South African-born, UK-based artist Ross Harding has released his new single, ‘Seven Nation Army (Dark Blues Version)‘, a darker, more melancholic reimagining of The White Stripes’ early-2000s classic. Harding was nine or ten when he first heard the song and was immediately struck by its instantly recognisable kick and guitar hook — a riff so powerful […]
Talking to Metal Hammer, the 78-year-old reveals that he’s a fan of the California heavy metal giants, after his kids introduced him to their music via 1991 hit single Enter Sandman.
“We all loved it when it came out,” he says. “That album [1991’s self-titled album, AKA The Black Album] is just fantastic. And they are, right?”
He continues, “They were just this huge band, but I loved that album for introducing me to them. I’ve never actually seen them live,” then confirms, “I’d totally direct a music video for Metallica if they asked, though.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Carpenter celebrates rock music for being “still alive and still here” after many decades, “like me!” Although it “may be a bit less transcendent and popular than it was … it still speaks to people like it spoke to me all those years ago”.
He adds: “Music as an art form is probably the greatest thing that humanity ever created. It transcends language, going from country to country, across the world. Someone in Bangladesh can hear an American song and still love it.”
Carpenter is best known for manning the director’s chair on Halloween, The Thing, The Fog, Christine, Big Trouble In Little China, Escape From New York and other cult pictures, but he’s also a prolific musician in his own right. He composed the scores for 15 of his 18 feature films, and has been releasing standalone studio albums with his son Cody Carpenter and his godson, composer Daniel Davies, since 2015.
Carpenter put out his latest album, Cathedral, in August via Sacred Bones. The metal-inspired project came with a tie-in graphic novel but was intended to stand as its own musical statement. “That’s first and foremost,” the director said in promotional materials.
He added: “It’s all about making the music work. This is somewhat different sounding stuff that we’ve done, but it’s done with the same desire in mind. In other words, put this thing on and imagine you’re watching a movie. That’s what we want you to do.”
Carpenter released his last feature-length directorial effort, The Ward, in 2010. He then served as executive producer on David Gordon Green’s 2018 Halloween legacy sequel and its two follow-ups. He continues to compose for films, including the opening credits score of Studio 666, the 2022 horror-comedy starring Foo Fighters.
Meanwhile, Metallica recently completed their three-year-long M72 world tour and are gearing up for a residency at Las Vegas multimedia venue The Sphere. Performances will begin on October 1 and end on March 13.
Dutch witch rock artist, singer and producer Annicke Shireen, known from her work with Heilung, Pure Reason Revolution and SHIREEN, announces her debut solo album DELIRIUM, set for release on Friday, the 13th November 2026. Bringing together alternative rock, folk, synthpop and grunge, often with a darker edge, Annicke’s music is built around haunting vocals, heavy riffs, layered harmonies and electronic textures. Across her solo work, she explores themes including love, hurt, obsession, personal growth, neurodiversity and feminine rage.
The first single, ‘Come To Light’, is released today and opens up the more expansive and cinematic side of DELIRIUM. Combining alternative rock with spacious, Celtic-influenced vocal layers, the track gradually builds before breaking open into a key change and soaring guitar solo. Its ethereal vocal arrangements draw on the atmospheric sound associated with artists such as Enya, while the lyrical subject comes from a much heavier place.
Watch the official music video for ‘Come To Light’ here
Annicke Shireen about her new single: “‘Come To Light’ is the first single from DELIRIUM and its musical openness reflects the subject of the song. I wrote it from frustration with the state of the world and the things society has learned to accept as normal. I believe it’s a time of transformation, but we first need to see it all, to the point that we cannot unsee it.
The track carries that tension beneath its more expansive sound: it feels open and almost weightless in places, while the lyrics deal with much heavier material. For me, sometimes the first step toward change is simply allowing something to come to light.”
Annicke has developed a career that moves between music, performance and visual art. She joined Heilung as a singer and makeup artist in 2018 and has toured and recorded with the group since, including a performance at The Game Awards in 2023. She has also appeared on stage with Wardruna and continues to work with SHIREEN alongside her solo projects.
