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“Scordatura” is an Italian word that means “mistuning.” This is a technique used for stringed instruments to allow for bizarre chords, or to simplify progressions that would require a lot of tendon mutilation to achieve in normal tunings. It’s a dope name, a cool concept, and an example of metal’s infinite ability to make badass monikers out of otherwise clinical, innocent terminology. Hailing from Scotland, rather than the land of leaning towers and opera, Scordatura have arrived with their 4th opus, Led Into Oblivion. Between their choice of title and their selection of album name, what sort of hellish soundscape awaits within?

With a name rooted in deep music theory, you’d expect an assault in the vein of Replicant or modern Pestilence. This is not the case. Scordatura lay their foundations off a respectable set of giant shoulders, featuring a high octane assault flavored primarily with the self-titled era of Cryptopsy. Drums are blasted, guitar strings are shredded, and the tempo maintains a consistently blurry pace. “Retali(H)ate” and “Led Into Oblivion” feature start-stop riffing with vocalist Daryl Boyce sounding like the lost brother of Matt McGachy in his earlier days, with the occasional sustained chord letting drummer Tam Moran show off flair and chops with rapid-fire cymbal fills. Doses of classic Vader stomp pepper “Oppressed Repressed”, and nods to Suffocation run through “Echoes of a Fractured Mind”. The flavor of the olde and trve are deeply embedded throughout the construction of Led Into Oblivion, all filtered through an exuberant attack that rarely pauses for breath.

In keeping with the stylings, Led Into Oblivion also keeps up with the sound. This album is meaty, layered, and not the most dynamic beast, but all instruments are given room to breathe by brutal death standards. A healthy dollop of pinch harmonics flow throughout the riff construction, and bassist Liam McCafferty is constantly heard clanging away in the background with the occasional spotlight given for a fill or scale. The concise runtime (about the length of Reign in Blood, yet another nod to the building blocks of greats) ensures ear fatigue doesn’t set in despite the perpetually speedy approach. A good track order does keep variety from cut to cut, with “A Manic Indoctrination” featuring open chord progressions and our first dose of real mid-tempo sound before the drums resume blasting away under the building menace. While being a well-arranged list of brutal death tropes, Scordatura wisely leave the concrete brick styled production in the past.

The only major blemish on Led Into Oblivion is a common one, but one that cannot be overlooked. Scordatura have spent so much time distilling the essence of the greats into their overall sound without capturing the distinguishing factors that made them great. “Existential Termination” dalliances with downtempo Cannibal Corpse, and the grindier moments of WWtFW era Dying Fetus as well as Deicide raise their head, but these snapshots lack the staying power of those names. Led Into Oblivion is an enjoyable release without any significant flaws, but it’s difficult to recall any standout moments once the album reaches its conclusion. This is disappointing, as Scordatura clearly have the skills to emulate all of these bands, but can’t quite stick the landing on a stank face triggering “rewind it and listen again” moment to distinguish it from their mountain of peers. Closer “Begging to Die” is an easy illustration, goes full New York style with a bouncy main riff which smacks of modern Pyrexia groove before trying to drop an Archspire verse (sans the vocals) and leads the listener to a thunderous but blurred conclusion.

Despite a name implying forays into the more uncomfortable realms of death, Scordatura have offered up a platter of decent-grade tribute to the death of olde. Led Into Oblivion isn’t a bad album, and is definitely worth a casual listen or three. But the band is still on the hunt for the X Factor to push them beyond their influences. They certainly have the playing chops, and I believe the compositional ability to make it come together. For now, let yourself be Led Into Oblivion and hear a good combination of the sounds of yore; just don’t be surprised when you find yourself wishing you were listening to their influences instead.

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Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Everlasting Spew Records
Website: Album Bandcamp
Releases Worldwide: June 19th, 2026

The post Scordatura – Led Into Oblivion Review appeared first on Angry Metal Guy.

Drummer Joe Longobardi is now the eleventh member of The Amity Affliction to depart the line-up.

