SLAY DUGGEE, the metal band for pre-schoolers, have released new LP My First Metal Album; 14 new slices of canine hardcore to get your mini-moshers banging their heads.

The quartet also released a new video for the track ‘Johny Johny (Yes Papa)’ - 17 seconds of hardcore for kids. Check it out here: https://youtu.be/fiqjA79o9Qo

The album features metal rearrangements of kids’ YouTube favourite 'The Finger Family', inescapable preschool theme tunes 'Paw Patrol' and 'PJ Masks' and a hardcore take on children’s favourite book 'We’re Going on a Bear Hunt'. Versions of 'Pinball Number Count' from Sesame Street and 'Maybe Tomorrow' from Littlest Hobo for the parents are also featured, as well as the Raindance Badge from their spiritual dog pack leader Duggee from Hey Duggee.

New single ‘Johny Johny (Yes Papa)' follows the narrative of the popular nursery rhyme: Johny’s Dad catches him eating sugar, accuses him of said transgression, upon which event Johny denies any involvement. Johny’s Dad disagrees, Johny once again denies it. Johny’s Dad demands he opens his mouth forthwith. It is revealed that Johny is indeed a sweet toothed con artist. A classic ruse by Johny.

Black Shuck, drums/vocals commented: “Play this album to your kids. If they head bang then you know you are bringing them up right. If they don’t, play it again louder.”

Ricky Bow-Wow, vocals, commented: “Have you listened to the radio recently? There’s no angst, no aggression. Everything has been “nerfed”. So we thought we’d do the opposite and give the kids some structured and responsible danger...to make their lives a bit less...safe.”

My First Metal Album by SLAY DUGGEE was produced by Charlie Wilson (TRC/Counting Days) at Monolith Studios and is available on all digital platforms from Friday 29th November.

Stream / purchase here:
iTunes / Apple Music
Spotify

It’s been quite a year for SLAY DUGGEE. They shot to viral fame at the start of 2019 with their metal cover version of 'Baby Shark'. The video had been a sleeper on YouTube since 2018. Then it suddenly got swept up with global Baby Shark-mania, and to date has over 33 million views (more than the entire population of Peru).

In January they played 3 minutes of live hardcore to 3,000 people in a packed London Palladium, including Simon Cowell and friends.

Two new members joined the band. Mütley Crüz on guitar, and Ozzy Ozbone on drums.

SLAY DUGGEE played a live prime-time session on BBC 6Music show for their number one fan, Steve Lamacq. Steve joined them on backing vocals, performing the quacks in Sarah & Duck.

They’ve been selling out venues around the country with their ‘My First Metal Gig’ shows, teaching future metalheads how to mosh, circle pit, pogo, and throw up their horns. And they staged the first ever triangle pit at Bloodstock.

Slay Duggee music videos: https://www.youtube.com/slayduggee

Social Links
https://www.facebook.com/slayduggee/
https://www.instagram.com/slayduggee/
https://twitter.com/slayduggee
https://youtube.com/slayduggee

In what is perhaps a world first, French progressive metal band MANTRA have unveiled an interactive three-sided record listening experience, to showcase their most recent LP Medium (October 18, Finisterian Dead End).

Conceived as an experience of both mind and body, Medium is a record centred on the theme of duality. The band took it upon themselves to compose a piece in which both sides can be played simultaneously and controlled by the listener, generating a unique third side.

Experience the duality of Medium here: http://mantrafr.com/medium/experience/

MANTRA have also released a 17-minute video for this hidden track of the same name, which you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTif6H5byY8

The new song, and the accompanying short film, showcase the three-sided approach: it's a combination of previous tracks 'Body' and 'Mind' synchronised together to great effect.

MANTRA are well-known for their truly progressive approach, incorporating contemporary dance in their live performances, which have been seen at Hellfest (2017 & 2019) and with Hypno5e, Shining (NOR) and more. Born in 2009, the band have released three records in total, 2013's Into The Light, 2016's Laniakea, and now the unique Medium.

The new three-sided experience creates an entirely new listening world, marking MANTRA out as a truly progressive force in heavy music and interactive art.

For more information:

http://mantrafr.com/
https://www.facebook.com/MantraFR

Punk and post-hardcore pioneers JAWBOX have announced an exclusive one-off show on 11th June 2020 at the Electric Ballroom in London, their first UK headline show since 1994.

