#NewMusicFriday: July 25th 2025

As the world continues to mourn the passing of the cultural legend that was Ozzy Osbourne (and to a lesser extent, Hulk Hogan), a new round of #NewMusicFriday releases has arrived.

I’ve also written extensively about ‘The Lash,’ the new album from The Dirty Nil. They are as reliable as ever, albeit stripping back the colour and flair in favour of introspective songwriting. Another release I want to recommend comes from Belgian quartet Hemelbestormer. ‘The Radiant Veil’ is a sonic exploration of post-rock, doomgaze, and black metal that sees them fit right at home on Pelagic Records. Meanwhile, longtime Already Heard favourite, Brightr, delivers his latest collection of acoustic emo-pop songs. ‘Year Two’ sees Laurie Cottingham as vulnerable and frank as ever, combining his open songwriting with heartfelt hooks.

This week also consists of several solo outings. Iron Maiden‘s Bruce Dickinson revisits his 1994 solo album, ‘Balls To Picasso’. Now called ‘More Balls To Picasso,’ it sees the album remastered with new guitars, orchestral arrangements, and two new studio recordings. Michael Clifford from Aussie pop-rockers 5 Seconds of Summer delivers his solo debut, ‘Sidequest.’ Former Anberlin frontman Stephen Christian revives his Anchor & Braille project with ‘New Mexico’. Meanwhile, Narrow Head vocalist Jacob Duarte steps away from shoegaze rockers with his solo project, Nihilistic Easyrider. The misleadingly named ‘Deluxe Edition’ sees Duarte delve into a decade-long book of songs, exploring power-pop, 90s alt-rock, pop-punk, and Y2K emo.

There are also releases from GWAR. The Band CAMINO, Boneflower, Naethan Apollo, Lowdown, Tokyo Rose, and more.

The Dirty Nil – The Lash

For close to a decade, The Dirty Nil have carved out a consistent run of riff-filled records. Thriving in punk rock n’ roll, they’ve more than often settled for being bombastic, yet never sacrificing their raw foundations. Now operating as a streamlined duo, founding members Luke Bentham and Kyle Fisher, the Canadian band strip things back with their fifth album, ‘The Lash’.

At first, there isn’t much to differentiate it from The Dirty Nil‘s other work, but that’s no complaint. ‘Gallop of the Hounds’ opens proceedings with big guitars from Bentham and Fisher’s bold drums. If anything, tracks such as ‘Fall In Time’ and ‘Rock and Roll Band’ reaffirm the duo’s knack for crafting lean, raw anthems. The former is delivered with a familiar swagger, yet sharper guitars. Meanwhile, ‘Rock and Roll Band’ blares with a heavy rock stomp, and an adolescent warning to the pitfalls of the music industry.

Read the full review here.

Hemelbestormer – The Radiant Veil

According to their label’s website, Hemelbestormer is a Dutch translation for “Sky Stormer” or “Attacker of Heaven”. Having been engulfed by their fourth album, ‘The Radiant Veil,’ it’s a fitting description of what the Belgian four-piece produce. Made up of veterans from Belgium’s hardcore, doom and black metal scene, Hemelbestormer came together in 2012. Since then, they’ve established a dense and experimental brand of instrumental post-doom metal.

Much like their peers in the instrumental post-whatever space, Hemelbestormer aims to deliver a compelling narrative. On ‘The Radiant Veil,’ each track is named after a planet in ancient Etruscan. It starts at the sun (‘Usil’) and orbits outwards toward Saturn (‘Satre’). In between, the quartet take you on a celestial exploration of textured sounds, continuously finding balance between the light and the dark.

For example, ‘Turms’ rumbles at first before delivering gorgeous, winding guitars. After building with a post-rock-esque wall of guitars and Frederik Cosemans’ dense drum work,  it disperses, allowing Caspian’s Philip Jamieson to lend his vocals. With guitarists Filip Dupont and Jo Driesmans teaming up to chug away, Jamieson’s distant vocals merely add to the atmospheric tone. ‘Tiur’ cavernously wonders with bubbling synth and ringing guitars before erupting like a meteor shower falling out of the sky. Cosemans’s technique thrives, leading the charge alongside bassist Koen Swerts as ‘Tiur’reaches its halfway point. Furthermore, Dupont’s spacy synth swirls against Driesmans’ riveting solo.

The atmospheric depth, and to an extent, worldbuilding achieved on ‘The Radiant Veil’ is exhilarating. Blending in sci-fi flourishes with pensive post-rock (‘Tinia’), prog rock indications (‘Usil’), and brooding doom (‘Cel’) provides Hemelbestormer with a varied palette of sounds. However, it’s confidently utilised to bring together the dark void of space with the blinding light of heaven. Although the comparisons to the likes of Year of No Light and Caspian are obvious, and despite its lengthy runtime, ‘The Radiant Veil’ is well worth getting lost in.

What is out on #NewMusicFriday?

The Dirty Nil – The Lash
GWAR – The Return Of Gor Gor
Bruce Dickinson – More Balls To Picasso
The Band CAMINO – NeverAlways
Brightr – Year Two
Hemelbestormer – The Radiant Veil
Paramore – All We Know Is Falling (Deluxe Edition)
Say Anything – Say Anything… Is A Real Boy (Live Version)
Chiodos – All’s Well That Ends Well (20th Anniversary Edition)
Michael Clifford – Sidequest
Anchor & Braille – New Mexico
Nihilistic Easyrider – Deluxe Edition
Naethan Apollo – Tales From Cazilor: Wyldflowers
Boneflower – Reveries
Tokyo Rose – New American Saint (20th Anniversary)
Lowdown – Alpha Omega
Assertion – Basking In The Gaslight
Morning Eagle – Cloud Noise
Pretty Bitter – Pleaser
False Gods – Lost in Darkness and Distance
Psycho-Frame – Salvation Laughs In The Face Of A Grieving Mother
Cold Slither – Cold Slither
Mass Deception – Resurrections
Baby in the 90s – Stuck
Cordyceps – Hell Inside
The Haunt – New Addiction
Roulette – GO!
Tallboy – House Of Glass
The Violent Hour – The Violent Hour
Grave Secrets – I Wish I Was Sorry
Bonniesongs – Strangest Feeling
Clifford – Golden Caravan
Closure – The Sweet Suffering
Cryptodira – Genesis Of Error
Golomb – The Beat Goes On
Simbulis – Everything Is In Its Rightful Place, You Are Meant To Be Here.
Resider – Shade

If you think I’ve missed something or have a new album/EP/song to tell us about, tell us about it here.

If you’re looking for the latest tracks focusing on rock, punk, hardcore, metal, emo, and everything in between, then check out our ‘Newish Music’ playlist on Spotify or Apple Music.