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! Aethoria will be rocking the EMP stage on the Sunday… Simple things first – where are you guys from? We are all from Suffolk in East Anglia! How long have … Continue reading Road To Bloodstock 2026: Aethoria
We know, we know – it’s a bank holiday weekend, so let’s make it snappy. There are beers to be had, hot dogs to be grilled, weed to be smoked, fireworks to be set off, and fingers to be blown to smithereens by said-fireworks – all of the above, in that precise order. We get it.
If there’s several things Americans are being known for is: impatient, noisy, and oblivious… Thank God, we’re not talking about you, dear reader, are we?
Regardless, the 4th of the July is the perfect day for Americans for a trifold of reasons – certainly not the aforementioned ones – and figured we’d either give you a few ideas for music other than “Born In The USA” and “Rocking In The Free World” for Independence Day to soundtrack your perfect day to, whatever it may look like.
Here’s what this latest week in this capitalistic hellscape is offering us on Dropocalypse Friday.
Death Angel – The Ultra Violence
Teeing up with a strike from Death Angel to help completely distract any and all fathers – or, sperm donors, however you want to look at it – at any family gathering, this one should go over especially well with the men over 40 who have already downed several beers before someone suggests breaking out the $2,000 record player on the 4th. Don’t expect this vinyl back in one-piece, or without fingerprints or a scratch or two. Or honestly, even at all. Chances are it got destroyed when your uncles got into a drunken fist-fight over who got to flip the LP to the B-side.
Grab it at your local independent store.
Deep Purple – Splat!
If you have relatives over the age of 75 that are still alive, I have three things to say to that. One, good for them! Two, you poor, bastard, you. Three, this should pacify the babies that the elderly are considering how much they whine and feel entitled to other people’s lives when it was never on offer. Not looking to hear about politics from your 82-year-old grandfather who hasn’t been in the workforce in the last 20 years? Splat! should either shut him up, or tune him out nicely. Depends on how tone-deaf – or just deaf – he is.
Feeling like a vampire whose family died centuries ago (when in reality you just haven’t spoken to your folks in over a decade) this coming holiday weekend? Well, you may as well soundtrack your weekend like one whose did for your solitary weekend alone. This time I say, you lucky, bastard, you. Three days alone, with no one to bother you? Fuckin’ sign me up. The older I get, the more being a vampire who lives alone in a castle on a mountain sounds less psychotic, and more like a spa-break.
Don’thave the option of sitting alone this Independence Day while your wife hosts festivities? Make it an option by buying the biggest fucking boxset you can, wife be damned, and make sure to tell the first person you see walk through the door on July 4th about the most extravagant purchase you made, and you must show them every single song in the boxset. No one will go near you, or your music room now. I promise.
I just wanna see some palm trees. I will try and shake away this disease.
When Art Alexakis of Everclear sang those words in “Santa Monica,” he tapped into one of popular music’s oldest fantasies: that somewhere beyond the cold, beyond the routine, beyond whatever is weighing us down, warm weather, the sun, hell, summer might make things better. The idea is simple: change the weather, and perhaps you’ll change yourself.
But what if the disease doesn’t shake away?
Throughout the 1990s, many alternative rock and metal bands seemed to challenge that very idea. Summer wasn’t presented as freedom but as something oppressive, surreal or even decaying. The sun didn’t heal – it distorted. Heat became suffocating. Brightness became blinding or unsettling. Rather than embracing one of popular culture’s most enduring myths, bands like Soundgarden, Deftones, Danzig, and Type O Negative headed for the shade and turned summer inside out.
“Black Hole Sun” by Soundgarden is one of the clearest examples of this reversal.
…
…
Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell has said the song began with a misheard phrase from a news broadcast, “black hole sun,” which immediately suggested both its title and atmosphere. From there, the song was built around that image, with structure, melody, and lyrics forming through a stream of consciousness association rather than a fixed narrative idea.