Longobardi announced his departure with an Instagram post yesterday (June 25), thanking the band for his time with them and wishing the remaining members the best. He gave no reasons for leaving, and as of this posting the band has not made any official announcement.

Longobardi joined Amity in 2018 as a touring member after ten year veteran Ryan Burt left, and was soon made a permanent member. He appeared on the band’s next four albums while also holding down a gig with US punks Defeater.

The Amity Affliction’s most recent release, House of Cards, came out earlier this year and peaked at #4.

Mayhem Rock Festival has announced that internationally acclaimed Swedish rock vocalist Erik Grönwall will headline the festival on Sunday 16th May 2027 at The Nest, Nottingham, England. The announcement marks another major milestone for the independent Nottingham festival, which has earned a growing reputation for bringing some of Scandinavia’s finest rock talent to UK audiences. […]

The post Mayhem Rock Festival Announces Erik Grönwall To Headline 2027 Festival appeared first on ROCKPOSER DOT COM.

All good things must come to an end, but we’re not done yet. Who can even think about saying goodbye when Spencer Charnas is running around in a Joker costume, RØRY’s baring her soul and Linkin Park are making history in front of our eyes? Don’t forget your sunscreen – it’s Download Day Three. 

Words: Kate Allvey // Photos: Emma Stone and Download Festival

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Unpeople

A reward for the early risers, Unpeople are here to show off the harsher side of their sound. We’ve got a brand new blast of joy in the form of unreleased track ‘Bottle It’ and angelic harmonies on ‘Moon Baboon’, all from the band who know full well that they don’t really fit into today’s lineup, and don’t give a damn about it. ‘Clouds’, the first single from their upcoming album, is both as light and as shady as its namesake; a good omen for the future from Unpeople.

Kublai Khan TX

No one can sleep through this set. Everything Kublai Khan TX do feels so necessary, whether its the infernal riffs of ‘Supreme Ruler’ or the circle pit that radiates from the first drop on ‘Low Tech’. Vocalist Matt Honeycutt flexes his muscles as we shake the last of the stiffness from our bodies. “About three days ago I broke my back in Prague”, he confesses, channeling his pain into a mighty growl that rips through ‘The Hammer’ before transforming his anguish into rage for new song ‘The Mountain of Corsicana’.

RØRY

RØRY lays her soul bare throughout a performance that sees many reaching for their tissues to wipe away their tears. ‘Anti-Repressant’ sets the tone for turning personal struggles into danceable anthems, and if we aren’t feeling something deep inside by the time she offers up ‘Alternative’ then we haven’t been listening hard enough. RØRY, on paper, makes for an unlikely main stage star, but the representation and sheer guts that she brings to the Apex today are beyond admirable.

Dogstar

The combination of getting to see Neo from the Matrix in real life while listening to some comforting Dad Rock proves an irresistible draw that overwhelms the Opus stage. The sweeping, grungy ‘Joy’ makes way for the Bowie-influenced ‘Exalted’, and we’re thankful for the calming, driving-rock respite that Dogstar offer.

Bloodywood

The IYKYK band of the weekend open with a roar from Jayant Bhadula and a blazing ‘Dana Dan’. Bloodywood are a powerhouse that opens pits which never close for their entire set. No one could have predicted a couple of years ago that Indian folk-metal would provide the Download moment that we’ve all been craving. ‘Berkhauf’ hides a serious message behind a thin covering of banging, unrelenting determination and ‘Nu Delhi’ is already an absolute anthem. Bloodywood will definitely be returning to Download by very popular demand within a few years, and likely far higher up the bill. 

Magnolia Park

They’re in their vampire era and moving far beyond their pop punk origins. Magnolia Park have sold their souls to the video game cutscene devil and now they’re producing darker, more intense and delightfully sinister metal in the form of ‘High’ and the dangerous, delicious ‘Cult’. As Joshua Roberts leads our voices from the pit, we realise that the signs of their dark turn were there all along, and they’ve now progressed to making music that is absolutely perfect for this festival and this space. 

