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When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, as the old adage goes. When Harvey Freeman, frontman for hardcore heroes Graphic Nature, was assaulted on a train in London last year, he was left with both physical injuries and more lasting damage to his mental health. What emerged from the incident is ‘Who Are You When No One Is Watching?’, an album that’s equal parts confessional, catharsis and scream into the black void of injustice.  “Lyrically, it’s a journey through a lot of different emotions I’ve personally been through in the space of 12 months,” he explains. “How I dealt ..read more

“I wanna play a big tune in a little room, I wanna fuck things up and kill the moon,” says Jonathon Fraser – AKA Northbound – on ‘Big Tune (Fuck Off Forever)’, and with a goal like that, you have to appreciate his ambition. He’s shared bills with Simple Plan, The Home Team and Knuckle Puck in his seemingly permanent state of being on tour, but Fraser’s fourth album, ‘Juniper’ comes after several years of laying low and almost accepting his status as a pop-punk also-ran. It’s a “statement of return,” according to the artist, and it feels both fresh and familiar with each stroke. If your era is ..read more

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As the final day of Download dawns, we remind ourselves that it’s a marathon, not a sprint, and we’re on the home stretch. With an abundance of tremendous music ahead of us and brightening skies above our heads, let’s celebrate the finest of the worlds rock and metal scene and cheer for ourselves for rising above the annoyances of yesterday. Before we start “rollin, rollin, rollin” ourselves back to the real world, we’ve got a full day of tremendous acts to catch! Words: Kate Allvey.  Images: Penny Bennett and Download Festival Code Orange “Wake the fuck up,” screams Code Orange vocalist ..read more

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The name Terminals implies a group reaching their end, but this is the beginning. After giving us a taste with last year’s ‘Capsize/Exist’ single, they are launching themselves properly with a debut EP. Fittingly, they’ve called it ‘Baptise’ because it really is an immersive experience. The trio’s sound is based on post-rock, using layers guitar arpeggios and effects used to create a big beautiful canvas that they combine with a soaring vocal to give it a sweeping sense of space. It’s a huge sound, similar to band like Gates but they also have a love for mixing in down-tuned guitar riffs and a ..read more

Lockdown was a strange time. A double-edged sword. Distress and isolation on the one side, connection and creativity on the other. Unable to go about their lives, two friends found themselves reconnecting. They found a spark. They founded Mt. Onsra. Multi-instrumentalists Simon Allen and Russell Cleave hadn’t worked together since their band split back in 1995. Forging their own paths, Cleave joined a series of acclaimed bands while Allen found critical success as a solo artist. Mt. Onsra is something different. The sound is a blend of post-rock, with over-driven guitars, haunting arpeggios an ..read more

Download XXI, followup to last year’s anniversary spectacular, aims high. With Pantera’s return and Sum 41’s graceful exit on the cards, there’s plenty of huge names to make this a weekend for the history books, but the real action’s on the smaller stages. Download always manages to cram in some of the freshest and most vibrant acts out there, so let’s see how they measure up. Words: Kate Allvey.  Images: Penny Bennett and Download Festival Halocene Vocalist Addie Nicole Amick strides across the stage like an evil angel as we nervously put our plastic ponchos on for Halocene, second on th ..read more

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