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Raycon and JLab both target shoppers who want wireless earbuds without paying flagship prices. Each brand competes in the budget and midrange market, but each one takes a different route.

Raycon leans toward a more feature-heavy experience, with Active Noise Cancellation, Awareness mode, ergonomic designs, stronger water resistance on fitness models, and longer total battery life. JLab focuses more on low pricing, useful sound controls, solid battery life, and simple daily performance.

Key models in this comparison include Raycon Everyday Classic Bluetooth Wireless Earbuds, Raycon Fitness Earbuds, JLab Go Air, and JLab Go Air Pop True Wireless Earbuds.

Let’s talk about it.

Brand Overview

Before comparing sound, battery life, and value, it helps to look at what each brand is trying to offer. One brand leans into a more polished feature set, while the other focuses on getting the basics right at a very low price.

That difference shapes the full comparison. Price, fit, sound controls, battery life, and workout durability all feel different once each brand’s core approach is clear.

Raycon

Lifestyle-focused design is a major part of Raycon’s identity. Its earbuds often sit above basic budget models in price, and the brand usually pushes features that make its products feel more premium.

Common features include Active Noise Cancellation, Awareness mode, ergonomic fit, sweat and water resistance, and longer total battery life. That feature set makes Raycon attractive to buyers who want more than simple wireless audio.

Raycon Everyday Classic Bluetooth Wireless Earbuds are listed at $79.99. They offer up to 32 hours of total battery life with the charging case and up to 8 hours per charge. A 10-minute quick charge adds about 1.5 hours of playtime, which is useful for users who often forget to charge their earbuds before leaving home.

Important Raycon Everyday Classic data includes:

• Price listed at $79.99
• Up to 8 hours per charge
• Up to 32 hours total with the case
• 10-minute quick charge for about 1.5 hours of playback
• 4.3-star customer rating
• More than 30,000 customer reviews
• Praise for sound quality and charge retention

Fitness users get a more specialized option with Raycon Fitness Earbuds. They include ANC, Awareness mode, Bluetooth 5.3, IPX7 sweat and water resistance, and up to 56 hours of total battery life with the charging case. Their design also includes stabilizing fins and multiple ear tip sizes, making them better suited for movement and sweat-heavy workouts.

B. JLab

Affordability is where JLab builds much of its reputation. Instead of pushing a higher price with advanced features, JLab gives users practical tools at a much lower cost.

Common features include built-in EQ modes, water resistance, touch controls, compact cases, voice assistant support, and multiple color options. JLab Go Air Pop True Wireless Earbuds are a clear example of that approach.

JLab Go Air Pop is listed at $19.99. For that price, users get about 9 hours of listening time through the earbuds alone and more than 26 hours total with the charging case. That is strong battery life for a product priced at about one-fourth of Raycon Everyday Classic.

Key JLab Go Air Pop data includes:

• Price listed at $19.99
• About 9 hours of earbud-only battery life
• More than 26 hours total with the case
• EQ3 sound modes
• Touch controls
• IPX4 water resistance
• Dual microphones
• Voice assistant support
• More than 57,300 reviews
• 4.4-star average rating

Customer feedback also helps JLab’s value case. Go Air Pop has a slightly higher customer rating than Raycon Everyday Classic in the listed comparison, with 4.4 stars compared with Raycon’s 4.3 stars. It also has a larger review count, which strengthens its value argument.

Sound Quality Comparison

Audio performance depends on more than loudness or bass. Noise control, EQ options, microphone setup, and tuning all affect how earbuds perform during music, podcasts, calls, workouts, and commuting.

Some buyers will care most about bass and ANC. Others will care more about simple sound adjustment without paying a higher price.

Raycon Sound

A 20 Hz to 20 kHz frequency range gives Raycon Everyday Classic coverage across standard bass, mids, and treble. That range is common for consumer wireless earbuds, but sound profile and features still shape the experience.

Reviewers praised Raycon Everyday Classic for sound quality and charge retention. Active Noise Cancellation also gives these earbuds an advantage for users who want fewer distractions during commutes, office work, gym sessions, or travel.

Awareness mode adds another useful layer. Instead of blocking out everything, it lets users hear surroundings when needed. That can help during walking, commuting, or working in shared spaces.

Raycon Fitness Earbuds have a bass-forward sound profile. Users can switch among three listening profiles:

• Balanced
• Bass Sound
• Pure Sound

Even with these modes, Raycon Fitness Earbuds keep a strong bass-heavy character. That can work well for gym playlists, running, and high-energy listening. Buyers who prefer cleaner mids, lighter bass, or more detailed vocals may not like that sound as much.

Power, bass, and noise-control features are Raycon’s main sound strengths. Listeners who want a more neutral or detailed sound signature may find the tuning less appealing.

