The V13 Fix #015 w/ LØLØ, AATARASHII GAKKO!, Rarity & 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 check out our Spotify 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…

The Fires Below
‘Thorns’
Self-Release

You know when you walk into your favourite pub or gig venue or put on your favourite album and there is that comforting whiff of familiarity about it? Well, that’s the same feeling you get when you listen to Thorns, the new EP from London metallers The Fires Below. Creaking with lumbering, groaning riffs, the mesmerizing groove crafted by this four-piece folds elements of bands like Clutch, Mastodon and QOTSA in with a foreboding, claustrophobic atmosphere, to craft a sound that is both unnerving and hypnotic.

Pick up your copy of Thorns online here.

Missing Link
‘Watch Me Bleed’
Triple B Records

Forming during the COVID period and sharing members with face maulers like Internal Bleeding, Pain Of Truth, Recon, and Blood Runs Cold, North East metallic hardcore crew Missing Link know how to slam. Combining the frustration that boiled over from the pandemic with the slamming brutality of the hardcore and slam metal scenes, Watch Me Bleed rages from the get-go. Simmering with frustration, there is no fat on these tunes as tracks like “Numbers on the Board”, where the band are joined by PAHC crew Gridiron, find Missing Link unleashing both barrels in a brutal assault.

Pick up your copy of Watch Me Bleed online here.

Sect
‘Plague Upon Plagues’
Southern Lord

Sect is what happens when members of hardcore veterans Earth Crisis and pop-punk superstars Fall Out Boy team up. The follow-up to their 2019 offering Blood Of The Beasts, Plague Upon Plagues is a gnarly, twisted effort. Tracks build from brooding, moody intros into gurgling, throaty, unsettlingly bleak compositions. Almost Nine Inch Nailsesque in their bleakness in parts, closer to the more familiar blasts of hardcore shrapnel on tracks like “Drowning In Sorrows” at other times. Plague Upon Plagues is Sect’s thoughts on the last five-year-long political, economic and social shit show and, unsurprisingly, it’s as harrowing as fuck.

Pick up your copy of Plague Upon Plagues online here.

LØLØ
‘falling for robots and wishing i was one’
Hopeless Records

Weaned on a diet of Green Day, Avril Lavigne, Simple Plan, and The Wizard of Oz, this rising star of pop-punk LØLØ is finally getting round to releasing her debut album. A call to arms for pop punk and emo kids everywhere, the album is full of songs about relationships, life, love, and romance, all through the eyes of an artist who bears her own romantic battle scars. It’s those experiences wrapped up in songs that have huge hooks, a dash of LØLØ’s own sense of humour and the kind of arena-sized melodies that have deservedly brought her to the attention of bands like Green Day. LØLØ may not have had the best of times on a personal level but by channelling all of that frustration into this album and her music, her musical career is only going to be heading in one direction.

Pick up your copy of falling for robots and wishing i was one online here.

AATARASHII GAKKO!
‘AG! Calling’

You only have to take a glance at the eye-watering stats J-Pop sensations AATARASHII GAKKO! are getting to see these four Tokyo J-Pop stars are a huge deal. An absolutely sense-melting slice of power pop, AG! Calling has everything a J-Pop album could need. Ridiculously catchy hooks, a shimmering production and a slightly unhinged air about it. A group that positions itself as a representation of the Japanese youth, AATARASHII GAKKO! challenge the norms of Japanese society through their music with their message and wonderfully unpredictable music hitting a nerve across their huge demographic. Currently bringing that message to the world, expect streaming figures to skyrocket. Not bad for a group who, allegedly, met in a supermarket discount aisle.

Pick up your copy of AG! Calling online here.

Candy
‘It’s Inside You’
Relapse Records

Around the time bands like Knocked Loose and Jesus Piece were making waves on the metallic hardcore scene, another band were buzzing about. That band was Candy who, although they have continued to develop their groove, have never hit the heady heights of the aforementioned bands. It’s Inside You is the album which shows exactly what the wider scene is missing out on. A blistering slice of experimental metallic hardcore laced with abrasive electronics, It’s Inside You is an astonishing record with guest appearances from Integrity’s Aaron Melnick, Angel Du$t’s Justice Tripp, and Trash Talk’s David Gagliardi adding their own flavour to the material. As experimental as it is savage, It’s Inside You is an attention-grabbing sonic assault and one that the world really needs to sit up and pay attention to.

Pick up your copy of It’s Inside You online here.

Ad Patres
‘Unbreathable’
Non Serviam Records

Born in 2008 and drawing inspiration from the death metal giants of the early 90s like Morbid Angel and Suffocation, Bordeaux quintet Ad Patres blend the right amount of technicality with just outright sledgehammer heaviness on their new offering Unbreathable. While the occasional “bleurgh” from frontman Axel Doussaud creeps into the mix, the general blueprint the French outfit follows is unbridled traditional death metal heaviness. Weaved into that savagery are some delicious grooves and melodies which, when polished off with a clean, crisp production, create an end product that should easily tick off all the needs of a modern death metal fan.

Pick up your copy of Unbreathable online here.

Mythraeum
‘Oblivion Aeternam’
M-Theory Audio

Inspired by bands usually found roaming the icy Scandivanian plains like Emperor, Dark Funeral, and Dimmu Borgir, black/death metal troop Mythraeum can instead be found spreading their black-hearted savagery in the sunnier climate of San Diego. Not that this affects their epic, dramatic fury. Oblivion Aeternam sees the American black metallers effortlessly combine the familiar blueprint of the genre greats into a piece of work that is unrelentingly ferocious and hauntingly dramatic. In fact, if you close your eyes while you’re letting the harsh sounds crafted by the San Diego five-piece wash over you, you’ll almost instantly find yourself transported to the cold, brutal Nordic plains.

Pick up your copy of Oblivion Aeternam online here.

Rarity
‘Lower Feeling’
New Damage Records

You can’t help but love a band whose latest single is called “who gives a fuck?” which is exactly why we’re a bit partial to Hamilton, ON post-hardcore quartet Rarity. Now, while post-hardcore might provide a big chunk of their sound, dig deeper into their new album, Lower Feeling and there is a whole lot more going on. Alongside the bellowing post-hardcore thrashings, the band dabble in pop-punk, there is a bit of metal in there, and a dash of alt-rock. The gentle and misleading “who gives a fuck?” is probably the gentlest of the tracks on here but is a surefire hit while the huge hooks of “Sick To My Stomach” rattles along with the most glorious of pop-punk melodies. Rejuvenated after a few difficult years, the Canadians are all smiles and, listening to Lower Feeling, rightfully so.

Pick up your copy of Lower Feeling online here.