The result is a sequence of fragmented impressions rather than a literal account of anything. Images of heat, decay, disguise, moral unease, and distorted nature appear without settling into a stable meaning. Summer is present, but it is not liberating. “Boiling heat / summer stench / ’neath the black, the sky looks dead” turns the season into something oppressive and lifeless, where even the sky loses its familiarity, looking more violent and extraterrestrial than like Earth’s.
Musically, it carries a strange contrast. It is melodic and almost soothing in places, but it moves with a humid, sweltering weight. There is a sense of warmth, but it is sickly, closer to something overripe than something refreshing. In that sense, it’s like an anti-Beach Boys song. Where classic sun-drenched pop presents warmth as ease and clarity, on “Black Hole Sun,” it’s warped and unstable, as if brightness itself has turned heavy.
The music video, directed by Howard Greenhalgh, extends the same logic visually. Tim Burton-esque suburban life is rendered as exaggerated performance, with faces, gestures, and domestic scenes pushed beyond natural behaviour. Nothing is subtle or hidden beneath the surface. As the video progresses, that world is soon sucked into this oppressive sun, which has become a black hole, pulling everything into dissolution as it “washes the rain away.”
…
…
“My Own Summer (Shove It)” by Deftones sounds, by the title, personal at first, as if it is describing an individual experience of summer. It carries a sense of optimism in isolation, but the “shove it” part quickly changes that tone once the lyrics and delivery set in. Lines like “the shade is a tool, a device, a saviour” and “I try to look up to the sky but my eyes burn” make that shift explicit. Shade is something imperative in this heatwave. The sun, causing burning retinas, is an inferno to resist.
The Dean Karr-directed music video shows the band performing on top of shark cages in the middle of the ocean. Beneath them, great white sharks circle and tear into chunks of meat thrown into the water. There is a constant tension, as if the band might fall in along with the swimming pig with goggles on, only to be torn apart. The shade cannot save you here.
…
…
“Summer Breeze” by Type O Negative reframes the idea of summer again, but in a different way. Before October Rust, before autumn, the song sits in that uneasy space where warmth is still present, but already feels like it is fading into something else.
Originally by Seals and Crofts, “Summer Breeze” is built on comfort, lightness, and domestic calm. In Type O Negative’s version, that same material becomes slower, heavier, and more ambiguous. Summer is still there, but it feels distant, like a memory being replayed through a different emotional filter. The song was also featured during the opening credits of I Know What You Did Last Summer, setting the tone for hook-handed bloodshed during the summer season.
The lyric “Flowing like the jasmine in my mind” carries a strange softness, but it is not clean or carefree. It’s imagined, something drifting rather than settling. In this sense, summer breeze becomes another kind of shade–a retreat into something cooler, and darker.
The imagined setting shifts with it. You can picture Type O Negative in a grassy field, dressed in black, sweating under the sun, not celebrating it but enduring it. The oppressive, late August heat weighs heavy, and then the slight breeze comes in.
…
…
“Dirty Black Summer” by Danzig arrives after Type O Negative leave the field. Danzig and his band set up a picnic. Summer is still here, but it has changed shape again.
“No summer in the winter time / will keep you warm like a funeral pyre.” The line carries a strange, familiar lyricism, almost Doors-like in its phrasing, where opposites collapse into each other and emotional heat becomes literal flame. “And our love become a funeral pyre. Come on baby, light my fire.” The echo is there, but inverted–the warmth now consumes as it burns rather than igniting romance.
On that note is the line, “And nothing like an August night / drenched in your loving.” The word “drenched” evokes sweat more than romance. It carries over the physical memory of heat from the previous section–that same late-summer heaviness, the kind of night where the air feels soaked. It connects back to the “summer breeze” that came before it, except here the breeze no longer feels light. It feels humid, saturated, stuck to writhing bodies.
Around the picnic, the idea of this dirty black summer emerges from the soot and ashes of that earlier “funeral pyre.” Summer here is now nothing but residue.
