Browsing Tag

muse

Supersonia became darkwave’s Dr Frankenstein with the electricity in the disquieting Sci-Fi Post-Punk atmosphere of ‘Glowing Engines’

Posted on 11 July 2026

Disquieting sci-fi synths open the latest release by French-born, Los Angeles-based alt-rock emissary Supersonia. From there, Carpenter-esque scores, Kraftwerk-echoing synth-pop, post-punk and Krautrock converge, creating friction around the harbingeringly charismatic vocals which deliver the same kind of drama as Peter Murphy.

In Glowing Engines, Supersonia offers a cheeky Machiavellian grin with his histrionic narration before the stadium-sized rock riffs ensure there is not an atom of negative space in the production. Glowing Engines sparks with more electricity than what Dr Frankenstein used; this track is most definitely alive with darkwave scintillation. As an artist who knows exactly how to take charge of a chilling atmosphere and create gothic spectacle, he is emitting his own limelight.

Glowing Engines speaks to every unsung hero who pours themselves into others while silently running on empty. Within Supersonia’s connected sci-fi narrative, that idea becomes the story of a future healer repairing broken wounds until someone finally repairs his. The emotional premise gives the track a human core beneath its metallic, cosmic casing.

With 80s rock influence, 90s grunge, modern rock force and cosmic shred running through the release, Glowing Engines has obvious appeal for fans of Muse, Metallica, Soundgarden, Queen and DJO. More importantly, it positions Supersonia as an independent artist worthy of a cult following.

Glowing Engines is now available to stream on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

AboveMe Turned Insomniac Confession into Turbulent Salvation with ‘Sleep Talk’

Posted on 14 July 2025
https://soundcloud.com/tombrunello

Anyone with an affinity for the cathartic chaos that only no-holds-barred alternative genre fusion can deliver will want to start gravitating around AboveMe with his seminal release, Sleep Talk, taken from the LP, Later Nights. The track opens as a future-forward glimpse of intimacy into AboveMe’s world and unravels into a saturated yet augmented lo-fi confession. Before you know it, the opening salvo disintegrates into a composition that claims the middle ground between Sleep Token, Muse, and Deftones, as AboveMe’s diaphanous vocals drift over a disquieting atmosphere that teeters on the brink before waves of bass-swathed dubstep disrupt any sense of quiescence. Harmonic breaks dart through cataclysmic bursts of alt-electronica, placing AboveMe as a serious contender for the title of 2025’s fiercest innovators.

Yet, none of the progressions within Sleep Talk feel like experimentalism for distinction’s sake. Every twist and turn in the track visualises the precariousness of a mind that refuses to slip out of frantic lucidity. What you get is pure passion, with every emotion bled into the sonic architecture, resulting in an alternative cut that sways between chilling, dark, and undeniably cathartic. This one’s a must for those who crave unfiltered expression, technical mastery, and the adrenaline spike that only genreless alt chaos can supply.

Sleep Talk is now available on all major streaming platforms, including SoundCloud.
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Review by Amelia Vandergast

Ghost Nation advocated idiosyncratic autonomy in their dark pop/rock amalgam, Insane

Posted on 20 July 2023

Ghost Nation advocated idiosyncratic individuality in their latest addictive anthem, Insane. With a Shinedown-esque rock backbeat and razor-sharp pop hooks that pull you into the emboldening future-ready synthetics of the down-the-rabbit-hole single, it’s a feel-good anthem for every outlier who knows how hard fought for sanctity can be.

Uniqueness may now be celebrated to a certain degree in society but there are still boundaries to keep quirks inside of, Ghost Nation broke every boundary in their liberating anthem, which also borrows a few industrial rock tones. It may be darker and infinitely more twisted with the carnivalesque propensities of the melodies, but insane is the epitome of a radio-ready earworm. If Muse and Imagine Dragons managed to mainstream their sonic signatures, Ghost Nation is easily capable of doing the same.

Ghost Nation has already had its fair share of successes since forming in Stockholm in 2016. Their debut release was a hit worldwide, and their seminal single, Unforgiven, reached No.1 in over 20 singles. To date, the single has clocked up 1.4 million streams on Spotify and 3.6 million on YouTube.

Insane was officially released on July 14th; stream it on SoundCloud and Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Derek Vaden – Eating My Words: Blisteringly Hot Indie Blues Rock

Posted on 31 December 2022

The sex appeal isn’t the only thing that’s visceral in the swaggering alt-rock single, Eating My Words, from Derek Vaden’s 2022 EP, The Recreational Experiment. The Chicago-based musician and songwriter salaciously straddles the line between blues rock and indie to deliver a hard and heavy rhythmic revival; if Velvet Revolver and Muse had an aural lovechild, it would undoubtedly go under the moniker, Derek Vaden.

The winding blues rock increments are overdriven to the nth degree to give the riotous release anthemic appeal, but none of the vintage blues rock tones lost their bluesy bite. If anything, teeth have been sharpened in this confrontationally volatile release, which was written, performed, and recorded by Derek Vaden’s reverently rock n roll hands in his own studio.

Check out Eating My Words on YouTube and SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Spotlight Feature: piano rock pioneer Anthony J Fink let the emotion pour in his alt-rock EP, Feel the Rain

Posted on 14 August 2022

As an extension of his commitment to advocate for mental health and spread awareness of the detriment of depression, addiction, and suicide, Michigan’s strongest lyricist and fiercest piano rock pioneer, Anthony J Fink, has released his latest EP, Feel the Rain.

