#NewMusicFriday: May 9th 2025

For many, this week’s #NewMusicFriday will be about one release – the new album from Sleep Token. Having become one of the world’s most talked-about bands following 2023’s ‘Take Me Back to Eden,’ their fourth album, ‘Even in Arcadia’,) arrives with a weight of expectation. Early signs indicate the enigmatic group live up to it, simultaneously crossing genres and expressing anxiety at their newfound stardom.

If you’re someone who isn’t fussed about Sleep Token, then there’s plenty of musical goodness to sink your teeth into. For starters, there is new music from The Wonder Years , who roll out a third volume of their ‘Burst & Decay’ series. Meanwhile,  noisy Welsh post-hardcore mob mclusky drop their first album in 21 years, ‘the world is still here and so are we’. You can read about both of these releases below, along with the new EP from promising duo, Raue.

Here are some of this week’s other #NewMusicFriday highlights:

• Extreme metal giants Behemoth deliver their 13th album, ‘The Shit Ov God’. It sees the Polish group slim down their brand of black metal to eight tracks, yet maintains the occasional grandiose you come to expect.
• The Amazons swap indie rock for swaggering rock with ’21st Century Fiction’
• Nu-metal revivalists Tetrarch continue to carve out a path of their own on ‘The Ugly Side Of Me,’ yet do it with mixed results.
• Finland’s Svarta Havet provide an enticing brand of gloomy post-hardcore on ‘Månen Ska Lysa Din Väg’ (The moon will light your way), threading in elements of post-metal and black metal into their atmospheric and abrasive sound.
• Underground UK punk group, Kicked In The Teeth, stay brutally Northern as ‘Watling Street Chambers’ combines pounding rhythms with a melodic aptness.
• Rock/post-hardcore trio Black Map return with ‘Hex’. Their fourth album sees the San Francisco band explore personal struggle, authenticity, and resilience.

There are also releases from Our Last Night, Counting Crows, Haken, Demeted, O’Phantom, and more.

Support Already Heard

The Wonder Years – Burst & Decay Vol. III

By now, you’re probably aware of what to expect from The Wonder Years‘ ‘Burst & Decay’ series, but that doesn’t mean they’re forgettable acoustic reimaginings. This third volume is a rich and earnest collection that highlights Dan Campbell’s songwriting and the community TWY is part of.

‘Junebug’ is the only original new song, and to an extent, it shows. Its hushed acoustics transition to tight electric riffs and earthly drums. Nevertheless, the warmth of Campbell’s writing persists, as he sings about his youngest son. The remainder of this nine-track outing sees TWY, and often The Little Kruta String Ensemble, reworking fan favourites. ‘The Greatest Generation’s ‘Teenage Parents’ fit the expected ‘Burst & Decay’ mould to a tee; drifting percussion, swooning violins, and laid-back acoustics.

Read the full review here.

mclusky – the world is still here and so are we

Having influenced the likes of Idles and Metz, the expectation of a comeback for mclusky is long overdue. Although they’ve been sporadically playing shows for the past 11 years, it’s been 21 years since they delivered a full-length album. Yet, for the post-hardcore group, it’s business as usual.

Still fronted by Andy “Falco” Falkous, he’s joined by the band’s initial run’s final drummer, Jack Egglestone, with Damien Sayell (known as The St Pierre Snake Invasion‘s vocalist) being the only “new” addition. As a trio, they maintain the brazen noise-punk that Falco, etc. delivered the first time around. The quirky song titles, off-kilter riffs, and unhinged lyrics are still in place.

‘unpopular parts of a pig’ opens the album with big guitars before a spoken-sung vocal abruptly (but briefly) halts momentum. Only for Egglestone’s roomy drums to kick in and lead a jagged, noise-punk onslaught. ‘cops and coppers’ snaps with an angular reggae rhythm as Falco snarls and sneers with jangly guitars threatening to steer off the tracks.