…
…
California, the album by Mr. Bungle, feels like satire on California itself–the place, the idea of it, and the “Californication” of things. The Beach Boys version of California sits in the background here: safe-sounding melodies, sun-drenched harmony, the promise of ease and clarity. But in California, that surface never stays stable. It keeps revealing something unnerving underneath.
The album moves through a sweltering, artificial, concrete summer, overheated and theatrical. Songs like “Retrovertigo” and “Sweet Charity” lead through this space, where nostalgia and romance are warped, with odd but memorable lyrics like “Even the bombs and scarecrows will sing.”
“The Air-Conditioned Nightmare” comes from author Henry Miller’s The Air-Conditioned Nightmare, where American comfort and modern life are described as a kind of spiritual suffocation. Here, even relief from heat feels artificial. “Get me out of this air-conditioned nightmare. Rots your brain just like a catchy tune” turns pleasure itself into contamination, where happiness feels engineered.
Like “Black Hole Sun,” the album shares that anti-Beach Boys sensibility, but takes it further into artificiality. Instead of sun-drenched clarity or even distorted heat, California presents something manufactured. Still, Patton asks in earnest or maybe naivety, or maybe while suffering heatstroke, “Where’s my rainbow?” This ties back to the innocuous fantasy Everclear brought up earlier about just wanting to see some palm trees. Even the visage of something summery is all the hope the hapless human needs. But that same impulse keeps mutating across the decade: into distortion, into residue, into something artificial.
Across the horizon of these bands, summer stops being a destination and instead becomes distorted, suffocating, ritualized, or synthetic. Each version unpacks another piece of luggage from the original promise of palm trees. By the end, “Santa Monica” doesn’t feel like something that can shake away this disease anymore. It could very well be the pathogen.
…
Purchase Ryan Dyer’s book, The Underground in China: Metal, Punk, Hardcore and Noise 2013-2021, here.
(Kyle Doerksen is a very good photographer of varied scenes and subjects, as you can see here. He also has a taste for metal, and that led him to The Regent Theater in Los Angeles last weekend to witness performances by Monolord, Acid King, and Mizmor. We are greateful that he sent us the following […]
Internationally acclaimed guitarist, composer, and FIREWIND mastermind Gus G. released his fifth solo album ‘Steel Burner’ on April 24, 2026. Marking his first solo offering […]
Our monthly release round-up is usually a grab bag of headlining acts and whatever crawls out from Bandcamp’s underbelly. I wish we could say we had the most obscure picks every month, if only for bragging points, but unfortunately, people value sharing musical experiences and building a community through it (what some call bondmaxxing), so we listen to and enjoy “the big releases.” June gave us a few tasty ones that we can’t leave unmentioned, and we covered them through lengthy interviews. These include the long-awaited returns of both Stormkeep and Khemmis. On the more mysterious side of things was Fief’s VII. Expectedly, they did not grant us an interview. Further expectedly, it sounds like Fief’s seventh album, meaning that tavern regulars and dungeon masters need no further convincing to check it out. Anyone who has ever sniffed a dungeon synth apparatus or is aware of Vermis has already heard VII, so including it felt like planting a tree in a rainforest then posting about environmental activism. Still, if you aren’t caught up with Fief, begin with VII. The minstrel will guide you through your vision quest.
That aside, were there any other big returns this month?
Nope! Definitely not.
Keep reading for some of our favorite releases from this past month.
…
Black Glow – Waves and Mirrors – Mirrors and Waves | Independent (June 3)
Monterrey duo Black Glow harmoniously blend doom metal and shoegaze on their independently released debut full-length, Waves and Mirrors – Mirrors and Waves. Spanning eight tracks across 44 minutes, the album’s title was inspired by the idea that we are all “mirrors and waves” endlessly reflecting one another through life’s finite existence, a concept that lends an introspective dimension to the record’s dreamlike mood. It is built around colossal walls of guitar, bass, drums, synthesizers, mellotron, and organ, moving at an unhurried pace with a lingering undercurrent of melancholy.
