Within the first sixty seconds of opening track “Vedma”, you get a very solid introduction into the world of Dead Steppe and it’s one that you should embrace like a log lost friend, with a warm and friendly hug. This is the first release for the sludge/post metal quartet from Fredericksburg, Virginia and you can feel the passion oozing out of them.
Vocalist Jonah Robertson certainly gives it his all throughout the seven songs, and as the opener ends, it leads into a self-titled track named after the band, which has a blistering rhythm section from bassist Craig Myra and drummer Eoin Murphy, with the overlayed guitars from James Thompson, who mixed and mastered the album, coming through loud and clear.
There are encouraging signs throughout, and on “Isolation” they have a slightly different approach, slower, with the bassline cruising along nicely, as Robertson mixes up his vocal output. You do get that sense of withdrawal or disconnect, which is quite apt given the song title. “Dirge for Tomorrow” is up next and continues the harrowing theme musically as several mighty screams ring out from the singer. The cymbals are quite rightly getting a pummelling on this one, but the guitar riff steals the show as it lurks and lingers in the shadows, like a predator waiting to pounce on its prey, before it springs into life.
The foursome packs an awful lot in the three plus minutes of “Filth” with a swaying rhythm and hypnotic riff that leave you wanting more. It’s a punchy, powerful track and has about twenty seconds where Thompson is left to showcase his talents before the others come back for a barn storming ending. Then you get more variety, as the melancholy notes of “Flowers for Algernon” begin to flow with its gentle touches, low end bass notes and teasing guitars.
This is a fine example of post metal, as it’s atmospheric and plays with your mind, before the vocals punctuate the soundscape. It’s the longest song on the album at over eight mins, but it’s worth persisting with before you reach the album title track finale. Again, it has a sombre beginning, which has an icy, cold feel to it, before sparking to life with the tight rhythm section expanding their repertoire and giving another demonstration of their abilities, as Robertson gives it his all, as he stretches his voice to hidden depths.
Album Review: Mob Rules – Stories From The Verdant Vale
Reviewed by Rich Oliver
“Stories From The Verdant Vale” is a compilation of bonus material recorded by the German power metal band Mob Rules. It is an album of two halves – the first half being new material that was recorded for the limited edition earbook version of their 2025 album “Rise Of The Ruler” whilst the second half are re-recordings of songs from the band’s first two albums – 1999’s “Savage Land” and 2000’s “Temple Of Two Suns” – which feature some special guests and were originally featured on the 2014 “Timekeeper (20th Anniversary Box)”. The band were extremely pleased with this bonus material and agreed it should be available to a wider audience. It means these songs are altogether in one place and available on vinyl for the first time.
Of the new material, you have the symphonic intro ‘Savage Land (Reprise)’ and then four full songs with the highlights being the fist pumping ‘Masquerade Ball’ and the anthemic onslaught of ‘Balance Of Power’ whilst the slower ‘Above The Maelstrom’ is epic and dramatic. As mentioned earlier, the re-recordings feature some special guests and appearances include Bernhard Weiß (Axxis), Udo Dirkschneider (U.D.O.), Chity Somapala (ex-Firewind, ex-Power Quest) and Amanda Somerville (Kiske/Somerville) and these are very cool reinterpretations of some of the bands very early material.
“Rise Of The Ruler” was one of the best albums that Mob Rules had released in a while and the band were obviously still on a creative streak when writing the bonus material for the earbook edition of the album as the songs really stand up. The re-recordings are unessential but fun and the guest vocalists also add to the songs.
Whilst never receiving the attention of a lot of their contemporaries, Mob Rules have been a mainstay in German power metal since the late 90’s and have always delivered quality power metal across their ten albums. “Stories From The Verdant Vale” is more of a collectors item for the hardcore fan rather than an essential release. Avid collectors of Mob Rules releases will be happy to be able to have these songs pressed onto vinyl for the first time and there is some fantastic material to be found here but the casual power metal fan will probably bypass this release.
Scarlett O’Hara guitarist Logan Burns joins Scott Penfold on this week’s Loaded Radio Podcast. The South Texas metalcore band have spent 2026 releasing three singles — REDRUM, BREAK ME and COMMON SIDE EFFECTS — each one pushing harder into cyberpunk-industrial territory than the last. This is a band that got signed out of high school, got dropped, broke up, disappeared for the better part of a decade, and came back sounding like something else entirely. Logan’s been there for all of it. Listen to the full episode below.