Social Distortion

Mike Ness and co have circled back to their old school sound and the elder punks have still got the spark that made them great. Opening with ‘Born To Kill’, they focus on what they do best; raw riffs lit by drawling vocals which sound like the desert sun. ‘No Way Out’ meanwhile – their song about “growing up in a not-so-perfect situation” – is a blast of the energy that made their debut so striking all those years ago. In fact, when they mix the new tracks into classics, like ‘The Creeps’ and ‘Mommy’s Little Monster’, we realise we’re watching Social D as they always should have been, and it’s tremendous. 

Dinosaur Pile Up

Let’s keep it direct. We like fuzzy distortion and we like it when it’s really loud. That’s what Dinosaur Pile Up offer us, and considering they’re competing with the mighty Ice Nine Kills, the Avalanche stage is packed for ‘Bout To Lose It’. ‘Sick Of Being Down’ gives voice to an unrefined teenage desperation, and it’s perfect for the kind of song that you’d want to put on loud and mosh out to in your bedroom. ‘Stupid Heavy Metal Broken Hearted Loser Punk’ and ‘My Way’ are huge anthems for the disenchanted masses, maintaining the brilliantly elemental purity which sticks out in a crowded lineup. 

Ice Nine Kills

Who doesn’t love cinematic horror masterpieces featuring ska legends? Reel Big Fish’s brass section jump in for ‘Ex-Mortis’, a highlight in a show that never provides a millisecond without action. ‘The Great Unknown’ ignites the pit with dark euphoria, and there’s the thundering, hypnotic ‘Funeral Derangements’ to keep us going. Ice Nine Kills are possibly the only band with more costume changes than Axel Rose and while we love the anthem that is ‘The Shower Scene’, there’s a song even more surprising than seeing Spencer Charnas running around brandishing a knife. It’s their very straight, very devoted cover of NOFX’s ‘Linoleum’ that allows them to drop their masks for a second, and we are astonished by our glimpse behind the scenes. 

Tom Morello

A curated journey through the Rage Against The Machine guitarist’s life, politics and influences, backed by his son and bursting with hope for the resistance? What more could we want on a Sunday afternoon! Morello’s cover of Springsteen’s ‘The Ghost Of Tom Joad’ is a steely compassion for the common man, and while we’re kicking it to ‘Killing In The Name’, his heartfelt tribute to Chris Cornell during ‘Like A Stone’ is one of the most touching moments of the whole weekend. Morello believes in the power of the people, and delivering an intelligent and not-so-subtle anti-fascist message for half an hour fills us with the desire to make the world a better place. 

Mastodon

Emerging into the sunset like ancient gods, Mastodon open with the fiery, tunnelling ‘Tread Lightly’ .The heavy prog end of the metal spectrum always deserves representation at Download, and songs like ‘The Motherload’ flow like a timeless prophecy that keeps the Opus slopes enraptured. Newer tracks like ‘Your Ghost Again’ prove that after nearly three decades, the band are still able to craft thundering aural labyrinths that delight and provoke. Mastodon’s set feels like the bonus chapter to Tom Morello’s curated exhibition, and it’s one that we can’t get enough of. 

Letlive.

There’s always a place for in-yer-face post-hardcore, especially when accompanied by a hefty dose of class consciousness and almost-latin rhythms. ‘A Weak Ago’  is rowdy and inspiring, with Jason Butler’s satisfying growl making Letlive’s set feel purposeful and deliberate. There’s so much more to them than you’d expect on a surface level, and ‘Muther’ is oddly inspiriting and respectful in between the riffs. Letlive leave us with the impression that they’re a band raring to do good in the world and know just how they want to do it.

A Day To Remember

At this point, we’re split into three camps with each claiming the title of ‘the real closer of the weekend’. A Day To Remember prove to be strong contenders for the title, with ‘The Downfall Of Us All’ providing a lightning bolt of energy to open a set that’s simultaneously packed on and offstage. Their talent of being able to balance tough and fun sends our phones up to capture ‘Right Back At It Again’ before the huge rush that comes with ‘Bad Blood’. We wave as confetti falls, the ‘end of camp’ energy thick in the air, with crowd surfers stacked on top of crowd surfers, as the Opus explodes into one final mad jump to round off Download 2026.

