Savage as martial rule and seven times heavier, Public Execution is the sound of three lads distilling all the rage, hatred and dejection they could possibly feel into a bottle, mixing it with amphetamines and throwing it right in your eyes. Because you probably had it coming. Get an earful here and hope you live…
Returning to the cold, bloody roots of Scandinavian extreme music, Heimland are as authentic a black metal band as anyone could ask for. Hailing from Bergen, Norway, Heimland strips the artifice away from a genre which has been overtaken by trends and image to focus on what all the newspapers, hangers-on and johnny-come-latelies all missed;…
Horrenda are one of those wonderful bands which can encapsulate a certain mood or feeling perfectly. In their case, it’s crushing, oppressive darkness, perfect for those days when the world itself seems like it’s out to get you. Horrenda’s music is the perfect soundtrack to dark times, allowing the listener to confront, process, and, once…
Copenhagen’s hardcore scene must be a punishing place indeed to produce a band as heavy as EYES. Voices whisper secrets and speak only truths “Why do you put up with yourself?” Deep, heavy, powerful and insightful lyrics meet a fifty foot firewall of harsh hardcore noise. What we wouldn’t give to see EYES tour with…
One of the UK’s leading alternate bands, Therapy?’s career stretches back through the ages, and includes staple alternate albums such as Troublegum, Infernal Love, Never Apologise Never Explain and 2018’s monolithic Cleave. Frontman Andy Cairns uses the Leech and the Little Horn Boost into a Marshall JCM800 amp, allowing for three flavours of a classic…
When a member of Inspiral Carpets calls you “cool as f**k”, you know you’re onto a winner. Control of the Going began in Manchester in July 2015 to become one “of the best new bands in town”. So far, they have featured as the Real Radio XS “Future Classic” band for July 2015, and have…
Mastiff have nothing to say to you, puny human.
A rock power duo, formed in Liverpool in 2014, Rival Bones make a torrent of rock noise which puts them in the same sonic leagues as DZ Deathrays and Royal Blood. Currently making the stages of the UK small festival circuit creak under the sheer weight of their desert rock inspired riffs, the band has…
The Pat McManus Band are a rock/blues trio hailing from Ireland, headed up by former Mama’s Boys and Celtus guitarist, violinist and singer song writer Pat McManus. The ‘PMB’ line up is completed by former ‘More Power To Your Elbow’ powerful drummer Paul Faloon and rhythmic and solid former country music and session bass player…
Canis Lupus are legendary in goth rock circles. Hailing from the still-beating heart of beautiful gloomy music itself – Gothenburg – Canis Lupus have recently been resurrected by guitarist Christer after finding that the modern world still thirsted for the band’s music, initially created in the early 2000s, and laid to rest in 2006. The…
Melodic hardcore from the Netherlands, Athena’s Word marry the brutality of unrelenting hardcore with surprisingly tender melodies – always delivered with ferocious tenacity. Savage vocal delivery, slamming riffs and shout-along choruses make the band’s debut EP Lasting Legacy a truly promising release. Check them out! Lasting Legacy by Athena's Word
Earth-shaking, tooth-loosening, neighbour-offending doom from the dark heart of France. Herscher is a three piece doom band who sound more like three noble heavy metal armies laying siege to each other than three men on stage. Through a mix of alternately aggressive and plaintive vocal lines, layers of mountainous distortion, and tempos slow enough to…
Based in Edinburgh, Scotland, The Jack Hinks Band fuses the heart of Jack’s solo material, with the teeth of a six piece band. Combining violins, piano, drums, bass, guitar and a wall of vocals The Jack Hinks Band create an eclectic mix of sounds and genres that will refuse to leave your head for days.…
With only one electric bass and a volume controller each, a scattering of analogue delay/looping pedals and a broken four-track cassette tape recorder, Minus Pilots weave together sparse textures, crumbling atmospheres and fractured drones with currents of gentle crackle. Their music has been published by Champion Version, Dronarivm, Eat, Sleep, Repeat, Fake Jazz, Futurerecordings, Panic…
The Rooz are a sickeningly talented band, especially when you factor in how young they are. Mixing loud, old fashioned rock n roll guitar playing with pop hooks and catchy songwriting, the band have made a proper good job of 2014, culminating in the band staging a spectacular closing set at the 2014 Music For…
Soul Aside is a rock band formed in 2010 and based in Barcelona. Influenced by many musical styles and bands such as A Perfect Circle, Porcupine Tree, Oceansize or Explosions in the Sky, Sigur Rós and Deftones, the band has developed its own sound around rich and personal compositions.
