Diaries of Doom

The Sound of Origin are back with their second full-length in three years, Man in the Arena . After the release of the excellent The All Seeing Eye during lockdown, the band appeared at Bloodstock Festival for the first time in 2021 and recorded a cover of Alice Cooper's Sick Things for Pale Wizard Records. A rebrand followed, introducing a new drummer in Jack Walker, also of Gandalf the Green . On Man in the Arena , he brings a distinctly different flavour compared to the previous drummer, assuredly stamping his mark onto the band. Other than that, the deliciously fuzz-soaked riffs are still present and the other addition to personnel is Kyle Thomas, famously of Trouble , Alabama Thunderpussy and Exhorder , who lends his distinctive vocal prowess to two songs on the record. What does it sound like, then? Sound of Origin - Lockjaw/Morning Bird (live at Bloodstock 2021) The two Kyle Thomas-guested songs are a neat encapsulation of the two sides to Man in the Arena . Frail Old

Callous Hands have been doing well lately. After a busy 2022 that saw them play on the New Blood Stage at Bloodstock, they've prepared themselves for 2023 by getting the next release ready to go. Recorded by Neil Hudson from Krysthla , they've teased it out over the past months with a stream of videos. It's due out tomorrow and they'll be celebrating it at the Tap N' Tumbler in Nottingham next Friday with Kensei and Mantis Defeats Jaguar . I see them pushing everything that they do well musically out into bigger and better directions on this release. Earth Mover was a sign of things to come, but the melodies are much bigger this time around and there's a progressive streak that has really come into its own. For the sake of transparency, it's not a secret that I work with Callous Hands behind the scenes. This EP, though, is all on them, the work of five musicians hammering songs out and grafting the music out relentlessly in their practice space. Callous H