Category: news

Fiddlehead are back! Today the beloved band have returned with the announcement of a new three-song EP, Baby I’ll Change, arriving this Friday, June 26 via Run For Cover/Civilians. Baby I’ll Change is Fiddlehead’s first new music since their acclaimed 2023 full-length, Death Is Nothing To Us, and it marks an exciting evolution in the […]

Finnish symphonic metal band AMBERIAN DAWN push into their new era with an invocation to the Moon. The fourth single off their upcoming album, Temptation’s Gates, shows yet another facet of their fresh sound, turning up the speed to blast beat intensity. Still Moon, which features prominent keyboard and guitar solos, remains magical up until […]

The XCERTS have shared another tracks from their upcoming record ‘i think i want to go home now.’, showcasing a different strand of the emotions it is set to be defined by.

Titled ‘bury you’, it finds the band coming out the other side of the grief, turmoil and hurt that has been found within previous singles. Musically it takes things up a notch, delivering a brash and gritty splattering of rock and roll spirit. But lyrically, it sees vocalist Murray McLeod pushing and pulling at what life after devastation is like. How to live with what you have experienced and how to move forward in a way that doesn’t brush over what has come before but also doesn’t disguise and hide it.

The result is powerful and poignant, two things that The Xcerts are experts in bringing to life.

Murray had this to say about it:

Towards the end of the writing process I was taking stock and I wanted something that had – what’s the right way to put it? – not a sense of hope, but something that’s almost meant to feel like a sobering conversation. I had a lot of those with close friends of mine who were also having tough times during that period so I wanted to have a song that represents tough love. It also acts as a reflective conversation and a statement of intent for myself. ‘This ain’t your first rodeo’ is a funny line but I’ve found myself saying it a lot and it’s true.”

‘i think i want to go home now.’ will be released on July 10 via FLG.

Here is previous offering ‘rinse, repeat’:

The post The XCERTS Share Gritty New Track ‘bury you’ appeared first on Rock Sound.

Swiss icons SAMAEL, one of the most enduring and influential bands in the industrial/black metal scene, reveal their new single. Hail To The Sun is an equally heavy and grand track dealing with life’s hardships and taking chances instead. The rousing song full of stomping rhythm continues SAMAEL’s shining path into the new era, started […]

The seemingly endless war of words between Morrissey and his former friend and The Smiths bandmate Johnny Marr has resumed once more.

The latest eruption concerns the imminent broadcast of a new eight-part BBC 6Music podcast series, The Rise and Fall of the Smiths, presented by Steve Lamacq and Elizabeth Alker, which will air from July 13.

A synopsis for the series on the BBC website reads: “The series draws on archive BBC interviews with band members Morrissey, Johnny Marr, Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce, as well as Factory Records co-founder Tony Wilson, producers Stephen Street and Grant Showbiz, Jo Slee and Geoff Travis of Rough Trade Records and The Smiths’ manager Joe Moss. It explores how The Smiths created a foundational blueprint for modern indie rock and Britpop in five years, and how their unparalleled, meteoric rise led to an acrimonious, bitter fallout.”

In a (since-deleted) post on his Morrissey Central website titled ‘THE ART OF FORGERY’, Morrissey says that he was not invited to participate in the series, and that he believes it will cast him in an unfavourable light.

He also takes aim at Johnny Marr, saying, “Marr has intentionally divided the Smiths audience into Marr or Morrissey factions; he has legally claimed the Smiths trade mark name as his – knowing full well that the name was devised by Morrissey.

“He has devoted his entire life to killing Morrissey in whatever way available. He embodies precisely what he claims to hate in others. His predatory sport of ‘calling Morrissey names’ is now in full wachine-machine overdrive. Why isn’t he bored of it all yet?”

The statement in full can be read below.

A BBC radio program supposedly tracking the story of the Smiths will be aired on July 13. The BBC has warned that it is critical in nature towards Morrissey.

Morrissey was not invited to take part in this timeworn story – which has seen at least five identical documentaries wherein Marr grabs center stage as the unchanging face of discord … and Bigmarr Strikes Again. The souring of the Smiths dream unravels once again through Marr’s mechanical paces, which are by now totally predictable plot development. The outcome is never in doubt – Marr angel; Morrissey executioner. Forty years on, Marr cannot do anything with his life but look back. The truth is always ignored. The tired lie that I left a note on Andy Rourke’s car saying ‘you are fired’ lives on with sly determination. Yes, I imagine there was a note, and yes, I imagine my name was scribbled across it mischievously – by someone unknown to the BBC. But I hadn’t hired Andy Rourke and I would have no place nor right to fire him.