Creeper

Of course, if A Day To Remember are just too jolly for you, then the Creeper cult are always waiting with arms open and fangs poised. Twice as many are in the crowd compared to their first set of the weekend, but now crammed into half the space, and ‘The Ballad Of Spook And Mercy’ has every single one of us eating from the palms of their leather-gloved hands. ‘Parasite’, or “one for the lovers” as frontman Will Gould calls it, has an even more majestic showing than before, and the outpouring of emotion from us all on ‘Prey For The Night’ shows the absolute devotion that Creeper are able to command.

Linkin Park

For the first time in Download history, a frontwoman is headlining the festival. There are few more worthy of that honour than Emily Armstrong, and Linkin Park’s set is one huge reminder that times are changing and we must evolve along with them. Of course, they drop iconic bangers that hit you right in the centre of the teenage heart but their mature, sensitive and heavily electronic set is one that’ll light up your synapses from back to front, especially when their entire ninety minutes onstage feels like a mantra for growth and change.

Opening with ‘The Emptiness Machine’ is a strong statement. We’re here for the new Linkin Park, and they’re ready to display their latest incarnation with maximum emotional release from the very start. Somehow, their constructed electronic direction feels more raw and real than we remember, and classics like ‘Crawling’, when stripped of their MTV gloss, hit so much harder. ‘Numb’ is enough to bring a tear to your eye, as it does for a fair swathe of us. Closing Download with the breathtaking catharsis of ‘In The End’ is as close to a perfect moment as we can hope for as we slam our demons away for another day, free from our pain before the long trudge back to camp. Linkin Park prove to be the “goldilocks” headliner; not too rough, not too slow, just right to end our weekend on the darkest depths and the most dizzying of highs. 

KATE ALLVEY

I Prevail have shared a new track which sees them collaborating with one of the most exciting artists currently taking over the scene.

The track is called ‘PARADISE’ and sees the band crossing streams with Amira Elfeky, who brings an ethereal and electrifying atmosphere to the band’s brutal and beautiful compositions.

The way that the pair bounce off each other through every ebb and flow that the track produces is sensational to witness, going from guttural hedonism to ethereal boosts and bangs in the flick of the wrist. It’s the sort of song that plays on both parties’ strength in abundance, and the result is something rather special.

The band had this to say about the collaboration:

“We’ve been fans of Amira for a while. She has such a distinct sound and style. The opportunity to write together came up super organically and we instantly connected on this crazy concept for a song.  We all saw the vision for it almost right away. That’s a rare and beautiful thing when it happens. We still don’t think we know exactly what we made. We never had to stop to think about it. We just made it.”

It’s the first new music from I Prevail since the release of their album ‘Violent Nature’, which dropped last year. Here is the gripping title track from that very record.

Amira is set to support the band when they make their way across the UK and Europe later this year, alongside Polaris. Here are all the dates.

SEPTEMBER

19 – LEEDS O2 Academy
20 – GLASGOW O2 Academy
22 – MANCHESTER O2 Victoria Warehouse
25 – LONDON Alexandra Palace
26 – BIRMINGHAM O2 Academy
30 – BRUSSELS Ancienne Belgique

OCTOBER

01 – TILBURG 013
03 – DÜSSELDORF PSD Bank Dome
05 – STUTTGART Porsche Arena
06 – PARIS Zenith
08 – ZURICH Halle 622
09 – MILAN Alcatraz
10 – VIENNA Wiener Stadthalle
12 – WARSAW Stodola
13 – BERLIN Velodrom

The post I Prevail Team Up With Amira Elfeky On Pulsating New Track ‘PARADISE’ appeared first on Rock Sound.

