My Recent Work

My Latest Work

REVIEW: Sesame Girl - Butterfly Wing In A Silver Locket

No creature is more tied to the idea of metamorphosis than the butterfly: they take the time to develop themselves and grow, and emerge into the world as symbols of beauty. Aussie indie rockers SESAME GIRL have done the same with this record. This is the band's third EP release, but it’s here they really find themselves. Stripped down to organics, with instrumental additions of banjo and acoustic guitar, they trade out their usual fuzzy sound for sentiment and soul, putting emotion at the forefr...

REVIEW: DOUR - AGORA

Vancouver gloomwavers DOUR wrote and recorded their debut album AGORA with an earlier lineup: a trio consisting of Zak Salehian (guitar/vocals), Patrick Hamil (drums), and Gabe Jacob Ferman (bass). After a lengthy battle against substance abuse and depression, Ferman tragically passed away in January this year. He never had the chance to see the album released into the world. Months later, the record is being put out unchanged, exactly as recorded; a document that preserves his creative talents....

REVIEW: Doss - Doss

Finding the words to describe Glasgow duo DOSS is a difficult job; their genre-blending style combines distorted rhythms, ambient electronics, and a dash of social commentary into something fresh and unexpected. They’ve played shows alongside the likes of DEADLETTER and FAT DOG, and soon, they’ll be putting out their self-titled EP DOSS. It’s fittingly titled: when you think ‘DOSS’, you should think this EP.Starting off the record in an incredibly ominous fashion is PREFACE, featuring a low, spo...

REVIEW: Lavalove - Tan Lines

Heads up: you’re in the splash zone. SoCal surf rockers LAVALOVE are back with their second album, following up their 2023 debut with a sure fire soundtrack for the summer. No need to pack for the holidays - with Tan Lines, they’re bringing the beach to us. Sun-soaked, yet cool and refreshing; this is the perfect beachside cocktail to sip on while you’re tanning on the sands, getting ready to catch some waves, or bar-hopping through the SoCal scene.They start the party with Hopelessly Devoted, a...

REVIEW: Chalk Hands - The Line That Shapes the Coast of Us

Brighton screamo/post-rockers CHALK HANDS are soon to release their sophomore album; they planted the seeds of their sound with their debut record Don’t Think About Death, incorporating elements of screamo, ambient, post-hardcore, and math rock, and with their new release The Line That Shapes the Coast of Us, we witness those seeds grow into something massive: a record that very much defines the band.Intro Ember Lane is CHALK HANDS laying all their cards flat out; they showcase each and every el...

REVIEW: Cowboy Hunters - EPeepee

In a world on the brink of collapse, ravaged by hellish legions of cowboys, there is only one saviour we can turn to in our hour of need: Scotland’s COWBOY HUNTERS. Armed with lyrics sharp enough to kill and drumbeats that hit like rocket barrages, the rave-rock duo are one to watch - they’ve supported names like FRANZ FERDINAND and BOB VYLAN, and soon, WITCH FEVER, and have reached an incredible close-to-100k listeners on Spotify. They’re unpredictable, crass, and in every sense, fun - right do...

LIVE FROM THE PIT: Uninvited, Cherym and Day Drunk

Everybody knows that pop-punk had its peak in the early 2000s. The 2010s carried it strong, but now we are in the 2020s - outside of the big-name nostalgic acts that have hung around from the beginning, the genre has steadily dwindled, becoming little more than a place for artists to dip their toes into for some experimentation. At least, that is what most would have you believe; CHERYM and UNINVITED are here to prove otherwise.Independently, for the last few years, they have been instrumental p...

REVIEW: Charlotte Sands - Satellite

CHARLOTTE SANDS’ biggest strength has always been her vulnerability. She wears her heart on her sleeve, with bold, openly-emotional lyrics and deep sentimental meanings woven into the fabric of her songs. 2024 saw the release of her debut album can we start over? and very soon, she’s set to release her follow-up - an album built on the personal growth following that first record. Through Satellite, SANDS takes us on a journey of self-discovery, through breakups and cycles of sadness to embracing...

REVIEW: Deeper Graves - Pull Me Toward The Dark

Picture a cityscape in the throes of winter. You stand, leaning against the cold concrete walls of a dark alleyway, cigarette to your lips as you gaze out onto the night’s lonely streets. The wind whistles through the gaps between buildings, and sirens sound far off in the distance, as if just to fill the quiet. Maybe it’s a sign; you’re not alone. Sometimes, though, you can be in a city of people and still feel deeply isolated. These are the scenes that DEEPER GRAVES has us envisioning. The sol...

LIVE FROM THE PIT: HotWax and Jeanie And The White Boys

Hastings alt-rock trio HOTWAX released their debut album Hot Shock almost a year ago today, to the praise and acclaim of both fans and first-time listeners. They embarked on the Hot Shock tour as they set out to celebrate their album, and to further attention and support for a cause very important to them: the Music Venue Trust. The charity exists to protect and preserve grassroots venues, and they made sure the tour dates had an extensive selection of them - like historic Edinburgh venue, the C...

REVIEW: Bratakus - Hagridden

BRATAKUS have built themselves up with a fierce DIY punk ethos that has persisted since their inception. The two sisters, BRÈAGHA and ONNAGH CUINN hail from the highlands of Scotland, just outside the tiny village of Tomintoul; they make up for the peace and quiet out there by being as loud and aggressive as humanly possible. They’re punchy, fiery, and incredibly political - everything you could ask for in a DIY riot grrrl band. Their upcoming debut album Hagridden stuffs their insatiable punk e...

