Pity The Nameless: Venom Prison Discuss The Egalitarian Brutality of 'Samsara'

“It doesn’t matter how bright we shine, the darkness always takes over,” begins guitarist Ash Gray, whose band, Venom Prison, are one of the bleakest in modern death metal. That said, after analysing the state of contemporary society on their new album ‘Samsara’, their nihilistic outlook is justified.

Written by: Matt Mills | Date: Tuesday, 12 March 2019

Morbid Fascination: How Billie Eilish Put Us Under Her Spell

Billie Eilish is everywhere at the moment. Armed with bewilderingly catchy pop hooks and a distinctly magnetic voice, the American artist is a force to be reckoned with.

Written by: Helen Payne | Date: Friday, 08 March 2019

The Light and Dark Inside: Holding Absence Talk Fusing Pop and Hardcore on Their Self-Titled Debut

It’s taken Holding Absence a little over two years to go from freshly-formed newcomers in the Cardiff underground to one of the hottest acts in all of British hardcore. The youngsters have been cultivating their fanbase at a rapid pace, drawing new faces in with their infusion of heavy music’s shotgun-blast rhythms into what are otherwise emotional, melodic pop songs.

Written by: Matt Mills | Date: Thursday, 07 March 2019

'Being In A Band is a Dumb Idea': Pkew Pkew Pkew Keep Things Honest on 'Optimal Lifestyles'

There is no other strain of self-analysis quite like the one that begins with a hangover placing its foot on your throat—that sweaty, heaving mass of bad decisions, good decisions that now feel like bad decisions, and inconvenient black spots.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Monday, 25 February 2019

There Can Never Be Too Many Guitar Solos: Du Blonde On Creative Control and 'Lung Bread For Daddy'

“The ‘60s and ‘70s are where the majority of my music taste lies,” Du Blonde, aka Beth Jeans Houghton, says when asked about the vintage tones written all over her new record, ‘Lung Bread For Daddy’. “There can never be too many guitar solos. I’m surprised by how many people don’t love a good rock opera.”

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Thursday, 21 February 2019

Evil Never Dies: Overkill Discuss 40 Years of Thrash Metal and 'The Wings of War'

“I’ve been everywhere but it’s never like home,” Overkill singer Bobby ‘Blitz’ Ellsworth wails on Welcome to the Garden State, the seventh song on the thrash metal stalwarts’ new album, ‘The Wings of War’.

Written by: Matt Mills | Date: Wednesday, 20 February 2019

The Friction of Molecules: Maxïmo Park's Paul Smith Talks 'As Long As We Keep Moving'

Time is constant, but it rarely seems to be on our side. That’s particularly the case for a lot of bands, who are under pressure to maintain standards as their careers progress and, from certain quarters, to keep doing the same thing in perpetuity. Maxïmo Park’s ‘As Long As We Keep Moving’ is an attempt to reckon with that.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Tuesday, 19 February 2019

Still Pioneers After All These Years: Millencolin Return With 'SOS'

Sometimes things just click. A band will figure out how they work at the right moment, release the right record on the right label at the right time, and find the right audience waiting. A little under two decades ago that happened to Millencolin when they sent ‘Pennybridge Pioneers’ into the world.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Wednesday, 13 February 2019

New Year, New Music: Stereoboard's Pick Of 2019's Best Gigs

td#right {display:none !important;} A brand new year has rolled around, January is finally behind us and with a new month comes a huge number of opportunities to shuffle your feet on down to a gig. Get that ugly diary your nan got you for Christmas out from the back of the cupboard, it’s time to pencil in some of the best gigs to look forward to in 2019. Think you want cheesy pop? Prefer something more alternative? For the rest of 2019 we’ve utilised the powers that be to collate the biggest artist playing the UK that month, and one act that may have slipped under the radar. So, if you’ll pardon the cliche, there really is something for everyone.

Written by: Helen Payne | Date: Wednesday, 06 February 2019

Mired in Darkness: Unpacking the Raging Metal Riffs of Conjurer

Conjurer are a great anomaly within British heavy metal. In a genre where everything is divided into subsects—from glam to deathcore—these fresh-faced aggressors are all about demolishing boundaries and simply smacking the listener in the face with guitar-driven brutality.

