There was a point in the noughties when it distinctly looked like AFI were on a direct trajectory to be stella. The former hardcore punks had morphed into an emotive crossbreed of Goth and post-punk that spoke directly to the alienated masses of the first decade of the new millennium. In “Sing the Sorrow”, they crafted a perfect synergy of dark poeticism and melodic splendour...

If there was an award for the oddest tourmates of the year then it would surely go to this pairing of rock and roll supergroup Hollywood Vampires and Glaswegian indie rock trailblazers The Jesus And Mary Chain. Hollywood Vampires frontman Alice Cooper has form for this though as he has toured with some unlikely bands over recent years. Canny bugger that he is, he tours with support bands who ...

The popularity of metal has astounded me a number of times in recent years, from the likes of Korn and Deftones filling stadiums when it felt like their peak had passed, to System Of A Down and My Chemical Romance coming back and playing stadiums but this feels like something else. It’s very much on a smaller scale but it feels light-years beyond what I expected. Even during the funk metal boom …

Bloodstock may be taking part less than eighty miles away but metal still lives and breathes elsewhere for those who cannot attend. It’s a really encouraging turnout too as Gorilla is around three quarters full. Spectral Wound made a couple of appearances on our shores last year at Incineration and Damnation Festivals and playing shows of such stature has possibly helped in drawing a good crowd…

Saturday is another fine day weatherwise. Is there anything better than being at a great festival in a beautiful location when the sun is shining? Particularly when, like Firevolt, that festival is full of friendly faces? That’s a rhetorical question, because anyone who was anywhere that involved sunshine, live music and beer this weekend knows exactly what I am talking about! 

As it is so common these days, Firevolt Festival starts on the Friday but early arrivals on Thursday are accommodated with a warm greeting and something of a spectacular pre-party. The festival site itself is gorgeous, set in the lush greenery of Etherow Country Park. Where else can you get piers and waterfalls along with your rock music? Campers, glampers, disabled and a small amount of ...

Maebe start the Sunday off with their impressive brand of instrumental math-rock. It’s all from the brain of Michael Astley-Brown, dreamt up in lockdown as a solo act that has since transformed into a full five-piece onslaught. It’s intricately technical and surprisingly catchy as well.

Dacara are building a bigger and bigger name for themselves both locally and further afield. Their ever present black and green visual style is out in full force this morning to wake up any of the weary heads and blurred eyes from late nights of the first day of the festival. It’s accessible, pop metal with youthful and assured energy from vocalist Emma Shippen. Their sound is becoming more ...

The Black Country’s finest are not only represented by Judas Priest at Bloodstock 2026 as Mantis Defeats Jaguar (MDJ) open up the Sophie Stage on Thursday. They spend some time the next day chatting with ROCKFLESH about the craziness that is their blend of genres and styles taking metal in a new exciting direction.

Merseyside Metal 2 the Masses winners Archaea spend some time with ROCKFLESH at Bloodstock 2026 before they hit the New Blood stage to take the festival by storm. Their take on traditional heavy metal rock will leads us to talk about the local scene in Liverpool as well as a host of influences and songwriting inspiration.

ROCKFLESH spend some time at Bloodstock 2026 with the awesome and anarchic The Hell. Co-Vocalists Black Mist and Nice Guy are ready to misbehave and tell it how it is to Danger Matt in the sweltering heat. Be prepared for the saviours of British hardcore!

The mighty Evil Scarecrow returns to the majestic halls of Bloodstock. Whilst, as they admit on stage, it might feel they play every year this is actually their first visit in four years. We speak to Count Gravediggaz and Craven about dodgy props, the different musical tensions within the bands and their plans to mark 25 years of Evil Scarecrow.

The most interesting thing about this year's Download line up (aside from the depth and variety) is that it is now at a point in its history where it can feast on its own nostalgia. For many years, it relied on call-backs to its predecessor “Monsters of Rock”, with seemingly endless headline appearances by Aerosmith, Def Leppard and Iron Maiden. However, since its mammoth 20th birthday bash in 2023, Download has become comfortable with recycling from its own heritage and celebrating the bands that belong to the generation that has grown up with the festival. 

On Friday the Foo Fighters played a late-night show at the O2 Ritz here in Manchester. Whilst the prospect of seeing perennial stadium botherers in a 2,000-capacity venue is in itself unique, its most noteworthy point is how they managed ticket distribution. There was no mad internet dash for tickets, no ludicrous presale (there is no such thing as a presale, tickets are either available or they are not) and no secret codes and loops to jump through. You simply queued up last Sunday at the Ritz and from midday and a REAL person sold you a paper ticket. It was like the last thirty-odd years hadn’t happened, and instantly they did away with all the issues around touts, bots, scammers or fakes.

The evolution of the Damnation festival has been a joy to behold. It is the true definition of an underground success story. This is not a corporate giant forged within a soulless focus group. This is a twenty-year-long tale of overnight triumph. Damnation started two decades ago as a ramshackle attempt by a bunch of wide-eyed amateurs to put on the bands that they wanted to see, as opposed to the ones they felt Live Nation was force feeding them at Download. A chaotic day at the now-defunct Jilly’s Rockworld in Manchester was headlined by the then high-flying Raging Speedhorn and the Swedish legends Entombed.