The Smiths was my voice, my lyrics, my song-titles, my album titles, my single and album artwork, my vision, my vocal melodies, my emotions – nobody else’s. When The Guardian say that they love the Smiths but hate Morrissey, it is like saying ‘we hate David Bowie but we love the Spiders From Mars’. It’s all so staged, isn’t it?

As if ANYONE could listen to the Smiths yet somehow magically find a way to negotiate AROUND Morrissey and pretend he wasn’t there! When The Guardian first jumped on me in 2015 and made me the focus of their hourly malice, Marr possibly appeared in their offices the next day – sweeping the stairs and waxing the floors. This was his big chance to sway people away from the notion of the Smiths as my project. Beyond playing the music, nobody else had one single idea – but the writer Gareth Roberts took it too far when he recently said: “Remove Morrissey from the Smiths and you are left with Haircut 100”.

Funny, but not quite true.

This new BBC program already sounds like it is NOT for anyone who knows or cares about the Smiths. Marr has intentionally divided the Smiths audience into Marr or Morrissey factions; he has legally claimed the Smiths trade mark name as his – knowing full well that the name was devised by Morrissey. He has devoted his entire life to killing Morrissey in whatever way available. He embodies precisely what he claims to hate in others. His predatory sport of ‘calling Morrissey names’ is now in full wachine-machine overdrive. Why isn’t he bored of it all yet?

I am somehow more shocked by the words of Grant Showbiz in this BBC program. They are slanderous, and even worse-they come from someone whom I always held solidly in the highest regard – until now. Even Soviet Statues crumble.

The people who continually shout the loudest are those who look for relevance. Marr, I firmly believe, is destroying the legacy of the Smiths. He plants seeds of doubt everywhere. He’s done it so loudly and so often that he has trapped himself.

I have relentlessly faced the slings and arrows of the most vile of the devils snares – be they Marr, or The Guardian. It is said that those who vomit out the same corrupt hatred decade after decade are half in love with their targets, hence their romantic possession. Otherwise, they’d move on – disinclined to devote their adult lives to someone whom they claim is tat. Marr has turned his back on the Smiths in order to get the black wax seal from the haters. He has not ever felt the lyrics to How Soon is Now? – which is why he sings them with all of the romantic enchantment of Leslie Crowther.

How fantastic life would have been if Marr had chosen four more studio albums with the Smiths instead of joining and then being thrown out of the Pretenders.

Let the pie-fights continue. I shall always be reborn. The only artistic beauty in this world is whatever we bring to it. On the other hand, you have those who obliterate for pay. They have absolutely nothing else to offer.

I apologise for use of my own name in the third person (illeism), but it’s easier on both eyes.

MORRISSEY

Oslo, Norway
Monday 22 June 2026

Last year, Johnny Marr revealed that he rejected a proposal offering “an eye-watering amount of money” for The Smiths to reform, and that he has no regrets about doing so.

“I’m not an idiot, I just think the vibe’s not right,” he stated.

Fancy Weapon, the new Melbourne-based group whose members Mick Turner, Claire Birchall, Joel Silbersher and Guy Maddison have all left indelible marks across the underground music landscape, today release their self-titled debut album through Poison City. The album follows the Claire Birchall-sung singles Squid and 27 Minutes and the Joel Silbersher-sung single Squirmin’ Merman, recent […]

Deep Purple release their new single Guilt Trippin’ today – just days ahead of the worldwide release of their highly anticipated new studio album SPLAT! on July 3. What begins with a deceptively gentle piano intro soon bursts into one of SPLAT!’s most unpredictable and exhilarating moments – and one of Ian Gillan’s most memorable […]

US brutal death metal band Gutfucked has confirmed the death of their drummer and founding member Nate Flores.
Read more…

Prince of Failure’s self-titled debut album is out now. Marking a significant shift in Daniel Tompkins’ creative world, Prince Of Failure was written and developed over several years with Paul Ortiz (Chimp Spanner) and traces a long internal process rather than a single moment of inspiration. The material reflects on neurodivergence, masking, and the psychological […]

Zurich-based old school Death Metallers VORAX, featuring members from the Messiah, Omophagia, and Death Kommander, follow their 2022 Jurassic Dawn EP with debut full-length, Volcano Shock. An eight-track, thirty-two-minute slab of primaeval Death Metal, this is an essential listen for Old School Death Metal fans.

