I’m going into The Blessed and the Evil fully blind as I’ve not really heard much from Belmondo. Getting Closer opens with a nice instrumental section and as vocalist Carmen Mellino’s almost haunting vocals kick in, we see the instrumentation stripped back to basics. The second verse is a lot more haunting and creates an eerie atmosphere, mostly done surrounding the vocal delivery and it sounds really good. The Journey of Moses on the Nile has a catchy ‘Like Moses drifting up the Nile’ hook and Ventriloquists mixes things up with some extremely eerie instrumentation at the start before kicking ..read more

Crushed By Waves recently released debut album More to Life. The synth-laden opening of Nothing More gets the album off to a great start. It’s melodic with a nice steady drumbeat. It’s immediately anthemic with a huge chorus. It’s a great start. It gives off some BMTH vibes, akin to Follow You at times. Dangerous is extremely catchy with the poppy bridge and chorus. It does a complete 180 however as it jumps into a scream and short breakdown before synths and a bit of spoken word before jumping into the chorus. You Know is more of a dancey style with slightly masked vocals. At times it reminds ..read more

Full Of Hell released new album Coagulated Bliss on April 26 through Closed Casket Activities. When I first looked at the album, I was intrigued by the number of tracks that come in at under three minutes. Out of the 12 songs on the album, only two clock in over this time. I’ve admittedly not listened to much of Full Of Hell so I’m not sure if this is a good or bad thing, but time will tell. Opener Half-Life of Changelings doesn’t waste any time in being brutal. In all honesty it’s not really something I’m in to as I prefer tracks with more melody rather than in your face intensity but fans of ..read more

Mayday Parade have released their Lofi EP and it is an interesting listen. Starting with Jamie All Over, with Less Gravity and Aleks, and it is a world away from one of the catchiest songs ever written (in my opinion). You can clearly tell it is Jamie All Over but it’s put together really interestingly with the piano as the main focus and the occasional accents of other instruments. I do love it though! Less Gravity also had a hand in all of the remaining tracks on the EP. In all honesty, Miserable at Best isn’t one of my favourite Mayday Parade songs but I think the lowfi version is the best ..read more

British metalcore band Defects release their debut album Modern Error in May and it’s definitely full of promise. The opening to the album is aptly called intro and it’s 46 seconds of static sounds and talking and is an interesting way to start the album. Quite a few bands have done this recently but the static-y sound actually makes it stand out. Scapegoat doesn’t waste much time in properly kicking the album off. It opens with a breakdown and growls and is extremely in your face. The growls remind me of Kurt from The Dead XIII and they are contrasted well with the occasional high and melodic ..read more

Kid Kapichi brought their There Goes the Neighbourhood Tour to The Waterfront in Norwich, accompanied by Dead Pony and Dumb Buoys Fishing Club. Opening the night was Dead Pony, an emerging Scottish anti-punk band, a stellar addition to the lineup. They kicked off their performance with a rendition of The Prodigy’s renowned track ‘Voodoo People,’ instantly igniting the crowd’s enthusiasm and setting the tone for the evening. Vocalist Anna Shields’ interaction with the crowd, and dancing around the stage was enjoyable to watch and I can imagine it’s not always easy when you’re the opening band ..read more

My first experience of Edit The Tide was when they supported Punk Rock Factory in Cardiff earlier this year and I enjoyed what I heard so was excited to learn that their debut EP, Reflections in Sound was due this month. Ambience is a great song which has stunning vocal melodies and a great sound to kick off the EP. It’s atmospheric, much like the entire EP. The instrumentation around the halfway mark of United & Rebel is just class. There’s not much else to say there! Benjamin’s vocals in the track are insane too. The heavier instrumentation on Paradigm shows off the versatility of Edit T ..read more

Moonshot release new album The Power on April 26 through Reaper Entertainment and it’s one hell of an album. Life is a Killer begins with a stunning guitar solo that is welcome therapy to the ears. The raspy vocals work well with the track and lyrically it’s a nice sounding song with a chorus asking if someone promises to treat you right. The guitar lines however are the stand out for the song. Blackened Spiral is an honest song about death and embracing the end. Shadow Boxer has another great guitar line at the start. It has a great hook that would go down well live. The drums are really cool ..read more

One of the amazing things about working with AltCorner is that I get to cover the bands that I’ve grown up listening to. Last night, I was lucky enough to be accepted to cover Kaiser Chiefs’ sold out The Easy Eighth Tour.   Kaiser Chiefs were in Blackpool of all places! Allowing me to enjoy the sand, sea and the beauty of the Empress Ballroom, located in the Winter Gardens. Built in 1896, but only opening as a venue in the 1960s, the room has seen a range of events from political conferences to WWE matches. Its most famous concerts included Rolling Stones in 1964, which caused a riot and ..read more

Finnish stars Blind Channel released their new album Exit Emotions on March 1. The distorted opening to first track Where’s the Exit is really cool. It’s not something you hear often, but the way it then transcends into a more melodic sound works really well. It’s catchy with a great hook I really enjoyed the guitars in Deadzone and the ‘living in a deadzone’ chorus is absolutely huge. Keeping it Surreal gives me some Linkin Park vibes with the rap style lyrics but it also has a more dance-style instrumentation during the chorus. A scream of ‘Happy doomsday to you’ kicks off the angsty and apt ..read more