Hard rock band Phantomy releases a new EP titled ‘First Takes’. The EP is digitally released on May 26th via Inverse Records. Listen to ‘First Takes‘ on streaming services – here In the summer of 2025, Phantomy emerged victorious from a battle of the bands competition after crushing their enemies. Little did they know… that they […]
Following up on their 2022 debut release Rzeki Goryczy, Polish Black Metal outfit Piołun return with their second album Exolvuntur. “Stylistically, it is a continuation of Rzeki Goryczy,” Band founder Sorh says. “However, it presents Black Metal that is more dynamic and melodic.”
Sorh, the former guitarist with the Black Metal bands Blaze of Perdition and Oremus, and currently with Manbryne as XCIII, explains that “The album’s concept revolves around the cycle of life and death, referring to human transience in the face of ruthless nature.”
Exolvuntur manifests as “a thirty-seven-minute journey where the wildness of traditional Black Metal intertwines with nostalgia and melancholy.”
Piołun / Exolvuntur Is A Haunting Meditation On Life And Death
Musically, like its predecessor, Exolvuntur continues to be heavily inspired by the ’90s Scandinavian and Polish Black Metal, with Sorh emphasising that it’s delivered with “a refined, contemporary edge.” Overall, I think it is a very engaging listen.
As previously stated, Exolvuntur finds inspiration from the cycle of life and death, with each piece looking at the concept in a different way. Opening piece Manifest Kresu gives a bleak but somewhat honest view of the seemingly pointless circle of life, that the only purpose of being born is to die.
I love this quintessentially nihilistic Black Metal outlook. Musically, it bursts forth from a wall of riffs and drum battery into a cold, raw wave of engagingly undulating riffs with the vocals delivered with precise punch, the bleak riffing matching the bleak lyrics perfectly.
Sierpniowy Brzask, which translates as August Dawn, continues on the theme with a more darkly poetic approach. When the lyrics are translated, they make a fascinating read whilst still maintaining the poetic quality, albeit on the subject of reapers, sickles and fly-infested, stinking corpses among the field of grain.
To my mind, this is slightly reminiscent of Baudelaire. This bleak content is subtly reflected in the riffs and pace, and there is a more reflective tone to the vocal delivery, too. It is a great piece.
Czas reflects on what is left in this world after death, a headstone, bones and ashes and contemplates further on how time is the judge and executioner. Manifesting musically as an intense driver that runs away, rather like time and life, this is interspersed with slightly more reflective swathes that echo a hint of melody within the raw driving riffs and completed with a harsh vocal delivery.
Koło Życia takes another bleakly philosophical yet poetic look at the circle of life and death, and how from the dawn, death closes the circle of life. I particularly like how the harvest is collected with the reaping sickle. Also, heralding death is referenced. Musically, the opening pace reflects the daily drudge of life before opening out into a wall of frenzy, icy riffs that subtly mutate and evolve as they progress. The chant of “Biada! Biada!” rips into your very being. I love this piece. It is woefully expressive and hugely engaging.
Moribunda looks at “the art of dying”, bidding farewell to life with hope of something after, but going to eternal darkness. I do like the mix of plodding doomy blackened riffs and more driving waves of icy riffing. The expressive protraction on the vocal delivery and the sudden dramatic stop at the end is impactful, making once again an excellent piece.
Próba Sznura lyrically delivers a descriptive, bleakly poetic look at death by hanging. As it opens and progresses, pounding rhythms meld with a hauntingly reflective melody alongside acidic, protracted vocals. I love the brief but slick switch in the second half to a clean melodic swathe. Overall, it is a powerful listen.
Final offering Hiems has a very icy Scandinavian feel to the riffing. It is dark, haunting, and reflective. The lyrics speak of ice, frost and bleak, barren landscapes and how nature kills and reclaims, closing this circle of life and death finally. A powerful and darkly poetic final piece.
Exolvuntur is a very deep, well-considered, and delivered album, both lyrically and musically. I am sure there is so much more hidden within the lyrics for native Polish speakers to discover and ponder. For the rest of us, it is a superb Piołun album to enjoy purely on its musical merits.
In a recent interview Misha Mansoor basically said that Periphery is a band the members play in for fun, they could not make money from being in it, in today’s climate. While this is a depressing statistic, especially for a band who are Grammy nominated it’s the reality faced by many bands of all sizes.
The silver lining for members of Periphery is that they used the technical expertise as musicians to branch out into other aspects to pay off their mortgages, mainly GetGood Drums series of plugins, Horizon Devices a pedal and effects company, a merch company and of course their record label 3DOT Recordings.
Always forward thinking in their music they are considered one of the foundations of that Djent explosion or around 15 years ago, creating forward thinking, intense and virtuoso music that owes just as much to free jazz as it does metal.
Their eighth album Pale White Dot could be the most personal, following on from 2023’s Djent Is Not A Genre, it’s got their signature experimental style all over it, every band member involved in the production, these songs are theirs alone the freedom of having their own label, production space and ultimately not being their primary source of income, there’s a freedom to do what they want musically without having to think about streams and radio play.
