There’s something tantalizing about the brand of metal-adjacent noise rock that’s experienced a renaissance in recent years. It’s ugly, it’s loud, and it doesn’t give a damn if you’re comfortable. You’ve got breakout stars Chat Pile dragging nü-metal’s bloated corpse through the mud, Couch Slut dishing out dissonant, riff-heavy nightmare fuel, and Intercourse sounding like a feral animal tearing flesh for fun. This isn’t “revival” music; it’s bands weaponizing noise, smashing metal’s brute force into punk’s emotional hemorrhaging, and then deliberately breaking whatever’s left just to see it scream. Enter the UK’s Under, stepping into this mess with zero interest in playing nice. They fuse sludge metal’s suffocating weight, noise rock’s hostility, and art rock’s weird, confrontational instincts into something genuinely unhinged. Their third record, What Happened In Roundwood, doesn’t aim to be palatable. It aims to crush, mesmerize, and leave a dent. The question isn’t what they’re doing—it’s whether Under hit hard enough to leave permanent damage.
In the first half of What Happened In Roundwood, Under establishes their own distinct style that sits nicely in conversation with their American contemporaries. The foundations of these songs are built on angular sludge riffs over looping odd time signatures and off-kilter rhythmic patterns, like if a more avant-garde Melvins crashed into a version of Swans that was capable of editing. Bassist and vocalist Matt Franklin anchors the music with simple but weighty low-end riffs, locking tightly with drummer Andy Preece’s commanding, hypnotic grooves. Guitarist Simon Mayo fills in the gaps with jagged riffs and layers of dissonant, skronk-heavy leads. Franklin lends a sneering, British rasp to the endeavor, guiding the songs with an impassioned vocal performance that successfully conveys the aural depravity on display. This formula is deepened with the addition of menacing choral vocals and harmonies (“Ma,” “The Alchemist”), swirling guitar cacophonies (“Tantrum), and even Primitive Man-tinged, slow noise bursts (“Isaac”). It’s an effective and thoroughly unsettling display with just enough variety in its execution to keep things exciting until the B-side obliterates any sense of normalcy.
What Happened In Roundwood by Under
In the second half of What Happens In Roundwood, Under undergo a dramatic sonic shift, and the results are thrilling. The final stretch of the album leans heavily into exploratory, avant-garde jazz-influenced territory, with the tracks flowing seamlessly into one another like a three-part suite. These songs stand out as the album’s clear highlights. The sequence begins with “Rings,” which unfolds in a state of subdued horror, slowly building tension through sparse instrumentation before reaching a blissful climax. This transitions smoothly into “Roots and Limbs,” a jazzy, post-hardcore-like track that increases the tempo and intensity, providing a sense of release after several slower songs. All of this builds toward the closer, “Felling.” The final track plays out like a fever dream, reprising key moments from earlier in the album and reshaping them into a chaotic haze of noise. When the music finally collapses into rich choral vocals, it feels like the calm at the center of a storm. A perfect ending to a bold and striking second half.
This places What Happens in Roundwood in a peculiar position. The second half of the record explores markedly different sonic territory than the first, and is stronger for it. Under’s more standard sound, showcased on the first five tracks, is engaging, but compared to the highs of the final three, it falls a little short. Repeated listens leave me wanting just a bit more grit or memorability in the more straightforward sludge riffcraft before it gives way to the more exploratory material. I appreciate the band’s efforts to vary their noise-rock/sludge approach through vocal layers/embellishments or a Southern tinge (“Escape Roundwood”), but I find myself largely whelmed by the opening salvo. This isn’t a major mark against the record; the album is solid throughout. Still, it keeps the work from standing quite as tall alongside some of my favorites in the style.
With What Happens In Roundwood, Under have delivered a solid sludgy noise rock record with plenty of autre appeal. I wish the impressive oddity were distributed a bit more evenly throughout the album’s runtime, but it’s still an enjoyable listen that carves out its own unique niche within the broader style. The next time the UK group revisits their brand of sinister sludge, I’ll be excited to listen.
Rating: Good!
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: APF Records
Websites: understockport.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/understockport
Releases Worldwide: January 23rd, 2026
Mrs. Frighthouse – Solitude Over Control Review
By Dear Hollow
How much noise is too much? I used to believe you could never have too much noise, with bands like Theatruum and La Torture des Ténèbres weaponizing it for respectively vicious and otherworldly approaches. Then bands like Ulveblod and the infamous Ordeal & Triumph collaboration happened – and I lost my naivety. Ultimately, as we will see with duo Mrs. Frighthouse, diving into the noise genre offers a low ceiling and an equally low floor. Some of the worst music I’ve reviewed has had the “noise” tag attached to it, while some of the most okayest music I’ve reviewed also has noise attached to it – previously mentioned acts being controversial exceptions. It’s either the worst thing you’ve heard or okay. Mrs. Frighthouse is a light, er, fright in a sea of noise – for better or worse.
