Soaring sonic soundscapes, a satisfying blend of Progressive and Post-Metal, cultivated in a modern, crisp production that is as immersive as it is immediate. The debut release from French duo Thibaud Lépicier [Guitar, Bass, Additional Production] and drummer David Annenkoff hits a nerve that is all good.
This is an outfit that has literally fallen into my inbox and struck the right spot. My journey through Post-Rock and Post-Metal in the past few years has been intense, and in Ølyp we are presented with a band that would sound ideal at Arctangent or Dunk! Fest.
Instrumental music must always have the power to capture the messages held within. The absence of lyrics means the music must really forge the story.
Ølyp – I(m)MORTAL: A Compelling Collision Of Beauty And Crushing Power
Ølyp explore humanity’s fractured relationship with nature, and although this album is a fiery burst, there is no doubting that there is also a melancholic feel to many parts of the record.
It is not at all surprising to trace the band’s early origins to the fjords of Norway, for it is at times as emotive and haunting as that country.
Ølyp may be a duo, but their cinematic approach is fully enhanced by an ensemble of guest musicians, including violinists Pauline Henric and Zoé Sallefranque, violist Sylvain Rullier, and cellist Eugénie Ursch. Songs such as Solace are impressive, a kaleidoscope of sounds that entwines the listener to places where the meanings behind the music can be explored.
There is plenty of heft in opener The Human Error, which strains at the leash with punishing riffs and thundering drums. The chopping work on 797 is in stark contrast, with a more abrasive delivery which is both aggressive and technically precise. Even on these two opening tracks, you can get the feel for what the band has to say. It is modern but without the overkill production and huge breakdowns that often damage newer soundings.
Throughout the album, there are shifts from crushing intensity to more beautiful contemplation. It is what makes this album interesting and enjoyable. Intricate passages that would sit well on an album by Opeth switch with gargantuan cascades of riffage that explode and burst in a sludgy doom broth. Then the band will hit another two gears and erupt into a chaotic frenzy.
This is an album that would sit well with purveyors of The Ocean, Russian Circles, the power of Psychonaut or Night Verses.
A compelling combination of technicality, sophistication and raw power, all overlaid by emotion that can hit you in the feels. A worthy addition to the ever-expanding selection of excellence emerging in the latter half of 2026.
Ølyp release I(m)MORTAL on 25 September 2026 via Klonosphere Records/Season of Mist. For more details, visit the band on Bandcamp.
Piper Connolly’s beautiful life is a bright, hook-heavy pop-rock anthem that captures the rush of youth with an appealing sense of freedom and abandon. The track moves on punchy guitars, energetic drums and a polished but lively production, while Connolly’s vocals bring both attitude and emotional warmth to the performance. There is a strong melodic instinct here, with the chorus designed to stick around long after the song ends.
What makes beautiful life work is the balance between its carefree surface and the emotional immediacy underneath. It feels cinematic without becoming overly grand, channeling the excitement of young love, summer nights and windows-down freedom. Confident, catchy and full of momentum, it marks a convincing step forward for Connolly, with enough pop appeal to make the hooks immediate while retaining a clear pop-rock bite.
PAIN CONFESSOR Soul Wound Diabolisher Helsinki Finland The SFP organization put together one hell of a killer night with three awesome bands on Friday. […]
Toronto rock band Soft Drive make an energetic debut with Been a Long Time, a fiery indie-rock track that balances muscular guitars with unexpected bossa nova-inspired chord work. The result is lively and distinctive, combining a driving rock foundation with a more sophisticated harmonic flavour. Led by Kurt van Bendegem, with Will Koziey on drums and Gabriel Faucher on bass, the band bring plenty of momentum while keeping the songwriting emotionally grounded. Beneath the upbeat energy, Been a Long Time reflects on the challenge of being there for yourself and the people you love when life keeps demanding more, framing each day as an opportunity for renewal. It’s an ambitious first statement from Soft Drive, with a bright, restless energy that suggests there is plenty more to come from their forthcoming LP.
If you had told me a few years ago that the cello would become one of my favourite instruments in heavy music, I’d probably have laughed you out of the room. But watching bands like IAN tear up the floor at The Holloway with a cello planted right in the middle of suffocating guitar sludge opened up a whole new corridor in my listening habits.
That friction between delicate acoustic beauty and raw heaviness is something special. Canadian multi-instrumentalist Raphael Weinroth-Browne takes that premise and pushes it into stratosphere on his third studio outing, Empyrean.
Empyrean was born out of a commission from James Wilton Dance for a contemporary piece titled Bach Reimagined, Weinroth-Browne has reshuffled the deck to create a continuous, nine-track dialogue between 18th-century Baroque counterpoint (this is his explanation – yep I had to look it up) and modern extreme metal. It sounds like an impossible tightrope to walk, yet he pulls it off with jaw-dropping authority.