Written by: Matt Mills | Date: Thursday, 31 January 2019

A Couple Power Chords Go A Long Way: Mike Krol On Going Back To Basics

“With a couple power chords, I’m gonna let you know...” One line. Five decades of music history.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Wednesday, 23 January 2019

'I Feel Stronger Than Ever': The Return of Chlöe Howl

Back in 2013, Chlöe Howl seemed set to take the world by storm. Her early singles, including the killer kiss-off No Strings, arrived accompanied by industry hype and a mounting sense of next big thing momentum, but in short order she was stepping away from music to take stock.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Tuesday, 22 January 2019

Big Four Meets Big Star: Puppy On Their Genre-Mashing Debut 'The Goat'

Photo: Georgia Rawson There are plenty of music fans out there who would happily hype the battle between pop and rock for the rest of time: the dark side versus the light, Ivan Drago versus Rocky Balboa, John Travolta versus Nicolas Cage, Nicolas Cage versus John Travolta. But then we also have bands like Puppy, who are able to cast that whole argument in the comic light it often deserves.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Monday, 21 January 2019

We Got You Babe: The History Of Cher

What a world we’d live in if everyone was as amazing as Cher. With a six-decade strong career tucked firmly under her sparkly belt, she truly is one of those pop icons we love to love. The singer has continually reinvented herself - from the hippy early days of the 1960s to her most recent emergence in the Mamma Mia! sequel, Here We Go Again. She has done it all, seen it all and worn it all.

Written by: Helen Payne | Date: Thursday, 17 January 2019

'Dadcore', Mixtapes and More: Meet Mozes and the Firstborn

Photo: Nick Helderman It all started with clothes. Specifically, it all started with Melle Dielesen’s clothes.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Tuesday, 15 January 2019

Metal Moments: A Look Back Through Mastodon's 10 Best Tracks

Mastodon are good, aren't they? So damn good! With a career spanning nearly two decades and seven albums, the Atlanta Grammy Award-winning metal monsters have stood toe to toe with grief, despair, addiction and death to give the world a vast, genre-defying body of work.

Written by: Jon Stickler | Date: Monday, 14 January 2019

Now And Next: Stereoboard's Ones To Watch In 2019

td#right {display:none !important;} A new year brings with it the chance to look ahead after a few weeks of looking back over our shoulders. In musical terms, we can start to think about the artists who’ll capture our attention on summer festival stages, or during opening slots for existing favourites. We can ponder the singles that’ll leap from radio waves or playlists into the fabric of our day-to-day. Here we’ve assembled 10 artists we believe will make 2019 one to remember—some of them are about to release debut records, others are starting to pound the pavement in support of music that deserve time to shine.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Tuesday, 08 January 2019

The List: Stereoboard's Top Tickets Of 2018

td#right {display:none !important;} td#right {display:none !important;} The way we listen to music may have changed throughout the decades but one thing remains a constant: we always want to see the real thing. We want to stand shoulder to shoulder with fellow fans as our favourite artists captivate us for an evening, taking us out of ourselves for a few hours as we sway to the beat and sing along until we’re hoarse. The statistics back up that the sentiment. This year has been another massive one on the live music front, and here we take a look at which tickets were the most sought-after in 2018.  

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Friday, 21 December 2018

A Grande Evolution: From Child Star To Dangerous Woman

With the announcement of a world tour in support of her new album 'Sweetener’, there’s no better time to get to know the real Ariana Grande. If puppy dog eyes and pleasing R&B-influenced pop songs are anything to go by, she couldn’t be sweeter—see what we did there? Let us take you on a trip down memory lane to see what made the singer the woman she is today, and the path that led to the release of what could be her most successful album to date.

Written by: Helen Payne | Date: Friday, 21 December 2018

The List: Stereoboard's Best Albums Of 2018

td#right {display:none !important;}   So, there's another one ready for the history books. This year has been a weird, often depressing ride, but the tunes have been great. So we have that at least. Scroll down for the albums we believe deserve mention as the best of the year, from across the genre spectrum. Hopefully you'll find a few gems you don't know among the ones you think should be recognised. Thanks for reading, we'll see you next year.  

Written by: Stereoboard | Date: Monday, 17 December 2018

I Feel Like We Only Just Got Here: How Hop Along Fell Into Place On 'Bark Your Head Off, Dog'

td#right {display:none !important;} Illustration: Sam Davies   The train is late. The trains are always late. Table the lost minutes. I absent-mindedly scroll Twitter in a glass shelter as the December cold gets its claws in. Before skipping over a review of the latest Jungle Book remake I’m stopped mid-feed by an autoplay video. Julia Roberts dances in a subway carriage for the New York Times. She grins, the plastic chairs smile back with yellow and orange teeth. The sound is off—my headphones are still playing Hop Along’s Not Abel. The weird thing is, that song won’t yield the floor. Instead it steps in to lead.  

