The Los Angeles-based rock sensation Bad Omens have released the highly anticipated music video for their biggest hit “Just Pretend”. The music video was directed by Erik Rojas, who has worked with artists such as Chase Atlantic, Jessie J, and Waterparks. The storyline for the video was written by the band’s incredible vocalist, Noah Sebastian. The track itself has a life of its own with mass success. It has peaked at #1 on Active Rock Radio and is currently in the top 10 on Alt radio, and has over 135 streams in counting.

On May 26th and 27th, I got to see many amazing bands at Sonic Temple Festival. During the festival I had many amazing opportunities, these opportunities allowed me to be really close to some bands and to take some photos for them.

The New Hampshire upcoming metalcore band, In Shallows, have released their brand new fiery single “Venom”. The track is genre defining in the modern metalcore scene. The entire song perfectly balances beauty and destruction through it’s haunting atmosphere, incredible chorus, and the emotional breakdown. “Venom” is the perfect headbaning song, but also would be a great choice for anyone getting into heavy music. The band wears their influences on their sleeves and it’s easy to find relations to Motionless In White through the vocals and Currents in the instruments.

Powerhouse sibling duo, Sparks has released their monumental 26th album, ‘The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte’. With the brothers, Ron and Russel Mael’s, career spanning almost 50 years they have more than a handful of hits under their belt the duo has also inspired multiple genres of music such as Joy Division, Sonic Youth and Depeche Mode.

On Wednesday June 7, the Los Angeles-based hard-rock quintet Lions At The Gates announced their debut album The Excuses We Cannot Make, set for release on Friday August 25, and was produced and mixed by Kile Odell (Nita Strauss, Fozzy, Motionless In White). Along with this news, to celebrate they have also released a new music video for their track "Drain" off the forthcoming full-length directed by Vicente Cordero/Industrialism Films (Black Veil Brides, Cradle of Filth).

Maryland natives, Hostile Array, have released an EP that navigates the treacherous waters that is mental health. The EP aptly named, ‘Trauma’, features 6 songs in which each member put their own struggles into a melodic post-hardcore sound.

Aluna is back and has revealed details for her highly anticipated sophomore album MYCELiUM, which is set for arrival on July 7 via Mad Decent and along with the announcement released her latest single Oh The Glamour featuring Pabllo Vittar & MNEK.

Deathcore band Whitechapel is finally headlining their first tour in 4 years. Alongside some them on this tour are the bands Archspire, Signs of the swarm and Entheos. The Tennessee band had planned to tour for their 2019 album “ The Valley “ but the pandemic crisis cut the tour idea short. Now as we are into 2023 and the pandemic isn’t as crazy as it once was. The band has decided that this tour is the perfect opportunity to finally do a headliner for the album. They are playing the entirety of the album at every stop!

What started as a hobby to make some extra income and to pass the time during the pandemic, Harry Springer has now stepped fully into the role of Moon Walker. Springer was inspired by the Beatles Love Cirque Du Soleil show in Las Vegas which his parents had taken him to see at the impressionable age of 9, from that moment he knew he wanted to make music. The influence of The Beatles is prominent in his first album ‘Truth to Power’ which was released in the fall of 2021, ‘Devil’ the first track of said album nails the 70’s bass heavy groovy vibe.

Modern pop artist, LGBTQ+ icon, and vocal powerhouse singer-songwriter, VINCINT has dropped his highly anticipated second single this year for pride month in a stunning new music video for Take Me Home featuring the multi-talented model and musician Jonah Almost. This single follows the success of previous single Romance. This latest single combines his distinct, soulful vocals with irresistible melodies and introspective lyrics, creating an emotional connection that resonates with listeners on a profound level.

Just days after celebrating the release of their new album, Disposable Everything, at various record stores in the region, AJJ performed at Webster Hall on the second night of the Disposable Everything tour.

The New York City based black metal allies TELOCH VOVIN and VISERION have joined forces on The Iron Age Of Kali Yuga, which is set for independent release on July 28th. TELOCH VOVIN’s material for The Iron Age Of Kali Yuga was produced by Grigori, engineered/recorded/mixed by Antonio (Ash) Padilla, and mastered by Mike Usifer at Aural Assault Studio.

Severed Angel is a melodic metal band made up of veterans in the northeastern metal scene. In 2018 Wayne Noon (Phoenix Reign, Project Resurrect) started the Rat Salad Review network to promote the metal scene.

Crawling out of the grips of addiction, depressions and the never ending drawl of a 9-5 New Orleans natives and cousins, Scott Arcenaux, Jr. a.k.a. $crim and Aristos Petrou a.k.a. Ruby da Cherry landed in the underground hip-hop scene in early 2014 where they would release their first EP, ‘Kill Yourself Part I: The $uicide $aga’ on Soundcloud.

The New England based metalcore/post-hardcore outfit, May We Meet Again, have released “Wallflower”. The track is the second single to be released in anticipation of their debut EP Words Unspoken, which is due to release this spring. “Wallflower” can be related to the work of many praised artists such as Bring Me The Horizon, Saving Vice and Invent Animate.

Let it be known, for on the day of May the 23rd, of the year 2023, Webster Hall in New York City was welcomed into Avatar Country.

Critically-acclaimed, multi-platinum selling band Young The Giant has shared an acoustic version of the standout song “The Walk Home” from 2022’s American Bollywood. The track is part of the upcoming acoustic EP, ‘Both Sides’, out June 2nd via AWAL/Jungle Youth Records.

Forming almost 20 years ago, Veil of Maya has pushed the limits on metalcore with a techno background. After their last release in 2017, the band released 3 singles leading up to the long awaited release of ‘[m]other’.

One could say success comes in many forms but for Dance Gavin Dance it came in the form of creating their own genre, Swancore. Pulling influence from math rock and progressive rock, Dance Gavin Dance is known for their high clean vocals with the mix of screams and technical instrumentals, their sound was dubbed ‘Swancore’ after guitarist, Will Swan. Other bands started to fit the bill within the subgenre and suddenly Swancore was becoming more and more recognizable. Creating a fest that consisted of a line up of only the subgenre seemed like the next best step, Swanfest had its inaugural date back in 2019 with a mix of alt bands and math rock. After the release of the band’s chart topper album, ‘Jackpot Juicer’ Swanfest continued with a longer list for a line-up but still keeping the fest at one day only.

New York-based alt-metal songstress Crystal Joilena continues to release powerful tracks that combine pop melodies with hard-edged levels of darkness. Her latest single is the spiritually charged and emotional track, “The High Priestess.” The song is representative of Joilena’s approach to her art which combines the power of metal with an appreciation of beauty and introspection.