Check out JAWBOX on YouTube here

Often cited as a vital influence by many punk, indie, alt rock and hardcore bands today, the legendary quartet disbanded in 1997 following an impactful eight year career, releasing five albums and touring the world numerous times. The band reformed for a TV performance in 2009 on 'Late Night with Jimmy Fallon', but this was strictly a one-off. It wasn't until 2019 when JAWBOX finally returned to club stages, playing numerous shows across the USA.

The set will draw from most of their discography with an emphasis on the J Robbins (voice/guitar) / Kim Coletta (bass) / Bill Barbot (guitar/voice) / Zach Barocas (drums) recordings, especially the For Your Own Special Sweetheart and Jawbox albums, which mark the peak of their creative time together.

Longtime fans will be in familiar territory: Coletta’s irrepressible presence; Robbins’ heartfelt guitar and vocal harmonic roar; Barbot’s razor-sharp vocal and guitar challenge and complement; and Barocas’ exacting flail and crash continue to coalesce as they always have, as a single functioning musical unit.

Tickets on sale Friday 29th November, and pre-sale sign ups can register here: http://eepurl.com/gKCwfX

JAWBOX online:
Official Site Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube Spotify Apple Music Bandcamp Label

UK black metal quintet ANTRE (pronounced ant-er) are proud to present their new single 'Wrecan', loosely translated from the Old English for 'vengeance'.

Watch: https://youtu.be/tJZ6bu9LY5U

Stream: https://antre.bandcamp.com/

ANTRE, an old English word for cavern, aptly encapsulates this exciting new band's aesthetic and approach, creating a timeless, atmospheric form of metal.

Drawing on a range of influences, including black, death, thrash metal and hardcore, ANTRE's music is claustrophobic, intense, savage - the representation of the inner dark cave in all our souls and the rage that manifests there.

Lyrically, 'Wrecan' draws on this, a brutal paean, not of triumph but of vengeance. The single follows ANTRE's well-received debut, Void, released 22nd February 2019, which received praise from Kerrang!, Revolver, Metal Hammer, Metal Sucks, Decibel and more. Prior to this, ANTRE's split 7'' with Underdark was a bestseller on Bandcamp, landing in their top-selling black metal chart when released in early 2018.

ANTRE have a longstanding DIY background from previous bands; every aspect of their existence has been developed themselves, from using their own equipment to self-record in a church, producing their own artwork, and handmaking their own CDs.

The band have played alongside the likes of Winterfylleth, Helpless, Wren and The Infernal Sea, and will shortly play with Enthroned, Schammasch, Terra and False.

Watch ANTRE live:
23/11/19 The Unicorn, Camden (w/ False, Terra)
29/11/19 The Chameleon, Nottingham (w/ Wren, Mairu)
18/04/20 The Chameleon, Nottingham (w/ Deadwood Lake, Saarkoth, Cistvaen)
07/01/20 Alberts, Nottingham (w/ Enthroned, Schammasch)

For more information:
https://www.facebook.com/antrecult/
https://antre.bandcamp.com/
http://www.antre.uk/

Manchester groove metal quartet PROGNOSIS have streamed their new single and video for 'Downfall', taken from their well-received debut LP Definition, released September 2018.

Premiered via Metal Hammer, you can now watch the 'Downfall' video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suxWmbSSi0Q

Purchase the album here: https://prognosis.bigcartel.com/

Musically PROGNOSIS have cultivated their own niche within UK metal, developed from their Ghost EP and Definition LP. Labelled once as “Mastodon playing Carcass”, the band include a host of subtle influences, making for a powerful and rewarding listen - brute force meeting intricacy. Beyond groove metal, the band also emulate Dream Theater and Muse, the technicality of Jeff Loomis, and the abrasive elements of Death and beyond.

'Downfall' itself is a beast of a track, reminiscent of the best of Mastodon and also Gojira, from a group who have decimated Bloodstock festival, opened the main stages at the inaugural Prognosis Festival (no relation) and Into The Grave, sharing a stage with Opeth, Death Angel and The Vintage Caravan.

More info:
Facebook ¦¦ Twitter ¦¦ Instagram

Brighton indie punks GENDER ROLES have announced a 2020 UK headline tour due to phenomenal demand, following their mostly sold-out 2019 headline run and Boston Manor support.

Returning to headline in even bigger rooms, the band couldn't be more excited to get back out on the road. Drummer / vocalist Jordan Lilford commented: "The first album tour was totally bonkers and we were blown away by the reactions and sold-out shows so we thought.... let's keep the party going! Bigger rooms, songs we've never played live before and some golden oldies too. Let's get it."

