We’ll Be There: Breaking Bands Festival 2026

It’s been a number of years since we’ve attended Breaking Bands Festival and the last few years I’ve seen the line-up and went “Oooh!” But it’s always been too late to arrange due to the paid job. But this year, the stars have aligned and I’ve managed to make it happen. Really, it would be rude not to since I’m only a 35-minute drive away.

It also means that it takes the place of Call of the Wild as the start of festival season for me (don’t worry, I’ll be at Lincolnshire Showground the following week!) so it’s a double-bill of up-and-coming/DIY/underground/whatever-you-want-to-call-them bands. First thing’s first, though, Breaking Bands has moved site this year to Thornborough Events in King’s Norton and between their website and official app, there’s plenty of help with getting their via your own car, train, bus, walking etc. Basically, the only way they haven’t supplied travel information is if you’re coming in by helicopter – they’re that thorough.

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You can arrive on-site from 12pm on Thursday so you’ve got plenty of time to get yourself settled before the opening night activities and one of the best features they’ve carried over from their previous site is that you can camp right next to your car. So it means you don’t have to trek for miles laden with all your gear like you have to at the big festivals like Bloodstock and Download. Obviously, no-one’s seen the site so we can’t speak on what it’s actually like or the arena layout but going by the map, everything’s laid out well and the arena in a horseshoe shape with the stages at the end.

Speaking of the stages, there’s two to choose from, one at each end, and whilst a band is playing on one, the other will be subject to changeover for the next band to ply their wares so there’s no clashes. And there’s going to be plenty of great bands doing so over the course of three days. With the likes of Gin Annie, Red By Night and Greyfox Conspiracy on Friday, Skarlett Riot and Hell’s Addiction on Saturday whilst Sunday brings my (unsurprisingly) personal highlight: The Virginmarys and Anchor Lane together once more. Full stage times are available on the festival’s app so you can plan food and drink breaks or when to suss out when you want to grab an ideal spot for your favourite band.

As for the afore-mentioned Thursday evening activities before the full kick-off on Friday, Breaking Bands are doing it a bit differently – there’s still going to be some live music but there’s also going to be a DJ to start the evening, a quiz which has all the popular game shows merged into one, presentations on the festival and what comes next as they evolve into Ascendancy, a Q&A with the final live act of the night before more DJ fun and a silent disco to cap off the night. Throughout the weekend, you’ll have foo outlets serving you breakfast, burgers and spuds whilst each day will have a guest trader with pizzas, pork rolls and noodles on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Meanwhile, there’s two bars for alcohol, one being cash only if you still live in the 20th Century and the other will be cash and card. Price-wise at a fiver a pint and four quid a can, it’s much cheaper than most other festivals and indeed, most pubs these days. Or if you fancy wines, spirits, mixers or cocktails, they’ll have you covered, too.

I’ve never heard a bad thing said about this festival, in fact, quite the opposite and it’s unsurprising they have a legion of return visitors year on year and they’ve the “sold out” mark so if you’re hoping for a last-minute ticket or just rocking up on the day, unfortunately, you’re out of luck.

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I’ve not gone into every little aspect of the festival here but the festival’s website has an in-depth FAQ which covers everything you need to know and most of it boils down to that number one rule in life: don’t be a dick. So with only a few days to go, it’s time to get everything in order, sign off from the day job and experience a new festival.

Breaking Bands Festival: official | facebook | instagram | youtube

Road to Hella Rock 2026: Silveroller

We’ve been lucky enough to be asked back to sponsor Hella Rock Festival in Coventry for its third year! Once again, we’re getting to know the bands on the bill in the run up to the big day. We’ve got Silveroller tackling our “Road To” questions after doing so last year for Call of the Wild so let’s see what’s changed since then!

Simple things first – where are you guys from?

We’re from all over the place, which brings a great mix of people but makes getting together a little tricky sometimes! It has it’s pros and cons, but the people in the band are incredibly hard working and very dedicated. Jonnie here, I’m from Liverpool as is our bass player, Joe is from Stockton originally but is now in Darlington, Sammy our guitar player is from Chesterfield and Tadini our virtuoso organist is from Sao Palo with Italian heritage.

How long have you been playing together as a band?

Silveroller has been together since 2023, me and Joe have worked on other projects together; I think he must be tired of looking up from behind the kit and seeing me wiggling about in front or him! We’ve known each other a while, for me he’s a constant; he’s an unbelievable drummer and a great all-round musician. We’ve been working on new material for our next record and he’s contributed a lot of song ideas. Sammy is our new boy, he’s been amazing. Again, contributing alot to the writing process.

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Where does the name of the band come from?

We wanted something unique – Aerosmith, Supertramp etc. We set ourselves quite a big task! We’d also thrown a lot of ideas at one another. Joe had mentioned “a motion word” which was in the back of my head. I’d heard Paul Rodgers talking about naming Bad Company and it being inspired by a cowboy movie, so I was looking through a list of Westerns, and “Silver” kept popping up in the titles. Silveroller seemed to fall out of that. Sounds kind of timeless I think. It could be a 50s Cadillac etc.

