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Rooted and forged in the forests of Kentucky and refined in the mountains of Colorado, Brian Moody is a one-man force unleashing his heavy metal solo project with unfiltered intensity—writing, recording, and performing everything himself. Vox, guitars, bass, keyboards, drum programming. Check out the track Moodswing below.

It’s impossible to talk about the history of the EBM scene without mentioning the almighty Borghesia. Back in

Dead/Asleep is a modern hard rock and metal project featuring members of Drowning Pool, Fire From The Gods, Flyleaf, Live, and Crobot. Collectively, the band brings decades of touring, recording, festival, and international performance experience to its debut release. Built around crushing riffs, soaring melodies, and emotionally charged songwriting, Dead/Asleep combines seasoned musicianship with a […]

While the domestic music landscape remains trapped in safe, algorithm- friendly minimalism, an independent global consensus has officially formed around the industrial shock rock project GAWD. Following a wave of confrontational releases including American Faggot, Mister Masculine, and American Closet, prominent international alternative media outlets across Europe, Australia, and Latin America are uniformly identifying the […]

Dreadnought are back. The Colorado outfit — one of heavy music’s best kept secrets and most singular voices — release their new single “The Archive” today, accompanied by a music video that matches the band’s ambition shot for shot: atmospheric, cinematic, and of the highest quality. “The Archive” is taken from Wars of Spirit // Wards […]

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Finnish melodic death metal act Noumena has released their new single “Tyhjyys” (The Void), the third single from their upcoming album Maanääri, set for release this August. The release is accompanied by a music video. The track dives deep into a world defined by uncertainty and loneliness. Its fragile, beautiful melodies combined with crushing riff barrages carry an overwhelming weight […]

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When Motionless In White first emerged in 2004, they seemed to know exactly who they were aesthetically, but not so much musically. All too often, it seemed their gothic/nu metal/industrial blend was an enthusiastic cut and paste from other bands, and while there’s nothing wrong with having influences, it often left the Pennsylvanians looking like they were still searching for a sonic identity of their own.

2022’s Scoring The End Of The World album got them close to that goal, but while they’ll always doff a cap to Korn, Slipknot and Rob Zombie, on their seventh album, Decades, they’ve finally learned to harness that admiration and make it their own.

Take single Playing God: while it rides in on a torrent of maniacal drums like an early 2000s Slipknot cut, sinister synths ensure it’s identifiable as the product of its creators. It’s also the heaviest Motionless In White have ever sounded, with some additional heft coming from an almost comically aggressive performance from Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor – who must have relished the opportunity to rage against the superficiality of social media.

Corey and Motionless singer Chris Cerulli bring the song to a close with a bang, issuing the year’s most disdainful mosh call: ‘Grovel like a bitch on your knees for the applause / Lick the fucking dirt off my boots like a good dog’, but the point is it doesn’t sound like a Slipknot song – a pitfall you suspect Motionless In White would have fallen into only a few years ago.

Meanwhile, All That I’ve Ever Known and Blood Rave turn up the incorporation of cyber-synths. The former is a volcanic landscape of glitches, squeals and drops, the latter is a tranced-up dance number and Fight Like Hell revisits the ‘This is my brutality!’ bellow from Demon In Your Dreams, otherwise known as WWE wrestler Rhea Ripley’s 2022 theme song. It all feels like the first Motionless album that isn’t a game of Spot The Band.

The horror element the band do so well is in full force here too and it’s presented with a slashed-lipstick smirk, such as on the opening title track, where Chris gleefully tells his haters: ‘Still here, count the years, fuck a tombstone.’ It sounds like Motionless In White are having fun, revelling in profane, dark humour. Love At First Bite is awash with spooky, Halloweeny keys and tongue-in-cheek statements: ‘I’m a sucker for a good time.’