Throughout the record, Gina Ríos, Octavio Diliegros, and special guest Christian Peters display a sharp instinct for texture. Gina’s ethereal vocals float above the heavy distortion and deep ambiance, adding an otherworldly dimension to the band’s immersive landscapes.
“Soma” is a slow-burning piece that builds a mysterious, hypnotic atmosphere through soulful vocals and heavy, repetitive rhythms before peaking with a soaring guitar solo. Meanwhile, “Obsidian” is a shadowy track that blends heavy rock rhythms with expressive vocals and cosmic textures. The heart-stirring “Child in the Mirror” serves as a testament to perseverance. Musically, it captures the band’s heavygaze sound by balancing haunting, drifting vocals with commanding layers of distorted guitar. Through poignant lyrics like, “Gathering all the broken pieces, you were born in survival mode,” and, “No wood, no warm shelter… but you still made it,” the song offers a raw emotional look at an enduring survivor. Ultimately, Black Glow delivers a masterful performance that immerses you in a vividly crafted world.
–Lily O’Delia
…
Kilter – Ten Billion Years | Excursus Production/ Alter-Native Publishing(June 19)
Back in the ’90s, bands like Atheist and Cynic asked, “What if you added some jazz to metal?” Kilter, like Italy’s Zu, have since reversed that question: “What if you added some metal to jazz?” The Brooklyn-based trio—saxophonist Ed Rosenberg III, bassist Laurent David, and drummer Kenny Grohowski (of Imperial Triumphant)—offer their best answer yet to that hypothetical with their stunning new album, Ten Billion Years, which they describe as, “A water molecule’s entire existence, reimagined through Kilter’s dense jazz-metal textures.” Indeed, Kilter make, well, off-kilter music, and I’d go with “doom-y sludge-jazz” as my best attempt at a description. The standout here is Grohowski’s incredible playing—a fascinating combination of Brann Dailor and Neil Peart—which is some of the best drumming of 2026. As such, Ten Billion Years should end up on multiple year-end lists. It’s that good.
–Steve Lampiris
…
BIG|BRAVE – in grief or in hope | Thrill Jockey Records (June 12)
Having cemented themselves in modern drone metal circles, Montréal’s BIG|BRAVE decides percussion is no longer necessary for their walls of sound. On in grief or in hope, their guitars stand like giants under layers of reverb and distortion, a physical force that knocks you down. The fortress is overpacked, however, causing its dense and dark tones to demolish. Crackling, scraping, cutting in and out–these textured guitars break with humanity under the weight of all they carry.
A weight is found in Robin Wattie’s singing as it varies from dark and monotone to tender and wearied. Encouraged to challenge everything known about the band, her vocals are manipulated by autotune, wavering in the force of brutish sound waves. All is rendered unrecognizable, as is the state one finds themself when dealing with the burden of living and losing, of asking oneself, as Wattie does, “What may be the kindest way to leave?” The question is answered within the sonic magnitude: there is no kind or easy way. It will always be harrowing.
The closest Nashville ever came to black-metal-derived-visual-kei was in ominous, lingering moments between sets when David Sylvian’s Japan opened for Blue Öyster Cult in 1978. Then, Saidan came around in 2020.
Now, Splatterpvnk and Hundosai’s Saidan is neither Japan nor a Cult, but that description smiles (in that painted Cheshire Cat way) with the melodic and structural excellence Saidan provides on Fangdriller: Scars Beneath Memory’s Wrist. The conceptual psychosis (to me) is lost in the expansive soundscape, but it involves a woman named Junko, a cult called Ethereal Blood, and terrible beauty. The details feel richer left unwritten. Fangdriller is a fantastic album that consumes the last fifty years of radical metal history from both sides of the Pacific. The strongest song is the melodic empyrean of “Womb of Hatred,” but the most technically impressive is the ornately titled “Stained Glass Sin – Fang Driller.” The invocation is prominent. Fangdriller ends on an uncomfortable note. Uncomfortable not in the sense of content (though there is some of that), but of raw exposure. Raw as the blood under skin. Bone under masked faces.