The album takes off with Speed Of Light, and the technical precision hits you immediately. Instead of using the cello as a weeping background ornament, Raphael attacks the strings with blistering speed, using looping pedals, percussive bow strikes, and distortion to mimic the relentless chug of an eight-string guitar. It doesn’t just sound ambitious; it sounds physically demanding, rattling with genuine kinetic force.
Tracks like Remnant and Evocation dive deep into darker, moodier waters. He layers haunting multi-tracked harmonies that feel ancient and church-like, before sweeping into polyrhythmic grooves that fans of Meshuggah will instantly recognise. It’s got that progressive metal edge where technical virtuosity doesn’t get in the way of emotional weight.
The centrepiece run of Murmuration, Integration, and Dissolution showcases just how far he can stretch four strings. By weaving post-rock dynamics, electronic pulses, and subtle Middle Eastern scales into Bach’s contrapuntal architecture, Weinroth-Browne creates music that feels boundless. You get moments of pure, fragile silence followed by crushing, feedback-drenched waves of low-end rumble that rumble right in your chest.
By the time the introspective quiet of Sanctum and Reflection swells into the triumphant finale of Empyrean, you realise you’ve experienced something completely outside ordinary genre confines.
Naturally, the genre gatekeepers will spend hours arguing on message boards about whether an instrumental cello record can officially be classified as “metal.” Honestly, let them argue. If you care about sheer technical skill, fearless songwriting, and heavy, boundary-smashing art, Empyrean is an exhilarating listen from start to finish. A fascinating, hugely impressive record. 8/10
Winter At Sea – Hearts (A Cheery Wave Records) [Spike]
Writing a single twenty-minute track is a risky gamble. In the post-rock and post-metal world, it’s far too easy for a long-form piece to wander off into ambient background noise or disappear up its own backside.
However when a band actually understands pacing, dynamics, and structural weight, twenty minutes can feel like twenty seconds. London’s Winter At Sea have taken that gamble on Hearts, and they’ve pulled it off with style.
I’ll be completely honest: this wasn’t love at first spin. In a world of quick-hit three-minute singles, sitting down with a continuous, unbroken twenty-minute composition demands patience. It took me three or four listens to properly dial into the frequency and understand the map they were laying out. But am I glad I put the time in. Once the architecture clicked, the whole thing opened up into something genuinely special.
Structured across five linked movements, the piece behaves less like an EP and more like an unfolding storm. It opens quietly with Glimpse Of The Horizon, building a delicate, atmospheric foundation before the tension tightens into Heart In Mouth. The shift from delicate, melodic guitar lines into heavy, physical rhythm work feels completely natural, there are no clumsy joins or forced transitions here.
The middle stretch of Gathering Dark and A Sleeping Mist brings that cinematic, brooding weight that fans of bands like Russian Circles or Mono will recognize, but with a colder, distinctly British edge. The band described this release as “larger, fiercer and more commanding than anything Winter At Sea have composed previously,” and that claim holds water. The drums hit with a dry, punchy weight, and the guitars swell into thick, textured waves that feel designed to shake the walls of a proper venue.
By the time the final movement, Descent Into The Undertow, drags the piece toward its crushing conclusion, the sheer momentum is breathtaking. It’s heavy, cathartic, and refuses to rely on cheap crescendo tricks to make its point. The volume builds because the emotion demands it, leaving you sitting in stunned silence once the final notes fade out into the room.
Hearts isn’t music for casual background listening while you check your emails. It’s an immersive, demanding piece of work that rewards your full attention, and easily the most formidable thing Winter At Sea have put their name to. If you’re willing to give it the time it deserves, it delivers in spades. 8/10
It’s amazing to think that after nearly 40 years of loving heavy metal in nearly all of its off shoots (not you, Folk) that you can come across another new description, or label or tag. Wyrdstæf are proponents of Atmospheric Blackened Tribal Metal, which as a whole term is new to me.
Tribal via Sepultura in the 90’s has distilled itself into different areas and I’ll admit it now that my knowledge of other tribal bands is scant. Hailing from the UK, they are tapping into something different than trying to ape a particular sound and the titles therein suggest looking to the distant past for inspiration. In any event, Primordial Bloodlines represents one of those albums that excites and frustrates in equal measure.
Just before we dive in, I need to tell you about how good this sounds, with major props to the drum sound and the drumming that is displayed on here. You know yourself that any band that has Tribal anywhere near them must be able to pound those skins and on here Malang is serving up first class drum clinics. White Spring is our start, any fears of it being a throwaway intro are removed after an elongated period of chants that sound similar to a Haka (feel free to put me right on this) they bring in the guitars and then set us up for Great Migrations which detonates and doesn’t stop.
