It wasn’t too long after their formation in 2023 that British alternative rock band Sunmachine started to gain praise for their sound. Taking cues from alternative giants like Bring Me The Horizon and Linkin Park, the band’s earliest work was huge on riffs, but just as big on melody.
Author Archives: Real Gone
ALL I KNOW – Stiletto Nightmare EP
Back in 2008, Belgian rockers All I Know released their debut album ‘Vanity Kills’ via the less than imaginatively titled Melodic Rock Records. The record celebrated 80s sounds with aplomb. On tracks like ‘Turn Back Time’ and ‘I Wanna Rock You’, the band contrasted huge AOR harmonies with chunky guitars, but it was when leaning towards an even more commercial (but still retro) sound the material really came into its own. ‘Rain’, in particular sounded like a pitch perfect tribute to classic White Lion coupled with a more anthemic chorus hook, and ‘All Night Long’ served up bright sounding rock, with the accent firmly on the cheese. Years on, the best bits of the record sound like they inspired fellow Euro rockers like Cruzh and Stardust.
Watch: Ember Belladonna shares new video for ‘The Unnamed’
At the beginning of 2024, Ember Belladonna released her debut full length album ‘The Grove’. It was an undeniably smart collection of tunes, mixing elements of goth, metal and folk, showcasing great flute work. Taking the flute beyond its usual prog rock space, Ember created a musical landscape of her own: sometimes dark but without feeling oppressive, but often otherworldly. The album presented songs that had a heart that could be easily orchestrated, but often felt very different – and more distinctive – than the several hundred Nightwish clones filling the globe.
Listen: Dying Grotesque unveil new track ‘Nuclear Meadows’
Dying Grotesque might not be the most familiar name on the death metal scene, but the young Ukrainian band deliver a huge, sometimes classic, and often interesting sound on their current single ‘Nuclear Meadows’.
BLUE HERON – Everything Fades
Blue Heron’s debut release, the 2022 double single ‘Black Blood of The Earth’/‘Everything Fades’ introduced a band who really didn’t skimp when it came to a heavy riff. Their sound, a hearty mix of classic doom and sludge, created a monstrous noise; an intensity that made the tracks instant genre classics, despite vocalist Jadd Schickler’s “gargling with concrete” styled approach occasionally making the Blue Heron sound rather more marginal than some of their peers. A swiftly delivered full length release (‘Ephemeral’) really capitalised on their heavy abilities, but also showed off a band who were also capable of a hefty, bluesy swagger, bringing more of a desert rock/stoner quality. Between these bleak moods, Blue Heron appeared to have the full spectrum of heavier stoner vibes covered…and with aplomb.