July, already? Hard as it is to believe we're now past the half-way point for 2024, the fact remains we've already had heaps of great new albums and of course brilliant new bands to check out. Each month we round up four of the most exciting bands for you to check out, covering all corners of the metal and alternative spectrum and this month is no exception.
Whether you're in the mood for electronica-underpinned alt-metal from MTVoid, black metal from Ukraine's They Came From Visions, Germanic folk metal from Tvinna or straight-up hardcore from Going Off, we've got you covered with our massive playlist below collating all the bands we've introduced you to this year (so far). So stick the playlist on and prepare to (maybe) meet your favourite new groups...
MTVoid
“It's been quite a journey between myself and Justin,” says MTVoid’s Peter Mohamed of the project he created alongside Tool bassist Justin Chancellor. The pair met in the late 90s when Peter’s band, Sweet Noise, were opening for Tool on the Ænima tour. “We got to know each other on this special level,” he recalls.
More than a decade on from the release of their debut, Nothing’s Matter, MTVoid made a surprise return last year with their new album, Matter’s Knot, Pt.1. “The first one was more like a demo,” Justin nods. “This time we’ve taken it further; it’s our first real commitment.”
Matter’s Knot… is full of beautifully dark electronic, bewildering progressive passages, and the baseball-bat thud of Justin’s unique bass tone. It’s a complex, labyrinthian, yet constantly engaging and emotional listen.
“We had so many ideas that had been sitting there dormant, but we were all consumed by other projects,” Justin tells us. “When we had all this time during the pandemic, it started to fall into place. You react to one idea and that leads to the next idea. This album took on that kind of character.”
Bringing much of the character to the record are high-profile collaborators such as Mastodon’s Brent Hinds, ex-Fever 333 drummer Aric Improta, Death Grips’ Andy Morin and the show-stealing voice of Pumarosa vocalist Isabel Munoz-Newsome.
“All of the guests brought something unique to the album,” Justin agrees. “It couldn’t have come out the way it did without them.”
We can’t help but notice the ‘Pt.1’ in the title… “We want to be sincere and explore where we can go with this project; it’s not about piggybacking off what came before,” Justin says cryptically. “I don’t believe you’ll have to wait another decade for the next part,” Peter smiles.
Let’s hope not, but, well, we’ve definitely heard that before… Stephen Hill
Matter's Knot Pt. 1 is out now via Lobal Orning.
Sounds Like: Dark psychedelia against an industrial backdrop; heavy and powerful while gorgeous and complex
For Fans Of: Chelsea Wolfe, How To Destroy Angels, The Orb
Listen To: Propagator
They Came From Visions
Throughout its history, mankind has looked beyond the rational and the quotidian for otherworldly panaceas to explain the inexplicable and cruel. Perhaps, then, you could forgive Ukrainian folk horror-obsessives They Came From Visions for aligning themselves with the ineffable in the face of ongoing Russian transgressions against their home country.
But the enigmatic trio, formed in 2019, insist their occult-focused fascinations are purely aesthetic and academic, providing a much-needed distraction from the fighting. “In times like these, people seek comfort in religion or esoterica,” acknowledges guitarist/drummer Voice Of Gloom.
“I can understand this and don’t judge them, but for me, it’s the music we make that provides solace.” Adds vocalist Voice Of Misery, “Suffering is humanity’s default state of being; art is the result.”
The band’s recently released second album, The Twilight Robes, eschews the savageries of war for more inscrutable terrors, traversing supernatural realms teeming with vindictive ancient gods, ritual sacrifices and anthropomorphic body-swaps, their frenzied, buzzing salvos and ceremonial chants engorged by a steady diet of folk horror flicks, such as The Wicker Man, The VVitch and Midsommar, and supplemented by a succession of underground dungeon-synth sides.
“Mysticism and esoteric knowledge are such fascinating subjects,” explains Voice Of Misery. “All those weird and dangerous things, the surreal interconnections between the mystical and mundane, the daily rituals people devised to protect themselves, the commonfolk whose experiences of the uncanny directly impacted upon their lives.”
Voice Of Misery also acknowledges that while Russia’s brutal invasion can’t be pacified by paranormal means (“The war is absurd and incomprehensible enough, without needing to turn to even more irrational practices”), there are useful lessons to be gleaned from the allegories abundant in folk horror: “Don’t doubt your gut instincts, stay true to who you really are, and never make deals with sinister entities that lurk beyond the mind’s comprehension.” Wise words indeed. Spencer Grady
The Twilight Robes is out now via Eisenwald
Sounds Like: Blistering ritualistic black metal, supercharged by sorcery and sacrifice For Fans Of: Drudkh, Saor, Dawn Ray’d
Listen To: Burning Eyes, Blackened Claws
Tvinna
Laura Fella is no stranger to darkness. “I’m that kind of person who is super-melancholic… and I like that,” she admits. “Death is part of life, and we should accept it. That’s a big part of me; I could not do life any differently.”
Despite her innate draw towards the morbid, Laura remains radically optimistic. At the helm of German folk metal band Tvinna – she is also a vocalist in the pagan folk band Faun – her lyrics are a positive encouragement to embrace life in all of its complexities, even the unknown.
This attitude guided her trajectory from childhood to adulthood, as she asked herself, “Where have I been? Where do I want to go?” She muses: “I’m a mom; how do I want my small daughter to experience life? What do I want to gift her with?”
While Tvinna’s debut album, 2021’s One - In The Dark, thematically submerged itself in water, Two - Wings Of Ember tackles fire. Collaborating with husband and guitarist Rafael Fella, drummer Alain Ackermann and backing vocalist Sascha van der Meer, they’ve reached new levels of sonic experimentation. Sprawling guitar riffs mingle with melodic vocals and pulsating drum and synth beats, elevating their sound to a dimension entirely its own.
“We added more wild, untamed energy,” Laura says. “Going into everything pretty raw and not trying to understand everything that comes along. The biggest thing I believe in is love. Humans can change everything for the better, if we want to.” Paulina Subia
Two - Wings Of Ember is out now via Norse Music
Sounds Like: Synth-infused progressive metal wielding a whimsical folkish flair
For Fans Of: Chelsea Wolfe, Within Temptation, Lacuna Coil
Listen To: Two Staves
Going Off
Manchester bruisers Going Off are already infamous for their incendiary live shows. “They’re super-cathartic,” says vocalist Jake Huxley, who’s typically snapped in clench-fisted, gravity-defying poses. “It’s a chance for me to go off about things that are important to us and that we think everyone should be pissed off about.”
On their 2023 debut, What Makes You Tick?, the quintet took aim at the state of UK culture and widespread social decay. The government, the media, the police – no one was spared from Jake’s volatile lyrical spray.
“Going Off are a very performancebased band – we’re best experienced live,” he explains. “But we try to translate our energy, passion, and meaning into recording, to encapsulate what that raw energy is all about.”
Following their debut with the menacing Kill List EP in December, Going Off proved they could get darker and heavier still, raging through bursts of violent metallic hardcore cut with a beatdown mean streak. But rest assured, they’re not done yet. “It’s a breath of fresh air when a band doesn’t confine themselves to one specific thing,” says Jake. “One part might fall under the umbrella of ‘heavy’, but where you go with that heavy is up to you.” Owen Morawitz
Kill List is out now via Church Road. Going Off play Burn It Down in August.
Sounds Like: Bringing a Molotov cocktail to an alley knife-fight
For Fans Of: Candy, Trash Talk, Gulch
Listen To: Black White Blue