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Friday, 14 December 2018

The Greatest Showman: The Theatrical Rise Of Hugh Jackman

td#right {display:none !important;} Ladies and gents, this is the moment you've been waiting for! Hugh Jackman has announced a worldwide arena tour, where he’ll perform hits from The Greatest Showman, Les Misérables and other film and Broadway favourites. The Man. The Music. The Show has seen incredible demand for tickets, with more and more extra dates getting announced across the UK and Ireland. So why all the fuss? Find out by getting to know more about the man, the music and, you guessed it, the show.

Written by: Helen Payne | Date: Thursday, 13 December 2018

A Lot Of Love In The Room: How Turnstile's Big-Hearted 'Time & Space' Made Its Mark on 2018

td#right {display:none !important;} Illustration: Tom Norton Turnstile vocalist Brendan Yates—shirtless, slick with sweat and shredded beneath a surfer’s tangle of curls—is standing on top of a speaker stack at the Globe in Cardiff. “No future!” he yells as his bandmates’ guitars churn and howl. Arms reach towards him from the morass below, and then he’s gone. One front flip later he’s part of the crowd, thrashing his way to the end of Drop just like everyone else.​

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Wednesday, 12 December 2018

What Comes Next? Doe Talk Blood Pacts and Tour Plans For 2019

Photo: Andrew Northrop Over the last year we’ve been fortunate enough to speak with some awesome up and coming bands about some of our favourite albums of the year. But we wanted more. MORE!

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Wednesday, 12 December 2018

What Comes Next? The Beths On Touring, Touring, Touring and Summer Swims in 2019

Over the last year we’ve been fortunate enough to speak with some awesome up and coming bands about some of our favourite albums of the year. But we wanted more. MORE!

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Tuesday, 11 December 2018

Nice Guys Finish First: Inside Boy Azooga's Whirlwind Year

td#right {display:none !important;} Photos: Liam Taylor/Solidlight   On Quay Street, a dogleg corner away from Womanby Street, Cardiff’s live music hub, sits the Blue Honey Night Café. During the day it’s a hard hat-friendly, bacon and eggs greasy spoon called Sully’s, but come five pm it’s a fried chicken and beer hangout spot. Directly opposite there’s an alcove that smokers use to hide from the rain when the building’s awning is packed with a motley crew of punters, and it’s here in the spring of 2017 that a local musician called Davey Newington set up his guitar and a kick drum to play some songs.  

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Monday, 10 December 2018

Beyond The Hits, Beneath The Surface: How 'An American Treasure' Re-Shaped Our View Of Tom Petty

td#right {display:none !important;} Illustration: Sam Davies Whether it’s through their work, the magazine articles we devour or—these days—social media accounts that bombard us with the daily minutiae of their lives, it’s very easy to form the belief that we know everything about our favourite artists. But, while the mediums might be ever-changing, that’s nothing new. Released earlier this year to commemorate the first anniversary of Tom Petty’s death, ‘An American Treasure’ was a bountiful box set that delved deep into the rock ‘n’ roll icon’s work, revealing a journey where the musical and personal were forever intertwined.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Monday, 10 December 2018

What Comes Next? Psych-pop Heroes HMS Morris Plot A Future In Immersive Theatre

Over the last year we’ve been fortunate enough to speak with some awesome up and coming bands about some of our favourite albums of the year. But we wanted more. MORE!

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Monday, 10 December 2018

You Want To Be Able To Belong: Kevin Devine On The Thrills and Challenges Of Devinyl Splits

td#right {display:none !important;} ​ Illustration: Tom Norton “If you’re a basketball player you don’t get better by playing people you can beat easily. You get better by playing people you might lose to.”​

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Friday, 07 December 2018

What Comes Next? Lice Talk Plans To Make Their First Masterpiece In 2019

Photo: Lindsay Melbourne Over the last year we’ve been fortunate enough to speak with some awesome up and coming bands about some of our favourite albums of the year. But we wanted more. MORE!

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Friday, 07 December 2018

'It Seemed To Come From Somewhere Outside of Us': Jonathan Meiburg Talks Loma's Sublime Debut

td#right {display:none !important;} Photo: Bryan C. Parker   We’re rarely short of a collaboration to get excited about, but 2018 nevertheless stands out as a banner year. Whether they were born out of a desire for blockbuster streaming figures, an attempt to reinvent an artist’s image, or simply the itch to work with one of your closest musical mates, this year’s best and worst tie ups spanned genres, countries and cultures. At the time of writing, nine of the top 20 songs on the Billboard chart are collabs. Working together, it seems, has never been so fruitful.  