JLab Sound

Sound control is JLab’s best weapon at a low price. Instead of focusing on ANC or Awareness mode, Go Air Pop gives users EQ3 sound settings for very little money.

EQ3 lets users switch among three sound signatures:

• Signature
• Bass Boost
• Balanced

That gives users more control over sound without needing an app or a high price point. Signature mode works for general listening, Bass Boost adds more low-end punch, and Balanced gives a more even sound for casual music, podcasts, and videos.

JLab Go Air Pop also includes two microphones, one in each earbud, to support call clarity. Users praised the earbuds for quick pairing, stable use, and staying in place during moderate activity.

Advanced noise control is not part of the same package here, but sound flexibility is stronger than expected at $19.99. For casual listeners, that may matter more than extra audio processing.

Sound Verdict

Bass lovers and users who want noise control will likely prefer Raycon. Active Noise Cancellation, Awareness mode, and a stronger bass profile give Raycon a more feature-heavy listening experience.

Budget-focused listeners may prefer JLab. EQ3 modes give users simple control over sound, and that makes Go Air Pop more flexible than many low-cost earbuds.

Sound comparison breaks down clearly:

• Raycon has the advantage for ANC and Awareness mode
• Raycon has stronger bass, especially in the Fitness Earbuds
• JLab has better sound customization for the price
• JLab gives casual users three EQ modes at $19.99
• Raycon feels more feature-heavy, while JLab feels more budget-efficient

For pure value in sound customization, JLab has the edge. For noise-control features and a more premium-style listening experience, Raycon has the edge.

Battery Life Comparison

Battery life can decide how convenient earbuds feel after the first week. Long earbud-only life matters during extended listening, while strong case battery life matters for users who do not want to recharge often.

A low price does not always mean weak battery life, and a higher price does not always win every battery category. That makes battery performance one of the more useful parts of this comparison.

Raycon Battery Life

Long total battery life is one of Raycon’s clearest advantages, especially when charging-case performance matters.

Raycon Everyday Classic offers up to 8 hours per charge and up to 32 hours total with the charging case. That is enough for daily commuting, workdays, workouts, and casual listening across several days before the case needs to be recharged.

A 10-minute quick charge adds about 1.5 hours of playback. That feature helps users who need a fast top-up before a walk, commute, gym session, or video call.

Raycon Fitness Earbuds push battery life higher. They offer up to 12 hours with ANC turned off and up to 56 hours total with the charging case. Battery life drops when ANC is on, with estimates putting it at just over half of the ANC-off figure.

Raycon’s key battery strengths include:

• 8 hours per charge on Everyday Classic
• 32 hours total on Everyday Classic with case
• 10-minute quick charge for about 1.5 hours
• Up to 12 hours on Fitness Earbuds with ANC off
• Up to 56 hours total on Fitness Earbuds with case

Fewer charging breaks are a major selling point here. Fitness Earbuds are especially strong for travelers, gym users, and people who want multiple days of listening between case charges.

JLab Battery Life

Low pricing does not stop JLab Go Air Pop delivering strong battery results. Earbud-only battery life reaches about 9 hours, which beats Raycon Everyday Classic’s 8-hour per-charge figure.

Total battery life with the case reaches more than 26 hours. That is lower than Raycon Everyday Classic’s 32 hours and much lower than Raycon Fitness Earbuds’ 56 hours, but it is still strong for a $19.99 product.

JLab’s battery performance gives it real everyday usefulness. Many low-cost earbuds fail because they feel cheap or need constant charging, but Go Air Pop avoids that problem.

Main JLab battery data includes:

• About 9 hours through the earbuds alone
• More than 26 hours total with the case
• Better earbud-only battery than Raycon Everyday Classic
• Lower total case battery than Raycon Everyday Classic and Raycon Fitness

Earbud-only battery life is one of JLab’s best advantages. For users who listen for long stretches in one sitting, Go Air Pop competes well.

Battery Verdict

Total battery life favors Raycon. Everyday Classic reaches up to 32 total hours, while Fitness Earbuds reach up to 56 total hours with the case. That makes Raycon stronger for longer trips, longer workout schedules, and users who do not want to recharge the case often.

Per-charge battery is where JLab keeps the comparison close. Go Air Pop offers about 9 hours through the earbuds alone, beating Raycon Everyday Classic’s 8 hours per charge.

Battery choice depends on how the earbuds will be used:

• Pick Raycon for longer total case battery
• Pick Raycon Fitness for the strongest total battery figure
• Pick JLab for strong earbud-only battery at a low price
• Pick JLab for simple daily use without spending much

For maximum total battery life, Raycon wins. For low-cost earbud-only battery performance, JLab is impressive.