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Logan Burns goes deep on the industrial turn, the Rise Records years, and why nostalgia is the last thing on this band’s mind. Download the free Loaded Radio App on Apple iOS and Google Play, or hit play above.
Three singles, one direction of travel
Start with what’s actually happening in 2026, because it’s the most interesting thing this band has done in years.
REDRUM landed first. BREAK ME followed. Then COMMON SIDE EFFECTS in June — glitchy, faster, meaner, and openly indebted to industrial metal in a way Scarlett O’Hara records never used to be.
Logan’s own read on that third one, from the press release: it’s heavier and faster than the two before it, leaning further into a cyberpunk-industrial atmosphere than anything they’ve done, blending heavy and electronic elements while keeping what he calls the signature Scarlett O’Hara DNA.
That last phrase is the whole tension, and it’s what I wanted to dig into. Because there’s a line somewhere — a point where the electronics carry so much of the song that it stops being a metalcore band with samples and starts being something else. Three singles deep, they’re walking right up to it on purpose.
Ask him whether that was a plan or something that just kept happening, and the answer’s better than you’d expect.
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Signed out of high school, and what came after
Here’s the part of the story a lot of newer listeners don’t know.
Scarlett O’Hara formed in McAllen, Texas in the late 2000s — a border town, over ninety percent Spanish-speaking, and about as far from a metalcore hub as it gets. Rise Records signed them in December 2009 while some of the band were still in high school. Their debut, Lost In Existence, arrived in 2010 with Joey Sturgis producing, which in that specific moment was the most sought-after production chair in the entire scene.
Then Rise let them go, and the band ended.
Not a hiatus with a wink. It ended. They split on good terms, everybody went and had lives, and for something like six or seven years Scarlett O’Hara simply didn’t exist. In an era when metalcore was becoming one of the defining genres of modern heavy music, one of its more promising acts just stopped.
They regrouped in 2017 and self-released Welcome Back To The Brodeo in August 2018 — no label, no machine behind it — and it hit number 19 on Hard Rock Album Sales, number 20 on Heatseekers, and number one on the South Central Heatseekers chart. Overthrown followed in December 2023 via Oxide.
Three consecutive releases on the Billboard charts. SiriusXM Octane rotation. Welcome To Rockville in 2021 and 2022, plus Louder Than Life and Inkcarceration on the résumé.
That’s a band that got dropped and then quietly outperformed the deal.
Nineteen years, two originals
Logan and rhythm guitarist Alek Samodouroff are the last two left from the beginning. The current four-piece is completed by Moses Lopez on lead vocals and Arnie Bernal on drums.
Worth clearing up while we’re here, because a lot of coverage has it wrong: Logan is the guitarist. Several outlets — including the band’s own COMMON SIDE EFFECTS press release — have credited his quotes to “singer Logan Burns.” He plays guitar and handles clean vocals. Moses is the lead vocalist. If you’ve read three articles about this band this year, there’s a decent chance you’ve been misinformed by all three.
Logan and Alek have been in the same room for nineteen years, and for roughly a decade of that they shared a house with Arnie. That’s a level of proximity most bands would not survive, and it shows up in the records — the production is largely handled in-house now rather than farmed out.
He’s also on record saying nostalgia is the last thing on their minds, which for a band celebrating nearly two decades is a genuinely unusual position. Most acts at this stage are booking anniversary tours. These guys are making their most forward-facing music yet.
That’s not a support-slot résumé — it’s a list of the bands that defined an entire era, and Scarlett O’Hara were on those bills as peers.
The industrial move puts them in interesting company now too. Motionless In White built a career on exactly that gothic-industrial-metalcore fusion. Bring Me The Horizon spent a decade dismantling their own genre from the inside. Scarlett O’Hara are eighteen years in and doing the same thing on their own terms, without a major behind them.
They call it South Texas Metalcore. On the evidence of 2026, the second half of that phrase is doing less work than it used to.
TL;DR
This week’s Loaded Radio Podcast: Logan Burns, guitarist and founding member of Scarlett O’Hara.
What’s new: three 2026 singles — REDRUM, BREAK ME and COMMON SIDE EFFECTS — each pushing further into cyberpunk-industrial territory.
In Logan’s words: COMMON SIDE EFFECTS is heavier and faster than the first two, leaning into industrial atmosphere while keeping the band’s core DNA.
The backstory: formed in McAllen, Texas; signed to Rise Records in December 2009 while some members were in high school; debut Lost In Existence in 2010 with Joey Sturgis producing.