Of course, it also helps that Chris Ceruli has become a second-to-none vocalist and frontman. His performance on Afraid Of The Dark, which smashes throwback 2000s-era metalcore riffs with a stomping, demonic breakdown, pushes his range to the very limit. He paints himself as an eternally suffering romantic on vampiric electro-ballad R.I.P., featuring pop/hip-hop artist Skylar Grey, and puts in a deliciously smooth croon on a wonderfully goth cover of Corey Hart’s dark 80s classic, Sunglasses At Night.

It all adds up to the most impressive Motionless In White album so far – fun, memorable, satisfying and, most importantly, it feels like them.

This review was taken from the upcoming issue of Metal Hammer, available to order from Thursday (July 23). Decades is out now via Roadrunner. Motionless In White will tour North America from July to November.

Trap metal outfit Dropout Kings have released a new music video for their track “Brace Yourself.” Directed by Brian Bradley, the clip serves as a tribute to the band's late vocalist Adam Ramey. The song appears on “Yokai,” the band's final album with Ramey, which was released last summer. Ramey, who struggled with addiction, tragically died by … Read More/Discuss on Metal Underground.com

Motionless In White – Decades (Roadrunner Records)

Every generation of metal fan gets a few characters in the scene that they can identify with and latch onto. Usually they’re in the goth, nu-metal, metalcore scenes and for a long while now, since 2005 but their debut only came out in 2010, Chris Motionless of Motionless In White has been one of the people that scores of fans idolise.

His gothic looks, general spooky, almost vampiric vibe, harsh features, links to WWE’s Rhea Ripley and mainly skill for writing songs that their fans can identify with has ingratiated him to a whole generation of music lovers.

This kind of popularity does also means non fans will scorn, ridicule and more, however this sort of petty criticism never really stands up when a band like Motionless In White are playing huge arenas, selling out tours and releasing platinum records. For all the make up and general gothic aura Motionless In White are band and should really be judged on the music they play.

With that said then it’s I pressed play on MIW’s seventh the studio record Decades, their first since their 20th Anniversary as a band last year (cue the title), and in Chris’ words “is definitely heavier than some of our past albums. Our current world bred more aggressive energy, anger, and resistance.”

Aggression comes immediately on the Title Track, industrial and nu-metal colliding for some massive grooves, pulled from that golden age of backwards caps and baggy jeans, it’s a high energy opener which defines MIW in their second decade, heavier but still with a melodic edge.

There’s no stop, the breakdown ends and the pulsating Log_in//crash_out begins, electronics bristling as they lean more on their more emotive earlier days, cleaner choruses and plenty of existential angst about the online era. The band’s impact can be measured in their guests for Decades as Skylar Grey, Anthony Martinez (Dark Divine) and Corey Taylor all bring extra vocals.

Skylar on the first ballad, R.I.P, a theatrical duet, while Playing God has a Taylor and the frenzied percussion battery of the nine man masked mentalists Slipknot, but keeps the big MIW clean chorus to sing along to and Blood Rave is just that, a song from that club in Blade with Chris and Martinez trading vocals.

Love At First Bite, keeps the vampiric inspiration, with more industrial beats, a killer chorus and enough gothic overtones to have played in every metal/goth club across the world, definitely a Goth Baddie Banger! (Or something to that effect).

Blood Pact ramps up the heavy and the danger while Fight Like Hell has that familiar (to WWE fans) call of “This Is My Brutality”, as the influence of Limp Bizkit is obvious on this Rhea Ripley influenced cut.

Decades successfully touches on every part of Motionless In White’s career so far, from the gothic theatricality, the electronic pulses, the metalcore angst and a shift to heavier territory on Afraid Of The Dark, Decades is an album that proves the resilience of Motionless In White and that they rightly deserve their devoted fanbase and crossover appeal. 8/10

Psycroptic – The Pulse Of Annihilation (Metal Blade Records)

Dual vocal, Aussie tech death machine Psycroptic have been steamrolling across stages worldwide for over two decades now, from their humble beginnings on Tasmania they’ve become one of the most talked about extreme metal acts on the planet, with an experimental streak and a a refusal to release the same record twice.