Comfort, Fit, and Durability

Comfort matters most once earbuds move past casual testing and into daily use. A secure fit can make a big difference during walks, commutes, gym sessions, and longer listening periods.

Durability also changes the buying decision. Sweat resistance, water protection, ear tips, stabilizing fins, and touch controls can make one pair feel better suited for active users than another.

Raycon

Everyday use is part of the Raycon Everyday Classic design, with an ergonomic fit meant to stay in place during regular listening. That matters for commuting, walking, work, errands, and general use.

Workout needs are handled more directly by Raycon Fitness Earbuds. Their small in-ear form factor, touch controls, stabilizing fins, and five ear tip sizes give users more ways to get a secure fit.

Raycon Fitness Earbuds include:

• Small in-ear design
• Touch controls
• Three sets of stabilizing fins
• Five ear tip sizes
• IPX7 sweat and water resistance
• Bluetooth 5.3
• Bluetooth multipoint support

Stabilizing fins become more useful during sweatier or more intense workouts. That gives Raycon Fitness Earbuds a real advantage for running, gym training, HIIT sessions, and longer active use.

IPX7 resistance also gives Raycon a stronger durability case. It offers better protection against sweat and water exposure than basic IPX4 earbuds.

Bluetooth multipoint adds another convenience feature. Users can connect to two devices at the same time, which is helpful for switching between a phone and laptop.

JLab

Simple comfort is the main idea behind JLab Go Air Pop. Its compact design, multiple color options, touch controls, and IPX4 water resistance make it easy to use day after day.

IPX4 means the earbuds can handle sweat and light activity. They are not as rugged as Raycon Fitness Earbuds, but they are good enough for walking, casual gym use, commuting, housework, and daily listening.

JLab Go Air Pop also supports voice assistants, allowing users to use spoken commands through the earbuds. Touch controls allow music playback and volume changes without reaching for a phone.

Color options include teal, rose, and lilac, giving JLab a more playful style at a low price. Customers also noted that the earbuds stay in place during moderate activity and pair quickly without frequent dropouts.

JLab’s comfort and fit argument is not about serious athletic performance. It is about being light, easy, affordable, and reliable enough for normal use.

Fit and Durability Verdict

Intense workouts favor Raycon Fitness Earbuds. Stabilizing fins, five ear tip sizes, and IPX7 resistance give them a clear edge for sweat-heavy use.

Casual exercise and daily life fit JLab Go Air Pop well. IPX4 water resistance, touch controls, and a secure fit during moderate activity make it practical for ordinary use.

Fit and durability comparison is straightforward:

• Raycon wins for intense workouts
• Raycon wins for stronger water resistance
• Raycon wins for stabilizing fins and more fit options
• JLab works well for casual activity
• JLab is enough for walking, commuting, light workouts, and daily listening

Raycon has the durability advantage. JLab has enough protection for most users who do not need a dedicated workout earbud.

Closing Thoughts

Raycon gives users more advanced features and stronger total battery performance. ANC, Awareness mode, quick charging, stronger workout durability, and up to 56 total hours on the Fitness Earbuds make Raycon a better pick for users who want more capability.

JLab gives users a better price-to-performance ratio. Go Air Pop costs $19.99, offers about 9 hours of earbud-only battery life, includes EQ3 sound modes, has IPX4 water resistance, and carries a 4.4-star rating with more than 57,300 reviews.

Raycon is stronger for performance-focused buyers. JLab is stronger for budget buyers who still want reliable battery life, sound control, water resistance, and easy everyday use.

Outbreak Fest’s takeover of All Points East just got that little bit bigger, with the addition of seven new bands to the already stacked line-up.

Joining the party will be Villanelle, Overgrown, Reclus.É, Tooth, Brooki, Clarion and Kenny Mason.

They join headliners Deftones, alongside AFI, Idles, Amyl And The Sniffers, Esdeekid, JPEGMAFIA, ¥øu$Uk€ ¥uk1mat$U, Basement, Wisp, Deafheaven, Show Me The Body, Blawan, Basement, Ecca Vandal, Interpol, Salem and Mannequin Pussy.

It’s going to be something special, guaranteed.

All Points East x Outbreak will be taking place on August 23 at London’s Victoria Park. You can grab your tickets for it from right here

The post Villanelle, Overgrown & More Added To Outbreak Fest x All Points East appeared first on Rock Sound.

Ex-Metallica bassist Jason Newsted covered Bob Seger’s Turn The Page with his Chophouse Band as their North American tour kicked off on Wednesday (July 1).

The group, where Newsted handles vocals and guitar, performed the 1972 track as part of a covers-heavy set at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton, Massachusetts. They also played tracks by Neil Young, Blue Öyster Cult, John Baez and more.

