The Hangnails have certainly evolved. Recent releases have been a very far cry from the raw garage blasts of their early works, starting out almost fifteen years as a full-throttle garage duo.
There was something of a fallow spell after the release of DOG in 2017, after which Martyn Fillingham and Steven Reid made an understated return, the dropping of the ‘…and the’ signifying their shift towards different territories.
‘Come On Outside’ may be their most different yet. Stripped back, mellow, atmospheric, and synthy, it boasts epic, cinematic qualities – and they still make sound that you’d think impossible for a two-piece.
The visuals for the video are pretty striking, too.
Oakland-based alternative rock / darkwave trio Sword Tongue presents the video for ‘We Are The Resistance’ , a dark gem showcasing their explosive fourth EP Bonfire In The Tempest. Galvanized, song by song, during our current age of cultural upheaval, this release is bursting with raw emotion and tempered by sophisticated production, launching the band into uncharted territory.
This EP is a love letter to the music we all loved in the 90s. Long delays, lush chorus sounds, deep flanges and modulations – a guitar tone chaser’s dream, married with deep distorted growling bass lines, hard driven drums and pulsing, electronic dance beats provide the texture over which soaring female vocals triumph. At times a whisper, and other times a roar, each song crafted in the crucible of these modern, unprecedented times.
In these five loaded tracks, vocalist Jennifer Wilde delivers alluring vocal lines that oscillate between a croon and a roar, seduction and rage. Gaetano Maleki’s signature shimmering guitar tones and bass lines mesmerize and ensnare, while Dan Milligan’s intricate drum lines drive the message and become the heartbeat of this sonic tour de force reminiscent of the 90s.
Capturing the essence of 90s alternative music, reimagined for a new era, Sword Tongue weaves together rock, industrial, shoegaze, post-punk and trip hop, giving voice to anguish, anger, transformation and triumph. Pulling from an array of musical styles, from electronic music to space rock, the band earlier shared the single ‘Diamonds To Rust’.
“Originally, this album was meant to be more of a danceable opus with a trip hop flavor. However, after the U.S. Presidential election, we realized that our album had to carry a more specific message on the current pollical climate, on aging, and on transitions. We wanted to give voice to the frustration, the anguish, the strength, and the hope in all of us,” says Jennifer Wilde.
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Debuting in 2020 during the pandemic, Sword Tongue creates dark music for dark times, casting a shadow of hope in the twilight. Formed by husband-and-wife duo Gaetano Maleki and Jennifer Wilde, the project is their love language and the culmination of their life’s work as musicians. Wilde, a classically trained vocalist who has performed with the Oakland Symphony Chorus, has been a guest vocalist and lyricist for seminal shoegaze band Love Spirals Downwards. Maleki brings an intensity from his background in heavy music, infusing his shimmering guitar soundscapes with sonic weight.
The pair were then joined by renowned producer and drummer Dan Milligan, whose driving contribution has infused the music with more depth, drive and dimension. The brainchild of The Joy Thieves, he has quite the history co-creating, producing and remixing such artists as Chris Connelly, PIG and Consolidated, and members of such bands as Ministry, Stabbing Westward, The Rollins Band, Killing Joke, David Bowie, Marilyn Manson, Depeche Mode and Nine Inch Nails, among others.
One of Arizona’s fastest-rising hardcore acts, OVERSTAND, are taking things to the next level with the release of their long-awaited debut full-length album, Take Control, out October 3.
In a major show milestone, Overstand brought their explosive live energy to Arizona’s legendary Marquee Theatre earlier this summer, supporting hardcore icons Suicidal Tendencies. It was a fitting match for a band that’s spent the past few years building a reputation for unrelenting, classic hardcore fury with a modern edge.
Born during the stillness of the pandemic lockdown, Overstand formed in 2020 when longtime collaborators and veterans of the hardcore scene came together with purpose and urgency. In isolation, they wrote 23 songs, seven of which became their 2022 debut EP — released self-titled in the U.S. and as 24 Hour Catastrophe in Europe via Conviction Records. That record lit the match, and now Take Control is the explosion: ten tracks of pure, unrelenting, no-bullshit hardcore.
Check the title track here:
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With former members of Warzone, Roger Miret and The Disasters, Vision, District 9, Casket Life, and North Side Kings in the ranks, Overstand has quickly become a name to watch, both in the States and abroad. They’ve torn up stages alongside Sheer Terror, Ignite, The Dwarves, Death by Stereo, Manic Hispanic, Kill Your Idols, and more, as well as holding their own at festivals like Within These Walls.
