Every now and then, an album lands on the desk that completely bypasses your critical brain and hits you straight in the chest. Megatons the second full-length from The Barbarians Of California, is a total riot from start to finish. Behind the wheel are Aaron Bruno (frontman of AWOLNATION) and producer Eric Stenman, but don't let the mainstream pedigree fool you. This isn't a glossy side project designed for radio playing; it’s a massive, aggressive slab of metallic hardcore that sounds like a band having the absolute time of their lives.
From the moment The Gnarlycore Class and Vanilla Latte kick down the door, the level of aggression on display is incredible. The riffs are thick, heavy, and played with a lethal amount of groove. But what really sets this record apart is the sheer, unadulterated sense of fun baked into every single bar. At its core, this is big, loud, ridiculously heavy music crafted by musicians who obviously know their way around a song, and it put a massive, unabashed smirk on my face from the first spin. In a genre that can sometimes take itself far too seriously, there’s zero shame in making heavy music that is this enjoyable.
Take a track like Bomb To A Knife Fight, it’s got one of the meanest breakdowns you’ll hear all year, paired with a completely absurd hook that you’ll be shouting around the house for weeks. Then you hit Really Really Rad, which starts as a thrashing, riff-heavy assault before pulling a wild 180 and turning into an electro-dance party at the end. It shouldn't work, but because they commit to the madness with total conviction, it rips.
By the time you get through the thrashy chaos of Earthquake and the Mario-esque shouting on This Is Shredical, you realise this is an album built entirely for the stage. It’s one of those rare records that instantly made me pull up my browser and start hunting down their touring schedule. You can practically smell the spilled beer and feel the floorboards flexing just listening to it. I want to see and experience these tracks in a packed, sweaty venue as soon as humanly possible.
They even know how to stick the landing. Dropping an acoustic breather like Shark Out Of Water right before the crushing finale of I Am The Submarine shows a band that understands pacing and drama as much as brute force. Megatons is a loud, furious, and joyously unhinged record that proves heavy music can be as fun as it is dangerous. An absolute blast. 9/10
God's Hate - Won't Be Disgraced (Closed Casket Activities) [Matt Bladen]
God's Hate play hardcore. Aggressive, antifascist, straight edge, metallic hardcore that deliberately antagonizes those who try to spread hate, marginalise and generally be horrible human beings.
Musically threatening with songs full of punishing breakdowns, shifting pace and punishing stomps. They're also physically stacked as Gods Hate were formed by professional wrestler, imposing man mountain and former AEW World Trios and World Tag Team Champion Brody King on vocals and Twitching Tongues frontman Colin Young on drums/vocals.
They live by the credo of Life Is Hard - Be Harder and this is music for the resilient, a call to arms to fight back against oppression of all kinds and when someone like Brody is barking at you, it's worth listening. Colin sets the blistering pace, locked in with bassist Alec Faber and guitarist Anthonie Gonzalez while brother Taylor (also of Twitching Tongues) gives lead guitar blasts.
Won't Be Disgraced follows two full length records and while only three tracks long, it begins with a Bolt Thrower-esque grind on the title track, before I Am The Cure crushes with blast beats as the dual vocals used for maximum rage as it builds into a cry of "straight edge" before a disgustingly slow breakdown and solo section ensues which moves to the punishing finale Warriors Will Reign.
God's Hate then are band who look and sound imposing but have their ideologies aligned in the right way, their music is about triumph over adversity and the only ones that should be scared is if you wear a red cap with snow infamous phrase on it. 8/10
RAD - Rad To The Bone (Self Released) [Matt Bladen]
Gnarly crossover skate thrash now from RAD who bring the spirit of the Californian skate culture to Southern England influenced heavily by Suicidal Tendencies as they play songs that are about the camaraderie of the skate scene along with classic cult films, the sort of thrash meets hardcore that often leads to two-stepping inside the bowl of a skatepark.
Andy Mansell (vocals), Ben Swanson (guitar) Ben Watson (guitar), Warren Bennet (bass) and Kieran Stanley (drums), play music for the escapists, a way to get away from the drudgery of modern life with homages to VHS classics such as Rambo (First Blood), Cyberdyne Systems (Terminator), If It Bleeds (Predator) and Point Break which is possibly the ultimate skate/surf action movie.
They use these cinematic influences to speak about broader issues such as governmental corruption and the influence of technology but it's all done with thrashy riffs, solo guitar fireworks, hearty chugs and shouted vocals primed for shouting back, as there's rarely a stop for breath, the six cuts here coming at you like karate kicking madman.
Rad To The Bone and decked out in dayglo shorts and massive white sneakers RAD come straight outta your local skatepark and get radical with this new record. 8/10
Sunscorched – Blood Of The Badlands (Bölverk Collective) [Spike]
One of the best things about Musipedia of Metal is stumbling across something you’d never normally find on your own, only to realize within a track or two that you need to buy a copy for your physical collection immediately. Blood Of The Badlands by Arizona trio Sunscorched is exactly that kind of discovery. Coming off a stack of modern hardcore and metalcore, this record is a complete change of pace and a damn impressive one at that.
Instead of the usual cold, snow-covered Norwegian forests or burning European cathedrals, Sunscorched takes black metal out into the sun-bleached desert. It trades classic goth-black tropes for a cinematic, dusty Western atmosphere where blood, revenge, and the sheer weight of the universe crushing down on an unforgiving landscape. If you're a fan of bands like Wayfarer, this sits in that same sun-baked territory, but it carves out its own bitter path.
For me, Stranger's Land is the absolute standout track of the record. It opens with the sound of crackling campfires and distant dogs calling across the dark, setting an outlaw-style acoustic undertone before the heavy riffs drop. The way it transitions with Whiskey And Oak, weaving sharp, abrasive black metal tremolo with that dusty narrative weight is fantastic. You can practically feel the grit in your teeth as the storm rolls in over the ridge.
What gives the record its real spine is how it handles historical grit without relying on theatrical gimmicks. Slaughter At Camp Grant tackles the brutal 1871 massacre of 140 Apache people, delivering a punishing, fast-thrashing assault driven by Austin Kruger’s raw, scraping vocals and Rory James’s battering drum work. It's bitter, dark, and uncomfortable, exactly as history should sound when set to heavy music.
They aren't afraid to bring unexpected textures into the noise, either. The Gallows Tree incorporates haunting slide guitar licks beneath a mid-tempo, crushing stomp, while Thousand Year Drought lets Mitch Wilson’s lead guitar spiral into chaotic, blistering solos. By the time the instrumental title track closes things out, surprising you with moody acoustic passages, weeping violins, and a subtle, jazzy swing, you're left with a record that feels like a complete journey.
Blending the bleak atmosphere of black metal with the unvarnished grit of the American Southwest shouldn't work this seamlessly, but Sunscorched pulls it off with total conviction. It’s a brilliant, unexpected find and a release I’m genuinely excited to add to my shelf. 9/10
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