Browsing Tag

Nu Metal

DonoFox tore through fusionist boundaries and cinematic rock intensity in Consistency

Posted on 27 November 2025

There are progressive singles, and then there’s the broadsidingly expansive cultural tableau of Consistency, the latest standout release from DonoFox. Opening with neo-classical minor-key piano, the track instantly sets a cinematically contemplative tone that unfurls into Nick Cave-esque sombre vocal lines before the rap verses strike, laced with the volatile energy of nu-metal-era catharsis. It’s a masterstroke of genre collision; as the syncopated percussion tightens and the guitar and piano spiral into frenzy, the tension becomes its own protagonist. Filmic in one breath, raw and unrestrained in the next, Consistency feels like a storm that refuses to obey genre logic.

What begins as a study in melancholy grows into a mind-bending fusionistic rock opera where cosmic urgency is the guiding principle. The rapid-fire rap bars cut through the mix with juggernautical volition while the guitar solo claws to keep pace with the thematic inferno DonoFox sets ablaze. The result is a composition that demands total surrender; it doesn’t wait for your attention, it consumes it. Beneath the frenetic instrumentation, a sense of tumult reigns, as though the song itself is wrestling with the boundaries of restraint and chaos in real time.

As both a composer and a performer, DonoFox (Donovan Fox) carries a dual heritage rooted in classical discipline and Californian experimentation. A classically trained guitarist turned sonic polymath, his evolution from the Los Angeles Duo to his current fusion project, E.I., mirrors the restless drive of his work. Consistency encapsulates that perpetual motion, fuelled by virtuosity, introspection, and a fearless refusal to dilute emotion for accessibility.

Consistency is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Johnny Screwbags came with knives on Neighbors Bleed, a nu metal reckoning for the politically apathetic

Posted on 17 November 2025

Johnny Screwbags came with knives to his latest track, Neighbours Bleed. It opens on a ’90s melodic metal guitar motif, thick with saturation and reverb, and before long, he reveals his stripes as a veritable rap renegade, powered up by the spite of social oppression and injustice. The bars land like written indictments, spat through gritted teeth, while the rhythm section stomps with familiar nu metal swagger. When the bouncy augmented chorus hits, it delivers all the infectious energy you would expect from the most unashamed rap rock, yet the mood stays rooted in real anger rather than parody.

Neighbors Bleed gives you somewhere to put the rage that builds as the railing verses scathe against the tendency for people to drift through life in comfortable apathy, as long as they are not being turned into society’s latest scapegoat or target. The hooks loop around bitter truths about blood on hands and shrugged shoulders, giving the track the feel of a protest chant dragged through concrete and distortion.

Johnny Screwbags arrives as the blistering new Denver nu metal project from bleed moxie (Mitchel Paulson), a long-time underground hip hop mainstay and former Twin Cities heavyweight who has already been tipped by local press and radio. After relocating from St Paul to Denver, he racked up critical recognition with projects like womens society and the Deaf Ear EP, which featured collaborations with Method Man, Redman and Lil Yachty.

 Studio engineer and co-vocalist Hunter Holland played a key role in sharpening the sound in Neighbors Bleed, while a revolving cast of respected Denver musicians kept the energy volatile and unpredictable as Johnny Screwbags tightens his grip on the alternative scene.

Neighbors Bleed is now available on all major streaming platforms, including SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Things Beyond Things Let the Venom Flow and the Rhythm Reign in Alt-Metal Sleaze Anthem, ‘Bask in Disaster’

Posted on 10 August 2025
This Keeps Me Sane (Deluxe) by Things Beyond Things

Through a rampaging rhythm section that brings the hammer down with every gnarled nu-metal meets Sunset Strip sleaze rock note, Things Beyond Things unleash pure force in Bask in Disaster. Searing, hypersonically hot guitars tear through the mix while a salaciously slick serpentine tongue spits lyrical venom, proving how effortlessly they set themselves apart from the posturing performers who throw on their alternative costume at the weekend and pick up their Les Paul. This is a dark triumph of a track, one that harks back to the thematic aesthetic of Wednesday 13 while vocally finding the middle ground between Avenged Sevenfold and Buckcherry.

Bask in Disaster is the kind of nihilistic anthem that could explode on TikTok while still finding favour with the high-brow of rock and metal purists who reserve their loyalty for the pioneers.

Formed in late 2024 by Martyn Storey of The Unruly and Audio Shadows, Things Beyond Things is a one-man modern rock project built from a love for all sub-genres of the form. Based in the Midlands, Storey takes full control, from songwriting and instrumentation to recording and production, injecting contemporary blood into the veins of his sound.

Bask in Disaster is now available on all major streaming platforms – including Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

KNARD Channelled Digital Whiplash and Rave Nihilism in the Industrial-Nu-Metal Mash-Up, Autonomy

Posted on 8 August 2025

Before the first lyric even touches the track, KNARD uses raw, speaker-straining abrasion in Autonomy to gut the gloss from modern alt electronica. There’s no warning, no easing in, just a full-throttle sonic incursion that could have fallen from the back catalogue of early Prodigy. Then, like a ghost punching through static, the vocal melody swoops in with evocative precision, sweeping the mechanical chaos into something surprisingly affecting.