No Metallica original made the cut, but according to setlist wiki setlist.fm, the band jammed the bridge of Creeping Death during a musical rendition of Mark Twain’s poem The War Prayer. Turn The Page was also famously covered by Metallica during Newsted’s time in the band, making the tracklisting of 1998 covers project Garage, Inc..

Watch footage of Newsted’s live take below.

Newsted joined Metallica in late 1986 – shortly after the death of the band’s previous bassist Cliff Burton in a bus accident, aged 24 – and stayed in the lineup until early 2001. He played on four studio albums of original material, including 1991’s blockbuster Metallica, which made the metal giants a household name and has sold upwards of 30 million copies worldwide.

Newsted quit Metallica due to mounting personal and creative tensions within the group. He initially attributed the exit to “private and personal reasons and the physical damage I have done to myself over the years while playing the music that I love”.

In subsequent interviews, he elaborated that he was banned from pursuing outside musical projects by singer/guitarist James Hetfield.

During a 2001 Playboy interview, Hetfield reasoned, “When someone does a side project, it takes away from the strength of Metallica … Where would it end? Does he start touring with it? Does he sell shirts? Is it his band?”

But, two years later, the frontman admitted that he had been “choking” his longtime bass player.

“We were brothers,” he reflected, “and I was trying so hard to keep that that I was choking Jason … That’s how I was taught to control things: through intimidation and rage.”

In May, Newsted revealed that substance addiction also contributed to his departure.

He told YouTuber Dean Delray: “The reason I left Metallica is because I was a horrible addict. I was way up against myself, and if I didn’t get some kind of help, I was going to die. And so I just said, ‘You guys, can I have a minute? Please give me a minute.’ And they said, ‘No.’”

He also revealed that he had recently undergone treatment for throat cancer and been given the all-clear by doctors.

“May 8 of 2025, I underwent a procedure for throat cancer,” he remembered. “And so they took a bunch of shit outta here and then they went in with lasers this way and took a bunch of shit out. So the cavern inside my head is different than it was, but we got it early.”

The Chophouse Band, named after Newsted’s personal recording studio in San Francisco, will continue their North American tour at Mickey’s Black Box in Lititz, Pennsylvania tonight (July 3). From July 9, the band will support Blackberry Smoke on a string of US shows.

Meanwhile, Metallica are gearing up to play the last two shows of their three-year-long M72 world tour in London, UK tonight and on Sunday, July 5.

Sometimes they've got more interesting perspectives than their U.S. counterparts. Continue reading…

GRAMMY Award-winning singer-songwriter Ruthie Foster has released “Take Time,” the second single from her forthcoming album Just Say Yes, due out August 28 via Sun Records.

Co-written by Tyler Bryant and Foster, “Take Time” is a blues-infused, mid-tempo track featuring Foster’s signature vocals over a Southern soul organ groove and melodic electric guitar work. Inspired by her mother’s encouragement to persevere through difficult times, the song celebrates the small steps that can lead to meaningful progress and reflects the central message of the upcoming album.

Speaking about the song, Foster said, “Some songs are written to get you moving. This one was written to bring you home to yourself. Take time. It’s the one thing you can never get back.”

“Take Time” follows the release of the album’s first single, “Thank You,” which blends rock, blues, and gospel while exploring feelings of imposter syndrome. The song reflects on Foster’s experiences being questioned as a blues artist despite earning multiple GRAMMY nominations and winning the GRAMMY Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album for Mileage.

Produced in Nashville by Tyler Bryant, Just Say Yes was co-written with Bryant, Rebecca Lovell of Larkin Poe, Megan Lovell, and Mike Seal. The 10-song collection spans soul, roots, and blues while documenting Foster’s personal journey through change, resilience, and self-discovery.

“I wrote this thing on a sticky note and it just said ‘Just say yes,’” Foster recalls.

The new album comes during another significant period of transition for Foster. After suffering a torn meniscus while running to catch a flight last year, she underwent knee surgery in December. The injury and recovery prompted her to reevaluate both her personal life and live performances.

“It’s not just about age. It’s really about the miles I’ve put on,” she says. “Every step matters.”

Foster recorded the album during a break from touring before her surgery, reuniting with Bryant and Rebecca Lovell in Nashville. Drawing from both physical and emotional challenges, the songs reflect a deeply personal chapter in her life.

“Every last one of these songs are about some aspect of my life,” Foster explains.

“This was my way of being true to who I am and knowing that I’m in yet another transition in my life, which is how these albums tend to happen,” she continues.