The full-length’s cover art is a collaboration between Mick Lambrou and Steven Huie — two highly respected names in the world of punk and hardcore visual culture. Lambrou, based in Australia, is known for his iconic designs for Murphy’s Law, Slapshot, Shutdown, Agnostic Front, Madball, and many more. Huie, owner of Flyrite Tattoo, is behind legendary artwork for bands like Madball, Crown Of Thornz, and Sick Of It All, adding even more legacy and impact to Take Control’s visual identity.
Bassist Roy Valencia also holds down low-end duties for The Outlaw Vinnie Stigma, a powerhouse lineup featuring Vinnie Stigma (Agnostic Front), Chip Hanna (U.S. Bombs), and Jesse Wagner (The Aggrolites) — along with members of Gogol Bordello, including Eugene Hütz, Sergey Ryabtsev, and Leo Mintek. Roy recently wrapped a high-energy East Coast run with the band, delivering the same fierce intensity onstage that defines his work with Overstand.
Overstand isn’t interested in nostalgia or posturing — they’re here to Take Control, and their new material makes that abundantly clear. Brutal, focused, and burning with intent, this is hardcore done right.
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Upcoming Shows:
Oct 11th – Middletown, Connecticut @ Silk Arcade Oct 12th – NYC @ The Bowery Electric w/ Incendiary Device Oct 18th – Tempe, AZ – Record Release Show @ Yucca Tap Room
Nov 20 – Houston, TX – Winter Weekender Preshow Nov 22 – Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theater w/ FEAR
Spotlights, the beloved trio of Mario and Sarah Quintero with drummer Chris Enriquez, release Rarities, a remastered nine-song compilation of early and rare tracks spanning the band’s full discography on 21st November via Ipecac Recordings.
A preview arrives with ‘050809’, the first song the now married Mario and Sarah Quintero ever wrote together. “Sarah and I had been talking about making music together before we were even dating,” Mario shares. “05/08/09 is the day we became an item.”
Hear it here:
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Rarities traces the band’s evolution, from their debut single to standout tracks from their 2023 Séance EP. After relocating from San Diego to New York in 2013, the band released their first EP, Demonstrations, in 2015. That was followed by the Spiders EP and their full-length debut, Tidals, in 2016 – releases that drew attention from artists like Deftones, Shiner, If These Trees Could Talk, and ultimately led to their signing with Ipecac Recordings.
Now, after a decade of releases, the band is reflecting on these songs, all of which are appearing on vinyl for the first time. “It’s a really fun listen,” Mario adds. “You can hear and feel the development of the band over the years, not only musically but emotionally and production wise as well.”
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The band will be selling copies of the Rarities vinyl on tour, and via the Ipecac website. Tickets for the band’s shows supporting AA Williams are on sale now, via Ipecac.com/tours.
LIVE DATES IN SUPPORT OF AA WILLIAMS:
27/01 – UK Norwich, Arts Centre 28/01 – UK Milton Keynes, Craufurd Arms 29/01 – UK Nottingham, Bodega 30/01 – UK Manchester, Deaf Institute 31/01 – UK Glasgow, G2 01/02 – UK Leeds, Brudenell Social Club 03/02 – UK Birmingham, Hare & Hounds 04/02 – UK Bristol, Strange Brew 05/02 – UK London, Bush Hall 06/02 – UK Southampton, Papillon 07/02 – BE Diksmuide, 4AD 08/02 – FR Paris, Nouveau Casino 10/02 – FR Toulouse, Le Rex 11/02 – ES Barcelona, La Nau 12/02 – ES Madrid, Villanos 13/02 – PT Lisbon, Casa Capitão 14/02 – PT Porto, Mouco 15/02 – ES Donosti, Dabadaba 17/02 – FR Grenoble, l’Ampérage 18/02 – IT Milan, Legend Club 19/02 – CH Aarau, KiFF 20/02 – DE Munich, Live / Evil 21/02 – AT Vienna, Chelsea 22/02 – CZ Prague, SUBZERO 24/02 – PL Warsaw, VooDoo 25/02 – DE Berlin, Neue Zukunft 26/02 – DE Cologne, Gebäude 9 27/02 – NL Eindhoven, Effenaar 28/02 – NL Utrecht, Tivoli Cloud Nine
BONGINATOR celebrate their big bad yellow tour-vehicle with the new video single ‘Short Ass Bus’. The New England death metal posse has invited Abel Abarca, vocalist of American hardcore maniacs BIG ASS TRUCK from Inland Empire, CA, and vocalist Colin Richardson from their brothers-in-grooves IGNOMINIOUS to the party and you should totally feel free to join the fun, too!
