Right now, Usher is on a giant stadium tour with his fellow R&B megastar Chris Brown, and he keeps going viral for goofy reasons. A couple of weeks ago, he invited a female fan to the stage for grinding purposes and then promptly disinvited her when she clearly wasn’t into it, which led to a whole online fracas. Now, Usher is going viral for a couple of other reasons — one involving door-holding etiquette, one for allegedly pulling an MF DOOM and sending a lookalike out onstage.
As I joked two years ago about Temple Witch, you can generally guess that a band with “witch” in the name is probably gonna be doom and/or stoner metal. Witchsorrow, naturally, have kept that assumption safe for two decades by answering the question, “What if Ozzy’s Sabbath went full-on bludgeoning doom?”
With their fifth LP, and first since 2018, the English trio decided to make doom metal that’s fuckin’ heavy and fuckin’ fun, mostly a result of the stoner-rock element that’s been in the background since their 2010 eponymous debut steadily creeping to the foreground. Indeed, there are pockets of thrashy stoner rock all over this record, and the band’s better for it. It doesn’t hurt that there’s catchy riffing and shit-hot soloing, either. As such, The Devil And All His Works might be the best place to start for newcomers.
I don’t know about you, but the best thing to come out of America’s semiquincentennial other than the word “semiquincentennial” was the new Lander album Acid Jungle, and not just because its titular landscape sounds like a welcome reprieve from the erratic weather around these parts. Acid Jungle is yet another outstanding release from the Wergild collective that further explores the grim, interplanetary campaign that began with Lander’s 2023 EP. Artificer has once again outdone himself with this vast array of riffological weaponry: streams of tremolo chords like energy beams sizzle through the underbrush; punchy heavy metal chugs in 5/4 announce the arrival of a mech brigade; nebulous synths and clean guitar arpeggios hang in the air with an eerie phosphoric glow. And all the while, Krieger’s nimble percussion dictates the flow of battle during armored cavalry blitzkriegs and temporal skirmishes alike. Read enough? Then queue up Acid Jungle and get to the necrothopter.
Agita Knelling remedies the ails of American post-2010s black metal, those from scatterbrains trying to overhaul the genre with sentimentality and kaleidoscopic influences but without arresting songwriting. Atmospheric black metal with progressive rock stains and an optimistic wish, this is indeed, and Luminous Veil go so far as to include “shoegaze” and “post black metal” on the Bandcamp page. “Oh no,” you may say. Fortunately, there are a few fundamental aspects that Agita Knelling possesses that make it a breath of fresh air instead of, insert PR voice, “a breath of fresh air.” Luminous Veil have sharpened their skills and writing through releasing 10 full LPs since 2018. So, although their playing is janky and crooked, it offsets the sepia-stained atmosphere. That’s especially apparent on the title track, which throws away any concerns with a DSBM intro and shoves them in a trash compactor with melodeath riffs. On a “post-black metal” song, by the way. This comes in a package rallying against nihilism and attempting to uplift, and Luminous Veil actually accomplishes that by getting their hands dirty and dingy.
Götterkrieg has expeditiously become one of my favorite things out of Brazil in recent memory. They’ve played a black metal and dungeon synth hybrid similar to Summoning up through last year’s Chronicles of Domination, but have re-emerged as a symphonic black metal force with their new EP Mortífera Volúpia Ancestral. Even the intro track “Prelúdio” is an improvement over the intro tracks on the band’s previous material. However, the most crucial element that told me this would be excellent is the pristinely photoslopped album cover. They even used the excessive outer glow that I’ve begged for in my previous photoslop articles here. It’s nice to feel listened to.
Mortifera’s metal tracks start off hot with “Clamor Triumphalis Antitheonis,” whose first riff would be right at home on any number of ‘90s symphoblack gems. No sooner do the blast beats fully kick in that we get timpani rolls and some sensationally old-school keyboard tones. If you love the first couple Dimmu Borgir records and Limbonic Art, Obtained Enslavement, or early Hecate Enthroned, Mortífera Volúpia Ancestral is right up your alley. “Solve Et Coagula” is a ton of fun too, and the title track is no slouch despite being the longest track here. This thing isn’t just all sizzle either; there’s some exceptional songwriting on display from mastermind Allocerius, and the vocal performance is top notch–vocalist Anubious did not hold back whatsoever. Mortífera Volúpia Ancestral is outstanding, and by all accounts should be the beacon of a return to unhinged symphonic black metal as it was meant to be.
At this point, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s new album could arrive at any moment. The prolific, ever-morphic Australian psychedelic wizards previously announced that the rave-centric Alien Metal, their 28th studio LP, would come out this summer, and they shared “Level 5” and the title track. The band still hasn’t announced a release date for Alien Metal, but the third single from that record is out today. You have to figure that the album isn’t far behind.