TRACK LIST

Thank You
Come on Up (ft. Larkin Poe)
Hold On
Yes
Take Time
Doubling Back
Tangled
Sitting Still
Maybe It Up
Reachin’

TOUR DATES

Jul 10 – Columbus, OH – Bicentennial Park
Jul 11 – Deadwood, SD – Deadwood Blues Festival
Jul 17 – Taos Pueblo, NM – She Rises International Women’s Music Festival
Jul 24 – South Park Township, PA – South Park Amphitheater
Aug 1 – Woodstock, NY – Sun Records Midnight Ramble
Aug 2 – Woodstock, NY – Sun Records Midnight Ramble
Aug 12-13 – Big Indian, NY – Catskills Crossroads Blues Camp
Aug 14 – Brattleboro, VT – Stone Church
Aug 16 – Thornton, NH – White Mountain Boogie N’ Blues
Aug 20 – Brownfield, ME – Stone Mountain Arts Center
Aug 21 – Plymouth, MA – Spire Center for the Performing Arts
Aug 22 – Falmouth, MA – Falmouth Academy
Aug 23 – Albany, NY – The Egg
Aug 25 – Okoboji, IA – Pearson Lakes Art Center
Sep 10-12 – Las Vegas, NV – Big Blues Bender
Sep 13 – Cerritos, CA – Cerritos Center For The Performing Arts
Sep 15-19 – Nashville, TN – AmericanaFest
Sep 23 – London, UK – The Lexington
Sep 24 – Paris, FR – Le Duc Des Lombards
Sep 26 – Assen, NL – Crossroads Festival
Oct 24 – Hopkins, MN – Hopkins Center For The Arts
Oct 31-Nov 7 – San Diego, CA – The Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise
Feb 26-Mar 5, 2027 – Miami, FL – Cayamo

The post Blues Grammy winner releases new single appeared first on Blues Rock Review.

There is a distinct sterility that has slowly crept into a massive portion of modern alternative music. Too

Gaerea’s singer was 16 years old when his best friend was killed. He’s carried the loss ever since. Telling the story is a little complicated because the Portuguese musician doesn’t want his own identity revealed, nor does he want the name of his friend made public. We’ll get into the whys of it shortly, but for now we’ll call the singer by his stage name, Alpha.

Alpha and his friend knew each other from school. They started their first group together, did their first home recordings together, had their first band photos taken together. All the first steps every would-be musician takes, they took them together. But Alpha’s friend was way more dedicated. By his own admission, Alpha himself was just along for the ride.

“I just wanted to smoke my first cigarettes, go out, shit like that,” says Alpha, speaking from his home near Porto via Zoom, unobscured by the striking, sigil-emblazoned mask-cum-headcovering he wears onstage and in photos. With his tied-back long hair, glasses and earnest demeanour, he looks less like a man who has made one of the most emotionally charged metal albums of the year and more like a barista in a moderately trendy coffee shop.

“My friend was actually the one that wanted to become a musician,” he continues. “He had plans for all of that. He had his whole life sorted. But that didn’t happen.”

According to Alpha, his friend had bipolar disorder and was severely depressed. “Also, he was mixing a lot of drugs and alcohol,” says Alpha.

Yet the end was still a shock, not least because of the sudden nature of it. Alpha and his friend had met up one evening. The singer bailed early, but his friend decided to carry on. The next morning, Alpha got a call. It was his friend’s brother.

“He told me he’d been run over on the highway by a truck,” says Alpha, solemnly. “He was trying to make it home after a very drunken night. I was 16, he was 17.”

The death of his best friend more than 15 years ago has shaped Gaerea’s new record, Loss. It uses that traumatic incident as a jumping-off point to explore absence, trauma, guilt and the ephemeral nature of life.

“The whole album is based around my friend who passed away,” says Alpha.

Linkin Park are the band of my generation.

Alpha

Yet for all its lyrical heaviness, Loss is an exhilarating listen and a bold step into the future. Where once Gaerea were a black metal band cloaked in dissonance and darkness, their sound has become bold and expansive, drawing on everything from nu metal to hip hop.

The new album may have a black hole at the heart of it, but the band that made it are anything but hollow. Like every budding extreme metal musician worth their weight in sulphur, Alpha was drawn to the dark side as kid by Beelzebub’s unholy emissaries on Earth: Linkin Park.

“They’re the band of my generation,” he says without embarrassment. “They made me want to pick up the guitar. Did I have baggy jeans? A little bit. Spiky hair, for sure.”

It wasn’t just Linkin Park who shaped his early musical tastes. Trivium and Parkway Drive were in the mix too. So were Bring Me The Horizon, though it was Alpha’s friend – the one who died so young – who really loved them.

“He looked exactly like Oli Sykes,” says Alpha. “I really didn’t like their deathcore phase, but he used to tell me, ‘Man, this band are gonna be so huge one day, you see.’ He was right, but he didn’t get to see them.”