Each of the five singles is a triumph of blazing piano pop-rock-inclined candour, but Fink reminded us why the EP format is so important. From the optimism proclaiming piano pop-rock ballad of an opener to the experimental baroque rock electricity of Masquerade, which gives all of the energy of a rock opera, to the closer title single, which harnesses broadsiding grungy emotion, Feel the Rain is a journey. The final destination? The affirmation that this world breeds disillusion and a tendency to numb the pain but that doesn’t eradicate your power to resist and overcome it.

Rarely do singer-songwriters, of any ilk, achieve such momentously complex and multi-layered productions that absolutely consume you. The Feel the Rain EP made an essential artist out of Anthony J Fink, especially for any rock-inclined seekers of sonic guidance through our vapidly trying times. Buy it. It’s cheaper than therapy.

In his own words:

“Feel the Rain touches on many things. Loss is a big focus. My parents passed away when I was very young due to alcohol addiction. I have struggled with relationships in general in my life and with addiction. This coming January, I will be alcohol-free for four years.”

Feel the Rain is now available to stream on Spotify or purchase on apple music.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Glass Image reached the pinnacle of evocative riff-driven alt-indie alchemy with their latest single, Again

Posted on 30 April 2022

On the basis of their latest single, Again, Glass Image is the entire pensively intellectual alt-rock package. With the artfully evocative gravitas of Radiohead, the monolithically melodic guitars and the raw yet honeyed indie alt-rock vocals, it’s enough to aurally lull you into an emotionally heightened state of intense appreciation of their candour and signature brand of riff-heavy alchemy.

After forming in 2018, the NY-hailing outfit got to work on their debut 2019 EP, which stood as a testament to their proclivity to always weave a meaningful narrative around melodic riffs. Following the release of Again, they are set to release their debut LP in 2022. Notably, they’re one to watch.

Again is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

GLASS EYE – PRAYERS: Salaciously Ethereal Alt-Rock

Posted on 12 April 2021
GLASS EYE

With vocals that hit the high notes with the same precision as Matt Bellamy, the sex appeal of Deftones and classic rock licks that come with an ethereally evocative twist, it’s hard not to expect big things to come from GLASS EYE with the release of their album ‘SOMEWHERE, NOWHERE’.

PRAYERS is the perfect introduction to their sound that is so much more than an aural crumble of prominent bands that we’ve come to love across the decades. It’s a delectable invitation to witness the US-based powerhouse’s visceral authenticity that will appeal to anyone who likes their alt-rock to come with rhythmic salacious chills.

PRAYERS is just one of the singles that feature on their forthcoming album ‘SOMEWHERE, NOWHERE’, which is due for release on June 10th.

You can check out GLASS EYE via their website and on Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

UK alt-rock outfit THE BIGGER PICTURE is set to make a sonic debut with ‘Sparkle’.

Posted on 8 April 2021
THE BIGGER PICTURE

London-based alt-rock newcomers THE BIGGER PICTURE is set to make a sonic debut with, ‘Sparkle’; a single that parallels the anthemic energy in tracks by Muse, Arcade Fire, Editors and Biffy Clyro and sets the bar high for the debut EP.

The full-bodied release will take you back to the days when rock artists would master theatrical aural experiences, designed to completely blow your mind when the crescendos and guitar solos come around. It is hardly a stretch to say that, given the chance, THE BIGGER PICTURE could offer the same command of a festival crowd as Queen did in the 80s.

The dual vocals practically make Sparkle effervescent with collaborative chemistry, and the guitar work is enough to give James Dean Bradfield a complex.

You can check out THE BIGGER PICTURE via Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Ride the sonic crescendos in Fuzz Skyler’s latest indie piano rock single ‘Recall’

Posted on 12 March 2021
Fuzz Skyler

Not only do international piano-rock powerhouse, Fuzz Skyler break the monocultural mould, but they also thrash against every restraint which rock artists need to break through to create a sound that is capable of taking your breath away.

Their latest earworm, ‘Recall’ is filthy enough to make your ear canal feel defiled as you listen to the salaciously-charged, theatrically charismatic vocals paired with vintage-inspired instrumentals which affirm, quite definitively, that modern rock isn’t ready to be buried just yet.

The sonic crescendos which nod toward the timeless styles of Bowie, Muse and Queen are simply unforgettable. Recall speaks to my soul in a language I never even knew I was fluent in.

Recall was released on February 19th. You can hear it by heading over to Soundcloud.

Keep up to date with Fuzz Skyler’s latest releases via Facebook.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Hard rock newcomers Musicismost have made their distortedly electric debut with ‘Pheromone Too’

Posted on 20 January 2021
https://soundcloud.com/armen-levon-225838457/pheromone-too-by-musicismost

While most of us spent the summer of 2020 in enforced sun-and-over-drinking (the lucky ones with gardens, anyway) or locked down indoors, it seems Musicismost were not just forming in Chiswick, West London, but recording this, their first single.

‘Pheromone Too’ is a fast-paced, high energy rock track in the style of the Chilli Peppers, Muse, or Royal Blood, with maybe a little funky Lenny Kravitz vibe thrown in for good measure. It rocks hard, distorted guitars vying with up-front breathy vocals for attention. Releasing your first single all about pheromones – something invisible which can’t be detected but which influence our behaviour – is a pretty bold stroke, but it seems Musicismost can just about pull it off.

Hear ‘Pheromone Too’ on Soundcloud; follow Musicismost on Facebook.

Review by Alex Holmes