Describe your music. What makes you unique?

I’m never really sure how to answer this. Maybe the way we approach music? We don’t really use click tracks in the studio or any tapes onstage. That’s no shade towards anyone who does, that’s just who we are. It’s the five of us playing. We record live together. I think we’re a very “feel” band. We’d always go for feel over absolute perfection. Life is imperfect, so are we!

What’s your live show like? Why are people going to watch you rather than hanging at the bar or grabbing some merch?

It’s honest energy. Pretty raw. When I saw Rival Sons last year I remember thinking “This is how I want us to come across”. Those guys are totally real, there’s no bs – I believe every word Jay is singing. Total honesty onstage, feeling the music. There’s that word feel again. It might look like 1976 but it’s absolutely real energy for the here and now.

Have you been to Hella Rock? What have you heard about it?

I know it always has great line ups, and you’re certainly seen as a band to watch if you’re on the bill, so I’m buzzing to be playing!

What sort of setlist can we expect?

Very excited to say that we’re bringing some new material with us, we’ve been working hard on getting songs together for a new album, so we’ll be putting some of the new material through its paces! We’ll ofc ourse be playing stuff off our EP as well, so anyone familiar with us will hear the songs they know! But we’re very excited to be playing brand new material too.

Which other band on the bill are you most looking forward to catching?

I knew Craig from Tailgunner when we were starting out in bands in Liverpool. So I’m really excited to see him and the band. Looking forward to catching up with the Crobot boys too, we were on the road with them last year, great guys and a great band!

What are you working on at the moment?

Our debut full length album! The writing has been a blast. It’s been hard work but it was been amazing. We did the bulk of the writing in a nine-day lock-in; it was really intense, and we’ve not worked like that before but it has rendered good results, I think!

What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?

After our last festival in France, in the after party some dude kept shouting “IGGY POP” at me and trying to grab my shirt and take it off me. I thought we were going to have a fight; the security had to pull him away! Then another fella who was about 8 ft tall kept trying to put me on his shoulders, and as this is happening, I see Sammy being crowd surfed out of the door. This sounds sensational, but there’s video evidence!

What drink do you throw back to get yourself fired up before going on stage?

Herbal tea. It might look like the 70s in our dressing room, but I take care of myself. I think the days of getting plastered before going on are done. Everyone has a camera on them now, nobody’s getting away with a sloppy show anymore and neither should they. People have paid hard earned cash to see bands play live, I want to give them a show they deserve.

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Hella Rock Festival 2026 will take place at HMV Empire in Coventry on 5th September. Tickets are available here.

Rise of Kronos unleash first-ever live single and video for “Know Thyself”

German death metal powerhouses Rise of Kronos have officially released their first-ever live single and accompanying live video for the track “Know Thyself.” The release delivers an uncompromising snapshot of the band at full force, capturing their raw, atmospheric, and aggressive live energy across all major streaming platforms and YouTube.

The performance was captured live on 18th April 2026 during the band’s massive album release show at the legendary Markthalle in Hamburg—an iconic venue that has previously played host to heavy metal royalty like Iron Maiden, Metallica, and AC/DC. The show served as a historic milestone celebration for the release of their highly acclaimed fifth studio album, Slaves Of Time, which has been earning widespread praise from fans and underground media alike for its crushing blend of modern intensity and old-school death metal weight.

Known for their self-proclaimed “Olympic Death Metal” approach, the Hamburg outfit uses this new live version of “Know Thyself” to demonstrate how seamlessly their darker, heavier studio material translates into a devastating stage presence. While the band is currently preparing to take their live show across a string of major German festivals and headline dates through 2026 and 2027, fans worldwide can grab the new live single and its parent studio record right now via the official Rise of Kronos Bandcamp store.

We previously covered the build-up to this momentous release show when we announced the initial details of their studio album Slaves Of Time earlier this spring.

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Eternal Drak return with cosmic darkness on upcoming album ‘The Violence of Time’

Quebec City-based extreme metal outfit Eternal Drak have announced the release of their sixth full-length studio album, The Violence of Time, arriving on 17th July 2026 via Canadian label FirstWave. The album represents a philosophical assault from the long-running band, reframing time itself as a hostile, eroding force that distorts human memory and identity.

To spearhead the announcement, the duo has unleashed the album’s opening strike and lead single, “We Force It To Speak.” Rooted in raw black metal yet enriched with acoustic textures and dense atmospheric layering, the track tackles the human obsession with observation and how the act of defining reality alters it beyond recognition. Long-time underground mainstays Andres Martinez Torres (Drakar) and Michel Amyot blend decades of analog and digital experimentation into what they call their most cohesive and intense expression to date, drawing influence from classic forces like Dimmu Borgir, Kreator, and Watain.

Originally founded in Latin America in the late 1990s, the band underwent a prolific multi-album revival upon reuniting in Canada in 2020. The Violence of Time represents a culmination of this continuous evolution, offering ten tracks of uncompromising, extreme introspection. The new single is available to stream now across all major platforms, and physical pre-orders are officially open via Bandcamp.

