Reviews

In its fifth year, Newark's Tech-Fest is fast becoming THE place to be for any fan of tech, prog, metal and anything in between. Arguably its biggest year to date with a huge line-up including headliners Animals As Leaders, Protest The Hero and Between The Buried And Me, we took a trip to the niche festival for a weekend of riffs, and plenty of them!

Revenge of the Psychotronic Man's debut album, Colossal Velocity, could quite possibly be over by the time you read the band's name out loud. Clocking in at a little over 21 minutes, this is a no-frills, bare bones punk outing.

Whilst Tiny Moving Parts have been somewhat of a cult band for some time now, it wasn't until their 2015 support slot for Modern Baseball and Into It. Over It. that the UK emo scene started to stand-up and pay close attention. A year on from their successful UK tour, the Minnesota band have released their third studio album, Celebrate.

You Might Be Right contains a huge amount of depth for a debut record, and you could spent so much time unpacking Mandell's lyrics and delighting in the excellent instrumentation all round that, if you're looking for clear cut summer hits, you should probably go get your fix elsewhere and leave us indie kids to moodily do the sock hop in peace.

Moose Blood are a band who need no introduction, and following on from their 2014 debut album I’ll Keep You In Mind From Time To Time they’ve returned with follow up Blush. Having spent the last two years winning over the hearts of music lovers across the globe with their impeccable live performances, they’ve also somehow managed to create a ten track release of melodic guitar rock with a massive dose of emo thrown in for good measure.

It’s been a few years since Canadian natives Billy Talent put together a new studio album, the last we heard from Kowalewicz and co was back in 2014. Proclaimed as one of Canada’s most successful rock acts there are high hopes pinned on this latest outing.

If you like your guitar music a bit poppy, with a touch of country & rock accompanied with honest and heartfelt lyrics, then Rob Lynch is the one for you. Here's what we thought of his latest album 'Baby, I'm A Runaway'.

It’s one thing to incorporate more experimental ideas into your sound, but it’s another thing entirely to do so when you are one album in to your career, especially considering that one album made waves by delivering an already standout style. Such a statement would fit suit to the gambit made by Night Verses on their second album Into The Vanishing Night.

On first listen, one may assume that Wild Throne are a typical hard rock band, with the relentless loudness of the guitars and drums on display throughout their debut EP, Blood Maker. However, listen just a little closer and under the layers of heaviness there are the complex song structures and unconventional time signatures of progressive rock.

Some may not even consider Hot Mass a pop punk group because of the connotations of the term now; however, they certainly embody many of the best traits of pop music and punk rock with clear passion and energy. Hot Mass also prove a band like them can be punk, pop, and still smart.