Written by: Helen Payne | Date: Thursday, 06 December 2018

What Comes Next? Goat Girl Talk Sold Out Shows, Staying Creative And Plans For 2019

Photo: Holly Whitaker Over the last year we’ve been fortunate enough to speak with some awesome up and coming bands about some of our favourite albums of the year. But we wanted more. MORE!

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Thursday, 06 December 2018

What Comes Next? Estrons Discuss Their Next Move After A Breakthrough Year

Photo: Imogen Forte Over the last year we’ve been fortunate enough to speak with some awesome up and coming bands about some of our favourite new albums. But we wanted more. MORE!

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Wednesday, 05 December 2018

Star Wars For The Ears: Def Leppard's Phil Collen On 'Hysteria' and Beyond

For the last five years Def Leppard fans, those without money to burn, may have feared the old saying ‘what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’ would prove depressingly true for them. After all, it was 2013 when the Sheffield quintet performed their 1987 masterpiece ‘Hysteria’ in its entirety during a residency at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Nevada.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Friday, 30 November 2018

Born To Do It: Skindred Frontman Benji Webbe's Top Tips For A Rocking Live Show

“You’re either born to do it or you’re not, and I guess I was born to do it,” Benji Webbe says, a few hours before hitting the stage at Cardiff’s Tramshed with his band, Skindred. “The whole stage performance thing, I fell in love with it from a very early age—I loved putting on the clothes for the Christmas play in Junior School.” When he says early he means early, then. Start as you mean to go on.

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Tuesday, 27 November 2018

Driven By Honesty: Barry Dolan Discusses Oxygen Thief's 'Confusion Species'

Photo: Chris Taylor When Bristol-based songwriter Barry Dolan released 'Destroy It Yourself', the first Oxygen Thief album, in 2011, he stood out for his entirely acoustic take on melodic hardcore if not the subjects he explored. Dolan conveyed ruminations on love, loss and hypocrisy through cryptic metaphors and sharp turns of phrase, complemented by fitful riffing without a backdrop.

Written by: Jonathan Rimmer | Date: Thursday, 22 November 2018

Nice Electricity: Inside Jawbone's Sizzling Old School Debut

Photo: Rob Blackham Sometimes an album arrives from out of nowhere and knocks you off your feet. There’s something new, yet familiar, about its melodies, its heart-warming immediacy and the effortless chemistry that oozes from the bewitching songs within. We’re basically talking the musical equivalent of love at first sight, which is exactly what fans of bluesy rock ‘n’ roll and American roots music will doubtless feel after hearing Jawbone’s quietly magnificent self-titled bow.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Wednesday, 14 November 2018

'We Wanted To Reach People on a Personal Level': Pijn Discuss The Genre-Defying Power Of 'Loss'

A striking development in the past decade or so has been the extent to which people discover music through mood as opposed to genre. Streaming services have adapted to perceived consumer demand by releasing reams of playlists tailored to every emotion or context imaginable, from deeply depressed to “songs to sing to in the car”. This has its upsides and downsides for a band like Pijn.

Written by: Jonathan Rimmer | Date: Monday, 12 November 2018

Still Evil After All These Years: Bidding Farewell With 10 Of The Best From Thrash Idols Slayer

Photo: Gene Ambo When it was announced back in January that Slayer would pack it in after one final world tour, metalheads across the globe lost the plot for a little while as anticipation swelled ahead of a historic send off. The most evil band of all time are currently packing out arenas in the UK and Ireland, providing a thrash metal experience like no other group can thanks to their ferocious reputation, a stack of crushing guitar riffs, breakneck tempo changes and Tom Araya’s grizzled vocals.

Written by: Jon Stickler | Date: Wednesday, 07 November 2018

Unheavenly Creatures: Coheed and Cambria Turn A New Page

Concept is sometimes a dirty word in rock ‘n’ roll but it’s one that’s impossible to avoid when you’re talking about New York prog heroes Coheed and Cambria, who have crafted a rich catalogue set against the science-fiction backdrop of The Amory Wars, a comic book written by frontman Claudio Sanchez.