Dates:

26 March - Glasgow, Poetry Club https://bit.ly/2O5hpYv
27 March - Newcastle, Think Tank http://bit.ly/GR-TT
28 March - Sheffield, Network https://bit.ly/37oBBfm
31 March - Manchester, Yes (Basement) https://bit.ly/344FlR3
01 April - Bristol, Exchange http://hdfst.uk/E59092
02 April - Birmingham, Asylum 2 https://bit.ly/2Xy5fdv
03 April - London, The Dome https://bit.ly/2O7eVcd

Tonight the band will play a 'Live Gig' session on BBC Radio 1's Future Sounds with Annie Mac. Check out last night's show which plugs the session here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000bdzp

Taken from their debut album PRANG, check out the video for recent single 'School's Out' here: https://youtu.be/9pOrF77F3EA

'Schools Out' follows singles 'Hey With Two Whys' and 'You Look Like Death', both of which have enjoyed strong support from the likes of Annie Mac, Radio 1 Rock Show, Huw Stephens, Steve Lamacq, Radio X's John Kennedy, Kerrang! Radio's Alex Baker, Amazing Radio and more.

PRANG has not been short of praise from the press with Kerrang! calling it "an album packed with unskipable delights" and DIY stating that GENDER ROLES are "the UK's most vibrant young punk prospects".

Forming after a chance initial meeting at drummer Jordan Lilford’s Brighton Pride party in 2015, GENDER ROLES, also consisting of guitarist/vocalist Tom Bennett and bassist Jared Tomkins, found that Brighton’s DIY scene was the ideal hub to cut their teeth and allow themselves to grow as a band. The inspiration and ethos they could draw on in those early days has been integral to the act they’ve become.

While the coastal city remains the band’s home, it cannot be said to have contained them. Gigging throughout Europe and the States, packing out tents at festivals such as 2000 Trees, and sharing the stage with heroes from Jamie Lenman to Touche Amore and Pup, GENDER ROLES have built on those early foundations to amass a growing fanbase, drawn to their melodic grunge/punk and dry, candid sense of humour.

Documenting that growth have been the band’s two EPs released so far, 2017’s Planet X-Ray and 2018’s Lazer Rush. While the theme for those EPs was “overcoming the past and looking forward to the future together”, the new, debut album, PRANG, focuses on much more immediate issues, even if it did come from a particularly happy place for GENDER ROLES.

Purchase PRANG here: https://bsm.rocks/prangout

For more information:

https://www.facebook.com/genderrolesuk
https://www.instagram.com/genderrolesuk
https://twitter.com/genderrolesuk

One of Germany's leading lights in hardcore, GIVER, are back with their second LP Sculpture Of Violence, to be released 7th February on Holy Roar Records.

The band have also given their first taste of the record, streaming the eponymous single. Premiered on Kerrang!, watch the video for 'Sculpture Of Violence' here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEfPJ3f01iU

Pre-order the record: http://smarturl.it/GIVERSOV

GIVER's new record leans into fresh and melodious territory, reminiscent of early 00's hardcore birthed with the likes of Bridge Nine Records and Deathwish Inc., including Blacklisted, Have Heart and Modern Life Is War.

The German band have expanded upon their foundation of caustic and high tempo metal-tinged hardcore which won them acclaim with debut full-length Where The Cycle Breaks (January 2018). With new record, Sculpture Of Violence, GIVER demonstrate a dogged urgency and a self-assured versatility, a worthy addition to the modern international hardcore scene's bent of great melodic albums.

In the band's own words: "The central question behind Sculpture Of Violence really is whether there can ever be peace. Since men started settling during the neolithic revolution 10,000 years ago, the amount of years of recorded peace is disturbingly negligible. The record explores different ways and structures in which we form each other through the collective We that is society, which is us and not anybody else and which brings us up against one another and constantly focus on our differences... With the climate catastrophe approaching, the far right growing stronger everyday and the market economy reaching into even the furthest corners of our lives, the time to remain silent is simply over."

Cuts such as ‘Every Age Has Its Dragons (Like An Empire)’, ‘These Words Are Rain’ and ‘Imitation Dreams’ tackle topics of exploitative labour, the dissonance of religious discord and ill-conceived concepts of masculinity in the current climate to catastrophic effect. The ten songs on offer, whilst bleak, maintain a youthful vibrancy that truly aims to deliver change on a personal and much broader level.