VORAX – Volcano Shock

Release Date: 27 June 2026

Words: Jools Green

There is so much that I love about this release and its predecessor. As the title suggests, Volcano Shock (and previous EP Jurassic Dawn) are inspired by all things prehistoric, taking “a thunderous journey into prehistoric worlds, dealing with natural cataclysms, dinosaur domination, and the raw laws of survival.”

Surely Death Metal and dinosaurs have to be the perfect combination? My attention has definitely been grabbed by two tiny but powerful T. rex claws, and I cannot see myself breaking free any time soon.

VORAX also take the Old School authenticity very seriously, too. The album was recorded, mixed, and mastered largely as analogue, using self-restored studio equipment from the ’80s and ’90s. Tracked and mastered on tape and mixed through a vintage Studer console, there is an aspect in the sound that OSDM fans are bound to appreciate.

Volcano Shock delivers something that reflects the genre’s late-’80s and early-’90s classic sound, raw, brutally powerful, but with a groovy, catchy and a little bit of a filthy edge.

All the musicianship is great. But I am particularly impressed with Beni from Omophagia on vocals. His delivery goes a little beyond OSDM and has a bit of a Brutal Death edge, which adds extra impact.

Opening with Magma Ocean, this is such a powerful and dramatically phrased piece where chugging riffs and pounding drum rhythms dominate. I really do love the drum work here. It is almost tribal and very primal. The soaring opening scream is protracted to perfection, as are the ensuing ones throughout. The pace ebbs and builds like bubbling magma, and the crazy burst of closing leadwork completes the mental imagery.

Devouring Raw Flesh delivers a voracious drive with slick, punctuated bleak ebbs alongside raw vocals that slice through menace alongside flesh-crawling, protracted screams and a burst of searing leadwork midway for good measure. 

Slightly slower in pace, Volcano Shock harbours a haunting repeat that reflects a touch of Bolt Thrower. I do like the bursts of powerful, almost militaristic drum work and the brutal death leaning to the vocals, which originally begin as spoken, developing their brutality and powerful protractions as the piece progresses.

As it reaches its zenith, the riffs develop a searing quality before erupting into a swathe of haunting leadwork. I love the closing dramatic echo into oblivion. This is a superbly dark and reflective piece.  

Everything about the next piece, Burning Lava, screams red hot, crawling lava flows. From the pace and drama to the riffing, to the strong drum delivery, and the raw, protracted vocals, you can practically smell the sulphurous aroma and sharp acrid notes oozing from this piece.

The pace is up, and there is a sinister undertone as Hunter Killer commences, and the opening scream will send a chill down your spine, too. With the slick direction changes adding to the sense of threat, this is a real action-packed piece that twists and turns as it progresses, holding your attention throughout.

As the piece progresses, the drum rhythms pound harder like the heart of the prey, and the closing leadwork spirals insanely, developing the atmosphere further. 

Flight Of The Pteranodon once again has a subtle Bolt Thrower echo. I love this piece. It is chunky, heavy and subtly groovy to addictive proportions. Midway through, the pace levels out, opening into a glorious swathe of lead work. I could fully visualise a huge winged beast soaring effortlessly on an air current. 

Penultimate piece Reign Supreme is a glorious crusher of a track. Searing guitar and pounding but slow-paced drum rhythms open, and all through this piece, the vocal punctuation, protraction and delivery are superb. The soaring leadwork just after halfway makes an excellent contrast to the more down-paced aspect of the riffs and drum work.

Final offering, The Great Dying, has a slow, dramatic opener. The pace gradually builds as it progresses, the vocals are a little more acerbic on this track, but as always, they are superb, particularly the screams, which are blood-curdling and dramatic.

I love the little complex bursts of riffing and drum work, as well as the superb second half swathe of lead work. Lyrically, it is dramatic too, converging on how the sky has turned grey and the light has gone, heralding the great dying.

VORAX release Volcano Shock on 27 June 2026. It will be available as a CD, vinyl and digital release. For more details, visit the band on Bandcamp. The superbly vivid cover art is by Jon.

Old School Death Metal fans really need to give this VORAX album a spin. You cannot fail to love it.

The post VORAX / Prehistoric Carnage Meets Old School Death Metal On Volcano Shock first appeared on MetalTalk – Heavy Metal News, Reviews and Interviews.