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Pennsylvania’s The Preps are back with their new EP, Unstoppable, on Fool Records. The Preps have been making melodic hardcore for thirty years and this latest release, their first in over fifteen years is a great addition to their discography. Knocking out six songs in fifteen minutes, Fatlou and crew have put together a record that keeps with that classic hardcore sound, but also pushes them to a new level. 

Check out Unstoppable:

Catch the the Preps on tour:

No Rules Tour 2026:

May 29 – McGarvey’s – Altoona, PA

May 30 – The Back Alley – Williamsport, PA

June 4 – Punk Rock BBQ – Saltsburg, PA 

June 11 – 27 Club – Asheville, NC

June 12 – Tin Rook – Charleston, SC

June 13 – Franken House – Ellenwood, GA

June 14 – Tilty McFlippers – Martinsburg, WV

July 10 – The Depot – Baltimore, MD

July 11 – Dante’s – Frostburg, MD

July 12 – Tilty McFlippers – Martinsburg, WV

July 17 – Mahoning Drive-in – Tromathon – Lehighton, PA

July 18 – The Twitch House – Bloomsburg, PA

July 19 – Concrete Jungle, Lehighton, PA 

July 19 – Union Vapors – Dickson City, PA

Aug 15 – Wild Air Beerworks – Asbury Park, NJ

Aug 28 – Rock N Race – Salem, OH

Aug 29 – Buffalo Bill House – Perryopolis, PA

Oct 3 – Sherman Theatre – Stroudsburg, PA

Oct 23 – Pappy’s Pub – Waynesboro, PA

Oct 24 – O’Shaugnessy’s – Alexandria, VA

Sound City is an open-hearted celebration of music and those who make it

The heavy psych-rock landscape is about to get a major injection of energy. Varaždin’s own 3 Suns Of

One band isn't in even after being nominated eleven times. Continue reading…

Some bands perform songs; others deconstruct them until they are born anew. With the release of their live

It’s impressive how some artists work in multiple bands at once, and more impressive how common this seems to be. Often, the fact that an act is a side-project of or also features a particular musician is the sole reason you check them out, conferring a degree of quality or prestige. Piołun is one of these bands, a duo comprised of Mānbryne and ex-Blaze of Perdition guitarist Łukasz Barański—who here also handles vocals—and relatively unknown drummer Vitor. Like those groups, Piołun is black metal in a style that has grown increasingly associated with the Polish scene in particular—melodic but understated, enriched with a pinch of atmosphere and a slightly gritty vibe. The band’s debut, Rzeki Goryczy, was met with general acclaim, and it should therefore delight fans that Exolvuntur follows closely in its footsteps, albeit aiming to be “more dynamic and melodic.” In fact, this sophomore is exemplary in many ways, but not all of them are complimentary.

Exolvuntur is simple on the surface, sticking to unflowery tremolos and uncomplicated tempos, occasionally employing group¹ vocals for roaring emphasis. Particular turns of instrumental phrase echo those of Mānbryne (“Moribunda,” “Hiems”), while others carry a more Sethian tone (“Manifest-kresu,” “Czas”). But Piołun don’t ape anyone so much as draw from a common well of spiritedness. More overtly than on the debut, they hit upon the familiar hazily-layered riffing and minimalistic melodic scales of second-wave-cum-meloblack in general, and structure their compositions uniformly around the recurrence of a singular uplifting high guitar line. This allows them to centre their spirit, which vitriolic vocal delivery and the occasional nods to the epic in their key refrains demonstrate they have an abundance of. Spirit and familiarity only go so far, however.

Piołun know how to write a smart rhythmic hook and a melancholic lead. Repeated stop-starts (“Sierpniowy-brzask,” “Hiems”), an offbeat to the descent of a tremolo (“Manifest-kresu”), and emphatic push-pulls between vocal delivery and guitar line switching (“Moribunda”) make for a consistently spunky energy. It pairs well with Exolvuntur’s best refrains, which feel mournful in that vaguely medieval sense only the trvest black metal is capable of (“Manifest-kresu,” “Sierpniowy-brzask,” “Proba-Sznura”). Exolvuntur is rather more uplifting than harrowing, filled with layered, iterated melodies (“Sierpniowy-brzask”) and anthemic, emphatic roars (“Czas,” “Kolo-zycia”). This applies to forward-launching blazers (“Manifest-kresu,” “Kolo-zycia”), rhythmic fillers (“Czas), and mellow bridgers (“Sierpniowy-brzask,” “Moribunda”) alike. It’s nothing you haven’t heard before but like a favourite hoodie or comforting tv show you’ve watched so many times, you know every line, there’s something endearing and warming about this album—strange as that would seem given its overt heaviness and darkness.