Deaf Bridges’ own brand of noise, danger pop, is just as exciting and new as it sounds. Hailing from Nottingham, the band do away with anything even resembling pretentiousness and simply make amazing tunes with mind-bending lyrics and titles. You do have to love a band who make references to Krakens and Hulk Hogan on the…
Derby’s These Wicked Rivers bring old-style blues rock into the modern day, marrying old-school blues technical skill with the live intensity of an LA strip rock band. Get a copy of the band’s The Enemy EP if you’re a Bonamassa or Black Stone Cherry fan. These lads have talent, and soul, in spades.
Hot Under Collar’s crazy sound can only be described (by us) as supersexyurban-funkcrush. We made that word up. Based in London, Hot Under Collar consists of four friends who came together to create a new sound consisting of the best elements of rock, funk, R&B and hip-hop. As a four piece, it’s tempting to believe that…
The West Midlands’ premier Doom unit, with a host of influences which defy those who would characterise them as ‘just’ a metal band, Alunah’s powerful vocals and atmospheric feel has led to their upcoming third album being released on our favourite independent, Napalm Records.
Sadly split and sorely missed, The Sun Explodes were a singularly great prog band from Carlisle. RIP. We Are Of These Walls by The Sun Explodes
Swiss Rock and its very finest. Stämpf’s influences come from all over the place; you can hear crushingly heavy riffs in the vein of Volbeat, wah riffs inspired by Velvet Revolver era Slash, and even a little bit of first wave pop punk in the uplifting feel of the band’s songs. This four-piece are a proud rock band, just…
ROAM deliver anthemic, scream-the-chorus pop-punk. From the sunny shores of Eastbourne, ROAM’s catchy, pit-filling music has earned them critical acclaim, immense popularity, and a support slot on skatecore heavyweights Sum 41’s recent UK tour. ROAM’s album Backbone is chock full of fantastic party tunes with aggressive, angry production – get it, take an hour off, drink…
One of Britain’s longest-serving classic rock bands, Leaf Hound laid the blueprint for stoner rock. Not afraid to loudly proclaim their love of mind-adulterants, Leaf Hound have been cited as influences by both Wolfmother and Tame Impala. Since their 1971 debut Growers of Mushroom, one of the most collectible 70’s rock LPs in existence, the band…
Where once there was a solo artist, now there is a full band. Womps used to be the sole voice of Scottish wunderkind Ewan Grant – now it’s all about the visual viscera and aural onslaught of three lads going mental onstage. More versatile that a traditional grunge band, Womps’ influences are a who’s who of…
Ire Wolves’ music is, to put it bluntly, heavy. Heavier than osmium, or the dirty kebab drunken you ate last Friday night. These Minnesotan lads like it one way: slow, angry, powerful and pure. Don’t be fooled into thinking that their slower tempos make for simpler music, however – there’s both enough technical proficiency in…
Burton on Trent’s Max Raptor have been creating a stir in the underground rock circuit thanks to three factors: punishingly catching songs, one of the strongest live sets any of us at Vein-Tap.com HQ have ever seen, and the uncanny ability to get an entire crowd on side though sheer enthusiasm and the love of…
Toffee Music were formed early in 2012 by Mike Lydiat and Dave Markam. Mike and Dave are both retired Primary school Head teachers who now perform Music Hall, Vaudeville and Standards of Yesteryear to raise money for Sheffield’s Weston Park Hospital Cancer Charity. They play in pubs, schools, street markets, private parties – anywhere that…
NEKO, a trio from the UK south coast, bring together big riffs, dance grooves and prog rock echoing the likes of QOTSA, Dinosaur Pile Up and Muse. Formed by Tom Brennan (guitar and vocals), Luke Knight (bass and vocals), and David Cassell (drums) while attending high school in Worthing, the band (which was originally called…
If you’re a funk band with an umlaut in your band name, you’re clearly our kind of people. Leeds-based, trans-European funk rock act Vinyl Cäsino has been described as a mix of Led Zeppelin and James Brown. Guitarist Harry uses a Skinny Little Switch Plus with a Hayden Mofo 30, and enjoys extra moist marble cake.