The track has been cranked from the Americans’ second full-length Retrodeath, which will change the rotation of this planet on October 24, 2025.
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BONGINATOR comment: “When you were a kid, did you have to ride the short bus to school?”, vocalist and shredder Erik Thorstenn wants to know. “Wait… that was just us? Anyway, this song is a banger and features our homies Abel Abarca from Big Ass Truck and Colin Richardson from Ignominious. It’s a song about going to school, being covered in drool, and having a big ass. Also the guitar solo is sick. Just saying. No clue, how we will pull that off live. Listen and tell us what you think! But uh… Are you serious that none of you rode the short bus to school?”
Philadelphia’s industrial sludge metallers WORST ONES is back with a new powerful single, entitled ‘Deny Reality’. The song channels the bleak pulse of Godflesh, the twisted hooks of Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson, and the sample-driven chaos of Skinny Puppy, creating something both claustrophobic and hypnotic.
‘Deny Reality’ is a mid-tempo industrial sludge anthem built on relentless electronic percussion and skittering hi-hats that slice through layers of noise loops. The guitars have been shredded, resampled, and reconstructed into something ripped and inhuman. A towering chorus cuts through the haze, while a crushing breakdown in the middle drags the listener deeper into heaviness.
Lyrically, ‘Deny Reality’ confronts the culture of wilful ignorance that has metastasized into complicity. Lines like “Cast out your empathy, behold your tragedy” and “My nightmares are dreams, you deny reality” attack the blindness that sustains power and allows violence to thrive. The song reflects a world where denial has become survival, even as that denial drives us toward collapse. In its imagery of poisoned breath, hollow faith, and the erasure of empathy, the track positions ignorance not as escape but as the very engine of destruction.
In addition to its digital release, Deny Reality will appear on Abolish ICE, a compilation CD of Philadelphia-area metal, hardcore, and punk bands. The CD features 16 artists, including Trunk, L.M.I., Sunrot, Boozewa, SOJI, Detox Meds, and Get Well. Copies are available from the bands in exchange for donations to Juntos, a community-led Latine immigrant rights organization based in Philadelphia. Through this release, WORST ONES aligns its music with direct action, using its sound as both protest and support for those most affected by systemic oppression. With Deny Reality, the band continues the mission of turning noise into resistance. The result is not just another sludge anthem, but a dirge for a society choking on its own denial and a demand to confront the truth, no matter how unbearable.
Sky Valley Mistress have initiated countdown to the release of their second album Luna Mausoleum, that is due to land on Friday 23rd January 2026 (New Heavy Sounds).
Intended to be the soundtrack of their Hearsecraft ride to the moon, Pilot Kayley “Hell Kitten” Davies and Commander Max “Leather Messiah” Newsome launch you into the Sonic Stratosphere with an audio journey fuelled by 70’s hard rock, driven off the road to a fresh new destination.
Taking you through desert rock grooves and mountainous riffs, you are guided by Kayley’s soulfully smoked voice and her range of soaring, delicate, yearning and understated melodies as the band ride peaks and valleys of dynamics and pace with an eclectic selection of instrumentation of fuzz guitars, organs, real orchestras and a children’s choir.
Twisting influences of Queens of the Stone Age with Portishead and turning from Spiritualised-sized gospel choruses to the gallow heavy swing of Black Sabbath, with sound as fast as light they move between their influential orbit to create a modern classic that is entirely their own. There isn’t space in this genre the band haven’t explored. This is a demonstration of their refusal to wait for permission to create a record that stands in scale with some of the most monumental albums in rock.
The band’s statement on their intent behind creating Luna Mausoleum was that it should be “greater and beyond all reason”.
They’ve also released first single ‘Thundertaker’ named after the hearse they drive on tour. Opening with the apocalyptic power of early Black Sabbath before taking you on a joy ride fuelled by some Motörhead grade speed, THUNDERTAKER is a riff rippin’ rocket jam kicked out from the Sonic Strato- sphere for the world to hear.
