Tooth Gore’s ‘For Losers, By Losers’ was one of the best albums of 2025. The artist’s mix of melodic indie, surf rock, pop punk and 90s inspired alt rock created a varied but coherent listen, and at the material’s strongest, Kobi Joe’s command of a chorus was more than clear.
Category Archives: Album & EP Reviews
Watch: Night Thieves share new video for ‘Home’
The previous two singles from UK metal band Night Thieves managed to convey very different aspects to their huge sound. ‘Obsidian’ shared a love for early Linkin Park and Paramore, but added a heavier edge that worked brilliantly against a great vocal, blending retro alternative and slight goth influences with ease, while ‘Mycelia’ unleashed a heavier sound, driven by pneumatic drums bringing more of a metalcore edge. By retaining a clean vocal, this still managed to be very accessible.
THE FALL – Fall Sound Archive Vol. 12: Fall Heads Roll
On 2003’s ‘The Real New Fall LP’, Mark E. Smith and his band sounded somewhere near the top of their game. Some of their more critical fans might claim the record didn’t quite capture the fire of their early work, but the record boasted more than its fair share of memorable performances. It showed the now veteran act in a position of strength and would be a hard act to follow, if not impossible, especially considering Smith had a habit of shaking things up whenever he felt things might be going too well.
WITCHCRAFT – A Sinner’s Child
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.
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.