Watch GIVER live:

March 6th - Paderborn @ Wohlsein
March 7th - Köln @ AZ

For more information:
https://www.facebook.com/giverhc/
https://giverhc.bandcamp.com/

http://www.holyroarrecords.com/

PHOXJAW have released a video for 'Whale, Whale, Whale'. The track is the latest single from their sophomore EP A Playground For Sad Adults, which was released in July via Hassle Records. The video coincides with the band's upcoming shows, which include two dates supporting Stake.

Vocalist/bassist Danny Garland comments: "'Whale’ is the lost soundtrack to the Free Willy sequel that nobody wanted, or asked for. It’s absolutely repulsive."

Check out the video for 'Whale, Whale, Whale' here: https://youtu.be/fJJl_w1-bCw

See PHOXJAW live at one of the following dates:

18.11.2019 - Birmingham, Hare & Hounds (w/ Stake) - TICKETS
19.11.2019 - London, The Social (w/ Stake) - TICKETS
20.11.2019 - Bath, Moles - TICKETS

Purchase A Playground For Sad Adults here: https://smarturl.it/ForSadAdults

Signing to Hassle Records (Brutus, Pagan, Press Club) continues the alternative quartet's rise, following the acclaim of their debut EP Goodbye Dinosaur..., tours with Black Peaks and Pagan, and appearances at 2000trees and Camden Rocks festivals.

The Bristol-based rock outfit made waves in 2018, garnering support from Kerrang!, Metal Hammer and the Radio 1 Rock Show surrounding the release of Goodbye Dinosaur... The success of the debut EP was unsurprising given the reaction to PHOXJAW's first ever release, their double A-side single Spin Club/Victorian Dolls (Pale Wizard Recordings) which sold out quickly. With their follow-up single 'Triceratops' and subsequent EP the band received praise from a wide range of UK press: Kerrang! ("unhinged and mesmerising"), Metal Hammer ("inhabiting their own, unique musical world"), Rhythm Magazine ("already causing waves") and more. PHOXJAW released their A Playground For Sad Adults EP in July to critical acclaim, with returning support from Kerrang! ("One of the most unique British records of 2019 so far”) and Metal Hammer, as well as Riot Act Podcast ("With A Playground for Sad Adults (Phoxjaw) have become one of my favourite, exciting new bands”) and more. The EP release was followed by a return to 2000trees and an appearance at Kerrang! Radio's Fresh Blood Live.

There are few bands that sound as unique, infectious, or as powerful as PHOXJAW. Although hard to pigeonhole, the band are at times reminiscent of early Biffy Clyro, At The Drive-In and Cave In. The four-piece owe much to their melodic tenacity and driving, off-kilter riffs and mixed with their ferocious energy onstage and compelling personalities, PHOXJAW are firmly establishing themselves as a force to be reckoned with.

PHOXJAW are:

Danny Garland - vocals/bass
Josh Gallop - guitar
Kieran Gallop - drums
Alexander Share - guitar/keys/vocals

For more information:
www.phoxjaw.com
https://www.facebook.com/phoxjawofficial/
https://twitter.com/phoxjaw
https://phoxjaw.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/phoxjaw/

Peruvian instrumental prog band STRINGLIGHT have released a video for their latest single 'Infinite', that shows the uncanny journey of a girl that suddenly awakes in the woods. The track follows the band's 2017 debut EP SEVEN and is the first taste of their forthcoming record, showcasing a more focused and powerful sound.

Check out the video for 'Infinite' here: https://youtu.be/qcKSdWiA3O8

STRINGLIGHT combine an energetic mix of rock, pop, metal, djent and jazz which sets out to offer their audience a distinctive way of listening to music, where the instruments take a leading role in allowing listeners to navigate into different atmospheres and emotions.

Formed in Lima, Peru in 2016, STRINGLIGHT's journey began when guitarists Marco Deustua and Carlos Bozzo came together to write, levitating towards a sound that fit within the prog-metal genre. Later joined by bassist Juan Manuel Tantalean and drummer Leizer Dunayevich, these ideas came to life and and the four-piece have come to define their unique sound.

Since their inception, STRINGLIGHT have shared stages with Jinjer, Monuments and Caligula's Horse. The band will release a new single next month to conclude 2019, with plans to release their new album and tour across Mexico in 2020.

STRINGLIGHT are:
Marco Deustua - Guitar
Carlos Bozzo - Guitar
Leizer Dunayevich - Drums
Juan Manuel Tantalean - Bass

For more information:
https://www.stringlightofficial.com/
https://www.facebook.com/StringlightOfficial/
https://www.instagram.com/stringlightofficial/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/37SAiekZ8X5gWf4fnSW8xi?si=2qBAgGTdT-G-VbjFGtQl4w