Obsession opens the album with slow burn the ‘plinky-plonky’ synths beeping and bubbling into the palm muted/fret sliding riffs as the cathartic vocals of Spencer Sotelo still have a vulnerability and aggression that has always brought a humanity to the mechanised assault of Periphery.
Sotelo is joined by Will Ramos on Subhuman for some extra rage, but the angst of their early work returns for Talk, which has some huge sub bass drops from Adam “Molly” Getgood, who handles mixing along with Mansoor, along with engineering, his rhythm section resolute with the mind blowing drum work of Matt Halpern, who can blast but does his best stuff on the crushing Mr God.
The blend of heaviness and electronic ambience is still perfectly mixed, Heaven On High and Unlocking being ideal examples, the latter especially while Blackwall goes full synthwave. This ambience and heaviness is driven by the guitar trio of Misha Mansoor, Jake Bowen and Mark Holcomb, interweaving and conflicting between each other, turning up the heavy for Malevolent and the anthemic Everyone Dies Alone.
While Pale White Dot won’t go double platinum and threaten Taylor Swift and the band are a voice for the state of the music scene today. The fact that Periphery still want to create new music for their fans shows dedication to their craft and perhaps a feeling of responsibility as one of the pillars of this technical style. 9/10
Boys From Heaven – The Wanderer (Frontiers Music Srl)
Some AOR now as Boys From Heaven return from, well I guess heaven, but more realistically Denmark. Having made a mark with previous releases they now sign to Frontiers music for their debut on the label.
The Wanderer is packed with nostalgic sounds done in a modern way, inspired by Toto (Say Goodbye), Journey (I’ll Wait) and even Mike & The Mechanics (I Will Never Let You Down), heavily leaning on synths/keys from Mads Noyé and soulful vocals from Chris Catton who also produced the record with Erik Martensson (Eclipse, W.E.T.) mixing and mastering with his modern retro magic.
The idea to lean more on the keys was deliberate for this album layering it with melodic hooks as the the guitars of Mads Schaumann bringing the choppy rhythms to the strutting Street Life, though he also gets a few leads, splitting them with Jonas Klintström Larsen’s saxophone, with Eileen again inspired by Toto built around Søren Viig Mathiesen’s drums.
The Wanderer announces Boys From Heaven to the Frontiers audience, their melodic rock excellence is obvious, so expect more from them with the labels backing. 8/10
Various Artists – XXX Anniversary Compilation (Frontiers Music Srl)
To celebrate their 30th anniversary as a label, president Serafino Perugino had the idea to show off just how important Frontiers Music has been in those three decades.
This compilation collates some new versions of classic tracks originally written by some of the biggest bands in the melodic rock sphere, released through the label, recorded here by the current crop of stars taking the vocals.
Produced by Aldo Lonobile, who can’t resist busting out the guitars alongside a studio band of shit hot Italian studio musicians featuring Alessandro Mammola (guitar), Andrea Arcangeli (bass), Cristian Timpanaro (bass), Alessio Lucatti & Antonio Agate (keys), with Alfonso Mocerino and Fortunato Grillo on drums.
In terms of songs, it’s going to make fans of this label jump for joy as James Robledo opens the record with Separate Ways from Journey, Cassidy Paris has Watch The Fire from W.E.T, there’s cuts from Harem Scarem, Eclipse, Nordic Union, Stryper, Allen/Lande and Pretty Maids, the latter with Robin McAuley on vocals.
For me the two best cuts are Sunstorm’s Edge Of Tomorrow with Ronnie Romero taking the mic, keeping the Rainbow link alive as the original singer was Joe Lynn Turner while Santiago Ramonda gets to walk on the shoes of Cov himself while singing Love Will Set You Free by Whitesnake.
The XXX Anniversary Compilation is a proper celebration of Europe’s premier melodic rock label, combining the history with the contemporary, it’s an album for the fans but they’re the reason why Frontiers are celebrating 30 years. 7/10 The Narrator – Phosphor (Nuclear Blast Records)
At nearly a decade old The Narrator have been loud members of the German metalcore since 2017, thrilling audiences with their stage performance, the realised their debut Lore in 2024 and now they follow it up with sophomore record Phosphor which is just as incendiary as it’s name suggests.
Dealing with themes of the closeness between hope and self-destruction, it’s a record full of rage and retribution, the clean/harsh dynamics used well to carry both the anthemic choruses and the massive riff grooves. Most modern metalcore is incredibly slick and Phosphor doesn’t change the format, the production gives it a contemporary muscularity.
Electronics bubbling under the surface against the sing along choruses and massive breakdowns of TN PFTS, while the influence of Nu Metal creeps in for Agnosia and the technicality increases on Stasis which features Sever from Avralize.
Phosphor burns strongly like it’s namesake, The Narrator telling a story that you may have heard but in a powerful way. 7/10
Review: Devin Townsend – The Moth InsideOut Music – May 29th 2026 Reviewer – Chris O’Connor Devin Townsend: genius. That word is often overused, but in his case it is not only apt, but almost an understatement. Hevy Devy is an artist with seemingly endless ideas flowing through his mind, whose music regularly leaves listeners […]
Utica, NY-based slam outfit The Bleeding Oracle premiere a new single titled "Shotgun Amputation", streaming via YouTube and Spotify for you now below.