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Monday, 05 November 2018

If You Have Ghost: The Evolution of Metal's Satanic Disco Showstoppers

Illustration: Sam Davies There is a world of difference between Ghost today and the dark, shadowy group that emerged from an occult realm with the release of ‘Opus Eponymous’ at the turn of the decade. Once a band that disgorged Sabbathian doom metal splattered with gothic horror imagery, they have evolved into a rock spectacle that’s part pantomime, part musical and part Satanic disco.

Written by: Jon Stickler | Date: Friday, 26 October 2018

Antarctigo Vespucci Rides Again: Chris Farren and Jeff Rosenstock Get The Band Back Together

Photo: Andy De Santis I know Chris Farren and Jeff Rosenstock are friends. You know Chris Farren and Jeff Rosenstock are friends. But do Chris Farren and Jeff Rosenstock know that Chris Farren and Jeff Rosenstock are friends? “Hey,” Farren says from the stage at Bristol’s Exchange. “If you’re excited for Jeff Rosenstock, let me hear you say...‘CHRIS FARREN!’” When Rosenstock’s guitar packs up mid-set, his attempts to borrow Farren’s are met with silence until a member of his band suggests Tweeting him. Yeah, that’d probably do it, Jeff nods.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Wednesday, 24 October 2018

The Importance of Growth: Soccer Mommy Talks Life Leading Up To 'Clean'

Photo: Natalia Mantini At Thekla, Bristol’s famous floating venue, Soccer Mommy’s Your Dog gets the best reaction from the crowd. Its sentiments reach further than its three minutes of poppy guitar licks as Sophie Allison tells us: “I don't wanna be your fucking dog.”

Written by: Helen Payne | Date: Monday, 22 October 2018

Standing Out From The Crowd: Introducing Adwaith And Their Debut Album 'Melyn'

Photo: The Shoot Adwaith have one of the most streamed Welsh language songs of all time, and Manic Street Preachers frontman James Dean Bradfield recently remixed one of their tracks. But there are still way too many people out there who’ve never heard of the Carmarthen trio. Why is that?

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Wednesday, 17 October 2018

One Step Back, Two Steps Forward: Mike Lindsay On Rekindling the Magic of Tunng

“Progressive folk… acid wonk pop?"

Written by: Helen Payne | Date: Wednesday, 17 October 2018

Safe Hands: Cardiff's Sŵn Festival Starts Over With An Exciting Bill

Cardiff mainstay Sŵn Festival is back, so get ready to flex your musical muscles during four riotous days of gigs across various venues in the Welsh capital.

Written by: Helen Payne | Date: Tuesday, 16 October 2018

Technical And Topical: Black Peaks' Guitarist Joe Gosney Discusses 'All That Divides'

Music critics are often guilty of presenting rock's history as linear. Progressive rock emerged out of pop music and psychedelia in the late 1960s but was ultimately killed off by punk in the late 1970s, so the narrative goes. Punk, with its raw sound and DIY ethic, was also a better vehicle for voicing social and political issues than prog, which was considered more escapist and lyrically concerned with “high culture”.

Written by: Jonathan Rimmer | Date: Friday, 12 October 2018

Boygenius: The Badass Supergroup We've All Been Waiting For

Photo: Lera Pentelute Earlier this summer, three like-minded indie-rock musicians began teasing their fans. Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus were pictured together, draped moodily on a sofa. Looking suspiciously like the sleeve image from Crosby, Stills and Nash’s self-titled bow, the word ‘Boygenius’ ran below them, as well as that all-important stamp of approval from Matador Records. Speculation bubbled. Rumours were whispered.

Written by: Helen Payne | Date: Wednesday, 10 October 2018

Shameless Outsiders: El Ten Eleven's Tim Fogarty Talks 'Banker's Hill'

El Ten Eleven have never quite garnered the adulation they deserve, despite emerging from the noughties instrumental boom that spawned Explosions in the Sky, Russian Circles and countless others. It's a shame as their ambitious arrangements and daring songwriting approach have always marked them out as an interesting proposition. While other post-rockers focus on linear guitar progressions and reverb-driven crescendos, El Ten Eleven construct their unpredictable yet atmospheric sound with copious loops, vamps and pedal-led effects.

Written by: Jonathan Rimmer | Date: Monday, 08 October 2018

Poetry Versus Precision: Estrons Talk 'You Say I'm Too Much, I Say You're Not Enough'

Photo: Imogen Forte When Estrons vocalist Tali Källström played a test pressing of the band’s debut album to a friend, their response was easy to remember. “It sounds like you’ve dipped in and had sex with every genre,” they said. Well, they’re not wrong.

Written by: Laura Johnson | Date: Friday, 05 October 2018