Your guide to new rock, metal and punk bands worldwide
Stoner rockers Ravenswood are true OGs of the grunge scene, given that guitarist Chad was lucky enough to have seen Nirvana play live in Seattle before their debut album Bleach dropped. And the band have crafted a dank and moody, seriously low-tuned (B-standard) stoner rock sound that's deliciously more-ish and they describe as "Lovecraftian post-Sludge."
British trio Sleemo have crafted a genre-defying sound that combines elements of alternative metal, sludge, noise, post-hardcore and shoegaze and they describe as "dark, heavy and brooding."
French band VISAVIS take us on a wild groove metal ride that flows through catchy riffs and vocals with unexpected electronic elements along the way, in a sound they describe as "Fresh Heavy Sludge."
Bristol newcomers GNASCH formed out of an "eagerness to keep the music primitive and underdeveloped."
Glasgow band The Rhubarb have honed an intoxicating dark and doomy stoner rock sound that fuses dual vocals with deliciously heavy fuzzy riffs.
Swedish rock and metal always has a special appeal for me, so I was thrilled to discover exciting new Gothenburg band Orochen. The band have honed a dark, atmospheric sound that has a real 2000s post-rock feel alongside folky elements with a post-metal and sludgy edge. Or, as they put it, "apocalyptic post-industrial neofolk."
Like a fine red wine, Bristol's BEGGAR have gotten better with age to become an exciting addition to the UK's impressive metal scene, thanks largely to the addition of a Frenchman.
The term blackened sludge alone told us to expect something dark and dirty from Polish band Mary and the Highwalkers. But what we encountered was something beyond our wildest dreams.
Any band that provides Jamiroquai's Deeper Underground with a doomy, sludgy ten-minute-long metal makeover gets a firm thumbs up from us - so let us introduce you to Sheffield's Kurokuma.
If you're on the lookout for music that might make you want to tap your foot and nod your head, then look away now. Because Hull sludge doom merchants Mastiff are only interested in "someone slamming their head into a concrete wall just by listening to it."
GigRadar 