Her solo work brings those disciplines together. Annicke writes and produces her own music while creating the visual world around it, from music videos and styling to stagewear. She holds a degree in fashion design and has worked with custom-made clothing inspired by folklore, avant-garde design and dark fairytales. She designed th first draft of Senua’s armour for Ninja Theory’s Hellblade II: Senua’s Saga, and created costumes for the 2017 arthouse feature Kill Mode. Annicke’s visual approach has long been closely connected to her music. Rather than treating visuals as an addition to the music, she uses them to build a recognisable world around each project. She has produced music videos for SHIREEN and her solo work that reached millions of views (‘UMAI’ 6.3 million views and ‘So Human of You’ 1.7 million views)
Her debut solo album DELIRIUM moves across ten tracks between alternative rock, metal, synthpop, folk and dreamy grunge, while maintaining a recognisable core of heavy guitars, layered vocals and moody synths. It’s concept grew out of Annicke’s interest in how we construct our understanding of reality, particularly through the perspective of a neurodiverse mind. DELIRIUM looks at the frameworks people inherit and the expectations they learn to live by: ideas about femininity, relationships, belonging, emotional behaviour and what is considered “normal.” Rather than presenting fragmentation or difficult emotions as things that need to be fixed, Annicke explores what can be learned from them.
That idea connects the album’s different subjects. DELIRIUM moves through love and obsession, personal growth, female empowerment, anger, belonging and the difficulty of trying to find change in yourself while the world around you seems to be set in its ways. Annicke is particularly interested in the relationship between feminine rage and what she describes as a softer kind of revolution: not necessarily becoming louder for the sake of it, but questioning why women are so often expected to make themselves smaller, more agreeable or easier to accept. The album’s title reflects that tension. Annicke originally considered calling the record Hysteria, but chose DELIRIUM as it was more fitting to the genre of the album. For her, DELIRIUM describes the uncomfortable point at which the framework you have been living inside stops making sense.
Annicke Shireen about her debut solo album: “DELIRIUM is about the moment when the framework you have been living inside no longer fits. It’s the magic of the moment where we stop being acceptable and start becoming ourselves. I wanted to explore that uncomfortable space between losing control and finally taking the power back.
I wanted to give words to the beauty of a mind that does notalways move according to the expected rules. Rather than presenting fragmentation as something that needs to be fixed, I wanted to shed light on the wisdom, knowledge and power inside it. The songs of my debut album give shape to feelings of rage, grief, fear, euphoria and love, and I believe music is the best medium to speak from heart to heart.”
Upcoming live dates: Oct 14, 2026 – Online – Listening Party Oct 23, 2026 – Ede NL – Astrant Oct 31, 2026 – Capelle aan den IJssel, NL – Capsloc Nov 12, 2026 – The Hague, NL – Grey Space (record release show)
Line-up: Annicke Shireen – Vocals Davy Knobel – Guitars Jos Driessen – Bass Wouter Macare – Drums & Percussion Kati Rán, Anna Baumann – Backing vocals
Tracklist: 1. Paper Skin Rite 2. Heresy 3. Come To Light 4. False Gods 5. How To Cure A Feeling 6. Not Your Mother 7. Loud Hag 8. To Belong 9. The Circle 10. Queendom
Former Ghost touring vocalist and keyboardist Mad Gallica is stepping boldly into her own theatrical world, The Vortex, with her heaviest release to date, “Darkside.” Blending rock, pop, and opera into a dramatic, high-energy style she dubs “rock popera,” the song serves as a thrilling celebration of embracing your Shadow Self and bringing it into the light.
Musically, “Darkside” is a total tour de force. The track stacks thunderous drums, ripping guitar riffs, and soaring synths beneath epic church choir arrangements, all anchored by Gallica’s fantastic vocals. From the brilliant arrangement to the stunning production, it’s a top-tier piece of theatrical rock that demands to be heard at full volume.
Give it a go by clicking on the Spotify player below and follow Mad Gallica on social media as well, you like what you hear.
