Gallery: Rise Fest 2022

Mally

Motherland

Kidpunk

Cassyette

Rituals

Death Blooms

Hometruths

Static Dress

Zand

Vukovi

Lebrock

Boston Manor

Modern Error

Creeper

As December Falls

Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes

Death Blooms & Strange Bones Unite On New Single, ’25 Thousand Volts’

Both unique and exciting voices in the UK underground of alternative music (though threatening to tip into the mainstream), Liverpool metal act Death Blooms and Blackpool electro punk project Strange Bones have united on a new single ‘25 Thousand Volts’.

The track is a collision of heavy AF elements, drawing upon electronic and dance music as well as metal and rap, resulting in a powerfully artistic, glitched-up, growling party of a tune.

Bobby Wolfgang (Strange Bones) says “25 Thousand Volts is a pissed off Rottweiler snapping its jaws at 127BPM. A collision of two worlds, a nuclear mash of genre with an overtly threatening commentary yelled at you by two Northern English underdogs.’’ Paul Barrow (Death Blooms) adds “This is the soundtrack to the end of the world.”

Death Blooms released their debut album ‘Life Is Pain’ last year with 2021 also seeing them open up the landmark Download Pilot festival to uproarious response, get nominated for Best UK Breakthrough at the Heavy Music Awards, tour with Trash Boat and guest on daytime BBC Radio 1 with Paul’s “Guide to Metal”. This year, Death Blooms have been busy selling out headline dates up and down the country and also kicked up another stunner of a performance at Download Festival. 

Strange Bones’ debut album ‘England Screams’ was released last year too. It includes an incendiary feature from Bob Vylan and is a brutally bleak but viscerally real appraisal of the state of the nation. Strange Bones have appeared at the likes of Download UK and France, Live at Leeds, The Great Escape, and Reading And Leeds. Tour dates TBA but in the meantime, Bobby will be DJ-ing at “GREEBO” – Oli Sykes’ new clubnight at his Church venue on 9th July. 

Check out the video for ’25 Thousand Volts’ below.

Live Review – Wargasm @ Leeds Key Club

Date:23/11/21

Support:Death Blooms, Bambie Thug

This time last year Wargasm were relatively unknowns in the music world but then came their singles which found their way into the ears of their ever growing legion of fans. With the popularity only growing over the year and slots to play at the Download Pilot and Slam Dunk Festival, they are just gaining so much traction where now at the end of the year they embarked on their debut headlining UK tour.

First we were introduced to the larger than life gothic artist Bambie Thug whom offered up some shock as well as flexibility in her set as she showcased raw and clean vocals making her a standout to watch and keep an eye on over the coming months. With the added messages of self love and sex positivity within her tracks, there was something unique about the performance to ensure that all eyes were on the stage with no exceptions.

Okay I have to be honest, Death Blooms a few months ago were a bit meh. From the moment they set on stage on this evening however, they were utterly relentless. Everything just battered from sheer carnage into mosh pit after pit which seemed to span over half of the room at some point where the aggression and pent up rage seemed to flow out of everyone to give a really poignant and respected set. Part way through you had to ask if you took something because of the alien appearing onstage mid-set whom then joined the earthlings More of this I beg you Death Blooms because that was truly amazing to watch!

Storming onto the stage with the largest applause I’ve heard in a while are the truly amazing Wargasm. With them ripping into their material at serious speeds you feel as if you’re a deer in headlights the way things are moving at the pace where as they performed, they just excelled more and more into the night.

The utterly brilliant catchy chorus of ‘I want to drink, fuck, fight, love’ just moves into your brain, an earthworm of the best kind with the crowd getting louder and rowdier all over the place. Now the chemistry and energy between Way and Matlock is just impressive to see as you feel the connection between them, each one of them doing more to outmonourver the other, it’s what we all need to see.

Eventually closing things with ‘Spit’, possibly their most destructive track so far to date, you had to be ready because this took everything up a notch way above what we were expecting to showcase just how far they can fly.

Wargasm are truly one of the greatest bands to hone their craft coming out of the pandemic and with more to come from them in what will hopefully be released, it’ll only add to the sheer chaos that is their live act.

Rating: 9/10.

Photos by JackLiddPhotography.

Death Blooms Announce ‘Life Is Pain’ UK Headlining Tour

Death Blooms have announced an extensive UK headline tour in Feb / March 2022. 

