Almost a decade after the release of their previous full length album, Swedish band Witchcraft released ‘IDAG’, a heavily atmospheric collection of songs that demonstrated their blend of doom and occult folk music very effectively. Clearly keen to make up for lost time, this follow up comes just ten months later – a rush-release by Witchcraft standards – but the five tracks that make up ‘A Sinner’s Child’ are clearly not left-overs or also-rans of any kind.
Watch: Absinthe Green present ‘Death By A Thousand Cuts’ [Trigger Warning: Graphic Imagery]
If you’re only vaguely aware of Absinthe Green, chances are you discovered them via their love of cover tunes. In 2025, they gained some online traction with a fun (but rather wobbly) cover of the Spice Girls hit ‘Viva Forever’, transforming the popular ballad into a guitar driven, gothic workout that allowed the song to be heard in a whole new way. Every Xmas, they also reshare their cover of ‘Santa Baby’, reworked with a heavy doom riff as ‘Satan Baby’.
DRAGON WELDING – This Maintenant / Instrumental
With ‘Up & Away’, Dragon Welding released one of 2025’s greatest singles. The track’s mechanical heart combined with a repetitious hook created something so insanely catchy, it became impossible to resist. It was certainly one of those tracks that stayed with the listener long after it ended, setting up great hopes for its parent album ‘The Naughty Step’.
In itself, ‘The Naughty Step’ brought lots to enjoy. Although the bulk of the record wasn’t anywhere near as instant as ‘Up & Away’, its best material had a little more of a commercial edge than previous Dragon Welding works, taking the synth based sounds of one of the UK’s most cult bands into more melodic places.
TOMBSTONES IN THEIR EYES – You Don’t Have To Love Me / Everybody’s Dead
With just a few weeks left of 2025, US deep psych/shoegaze band Tombstones In Their Eyes released not only one of the best albums of the year, but one of the best of their career. Some of the material felt a little bit samey if heard in one sitting, but the band’s command of a riff and ability to weave a great atmosphere allowed the material on ‘Under Dark Skies’ to work brilliantly when approached in the right mood.
Watch: False Thoughts share new video for ‘I’ve Got Friends’
Over the past couple of years, it’s become the norm for most metalcore bands to share a heavy sound driven by relentless pneumatic rhythms, with clear influence from bands like Killswitch Engage and Crystal Lake.
With that in mind, it’s actually quite refreshing to hear False Thoughts adopting far more of a traditional hardcore sound – something far more in line with the hardcore punks of the 90s like Strife and Earth Crisis. Their current single ‘I’ve Got Friends’ clocks in at a little more than two minutes, but the band make more of an impact in that time than some manage in over twice the duration.