Texas-born singer-songwriter Sam Morrow returns with Southern Boogie, his latest studio album. Over the past decade, Morrow has carved out a place for himself by blending Americana, country, blues, and rock into a roots-focused sound. With Southern Boogie, he continues on that path while steering his sound in a slightly different direction.
Recorded in Austin with producer Jonathan Tyler following Morrow’s move from Los Angeles to Nashville, Southern Boogie marks a gradual shift away from the Americana-heavy approach that shaped much of his recent work. Instead, the album leans more heavily on blues rock and Southern rock, favoring rawer guitar tones, analog production, and a loose, live feel. It is a change in emphasis rather than identity, and one that defines much of the album’s character.
Musically, Southern Boogie is a blues-based rock record with a healthy amount of fuzz, swagger, and Southern attitude. ZZ Top is the most obvious point of comparison, although traces of Grand Funk Railroad, Mountain and even Lynyrd Skynyrd surface throughout the album. The production complements that approach perfectly, giving the songs plenty of warmth while allowing the guitars to remain front and center. Morrow’s vocals are confident without becoming overbearing, and the band’s performance prioritizes groove over technical showmanship.
“Cruisin’” opens the record on a strong note, pairing a swaggering rhythm with fuzzy riffs and stinging slide guitar work to create an inviting introduction. “Lucretia” keeps the momentum going with another solid blues rocker, while the slower “Hard Lessons” brings a moodier atmosphere through its fuzz-laden guitars and restrained pacing. “South Texas Women” leans slightly more toward a countrified approach, offering a memorable chorus and a particularly satisfying guitar solo that lifts the song in its second half.
Arguably the album’s strongest track, “Saturday Night” is a hard-driving rocker built around rugged ZZ Top-inspired riffs, excellent organ work, and one of the catchiest choruses on the record. It captures the carefree spirit that runs throughout the record without sacrificing the grit that defines its sound.
“Juanita” introduces welcome touches of funk and soul, its infectious groove and slide guitar making it another standout, before “Wedding Ring” closes the album with lively riffing and enough energy to send listeners off on a high note.
Overall, Southern Boogie rarely strays from its blues rock foundation, but it remains an enjoyable listen thanks to its competent songwriting, warm analog production and convincing performances. It is an unpretentious collection of feel-good, blues-based Southern rock that knows exactly what it wants to be, delivering plenty of satisfying riffs and grooves along the way. That easygoing spirit also makes it an album worth returning to whenever the mood calls for fuzzy riffs and Southern swagger.
The Review: 7.5/10
Can’t Miss Tracks
– Cruisin’ – Hard Times – South Texas Women – Juanita – Saturday Night
Louisville, Kentucky’s Strange Birds releases its Little Victories album via Sweet Cheetah Records on September 4. Preorder it here. Strange Birds is a post-punk
Mighty Music is proud to announce the release of ‘What Are We Waiting For‘, the brand-new studio album from Danish rockers Electric Guitars, due out on October 30th, 2026. The band’s sixth studio album marks a bold new creative direction, with drummer Morten Hellborn taking over production duties and leading Electric Guitars into fresh sonic […]
Steve Stout leans into nostalgia on i wanna buy a beach house, a hazy, guitar-driven indie rock track that gradually opens into a more polished pop-inflected sound. Built around a dreamy guitar riff, the song moves between wistful textures and a warmer, more expansive section that recalls the music of Stout’s formative years. The loose, conversational lyricism adds personality, while the layered guitars and live drums give the latter half a natural sense of lift. Warm, melodic, and soaked in nostalgia, i wanna buy a beach house captures the bittersweet feeling of looking back while still dreaming about what comes next.
Metal is filled with reluctant vocalists. Whether it’s Dave Mustaine ultimately deciding to front Megadeth, or Mikael Åkerfeldt hesitantly filling the void in Opeth, or Troy Sanders and Brent Hinds eventually co-voicing Mastodon,1 vocals often exist in the genre as an afterthought. But what happens when there’s no after to the afterthought? You get something like Only Echoes, an instrumental post-metal quartet from Denver, CO. In their promo materials, Only Echoes explain that they formed expecting vocals to play a part in their music, but ‘when the time came to decide who would sing, no one raised a hand.’ This lack of vocals, however, became a staple of the band’s identity, fueling their self-titled EP (2018) and debut LP Sunsickness (2022), both of which were independently released. Arriving via Braeburn Records, sophomore album Born Adrift promises ‘an internal narrative without relying on lyrics to explain it.’ Said promo materials do, however, sketch the narrative: the album charts ‘a journey through survival, uncertainty, and the strange momentum that keeps a person moving through hostile waters.’
