Call Of The Wild Festival returns to Lincolnshire Showground from 28th – 31st May 2026, and the momentum behind this year’s event shows no signs of slowing down. With headliners Florence Black, Onslaught, and Von Hertzen Brothers already anchoring the weekend with three distinct, high impact headline sets, organisers have now unveiled a powerful new round of artists joining […]
Danish quartet Speedslut is excited to unveil details in what will be their debut full-length instalment. Due out on June 26th, 2026 via Listenable Records, it’s going to be entitled Cimbrian Rites. Official first single, “Dark Night Riders”, drops May 20. Read more…
The last night of the SPEED UK tour went off in Camden Town at the Electric Ballroom, and yeah, it got wild. I did not really know what to expect from a proper Hardcore show, but what I saw with SPEED was not just punches and chaos in the pit. It felt like something bigger, raw, messy, but also kind of special.
Did anyone actually warn the security at the barricades before the show?
Judging by their faces halfway through the set, it did not look like they had any idea what was coming. Still, respect to them, as they handled the madness all night.
SPEED – Electric Ballroom, Camden – 22 April 2026. Photo: Antonio Giannattasio/MetalTalk
SPEED kicked things off with AIN’T MY GAME from their latest EP, and straight away, the pit felt like another world, with sweat, movement, and no stopping. From there, it never really slowed down.
The band not just stand out because of their stage presence, though, as they were everywhere, moving nonstop, tight and locked in. What really hit was the feeling behind it all. You could hear the passion in every word from the singer, Jem Siow, whether he was shouting lyrics or just talking to the crowd.
SPEED – Electric Ballroom, Camden – 22 April 2026. Photo: Antonio Giannattasio/MetalTalk
There was a Palestinian flag on stage, hard to miss, and Jem took a moment to talk about inclusion and thank everyone for being there.
It actually meant something. It showed why Hardcore still matters and that it’s not dead. With bands like Whispers coming all the way from Thailand, where Hardcore does not get much attention, it made that even clearer.
SPEED – Electric Ballroom, Camden – 22 April 2026. Photo: Antonio Giannattasio/MetalTalk
SPEED mixed new tracks across their setlist, such as PEACE and ALL MY ANGELS, with older ones like REAL LIFE LOVE and KILL CAP, and every single one pushed the pit harder.
It built up step by step, from two-stepping and moshing, to a huge circle pit, to full chaos.
There were also moments where everything just went off script, Jem swapping with bassist Aaron Siow on vocals and guest appearances from singers from the opening bands jumping in for a few lines. For the last night, SPEED went all in.
SPEED – Electric Ballroom, Camden – 22 April 2026. Photo: Antonio Giannattasio/MetalTalk
At one point, Jem told everyone to make the whole place shake. And honestly, it felt like the barricades did not even exist anymore. He literally said, “There are no barricades here.”
That’s when it really went crazy. Bodies flying from the stage into the crowd, the crew hyping people up to get involved. Crowd surfing turned into people climbing on stage just to throw themselves back into the pit again.
Then somehow, in the middle of all that chaos, a transverse flute showed up on stage. Yeah, really.
SPEED – Electric Ballroom, Camden – 22 April 2026. Photo: Antonio Giannattasio/MetalTalk
SPEED closed with THE FIRST TEST, and Jem just went for it on the transverse flute, joined by the whole crew and members from other bands playing a normal flute. People in the crowd were trying to follow along with whatever they had.
It was weird, chaotic and honestly one of the best moments of the night, though it is hard to even pick a highlight because the whole show just worked.
SPEED – Electric Ballroom, Camden – 22 April 2026. Photo: Antonio Giannattasio/MetalTalk
SPEED is something you have to experience raw. Even with barricades there, they did not really stop anything, maybe just gave security a second to breathe. People still made their way on stage, still jumped straight back into the pit.
This is the kind of show you do not just see once. The energy, the honesty, the way they connect with the crowd, it hits hard, both emotional and aggressive at the same time.
SPEED – Electric Ballroom, Camden – 22 April 2026. Photo: Antonio Giannattasio/MetalTalk
Whispers
Whispers are one of those bands that either hit you hard or leave you standing there asking what just happened? We are talking about Whispers, a band from Thailand that are starting to make serious noise in the Hardcore scene, not just in Asia but beyond.
Whispers – Electric Ballroom, Camden – 22 April 2026. Photo: Antonio Giannattasio/MetalTalk
Opening for Speed was not just a warm-up slot, as it felt more like a warning shot. Their sound is rough and intense, mixing modern Hardcore with beatdown touches and a tight, almost suffocating tension.
The guitars hit you straight on, sharp and heavy, while the rhythm section keeps pushing forward the whole time, never letting you relax, not even for a second.
Whispers – Electric Ballroom, Camden – 22 April 2026. Photo: Antonio Giannattasio/MetalTalk
On stage, Whispers have something a lot of bands want, but not many actually have, in a real presence. It is not just about energy, as it is also about controlling the chaos.
The frontman ‘Mike’ leads the set like it is some kind of shared ritual, pulling the crowd in with a raw intensity. It feels like the best parts of modern Hardcore, but angrier and less polished or Bangkok Evilcore, as they describe themselves.
Whispers – Electric Ballroom, Camden – 22 April 2026. Photo: Antonio Giannattasio/MetalTalk
Whispers turned their set into a short, brutal experience that did exactly what it needed to do and left the crowd soaked in sweat and ready for more.
Whispers – Electric Ballroom, Camden – 22 April 2026. Photo: Antonio Giannattasio/MetalTalkWhispers – Electric Ballroom, Camden – 22 April 2026. Photo: Antonio Giannattasio/MetalTalkWhispers – Electric Ballroom, Camden – 22 April 2026. Photo: Antonio Giannattasio/MetalTalkSPEED – Electric Ballroom, Camden – 22 April 2026. Photo: Antonio Giannattasio/MetalTalkThe post SPEED Turn Camden Into Chaos At Electric Ballroom Finale first appeared on MetalTalk – Heavy Metal News, Reviews and Interviews.
Nashville blues-infused Southern rockers Parker Barrow return with their first new music of 2026 with their latest single ‘Blinded‘ released Wednesday April 29th. From today, the single is available on all streaming platforms here. The track is part of the band’s upcoming highly anticipated sophomore album ‘Hold the Mash‘, due for release on Friday July 17th. […]
Cradle of Filth's Dani Filth opens up about writing his autobiography, preparing for a U.S. tour and shares an update on his collaboration with Ed Sheeran. Continue reading…
With a name like that and an album cover featuring a vivisected human head, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Nequient play a form of knuckle-dragging brutal death. Instead, the Chicago four-piece specializes in a brand of chaotic, grinding metallic hardcore that recalls the frenetic math explosion of the early 2000s. Avarice is the band’s third full-length and promises a “unique synthesis of extreme metal and hardcore” to “blast listeners out of complacency with withering screeds against the malignant forces ravaging our world.” Despite some solid releases from last year, it’s been a while since new mathcore shook me to the bone and reminded me of modern existence’s inherent fragility. Nequient have the requisite political bile coursing through their veins—the same volatile fuel that powers the genre’s most unhinged eruptions—but is Avarice actually worth your time, or just another flailing heap of panic chords destined to suffocate beneath a pile of white-belt-era clichés?
On Avarice, Nequient paints an anarchic arras with a dizzying amount of stylistic touchstones. The band combines the unhinged frivolity of The Sawtooth Grin with the fast-paced stop/start violence of The HIRS Collective, and loads their tracks with riffs that actually stick, echoing early Converge at their most surgical. The twist? These songs breathe. Longer runtimes turn what could be scattershot spasms into fully realized compositions, bolstered by a wide palette of metallic textures. Blackened tremelos (“Christofascist Zombie Brigade”), demented odd-meter thrash gallops (“Brain Worms”), and sludged-out funeral dirges (“Splenetic And Moribund”) are all threaded together with mathy convulsions Nequient execute with unnerving precision. Throughout the record, the band moves between ideas at a dizzying pace, consistently impressing with bewildering moments of aural chaos.
More than just a collection of moments, the songs on Avarice are propelled by relentless pacing and tangible chemistry among the band members. Nequient’s secret sauce lies in the interplay between Patrick Conahan’s disorienting guitar cascades and drummer Chris Avgerin’s dextrous, fill-heavy style. Conahan glides between mosh-ready grind parts (“Mad King / Fool”), undulating, deathy descents (“Rintrah Roars”), and unsettling noise-rock lurches (“Siege Mentality”). Avergin follows along expertly, always mirroring the spastic guitarwork with tasty, intuitive drum parts that guide the ear and ground the anarchy. Aaron Roeming provides the low-end thunder and adds a purposeful heft that thickens the chunkier riffcraft while vocalist Jason Kolkey leads the charge, alternating between a sassy, vitriolic spew and full-bodied death growls while delivering caustic epithets about the horrors of modern life. Kolkey’s acerbic lyrics pull the whole disgusting package together, melding poetic death metal abstraction with punk’s immediacy and sharpening the record’s nihilistic aura into a potent weapon aimed at a broken system.
In fact, Nequient is almost too adept at channeling the noxious undercurrent of societal id, leaving precious little room to breathe across Avarice’s full-frontal assault. Longer tracks usually ease up on the throttle and inject variety with less frantic, slower sections, like with a menacing sludge-into-breakdown (“Rintrah Roars”), or a hazy, chordal comedown (“Stochastic Terror”). Still, I find myself wanting just a touch more space to find my bearings during full-album listens. Avarice is well-paced, and there are more than enough ideas to keep the 40-minute runtime interesting, but it’s missing one or two blissed-out melodic ideas1 or jaw-dropping displays of contrast to elevate it to the peak of the mathcore mountain. This doesn’t prevent Avarice from being a stunning display of technical aggression, but it does mean more than a few spins to decipher its labyrinthine heaviness.
Nequient really impressed me with this one. Avarice is a nerve-flayed, teeth-grinding listen that captures the low-grade panic and spiritual exhaustion of modern life with alarming precision. Rather than settling for dime-a-dozen mathcore spasms or rote metallic bludgeoning, the Chicago crew stitches together dissonance, groove, chaos, and razor-wire technicality into something far more purposeful. It’s punishing without being empty, intricate without disappearing up its own ass, and memorable enough to demand repeat spins. If you’re craving chaotic metallic extremity that does more than regurgitate the usual suspects, Nequient have your number.
With a name like that and an album cover featuring a vivisected human head, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Nequient play a form of knuckle-dragging brutal death. Instead, the Chicago four-piece specializes in a brand of chaotic, grinding metallic hardcore that recalls the frenetic math explosion of the early 2000s. Avarice is the band’s third full-length and promises a “unique synthesis of extreme metal and hardcore” to “blast listeners out of complacency with withering screeds against the malignant forces ravaging our world.” Despite some solid releases from last year, it’s been a while since new mathcore shook me to the bone and reminded me of modern existence’s inherent fragility. Nequient have the requisite political bile coursing through their veins—the same volatile fuel that powers the genre’s most unhinged eruptions—but is Avarice actually worth your time, or just another flailing heap of panic chords destined to suffocate beneath a pile of white-belt-era clichés?