–William Pauper
…
Warning – Rituals of Shame | Relapse Records (June 19)
Twenty years after the release of what has become a cult classic doom metal album, Warning follows Watching from a Distance as if time hadn’t passed. Vocalist Patrick Walker started the slowcore project 40 Watt Sun in the years in between as a more soothing way to convey his emotions. As the years crept on and 40 Watt Sun softened, the darkness of doom metal presented a wick for Walker to ignite again. There is little distinction from Walker’s vocal performance between bands–he remains emotionally strained, slightly nasal, and entirely powerful–but the orchestrations surrounding him are darker and more hopeless.
The further Rituals of Shame pulls you into the swamp, the harder it is to release yourself. With five songs across 45 minutes, energy is replaced with a brooding sense of surrender to depression. Thick drums shake the Earth with each hit. Guitars and bass feed on the lowest tones available. Walker wails of terrifying isolation, stating, “There’s nothing that can reach me in the world outside.” These murky tracks don’t dawdle; they immerse themselves in enduring sadness until you’re broken. Burdened by this much intensity, it may reasonably take the band another 20 years to confront it again.
Deep Purple have got to that point where they have outlasted a number of their classic rock peers, some falling by the wayside before they got their second wind. The fact that its actually more of a surprise when they aren’t touring says a lot about this band, and about how high they are still regarded.
I’m not even going to attempt to run through line-ups, its redundant, boring and pointless. This is their 24th full length release, a trip that started with bouffant hair in 1968 and paisley shirts and despite members who are nearing 80, there is no sign of easing up just yet.
So, I won’t pretend to say I’ve like all of their stuff, like some I tend to gravitate towards In Rock, Fireball and Machine Head, which has some of their (and Rock’s) best moments. They were always different from Sabbath and Zeppelin, at least to me and their later stuff I felt didn’t have the same oomph to it and a lot could be attributed to band politics. Getting rid of Blackmore actually released them find that power again and despite losing Jon Lord, you would have thought that the line-up with Steve Morse in it would be it until they packed it in.
So when my lad (Hoy Alan!) announced that they were getting a new gunslinger I was surprised, and when this landed with me, I was really surprised at how hard it goes. This is a very good album from them, one that shows that when the handbrake is released, they can still motor. The voice that Gillan had is an echo on here, but its enough, everything that you associate with Deep Purple is present and correct on here; the musicality, the scorching leads, drums for days and lyrics that are well typical Gillan.
New guitarist, Simon McBride is stepping up into his role now and the songs are now manifesting a heavier edge, imbued with an energy that was missing previously. Take the opening track Arrogant Boy, this is classic Purple bounding forward and it sets the scene with some fiendish playing by McBride and Airey. And speaking of classic Purple, Diablo takes you back to the early 70s. They are infectious and joyful in their execution. Its an energy that stays in place right the way through and for me it’s the best thing they have done in an age.
It’s the fact that they have gone into the studio and just hammered out a banger, one that sounds like a band trying to make up for lost time and wants you to hear this. Its not the sound of a band who have settled here. Is it going to convert new fans, probably not. Its likely the name conjures up Grandad Rock with some; all I can say is that don’t let that the name or any preconceived ideas about them put you off. This is classic rock, executed at the highest level. It sounds great, delivered by a band that has got the winds at their backs.
They are touring the UK later this year and wholeheartedly recommend that you make every attempt to catch them live. 9/10
Todomal – Graveyards Of Joy (Season Of Mist) [Matt Bladen]
If in 1980 Roger Waters hadn’t left Pink Floyd and they had continued to go down the dark and bitter route he had taken them on from Animals onwards, I would like to think he would have been very interested in the developing doom scene that was happening in Europe during the late 80’s and early 90’s.
