Whether your ears will actually enjoy listening to art so radical is not something I can comment on; but what I can say is that the Igorrr live experience is second to none, and should be witnessed by anyone with even the slightest interest on one occasion at the very least.

Godamn! What a show. Like many of us here, I feel lucky to have caught this smaller club show from Psychonaut, hoping that this will help to catapult them to even greater heights – and that tonight’s poster remains on the Lexington walls, marking the arc of that trajectory.  

Overall, this makes for a brilliant tour package, showcasing that even some of the seemingly rigid sub-genres are capable of versatility and variety. With this Doom Triumvirate, the gloom, the misery, and the melancholy are all very real; but so fortunately is the joy, the passion, and the melody.  

I still can’t explain exactly what happened, but all the stars aligned that night. There was an atmosphere of hope in the performance, a departure from the more pessimistic tone of Triumph and Disaster. It was a night when the band could finally mentally move on from Departure Songs. . . That’s not a sad thing: it’s an affirmation of the strength of their ongoing writing and live performances.

Twenty years of The Lovely Eggs seems ridiculous doesn’t it? I remember 2005 like it was, erm, well, I kinda do. Not that long ago was it? The longer they go, the more impressive it is. Maximum DIY. For Dave and Holly this band is their life; they have struggled and fought doing everything themselves for two full decades now, and weirdly it does not seem to have ground them down.

‘Teeth To Sky’ sounds like Killing Joke stripped of any veneer of modern respectability and by the time they are winding the night down with ‘All We Destroy’ there’s a feeling of hunger and immediacy, a sense that they could keep doing this all night and sound just as massive as when they started.

We shouldn’t need events like Loud Women Fest to provide spaces where women and non-binary musicians can form a majority and perform without being made to feel fear, discrimination, indignity, or condescension. But unfortunately we may well need them more than ever. This festival wasn’t just a noble cause, however: it was a wonderful day of music, laughter, and solidarity, and I hope to make my return next year.  

It’s that most magical time of the year, when two of Glasgow’s most unlikely venues play host to all manner of weird, wonderful and occasionally harrowing acts from across the globe, and for three days this little corner of the world becomes a little bit more accepting and a lot more damaging to the eardrums.

Do yourself a favour: make space for Cosmic Vibration in your own plans for 2026.

Bear Stone is a liminal zone where only the best values of the outside world still apply. When the sun’s out, it’s beach vibes all day; when it goes down, the trees seem to close in and create a fairy glade where real magic and pleasant madness can occur. 

As fans speculate about what lies ahead for the band, and whether bridges can be rebuilt, one thing is clear: My Dying Bride remains a potent force in live performance.

“I will bury you beneath fifty tons of concrete and raise a hell like no other.” Consider me buried. And on a Monday evening, no less.

More so than any other festival I’ve been to, ATG feels like a big old party. But one where everyone is lovely and on the same wavelength, and I’m not going to spend most of it riffling through the host’s bookshelf waiting for it to end. And a party where you can legit listen to weird prog one minute, ultra-dissonant hardcore the next, and still get away with “dancing”.  

My first-ever music festival was Download 2016, affectionately known as “#Drownload.” With memories of the apocalyptic weather of that event fresh in my mind, I was somewhat apprehensive about attending ArcTanGent (ATG) 2025. Fortunately, I need not have worried. . .

Supersonic is the most forward-thinking and open minded-festival in the UK by far, and long may this continue. With only good vibes, and an eclectic gathering of artists and musicians from all across the globe converging on Birmingham, there is something for everyone. . .

Friday starts later and Sunday is usually a little more mellow (until The Bug anyway), but Saturday is the overstuffed filling in the festival sandwich – a ridiculous but delicious feast.

Battling mounting odds, and the encroaching horde of dead-eyed money men, the Supersonic crew keep the torches burning for the experimental and the just plain weird. Despite continuing venue difficulties, 2025’s edition of the festival was as great as ever, a defiant celebration of musical exploration and the shared magic of performance.

It’s another exciting and thought-provoking show courtesy of London Prog Gigs, introducing me to another great Camden live music venue, and demonstrating how Teiger and Pearl Handled Revolver are two of the best bands in the UK.  

One of those rare evenings when music not only delights, but refreshes and provides sustenance, sonically and emotionally. Love; kindness; inclusivity – that’s the new spiritual sound. Leave your fury in the venue with those snarling amps. We walk into the air, renewed.

David Bowes looks forward to the 3rd edition of Glasgow’s Core. Festival, 2025’s edition will be a treat for anyone who likes their music loud, in-your-face and socially conscious.

With both bands having such lengthy careers, it is heart-warming to see Melvins and Redd Kross, at the top of their game, playing such exceptional sets to equally rapturous audiences. Long may this continue as, on this form, these are two bands you could watch again, and again, and again.