For a band that's taken their name from a HIM song, there's a particular standard of gothic-ness one might expect. Luckily, Argentinian metallers CIRCLE OF FEAR meet the quota, blending thunderous soundscapes with dark, atmospheric melodies.

I became familiar of UK metallers ROGUE AWAKENING last year, reeled in by the atmospherics and the theatrical nature of their performances. You can understand my excitement then, when the band's latest release, "Take My Pleasure", came my way.

A Paramore drummer, a producer of In This Moment, and Renee Phoenix walk into a bar. Out comes CUDDLE DEATH, a new pop punk band built on fun, chaos, and everything in between.

I don't know if it's being in my own power metal band or sinking way too much time into Baldur's Gate 3, but I've grown incredibly fond of the fantastical side of metal over the past year or so. It's hardly a surprise then that I found myself drawn to THAUMBLAST. After all, who doesn't love a bit of wizard metal?

Plymouth based WAR SHEPHERD [photo: War Shepherd] Hailing from Plymouth, WAR SHEPHERD describe themselves as delivering a "modern strain" of melodic death metal. Think heavy riffs, blasting rhythms, sweeping orchestration. All of which I've got a big ol' soft spot for. The band's latest EP, "Shattered Thrones Part 1: The Red Pages", takes all of this and packages it in a really strong burst of musical storytelling, all wrapped up before the 20 minute mark. Straight away, I'm