REVIEWS

We're just over halfway through 2026, and there's already been some incredibly strong contenders for 'most metal film of the year'. However, it's Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey that really stands strong, its imagery and story right at home with the folk/fantasy metal greats.

Those stabs. The swelling orchestration. This is the metal I love. Straight away I'm transported to an 8-bit dungeon side scroller, exploring and fighting various goblins and creatures.

There's dick talk. There's cocaine talk. The sleaze is filthily sleazy. Any sense of subtlelty was left three tube stops down.

I'm a sucker for bands with both a theatric egde and an eye for gothic imagery, and so I'm already off to a winner here. Roughly nine months after their debut single 'Infected', Brighton Based WILTINGFLOWER are back with new release 'Siphon', scratching that modern emo rock itch.

Rarely do I feel that grassroots bands manage to carve a sound so specific to them, but Bangkitan have absolutely smashed that aspect of things. That definitive sound I've loved with each of their previous releases is just as prevalent here.