After a musical hiatus, and having shaken the Latin American hard rock scene in 2023 with three singles -in addition to sharing the stage with Deep Purple, Kiss, and Mr. Big, among others-, QueenMilk has just released their new single, ‘Hold the Fire’. This new composition marks an evolution in the band’s sound, drawing deep […]

The post QueenMilk Returns With ‘Hold the Fire’ appeared first on ROCKPOSER DOT COM.

A few tickets remain for this year’s Nozfest, the one-day New Wave Of Classic Rock festival held at The 1865 in Southampton. Now in its seventh year, the festival is the brainchild of JodieBowie, and its success has meant it is sold out each year.

This year, Nozfest plays host to Chris Payn & The Parade, Mikey Ball & The Company, Molly Karloff, The Rattlebacks, Thieves of Liberty, Beth Blade & The Beautiful Disasters, Juliet’s Not Dead, and Sweet Electric.

Main support for this year is The Karma Effect, and the headliners are South Of Salem. 

This year’s Nozfest will be held on 15 August 2026, and those last few tickets can be found at nozfest.org.

The post Nozfest 2026 Set To Return With South Of Salem Headlining Southampton Festival first appeared on MetalTalk – Heavy Metal News, Reviews and Interviews.

Massive Wagons and Terrorvision have joined forces for a co-headline tour in 2027. The nine-date Roar Of The Roses tour will see both bands playing complete headline sets, with the bands alternating the closing slot each evening.

“It’s hard to put this tour into words,” Baz Mills says. “Going out on a co-headline run with Terrorvision feels incredibly special. We’ve all been fans for years, but for me it goes right back to seeing my pals band covering Perseverance when I was about 16. I’d never heard lyrics like it, and it was a true badge of honour if you could sing along to it and know all the words. Since then, I’ve taken so much inspiration from them, it’s unbelievable.

“Whenever I’m looking for ideas, attitude, or perspective, I often find myself asking, ‘What would Terrorvision do?’ For me, they are everything a rock band should be, in the very best possible way, bright, bold, funny, and as lively as it gets.

“This tour feels like something that was always meant to happen. Massive Wagons and Terrorvision together on The Roar of the Roses Tour, bringing everything great about the north together!! Lancashire and Yorkshire taking on the UK. One Love.”

The announcement comes as Massive Wagons are preparing to release a new single via Reaper Records ahead of their eighth studio album, due in 2027. Tout tickets are on general sale from 10 AM on 3 July 2026. For more details, visit massivewagons.com.

The post Massive Wagons And Terrorvision Announce Roar Of The Roses UK Tour 2027 first appeared on MetalTalk – Heavy Metal News, Reviews and Interviews.

Saxon have announced the first set of dates for their Gods of Thunder World Tour in 2027. Further international dates are set to be revealed in the coming months. The band will revive their legendary 30-foot mechanised Eagle for all UK and Ireland shows, with the exception of Cardiff due to venue restrictions.

Originally constructed in the early 1980s as Saxon prepared to tour their seminal album Denim And Leather, the iconic Eagle was built by Midlands-based company LSD using airport runway landing lights. It made its first appearance during a pre-tour rehearsal in London before becoming an enduring symbol of the band.

Towering above audiences during Saxon’s massive arena tours, the emblematic Eagle quickly became Saxon’s mascot and inspired the title of their acclaimed 1982 UK Top 5 live album, The Eagle Has Landed, leading to fans requesting its presence ever since. 

“We wanted to make the Gods of Thunder UK & Ireland tour extra special,” Biff Byford said, “And what better way than to fly our beloved Saxon Eagle again… Get ready for take-off.”

The post Saxon / Gods Of Thunder World Tour SFor 2027 first appeared on MetalTalk – Heavy Metal News, Reviews and Interviews.

Rising and kinetic rockers Revenant are thrilled to announce their debut album Kickstarter campaign. “It’s been a rollercoaster ride since we released our first EP in 2024, and since then we’ve built up quite a legion of loyal people with ‘The Revenant Ones’. We’re excited to share the journey of our debut album with our […]

The post Revenant Announce Their Debut Album Kickstarter Campaign appeared first on ROCKPOSER DOT COM.