Without a vocalist, Only Echoes rely on the versatile arsenals of their instrumentalists to convey Born Adrift’s arc. The band references several acts one would expect as influences on an (instrumental) post-metal album: Russian Circles, Pelican, Isis.2 On the guitar front, Austin Minney and Dustin Yourishin combine for a menagerie of flickering melodies, glimmering clean chords, and chunky chugs. Drummer Zach Sirotkin lays down a bevy of blast beats, d-beats, and double-bass thunder. Meanwhile, bassist Ben Rosenberg periodically pokes through the mix with some upper-fret flourishes. As some elements of this description of Only Echoes hint at, Born Adrift doesn’t quite channel the spirit of the bands cited above. Yes, there are some well-earned quiet-to-heavy, heavy-to-quiet transitions across the album. But by and large, Only Echoes play far less patiently than these groups, swiftly shuffling between blissed-out breathers, punk-rock paces, and core-ish chuggery. Despite their mostly 6–8 minute lengths, the songs tend to sound like bursts of metal grab bag.
Because all but one song on Born Adrift briskly bounces between styles, any sense of album-spanning narrative is hard to detect. My criticism of the grab-bag songwriting notwithstanding, “Born Adrift” and “Tempest” do open the record with excitement, showcasing a band capable of moving melodies and infectious tempos. “So Tightly Bound” seems like it will be compositionally different; it develops an enchanting vibe across three minutes. But then the song quickly jumps into a d-beat-driven punk part, capped off with some obligatory chugging. It’s as if there’s a missing middle between the beginning and the punky outburst. After the aptly titled interlude (“Inter”), the album closes by showing some signs of patient development (“Steps Ahead of Drowning”). But then Only Echoes revert back to their familiar mode, jarringly contrasting serene buildups with breakneck speed (“Shimmering Death”). At 35 minutes, Born Adrift isn’t exactly a chore to get through, but it often feels longer than it is. I almost get the sense that Only Echoes tried to cram an album’s worth of material into nearly every song.
Unfortunately, sonic missteps also become a barrier to enjoying Only Echoes’s sophomore outing. On the production end of things, Born Adrift does seem cognizant of intentional mixing: the drums and bass grow more present in sections where the guitars are textural and ambient. The guitars, however, unpleasantly dominate the mix when Minney and Yourishin turn towards chugging rhythms. The bass, when it sticks to lower registers, gets lost and feels inessential. The big issue, however, concerns the low bitrate of Born Adrift’s audio files (128 kbps). At lower volumes, the album sounds compressed and mushy; at higher volumes, it’s clippy and grating. As a metal album in want of blasting, this latter fact is quite unfortunate.
Born Adrift ultimately disappoints, but not for its lack of vocals per se. As instrumentalists, Only Echoes clearly possess chops, and they show a knack for crafting and connecting affecting passages (“Born Adrift,” “Tempest”). Too often, however, these passages are disrupted by abrupt stylistic changes that come off as contrived. Additionally, the sonic flaws sadly hamper an album that does, at times, sound massive and powerful. In my view, Only Echoes don’t necessarily need someone to step up and command the microphone. They might, however, exercise the kind of restrained patience that, for me at least, tends to make for notable instrumental metal/rock.
It’s been 20 years since Muse released their masterpiece, Black Holes and Revelations. Since then, while the band’s popularity has arguably grown exponentially, musically they have left behind much of what longtime fans of ‘Black Holes…,’ and ‘Absolution’ loved so much. Fortunately, it seems the band has decided to revisit some of that sound on their 10th studio album, aptly titled The Wow! Signal. From the stunning opening track, “The Dark Forest,” it’s clear the band has come to make a statement. The sweeping orchestration, layered harmonies, and musical bombast recall the grandeur of tracks like “Knights of Cydonia” and “Take a Bow.” “Nightshift Superstar” is a catchy, immediate pop track, while “Shimmering Scar” is a sophisticated and captivating ballad. There’s a slight misstep later in the album with “Hush,” featuring pop singer Ellie Goulding, but overall, The Wow! Signal finds Muse sounding like themselves again and reconnecting with many of the qualities that made those earlier albums so compelling.