Glasgow-based Mrs. Frighthouse consists of wife and wife duo Carys and Luna Frighthouse, known as Mrs. and Mrs. on stage. Featuring an unflinching lyrical attack on misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia, and a musical approach as venomous, it recalls the likes of early Lingua Ignota, Couch Slut, and Julie Christmas. What hooked me was its mastering by Khanate bassist James Plotkin – anything that reminds of the menacing crawl that the drone legends conjure was a perk. However, like any noise album that focuses on ugliness and discordance, the audience is limited, the replay value is near null, and its strengths are a novelty in many ways. Featuring manic vocals both harsh and operatic to contrast with the suffocating noise, Mrs. Frighthouse wins points for charisma, but Solitude Over Control is still very much a noise album.
To my relief, Mrs. Frighthouse utilizes opaqueness and density to its benefit, avoiding the painful awkwardness of Läjä Äijälä & Albert Witchfinder’s trainwreck of a collaboration. Plotkin’s services are put to good use, as the backbone of sound is suffocating and all-encompassing in a way that recalls drone’s colossal density, an expanse of ominous tones upon which Mrs. and Mrs. traverse with their vocal journeys. Throw in some haunting ritualistic drumming patterns and minor organ trills, Mrs. Frighthouse crafts horrific soundscapes using an expert blend of clarity, melody, and discordance to match their surprisingly dynamic foray into noise. This is no Oscillotron – Mrs. Frighthouse knows how to write songs. While at first glance the sea of noise is a constant hum, those willing to delve beneath the surface will find smart songwriting aplenty.
The contrast between clarity and density is a clear priority in Solitude Over Control – which ends up being its most controversial element. From the aggressive industrial pulse paired with thick waves of noise easy to get lost in (“DIY Exorcism,” “White Plaster Rooms”) to more subtle crawling pieces with screeching soprano trills that feel strangely confrontational (“Seagulls” part 1 and 2, “Let My Spit Be Poison”), while creeping melodic motifs are warped and bastardized by the static (“Our Culture Without Autonomy,” “My Body is a Crime Scene”), Mrs. Frighthouse is a tour-de-force of metallic aggression without a riff in sight. Solitude Over Control wears its themes on its sleeves in sometimes awkward forthrightness, as both Mrs.’s spew vitriol over the misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia witnessed and experienced, matching the aggression and viciousness of the music. The closing title track is worthy of mention, because its slow-burning crescendo is a maddening and horrifying end to a maddening and horrifying album – a nerve-frying culmination of Mrs. Frighthouse’s best and worst.
Almost everything about Solitude Over Control feels intentional, but holy shit, is it unflinching and uncomfortable. Mrs. Frighthouse’s two vocals are insanely charismatic in their blend of shrieks, growls, operatic belts, whispers, and shouts, propelling the movement of the noise as it emerges and disappears in the sea of noise. Plotkin’s mastering adds a suffocating and claustrophobic quality that adds to the menace and aggression. Some tracks you’ll find yourself getting lost in the swaths of noise and industrial harshness, others you’ll find yourself blushing in the awkward stark clarity of the vocals. Mrs. Frighthouse offers a better noise album than most and is closer to the ceiling, but due to the divisiveness of the style and the starkness of some of the minimalist pieces, the reception will be mixed. Noise fans rejoice, all others steer clear.
Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: PCM
Label: Self-Release
Websites: mrsfrighthouse.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/mrsfrighthouse
Releases Worldwide: September 26th, 2025
#25 #2025 #CouchSlut #Drone #Industrial #JulieChristmas #Khanate #LaTortureDesTénèbres #LäjäÄijäläAlbertWitchfinder #LinguaIgnota #MrsFrighthouse #Noise #Oscillotron #Review #Reviews #ScottishMetal #SelfRelease #Sep25 #SolitudeOverControl #Theatruum #Ulveblod
Author & Punisher – Nocturnal Birding Review
By Dear Hollow
Contrary to the plethora of one-man metal projects out there, Author & Punisher’s mastermind Tristan Shone, has always stayed on this side of innovative, consistently riding the line between apocalyptic/dystopian atmospheres and the heaviest electronics since Godflesh. Much like Igorrr’s Gautiere Serre, Shone’s genius has been just as much in song construction as instrument construction, having put his experience as a mechanical engineer to the configuration of his “drone machines” and “dub machines.” This skill has allowed Shone a flexibility in his compositions, with albums like Ursus Americanus and Beastland boasting formidable anthemic brutality, while the more subdued Melk en Honig and Krüller rely on sprawling atmospheres that feel as fiery as they are dense. Nocturnal Birding takes a unique concept and spins it for a trip down Riff Lane.