The Liverpool band have spent the latter part of 2021 making up for lost time on the road with the likes of Trash Boat, Wargasm and Blood Youth. They were also the opening act for the monumental Download Pilot event earlier this year, whipping up a frenzied moshpit of emotion. They’ll be playing Download Festival 2022 too. 

‘Life Is Pain’ is Death Blooms’ debut album, recently released via Adventure Cat Records. Its visceral and cathartic aesthetic has been garnering attention far and wide, even edging toward the mainstream. Jordan North on BBC Radio 1 said “I feel like I’ve had a shot of sambuca and a slap round the face” when playing recent single ‘In Your Head’ out on Jack Saunders’ Future Artists show (the clip subsequently got replayed on the Breakfast Show). 

Check out the touring dates for Death Blooms ‘Life Is Pain’ UK Tour 2022.

22 Feb – Bristol, Crofters Rights
23 Feb – Plymouth, The Underground
24 Feb – Nottingham, Rock City Beta
25 Feb – Birmingham, Dead Wax
26 Feb – Newcastle, Head of Steam
28 Feb – Glasgow, Classic Grand
01 Mar – Leeds, Hyde Park Book Club
02 Mar – Manchester, Gulliver’s 
03 Mar – Leicester, Firebug
04 Mar – Cardiff, Fuel
05 Mar – Southampton, Heartbreakers
06 Mar – London, Black Heart

Death Blooms Release New Version Of Single, ‘Shut Up’ Featuring Wargasm

Death Blooms and Wargasm go hard in the new version of the former’s current killer single ‘Shut Up’, out today with a music video to match. 

Musing on the collaboration, which follows Death Blooms’ stint supporting Wargasm at socially-distanced gigs last year, vocalist Paul Barrow says: “Every single day I see and hear people doing stupid, pointless fucking shit. They look down on others less fortunate, they think they’re better than them. You’re not, you fucking dickhead. We’re all exactly the same. If you think otherwise, you’re wrong. When I initially wrote this song, things were slightly different. Since the time has passed, only more shitty, infuriating things have happened, so I thought it needed an updated perspective and outlook, and who better to give that than the two most rage fuelled people I know…” 

Sam and Milkie AKA Wargasm could identify with the track 100 per cent: “We just wanted to echo and add our weight to Paul’s sentiment. The planet is on fire, the air is filthy, everyone treats each other like shit and I think we would all kill for some silence…”

Liverpool metal outfit Death Blooms recently announced that their long awaited debut album ‘Life Is Pain’ will be released 22 October, 2021 via Adventure Cat Records. ‘Shut Up’ features on the full length and was also the first track to be played live on stage at this year’s Download Pilot festival at Donington Park, receiving a rapturous response from all assembled. Jack Saunders has already shown his continued support for the band, spinning  ‘Shut Up’ on BBC Radio 1’s Future Artists show.

Death Blooms will be hitting the road with Blood Youth and Trash Boat in September and October armed with their cutthroat collection of new tracks.

Check out ‘Shut Up’ Featuring Wargasm below.

Death Blooms Release Music Video For New Track ‘Gore’

Liverpool’s Death Blooms today release a crushingly cathartic new EP, fittingly titled ‘Fuck Everything’, via Adventure Cat Records. Along with the release, they’ve revealed a music video for ‘Gore’, a new track which features in the collection. “It’s a complete homage to all the horror movies we’ve all become so obsessed with and attached to,” says vocalist Paul Barrow when musing on the inspiration behind ‘Gore’. “It’s about the potential unlocking of all the panic and rage that we see so much in that platform and how it could so easily spill over and transfer itself into our own personal realities.” 

The title track of the EP was recently featured on the BBC Radio 1 Indie Show as Jack Saunders’ Next Wave and the release has also garnered attention from behemoth rock publications such as Kerrang! and Rock Sound. “This EP seems like the right amount of spit and bile to sum up everyone’s current frustrations in musical form at this present moment,” says Barrow about how the EP’s intent is so befitting of the current state of the world. 

The gargantuan ‘Life Is Pain’, and ‘Anger’ also feature on ‘Fuck Everything’ and were released last year, pricking the ears of Slipknot’s camp and earning Death Blooms a coveted slot on the line-up of the inaugural Pulse of The Maggots Fest in November. In a year where being a part of any sort of live show was a logistical nightmare, the band also managed to play a couple of socially-distanced gigs supporting the hotly-tipped Wargasm. 