Especially when bands such as Anathema, Katatonia and even Paradise Lost all went tonight to include quite a lot of Floyd in their latter day incarnations, with Cathedral especially the influence of Waters et al had always been there through the elongated songs and psychedelic exploration.
Why are you talking about this? I hear you ask well for my money Anglo-Spanish band Todomal would be the result of Pink Floyd going doom, the complex song structures, a trio of vocals, pastoral moments, huge ominous passages and emotion over exhibition.
This is doom at its most beautifully atmospheric, the duo of composer/multi-instrumentalists Christopher B. Wildman and Javier Fernández Milla, forming the band in 202 after years in the Spanish underground. Their goal was to create music that was esoteric and ecclesiastical, more akin with cinema soundtracks (mainly Morricone) than with traditional metal.
A fusion of styles that brings together Spanish traditional instruments, string arrangements, and church organs to prog/psych rock and apocalyptic doom. They have already released two albums before this, with Graveyards Of Joy serving as a final part of a trilogy that deals with grief, isolation and tragedy.
Joining Wildman (vocals/guitar) and Milla (vocals/bass) in their live band Javier Félez (guitar), Javier “Bud” Martínez (drums) and Cecilia Tallo (keyboards/vocals), swelling the numbers on stage but in the studio the way this record is approached is the same it’s always been, two instrumentalists playing everything with a few guests to join in.
Perhaps though having this live band has made them think a bit more about their music as Graveyards Of Joy is more expansive in and more melodic in tone, keeping their doom beginnings but bringing the melancholic metal that Katatonia, Soen and others have made their own.
I think I’m a little bit in love with this album, if this third record is what Todomal will sound like going forward, then absolutely count me in. 9/10
Harsh – Feels (Fireflash Records) [Cherie Curtis]
Harsh is a relatively new band from Paris who brings the velvety hooks and hard rocking, Glam Rock nostalgia from the 80s revamps it and delivers it with a clean, modern-day spin. A sentence like that may scare some people away, because why fix it when it isn’t broken? I agree, it’s very hard to make Glam Rock better, and bringing it into the modern day doesn’t make it better; it gives us more. That’s what Harsh is bringing with their newest Feels.
Every track within this album is punchy and electric; each one amps you up and is catchy enough for you to sing when the second chorus wraps around. Forever Yesterday is anthemic and passionate with western rock and roll feel. The heavy drums are pacing with clear fast riffs with dreamy reverbs, and the vocals are incredibly sharp and strong without being overpowering. Dancing Dancing is a sleazy banger, and I imagine it would have made it as a club classic 40 years ago.
However, the glistening jewel of Feels is Maniac, a high-speed thrilling cover. Its jam packed with the hard rock bells and whistles we love, with incredible texture and layering and leaves no breathing space, it’s loud with wonderful noise with a gut punching with a technical guitar solo and a vocal sustain Hall And Oats can only dream of and they do it all with ease. They singlehandedly took an 80s pop classic to the beer slick and dingy floor of a hard rock gig. This was a very nice surprise, and I’m glad it landed on my desk, I’m a sucker for a rock cover.
All in all, it’s a very promising album. It has all the marks of traditional glam rock; electricity, power and an infectious amount of fun and refined it with the technology of today without stripping the soul and passion away. Harsh brings us voltage and maintains it as well as staying consistent with their sound and overall image without it feeling like a tired gimmick, which is a very real risk. As great as I think this album is, it’s not going to be for everyone.
You must be a fan of the genre to really get a kick out of it otherwise it would sound unremarkable, like something you’ve heard many times before which is good for most but not for some but I think you should give it a listen anyway and have some fun. 7/10
Dichotomy – Lucifer Owns The Fence (Rottweiler Records) [Adz Redpath]
Jordan Varela the one man beast and multi instrumentalist behind this Charlotte, North Carolina based tech death project is a law unto himself and has quite the track record in the industry as I’ll allow you to research yourself, not least being a member of the likes of legends of brutality, Lividity and Lust Of Decay.
