The end of the year might be rushing in, but brilliant new music is still flowing through aplenty. As we do every month, we've looked far and wide to find you some of the most exciting new bands around.
This month, there's deathcore brutality from Face Yourself, NWOBHM-revivalism from the UK's Seven Sisters, imperious black metal from masked entities Abduction and video-game inspired genre-blurring from alt metallers Luna Kills. You can read about each of those bands below, and we've even got a handy playlist filled with the latest releases from each of these bands. Have a great month - here's hoping you find a killer new favourite!
Face Yourself
Metal fans with fond memories of tank tops featuring unreadable logos, movie-quote samples before breakdowns and gates-of-Hell opening gutturals will feel the rush of deathcore nostalgia when Face Yourself’s Primal hits. The opening track of the New York mob’s new EP, Martyr – produced by Joey Sturgis (Asking Alexandria, Emmure, The Devil Wears Prada) – hits with unwavering ferocity and ruthless aggression.
“What a dream it was to work with Joey!” gushes bassist Kyle Muenzner. “There’s a lot of horror elements and sounds throughout the EP, which have been a neat addition we’ve explored with him. He’s really brought it to the forefront.”
Signed to Sumerian Records and with another EP, Fury, out in September, their sound hints at wider extreme metal influences while bearing an unmistakable deathcore tint; the band have shared bills with the likes of Carnifex and Cattle Decapitation. Wrapping introspective lyrics in ‘blegh!’-infused barbed wire, songs such as Saboteur see vocalist Yasmin Liverneaux Belkhodja rage against mental health battles.
“When you experience a lot of pain, you tend to push it away,” she explains. “This music is a way to heal wounds I’ve tried to forget for so long.”
Earning comparisons to Lorna Shore vocalist and all-round deathcore star Will Ramos, the French/Tunisian vocal powerhouse is steadfast in her desire to prove she is her own entity, and encourages other women looking to break into the scene to do the same.
“They make you believe when you’re a girl doing deathcore that you have to adapt to the ‘tough guy shit’,” Yasmin says. “It’s like, ‘Try not to be too feminine.’ Or ‘Don’t wear certain stuff.’ But I am trying to be more authentic. Lyrically, this is my story.” Graham Ray
Fury is out now via Sumerian.
Sounds Like: A MySpace deathcore band thawed out from a colossal ice block
For Fans Of: To The Grave, Enterprise Earth, Ingested Listen To: Sideration
Seven Sisters
Seated outside a Portsmouth boozer – whose top floor will soon be immolated by Seven Sisters’ epic, cosmic trad metal madness – the London-based whizzkids seem relaxed. Beneath that unruffled surface, however, nerves are kicking in. Tonight, for the first time, they will perform their fourth album, sci-fi opus Shadow Of A Fallen Star Pt. 2, in its entirety, including 20-minute centrepiece Andromeda Descending.
Having developed in increasingly progressive directions since the NWOBHM revivalist purism of their 2016 debut, is the impulse now to keep pushing the prog pedal harder?
“The best thing Iron Maiden ever did, for me, was Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son,” notes guitarist Graeme Farmer. “Then they went totally back to basics on No Prayer For The Dying, with mixed results. So it’s a big decision!”
“But how do you get proggier than 20-minute songs?” ponders bassist Gaz Martin.
“Oh, there’s ways,” laughs frontman and chief songwriter Kyle McNeill.
All agree that the four-year gap since releasing Pt. 1 helped them: “We did over a hundred shows since 2021 – while all working jobs,” says Graeme. “But you can hear why it took so long. There’s a lot of ideas in there.”
Kyle concurs: “It is quite dense. We’re confident that it’s putting our best foot forward. But my aspirations for what I want to achieve musically change; maybe there are new approaches we want to take, certain ideas we want to try. There’s no point limiting yourself.”
Only one certainty is nailed down: “We’ll always be a twin-lead heavy metal band!” Chris Chantler
Shadow Of A Fallen Star Pt. 2 is out now via Dissonance Productions
Sounds Like: 80s twin-guitar heavy metal surging up the Andromeda spiral
For Fans Of: Iron Maiden, Queensrÿche, King Diamond
Listen To: Solar Winds
Abduction
When Phil Illsley formed Abduction in 2016, he celebrated his project’s birth by hiding tapes and artwork around the woodland festival site of The Blackwood Gathering in Cumbria. Now, almost a decade on, Abduction have released five albums and evolved into a full band project.
But Phil’s philosophy is still one of analogue craftsmanship – even giving out jewellery made from 200-year-old bones at gigs, having been gifted them by visual artist and friend Sarah Fortais after she dredged them from the Thames.
“She’s pretty wild!” Phil enthuses. “She’s made spacesuits for animals, sponsored by NASA – she’s well up there in the league of weird art.”
Sarah also helped to create the mask that Phil wears onstage in his persona as ‘A|V’, using “castings of a fox’s pelvis, teeth around the eyes made mostly of jawbone castings”. It gave the band extra kvlt points, and for years, they operated anonymously… until online sleuths eventually revealed Phil’s identity.
“I’ve no idea how they did it,” he ponders. “But the mask is still incredibly important – I go through a transformation. It’s my voice, but I’m not the same person up there.”
Rather than being bitter about the curtain being pulled back, Abduction’s newest album, Existentialismus, embraces some of Phil’s personal fears and worries. “It’s basically an existential crisis!” he jokes. “My fears as a father come up. Family, safety and where you live aren’t obvious black metal topics, but the fear ties it all together.”
Those familial ties came up again when the band made a video for Razors Of Occam, Phil recruiting his gran to star in the video, shot at the farm where she grew up.
“She lived a simple life, but old people have a resilience we don’t have any fucking clue about in 2025, and I wanted to pay tribute to that,” he says. “She died a couple of months ago, but it’s a great tribute to her. Molly Illsley is immortalised on YouTube!” Madison Collier
Existentialismus is out now via Spinefarm. Abduction support Spectral Wound at the Underworld in London on November 10.
Sounds Like: A transcendental atmosphere that could soundtrack humanity’s final moments
For Fans Of: Behemoth, Dimmu Borgir, Satyricon Listen To: Razors Of Occam
Luna Kills
“Talking about mental health still carries a certain type of stigma, but it’s really important that people know they’re not alone,” declares Lotta Ruutiainen, Luna Kills’ straight-talking vocalist. “Music is therapy; it’s important for me to convey emotions with my vocals.”
Her dedication to her craft, at the head of an alternative metal band combining monstrous riffs with sugary hooks and visceral and epic video game textures, was reflected in the studio. While tracking their debut album, Deathmatch, getting the right delivery for a song about suffering a mental breakdown caused her to have one.
“I had a really hard time with Leech because it’s so personal,” she says. “I wanted to get the perfect vocal take for it. I suffered, but it paid off.”
Lana Del Rey’s “soft, velvety vocals” and the “raw, emotional edge” of Amy Winehouse were Lotta’s jam before her guitarist cousin Samuli Paasineva pulled her to the dark side. Vitally, she’s brought those heart-wrenching vocalisations with her.
“Rawness speaks to me,” she explains. “I want all of my failures to come through. I want you to feel the bass-drops in your gut. Our production has edges everywhere – you can get paper cuts from listening to it!”
Much of that edge comes from their love of gaming. The alien thump of [Doom composer] Mick Gordon’s “boss battle energy” lacquers their riffs, and eerie Fallout vibes haunt their undercurrent, while Polyphia-fashioned guitar breaks illuminate their din. Fittingly, the song Deep Cuts featured on the mobile game Beatstar, introducing Luna Kills to a legion of new fans. But they don’t want the fun to end there.
“We’re huge Counter-Strike fans, so it’s our dream to play a live event,” Lotta smiles. “They should look at what League Of Legends did with Linkin Park, and we can be their pick!” Phil Weller
Deathmatch is out now via SharpTone. Luna Kills play Wacken next year.
Sounds Like: Ferocious modern metalcore with a soft side that will stab you in the back
For Fans Of: Spiritbox, Vukovi, Polyphia
Listen To: Sugar Rush
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