This leans into that blackened edge – blasts, dual vocals all played at a ferocious pace until they pull that speed back to allow them to slowly build the middle out. You know it’s built with the live stage in mind and it sounds colossal, especially with those drums exploding around you. It’s a great start, and Hyperborean is up next. By rights, you would expect them to blast into this from the off and keep that momentum in place. Instead, they slowly drift into it which does lessen its impact once it get’s going.
Like Migrations, this is another great offering from them, a direct attack that is in your face and keeps bounding forward. It’s when we hit Parhelion that things start to falter. So, depending on where you sit with this genre the tribal chanting that starts this off and then seems to continue forever will either be fine, or like me will have you reaching for the skip button. The energy built up getting to this point evaporates with this one developing without doing anything, at least for the casual listener. It means that from my perspective they are starting again, and at the last minute.
The title track, Primordial Bloodlines is their last act and starts with a more melancholic and restrained approach. Its tonally different than the others, the laid back opening revealing a more thoughtful side of the band which allows them to do the expected and go loud, which is where this track takes flight.
It goes some way to repair the damage done by Parhelion. I make no apologies for that statement, hence my frustration with this because I should be having a different conversation about this album. As noted, it sounds fantastic, the guitars have a clarity to them as well as being heavy and when they are going loud the songs rip. If this is your thing then give this a go. 7/10
Til The End – Til The End (Lifeforce Records) [Spike]
Ah, it had to happen. I’ve had a good run with reviews up until last week, and its happened again this week with Til The End, a slide of melodic death metal who note that they wish to pay tribute to the Gothenburg scene whilst forging ahead with their own style. Which is admirable, because as a homebase for some of the best extreme metal of the last 30 or so years, there is a certain pedigree and expectation that music which originates from those shores is going to be of a decent quality.
So, it is disappointing that Til The End doesn’t reach the heights its obviously aiming for. It has everything you associate with melodic metal, its just that its served up with a lack of energy, or maybe raw aggression. Take your pick, but for me there was something missing that rendered the music here as lifeless. You can argue that Lava, which on the surface has those ingredients but feels like they are here because its expected to put that section there, and put that lead break there.
Its all very mechanical and without emotion. The problem for me, is that I’ve heard so much of this since I started reviewing and before that when the Gothenburg sound started breaking through, is that I’m probably very jaded by it all. I don’t want to hear acoustic interludes or lyrics that feel as though King Diamond would have used them in the mid-80s, there something here that I detest and I can’t adequately express what it is.
From Dismal Paradise through These Little Voices, they use the same tack of the soft intro before launching into the song proper and I’m sick of it. Its boring, do something else. It’s likely that anyone else reviewing this would like it, but I just can’t get on with it. The guitarwork is good, so is the drumming, the core requirements are here but are coated in a sheen, polished to death which makes the songs catch in the back of the throat. It needed less of that and more of a raw approach, because this is just too clean. 5/10
Casshan’s Bionic / Who’s Gonna Love Ya? delivers a powerful collision of cyber-soul, Afrofuturist boom-bap and alternative hip-hop. Built around a forceful vocal performance, raw lyrical energy and soulful samples, the track has the larger-than-life intensity of a protagonist’s theme song. Its futuristic aesthetic fits naturally with Casshan’s fusion of anime culture, hip-hop and fantasy storytelling, while the production keeps a strong old-school boom-bap foundation underneath the more experimental elements. Bionic feels confrontational and cinematic, turning mechanical warfare into a metaphorical battle cry driven by confidence, determination and sheer willpower. With its distinctive concept and uncompromising delivery, Casshan creates something that feels equally at home in underground hip-hop and anime-inspired music culture.
Arenas. Some bands thrive, and some barely survive playing them. With every seat filled in the cavernous The O2, the Greenwich venue is a daunting space for anyone, but Evanescence manage to conquer every single bit of it.
Certainly, here is a huge show with a big production as scorching flames, moving platforms, confetti cannons, dazzling lights and a vast video screen bring the spectacle to life.
But Evanescence have a secret ingredient, and it is one that makes them unbeatable.
In amongst the sound and fury, there is a quiet, human heart that connects with every single person. As Amy Lee sits at her piano, her extraordinary voice ringing out across the vast space, the emotion quietly touches everyone from those pressed against the barrier at the front to all the way back to the very highest seat at the rear of the place.
It is at those moments you can hear a pin drop, and that connection, soul to soul, goes beyond the most dazzling show that could be conceived.
Evanescence – The O2, London – 13 September 2026. Photo: Robert Sutton/MetalTalk
Whilst these moments are truly extraordinary, this is a rock gig, and there is more than enough of a visceral thrill to sate everyone’s palate.