What we find here in Dichotomy is a true death metal project harking back to peak era Deicide, maybe lacking the level of refinement of the aforementioned overall but certainly at a high professional and musical level with ferocious and unyielding pace throughout.
Everything on show here is hitting hard, each track has clear intent and furious vision, the mix is executed well and holds the attention. however a slightly thicker guitar tone that’s layered more heavily to fill the mix would probably help in future and a more forthright multi tracked vocal mix would help to really convey the aggression on show here.
That being said this is 90’s era death metal that crushes and if it had been released during that period im certain it would have made waves in the scene especially as it is the vision and performance of just one individual it is to be highly commended.
An over use of pinched harmonics in the guitar work do distract by the time you’re half way through this album and an overuse of certain time signatures and riff ideas do unfortunately distract from what is overall a very strong release overall.
If you’re a fan of Deicide etc during the 90’s you will probably find a lot to like about this album and it certainly holds nostalgia heavily in its tracks.
Some more fine tuning in the future and maybe working with a producer in depth on the overall songs as well as production will no doubt expand this project to being something that turns heads on the road ahead, not a game changer but well worth checking out. 6/10
Ben Poole has announced the release of his new studio album, Post-Midnight Behaviour, due out September 25 via Gypsy Soul Records. The album marks his first collection of new studio material in eight years, following 2018’s Anytime You Need Me, and is available to pre-order on CD and vinyl as well as pre-save digitally.
The album’s first single, “No Second Chances,” was released on July 3 and is available now on streaming platforms alongside an official lyric video.
While rooted in blues rock, Post-Midnight Behaviour expands into new musical territory, blending blues, rock, soul, country, and alternative rock influences. The album features a more restrained approach, pairing subtle rock grooves with melodic hooks while still allowing Poole’s guitar work to shine.
“I wanted this album to showcase my evolution as guitarist and singer songwriter,” says Ben. “For several years, I have performed over 150 shows a year across more than 20 countries. My guitar style and technique have developed, my singing voice has matured, and my influences have varied. The new album is a journey that combines Blues, Rock, Soul, Country, and Alternative Rock. I still get to let loose on the guitar, but within a more subdued and reflective manner. Ambiance inspired the name of the album, Post-Midnight Behaviour.”
“I have released a few live albums in recent years. They are much quicker and a time stamp on where you are at that moment. I took my time over the new album so that it would be super-realised in every aspect. My writing team and I really pushed ourselves. We dug deep to make sure the songwriting was of the highest quality and the arrangements were carefully structured and perfectly executed. My fans are going to really like what we have created. It was well worth the wait!”
The album includes 10 tracks, including “Runaway Souls,” which features Elles Bailey.
TRACK LISTING
No Second Chances (5:42)
Empty (5:57)
Time Has No Mercy (3:36)
Living On Repeat (Buried in the Background) (4:13)
October 31 – Kinross, The Green Hotel November 1 – Glasgow, Nice ‘N’ Sleazys November 2 – Newcastle, The Cluny November 3 – Coulsdon, The Tuesday Night Music Club November 4 – Oxford, The Bullingdon November 5 – Frome, Tree House November 6 – Swansea, Sin City November 7 – Winchester, The Railway Inn November 8 – Brighton, Komedia November 11 – Tunbridge Wells, The Forum November 12 – London, Half Moon Putney November 13 – Luton, Bear Club November 15 – Barnoldswick, Music and Arts Centre November 17 – Leicester, The International November 18 – Camberley, Login Lounge November 19 – Chester, The Live Rooms November 20 – Dudley, Lamp Tavern Live November 21 – Leamington Spa, Temperance
It is fair to say that the 40,000 Metalheads who gathered last Monday had luck on their side when it came to the weather. Under a pleasant summer sun, they enjoyed performances from their favourite bands, all of whom seemed determined to live up to the festival’s name: Live Is Live.