Alpha’s entry point to black metal had been Norwegian C-listers Ragnarok – specifically the song Murder from their 2004 album Blackdoor Miracle. He dived deeper into the scene, pulled down by the aggression and transgression.

“You’re 15, you’re rebellious, you want to express yourself and fuck off your parents,” he says. “You start listening to the most aggressive, irreligious thing you can find. You want to be edgy, and that was edgy enough for me to dive into.”

Alpha vaguely remembers the band the two friends formed being called Devotion. “Very, very, very black metal, corpsepaint, everything,” he says. “We never released anything but we had some recordings we did in our rooms.”

Who knows where things might have gone had Alpha’s friend not been hit by a truck on the highway that night. Alpha dealt with the loss by throwing himself into music. He had a good support system around him, but at the same time he began to isolate himself from his other friends without really realising it.

“From that moment on, I just went full-focus on something I didn’t want to do before,” he says. “Before that, I didn’t want to become a musician, I barely played guitar. When this tragic thing happened, I just went full-on. When I started working on this new album, I realised that I lost so many people because of this. People that were important to me.”

He put together a new band. He remembers playing one early gig in a bar in the shopping mall where they rehearsed. He half-recalls a Bible being burnt onstage. It was youthful button-pushing rather than a concerted attempt to bring down Portugal’s Catholic church.

“When you’re young you do silly shit,” he says with a shrug. “You’re trying to be edgy, making a statement against nothing.”

He formed Gaerea a decade ago, largely as a vehicle to explore his feelings of being an outsider.

“I’m not communicative or outgoing or too social,” he says. “I like to stand in a corner and observe. I like to watch people. Rehearsing where we did [in the shopping mall], you would see all kinds of people and all kinds of shit – tourists, addicts, everyone. And it made me think about my place in the world – ‘Who am I? Does it really matter to be here?’”

Gaerea’s early releases were harsh and bleak, but there was an interesting concept swirling beneath the music. 2018’s debut album, Unsettling Whispers, introduced The Vortex Society, an imaginary world populated by a series of characters lost in an unwelcoming urban environment. Even Alpha admits it was a little on the nose: “Was it Porto? Yes, of course.”

The whole album is about my regrets, things I could have done. You realise you’ve sacrificed so much and you’ve thrown so much away.

Alpha

Their third album, 2022’s Mirage, saw them starting to audibly edge beyond the boundaries of black metal into more expansive territories. 2024’s Coma took things further. Though maybe not as far as Alpha would have liked.

“We were very conservative with it,” he says. “We were afraid of too much change. We should have taken things further.”

Loss definitely delivers on that promise. It’s connected to the band Gaerea once were in the same way as the iPhone is connected to a couple of plastic cups connected by a piece of string: they’re broadly the same thing, but only just. Alpha admits that he was “starting to become a bit bored with a lot of things we were doing before”.

The result is an album that shoots high, piling on big melodies, clean vocals and the whisper-to-a-roar dynamics of modern metal. It’s hardly Linkin Park, but it’s definitely the work of someone who grew up listening to them. Yet the most interesting thing about Loss is the emotional charge it carries.

This is the sound of a someone finally confronting a moment that would shape anybody – the death of a best friend at a time when best friends are everything. ‘There’s a gap inside my mind / Where faces fade away,’ roars Alpha on Luminary, the album’s soaring opener.

“It’s a song about missing something, realising there’s something that isn’t there,” he says. “As much as you go through life and achieve things, you feel completely empty. The faces fading away – that’s people you see throughout your life.”

He talks about the imposter syndrome he felt while writing Loss, perhaps the result of a kind of guilt.

“On some parts of the album, I question myself: ‘Did I just steal this from somebody else?’”

I don’t have to show my face for people to relate to the music.

Alpha

It all comes to a head on the eight-minute Stardust, the album’s musical and emotional climax. The song cycles through bleak balladry, roaring anguish, even a whispered quasi-hip hop section, piling on the agony, despair and guilt. ‘Are you still with me when the world goes dark?’ howls Alpha on the track. ‘Are you still with me when I fall apart?’ The subject of the song is obvious.

“I’m basically talking to [my best friend],” says Alpha. “The whole album is about my regrets, things I could have done. You realise you’ve sacrificed so much and you’ve thrown so much away. You think: ‘Why did you sacrifice so much for one thing?’”

So, why did you sacrifice so much for this one thing? He shakes his head sadly. “I really don’t know.”

That desire to push forwards makes Gaerea one of the most fascinating metal bands at work right now. Ironically, the least interesting thing about them is their anonymity.

“When we started, I just didn’t care for people to know me,” he says. “I still don’t. I don’t care how musicians look. I don’t care if my favourite bands have long hair or they have some shit on their face. I don’t even care if a band changes musicians. As long as the music is there and the vision is there.”

