Browsing Tag

Nu Metal

Mondegreen Melodised Nu Metal in Their Annhilative Revival, Are You Sure

Posted on 9 April 2024

With their debut single, Are You Sure, Oxford’s Mondegreen did more than just throw their hat in the Nu Metal revival ring; the expansive annihilative aural aesthetic in the cataclysmic hit allowed the five-piece to stand at the vanguard of the movement and tear down the constructs that constrain the genre.

By feeding the juggernautical grows of the basslines, the cacophonous percussion and the sirening guitars in an ethereally intense atmosphere injected with Metalcore increments of electronica, nostalgia for Mushroomhead, and melodic vocal hooks, Mondegreen scribed a thunderously distinctive sonic signature that has the capacity to write the future of the genre.

After forming in 2023, the outfit is on a mission to deliver heartfelt lyricism through hard-hitting riffs and shake up the status quo, after Are You Sure obliterated my speakers, I can safely say they’re on the right trajectory and they’re one of the most promising new names on the UK metal scene.

Are You Sure is now available to stream on all major platforms including Spotify and YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Ramener exhibited the agony of empathy in their debut music video for their seminal single, In Her Hands

Posted on 18 January 2024
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6EbjJ0eEyw

With the unveiling of Ramener’s debut album drawing closer, the grungy alt-rock evocators unleashed their first music video to complement their ensnaring lead single, In Her Hands, and draw fans a little closer into their tumultuously provocative world, which is redefining the contemporary nu-metal arena.

With a similar atmosphere and aesthetic to Nirvana’s iconic Smells Like Teen Spirit music video, Ramener succeeded in amplifying the visceralism within their seminal single. The rhythmics of the track mimic a fraught with anxious torment heartbeat in the intro until the single breaks into its first cascade of instrumental candour to complement the complete rejection of inhibition from the vocals, which harmonically tease you into the cacophonous outpour.

If you are yet to see Ramener live, the music video will give you an accurate view of what you can expect from the instrumentally tight outfit which becomes the sum of all parts when they’re using their agony, volition and razor-sharp songwriting chops to seduce you into soundscapes which transcend sound to become immersive expositions into the dark side of empathy. Keep Ramener on your radar. What follows will undoubtedly be just as groundbreaking.

Stream the debut music video from Ramener for their In Her Hands hit single via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Post-hardcore meets hip hop in SEER SEEKER’s viscerally bruising standout release, GONE TOO LONG

Posted on 2 January 2024

Post-hardcore meets nu-metal and creates friction with hard-hitting hip-hop in the standout cinematic mash-up, GONE TOO LONG, from the hotly anticipated debut album TO THE CORE, from SEER SEEKER.

For the seminal track from the LP, SEER SEEKER took the foundation laid by Linkin Park and launched it into a brand-new scintillating atmosphere, which channels the same tumultuous visceralism as ground-breaking artists in the vein of Wage War, Polaris, and Fit for a King. While some artists are content getting up to speed with the contemporary curve, others are palpably determined to sit on a plateau above it. SEER SEEKER is definitively in the latter camp.

High-octane enigmatic energy courses through the electrifying release as SEER SEEKER uses every ounce of their volition to make the weight of the lyricism cascade with bruising and deeply affecting impact. Between the cross-appeal of the monolithic aesthetic and the up-and-coming artist’s maniacally larger-than-life charisma, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more promising breakthrough post-hardcore artist on the airwaves right now.

TO THE CORE was officially released on December 22. Stream it in full on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Every Glazer refused to be silent on the needless extensively-voyeured bloodshed in ‘Silver Screen’

Posted on 25 November 2023

With a more frantic tempo to match the urgency of the message in the intro and opening verse which scathes over what society has become in light of the bloodshed, which is only pouring harder the further we get into 2023, The Every Glazer veered into nu-metal territory with his latest single, Silver Screen, before bringing in the grungy melodicism in the chorus. If Linkin Park ever saw sense and collaborated with Deftones and Soundgarden, the result would be as alchemic as Silver Screen, which captures the singer-songwriter’s compulsion to ensure this fucked up segment of history will be never forgotten by the music industry.

As The Every Glazer has had a vice-like grip on his muse throughout 2023, there’s plenty of traction picking up around him; now close to 20k listeners are finding solace within his discography, which never shies away from reflecting the most heart-wrenching stitches in our social tapestry. If you want a virtuosic hand to help you through this slither of dystopia, hit play.

Stream Silver Screen on Spotify and YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Eville unleashed a champion heavyweight earworm with their ragefully incandescent brat metal hit, Leech

Posted on 4 October 2023
Eville

After driving drum n bass breakbeats through the prelude, the Brighton trio Eville underpinned their vengeantly furore-fuelled pop-hooked single, Leech, with industrial nu-metal volition to deliver one of the most vindicating hits of 2023.

So much more than your average brat metal Barbie, the lead singer, songwriter, and guitarist Eva Sheldrake became a fierce icon of the alt-metal scene with Leech. Hell hath no fury like a woman free from toxicity and vehemently determined to raise others to her own level of empowerment. With the instrumentals mainlining adrenaline into your rhythmic pulses, the track monolithically unravelled as the ultimate protest to subjugation via manipulation.