Read More/Discuss on Metal Underground.com
Tacoma,WA-based deathcore/downtempo band Defier premiere a new single and music video titled "DIE MAD", streaming via YouTube for you now below.
Read More/Discuss on Metal Underground.com
23rd May 2025 Support: Sungazer
Words: Oli Gonzalez
If there’s one guarantee in life, it’s that there are no guarantees. This aptly applies to the weather in Manchester. Things we’re hotting up on this Saturday evening in more ways than one, with the city baked in unusually hot rays of sun. Tonight’s headline act was equally hot, riding a wave of momentum since the release of a new album a month or so prior. The artist in question, Plini. Beginning life as a solo project, the Australian musician had been labelled ‘the future of exceptional guitar’ by none other than Grammy award winning guitarist Steve Vai. QUITE the accolade! Plini would be returning to the UK after a successful run of shows that culminated in an Arctangent Festival set, a where they closed the Yokhai stage. They would return to the UK after releasing “An Unnameable Desire” in late April 2026. Having listened to it prior to tonight, it was clear we’d be in for an instrumental guitar and progressive metal masterclass!
The cooler basement environment in Manchester’s Club Academy provided some protection from the heat. Though for those dressed in anything other than shorts and T-shirt (like my Maltese friend in attendance tonight who had dressed expecting colder weather) would soon be struggling! Having seen the likes of Cryptopsy, Kataklysm, and most recently Dragged Into Sunlight tear the venue apart this year alone, it felt strange to see the venue not in a sea of black shirts and battle jackets, but rather a more colourful array of floral shirts and bright colours. As if the venue isn’t able to accommodate genres other than extreme metal!
Forty five minutes between doors and the first band may have been a little excessive. Though conversely, this provided plenty of time for people to arrive, get settled with some liquid refreshment, and visit the merch stand if so desired. This also provided time for myself and my gig buddy for the evening to compare thoughts and experiences with Plini, as well as our thoughts on the opening act for tonight, Sungazer.
Arriving on stage in uniform tie dye attire, it was clear they weren’t here to make up numbers judging by the roaring ovation from the packed out Club Academy. Having played Arctangent Festival in 2025, they were a band who were unfortunately victims of many painful clashes from that weekend. Tonight would provide my first chance to see them without other distractions.
The set began with ‘Against The Fall Of Night’, characterised by a riff suspiciously close to that of the iconic Baker Street, though Sungazer’s rendition was more that of an electronic-jazz fusion. A fusion consisting of drums, bass, guitar, and saxophone; all four most capable and talented individuals. Though the whole is greater than sum of it’s parts with genuinely mind-boggling complex compositions and arrays. Compositions that leave the realms of traditional Western music, with songs like ‘Whiskey And Mes’ providing an intriguing blend of Irish and Ethiopian music, personified non-conventional rhythmic patterns going way beyond the canonical 4-beat! Music that even the band acknowledge can be difficult to dance to. Solution? Get everybody to do the Sungazer Two Step.
Very simple.
Take two steps to the left, then two to the right. Rinse and repeat. Simple but very effective. Sungazer had the crowd right where they wanted them. How do I remember all these little niche
details? Simple; the band introduced the songs and underlying meanings before each one, a lost art and such a wasted opportunity when bands don’t do this. Though Sungazer forged a genuine and meaningful connection with the Manchester collective tonight and certainly won some new fans.
Was a 30 minute change between sets necessary? Maybe. Maybe not. For Plini though, details matter, and even before the group had taken to the stage you could judge by the elaborate and sophisticated lighting display on stage that this was going to be extraordinary. Hence more time needed to ensure the stage was configured correctly to permit this.
No fancy introductions or walk on, just all 4 musicians calmly taking to the stage and resume positions before launching straight into the title track from their latest album. Remember what I said about details and how they matter? Well, given the devastatingly complex interplay between both guitarists tonight, one slight note out of place would have crumbled the entire set to rubble and dust. This was made even more challenging with the rhythm section being held by drummer Chris and bassist Simon. Though they were all tight. Mechanically tight; their chemistry and telepathic understanding of one another unmissable! Though it wasn’t all proggy-woggy noodling. There was room for all this to breathe in extended shoegaze-style ambient passages. Though any quieter parts were quickly drowned out with roars of approval from the crowd.
It was only three songs in that the band actually addressed the crowd. They did with so much charisma oozing and handling playful heckles, making you wonder why they didn’t this more often. When they played, there was virtually no interaction with the crowd, with them almost looking disinterested at times! If I hadn’t have snagged a setlist, I wouldn’t have known the names of any of the songs played on this night!
As such, it seemed like Sungazer were clear winners in terms of crowd engagement and overall entertainment tonight. Though when it come to sheer technical ability and musical prowess, Plini were on a different level, with a performance that can assert themselves with the likes of Animals As Leaders and Periphery as being top tier technical metal exponents!
Banks Arcade have just dropped their brand new single Rockstar.
Blacktoothed have just released a killer new single.