The problem is that metal today is saturated with bozos in joke shop masks, hoping a wacky look will distract people from the averageness of their music. Gaerea may have beaten the rush, but they’ve become caught up in a cliché.

“There are some bands I see that I think are bullshit, just hopping on some bandwagon,” says Alpha. “And I know sometimes people say that about us: ‘Oh, just another masked band.’ But I think people have that bullshit sensor in them: ‘Man, there’s no authenticity to this.’”

What’s so important about being anonymous? People can Google who you are.

“There’s no band who is completely anonymous,” he concedes. “Two clicks and you’re there, including us.”

So why bother with the masks?

“Because I don’t see myself as interesting as a person. I see what my ideas can do for people, and that’s important. It’s not about, ‘That guy creates this thing.’ I’ve come to realise that when people don’t have a public figure to relate to, they kind of place themselves in the artist’s face to do that.”

Doesn’t wearing masks suggest a band who don’t have the confidence to let their music stand on its own?

“It’s the opposite,” he counters. “I don’t have to show my face for people to relate to the music. This is all about the music. Otherwise what else do we have? If the music is not good, it’s not going to work out.”

Will you ever take the masks off? “No, never,” he says simply.

Inevitably, Loss has provoked the ire of some extreme metal online gatekeepers, who insist their bands should be stuck in some kind of unholy arrested development. Alpha has seen the comments and remains admirably unconcerned.

“Every band goes through that phase,” he says. “We even got it when we released the first album. My favourite bands, I don’t love everything they do. But if people prefer the old albums, they can listen to them. They’re all out there.”

He holds up BMTH, who he dismissed as a callow teen, as a band showing how metal can change things up and push forwards.

“They can do a really crusty, grungy song, but then they can do one with trap beats or lo-fi remixes which are fucking amazing,” he says.

“That’s what I like about them. I don’t like every song they’ve done, but it’s the freedom. They just don’t fucking care.”

BMTH bring things back around to the inspiration behind Loss. They were the band his best friend said were going to be massive, but never got to see it happen. Alpha says he still thinks about the kids they were every day, and the absence that comes with it.

“I’ll forever miss him,” he says. “I would’ve loved him to be in my band. I used to feel guilty about what happened, things I said, things I could’ve done differently. But I’ve come to peace with it. I don’t feel guilty anymore. Things happen in a certain way, there is nothing anyone can do about it. It’s the only life we have.”

Loss is out now via Century Media. Gaerea play the UK in September.

Taylor Momsen’s name will always carry an association with Soundgarden. Her band, The Pretty Reckless, were chosen to support the Seattle grunge legends on their ill-fated 2017 North American tour, which was tragically cut short, 12 dates in, when Chris Cornell died by suicide on May 17, following a show at the Fox Theatre in Detroit.

Since then, Momsen’s ties with the surviving band members have only grown stronger. Momsen was one of the guest vocalists who fronted the band at the epic January 16, 2019 Cornell tribute concert I Am The Highway, held at The Forum in Inglewood, California. On the night, Momsen sang Badmotorfinger-era single Rusty Cage alongside Kim Thayil, Ben Shepherd and Matt Cameron, a performance that would be reprised when Soundgarden were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on November 8 last year. Thayil and Cameron guested on The Pretty Reckless’ 2021 album Death By Rock And Roll, on the song Only Love Can Save Me Now.

“Chris Cornell’s work speaks to me on a level that nothing else does,” Momsen says in a new interview with NME. “When something touches you that way, it’s hard to put into words just exactly why. There is just this connection, and it’s like it is speaking to you on a level that is so deep that it feels like a part of you. I’ve listened to his solo work and to Soundgarden so many times, but every time I listen to them, it evokes something different in me.

“There is the sheer amount of depth and sensitivity and aggression… [but] also, it’s so smart. It’s musically exquisite and complex — like this never-ending onion where you discover something new about it and about yourself every time you listen to it. I think that is so powerful and so fucking rare. It’s coming from a place that’s so deep and so powerful that it touches your soul.”

In the same interview, Momsen is asked for her thoughts on the as-yet-unreleased Soundgarden album that the surviving band members are currently at work on.

“Oh, man, I don’t think that’s my place to talk about,” the singer replied. “But what I will say though is that I love those guys. I’m so excited and proud of them and everything that they are doing, and just stay tuned.”

Of that album, guitarist Kim Thayil says, “It’s important for the legacy of Soundgarden, It’s important for the legacy of Chris Cornell. It is doing right by our collective work. It is doing right by our partner and friend.”

