Your guide to new rock, metal and punk bands all over the world
Let us transport you to a dark place fuelled by chaos and desperation with Newcastle quartet Creak. The band’s savage sound fuses groove metal, nu-metal and post-hardcore intensity with moments of eerie atmosphere and distortion.
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.”
Boston band Major Moment have honed an intriguingly intense cinematic rock sound that fuses big riffs and synths with the melodic vocals of their two Russian-born singers.
Lancaster trio TV FACE have honed a fun, raw and funky post-rock sound with touches of psych and punk influences who, in their words, “make songs out of being in a room making noise.”
Exciting Swedish melodic death metal duo Hour of Anguish have an intense sound that they descibe as “channelling the godfathers of the Gothenburg scene.”
Don’t expect the cliché rock songs about drugs, love and girls from exciting British dark rockers Chasing Ghosts. The band explore the human condition with emotive lyrics delivered through haunting vocals against a backdrop of engaging, atmospheric instrumentals in a sound they describe as “dynamic, emotive and cathartic.”
If you’re after a band that will help you lighten the mood and offers up a fresh new sound, then New Jersey band ScreenAge are the one for you. The quartet offer up an intriguing sound that fuses elements of alt-rock with neo-soul, jazz and indie.
The foundations of Nottingham band Dark Matter were established when frontman Jack and guitarist Ed impressed each other while jamming Metallica’s Master of Puppets. So it should come as no surprise that the band have honed a thrilling sound that offers up delicious riffs, huge solos and powerful vocals.
Arizona rock duo 23 Valkyries offer up a medley of rock elements that jumps from catchy singalong tracks to tear-jerking ballads to screaming guitar solos. In fact, it’s a sound they describe as “kind of like if Tom Petty met up with Dave Grohl for a beer.”
Armed with booming riffs and delicious guitar licks, unrelentingly heavy drums and engaging vocals, Polybius are a great example of the quality of the underground music scene in Liverpool.
If you’ve never listened to any Dutch metal bands before then Nijmegen five-piece Vain Louie is one hell of a place to get started. They offer up a thrilling melodic hardcore sound that’s seriously heavy, hugely energetic and curiously catchy.
