Alternative metallers The Fear had a very successful 2025. Not only did they release their debut ‘Falling Forward’ to a raft of online praise, but the band also got to tour in support of nu metal legends Snot. Not content with that, they also found time to record a bunch of festive tunes which, released as the ‘Christmas Time’ EP pretty much the moment December reared its very cold bonce, showed that the lads not only had a serious work ethic, but also a sense of fun.
The material on the debut EP from Swiss metallers Ophelia’s Eye (2024’s ‘Catharsis’) was played with the confidence of a band with a much bigger body of work to their name. The five tracks blended thrash, metalcore and a pinch of hardcore in a way that made the band sound utterly unshakeable. A few great influences were shared along the way (it was hard to ignore the tones of classic Machine Head on ‘Stay Close, We’re Dying’, but it was also good to hear a potential love for blessthefall and Lamb of God creeping through on other tracks), but no matter what the influence, the material showcased a band who were clearly superb musicians.
Ocean Planet waste no time in grabbing their audience’s attention on ‘Devastate’. The opening bars attack with pneumatic rhythms offset by a twin lead guitar sound worthy of peak Trivium. From there, the Reading based band branch out with an arrangement that feels a little more original when they blend elements of melodic metalcore with prog metal, creating something that sounds absolutely huge. The interplay between the heavy guitars and tight rhythm section is impressive throughout, and on the rare occasion the band lightens up, some very melodic guitar work creeps through an intense arrangement. A hefty and aggressive vocal based around a hardcore influenced growl mightn’t be to everyone’s tastes, but it fits the music brilliantly, helping Ocean Planet sound genuinely fierce.
The current single from The Zenith Passage, ‘Fleshbound Reliquary’, isn’t big on accessible melodies, but approached from a purely technical perspective, it’s hard to beat. From the outset, the track comes with absolutely brutal rhythmic work, both from a pneumatic drum part and from some insanely heavy muted guitar chords which come together in such a way, they make the sharp prog metal of peak Symphony X seem half-arsed. Add a little hard edged slap bass and a deeper chug and you already have something that’s absolutely brutal before the death metal influenced vocal arrives.
Since their formation in 2021, Aussie thrash metal band Decimator have gone through a variety of line-up changes, but this potential instability only seems to have made frontman (and only original member) Lance even more determined to make his band a success. Decimator’s 2025 release ‘Downfallen’ features material that, prior to its release, had been pitched as having “more fire and ferocity” but also “a more refined approach to songwriting”.