Yet Exolvuntur’s charms mask a simplicity that approaches shallowness. These shimmering lead riffs that are good in isolation and already familiar in an abstract sense are recycled with barely a semitone of difference across the record (“Sierpniowy-brzask,” “Proba-Sznura,” “Hiems”); the remainder feel like filler. Operating between a handful of notes that could constitute a theoretical “average” for this style of meloblack, their cadence, execution, and frequency is not only predictable but so void of imagination that they make every movement feel trite and their emotionality manufactured. It forms a key part of the problematic repetitiousness that plagues Exolvuntur, where tempos suffer from a similar banality, mechanically moving between a tripping march and nondescript blastbeat of some form, killing the fire of a stinging lead and with nary a fill or rollover to be heard. “Heard” is key here, because the drums somehow sound jarringly clacky at one moment and anaemically muffled everywhere else—like a bongo in a phone booth—which makes potential drum gymnastics very difficult to distinguish. At the heights of speed and intensity, vocals and much of the guitars are swallowed by this mire such that everyone is jostling for position, and passionate snarls feel unintentionally strained rather than punchy.

Piołun did not need to fall back on triteness. Not only are there sweeping refrains (“Proba-Sznura”) and passionate arcs (“Manifest-kresu”) that demonstrate a flair for the dramatic and deep, their very debut Rzeki Goryczy does too. The duo exercised restraint in keeping Exolvuntur below 40 minutes, but that restraint seems to have bled into the songwriting, in a genre and proclaimed take on it that necessitates at least a little excess—in emotion, heaviness, speed, or complexity. Exolvuntur is a slice of nostalgia for some, a comforting wash of approximately vicious black metal, but it shows how great a distance there is in evoking a sound and using it to evoke anything else.

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Rating: Disappointing
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Malignant Voices
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Available Worldwide: May 22nd, 2026

The post Piołun – Exolvuntur Review appeared first on Angry Metal Guy.

Pop megastar Lady Gaga is a certified Iron Maiden fan – and the metal icons think pretty highly of her too!

Anyone who has spent a significant portion of their life immersed in the underground music scene knows that

Mental health problems are confusing. The sorrow can be consuming. Maybe voices are vying for your attention, they don’t seem to agree. Anger and sadness snake between each other. Perhaps there’s a spark fizzling and crackling. Perhaps something feels wrong, like your body doesn’t quite fit properly. A wave of a deep, inescapable grief can leave you crying quietly. This is ‘SADWORLD’.

Let’s change tack a moment. Let’s talk about WREX. Their history is a little complicated, but basically they’re a punk rock duo. Singer Mae Seaton and vocalist/guitarist George Donoghue released their first proper EP ‘This Hell Goes A Long Way Down’ in 2024. Since then they’ve been establishing themselves as an uncompromising live band ready for their second act. Their core sound is punk rock mixed with metal riffs and loops. The two vocalists trade parts. You could compare them to The Subways but the closest comparison is probably Hot Milk but with a 90’s aesthetic, and it’s that which defines them; the choice of melodies, the dirty sound, drum loops that feel so analogue. It’s lo-fi and honest. Embracing those rough edges gives their music texture at odds to many modern records. It’s neither smoothed or blended, and is pleasantly gritty.

WREX are unafraid to use their voices in interesting ways. Alongside singing there is spoken word on ‘111’, rapped verses on ‘Paranoia’ and slightly weird melodies on ‘Consume’. In fact, the EP’s most striking feature is the way the two vocalists work around each other – not with each other. Rather than taking turns, it’s like a rowdy crowd trying to squeeze past each other to be heard. It gives the songs crackly energy and an air of unpredictably.

The EP’s artwork, a black, stark square with the name imposed in white is a huge contrast to that of their debut. It’s darker, austere and very clear about its contents. Each song echoes this. Each is actively trying something different. ‘Paranoia’ is laced with riffs and harmonic guitar squeals. ‘Consume’ is based on swaggering nu-metal and a strange mid-section. ‘111’ makes a big deal of lasting one minute and eleven seconds and uses this time to build momentum. However, it’s not a traditional “short song” and its end is abrupt and unnatural. Similarly, the excellent piano ballad ‘A Thousand Ways’ surrenders itself to a drum loop and then, just stops. It’s intentionally jarring, and creates the same effect. Combined with the strong mental health theme and the fourth track literally being called ‘The Noose’, it becomes a clear, intentional statement. However, it also means 40% of the songs are cut short. It’s an artistic compromise that draws attention from the frankly excellent songwriting elsewhere.

As we said at the beginning, mental health problems can be a mixture of conflicting emotions, discordant voices, the downbeat and uplifting struggling with each other. They can be a mix of explosive energy and abrupt endings. WREX have distilled this into their new EP. ‘SADWORLD’ is a stunning piece of art but only a taste of what they’re capable of.

IAN KENWORTHY

Swedish doom purveyors had wanted to go prog before their 2016 album, but found themselves held back. Then came a line-up change that kickstarted a “lucky relationship”