Fun and frightening in equal doses, welcome to the crazy world of Wild Rocket. – By Martyn Coppack

Blackwitch Pudding will never rise above the underground but as long as they continue to make music like this they won’t go too far wrong. – By Martyn Coppack

If you are looking for some intense music that brings together some of your old favorites – Dystopia, Mohinder,Pg. 99 or even Cave In, check out Colombian Necktie’s Twilight Upon Us. – By Kara Hinman

Empires is a solid EP, and is further evidence that Vile Regression’s first full length could be something special, but it doesn’t do enough to distinguish itself from the rest of the technically minded death metal scene. – By Nicholas Cleeve

Hospital Bomber brings the best of hardcore and powerviolence styles together. – By Kara Hinman

When the end of year thought process revolves around and we try to list the year’s finest collections, Appearances of Collections will unquestionably be making an appearance. By Geoff Topley

Miserable made me feel stoned without even smoking. Powerful stuff. – By Kara Hinman

The 20 minutes on offer here are of high musical quality and fans of sludgy, down tempo metal will definitely appreciate this. – By Sander van den Driesche

When I heard a Boston black metal band did a cover of one of my all-time favorite Townes Van Zandt songs, I was almost scared to listen. – By Melissa Maudite

Offensive and not for the faint-hearted, this is a difficult listen and not one you will want to repeat too often. – By Martyn Coppack

This is whole-hearted music that I’m pretty sure any heavy music fan would have trouble disliking. – By Kat Preston

If you love traditional English metal then you’ll love Kaine’s The Waystone. – By Rob Thompson

A 36 minute journey full of melody and atmospheric riffing. – By Jeremiah Nelson

Colossus Of Destiny: a band on the verge of making it big. – By Rob Thompson

This delivers a swift kick to the bollocks when it comes to playing fast, unrelenting, no thrills hardcore punk the traditional way and man is it good! – By Berns von Bernington

Glasgow-based Call to Mind’s debut is full of richness and textures, with guitars, strings and piano creating a soothing, joyous sound. – By Kevin Scott

The power of the RIFF compels! – By Andrew Rawlinson

This is a band who are superbly gifted musically but also know how to deliver the requisite kicks when needed. – By Martyn Coppack

Imagine standing in a street and having a panzer mow you down. That’s basically Peasant’s sound and it is embodied in 6 killer tracks on their Dead Hand EP. – By Berns von Bernington

Beauty and ugliness rolled into one that manages to uplift and make you mosh at the same time. – By John Sturm.

With a refined sound and a fresh change to the often stale post-rock formula, Glasgow Coma Scale delivers some amazing soundscapes, both as thoughtful as they are movement-inducing. By Jeremy Cantu