The sight of Will Hunt assaulting his drums as Troy McLawhorn and Tim McCord tear out riffs while hunched over at the front of the stage and bass player Emma Anzai throws shapes, Lee stood on the extended catwalk as she twirls and prowls, ticks all the boxes of sheer rock ‘n’ roll adrenaline rushes.
Evanescence – The O2, London – 13 September 2026. Photo: Robert Sutton/MetalTalk
The sound is huge too, and opener Sanctuary explodes, the riffs heavy and the sense of dynamics lifting the song even further, the whole a heady and transcendent experience.
The band are rightly proud of this new album, and the titular track is just the first of the complete run-through of all twelve of its tracks tonight, Tell Me When You’ve Had Enough and Afterlife building and building as this run continues to kick things off.
The visuals are stunning, the screen’s images of ruined churches, broken glass and giant hanging birds giving the whole a cinematic and 3D effect as the band play beneath the spotlights and neon loops.
Evanescence – The O2, London – 13 September 2026. Photo: Robert Sutton/MetalTalk
Going Under receives a huge reception, digging back to breakthrough debut Fallen. Lithium, and Like You are very welcome are additions to the set, Lee declaring that it has been twenty years since sophomore The Open Door was released, the time seemingly gone by in a flash to all there.
A powerful run-through of Fight Like A Girl saw the band joined by opener K.Flay, and the additional vocals by Anzai added yet more gorgeous harmonies and girl power to the mix throughout the night, the latest member of the band showing just how well she has fitted in.
Evanescence – The O2, London – 13 September 2026. Photo: Robert Sutton/MetalTalk
Moments of heartbreak punctuated the big rock moments, and Forever Without You could have made angels weep. Lee’s piano playing and jaw-dropping vocal performance were something that will stay long in the memory.
Each song was greeted like an old friend, but rarely more so than Bring Me To Life, the audience filling in the male vocal riffs on the number as all around absolutely threw themselves into the number.
A definite high, certainly, but the band were far from finished, as Imaginary and Better Without You could have flattened city blocks, and they were only just gaining speed, foot to the floor.
Joined by Poppy and Spiritbox’s Courtney LaPlante, the live debut of all three lead vocalists performing End Of You was another huge moment, but it was My Immortal that became the highest peak of the night.
Evanescence – The O2, London – 13 September 2026. Photo: Robert Sutton/MetalTalk
With Lee playing piano in front of a huge white banner, this was the evening at its most intimate, as every voice sang every word, the chorus hitting harder than ever and Lee pouring her all into the lyrics. When the rest of the band kicked in at the end, the effect was dizzying, and these four and a half minutes were the closest communion of all, one of those magical moments when artist and audience truly joined as one.
On this form, no one can touch them, and their ability to hold the biggest audiences rapt should see them headlining the biggest of festivals with ease.
Twenty-three years after their debut was released, Evanescence are one of the best bands in the world, and this show at The O2 proved it, every single person filing out of the arena a little lighter and the world a better place.
Evanescence – The O2, London – 13 September 2026. Photo: Robert Sutton/MetalTalk
K.Flay
Earlier in the evening, K.Flay showed exactly why they have been so feted amongst critics and fans alike since emerging on the scene in 2003. Those intervening years have seen her release five albums and a move from her hip hop origins to more of a rock sound, her current style a modern take on grunge but retaining some of those earlier influences.
K.Flay – The O2, London – 13 September 2026. Photo: Robert Sutton/MetalTalk
Numbers like Ants and Blood In The Cut bristle with a deep groove and spiky vocals, the heaviness of the guitars giving everything a nice edge that is irresistible and points to many more nights playing arenas.
Wonderfully quirky and unique in their approach, K.Flay are definitely ones to watch.
K.Flay – The O2, London – 13 September 2026. Photo: Robert Sutton/MetalTalk
Poppy
Following her, Poppy had already hugely impressed UK audiences earlier in the year with her set on the main stage at Download, and the evening continued to ride the wave of popularity she has worked hard to get.
Visually, she is a striking figure, her ultra-cool pop princess garb juxtaposed with the band’s masks and her ability to flip from sweet, clean vocals to guttural roars. It is certainly effective and there is certainly a swagger and steely determination that shows a real sense of self-worth and fire, the material fulfilling all the promise.
Each number has a huge hook and have you had enough? and Bruised Sky are prime slabs that blend the heavy and the light in perfect balance. Scary Mask sounds like something that former touring partners BABYMETAL would have created, and the superior pop Metal of vital shows her perfect grasp of this unholy but natural alliance.
Slipping in a cover of Bad Omens classic V.A.N. saw a circle pit break out and by following this with the gorgeous If We’re Following The Light and a punishing new way out shows that Poppy can do anything she sets her mind to.
Three incredible bands, one night to remember and a whole lot of girl power. Magnificent.
