At the tail end of 1999, round about the time conspiracy theorists thought the turn of the millennium would trigger the end of the world – or at the very least, stop everyone’s computers from working – an independent band from England masquerading under the provocative name History of Guns released their debut EP ‘Little Miss Suicide’. It presented some fairly rough around the edges alternative sounds, drawing from goth, industrial and rock, and would lay the foundations for future endeavours. For those keeping a close ear to the alternative underground, HOG would continue to make interesting musical waves. At their peak of the first part of their career, they were even invited to remix a track by ex-Marillion frontman Fish, bringing together two disparate musical words, proving that – at least to those with open minds – music knows no boundaries.
Cober Mouth share insanely heavy new single ‘Steride’
Cober Mouth are a band who’ve never been afraid of genre-hopping. On their 2024 single ‘Open! Shut…’, they chopped in many of their already familiar alternative elements for swathes of rap and R&B, and on their current track ‘Steride’, they introduce heavy synth loops and an almost industrial level of heaviness to their cornucopia of noise.
THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #92
Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar, the place where we explore some of the individual tracks that have landed in our inbox over the previous few weeks. This week’s selection sees the return of a band who’ve been featured on our site a few times – and they’re sharing one of their best tracks to date. You’ll also find some cool downtempo electronica, some raw garage rock, a singer songwriter with a great mellow sound, and more… As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy!
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HIKE THE PEAK – Fire EP
In September 2024, Hike The Peak released their ‘Ether’ EP. It hit streaming services just a couple of months after ‘Only The True Fly Free’ (an album made up of sporadically released digital tracks), but it was obviously far more than just a couple of leftovers. At its best, the material delivered some precisely arranged punk; sounds that, with elements of skate and melodic hardcore thrown into the mix and a strong influence from Face To Face, had a very American influence. Thanks to the input of a variety of vocalists from around the globe, the material didn’t always carry the sound that some people might’ve expected to come from a DIY musician from the north of England, but Hike The Peak sounded all the better for that.
THE PALE HORSE RITUAL – Enchantress EP
Some projects take a while to get off the ground and become a concrete reality, but Ontario’s Pale Horse Ritual (formerly The Pale Horses) took the idea of not rushing anything to extremes. The earliest line up of band the dated back to the late 90s when they were an on/off project for the musicians involved, but it wasn’t until 2024 that a stable line up was formed and the band finally entered the recording studio. They might have taken an age to reach the world’s ears, but the ‘Enchantress’ EP (released via Black Throne Productions (home of Sons of Arrakis and AAWKS) is a real treat.