Fans of Slipknot, Powerman 5000, and In This Moment won’t fail to accommodate the infectious and ragefully incandescent single on their playlists. It almost seems a paradox to describe such an instrumentally heavy single as radio-ready, but there’s no disputing the mainstream appeal or quality of the production, which was ensured by Jamie Sellers at Run Wild Music, who has worked with everyone from Ed Sheeran to Elton John to Little Simz.

Eva Sheldrake of Eville Said: 

“Leech is very special to me; it’s an emotionally raw track through determination to make the lyrics real, no matter how uncomfortable that reality may be. 

I hope listeners take as much from it as I did by relating through experience with inner conflict and toxic situations that are hard to escape. As always, our producer, Jamie Sellers, brought our vision to life more viscerally than we could have imagined.”

Leech will officially release on October 20; pre-save the single on all major platforms via this link.

Keep up to date with the latest releases from Eville via Instagram and Facebook or join their legion of followers on TikTok.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Abyssal Voyage – Step: Nu-Metal As You’ve Never Known It Before

Posted on 26 September 2023

After swinging onto the airwaves with their debut single, Time, in June the Floridian five-piece, Abyssal Voyage, has amplified their eclecticism by unveiling their multifaceted beast of a sophomore rock-metal mash-up, Step.

With angularly cold lead guitars that throw you all the way back to when Korn held dominion over the alternative scene around the Pantera reminiscent aggression in the verses, the choruses were the perfect opportunity to impale the track with razor-sharp hooks that give the track infinite earworm appeal. In the same way Grohl can orchestrate melodic vocal hooks that will stick to your synapses like superglue, Abyssal Voyage know just how to infuse addictive fixtures to their furore-driven sound.

The resurgence of nu-metal is becoming increasingly impossible to ignore; if any powerhouse has what it takes to turn the new generation of metal fans onto it, it is Abyssal Voyage with their unique take on nu-metal motifs.

Step was officially released on September 16; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Drink Proverbial Cool Aid’s Latest Alternative Single, Sick & Pool Hall

Posted on 4 June 2023

While we expected some degree of ingenuity from an outfit with the moniker Proverbial Cool Aid, we immersed ourselves in more innovation than what we bargained for with their latest single, Sick & Pool Hall, featuring Vince B and J Q Music.

Waiting until the four-minute mark in the track that spans just over six minutes to bring in the vocals was a bold move, especially when the build to them consisted of little more than crunchily distorted vintage tones spilling from the guitars and staccato rhythms, but the progressive track stood as a testament to the good things come to those who wait adage.

After some Kyuss-esque interludes and a  funky bassline laid down by Jack Law, the rock meets rap vocals start slathering the single with a fire that will leave smoke pouring through your speakers long after the fadeout. Sick & Pool Hall may just be the most original entry into the nu-metal genre after the turn of the century. The Houston-based sludge up luminaries are clearly ones to watch.

Stream the latest single from Proverbial Cool Aid by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

TITVN reached the height of visceral volition in their Nu Metal take on Deathcore, The Alpha One

Posted on 17 March 2023

The Cali aural aggravators, TITVN, reinvented the wheel as much as their own signature sound in their amalgamation of Deathcore and Nu Metal in their bruisingly dominant hit, The Alpha One.

Slipknot may have left the heavier instrumentals behind them in their last few albums; TITVN picked up the discarded weight and amplified it to the nth degree in their gutturally juggernatic hit that puts as much volition into the vocals as it puts into the expertly timed blast beats and future-embracing metalcore breakdowns.

Even as no stranger to the metalcore icons that reigned supreme at the turn of the century, the energy in The Alpha One is enough to leave Lamb of God, Architects, and As I Lay Dying sounding weaker than Nickelback (sorry Chad).

The official music video for The Alpha One will officially premiere on March 17th; prime your speakers for it before you hit YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

BackIVBlood – Cuts: Cowboys from Cwmbran

Posted on 24 January 2023

The recently forged South Wales metal three-piece, BackIVBlood, is laceratingly sharp in their debut single, Cuts. With elements of Pantera, Drowning Pool and Static X all legible in the adrenalized off-kilter ride through their progressive furore, it’s impossible not to get sucked into their grungy alt-metal antagonistically cathartic antics.

The caustically sharp vocals rail across the consistently evolving instrumentals that lustfully flirt with nu-metal in the rhythm section, stylise the ferocity with dynamic hard rock guitar licks and add nuanced layers of industrial metal to the fresh production, which unravels as an amalgam you’ve never tested the capacity of your neck with before.

Based on this exceptionally promising debut alone, the juggernautical powerhouse can count on me to be at the front row on their future tour dates.

Listen to Cuts on Spotify and YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Thurtythree painted an off-kilter picture of PTSD in his single, Traumatized

Posted on 9 August 2022

In his latest single, Traumatized, Thurtythree used every ounce of his existential-driven talent to reflect the visceral of PTSD. If you know, you know, if you don’t, Traumatized will paint a vividly off-kilter picture.

On top of Echo and the Bunnymen-Esque atmospheric guitars in the intro, the up-and-coming artist adds Linkin Park-reminiscent electronic effect and genre-obliterating vocals, which toy with dark trap and post-hardcore in the same breath.

The ardent ingenuity of the track leaves us with no room to question why the San Francisco-born artist has been able to amass a loyal fanbase. On top of his originated sonic style, fans can always expect resonant realism from the lyrics and the vocals in equal measure. Needless to say, he is one to watch.

Traumatized is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast