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London trio Pupil Slicer are a relentlessly savage proposition, and Mirrors is sure to be one of 2021’s most exciting debut albums. Pitched between mathcore and warped grindcore blur, the band grasp enough dynamics, hooks and melody to never let any of these 12 tracks feel like an exercise in aimless white noise. The angular grind that slowly morphs into a slow crush of doom on the seven-minute Mirrors Are More Fun Than Television hints at a band with a restlessly creative mind, not to mention a serious amount of talent. There’s a raft of exciting and innovative bands coming from the UK right now. Pupil Slicer are on par with all of them.

Since blagging his way onto the Hammer team a decade ago, Stephen has written countless features and reviews for the magazine, usually specialising in punk, hardcore and 90s metal, and still holds out the faint hope of one day getting his beloved U2 into the pages of the mag. He also regularly spouts his opinions on the Metal Hammer Podcast.