For the most part, ‘the world is still here and so are we’ rides on a wave of frantic energy. Tracks such as ‘kafka-esque novelist franz kafka’ rumble with fantastical lines like “tell me I’m Banksy without being Banksy, without me getting caught”. Anxious guitars run through ‘way of the exploding dickhead’ only for ‘the battle of los angelsea’ to rigidly add to the tension. ‘people person’  tumbles with aloof lyricism, providing an cockeyed anthem for the anti-social. Likewise, ‘the competent horse thief’ grooves with a catchy quality more than it should. Later on, ‘the digger you deep’ blends a grungy edge with a competent melody and blues guitars, demonstrating mclusky subtle variation.

Take ‘checkov’s guns’ as an example. Stiffly mixing post-punk with experimental Britpop, its brooding surge is implemented convincingly. Meanwhile, ‘hate the polis’ rounds the album off with Falco’s laid-back crooning being complemented by wiry denseness.

mclusky were never a band made for the masses, and 21 years on, their mindset hasn’t changed at all. In the intervening years, partly due to other projects like Future of the Left, Falco, and Egglestone have grown as songwriters. It’s allowed them to maintain their groundedness in unorthodox themes, yet paired it with a wider scope of musical twists and tones. While Sayell effortlessly slots in, occasionally taking over vocals unjarringly.

Raue – too scared to explain

San Diego-based duo Raue may look young, but their music is mature beyond their years. Their latest EP, ‘too scared to explain’ is a four-track snapshot of Paige Kalenian’s (guitar/vocals) and Jax Huckle’s (drums) raw capabilities. Tracks such as ‘Are You Bored Yet?’ and ‘Escape’ allow Kalenian to bear her soul, and pair it with stirring instrumentation. The former utilises reverb guitars and steady drums to allow Kalenian’s words to breathe. The latter, and EP closer, punches with spirited introspection, allowing both Paige and Jax’s musicianship to shine, throwing in a subtle earwork melody for good measure.

In the middle is ‘Crave’ and Poor Kid’. ‘Crave’ is bolted down by hushed vocals and anticipated grunge-rock bursts, demanding you grab hold of Kalenian’s whispered words. ‘Poor Kid’ showcases Raue‘s ability to provide bursting melodies, yet retain 90s/2000s alt-rock grit that is threaded throughout this short outing.

Although it merely consists of four songs, for a rising act, ‘too scared to explain’ serves its purpose by showcasing Raue‘s tonal versatility, demonstrating a raw vulnerability to their songwriting.

What is out on #NewMusicFriday?

Sleep Token – Even in Arcadia
The Wonder Years – Burst & Decay Vol. III
mclusky – the world is still here and so are we
Behemoth – The Shit Ov God
Pierce The Veil – The Jaws of Life (Deluxe Edition)
The Amazons – 21st Century Fiction
Our Last Night – Left Alone
Tetrarch – The Ugly Side Of Me
Raue – too scared to explain
Svarta Havet – Månen Ska Lysa Din Väg
Kicked In The Teeth – Watling Street Chambers
Black Map – Hex
Counting Crows – Butter Miracle, The Complete Sweets
Catbite – Doom Garden
Demeted – Rituals
Ghost Bath – Rose Thorn Necklace
O’Phantom – O’Phantom
Spacey Jane – If That Makes Sense
Tlooth – Tlooth
Growing Horns – The Essence of Suffering
Haken – Liveforms: An Evening With Haken
Kaleo – Mixed Emotions
Monument Of A Memory – Cynical Savior
My Dementia – Premonição: Só Me Arrependo Do Que Não Vivi
Little Low – Sunshine Guilt
You Win Again Gravity – Don’t Leave Me Here, Pt. 1
Street Power – Me Time
The Chain – Blind The World
The Bunny The Bear – The Moments That Cost
Ghost Chant – Hell May Await Me
Alien Boy – You Wanna Fade?

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.