Outbreak Festival 2026 is filled with nostalgia. There is of course the usual array of hardcore and metal bands – some of which are at the genres’ vanguard – but the occasion has an altogether retrospective feel. A staggering number of the weekend’s performances revolve around album(s) shows, with The Front Bottoms, Balance & Composure, Alexisonfire, Touché Amoré and Hatebreed all billed as such. With Outbreak 2026 being the festival’s 15th anniversary edition, this teary-eyed wistfulness for the music of yesteryear is unsurprising, but the lineup does feel somewhat regressive for it. No more is this the case than with the festival’s opening night. Previous Friday nights at the festival have seen some of the more cutting-edge names in contemporary hop-hop take precedence. On this occasion, however, the evening is largely indebted to emo music of the 2010s.

The opening night is also somewhat scaled-back, with the outdoor stage – which becomes the main stage on Saturday and Sunday – unused for Friday’s performances. Add to this that the festival starts in the evening (presumably to allow attendees to arrive after work) and the opening night feels more like the blurb than the first chapter. But there’s something about the combination of this genre, these bands and a crowd this vociferous that leads to the industrial confines of Manchester’ BEC Arena being nothing short of electric.

Words: Ben Williams

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Balance & Composure

The Pennsylvanian emo band Balance & Composure supposedly disbanded in 2019. In 2023, however, they reunited. They even released an album, ‘with you in spirit’, as soon after the reformation as 2024. This makes it all the more dubious that the band’s performance at Outbreak 2026 consists entirely of songs from their first two albums, 2011’s ‘Separation (2011)’ and 2013’s ‘The Things We Think We’re Missing’. The band’s name even appears behind them like a 2010-era trippy technicolour screensaver. This may all sound a little like Balance & Composure are obsessed with their past, but their crowd appear unconcerned as they lap up every shoegaze-tinged note. For their part, the band sound sincere, with Jon Simmons’ vocals on ‘Notice Me’ soaring passionately above this particularly smitten audience.

Love Rarely

One of Friday night’s more enterprising bookings is Love Rarely, whose debut album ‘Pain Travels’ turned heads earlier in 2026 for its proudly intricate math rock musings. The Leeds band give it their all and it’s quite the spectacle, not least due to vocalist Courtney Lewitt launching herself across the stage, as every scream shoots sonic splinters from her vocal cords. The music is high-impact, densely written and filled with guitar lines that, despite the often muddy acoustics of the venue, remain audibly dextrous. They’re somewhat at odds with the emo-leanings of the evening, but Love Rarely are unabashed by their presence, which they announce to Outbreak 2026 with a refreshing intensity.

Joyce Manor

Opening with a song from their latest album (take note Balance & Composure), Joyce Manor receive something of a hero’s welcome. The Californians bring pop-punk to Outbreak with singalongs aplenty, producing some of the weekend’s catchiest choruses. ‘Heart Tattoo’ is a highlight, as is the vast quantity of attendees who have stormed the stage alongside a band that appear humbled by such proceedings. By the time they play ‘NBTSA’, the stage is so littered with people that spotting who’s in the band and who isn’t is like an alternative rock equivalent to ‘Where’s Wally’, which only adds to the enjoyable lunacy of it all.

Algernon Cadwallader

Algernon Cadwallader’s ‘Trying Not to Have a Thought’ is the band’s first album in 14 years, as well as their first with original members Nick Tazza and Colin Mahoney since their 2008 debut. The band’s near-twenty year existence has vocalist/bassist Peter Helmis – who incidentally earns the title of best beard of the weekend – in a reflective mood. He congratulates Outbreak Festival on 15 years as his all-consuming bass tones merge seamlessly into the surrounding landscapes of the emo revivalist’s set. It’s more subdued that expected, perhaps due to the comparatively small crowd they draw, but it’s a textured and smart performance nonetheless.

The Front Bottoms

Friday night headliners The Front Bottoms are emo heroes and their 2013 album ‘Talon of the Hawk’ is a classic for many. So, when the band launch into ‘Au Revoir (Adios)’, so begins a performance that sees the most dedicated of fanbases pack the venue, the stage and anywhere within the general vicinity. Only vocalist/guitarist Brian Sella and drummer Mat Uychich remain from the ‘Talon of the Hawk’ era, but the album remains pinpoint accurate, with Sella’s vocals sounding particularly unchanged since the album’s recording. Yet even better than the album’s full rendition is the remainder of the night, which sees The Front Bottoms perform nine additional songs, extending the evening to well beyond the billed runtime. For a fanbase this dedicated and besotted, though, it causes little concern.

It’s that time of year again where we talk to as many bands as we can who are raring to blow you away at Bloodstock! Today, we catch up with alt-metal force Dream State to talk electronic production, straight-edge show prep, and crowd-surfing on inflatable unicorns ahead of their SOPHIE stage debut on the Sunday. … Continue reading Road To Bloodstock 2026: Dream State