The V13 Fix #008 w/ Blanket, Pallbearer, The Dirty Nil and more

Welcome to the latest The V13 Fix our weekly round-up of some of the best albums, singles and EPs to drop in our laps/inboxes this week. From pop to black metal to experimental pop to punk rock, there is something for everyone in this mix of new music. Check out and support all the bands and labels if you like what you hear and if there is a particular album you like, make sure you head over to Spotify and check out one of our specially curated playlists where there is more great new music added daily.

Alternatively, if you’re in a band or want one of your bands considered for inclusion get in touch. While we can’t guarantee every album or EP we receive will be included, there are still plenty of other ways we can support you.

So, without further ado, sit back, plug in your headphones and get this week’s V13 Fix of new music…

Blanket
‘Ceremonia’
Church Road Records

The first time I experienced Blackpool shoegaze lads Blanket, they were supporting Zeal & Ardour on their UK tour. The fact that their set included a Radiohead cover without anyone batting an eyelid shows how easily their expansive sound can slot in anywhere from black metal to shoegaze. Ceremonia sees the band continuing on that journey with a sound that lurches from hypnotic and calming to jarring and brutal. Continuing to experiment with moods, emotions and tones on the new record, Blanket shows yet again that they’re a band not bound by musical pigeonholes and it’s this freedom and willingness to take their mesmerizing sound anywhere that makes Ceremonia such an incredible journey.

Pick up your copy of Ceremonia online here.

Mastiff
‘Deprecipice’
MNRK Heavy

When your band is born in a place like Kingston-Upon-Hull, then it should be fully expected that your sound is that of absolute misery and metallic sludge five-piece Mastiff certainly lives up to that. Their latest offering, Deprecipice, is the sound of what happens when five frustrated, angry mates weened on a diet of Napalm Death, Crowbar, Converge and cheap lager get let loose in a rehearsal room. Disgustingly heavy, Deprecipice is brutal and bleak with the likes of “Skin Stripper” and “Pitiful” crashing from brutal shards of grind to dirty, face-mauling slabs of sludge. Painfully uncompromising, Depricipice is the sound of life pushing you beyond breaking point.

Pick up your copy of Deprecipicie online here.

Ashen Reach
‘The Fear’ [EP]
Self-Release

Following up their critically acclaimed 2020 album Homecoming, Liverpudlian hard rockers Ashen Reach shift things up a gear with their new EP. Having cut their teeth at UK rock fests like Steelhouse as well as a plethora of live dates supporting the likes of GUN and Stone Broken, the Scouse crew are firing on all cylinders. It might only be four tracks long but The Fear certainly packs it in. Full of hulking great riffs, fist-pumping beats and huge anthemic hooks, far from re-writing their sound, Ashen Reach have made a few minor tweaks and buffed it up for what deserves to be a rewarding 2024 for this quality Liverpudlian rock outfit.

Pick up your copy of The Fear EP online here.

Venus Grrrls
‘Bloodsick’ [Single]
Self-Release

2024 has been a busy year so far for the riot-grrrl-inspired Venus Grrrls. With shows selling out all over the place and the band just having performed their biggest hometown headline show in Leeds recently, Venus Grrrls take time out to drop their gritty new single “Bloodsick”. A physically and emotionally punishing track, “Bloodsick” drops as the band announces news of further tour dates where they hope to be joined by volunteers from the Anthony Nolan Stem Cell charity. On a personal level, the journey to this point hasn’t been an easy one for the band, this hard-hitting new single and their rocketing reputation is a sign of the good times they deserve.

Pick up your copy of Bloodsick online here.

Hamferð
‘Men Guðs hond er sterk’
Metal Blade

Faroese death-doom sextet Hamferð are a band whose creators cite the likes of AC/DC, Slipknot and Black Sabbath amongst their influences. While their sombre fourth album Men Guðs hond er sterk sees the band tap into the approach of some of those influences, stylistically, the sextet take their sound down a more mournful route. Inspired by the 1915 whaling disaster off the Faroe Island village of Sandvik (home of Hamferð keyboardist Esmar Joensen), the music is a suitably dark and bleak tale weighed down by crushingly heavy death/doom riffs. Wrapping up the album with recorded words from one of the disaster’s remaining survivors, Men Guðs hond er sterk is an epic interpretation of a harrowing tale.

Pick up your copy of Men Guðs hond er sterk online here.

Avralize
‘Freaks’
Arising Empire

German metalcore newcomers Avralize are one of those bands who are perfect for those mates who say that “this is too heavy”. Their debut album Freaks has just the right amount of bite but comes with a great dollop of slick, melodic hooks. An album of two halves, their use of synths comes straight from the soundtrack of any number of Sci-Fi classics which, while giving the album an almost futuristic feel, wouldn’t look out of place on a Stranger Things soundtrack. On the flipside, their brand of modern metalcore is polished and anthemic but still hard enough to set off a good-sized pit. Combined it makes for a pulsating listen that even your mates who don’t like “heavy shit” won’t be able to resist nodding their heads to.

Pick up your copy of Freaks online here.