REVIEW: HANABIE. -「HOT TOPIC」

If you haven’t heard the name HANABIE. by now, you need your ears checked. The Japanese metal four-piece have been making quite the name for themselves - so much so that they’ve pioneered their way into an entirely new genre, something they call “harajuku-core”. They’re a cute-but-deadly storm of high-speed metal, bubbly idol pop and frenzied hardcore, and their new EP 「HOT TOPIC」is the perfect showcase for the unique energy they bring.ICONIC brings us in with the ring of a phone call, and on th...

REVIEW: Creeper - Sanguivore II: Mistress of Death

CREEPER have done it all; they’ve taken us through stories of shady disappearances and immortal gangs, of fallen angels and prophecies, and hungry, horny vampires in the night. But one thing they’ve never done is a sequel - on Halloween night, that changes. Sanguivore II: Mistress of Death may not be a direct follow-up as the name suggests, but as a spiritual sequel, the themes that permeated Sanguivore course rapidly through the dead veins of this record’s body. Here, the band set out not to re...

REVIEW: Witch Fever - FEVEREATEN

If there's one word to describe WITCH FEVER, it's relentless. They've spent the last few years making appearances with other modern heavyweights in the UK alternative circuit like BIFFY CLYRO, NOVA TWINS, and CASSYETTE, and they're currently on a two-month arena tour across the EU and UK with rock titans VOLBEAT - this is a band who have an innate, fierce energy, especially evident in their never-ending live performances. On their sophomore album, FEVEREATEN, they capture that electric atmospher...

LIVE FROM THE PIT: Dead Posey, The Cruel Knives and Brielle

Almost one year ago today, LA-based goth-rock band DEAD POSEY released their debut album Are You in a Cult? to great praise and acclaim. Since then, they have been relentlessly spreading their darkness across the world, with tours in their homeland of America, numerous festival appearances, and support slots. It feels right that on the anniversary month of their first full-length release, this rapidly-rising duo would return to the UK for their biggest ever headline tour - and especially fitting...

REVIEW: Terra Atlantica - Oceans

The sea is calm, and the winds breathe gently in an all-encompassing tranquility. There is nary a ship in sight, and you're stranded on a desolate shoreline, watching as the wreckage of your own vessel is slowly claimed by the depths. You resign yourself to your fate, and realise nobody is coming to save you. That's when you hear it – raucous cheering, and the echo of sea shanties in the distance. On the horizon sails your salvation: TERRA ATLANTICA. The four-piece crew, hailing from the home of...

REVIEW: Barrens - Corpse Lights

It's been five long years since Swedish post-rock trio BARRENS released their debut album into the world, but it was immediately apparent then that they would come to haunt the scene with their gloomy, atmospheric ambience, and with their upcoming release Corpse Lights on the horizon, that truth is cemented. Corpse lights – alternatively known as will-o'-the-wisps in varying folklores – are believed by some to be a visual representation of the soul leaving the body. BARRENS have taken that tale...

REVIEW: Tallah - Primeval: Obsession // Detachment

The word 'experimental' has always been the most fitting way to describe a band like TALLAH. They exist outside the boundaries and constraints of genre, blending elements of nu-metal and hardcore in a multi-flavoured cocktail, adding drops of trap metal and high-strung intensity into the mix along the way. They made their mark with their debut five years ago, and are back for their third release with tenfold energy, unhinged and unstoppable. Their new album Primeval: Obsession // Detachment is T...

REVIEW: Helloween - Giants & Monsters

Few names are as synonymous with power metal as Helloween. If you know the genre, you know the band. Over the course of this year and throughout what's still to come, the seven-piece German group have been celebrating their 40th anniversary, and if we were to write out the band's accomplishments over the decades, we'd reach their 50th by the time we finished the list. These titans of power metal have weathered storms, trekked through hell, and now they're travelling across the cosmos with their...

REVIEW: Blackbriar - A Thousand Little Deaths

The night is frigid, and thick with spectral mist. You're lost in an endless forest, the overgrowth forming a labyrinthian maze of thorns and branches. Before long, your foot unwittingly slips into a ring of mushrooms and you soon find yourself leaving behind the world you know. As you take your first steps through the fairy circle and into this eerily familiar place, you realise, with awe and macabre fascination – you've now entered the haunting storybook land of Blackbriar. Since their first r...

REVIEW: Margarita Witch Cult - Strung Out In Hell

Birmingham thrash metal trio Margarita Witch Cult made waves with their 2023 debut, bringing their occult rock anthems to the masses in a ritualistic bloodbath of an offering with their eponymous album. They soon made rapid-fire appearances across the UK, touring with the likes of Cancer Bats, and Monster Magnet, spreading their darkness across the country and paving the way for their new release, Strung Out In Hell, an unholy collection of sin-filled tracks dragged up from the fiery depths.We o...

REVIEW: In The Company Of Serpents - A Crack in Everything

A scavenging vulture calls through a desolate desert. Heavy, black boots kick up sand in their path. Into a rundown town on the fringes of the American frontier saunter three men clad in black, the sun a distant memory in the blackened sky above. The scene is now set for In the Company of Serpents' fifth studio album, A Crack in Everything. The Denver doom metal trio have always questioned the limits and boundaries of genre, and their latest release is no stranger to that, marrying up acoustic,...