Diaries of Doom

  Hardcore/sludge metal kings Battalions are back in town with their fourth album. Four years on from Forever Marching Backwards , Kingston upon Hull's Battalions have churned out a monolithic slab of hardcore punk-meets-sludge glory over the pandemic, full to the brim with stomping grooves and gut-wrenching savagery.  Though they've gone back to their roots musically, it's the end result of a season of change for the quartet.  As vocalist Phil Wilkinson explains,  'During the covid lockdowns, we underwent a personnel change, namely welcoming drummer Simon into the Battalions fold, so with this we wanted to go for a whole new production process. We chose a brand new studio to us, Nø Studio in Manchester with producer Joe Clayton (Pijn), as we wanted a new sound after using Chris Fielding (Conan) for all our previous efforts. King of a Dead World is us returning to our roots, big grooves rooted in a dirty DIY sludge and hardcore sound. In addition to this, we also cho...

Desertfest London have announced their first batch of bands for their 2023 edition, running from May 5th - May 7th next year.  The festival say: Returning stronger than ever thanks to the unyielding support of our steadfast fan base, Desertfest is now entering its eleventh year next May. Kicking off the initial 2023 announcement, we welcome cult heroes Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats to headline the Roundhouse for the very first time. As one of the most widely-requested bands in the Desertfest-sphere, the Uncle Acid amalgamation of riff-driven hard-rock & trippy melodic weavings has allowed a uniquely original, yet utterly timeless beast to form.  Swedish heavy-blues maestros Graveyard join once again, eliciting raw emotion with their lyrical prowess & introspective compositions. One of the greatest live acts of all time, German groovers KADAVAR and worshippers of vintage occult folklore Blood Ceremony , all of whose boundary pushing retro-rock sounds make a gratifying...

Birmingham Death Metal newcomers Hand of the Host are due to release their latest song Cannibalistic Self Mutilation on 03/10/22. Following on from the success of previous single Demonic Tormentor , Cannibalistic Self Mutilation is a throwback to classic death metal with chainsaw guitars and bruising drums. It's certain to evoke the brutality of the lyrical subject matter, which takes inspiration from the 2009 case of a New Zealand man who acted upon the fantasy of amputating and eating his own body parts. With ominous bass notes in the intro, Hand of the Host waste no time in setting an atmosphere. The doomy opening chords and foreboding guitar squeals suck you into their depraved world before the verse even kicks in. The medium pacing of the track is ideal for a sea of headbangers to nod along to, with double bass drumming that pounds away and keeps the song ticking. A lead guitar section towards the end really impresses, with a tasteful, expressive performance.  C...

Midlands Extreme Metallers  Ashen Crown have announced a change in their ranks.  After the departure of guitarist Jay Rogers , they faced a huge task in finding a replacement who was a good fit both musically and in personality and immediately got to work on finding a guitarist to cover upcoming shows. Sy Taplin ( Wired THC , Ex- Savage Messiah , Ex- L-Sol-Tace ) was approached by the band, having performed with him previously and being well aware of his playing ability and pedigree, to initially stand in temporarily. After a successful headline set at Beermageddon Metal Festival , Sy and the band agreed that they would like to make it a permanent fixture.  Ste Fowkes , guitarist of Ashen Crown said “ In one rehearsal, we instantly realised he was a perfect fit musically, the vibe was right and the collective decision to offer him the spot full time was unanimous - We are massively excited to begin injecting Sy's creativity into AC and working to deliver a strong f...

Pelugion, who have been active for around ten years, have impressed with their first couple of releases. The heavy rocking '1' preceded the darker, doomier '2' from just short of two years ago, which I lent my thoughts to in this review . Over the last decade, they've built their reputation steadily but surely, with convincing and reliable live performances. A tight unit of hard-hitting drums, dense sludge-grunge riffing and Chris Cornell-reminiscent vocals that make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck, you don't just forget about Pelugion after you come across them. Most notably, they appeared on Bloodstock's New Blood Stage as Coventry Metal 2 The Masses winners in 2018. They're coming back for more on Sunday morning. Pelugion interview outside Scruffy Murphy's in 2019. Yes, I'm interviewing them in the back of a car. In what will promise to be a big week for the Coventry-based trio, they're also releasing the tantalising new singl...

Following two EPs in 2019, Birmingham hardcore trio Creature have returned with ten minutes of aural assault to deliver  Haunt . With stark lyricism dealing with austerity, complicity, and the state of the nation, the band accompanies this with filthy, to-the-point, in-your-face metallic hardcore. It's not for the  faint-hearted, nor is it meant to be. All four songs whizz by in less than three minutes each, though there's a lot going on in a short time. Musically, it's a really interesting listen, with unconventional structures and off-time rhythms for starters. Each member has time to shine; take the interesting bass work in the 'Grey Ghosts' chorus, or t he sludgy guitar bends around the halfway mark of 'All', the dynamic drum performance over 'Creeping', just to name a few moments. 'Lines' starts off math-y and frenetic before unexpectedly launching into some of the catchiest vocal hooks across the whole EP.  It's a huge musical state...

Phon have been going for less than a year, but the future looks bright for the Worcester trio, based on the strength of their debut EP. Their live shows are energetic, pretty sweaty in my own experience, and risk moderate short-term hearing loss - but are very good. They bring the sounds of the alternative rock greats of the 90s in with a stoned-out, hardcore-infused context - meaning that the likes of Sonic Youth and the Melvins are just as sonically important to Phon as Nirvana or Soundgarden.  Cat Zen Jamma bursts with jaunty basslines, pounding drums and catchy vocal hooks throughout its runtime, which feels all too short by the time it's over. I'm particularly keen on the bass guitar riffs over 'Julia Roberts (Stars In Eat Pray Love)' or 'Fade', which use open strings in conjunction with frets high up the neck to create quite a specific sound, locking in really well with the laid-back drum grooves. At times, the guitar seems to act as a second bass - with ...