For the first time in a decade we have decided against doing a writers’s poll for the end of the year. list. However, we seem to be congenitally unable to not make some sort of list for you, so instead this year I, as your humble editor, have picked 25 records that I have enjoyed over the last 12 months and I hope you might enjoy them too.

In the second part of our look at recent releases in the world of post rock and post metal, we spend some time with another 6 records that saw the light of day during September and October. Much like our previous feature which covered bands from Argent …

Belgian band Helium Horse Fly are today (14/12) releasing “Happiness”, to launch the pre-orders of their upcoming album Hollowed. Variously described as experimental rock, venomous noise music, progressive baroque hardcore putting a label on this …

Hailing from ‘The Swamp’ in Queens, NYC, acclaimed cult guitar band Frog have returned with Whatever We Probably Already Had It. In our upcoming review Ljubinko Zivkovic has described it as “possibly, one of the briefest, under the radar gems of 2018”, so we thought it would be interesting to find out a bit more about the records that have influenced them.

On the 15 June, Italian-based collective Lay Llamas released their second album, the critically acclaimed Thuban – a travelogue powered by a pan-global fascination with rhythmic hypnosis and an unquenchable experimental mindset. Since the album’s relea …

“The conception of Welcome Latino Alien comes from a UFO sighting in 1979. The conversation between an a comercial airplane pilot and the control tower puts us squarely in the pursuit of an alien ship to a commercial plane that went from Palma de …

I first discovered U.S. Christmas through 2011’s The Valley Path; a 40 minute, single track opus that covers ground from psych to post metal to prog and folk. It’s a stunning piece of work and I heartily recommend you check it out if you are unfamiliar …

Big’n are a noise-rock band from Chicago, Illinois, who formed in 1990, consisting of William Akins, Brian Wnukowski, Fred Popolo and Todd Johnson. Big’n combines a Midwestern rock sensibility with a more embittered, dark and anti-ideological edge than …

Girls In Synthesis are a post punk trio from London. Their music is intense and abrasive drawing on Crass, Flipper, Wire and The Fall as influences although to be honest they sound like none of them particularly and do sound like a jarring, adrenalised …

The ever incredible Art As Catharsis label have done it again. MNMM’s self-titled debut record is a ‘middle-east meets west’ mix of post-rock, ambience, heaving progressions and Iranian musical elements. Full of swelling emotions, melancholy and s …

Oh, The Guilt are a three piece post punk / dream pop band from Bristol. They got in touch with us a few weeks back with their new single, ‘Darkest Days’, and frankly it totally blew us away. It is an epic slice of emotive post rock drenched beauty. And the video is absolutely stunning too.

We’ve been big fans of BIINDS for years now so it is always exciting when they pop up with new material. This time they have returned with an upbeat, synthetic, 80’s nostalgia induced track entitled “Negative Joe”, a play on “negative nancy”, alth …

‘So what sort of stuff do you play?’. The ubiquitous question that plagues pretty much every musician. The band I’m in, The Fierce & The Dead, play – well, what the hell do we play? I normally say that it’s really loud but you can dance to it which …

Photo by Helen Messenger Only Echoes Remain are back again with a second slab of new material since last year’s debut album The Exigent, following on from ‘Monolith’ back in the spring.  ‘I Am Ozymandias’ sees them leave behind the more …

Justin Lockey is best known for his brilliant work with Editors and Minor Victories so the news of him working with Hazel Wilde from longtime E&D faves Lanterns On The Lake got our full attention! Their debut EP is out today (Oct 19th) so we thought it was a perfect time to get Justin to pick his three most influential albums.

Every now & again a record comes along unheralded that turns out to be so good, so completely on point that one has to take a step back in amazement. Two, the second album from Italy’s Throw Down Bones, is very much one of those records. Casti …

Trapped in a nightmarish psychic landscape midway between the bars of Texas and the bass-bins of Berghain, Shit And Shine are back for the attack. New Album Bad Vibes is a singularly appropriate moniker for a collection of audial ex …

Blossoming to life in late 2010 from the underbelly of the post-industrial wasteland of Stoke, UK as a vocal driven, three piece progressive punk rock outfit and going through as many different permutations in as many years, All The Best Tapes have evo …

Ogives, largely Ben Harris from prog behemoths ANTA, is rooted in experimentation and has previously focused on rich cinematic themes and deep sonic noise. The Ogives Big Band is a new iteration and a creative left turn. Material has been pulled from a …

Photo: Mark Mahaney Black Spirituals are extraordinary. “From a duo of drums and guitar, this is powerful sound which compels rigorous intellectual commitment, physical-material-sonic engagement, exuberant enjoyment and radical freedom” said Owen …

We’ve known, and been massive fans of, Lost In The Riots since their most embryonic days and it has been a huge pleasure to watch them grow and develop over the years in to the math rock behemoth they are today, so we are beyond excited to bring you th …