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The band who has one member play every instrument so that they sound like a four piece in the studio, defy logic with aspiration with their iconic live show as a Duel-Drumming Duo. Vocalist Kayley “Hell Kitten” Davies takes the sticks and one half of a drum kit whilst original drummer Max “Leather Messiah” Newsome battles the electric guitar with the kick drum under his foot. No samples. No backing tracks. No click tracks. No one is playing rock and roll the ways these two do.
‘Darkest Day’ is the opening track from Rhys Marsh & Mandala’s new album, Until The End Of Time — a dark, expansive and cinematic journey that explores themes of loss and love, along with the notion that when you lose someone you love, you still love them until the end of time.
With songs ranging from ten to eighteen minutes in length, the album’s soundscape is largely dominated by majestic analogue synthesisers and led by Mandala’s trademark dynamics — ranging from whisper-quiet to wall-of-sound. Until The End Of Time will be available on all streaming and download platforms, alongside a strictly limited-edition CD, available exclusively from Burning Shed, on November 14.
Rhys Marsh has released eleven albums in the past — both solo, and as the singer-songwriter in bands — and this is the third Mandala album. It was decided to call this a Rhys Marsh & Mandala album, as thematically and stylistically it follows on from Marsh’s previous solo album, Towards The West, which was a direct refection on the loss of his Dad.
Formed in London in 1997, Mandala have toured the UK, Scandinavia and North America over the years, playing at iconic venues such as CBGB’s in NYC and The Marquee Club in London. Their blend of folk-noir, progressive rock, psychedelia — all wrapped in Marsh’s atmospheric and dynamic melodies — has garnered acclaim and airplay across multiple countries, with singles A-listed on Radio Caroline, and chart success on iTunes in the UK and Canada.
Critics have called Mandala’s sound “a kaleidoscope of prog, psychedelia, and folk”, and praised their “knife-edge atmospheres and Eastern-tinged melodies” (The Independent), with The Guardian describing their music as “folk-noir”, and Time Out highlighting their “melancholy laden melodies”.
Until The End Of Time is the kind of album that needs to be listened to from start to end. The songs are long, and the themes expand and unfold gradually. There are elements of post-rock with the long build-ups, progressive rock with the sweeping Mellotrons, and a deep sense of melancholy.
The album features spoken word in three languages: English, Norwegian and Welsh. Marsh says that this verse can sum up the overall feeling of the album:
The brainchild of US drummer/multi-instrumentalist Rona Rougeheart, SINE has released a new single entitled ‘Succumb To Me’ on Metropolis Records today. Co-produced by Rougeheart with Curse Mackey (Pigface) and mastered by Mark Pistel (Consolidated, Meat Beat Manifesto), the song mixes industrial sounds with dirty disco and rhythmic sub bass to form the perfect definition of what she refers to as her signature genre, ‘electronic boom’.
“While working on my next album, I decided to open a new session and start something fresh just for fun,” Rougeheart recalls. “As another track began to form, I was really loving the vibe, so I anchored it around two deep synth bass hits that pan right and left to give the listener a surround sound experience, especially in headphones. The lyrics seemed to write themselves as I recorded scratch vocals, just letting it flow. The lyrics are cheeky and a little sinister, with a dash of sex appeal. It’s definitely one of my favourite SINE tunes to date!”
Gothenburg’s drunk’n’roll/hardcore-punk wrecking crew Spøgelse have dropped a brand-new video for their track ‘Speedfreaks’, delivering another feral taste of their forthcoming second album Spøgelse II, set to be released on October 24 via Welfare Sounds & Records.
Loud, raw, and one beer away from total collapse, Spøgelse embody what punk is supposed to feel like. Spøgelse II packs fifteen (!!) tracks that hit like a fist to the jaw for anyone sick of polished, overproduced punk.
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Born in the deep Swedish woods but raised on Gothenburg afterparties, Spøgelse have spent the last five years cramming into beat-up cars, dragging gear across highways, and spilling beer on every stage reckless enough to host them. Their mission has never changed: fast riffs, feral live energy, and zero fucking compromises.
‘Speedfreaks’ captures the band in their purest form, a chaotic, adrenaline-fueled anthem that barrels forward with the same unhinged force that has made Spøgelse one of Sweden’s most trusted live acts.
Self-described as “beer and guitar-shrimp specialists” and “your favorite fuck-ups,” Spøgelse aren’t here to clean things up, they’re here to tear it all down.
Aural Aggravation 