Psycroptic have signed to prestigious label Metal Blade for their new record The Pulse Of Annihilation, with the backing of this label so instrumental in the popularity of death metal and it’s sub-genres, there’s a sense of vindication on this record which comes from Joe Haley, guitarist and main writer being able to keep the incredible virtuosity that the band have always been about while being able to branch out the dynamic structure of their music.

Allowing the music the flow where it needs to never trying to force anything, from tracks that pack 50 different riffs into one section to others that rely on one crushing groove throughout, these are the compositions a band with a lot of history, blood, sweat and tears behind them, the ever changing face of the metal scene captured on their albums culminating on The Pulse Of Annihilation.

The guitars of Joe enter several sides of the metal sphere, from full bore aggression to progressive melodies, pit staring bounce to stripped back introspection, no matter where the journey goes the bass of Todd Stern is solid and sinewy, creating a thick as treacle bottom end as Joe’s brother David brings more inhuman drumming.

Formed in 1999, Psycroptic are veterans of the scene which can hear from the first note of this record. Having Jason Peppiatt and Jason Keyser share vocals has been a revelation for the band as it makes their music denser and ultimately more formidable. Tech death with a lot of “core” influences, Psycroptic have their finger on The Pulse Of Annihilation. 8/10

Red Method – As In Life (Depraved Records)

London industrial metal force Red Method come roaring back with their new EP, As In Life which blows open the doors with the frantic aggression of Counting Corpses.

They bring together the percussive battery of Slipknot, the groove metal violence of American Head Charge, the Nu-Metal/industrial thump of Mudvayne and mechanised brutality of Fear Factory with all of their songs, the former coming on Dispose Of Me, and the latter on Becoming The Sickness.

Inspired by the darker side of the psyche, they fill these songs with downbeat lyrics from vocals that take on multiple personalities, as the musical style gets louder and more vicious, embracing a progressive way of writing that has come from their very recent history of being on an absolute tear, the band have played as part of Download, Bloodstock and more.

This experience means they can throw together all of their styles and come out the other side with multi-faceted, multi-limbed, musical assault that’s smashing your face one minute, record scratching the next, blast beating with huge breakdowns and then blowing up into melodic guitar solos, like they do on the impressive Detonate.

Red Method delve into the darkness with their new EP, their journey to here has seen them on the upward trajectory, against some serious adversity but on As In Life they have prove why they’re one of the UK’s most sought after and vehement acts. 8/10

If These Trees Could Talk – The Hidden Hand (Metal Blade Records)

If Trees Could Talk last released and album in 2016 so to say that The Hidden Hand is highly anticipated would be an understatement. Since they formed in 2005, they’ve released four albums of instrumental prog rock that has gained more layers and a cinematic scope with every release.

Hailing from the USA they were inspired to finished this new record after visiting the UK for Portals festival in 2024. This reminded them that there is a love of experimental music across the pond and in their own country, so filled with a renewed creativity they fired up the delay pedal and got ready to bring more musical synergy of a band who speaks without words.

Like a film soundtrack, ITTCT are about creating epic soundscapes, using traditional rock instrumentation in the way an orchestra would building from lighter tones into heavier ones as they use the same kind of looping Mike Oldfield would where one motif shifts into another, the inspiration of classic progressive rock and 90’s post rock both very strong throughout the output of ITTCT.

The trio of guitars creating wide-screen melodies that swell and crash like the sea, while the percussion side is absolutely massive like the rumbling of a untamed environment. A decade wait sees If These Trees Could Talk return with new shoots of innovation on their new album. 7/10

Live Nation has announced that American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold are returning to Australia and New Zealand for the first time in 12 years. Known for their spectacular live shows, Avenged Sevenfold will make their long-awaited return with special guests Coheed and Cambria and Thornhill on all tour dates. The tour kicks off October […]