Your guide to new rock, metal and punk bands worldwide
Our prolonged Christmas break is over and, like our first featured artist of 2021, we are back with a bang. Midgar is an unusual band for us, given that they started out more than a decade ago but, after a long hiatus, they're returning with a sound that's hard-hitting and intense yet melodic and intricate.
Leeds trio Kath & The Kicks have honed an intriguing sound that packs the power of alternative and grunge. Led by delicious, engaging vocals and supported by heavy riffs, there's also a more melodic edge to the band that's sure to have you hooked.
Irish trio Bitch Falcon not only have an eye-catching name but an intoxicating brand of diverse, unconventional post-punky rock that'll also stick with you. Indeed, it's a sound that they intriguingly describe to us as "heavy but melodic, aggressive, melancholic wave."
Fusing progressive rock elements coming from a death metal background is always going to conjure up something pretty exciting, and that's exactly what we get from Brighton band Milk White Throat. The band offer up thrilling riffs, cheeky guitar solos and pounding rhythms in a heavy, intense and encapsulating sound.
Nashville newcomers Lonelyouth offer up an exciting, diverse sound that sits somewhere between nu-metal, metalcore and melodic rock. They've honed a sound that offers plenty of aggression and its fair share of groove, with booming guitar riffs fused with powerful vocals engaging melodies.
We've featured a couple of 'Internet bands' in the past, but Beyond The Badlands is definitely one of the most interesting. The band was founded in January by guitarist and songwriter Cuda Smith, who's currently stationed in Germany and spends six months of the year deployed with the military which leaves him another six months to hone his brand of southern rock.
One thing you can rely on the north of England for is producing brilliant new Indie bands and it's been too long since we featured one. However, the wait has been more than worth it with the discovery of loosely Cheshire-based band The Zangwills, who offer up engaging singalong vocals alongside lively indie instrumental goodness.
London-based Meantime is formed of a Slovakian and a South African, neither of which are your traditional punk rock powerhouses. The duo of Stefan Klein and Adam Stanley have defied backgrounds that, in their words, deprived them of access to first-world media to craft an intriguing sound that they describe to us as "a little bit prog, a bit melodic grunge and a lot heavy."
How would you feel about revisiting songs or even things you thought or ranted about 21 years ago? Personally, I think it's best not to even contemplate visit 15-year-old me's thoughts. However, that's exactly what brilliantly named Los Angeles rock band Flammable Animal (try saying that three times) are doing with their recently released debut EP that transports us back to our formative music days of the 1990s.
Parisian band ODC have honed a diverse rock sound that draws on modern metal and alternative metal influences. Led by the superb vocals of frontwoman Celia Do, the band complements them with booming riffs, powerful drums and an almost industrial instrumental sound.
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