GREEN LUNG - NECROPOLITAN (Nuclear Blast)
Worshipping at the altar of defining greats like Deep Purple and Motörhead, Green Lung's musical bedrock results in a collection of tracks both classic and contemporary on Necropolitan. Celebrating the lore of London's occult, the album's lush sonics and layered composition add a rich narrative quality to the album. Guitar flair, intricate organ harmonies, punchy drum fills and a sense of style that results in sure-handed songwriting make for the most complete version of Green Lung to date.
FOREIGN BODY - LIBERTINE (Brutal Panda)
In the vein of outliers like Big Black, Oxbow and The Jesus Lizard, Foreign Body thrive on the fringe of punk. The band's concoction of noise toes a fine line between abrasive and articulate in a way that is visceral and at times, violent. Loud, caustic and confrontational, the band's channels a nihilistic prospective into volume with a mid-tempo pummel that rarely relents and seems to revel in its harshness. Prioritizing intensity over technicality, Libertine is far from a casual listening experience.
SPLIT CHAIN - motionBLUR (DELUXE) (Epitaph)
Bristol firebrand Split Chain have revisited their standout 2025 full length, motionblur, with a deluxe variation that touts a diverse roster of collaborators each offering their own take on selections from the original release. From Roman Candle to Grove Street to Zetra, the two-fold goal of celebrating the magnitude of the release and platforming other bands only further endears Split Chain as a leading voice among nu-heft's progressive class. Shades of shoegaze, heavy alt and polished core compose just some of the facets that make Split Chain such a promising prospect. The variety of the reimagined tracks only emphasizes that range.
WRONG MAN - HERE'S THAT FEELING (Deathwish Inc.)
The passion project forged by members of Oathbreaker, Partisan and Rise And Fall, Wrong Man effectively build out a bolstered brand of post-hardcore on the debut full length. With a DNA consistent with early proto-punk, 90s college rock alt and foundational post-hardcore, the band's lineage and songwriting ability results in sturdy entries that make for a grown folks variation of punk. Combined with the oversight from Michael Neyt and Kurt Ballou in addition to a guest appearance from Jeremy Bolm of Touche Amore, Here's That Feeling boasts true craftsmanship across all nine cuts.
SCENE QUEEN - METALICIOUS (Hopeless Records)
The sole purveyor of Bimbocore, there is a levity and a confident sense of awareness that shines on Metalicious, the new EP from Scene Queen. The fluid meld of pop and metalcore paired with the turn of the century, Y2K aesthetic dare to make heavy music flirtatious and fun. When you have a two-minute rager called "Tits Out At Brunch," its evident that Scene Queen both takes what she does seriously, without taking herself too seriously. An effective mesh of pop and rock for the TikTok generation - Scene Queen confidently paves her own lane.