1. The Dark Forest (5:16)
2. Nightshift Superstar (4:07)
3. Shimmering Scars (4:28)
4. Cryogen (5:02)
5. Be with You (3:35)
6. Hexagons (5:27)
7. The Sickness in You & I (4:17)
8. Unravelling (3:58)
9. Hush (3:56)
10. Space Debris (5:23)
Total Time 45:29
Matt Bellamy / vocals, guitar, keyboards, piano
Chris Wolstenholme / bass, backing vocals
Dominic Howard / drums & percussion
Eric Gillette – The Watcher (July 31st, 2026)
Those familiar with Eric Gillette know there are few musicians anywhere who possess such a wide range of talent, from playing guitar, keyboards, and drums at an elite level, while also being an exceptional singer. He has showcased those abilities in bands like NMB and Temic, and now his new solo album, The Watcher, fully captures it all. When listening to it, it is hard to comprehend that the entire record was created by one person, but that’s exactly the case. Of course, the musicianship is only part of the story; the songs themselves are equally strong. There are hints of his work with Neal Morse and Mike Portnoy, along with elements that recall Toto and Dream Theater. The 10-minute “Overture” opens the album with sweeping orchestration, dazzling solos, and plenty of musical fireworks. From there, tracks like “Signal Within” and “Beneath the Mask” showcase the record’s diversity and Gillette’s impressive chops. But it’s the closing stretch of “The One That Sees It All Alive” and “Fade to Stillness” where The Watcher truly reaches its peak, bringing the album to a powerful and memorable conclusion. Any fan of his previous work will certainly enjoy this one.
1. Part I: The Sleeper (15:06)
I. Overture
II. The Stillness
2. Part II: The Watcher (14:22)
III. Signal Within
IV. Beneath the Mask
V. The Watcher Remains
3. Part III: The Vessel (8:59)
VI. The Light Beneath It All
VII. Torn and Tried
4. Part IV: The Reflection (11:24)
VIII. Shifting Light
IX. The One That Sees It All Alive
X. Fade to Stillness
Total Time 49:51
Eric Gillette / everything
OK Goodnight – stop/go (June 12th, 2026)
Formed at Berklee College of Music in 2019, Boston-based Ok Goodnight have quickly emerged as one of the more exciting young bands in modern progressive rock, combining precise musicianship with alternative songwriting. The band returns with their third studio album, stop/go, the follow-up to 2023’s acclaimed The Fox and The Bird. With stop/go. Ok Goodnight take their sound in a darker and more expansive direction while retaining the strong melodies, intricate playing, and dynamic songwriting that have defined their music to this point. The opening one-two punch of “No Sound” and “22” is aggressive yet accessible, balancing intricate playing with emotive vocals, delivered brilliantly by singer Casey Lee Williams. Meanwhile, the single “Spiral” has an infectious quality that feels like it could compete with anything on alternative radio. The album closes with the delicate and captivating “Where I’m From,” leaving the listener wanting more. stop/go is the kind of album that reveals more with each listen, further establishing Ok Goodnight as one of the most compelling young bands in modern progressive music.
1. No Sound (4:29)
2. 22 (5:14)
3. Top of the Bottom (4:54)
4. The Game (5:34)
5. Spiral (5:47)
6. Call Me Away (2:17)
7. The Show (4:59)
8. Humpty Dumpty (“Some Body!”) (4:42)
9. The People (4:20)
10. Where I’m From (5:08)
Total Time 47:24
Casey Lee Williams / Lyrics, Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, SFX
Martín de Lima / Keyboards, Guitars, Orchestrations, Backing Vocals, SFX
Augusto Bussio / Drums, Guitars, Backing Vocals, SFX
Peter de Reyna / Bass, Backing Vocals, SFX
With
Eve / Guitar solo (3)
Ella Wilhelmina / Saxophones (5), soprano sax (4), clarinet (4), flute (4)
Rodolfo Moreno / Saxophones (8)
Fractal Sun – Divergent Paradox (July 31st, 2026)
Costa Rican progressive metal band Fractal Sun blend modern metal, symphonic elements, and a futuristic, space-themed aesthetic into their distinctive sound. The band released their debut album, Turmoil, in 2020, earning attention both at home and internationally for its ambitious songwriting and cohesive vision. Since then, they have continued to release new music while building a reputation for energetic and immersive live performances. Their latest release, Divergent Paradox, is a six-song barrage of powerful progressive metal, driven by heavy riffs, dramatic arrangements, and impressive musicianship. At the forefront is vocalist Hellen Quirós, whose commanding performance and remarkable range give the music much of its personality. Opener “Trail of Hope” immediately showcases both her abilities and the strength of the band, while “Trail of Pain” shifts into more aggressive territory with the addition of growled vocals. If you haven’t been aware of this band, here is a good place to start.
Metal is filled with reluctant vocalists. Whether it’s Dave Mustaine ultimately deciding to front Megadeth, or Mikael Åkerfeldt hesitantly filling the void in Opeth, or Troy Sanders and Brent Hinds eventually co-voicing Mastodon,