On their forthcoming self-titled LP, Nashville outfit DeeOhGee—Matthew Paige (guitar/vocals/harmonica), Zack Murphy (drums/vocals), and Dylan Whitlow (bass/vocals/guitar)—deliver a compelling set of porch-stomping anthems. Fusing the raw swagger of the British Invasion with woozy, fuzzed-out psych and early-2000s alt-rock atmospherics, the trio crafts a sound that feels warmly familiar yet unmistakably current. As Paige puts it, “it’s catchy as shit.”
Lead track “Truthin’” opens the record with an urgent reality check on modern life in 2026—tackling our device addictions, the illusion of AI, and our growing disconnect from basic humanity. Recorded live to tape by real musicians, the track is short, sharp, and straight to the point. Built on fuzzy guitars, sticky vocal hooks, and an infectious blend of high energy and pure melody, “Truthin'” sets an incredible tone for the entire album.
Give it a go by clicking on the Spotify player below and follow DeeOhGee on social media f you like what you hear.
First of all before I start this review, this was another South Wales gig where the crowd was disappointing, both of these bands deserve much bigger audiences, as witnessed by the other shows on this tour.
So there’s clearly an audience out there, what’s even more dissapointing is that this marked the debut UK show for one of the bands on the bill as they came to the UK for the first time, to be presented with a lack lustre crowd, which was no fault of the promoter or the bands, must have hurt.
Cardiff, if a couple from Boston who were on their honeymoon can come to Fuel on a Wednesday night then you can too.
Anyway that out of the way it was time for the gig itself and it was a two band bill, I did think that maybe a another local band as an opener may have bolstered the audience a little more. However it meant we got two extended sets from both bands, which is useful when both are in the doomsphere, so the chance of having elongated tracks is pretty common.
It was French progressive doom crew Monolithe (9) that began the evening with their psychadelic, sprawling, doom metal, that draws heavily from tech-noir and synthwave in their style.
Dropping an excerpt of Vangelis’ Blade Runner theme between Soyuz and To Wander The Labyrinth as their tracks swirl around you with some gorgeous twin guitar harmonies, swirling keys and lumbering riffs, driven by drummer Antoine de Mieulle.
What was impressive about having him behind the kit is that he’s not actually Monolithe’s drummer, both he and vocalist Antoine Dumortier joined the band for this tour due to Thibault Faucher and Quentin Verdier unable to take part due to personal reasons.
If you didn’t know that though you wouldn’t have noticed as both fit into the Monolithe perfectly. Monolithe are a band who feel like music from the future, French cyber doom that deserves your attention so let’s hope they return soon.
Pantheïst (9) however are a band who hail from Cardiff but recently they have been bewitching audiences across the Europe, with a few festival appearances this summer. Back on home territory though they were using this show as a home town warm up for the Plymouth, Ipswich Liverpool and Sheffield dates on this tour alongside Monolithe.
Bookending their set with tracks from their upcoming record Uncanny Times, both The Final Journey and Ithaca Out Of Sight have been worked on the live stage and are at their best now, delivered by a version of the band that is at the height of their powers.
The classical keys, 70’s prog rock synths and ecumenical organs all add to the funeral/atmospheric sound of the band as Kostas Panagiotou conducts the doom symphony. His screams and sonorous cleans are of course joined by the incredible soprano range of Linda Dumitru, who’s addition to the band I’ve celebrated since it happend back in 2023.
Together they play off against each other and combine together bringing the dramatic and theatrical elements to Pantheïst, with Be Here particularly marking the second time within a week I’ve cried at a gig.
Pantheïst though are heavy, colossal doom riffs that driven by the distorted, intense riffs of Atanas Kyurkchiev (guitar) and Matt Strangis (bass) as Fanel Lefterache’s commanding drums mesh the whole performance together as Pantheïst delivered a set of atmospheric funeral doom to a small but passionate crowd which did increase as the night wore on.
Two of the genres most innovative acts together one stage made for a exemplary evening of doom in the capital city.
Beck: Ride Lonesome (Capitol Records) Released 18 September 2026 CD | Vinyl | DL | Streaming Alt-rock giant Beck is back after a seven-year gap with his 15th studio album. Ride Lonesome revisits the melodic downtempo folk sound of his more introspective albums. Robert Plummer hails a lovelorn masterpiece. Beck David Hansen has lived his […]