The gap: dropped by Rise, the band broke up and stayed gone for roughly six or seven years before regrouping in 2017.
The comeback: Welcome Back To The Brodeo (2018) hit No. 19 Hard Rock Album Sales and No. 1 South Central Heatseekers with no label. Overthrown followed in 2023.
Logan Burns is the guitarist and a founding member of South Texas metalcore band Scarlett O’Hara. He and rhythm guitarist Alek Samodouroff are the two remaining original members. He handles most of the band’s press and also contributes clean vocals. Note that several outlets have incorrectly credited him as the band’s singer — Moses Lopez is the lead vocalist.
What are Scarlett O’Hara’s new songs?
The band has released three singles in 2026: REDRUM, BREAK ME and COMMON SIDE EFFECTS. Each moves further into industrial and cyberpunk-influenced territory, with COMMON SIDE EFFECTS — released in June with an accompanying video — described by Burns as the heaviest and fastest of the three.
Why did Scarlett O’Hara break up?
The band was signed to Rise Records in December 2009 and released their debut Lost In Existence in 2010. After Rise released them from their deal, the band disbanded on good terms and remained inactive for roughly six to seven years before regrouping in 2017.
What is South Texas Metalcore?
It’s the term associated with Scarlett O’Hara’s sound, reflecting their origins in McAllen, Texas — a border town far from the traditional metalcore centres. The band’s press has described it as a high-paced, unrelenting style, and in recent years it has expanded to incorporate heavy electronic, industrial and cyberpunk elements.
Who is in Scarlett O’Hara?
The current lineup is Moses Lopez on lead vocals, Logan Burns on guitar, Alek Samodouroff on rhythm guitar, studio bass and pre-production, and Arnie Bernal on drums. Burns and Samodouroff are the founding members still in the band.
Eighteen years, one breakup, and a band making their most forward-facing music now instead of a victory lap. Where do you land on the industrial turn — best thing they’ve done, or do you want the old sound back? Tell us in the comments. And keep it locked on the Loaded Radio stream — follow Loaded Radio for daily rock and metal news.
7th August 2026 Words: Dan Barnes Photos: Tim Finch
It’s an early start for the S.O.P.H.I.E. stage as London sludge gang, Gurt make their triumphal return to the fields of Catton Park after nine years away. There’s a sizable crowd already in the tent as Sludgepuppies’ twisted riffs and molasses-thick brutality fill the PA. Newer tune, Knife Fever sits between the opening oldie and its contemporary, Horrendosaurus; I get the feeling that Gurt are not fans of Live Nation, as frontman, Gareth Kelly introduces Live Nation Dead Scene by giving the company a big Fuck Off! Traditional closer, Rolling Stoned, is moved one song up, and the band is joined by The Hell singer for a rendition of 2 Unlimited’s No Limits, with the lyric changed to cover having a toot of the devil’s lettuce.
Raw black metal exponents, Blood Countess, don’t let the bright weather outside the tent mess with their Satanic mojo, rather focus their energies on performing their dark rituals uninhibited. They open their show with the Shackles of Sin introduction from this year’s sophomore album, Imperatrix Sanguinis, before going on to play Chains of Misdeed, Purge of Trenčín and Anna Nádasdy from that Elisabeth Bathory-inspired work. Evil, rasping vocals and high BPM blasts complete the atmosphere. In Virgin’s Blood and Orgasm Leading to Death come from the debut, Occulta Tenebris, an equally Countess Bathory focused collection. Fast, furious and so very blasphemous, Blood Countess rallied the Hordes this morning.
Edinburgh’s groove metal posse, Hammer take the stage and deliver a muscular collection of tunes from their two full-length records. No airs of graces, just a series of pounding, merciless, songs, including the fear-inducing subject matter of Trapped in a House with a Maniac; it’s the perfect blend of extremity in technical brutality and anxiety-riddled lyrical content. Uncompromising and at times feral, Hammer show the future of the genre is safe in the new generation’s hands.
SellSword is the sort of band Bloodstock’s foundations are built upon. Unashamedly chest-beating, fist-pumping Power Metal, it’s the sort of timelessly heroic performance every iteration of Bloodstock should have somewhere on the bill. Staunchly defending the metal faith with outrageous fretboard runs and anthemic tales of past glories, SellSword attract those looking for some escape from the dark realities of Skynd and Life of Agony. The new record …With Might and Vengeance has only been in stores a week, but the band are so confident in the material we get the title track and Mighty Mercenaries to waggle plastic swords and raise drinking horns to.
