The self confessed "silly little band" A-tota-soreturn with another record of genre busting, noise that's alt-rock but not as you know it.
From the fret scrape and jazz drum line of Death Rattle to the dreamy end of Raykens, I Told You So takes you on a sonic journey so full of turbulence that you'd think you were on a Ryanair flight. They released their last album in 2022 and have been ignighting stages across the country before and after that, channeling their stage ferocity into their recordings while never wanting to retread old ground.
With this album the collaborative guest vocalists if album two are gone and album three has a renewed confidence, a refocus of identity and sees guitarists Marty Toner become lead vocalist for the first time. His vocals are just as expressive as his guitar playing, shouting with angst on the jangly post rocker Form Of Mass, while drummer Jamie Cattermole and bassist Chris Marsh, lay down a left field, off-kilter rhythms, though Exit Wounds sees them in more regular patterns.
The record is a bit of downer lyrically dealing with anxiety, depression and grief but attempts to find some sort of solace, though this constant mental battle is so often showcased in these cuts, from the proggy start-stop of aggression of Masks, through the grooving GRLD where the influence of Tool is obvious, while No Tears No Sound, is driven by sense of paranoia.
I Told You So, feels like a reset for A-tota-so, the use of just one voice letting them hone into what they are as band, direct and noisy but also experimental and muted, often in the same bar, a great listening experience for those that appreciate music that's on a tangent of it's own. 8/10
Hubris - White Shores (Self Released) [Mike Bailey]
White Shores is the fifth album by Swiss post-rock band hubris. and is a notable departure in inspiration for this outfit. The previous four albums were inspired by Greek mythology, whereas for this album it was a little closer to home. In the wake of his grandfather’s passing, Jonathan Hohl began writing this album to navigate his grief and loss.
Into this, Hohl pulled inspiration from The Lord Of The Rings – themes of immortality versus mortality and how they were experienced by the different races of Middle-earth – and how there is so much more to that sadness in passing.
The album title White Shores refers to the place many beings return to at the end of their lives, but the song titles refer to an exchange between Gandalf and Pippin. It is an attempt to express the importance of death and loss as meaningful outside of the sadness it has caused – Death Is Just Another Path.
Each track feels self-contained, a meditation on a specific idea, and work through different stages of grief. Much like navigating grief, it is not a clean or precise process, but a process of unearthing themes, revisiting them and moving forward. The sound is organic, the layers of guitar, bass and drum (Matthieu Grillet, Lucien Leclerc and Nathan Gros, respectively) interact, swell and lift to bring the themes fully to life, as well as reflect how community helps process loss through collaboration and the space to process.
While the theme and inspiration behind White Shores is a departure, the music still evokes the ethereal, swelling and subsiding, deeply moving sound they are known for. 8/10
Cinema Stereo - 12:34 (Cargo UK Records) [Keith Boswell]
The Nashville based triumvirate that is Cinema Stereo release their first full length album 12:34 under the Cinema Stereo LLC label on the 2nd October 2026. It encompasses twelve tracks and delivers forty-three minutes worth of high energy, at times almost psychedelic, alternative rock that has its roots firmly embedded in the 60’s and 70’s.
Indeed, the influences of Rush, Led Zepplin and Queen are clear for all to see providing a spine onto which their own brand of musicality is added I have to say at this point that this is not an album I would readily listen to of my own volition and it has taken me at least four spins to really break through the unconscious bias that I sometimes uphold. But boy am I glad I persevered!
Tracks like Flood which is catchy and has a great groove to it immediately caught my attention, similarly Over The Edge has a fantastic intro, it is lively and foot tapping with a great delivery from guitarist Seb Borysek. Undoubtedly this will be a popular crown pleaser during their up-and-coming tour of the UK. The bands most recent single Expectations delivers some excellent melodic vocals from Ian Rayha along with some spacy type interludes harking back to the early days of prog rock but with modern twists throughout.
Rayha’s catchy vocals are once again to the fore in Ride To The Sun which attracted me instantly to this song along with the strong verse hook and prominent keyboards. Proxima is the final song on the album and is possibly my favourite. The beat in the song is very contagious and the guitar licks throughout are very welcomed.
Whilst there are tracks that I enjoy thoroughly on the album there are a small number of songs that don’t quite do it for me. That said I’m sure others will find them enjoyable. A further positive, to the bands credit, is that the tracks are all individual and are reflected in a change in beat, vocal or intensity.
Check this album outs it’s definitely worth your time! 7/10
Forsaken Eternity - Shades Of Existence EP (Rottweiler Records) [Myrto-Panagiota Zacharof]
Shades Of Existence will be of great appeal to fans of melodic/symphonic black metal! Powerful drums, imposing atmosphere due to vocals, guitar solos & keyboards all put into compact songs to keep the attention of the listener high, while also putting attention on the also interesting lyrics as well.
The opening song of the record, Adrift In A Twisted Ethereal brings forward the band’s stigma which is certainly the strong drums, howling vocals exchanging with haunting deep voices, highly melodic and intensive guitars, setting the mood just right for the next track. That next track is Whispers Of The Moon, which has quite an operatic feeling, combining the bands clear black metal attributes with atmospheric riffs & breaks of keyboards.
From here we have Celestial Witch a song that clearly stands out from the rest, as it combines numerous approaches of what one can consider melodic atmospheric metal. Cleverly using the keyboards to give a notion of space & chaos, with sudden breaks of melody over the rampant drums and guitars. The vocals are really outstanding, joining the listener from the abyss as the album ends with Shades Of Existence, a marching outro song, closing the loop and demonstrating clearly the technical abilities but also the love for dramatic dark atmosphere through dark melody.
Shades Of Existence is an album that features highly technical, long guitar pieces and at times clear almost sterile sound, With strong influences from the early days of Cradle of Filth , Dimmu Borgir , Gehenna & Children of Bottom (90s era). With the music here and the simple but powerful image of Red Death, can be seen as either dispersing or growing Forsaken Eternity are starting to find their own unique sound in the balck emtal world. 7/10
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