Death Blooms released their vitriolic ‘You Are Filth’ EP in 2019 and, when they’ve had an opportunity to tour in real life, have had crowds across the country headbanging along to their vigorous live show, already sharing stages with the likes of Loathe, Insane Clown Posse, King 810, Korn’s Jonathan Davis, Ded and Skindred.

Check out ‘Gore’ below.

Death Blooms Announce New EP

Liverpool based band Death Blooms have announced the details of their upcoming EP, ‘Fuck Everything’, which is the follow up to their 2019 release, ‘You Are Filth’.

It’s set to be released on March 17th 2021 via Adventure Cat Records where the band have also debuted the EP’s title-track as its latest choice of single.

You can check it out along with the EP cover artwork, full track listing, and pre-order options below.

01.) Life Is Pain
02.) Gore
03.) Anger
04.) Fuelled By Hate
05.) Fuck Everything

Pre-orders are available via the band’s official webstore.

Knotfest Announces Pulse Of The Maggots Online Festival For Free

Usually the festival circuit would be well and truly over by now but the amazing people over at Knotest have announced the details of an upcoming online festival billed as Pulse Of The Maggots set to take place later this week.

It’s named after a track on Slipknot‘s 2004 album, ‘Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)’, the Pulse Of The Maggots festival will be held on November 13th 2020 at 8pm BST.

It’s going to be hosted by Knotfest.com’s Beez and Ryan J Downey where the festival will be spread across three digital stages and will showcase a range of different acts.

Check out the details below.

Bands set to play are as follows:

156/Silence
Cerberus
Death Blooms
Death Tour
dEMOTIONAL
Diamond Construct
Hacktivist
I Revolt
Introtyl
October Ends
Once Awake
Orbit Culture
PRXJEK
Scarlet
Tallah
Thrown Into Exile
VCTMS
Vended
Wargasm
Year Of The Knife

Stage Times are available via the following link.

You can stream Pulse Of The Maggots via Knotfest.com.

New Music Roundup 28/08/20

Hello everyone. I do apologise for not posting in the last week. As some of you might not know, I’m a one person operation on this blog and things just got away from me in the last few weeks where I’ve been applying for more jobs as well as working at my part time place of work so things have been a touch hectic for me at the time of writing. But enough of that real life stuff, let’s get to the music side of things.

Bully’s latest single, ‘Prism’ arrived ahead of the release of their latest record, ‘Sugaregg’ which was released on the 21st August but I had to pick this track as a standout and this weeks first pick of the roundup!

The new record was produced and mixed by John Congleton and Bully’s Alicia Bognanno, with additional production and mixing by Graham Walsh, recorded at Pachyderm Studios in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, and Palace Sound in Toronto, Ontario, and mastered by Heba Kadry.

The next choice this week are the British Metalcore foursome Death Blooms. Vocalist Paul Barrow had the following to say on the release of ‘Anger’, the second track the band have released in 2020 and the second since their signing to Adventure Cat Records.

“‘Anger’ is about our fear and frailties and how it’s so easy for every single one of us to project all of that into our relationships and to the people closest to us. We can all become a product of our anxieties and our insecurities; feeling afraid to make changes and feeling so lost within it all. It can become so frustrating existing in this perpetual loop of uncertainty and it becomes all we feel and know. It’s impossible to let anybody else in when we’re stuck in this cycle and, unfortunately, our fear becomes our loneliness. We find it hard to believe, but some people do care and do want to help us. We just need to help ourselves.” 

Next on this week’s New Music Roundup, we have the trap metal titan Ghostmane. There’s a new track called ‘AL’, which was released recently and is the lead single from the upcoming record, ‘ANTI-ICON’.

Right, we have come to the penultimate track of the week and a newish artist who’s gaining some traction this year. I present to you, JJ Wilde.

In just over a year, JJ Wilde has gone from paying her dues and playing whatever shows she could to become the first female artist to have a debut single go No. 1 on all three Canadian rock radio formats – while on equal footing with The Killers, The Black Keys, and Billy Talent. Now, JJ is back with a new song that marks the next chapter of her evolution from fan-favourite underdog touring alongside The Struts, Incubus, The Blue Stones, and The Glorious Sons to a beloved chart-topper.