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The Violence of Time track listing:

We Force It To Speak
The Unborn Paths Rot
Me Hice Simultaneo
The Blasphemy of Time
Chaos Is the Law
Where Cause Is Buried
Across the Watching Veils
Breathing Once Again
The Cosmos Rejects You
No Direction Total War

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Header image by Patrick Auger

Road to Hella Rock 2026: Wälker

We’ve been lucky enough to be asked back to sponsor Hella Rock Festival in Coventry for its third year! Once again, we’re getting to know the bands on the bill in the run up to the big day. Brummie lot Wälker are tackling the questions this time around as the (sort of) locals on the bill!

Simple things first – where are you guys from?

Collectively we’re based in Birmingham city centre; raised on loud riffs, late nights, and questionable life choices. The local scenes shaped us, but we’ve always had our eyes on something bigger and louder.

How long have you been playing together as a band?

This line-up’s been locked in for about two years, and we’ve only been playing live for about eight months, but it honestly feels like we’ve been causing chaos together forever. Once the chemistry clicked, there was no turning back.

Where does the name of the band come from?

The name is literally our guitarist’s surname, with an umlaut added on the A to give it a slight twist. It just hit the right nerve — dark, loud, memorable, and ballsy… pretty much sums us up.

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Describe your music. What makes you unique?

Imagine Skid Row getting into a bar fight with Firehouse while Cinderella blasts through the speakers with Pantera sat in the corner watching the whole thing just itching to get involved! Heavy riffs, massive hooks, and enough energy to shake the walls loose. We don’t just want people to hear the music — we want them to feel like they survived something afterwards.

What’s your live show like? Why are people going to watch you rather than hanging at the bar or grabbing some merch?

Because standing still isn’t really an option when we hit the stage. Our shows are loud, sweaty, unpredictable, and completely all-in. We treat every gig like it could be the last one we ever play — no backing tracks, no fake hype, just pure volume and chaos. You can grab merch later. You might miss the moment if you don’t get down the front.

Have you been to Hella Rock? What have you heard about it?

This will be our first time and we haven’t played it before, so we’re buzzing to finally get thrown into the madness. Everyone we know says the crowd goes hard, the atmosphere’s unreal, and it’s one of those festivals where people genuinely come for the music.

What sort of setlist can we expect?

No filler. Just the heaviest riffs, the biggest singalongs, and a couple of surprises to keep people on their toes. We’re bringing the songs that hit hardest live.

Which other band on the bill are you most looking forward to catching?

Honestly, the whole line-up looks absolutely stacked, but we’re especially hyped to catch Phil Campbell’s Bastard Sons to see them do the late Phil Campbell proud! RIP, brother!

What are you working on at the moment?

We’re deep into writing and recording new material for the EP right now. Everything’s getting heavier, sharper, and more aggressive. We’re pushing ourselves harder than ever and can’t wait to unleash it.

What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?

We’ve seen mass crowdsurfing, performers joining in mosh pits, mic stands get launched into orbit, broken bones with a smile still on their face! We’ve seen it all! As for us… if nobody’s nearly falling off the stage by the last song, we probably weren’t doing our job properly.

What drink do you throw back to get yourself fired up before going on stage?

Depends on the night — usually something strong, cold, and probably a terrible idea in hindsight. That pre-show shot hits different when the backdrop is up and ready!

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Hella Rock Festival 2026 will take place at HMV Empire in Coventry on 5th September. Tickets are available here.

Header image by Richard Lardner

Wälker: facebook | instagram | youtube

UK Mental Health Awareness Week 2026

This year’s Mental Health Awareness Week ends tomorrow (17th), but let’s be honest – mental health awareness is a year-long issue, so there’s never a best or worst time to bring it up. But what’s it got to do with us?

Well, this year’s theme is “Take Action”. That could be for you to help yourself, or to help someone else. And those “actions” can be the smallest thing. You’re on a music website (or Facebook page, depending on where you’re reading this), so how can music help?

The smallest thing can give you a little boost. Music has helped in in many ways over the years, not least of which is helping me meet a wonderful bunch of supportive friends – via this site, meeting them at gigs and so on. But sometimes it’s simpler than that. Just popping in some headphones and letting the music wash over and through me can stave off the worse of times.

Bowling For Soup make me want to sing. Machine Head make me want to rage. Hatebreed is perfect when I want to hit things (punchbag in the back garden… usually). Royal Republic make me want to dance like nobody is watching. Papa Roach make me want to scream lyrics I can relate to out (very) loud.

As I’ve got older and paid more attention to those lyrics they reinforce the fact that, very often, someone else knows just how you feel. To the point where they’ve written a song about it.

If you’re up for a bit more action, then try and get yourself out somewhere (or invite someone who needs a bit of a lift to come with you). Of course we’ll recommend gigs as they can have a fantastic atmosphere but there are plenty of other things you can do. For example, there’s the regular Heavy Metal Therapy peer support groups in local cafés. It can be a big step to get up and out (believe me, I know), but it’s a very important step… and once you’ve taken it the next one is easier. And the next.

Or pick up the phone and talk / text. It could be your GP, or Samaritans, or a friend. It doesn’t matter. But take action.