Due to last-minute adjustments to the stage construction, Fleddy Melculy’s opening set had to be cancelled. The catwalk that had been part of the stage setup the previous day was dismantled to accommodate Iron Maiden’s production.
Goe Vur In Den Oto Replace Fleddy Melculy – Live Is Live Festival, Antwerp – 29 June 2026 Photo: Dennis De Loor/MetalTalk
The cancellation came as a heavy blow to the band, especially considering they only resumed touring earlier this year and had been looking forward to celebrating their tenth anniversary with their fans at Middenvijver Park.
As a small consolation, fans can look forward to a new studio album, the follow-up to Antichlist, scheduled for release in the autumn of 2026.
Doro
It is truly remarkable to witness Doro Pesch still performing with the same youthful enthusiasm after more than forty years on stage. The former Warlock singer made history as the very first woman to perform at the legendary Monsters Of Rock festival in Donington back in 1986.
Unknowingly, she became a pioneer who paved the way for countless women to follow in her footsteps.
Doro – Live Is Live Festival, Antwerp – 29 June 2026 Photo: Dennis De Loor/MetalTalk
The Queen Of Metal treated the audience to highlights from her extensive catalogue, with a particular focus on the Warlock years. Burning the Witches, Raise Your Fist and Warriors Of The Sea were just a few of the songs she delivered with her trademark charisma and genuine affection for her fans.
The crowd watched as she confidently wielded a flamethrower to “bless” the audience, while her iconic flag, of course, made its traditional appearance.
Following the inevitable crowd favourite All We Are, Doro closed her set with Thunderspell.
Testament
If one word perfectly describes Bay Area thrash legends Testament, it is hungry. Only a few months ago, they presented their latest album, Para Bellum, at Trix. Now they are already back, kicking off their new European tour. For those who missed them on Monday, there will be another opportunity to catch them at Alcatraz Festival this August.
Testament – Live Is Live Festival, Antwerp – 29 June 2026 Photo: Dennis De Loor/MetalTalk
But back to the performance.
Chuck Billy is charisma personified. As he has often mentioned himself, there is a clear “before” and “after” period in his life following his cancer diagnosis. In 2026, that translates into an incredible stage presence overflowing with passion. He no longer storms wildly across the stage as he once did, but instead focuses even more on connecting with the audience.
Highlights included new tracks such as Infanticide A.I., alongside Shadow People and Nature Of The Beast. Testament wrapped up their blistering set with the lightning-fast Over the Wall from 1987, prompting the day’s very first circle pit.
Epica
I simply cannot shake the comparison. Every time I see, and especially hear, frontwoman Simone Simons perform, I am inevitably reminded of the Sirens from Greek mythology. In those ancient tales, Sirens lured sailors to their doom with irresistible songs.
Simone was certainly not deadly yesterday. But she was absolutely irresistible.
A wave of melodic drama and crushing guitar riffs washed over the audience like the sea itself. Standout moments included Sensorium from the band’s debut album, the epic nine-minute Cry For The Moon, and Consign To Oblivion.
Epica – Live Is Live Festival, Antwerp – 29 June 2026 Photo: Dennis De Loor/MetalTalk
Nick Cave’s performance the previous evening must have been something truly special, as Simone mentioned it during the set and expressed her wish to one day attend one of his concerts herself.
By now, the festival grounds had filled considerably, yet Epica still had enough energy left to unleash Apparition and Arkana from their latest album.
Standing still was hardly an option during Beyond The Matrix, when the audience was encouraged to jump along. However, the request to create two simultaneous circle pits during the final song largely fell on deaf ears.
All that was left was year two of the Run For Your Lives World Tour with Iron Maiden marking their 31st performance in Belgium. You can read the review here.