A leaner and more concise album than even Beastland, Nocturnal Birding is another step from the transhumanism of Author & Punisher’s pedigree into more organic territory – although undoubtedly owing its success to its history. It steps outside Shone’s comfort zone, the composition of Nocturnal Birding revolving around the literal birdsongs of the tracks’ respective namesakes – in a metaphorical homage to the migrants crossing from Mexico to the US and the dangers they face. The album sees Krüller contributor and A Life Once Lost alum Doug Sabolick inducted as full-time guitarist, offering riffs and humanity alike throughout the album’s thirty-four-minute runtime. Revolving around a unique concept that never overstays its welcome, Nocturnal Birding is a romp through everything that makes Author & Punisher unique – and more.
Shone’s dynamics have always been a force to be reckoned with, elevating his already crushing drone/doom/industrial attack to colossal proportions, and Nocturnal Birding is no exception. The introduction of the birdsong adds an intriguing texture to this dynamic, quirky melodics morphing into devastating waves of noise. Author & Punisher offers some of its most accessible content since Ursus Americanus, mammoth dub techno beats guiding the movement between these two extremes. Lulling listeners into a false sense of surreal melody only to blast out the speakers with intense sound, punishing tracks will get your head moving in slow motion weight (“Titanis,” “Black Storm Petrel”), more thoughtful compositions bathe you in off-kilter rhythms and reverb-laden pulses (“Titmouse,” “Titmice”), and crawling brooding flocks offer eerie environs of darkness with Shone’s Reznor- and Peter Steele-influenced cleans (“Meadowlark,” “Mute Swans,” “Thrush”).
It would be tempting to say that if you’ve heard an Author & Punisher album before, you’ve probably heard what Nocturnal Birding has to offer – but 2025 finds the act sounding the most human they’ve ever been. While he exists as mainly supplemental, an added layer to the textured weight of the electronics, Doug Sabolick’s guitar shines as a razor-sharp counterweight to the sludgy downtuned electronic pulses (“Titmouse,” “Rook”) as well as a riffy force to be reckoned with (“Meadowlark,” “Thrush”). Furthermore, the live drums and simmering samples of Indonesian noise artist Kuntari in “Titanis” inject energy, the spoken word of Couch Slut’s Megan Oztrosits takes the creepy mood to haunting lows in “Mute Swans,” and the appearance of French industrial/sludge/death metal band Fange makes “Black Storm Petrel” one of the densest and most brutal tracks. Ultimately, while the synthetic and mechanical hallmarks are very much intact, the inclusion of live instruments adds a genuine feel to the proceedings – a trend that has likewise benefited Igorrr’s latest as the emphasis on solo machine-mongering has faltered.
In his review for Krüller, the illustrious Kronos observed that Author & Punisher albums seem to alternate between anthemic and ambitious. Aside from the foundational birdsong incorporation, Nocturnal Birding finds Shone and company firmly embracing the former – but with a uniquely human touch. This album will mercilessly crush you in the same way Beastland and Ursus Americanus did, as well as the likes of influences Godflesh, Neurosis, and Nine Inch Nails have done for years, and in a way that proposes new avenues for Shone and Sabolick moving forward. Nocturnal Birding is a fist raised to the sky, a poetic eye cast to the wings above, and one hell of a statement.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: N/A | Format Reviewed: STREAM
Label: Relapse Records
Websites: authorandpunisher.bandcamp.com | authorandpunisher.com | facebook.com/authorandpunisher
Releases Worldwide: October 3rd, 2025
#2025 #40 #ALifeOnceLost #AmericanMetal #AuthorPunisher #CouchSlut #DoomMetal #Drone #ElectronicMetal #Fange #Godflesh #Igorrr #IndustrialMetal #Kuntari #Neurosis #NineInchNails #NocturnalBirding #Noise #Oct25 #RelapseRecords #Review #Reviews #TypeONegative
Photos/Review: Pelican brought ‘Flickering Resonance’ to NYC’s The Meadows on 7/20/2025:
#Pelican #CouchSlut #Porcelain #TheMeadows #LivePhotos #LiveReview
By Dolphin Whisperer
Are the ’90s played out yet? If you ask the metal world,1 or rather, the metal-leaning world of -cored and rocky sounds, we’re just getting started in the retro movement of three-decades past explorations. From the dreamy prog-leaning radioscapes of Lizzard to The Jesus Lizard-drenched grinding lurch of Full of Hell to the nostalgic Deftones-alt-castings of Bleed, the ’90s finds itself emblazoned in cut-n-scanned posters across guitar-led machinations in our current age. In a guise more Hole-y and riot grrrl, Michigan’s Tonguecutter wears close that AmRep, early Melvins, Unsane-y aesthetic with their quick-n-dirty debut Minnow. But is Minnow enough in the pond of competition growing deeper by the day?
