San Fernando’s Upon Stone broke onto the metal scene in 2021 with a well crafted EP, ‘Sky, Sword and Specter’. Its four tracks blended old school death metal with a pinch of hardcore, and when slowing down, the best material wasn’t shy in sharing a few (very welcome) trad metal traits. Assuming you could make it past a rather abrasive vocal, the music pulled from various sources to create an extreme metal release that actually felt really well balanced.
LASSITERS – The Charred Remains Of Gusso The Clown
London based band Lassiters aren’t doing things by halves on their second release ‘The Charred Remains of Gusso The Clown’. In ten songs and approximately half an hour, the three piece band whip up a brilliant musical storm where the tunes are noisy, and the lyrics sometimes knowingly silly, but there’s always a real focus within their hardcore stance.
THE MAGIC BUS – Σε Άγνωστα Νερά EP
This EP from The Magic Bus provides a brief but varied showcase for a talented band who aim to break down musical barriers. Blending traditional Greek melodies with elements of folk rock, stoner rock and trad metal, this EP’s four songs explore a vast musical landscape, but never feels in anyway disjointed. This is due, in no small way, to each of the melodies being linked by a strong vocal. Frontman Valentis Dafkos is in possession of one of those voices which is so big, it doesn’t matter where his music takes him; he’s there, with a very natural boom, sharing a volume that has as much confidence as the band’s biggest riffs.
FIRE SALE – The Albatross / I Remember Damage
In the summer of 2023, punk band Fire Sale released an excellent two track 7”. The material worked some great melodic punk riffs, and with a heavy leaning towards pop punk with a pinch of skate, it sounded almost exactly like something you’d expect from ex-members of No Use For A Name and The Ataris.
THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #38
Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar, the place where we explore some of the individual mp3s that have landed in our inbox over the past few weeks. We’ve got a great selection for you as we move further into 2024: there’s a glam infused pop-rocker, some solid sounding country rock, melancholy folk, some absolutely huge indie rock, and more besides. As always, if you discover anything new you’ve enjoyed, stop by and tell us! We’d love to hear from you…and if you’ve got something you think might suit a future feature, please get in touch.
*