On the track she says: “For me, this song is about trying to change the narrative that society has accepted about women” says JJ. “It is clear, especially in the music industry that women are viewed more like objects a lot of the time than actual humans — seen not heard type of thing. Well, I want that to change – what women “should and shouldn’t do”, what society deems acceptable, what women are shamed for. All of the above. We are beautiful creatures. And I don’t think we should feel ashamed to express that. This song is taking a stab at what men have always been free to talk about in songs — doing whatever they want with whoever they want — but from a woman’s perspective.”

And lastly this week we have the final track as the return of the incredible You Me At Six.

The band debuted their latest track, ‘MAKEMEFEELALIVE’ which is expected to be the lead single of their upcoming TBA seventh record. This track follows on from the release of ‘Our House (The Mess We Made) which was released earlier in 2020.

This release is definitely a different turn of things for the band and if anything’s to go by, is going to be the heaviest record since they released Sinners Never Sleep around nine years ago.

And that’s it for another week of a countdown of the best singles out in the world in the last week. Be sure to check back next-time for another round of great music videos. If you have any suggestions for me to check out, be sure to send an email or message us via the socials on Facebook or Twitter!

Death Blooms Announces UK Shows For 2019

Fresh off the support run for SHVPES across the UK, the Liverpool metal band Death Blooms have announced a handful of dates for May 2019.

The shows will be in support of their upcoming EP, ‘You Are Filth’ which is set to be released on April 26th 2019.

Here are the dates.

May 2019

8th – London Black Heart

9th – Manchester The Star & Garter

12th – Birmingham The Victoria

Music Video Roundup 08/02/19

Is it Friday already? That can only mean it’s 4PM and it’s time for one thing. It’s time for the music video roundup. If you’re new to either the blog or the roundup posts, this is how it works. Every week, I view some of the best recently released music videos and compile them into a list for everyone’s viewing pleasure. They’re videos that go across all the different genres, so expect something different for most of the tracks. Let’s get things going with New Yorks very own Sylar. This video is taken from their third full-length record, ‘Seasons’ which was released in October 2018. Check out ‘SHOOK’ below.

 

Right, it’s not too long until the release of One Ok Rock’s new record, ‘Eye Of The Storm’ and they have a new track and video ready to go, prior to its release. ‘Wasted Nights’ is the third track right behind ‘Change’ and ‘Eye Of The Storm’. Check out Wasted Nights below.

 

Hitting number one in their home country of Austalia, The Amity Affliction are riding night after the release of their sixth record, ‘Misery’. In the video for ‘Drag The Lake’, it sees the band perform in a derelict town which a character is being pulled into the depths of the murky water.

 

Let’s go for a little bit of Metalcore now. If you know about the American Metalcore scene, then you’re probably a bit familiar with Zao. Back in the 1990s, they helped establish the genre before it got its namesake and helped create what it is now. The new video is off their new Decoding The Möbius Strip 7” which features inspiration from Windows 98 as well as A Clockwork Orange.

 

Time for someone’s debut. We’re hopping straight across the pond to Britain to check out the melodic hardcore and metalcore newcomers Burdened as they reveal their first ever single, ’33’.

 

Now for a bit more establishment with this band, Deaf Havana shouldn’t be strangers to anyone. Also, they played a huge date at London’s Brixton Academy last year. Now, we have some footage from that gig! In the form of ‘Holy’, here’s a glimpse of the energy and atmosphere that was experienced.

 

Remember American Horror Story’s Bloody Face? Well, failing that, there’s a less expensive version of Slipknot’s masks straight from the beginning of this next video. This is a very aggressive offering as well as melodic. But This has to be one of the standout’s of the week from Death Blooms video, ‘Crosses’.

 

Now, to celebrate the recent release of their new full-length record, ‘Soulmade’, we’re seeing Germany alt rockers Breathe Atlantis release a video for their latest cut in the form of ‘Everyone Else’.

 

Time to move on down to Brighton. Do you love intense, head spinning clips?  If so, then you’ll love We Never Learned To Live’s new video. Described as a “Exploring loneliness in a modern world of digital connectivity,  “Luma/Non Luma is about the modern day phenomenon of physical presence and simultaneous mental absence.”

 

And we’ve come to the last track of the post. I thought I’d go with a live video to show just what a band’s capable of in a live environment. The Story So Far had a huge headline show last year at the Palladium in Worcester, Massachusetts. The video is for the title track, ‘Proper Dose’ and if you know what they’re about, I’m sure you’ll be able to see why I saved this track for the last place in this weeks selection.

And that’s it for another week of music video roundups. Be sure to check back next week for another ten of the best right here at Almost Anything Media.