Perpetua
‘Resurgence’
Seek And Strike

While it may not produce a constant river of metal bands, one thing you can guarantee from the Scottish metal scene is that when they do, those bands go hard! Perpetua are no exception to the rule with their first release for new home Seek And Strike straddling the line between melodic and technical metal. Switching between jackhammer heavy modern death metal and more classic-tinged metal, the Scottish band demonstrates the progressive, epic prowess of a band like Sylosis and the crunching, neck-loosening mosh of fellow countrymen Bleed From Within. A bubbling cauldron of modern and classic heaviness, Resurgence is a massive statement of intent from one of the brightest of the new wave of Scottish metal bands.

Pick up your copy of Perpetua online here.

The Dirty Nil
‘Am I The Menace?’ [The Single]
Dine Alone Records

Lifted from the upcoming deluxe release of their album Free Rein To Passions, and ahead of a raft of UK tour dates, “Am I The Menace?”, demonstrates exactly why we’re huge fans of Ontario three-piece The Dirty Nil. Gloriously brash and energetic yet ridiculously catchy as well, this rock ‘n’ roll earworm epitomizes the back-to-basics approach the band has taken to their music. It’s an infectious melody, a foot-stomping beat and a carefree attitude to the music from the band. The result is this delightful three-minute rock ‘n’ roll romp which, in case you’d forgotten, reminds you why you’d fallen in love with the band in the first place.

Pick up your copy of Free Rein to Passions online here.

The K’s
‘I Wonder If The World Knows’
LAB Records

Over the last eighteen months, if you’re an indie fan, the name of Wigan band The K’s will be one you’ve crossed paths with. The rising newcomers have been popping up all over the place and we last shared a room with them when they supported The Reytons on their UK tour. At those shows, the band excitedly let the world know their debut was coming and three months later, it finally dropped. Luckily enough for the band’s growing army of fans, I Wonder If The World Knows, perfectly captures the quality this band has. Infectious slices of gritty indie rock packed with that slightly cheeky Northern personality and plenty of energy, indie bangers like “Throw It All Away” and the sublime “Lights Go Down” will win over many more fans this Summer. If the world doesn’t already know them, this banging debut will soon rectify that.

Pick up your copy of I Wonder If The World Knows online here.

GHØSTKID
‘Hollywood Suicide’
Century Media Records

Having survived Covid, Sebastian “Sushi” Biesler frontman for German nu-metalcore troublemakers GHØSTKID found he’d lost the connection to his music. A decampment to the debauched world of Los Angeles soon fixed that the result of which can be heard on the new album Hollywood Suicide. Having had his eyes opened by the bright lights and sleaze-soaked wreckage of Hollywood, Biesler returned with a new view on life the rediscovery of which forms the basis for this album. The story itself of an artist finding himself plays out to a brutal soundtrack of nu-metalcore, trap and industrial rock. Think Nine Inch Nails meets Bring Me The Horizon then goes out and gets fucked up to a soundtrack of Fever333 and you’re somewhere in space of where this addictively trashy album lives.

Pick up your copy of Hollywood Suicide online here.

Wage War
‘Magnetic’ [Single]
Fearless Records

Ahead of their US tour with Nothing More, Veil of Maya and Sleep Theory, Florida melodic metalcore troop Wage War have dropped their anthemic new single. For the genre, “Magnetic” is exactly what you would want from the genre. Polished cleans, pulsating electronics and a breakdown which slams. Coming from the I, Prevail, Bad Omens electronic-drenched modern metal pool, “Magnetic” is pristine, anthemic and comes with an attention-grabbing chorus. Expect it to go down a storm with fans on the upcoming tour.

Pick up Wages War merch online here.

Pallbearer
‘Where The Light Fades’
Nuclear Blast

With the release of their new album, Mind Burns Alive on May 17th through Nuclear Blast, Little Rock quartet Pallbearer are setting up for their rawest album yet with the release of the haunting, calming tones of new single “Where The Light Fades”. Now there has always been that argument that heavy music doesn’t necessarily mean blast beats and pig vocals and Pallbearer guitarist/vocalist Brett Campbell feels the same stating “I believe that true heaviness comes from emotional weight, and sometimes sheer bludgeoning isn’t the right approach to getting a feeling across.” This single is the perfect example of that and, as it builds to a huge climax, you get the feeling that, should the rest of the album follow a similar path, Mind Burns Alive could be one of the most sensational albums to be released this year.

Pick up your copy of Mind Burns Alive online here.

Hideous Divinity
‘Unextinct’
Century Media

When it comes to epic, dramatic death metal, the Italians have got that sewn up. Rome quartet Hideous Divinity are no exception to the rule either. Their latest monster of a record, Unextinct, contains only one track under five minutes long with two tracks on this beast almost nudging the nine-minute mark. A dark, brooding intro builds up momentum before the Italians launch into their steering technical death metal. Unrelentingly savage they might be but there is plenty more to Hideous Divinity’s musical armoury. Ebbing and flowing through progressive passages, breathtaking technical solos and outright brutality, Unextinct is an intricate, attention-grabbing musical storm which, should you choose to navigate their unforgiving death metal waters, will reward you handsomely.

Pick up your copy of Unextinct online here.