#NewMusicFriday: June 6th 2025

The first #NewMusicFriday of the month is packed with a handful of notable releases. For starters, Turnstile deliver one of the year’s most anticipated albums, ‘Never Enough’. You can read my thoughts on this alongside releases from Volbeat and The Prestige below.

Alongside Turnstile, The Prestige‘s ‘Amer’ is an album I think is worth spending time with. The French quartet unleash a ferocious and chaotic barrage of sound, blending punishing heaviness with fleeting moments of brooding introspection.

Furthermore, the likes of Katatonia, Mother Mother, Battlesnake, Stateside, Soccer Mommy, Lowswimmer, and Gösta Berlings Saga all drop new releases today. While My Chemical Romance gives their classic ‘Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge’ record the deluxe edition treatment.

If you didn’t notice, I missed last week’s #NewMusicFriday round-up (congrats Neal and Kirsti). So here are some recommendations:

Indifferent Engine – Speculative Fiction

Hailing from Cambridge, post-hardcore quintet Indifferent Engine delivers a dynamic debut with ‘Speculative Fiction’. The album captures the band’s chaotic live energy while weaving soaring, emotionally charged melodies. Wrapped in a sci-fi aesthetic, the record bursts with textured urgency, most vividly through Adam Paul’s visceral screams. At times reminiscent of early 2000s post-hardcore greats like At The Drive-In, and with melodic flourishes that nod toward Deftones’ more atmospheric moments, ‘Speculative Fiction’ thrives in tension.

Tracks like ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ strike with unrelenting force, contrasted by the ambient mystique of ‘Bitcrush.’ ‘Modern’ bulldozes forward with intent, while ‘Crescents’ closes with a pensive rumble that echoes long after it ends. Balancing volatility with vulnerability, Indifferent Engine craft a debut that’s as confrontational as it is cathartic, setting a high bar for what comes next.

Listen here

Kusanagi – Paramnesia

‘Paramnesia’, the third album from Liverpudlian instrumentalists Kusanagi blur the lines between reality and dreams. Thriving in soaring post-rock riffs and intricate math-rock rhythms, the quartet crafts expansive compositions that ebb and flow with cinematic scope. Over 50 minutes, tracks such as ‘Polymorph’ and ‘Equilibria’ unravel into richly textured soundscapes, subtly shaped by electronics and angular guitar work.

‘Spatial Awareness’ encapsulates the album’s ethereal concept, shifting effortlessly between ambience and intensity. ‘Physics of Colour’ bursts forth with a progressive groove before softening into a lush, melodic warmth. And with ‘Dream Projector,’ Kusanagi bring everything full circle in a satisfyingly cohesive finale.

Drenched in sci-fi atmosphere, ‘Paramnesia’ is a transportive, finely layered record that proves Kusanagi’s ability to turn abstraction into something deeply affecting.

Listen here

Turnstile – Never Enough

If Charli XCX is to be believed, then the summer is set to belong to Turnstile. It’s easy to see why. Across three albums, the Baltimore-based band have expanded beyond their hardcore roots to become a critically acclaimed act. Over that same 10-year period, they’ve developed their sound to embrace melody, groove, and texture. Ultimately taking hardcore in places it’s rarely seen, their fourth album, ‘Never Enough’, arrives with a wealth of expectation.

On first listen, it feels like an organic continuation of 2021’s ‘GLOW ON’, but slightly shinier. For example, ‘I Care’ takes the yacht rock sound of ‘New Heart Design’ and pairs it with breezy pop sensibilities. However, on repeated playthroughs, you pick up on the nuances that make ‘Never Enough’ stand apart from its predecessor.

Read the full review here

Volbeat – God Of Angels Trust

Having solidified themselves as an arena act, Volbeat‘s ninth album, ‘God Of Angels Trust,’ sees the Danish band firmly in their groove. Their familiar mix of metal and rockabilly is in full flow with frontman Michael Poulsen opting not to “overthink” its 10 songs. It’s a daring path to take, one that could seem lazy or confident.

