When artists offer humble acknowledgement of how well they’re being treated by the crew and how nice it is to play for such a welcoming audience it just underlines what a special festival this is.

With no backline, no intro tapes and no dancing mascots, hoods aside, this is as stripped down and unfiltered as metal gets.

Last Wednesday, audiences proved their hard-earned loyalty to sinister sounds. After two years of pushbacks, the post-black outfit Regarde Les Hommes Tomber was finally able to hold its album release show to a sold-out crowd of hungry metal ghouls.

Joseph Norman and Emma Filtness went to Roadburn Festival this year. Read their very detailed thoughts and review of this year’s festival edition.

There have been many influential albums in extreme music over the years but very few, if indeed any, have been as influential as Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing by Discharge. The amount of punk, hardcore, metal and more bands influenced by this re …

It is clear that Fucked Up are loving being back onstage and playing live again and for everyone in attendance, the opportunity of witnessing an album such as David Comes To Life played in full with such energy and fun has been an experience in itself.

The Lovely Eggs hit the stage with little fanfare, blasting straight through four tunes from their last album I Am Moron before stopping for breath. It’s been two years since the album came out. Two long years that this show has been kicked down the ro …

Our London-based writer Joe Norman will cover Roadburn Festival for Echoes and Dust this year. So, read his preview to get the excitement going, or to check out some of Joe’s recommendations.

While, clearly, we all hope the world stays healthy enough for live shows to continue, I do also hope that Cradle and other bands keep doing live-streams. I was lucky to catch Cradle live out in the Real at London’s Roundhouse last year, but am still happy to pay to tune in from my sofa. As Dani explains, “If this goes well, we’ll carry on with this trend and do other albums in their entirety as well.” And whether it’s live on stage or live on stream, I’m sure legions of Cradle fans will jump at the opportunity.

At points in the evening it was an encounter with the sublime. I actually felt a sense of hope as I listened to their music, that despite war and climate change and perpetual inequality and oppression maybe, just maybe, the human race could have a positive future after all.

A whirling, feverish explosion of colour, rhythm, dazzling musicianship, glorious fun, melodic sincerity, and an utter celebration of what it means to be alive. Life-affirming is too pedestrian a phrase. Spirit-affirming, however, is an adjective made for Sons of Kemet…

This is clearly Enslaved’s most involved stream to date. The studio looks enormous, with huge projections stretching up high above the band, unfurling beautiful kaleidoscopics. . . it’s Enslaved goes art-house in the best possible way.

DVNE have been utterly spellbinding. Majestic. They have become something very special. Absolutely, ridiculously, immense.

On a rainy Friday night in November, the long awaited Conan tour (rescheduled twice for obvious reasons), hit Nottinghams Rough Trade venue and as nights of sheer heaviness go, it was more than worth the wait. . .

The E&D team gallop their horses to Bristol and Manchester to cover The Utopia Strong and Teeth Of The Sea. Live, direct, and in the flesh. Boy have we missed this. . . !