminal investigation by Los Angeles authorities concluded…

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Initiate – With Love // With Rage [EP REVIEW]

Initiate are a California hardcore band who, on their previous 2 full lengths, have felt like a band itching to break out of the strict hardcore dichotomy. With Love // With Rage continues that trend and is their most exciting and promising release yet. This is some badass, hardcore shit.…

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Hulder – Verbolgen [ALBUM REVIEW]

Hulder is the one-woman black metal project helmed by Marz Riesterer, who has steadily built an underground following over the past few years. If 2024’s Verses In Oath put her firmly on the radar, then Verbolgen feels like it is meant to be her arrival as one of the premier…

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Electric Callboy – TANZNEID [ALBUM REVIEW]

German collective Electric Callboy have made waves across festivals with their fusion of dance-party disco and metalcore, crudely dubbed “electronicore”. Since the release of 2022’s Tekkno, they have blown up and gained a reputation for their fun and energetic live performances. Tanzneid is their latest attempt to bottle that same…

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SEX PRISONER – CAUTIONARY TALE [ALBUM REVIEW]

Cautionary Tale is the sophomore release from Arizona-based powerviolence band Sex Prisoner, who made waves with their debut Tannhauser Gate a decade ago in 2016. That’s an album I’ve only personally discovered recently following the announcement of this album, and it’s clearly one of the landmark powerviolence albums of the…

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CANCER BATS – GIVE ME DIRT [ALBUM REVIEW]

I haven’t paid much attention to Cancer Bats in quite some time, despite them having some absolute jams back in the early 2010s. This Canadian hardcore punk band are probably best known for their hardcore cover of the Beastie Boys’ ‘Sabotage’ — a sick take on an already sick song…

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FUTURE PALACE – RESURGENCE [ALBUM REVIEW]

My first impression of German alt metal up-and-comers Future Palace was they felt like a Spiritbox Lite. And Spiritbox are a not a band I have any real love for. But the vocals of frontwoman Maria Lessing, the downtuned djenty riffs and faint ethereal electronics are all on brand. It’s…

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SOUTHPAW FLHC – The Standard [ALBUM REVIEW]

The Standard is the debut release from Jacksonville outfit Southpaw FLHC, a release I probably I would have not had on my radar if the band hadn’t crossed the 100k monthly listener threshold on Spotify. This and my love of classic hardcore piqued my interest to check out what the…

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ALLT – ATARAXIA [ALBUM REVIEW]

This is the sophomore release from Swedish band Allt, who received a decent amount of hype after their debut, 2024’s From The New World. I didn’t hear that release, and after hearing this, I have zero desire to. I can only imagine this is a departure from that debut, because…

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PROTEST THE HERO – WITHIN [ALBUM REVIEW]

Protest The Hero have given us plenty of reasons to doubt them over the years. The Canadian progressive metal heroes have spent the last decade navigating one roadblock after another. Frontman Rody Walker was forced to completely relearn how to sing and scream before 2020’s Palimpsest after suffering serious vocal…

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NO CURE – IT IS GOING TO GET DARK [ALBUM REVIEW]

Alabama’s No Cure made a splash in 2024 with their breakout EP I Hope I Die Here, establishing themselves as one of the most hyped new names in metallic hardcore. It Is Going To Get Dark is their much-anticipated debut full-length, and it arrives as part of what may be…

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HAKEN – IN A FEVER DREAM [EP REVIEW]

Few modern progressive metal bands have been as consistently inventive as lovable English goofballs Haken. Across albums like The Mountain, Virus and Fauna, they’ve built a name on balancing technical brilliance with memorable songwriting, all while largely avoiding many tired tropes that dominate modern prog metal. Following Fauna however, the…

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SHOW ME THE BODY – ALONE TOGETHER [ALBUM REVIEW]

New York’s Show Me The Body have carved out a unique place in the modern punk scene by fusing hardcore, noise rock, hip-hop influences and frontman Julian Pratt’s signature banjo into something that feels distinctly their own. Alongside bands like IDLES, they’ve become one of punk’s biggest crossover success stories,…

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LEFT TO DIE – INITIUM MORTIS [ALBUM REVIEW]

Initium Mortis is a unique proposition that is simultaneously something old and something new. When the project was announced, I had a time trying to understand what exactly this release is. So let’s clarify – Left To Die is a band of 2 ex-Death members Rick Rozz (early demos +…

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SINCERE ENGINEER – PROBABLE CLAWS [ALBUM REVIEW]

Sincere Engineer have been making a name for themselves in the pop punk and ’emo’ adjacent scene for close to a decade now, with their last record 2023’s Cheap Grills marking their arrival as a band worth following. Not only did it see main woman Deanna Belos make serious improvements…

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KHEMMIS – Khemmis [album review]

Ever since their debut, 2015’s Absolution, Khemmis have been one of the premier acts in the doom metal sphere. That debut and the sophomore 2016’s Hunted were modern Doom epics punctuated by lengthy, winding songs, heavy crushing riffs, and cleanly sung hooks that stuck in your ear. Comparisons to other…

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100 DEMONS – EMBRACE THE BLACK LIGHT [ALBUM REVIEW]

100 Demons are a Connecticut-based metalcore band who released a couple of well received but relatively underground albums in the early 2000s. Until now, they may have been doomed to obscurity, buried by the hands of time and sheer volume of bands who have existed in this scene in the…

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QUICKSAND – BRING ON THE PSYCHICS [ALBUM REVIEW]

Few bands can claim to have accidentally helped shape a genre, but Quicksand are one of them. Emerging from NYC’s hardcore scene, 1993’s Slip, and to a lesser extend 1995’s Manic Compression, became an underground blueprint for what would eventually be labelled ‘post-hardcore’. This release marks the point where the…

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