From its outset, Poulsen, Jon Larsen (drums), and Kaspar Boye Larsen (bass) tick off the boxes you’d expect from Volbeat. ‘Devils Are Awake’ explodes with punk ferocity and razor-sharp intensity. ‘Acid Rain’ and ‘Time Will Heal’ are arena-ready, hard rock radio-made cuts that thoroughly soar. Likewise, ‘Demonic Depression’ rumbles with a stringent lead guitar from touring member Flemming C. Lund, serving as one of the album’s heaviest moments. Meanwhile, the ridiculously titled ‘In The Barn Of The Goat Giving Birth To Satan’s Spawn In A Dying World Of Doom’ epitomises their brand of rockabilly metal. There is also still the occasional Metallica worshipping on show as ‘By A Monster’s Hand’ chugging guitars demonstrate. Fuelled by a fiery solo, it’s still Volbeat at their most effective.

The downside of Volbeat writing and recording an album in just five weeks is that there are very few new ideas. Songs such as ‘Better Be Fueled Than Tamed’ and ‘At The End Of The Sirens’ are meaty yet come off as routine. Sharply executed closing track, ‘Enlightening The Disorder’, isn’t quite on par. However, much like ‘God Of Angels Trust’ overall, it serves its purpose. ‘Lonely Fields’ is a considerable outlier. Its dreamy lyrics and haunting mid-section give it an aura of being monumental.

Despite shrinking down to a trio (albeit with Lund contributing as a semi-full-time member), Volbeat deliver a record filled with anthemic choruses, tight riffs, and thunderous percussion. ‘God Of Angels Trust’ certainly won’t turn any sceptics, yet is sure to be welcomed by longtime fans.

The Prestige – Amer

‘Amer’ is the first of two albums The Prestige plans to release in 2025, with the second arriving in November. On this outing, the Parisian experimental hardcore band deliver an intense and often gritty sound. Tracks like ‘Bête Noire’ and ‘Enfants Terribles’ are domineering, chaotic, and compelling. ‘Voir Dire’ showcases Thibaut Cavalier’s powerhouse drumming, while Julien Bouladoux’s bass adds to the punishing weight. Later, ‘Marquee’ sees guitarists Fabien Gagniere and Alex Diaz push their towering distortion to the forefront, colliding with Cavalier’s thunderous rhythms.

These frantic surges are occasionally countered by darker, brooding moments. ‘Léger de Main’ builds slowly, painting a bleak picture as feedback creeps behind Diaz’s anguished vocals. Although these reflective passages are few, tracks like ‘Petite Mort’ offer a welcome breather from the surrounding chaos. The album’s centrepiece, ‘Négligée’, opens with a stark, contemplative passage before erupting into a five-minute metallic onslaught.

At times, the emotional depth hinted at in the lyrics gets lost in the mix. Yet the band’s execution remains consistently gripping. The flashes of range scattered throughout suggest The Prestige is more than capable of pushing their sound further. Whether the next release builds on that potential is yet to be seen, but for now, ‘Amer’ captures the band at their most ferocious.

What is out on #NewMusicFriday?

Turnstile – Never Enough
Volbeat – God Of Angels Trust
My Chemical Romance – Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge (Deluxe Edition)
Ice Nine Kills – I Heard The Kill Live 2
Katatonia – Nightmares as Extensions of the Waking State
Mother Mother – Nostalgia
The Prestige – Amer
Battlesnake – Dawn Of The Exultants And The Hunt For The Shepherd
Stateside – Where You Found Me
Lowswimmer – Godspeed, Fantasy
Paleface Swiss – Cursed: The Complete Edition
Soccer Mommy – Evergreen (stripped) EP
Gösta Berlings Saga – Forever Now
Perennial – A” Is For Abstract: The Complete Art History
Wylderness – Safe Mode
The Inspector Cluzo – Less Is More
Growing Horns – The Essence of Suffering
Scarlet View – Sunrise
Vile Bees – Joy Coughs
Rothco – Fools Gold
Zir Pachet – U De Fas
Phase Transition – In Search of Being
Orthodox – A Door Left Open
A Swift Farewell – Hollow Threats
Kaonashi – I Want To Go Home.
Bear Mace – Slaves Of The Wolf
Dog Race – Return the Day
Mordbear – Like the Dead
Welsh Wolf – A Voyeur’s Dream
Cavern Deep – Part III – The Bodiless
Destined For Doom – Vicious Cycles
Watch Out Stampede – In This Moment That We Have On Earth

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.