With short-form, snakey Quicksand grooves and a ‘tude set to Courtney Love covering Facelift,2 Tonguecutter certainly thinks their debut splash serves more than just an upstart homage. Though not quite the polyrhythmic doom-lurch of Confessor or the demented grunge-sludge of Acid Bath, Minnow stirs in waters informed by the same ideas of stuttering low-end grooves and sassy, alt-coded diatribes. With punky odes to bodily autonomy (“Big Ol’ Tree”) and tongue-out anthems to perseverance (“Do You Play Leads, “Bitch Ass Energy”), it’s clear that Tonguecutter prizes the clarity of a sneering message over a technically indulgent plot. And though a little time signature trickery adds a jaunty bounce to many a number, Minnow never feels caught in the weeds of calculus-minded sleights of riff.
However, Tonguecutter holds tight the importance of narrative without searching for diversity in play, ringing stale in a tale as old as punk. For most of the intros, at least, Tonguecutter finds a strong enough footing to churn a wanting pit, with fervent d-beat runs (“Dust Collector,” “Big Ol’ Tree”) and bellowing floor tom struts (“Do You Play Leads,” “Antipode”) following a hefty bass pulse to curled and cawing choruses. But in many scenarios, these repetition-anchored refrains die on the vine of a bridge that does little to flip the riff in an interesting way. Neither embracing the brutality of a hardcore breakdown nor wankery of a metallic shredfest,3 just about every track comes to a tepid—if fun in spirit—cross of the finish that leaves Minnow feeling brief in an unfulfilling manner.
In part, and with some success, Tonguecutter does look to create a rich tonal tapestry to accentuate their low-frills attack. In sludgey and noisy waters, like those you might hear in a driving Thou or swinging Couch Slut piece, leaning on amp booming or mic frying tone hammers sits integral to the music’s intensity. Minnow may not stir quite in that stream, humming about more of a Petrol Girls lean fighting aura, but a rattling bass (“Urgency,” “Do You Play Leads) and a bluesy guitar crush (“Bitch Ass Energy,” “Yarn Horse”) take center stage alongside Chantal Roeske’s defiant tirades at the album’s finest bursts. Again, though, an adherence to the simple groove of each number keeps any one track from escaping the “now playing” screen into my wanting memory. Well, except for the guest flute solo on “RATAP,” anyway—you can take the boy out of prog but not the prog out of the boy.4
When I encounter acts like Tonguecutter, acts who promise brutal brevity and math-timed malediction, I hope to be tossed around with frightening and enlightening precision. The world can be a deeply frustrating place, and I want to get close to feeling the passion stowed away in vocalist Roeske’s pen—this gal’s got heart and riffs. Yet, Minnow, for as exacting as its efforts ring, skirts around these mission statements with a timid toeing about their extreme nature. And while it’s true that Tonguecutter hasn’t set out to become a new darling of dissobros lurking about the niche realms of inaccessible metal strongholds, whatever comes after Minnow will have to swim a little bigger with abrasiveness or catchiness to find where it does belong in the modern scene.
Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Learning Curve Records
Websites: tonguecutter.com | tonguecutter.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: May 8th, 2025
#25 #2025 #AliceInChains #AlternativeRock #AmericanMetal #CouchSlut #Hardcore #Hole #LearningCurveRecords #May25 #Melvins #Minnow #NoiseRock #PetrolGirls #Punk #Quicksand #Review #Reviews #SludgeMetal #Tonguecutter #Unsane
For @Kitty's #MittwochMetalMix:
1. #Horndal: Head Hammer Man
https://album.link/hxqjp4z02kvgg
#DeathMetal #DoomMetal #Sludge
FFO #CouchSlut #Hath #Worm
Hopefully these three will help you to overcome your hangover.
Album Review: Couch Slut- ‘My Life As A Woman – 10th Anniversary Remaster’
#CouchSlut #MyLifeAsAWoman #TenthAnniversary #AlbumReview #RemasteredAlbum #DecemberReleases
Ali Ihsan Özçelik
Angry Metal Guy
Metal Insider
Your Future Ex
_J|K¯ 🤎🤍❤️🔥🏳️🌈