Posts By Sam Brookes

Sonisphere Festival 2012 has officially been cancelled meaning that Download’s only real rock festival rival has disappeared in an implosion of badly handled PR, lack of any hype and terrible timetable for line up announcements. Is it really as much of a tragedy as many of Sonisphere’s fans are claiming? Possibly. Is it completely and utterly their own fault? Definitely.  Read More

Technical Metalcore fans rejoice! Up and coming Brighton quintet Architects have gone back to their tech roots. You can stop complaining now. As I mentioned in a past opinion post about the selling out of bands, when Architects released their last album The Here and Now in 2011 the metal community exploded.
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Fake History is Californian post-hardcore quintet Letlive’s third album and I can say before this review officially starts this is one of my all-time favourite albums from one of my all-time favourite bands. Their genuine, heartfelt brand of punk will strike a chord with even the most brutal loving fan.

Letlive exploded on to the music scene last year but what many people didn’t realise at the time is that the band has been around since 2002 and has already released two fairly unremarkable albums. Fake History was released after lead singer Jason Aalon Butler (son of legendary jazz musician Aalon Butler) fired the rest of the band and then hired the current line-up. Read More

Do you like angry hardcore? Do you like the effect of a band blowing up in your face like a nuclear bomb? Do you like to feel intimidated by your MP3 player? Well look no further! You’ve just found your new favourite band. Read More

Underground hardcore’s rising stars Last Witness’ electric new album Mourning After is like having four shades knocked out of you – and I mean that in a good way. Read More

The kings of pop punk return. Is it the same as it was 8 years ago? Short answer. No. Blink 182 have grown up for better or worse.

Blink 182 went on “indefinite hiatus” back in 2004 after guitarist/co-vocalist Tom Delogne wanted to take a break to spend time with family. A public spat opened within the band with Delogne on one side and bassist/co-vocalist Mark Hoppus and drummer Travis Barker on the other. Delogne went on to form hugely successful indie rock band Angels & Airwaves whilst Hoppus and Barker went on to form Blink 182 copycat and all round flop +44. Read More

Make way for the weirdest rap video you will ever see. Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (OFWGKTA) is back with a collaboration between three of its members. Hodgy Beats, Domo Genesis and Tyler, the creator each play a weird and wonderful character in this video and it’s worth a watch even if you dislike the group or the music they write. Warning to those who don’t hate them this tune is a banger.

Hodgy Beats plays a robot who’s genitals have the strange power to turn people into cats. He sings his way through the song about sex (in a rap song? Never!) and his annoyance at record labels and the lack of money he makes from his career. Hodgy’s section of the song feels a lot more personal and has real human problems in it which makes him feel more mature. Read More

Something I’m getting increasingly bored with is the amount of hate a band gets when they release a second/third album with a different sound to what fans are used to.

Your Demise are back with their usual swagger in the second video from their upcoming album “The Golden Age” and what an age it will be. For all those who don’t know who Your Demise are, they are the current leaders in the UK hardcore scene. For those who do know who they are, this isn’t Your Demise like you know them, this isn’t the usual hectic party hardcore you may know and love this is skate punk at its finest. Read More

Recently I attended two gigs in the space of three days at the Birmingham O2 Academy that left me pondering on the state of live music. If you haven’t been