Australian thrashers, HiddenIntent, play to their national form and eschew airs and graces in favour of a heads-down approach to music. Brutality abounds throughout, as do some grooving elements. This is hardcore Aussie thrash at its finest and the band should be forever lauded for one of the best genre songs since the heyday, in Drop Bears are Real. As an Englishman, koalas raining from eucalyptus trees is not a menace I keep front of mind – but should I visit Australia, I will certainly be taking note and walk mindfully through effected areas.
Hanover comedy grinders, ExcrementoryGrindfuckers make their UK debut with a strange combination of extreme metal, rapid electronics and humpa. Beating SellSword in the recency stakes of a new album, EG’s latest, Jetz is Auch Egal, was hitting the shelves this very day. Theirs is a set built on pure chaos, lapped up by the assembled crowd, and shows that Bloodstock’s tendencies to book broader interest bands is a sound policy.
After opening the main stage on the Saturday of 2023, Portsmouth nucore band, SeethingAkira have been regular – and welcome – features on festivals across the country due to their constant high-energy fun performances. Through dual vocals and perpetual motion, the band is custom-built to party like it ‘s 1999 all over again. Put them anywhere and Seething Akira will lift the mood into the stratosphere. Now taking bookings for funerals and wakes.
Denmark’s Neckbreakker is here to play their new version of an old thing by taking the established genre of Scandinavian death metal and dragging it kicking and screaming into the modern age. But I think we can all agree that Scandinavian death metal doesn’t need much fixing, allowing the band to focus on tinkering rather than re-inventing the wheel. A young band, Neckbreakker have but a single debut album, alongside an EP and a demo from which to cull their set, but the likes of early material Face-Splitting Madness and Purified Body Fluid are punch and uncompromising, a scorched earth policy of hard-hitting riffs and flaying vocals. Only Shackle to a Corpse from the debut appears in the first half of the set, with the later tracks, Unholy Inquisition, Horizon of Spikes and Silo being saved for the end. Neckbreakker suggest a big future ahead and, on this form, who would bet against them?
Shining main man and crazed sonic scientist, Jørgen Munkeby, was here last year with Emperor but brings his experimental black jazz outfit back to Bloodstock for a third time and the first in ten years. In 2016 they had the misfortune of being billed against Gojira, this year they overlap with Sepultura’s UK swansong. Such is life. For this show Shining is playing the breakthrough Blackjazz album from 2010, a dense and intricate manifesto of the band’s musical policies that gives up its secrets slowly and through repeated exposure. Blending extremity with alternative, industrial and progressive elements means Blackjazz is a bold choice to play front to back, but it’s inspired and will hopefully be the signifier new material is in the works.
From the insane The Madness and the Damage Done, though Fisheye, and Healter Skelter to Blackjazz Deathtrance and Omen, there is little immediately accessible among the soaring passages and saxophone accompaniment. To those familiar with the record, it’s a wonderous trip into Jørgen’s maverick creativity. When the cover of King Crimson’s 21st Century Schizoid Man is the most accessible moment of the set, you know Blackjazz is a work of twisted genius.
After Lamb of God as concluded their performance there was only ex-Murderdoll Wednesday 13 to draw a line beneath Bloodstock 2026’s first full day. Overblow theatricality in the vein of Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie, earworm riffs and a whistling-passed-the-graveyard view of life are all baked into the band’s shows. Opener When the Devil Commands comes from Wednesday’s most recent record, Mid-Death Crisis; Rotting Away from the same record appears early, and there’s a mid-set In Misery.
But the heavy-lifting is being done by the debut album, Transylvania 90210: Songs of Death, Dying, and the Dead, from 2005, with early airings of I Want you… Dead and the Munsters-like play on words of Look What the Bats Dragged In. Good Day to Be a Bad Guy is loads of fun, and the inclusion of Murderdolls tunes Summertime Suicide and Nowhere is a nice touch.
No Wednesday 13 show would be complete without I Walked With a Zombie and the closing cover of Frankenstein Drag Queens from Planet 13’s I Love to Say Fuck. After a long day in the sun, this was the perfect way to bring an end to day one of the festival; just some good PG-friendly spooky fun to send everyone back to their – or other’s – tents for the remainder of the evening.
Review: Ozric Tentacles – Harmonic Mind Kscope – September 18th, 2026 Reviewer – Chris O’Connor Ah, the Ozrics. Here is a band I can honestly say I have been a fan and follower of since their very earliest free festival days… and in my case, happy daze! I think it was 1985 (maybe?) when I […]
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