With the same melodic draw as acts like Zeromancer and Celldweller, KNARD distils the angst of our overstimulated digital minds into something far more lucid. Then, just when you think the dust has settled, a barrage of chugged nu-metal licks slams through the mix with all the force of a head-on collision. The unexpected Infected Mushroom-esque arrangement twists reality again, especially when the turntables screech in and nod unflinchingly towards Slipknot’s sonic carnage.

It’s a release from an artist who clearly isn’t interested in playing the commercial game. Since ditching formulaic electronica and aligning more with the raw expressions often found in activism and underground scenes, KNARD, known offstage as Damien Aleister McCoy, has used music to excavate mental wreckage and mould it into catharsis. With a performance history that includes MAGFest, Big Dub, and Dreamscape Festival, KNARD has been building a rep for unleashing this kind of visceral aural riot to crowds who want their walls rattled and minds realigned.

Autonomy is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify. 
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Review by Amelia Vandergast

N4T3 Dragged Alt-Rap into a Nu-Metal Inferno with Hip-Hop Visceralism in WANTS

Posted on 29 July 2025

Joined by some of the most visceral voices in alt-rap, N4T3 laid down one of the most savage singles of 2025 with WANTS. Teeth are bared in every bar, biting down on razor-sharp wordplay hard enough to leave gums bleeding, perfectly echoing the macabrely dark aesthetic coursing through this ferocious track. Each contributor makes it painfully clear they’re no strangers to the brink; familiar with the desperation to numb the pain, yet still fighting to feel alive enough to thrive despite oppressive forces and the pushback of mental health.

With the explosive energies of Big Zack, Dredful, Weller, and UK alt-rap powerhouse Kid Bookie, the track is an unfiltered emotional purge, dripping with distorted sonics and lyrical venom. It fuses the abrasive pulse of gritty hip-hop with the chaotic heart of nu-metal, delivering a potent reminder of how ambition can manifest when stripped bare and set aflame.

N4T3, a South London-based artist renowned for emotionally charged lyrics and genre-bending creations, has united Detroit’s fierce intensity via Big Zack, the horrorcore darkness of Dredful, Weller’s neo-grunge poetry, and the relentless hybrid style of Kid Bookie—a collaborator with Corey Taylor and Tech N9ne. This isn’t a polite suggestion for your playlist; it’s a necessary assault on complacency.

WANTS is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify.
Review by Amelia Vandergast

HollywoodPkr-VAMPits Channel the Raw Provocation of Rock in ‘Queen of Curves’

Posted on 18 July 2025

With Queen of Curves, HollywoodPkr-VAMPits delivered a voluptuously provocative hit that brings raw riffs tearing past Metallica’s, complete with vox that could suckerpunch any fans of Shinedown as the singer-songwriter channels the melodic hooks of Nickelback and all the Hollywood Rock glamour their moniker pays tribute to. Queen of Curves is the definition of a rock anthem with its ability to submit you to its momentum as the energy ebbs and flows through razor-sharp songwriting that reaches its zenith with a fiery nu-metal prelude to the outro.

As part of the ‘No More Chains’ LP, HollywoodPkr-VAMPits charges every track with the same raw, cinematic energy while channelling themes of rebellion, empowerment, and self-ownership. Their music is forged from gritty guitars, stomping rhythms, and choruses that ignite something primal, telling stories of breaking free and pushing through the grind to celebrate heroes and crown the queens.

The new era of HollywoodPkr-VAMPits is all about fearless storytelling and electrifying production that fuels both the revolution of the heart and a packed venue. If you’re craving something with enough power to shatter your daily monotony, crown it with Queen of Curves.

Queen of Curves is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify. 


Review by Amelia Vandergast

Suffer The Evenue – Compatible Blood: A Rabid Anthem of Nu-Metal Revival

Posted on 28 June 2024

If you gave Korn’s nu-metal hooks rabies, they still couldn’t come close to the rancorous grooves in Suffer the Evenue’s driven-by-infectious volition anthem, Compatible Blood.

The track broadsides you with hardcore brutalism as the vocals chameleonically prowl between bruising rap verses and Mike Patton-style ferocity, putting the fourpiece at the vanguard of the nu-metal resurgence.

The four-piece may have honed their sound since their last EP, but you’ll still want to give your speakers a tetanus shot after they have slammed out the cataclysmic discordance that will have every alt-90s metal fan kneeling at the mercy of these inexorable antagonists.

Suffer the Evenue has injected their own brand of tensile electricity into the genre, creating a sound that finds a refreshingly chaotic way to pull at the roots of alt-metal nostalgia while implanting something new into the razed ground of the airwaves.

Whether you were in the pits for the first wave of nu-metal or you’re discovering it for the first time, the raw energy and relentlessly aggressive pushing of boundaries in Compatible Blood make it a standout hit in the alt-metal underground.

Compatible Blood is now available to stream on Spotify with Suffer The Evenue’s Vol 2. Superdeader EP.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

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