We’re kicking off August with a bang as we bring you nine new tracks from bands previously featured on GigRadar. This edition of On The Radar brings you a mix of industrial rock and metal featuring bands from Brazil, Germany, Japan, Poland, the UK and the US.
You can listen to all of these bands and much, much more in our range of Spotify playlist, which you can find at the bottom of this page and via our Listen To GigRadar page. But for now, get your weekend started by checking out these eight great new bands in chronological order.
Billie Rogue – Fireflower
Canadian metal solo artist Billie Rogue aims to “break the norms of metal and look cute while doing it” with a sound that fuses industrial, electronic rock, synth pop and metal elements. We first discovered her back in October 2021, since when she’s released a few more singles building up to new track Fireflower, which was released two weeks ago.
It opens up with light guitars that continue alongside mellow vocals, before gradually picking up pace. Heavier guitar chords kick in over driving drums and flow into more intense vocals, which develop into vicious screams. The pace suddenly drops again with light vocals setting up a big catchy chorus that develops into intriguing layered vocals. Atmospheric instrumentals come in alongside a combination of clean and screamed vocals bringing the track to a powerful conclusion.
On the track, Billie told us: “I wrote this divorced dad rock track eight years ago, when I was in toxic relationships after a fight with an ex. It made me think about my toxicity as a partner, and I wrote everything in one morning. I didn’t record it until 2024 and finally, after graduating college, I started focusing on finishing this song again. I was very scorned by love and the original intention of Fireflower was supposed to serve as a warning to other men that I’m psycho. Though I don’t see myself as the same person who wrote this song almost a decade ago, it’s ultimately about growth and calling out your flaws.”
You can follow Billie Rogue on Facebook and Instagram, and check out her music on Spotify, Bandcamp and Apple Music.
BORDER – Mess With You
We discovered the deliciously catchy emo, grunge and pop-punk sound of Polish duo BORDER in June with their debut single Fading. Describing their energetic sound, guitarist Patryk told us: “The whole point is not to get categorised. We’ve got a pretty punk attitude about that. But if we had to describe our style, it’d land somewhere between emo, grunge, and dirty pop punk. It also shifts from track to track.”
The duo sent us their second single Mess With You, which was released two weeks ago. The track opens up with a light plodding guitar riff over the engaging vocals of Klaudia Edyta Tomczyk. It suddenly explodes into life with a big hooky chorus “I know you like it, I watch as you’re craving for more, It’s just exciting, When things are getting out of control, You say you love me, Cause you ain’t got nothing to lose, Why don’t you come a little closer, And I’ll mess with you.” The pace slows for a second verse before another big chorus gives way to a fun little guitar solo, after which the instruments drop out to tee up a big final blast of the chorus.
You can follow BORDER on Instagram and TikTok, and check out their music on Spotify and YouTube.
Dollflesh – White Noise
Brazilian band Dollflesh are on a mission to embrace creative chaos, fracture, disturb and bring rust to an age of polished music with a sound deeply rooted in metal and electronic music. We discovered the masked São Paulo outfit at the start of last month with their debut single Zero, when frontman Kephas told us: “We don’t think Dollflesh fits into any classic genre of music. But fundamentally, it is heavy, raw, tense, sometimes groovy and fluctuates from organic to digital elements constantly. Expect simple yet powerful and creative guitar riffs and visceral vocals, while the bass brings the weight, and the drums punch the rhythm with strength and precision.”
They’ve just followed that up with second single White Noise, which has slight Mudvayne vibes. It opens up with a cool little bassline and rolling drums that continue under Kephas’ intriguing vocals that intensify alongside stabbing guitars. Heavier guitars kick in under big cries of “white noise” before dropping back into the almost spoken vocals and increasing in intensity towards another heavy chorus. Heavy industrial instrumentals take over alongside more cries of “white noise,” before little pulsing synth sounds and huge drum rolls support rhythmic guitars. The pace suddenly drops with a lone stabbing guitar and echoey vocals build up to a final heavy blast of the chorus brings the track to a raucous conclusion.
You can follow Dollflesh on Facebook, Instagram, Threads and TikTok, and check out their music on Spotify and YouTube.
Esprit D’Air – Silver Leaf
Japanese band Esprit D’Air was one of the very GigRadar interviews way back in December 2016, before we saw them play at a gig at the O2 Academy in Islington, headlining alongside our old friends Lightscape (who were superb, go listen to them here) the following April. We’ve featured a couple of their releases since as the band kept themselves busy with a second album in 2022 and a third last year, before a series of singles this year.
The latest in that run is Silver Leaf, which was released two weeks ago. It opens up with a lively synth that’s joined by fast-paced guitars and rolling drums. A vicious scream is answered by Kai’s recognisable vocals, which are joined by stabbing synths over heavy guitars. A big chorus drops into a smash of guitars and synths, and drops into another verse of contrasting screamed and clean vocals. Another chorus drops into a delicious flowing guitar solo that feeds into Kai’s catchy vocals setting up a powerful conclusion to the track.
You can follow Esprit D’Air on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.
Kath & The Kicks – Wild Side
Leeds trio Kath & The Kicks pack a powerful alternative rock meets grunge punch led by engaging vocals and supported by heavy riffs. We first discovered the band back in December 2020, when they were our New Band of the Week around the release of their filthy grunge track Underworld. They’ve been busy since then, releasing a series of singles of which the latest is Wild Side, which was released last week.
It opens up with moody guitar chords that continue as a thick bassline kicks in, then drops into an engaging verse with palm muted guitars supporting Kath Edmonds’ vocals. The pace builds in a feisty chorus that ends with chunky guitars before dropping into a funky little verse and a cry of “Show me your wild side” tees up another chorus. A funky little guitar lick jumps in and continues under high-pitched vocals “You’ll never find me again,” giving way to another cool little guitar lick before the same vocals bring the track to a close.
You can follow Kath & The Kicks on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music, Soundcloud and YouTube.
The Lovekiller – Sad Ghost
German duo The Lovekiller offer up an engaging melodic rock sound with which they aim to “irritate the musical snobs” and they describe as “romantic, dark, honest and touching.” We first found the back in April around the release of their debut single Dead Butterfly, and they released their third single Sad Ghost three weeks ago.
On the track, they told us: “Sad Ghost is our most emotional and dynamic release to date – a mix of dark romance, atmospheric synths, raw guitars, and haunting vocals.”
It starts out with a building synth sound and little synth notes that continue as a little drum roll ushers in a chunky guitar riff. The pace drops as delicious light vocals take over and pulsing synth leads us into a big singalong chorus “Sad ghost leads the last dance, A kiss of a lost soul, Heartbeat in silence, Breathing from his pale face, Will never disperse, In shadows’ tight embrace.” The chunky guitars and synths return before another mellow verse builds up to another catchy chorus that repeats before lively instrumentals bring the track to a close.
You can follow The Lovekiller on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.
Oceans On Orion – What Hurts The Most
Israel’s Ocean On Orion provide a thrilling “glam core metal” as dramatic vocals, big riffs and lively instrumentals team up in a sound that fuses metalcore with 80s influences. We first discovered the band in their previous guise of Hartsbane in 2019, before featuring the new band in January 2023, ahead of the release of their debut album Start From Nothing.
Describing the sound they’ve honed, frontman Lev Kerzhner told us: “We combine a lot of classic ‘glammish’ vocal harmonies and leads with heavier, core-inspired riffing. Some call this ‘happy metal,’ but I think it’s because we have so much fun on stage. Some call it modern metal etc… but we just do what we like naturally – first and foremost, having fun and easy-going with music creation, despite some serious lyric themes in our songs.”
Oceans On Orion just backed up that debut album with new single What Hurts The Most, which, incidentally, follows a superb cover of Linkin Park’s Breaking The Habit. It starts with dreamy synth sounds that explode into a funky guitar lick over lively chords and drums. Chugging guitar chords kick in and drop into a verse led by Lev’s engaging vocals. The lively lick returns to support a big singalong chorus “What hurts the most, Is that I’d take you back tomorrow, What hurts the most, Is that I’d give up everything, What hurts the most, Is that I’d just forget the sorrow, For another day with you, But none of it is getting through, But that’s what hurts the most.” Heavy guitars tee up another verse and big catchy chorus, which also ends with feisty chords before a key change tees up a dramatic final blast of the chorus.
You can follow Oceans On Orion on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.
The Villains Have Wings – Not Enough
We introduced English brothers Alex and James Harris’ brand new project The Villains Have Wings earlier this week. The duo dropped their debut album today and, at first listen, it’s an impressive piece of work.
It opens up with short intro track Ouroboros that flows nicely into the lively Liquid False, which is led by the impressive vocals of Alex – who you wouldn’t believe had to teach himself to sing to get this project off the ground – and concludes with delicious stabbing chords alongside piercing guitar notes. The big singalong Not Enough also drops into a section of filthy low-tuned guitars, and is followed by their debut single Us Vs Them. Next, Kintsugi opens up with echoey guitar notes answered by chunky guitars before a moody opening verse and edgey vocals. Sparking synths build up to a trademark blast of low-tuned guitars in a powerful conclusion led by engaging vocals and finished with twinkling synths.
That’s followed by a trilogy of songs under the moniker of PAIN, starting with the short instrumental Pins and Needles, before Nerve Damage and their second single Betrayer, which was released yesterday and you can check out in the video below. That’s followed by the excellent No Tape Rewind and the powerful Empathy Fade and Brittle Bones, which comes to a particularly cool ending with vicious stabbing guitars over a lingering synth. The album concludes in style with Prophet Rebirth, which starts out with laid-back vocals that intensify over palm-muted guitars and light synths. A sweeping guitar solo takes over, before the light vocals drop into stabbing guitars teeing up a dramatic conclusion.
You can follow The Villains Have Wings on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and check out their music on Spotify, Bandcamp, Apple Music and YouTube.
Wolvera – Desperate Dogs
Texas metal collective Wolvera aim to encapsulate and modernise everything that was good about 80s metal with a sound that fuses chugging riffs, vicious vocals, searing solos and powerful rhythms. We first met the band, who are formed of Dallas Fort Worth metal scene veterans, in August 2022 around the release of their debut single The Trench, following which they released they’ve released their debut EP and a couple more singles.
Describing their sound, Ozz Gomez told us: “I’d tell people interested in getting to know us to take those really awesome big and heavy sounds from the 1980s and try to consider what making them modern would sound like. We’re all about trying to hold onto the richness and heaviness that the 80s brought to heavy metal, but we also want to bring those great sounds into the modern era by combining them with meaningful lyrics and modern guitar riffs and drum beats.”
The band released new single Desperate Dogs last month. It opens up with a crushing wall of heavy guitars and drums before big cymbal hits and a held note drop into a rhythmic section of guitars and chugging bass that continue under deliciously gruff vocals. That builds up to an intriguing chorus of staccatoed vocals “Watch it all, To the end, See it fall, Crumble down, From within, Breaking off, Seeping in, To the core, Torn away, Weighing down, Giving up, Struggle on.” Chunky guitars return and drop into another verse led by thick bass and chugging guitar chords, before another in-your-face chorus gives way to a piercing guitar solo.
You can follow Wolvera on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music, Soundcloud and YouTube.
Looking for more new music? Check out these bands and much more on our Spotify playlists GigRadar Grunge, GigRadar Metal and GigRadar Rock
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