On "Exodus Unknown" London Thrash Force IMPERIUM Announce Their Arrival with Crushing Debut Album

For a band that's spent the past few years steadily building momentum across the UK metal underground, the release of a debut album always carries a certain weight. Thankfully for London thrash outfit IMPERIUM, Exodus Unknown doesn't merely live up to expectations—it announces the band's arrival with authority.

Having already earned praise through their self-titled EP and 2023's When Kings Meet, IMPERIUM have gradually established themselves as one of Britain's most exciting modern heavy/thrash acts. Since signing with Heavy Metal Records in 2025, anticipation has continued to build, and Exodus Unknown feels like the natural culmination of years of hard work, relentless gigging and increasingly confident songwriting.

From the opening assault of "Hell And High Water", the album wastes absolutely no time. Razor-sharp riffs collide with pounding rhythms while vocalist Ben Porter delivers every line with grit, conviction and commanding presence. The title track, "Exodus Unknown," perfectly captures the band's identity—classic thrash energy fused with a modern production that gives every guitar harmony and crushing groove room to breathe.

Rather than relying purely on speed, IMPERIUM understand the importance of dynamics. Tracks such as "Reap What You Sow" and "Unstoppable" balance melody with aggression, while "The Gun" and "Hangman" continue the album's relentless momentum with tightly crafted songwriting and memorable hooks. By the time closing track "The End" arrives, it's clear this is more than just an impressive debut—it's a statement of intent.

The current line-up features vocalist Ben Porter, lead guitarist Hardip Sagoo, bassist Jean-Raphaël Comes, drummer James Hawes, with the album also featuring rhythm guitarist Scott Lomas, whose playing helped shape the record before his departure from the band in 2026. The album was mixed and mastered by Oz Craggs at Hidden Track Studios, giving the record a polished but uncompromisingly heavy sound that suits the material perfectly.

What makes Exodus Unknown particularly satisfying is its confidence. IMPERIUM clearly wear their classic thrash influences proudly, but they never come across as simply recreating the past. Instead, they channel the precision, groove and intensity of the genre into something contemporary, delivering songs that feel equally at home on festival stages or blasting through headphones at full volume.

With appearances already lined up following the album's release—including a performance at Bloodstock Open Air—the timing couldn't be better. If Exodus Unknown is any indication, IMPERIUM are no longer simply a promising name on the UK underground circuit—they're rapidly becoming one of British metal's most exciting rising forces.

For fans of modern thrash with razor-edged riffs, muscular grooves and undeniable ambition, Exodus Unknown is an album well worth turning up loud.

On "Hull Suite Live" Zoe Rahman Sets Sail on a Stunning New Live Recording

One of Britain's most consistently inventive jazz pianists has returned with a captivating new live album that perfectly captures the energy, spontaneity and emotional depth of her acclaimed trio.

Zoe Rahman's Hull Suite Live is far more than another concert recording. Captured live at London's legendary Vortex Jazz Club, the album showcases a pianist at the height of her creative powers alongside long-time collaborators Alec Dankworth on double bass and Gene Calderazzo on drums. The result is a performance that feels intimate, adventurous and completely alive.

Originally commissioned by Hull Jazz Festival for World Piano Day 2024, Hull Suite began life as a solo piano work inspired by Hull's rich maritime history. Rather than writing a simple musical portrait of the city, Rahman explored themes of migration, journeys across the sea and the millions of people who passed through Hull's docks during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Those ideas also resonate with Rahman's own family history, giving the music an intensely personal emotional core.

Credit: "Zoe Rahman photo" by Richard Kaby. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.

For this live recording, however, the suite has evolved into something even more expansive. With Dankworth and Calderazzo bringing decades of shared musical understanding to the stage, the compositions breathe with remarkable freedom. The trio shift effortlessly between lyrical passages, muscular swing, blues-infused improvisation and moments of breathtaking delicacy.

The album opens with the exuberant "Synergy", a fitting title given the remarkable chemistry between the three musicians, before Rahman introduces "Across the Humber", setting the scene for the six-part suite that follows. Pieces including "Out to Sea", "Voyage", "Waves" and "East Coast" create a vivid musical journey, rich in atmosphere without ever becoming overly descriptive. The performance closes with a spirited rendition of Rahman's earlier composition "Red Squirrel", providing a joyful finale.

What makes Hull Suite Live particularly compelling is its refusal to chase perfection. Rahman has spoken openly about embracing the unpredictable nature of live performance, allowing the occasional unexpected musical turn to become part of the story rather than something to edit away. That honesty gives the recording an immediacy that many studio albums struggle to achieve.

British pianist Zoe Rahman on stage with Courtney PIne at the Stockholm Jazz Festival 2010. Photograph by Henryk Kotowski. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.

Rahman has long been recognised as one of the UK's leading jazz pianists. A Mercury Prize nominee, MOBO Award winner, Parliamentary Jazz Award recipient and Ivor Novello Award winner, she has built an international reputation by combining jazz with influences drawn from classical music and her British-Bengali heritage. Hull Suite Live feels like another significant milestone in an already distinguished career.

Beautifully performed, emotionally resonant and brimming with fearless improvisation, Hull Suite Live is a reminder that some of the most compelling jazz is created in front of an audience. It's a recording that rewards repeat listening and further cements Zoe Rahman's reputation as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary British jazz.

On DOMINUM's Night Is Calling: A Wonderfully Over-the-Top Festival of Zombie Metal Madness

Some albums aim for subtlety. DOMINUM's latest offering, Night Is Calling, doesn't even pretend.

Instead, the German zombie-metal outfit throws open the gates to a theatrical horror carnival packed with monstrous riffs, arena-sized choruses, tongue-in-cheek storytelling and enough undead swagger to raise the dead twice over. It's gloriously overblown—and that's precisely why it works.

Formed in Nuremberg by vocalist and producer Dr. Dead (Felix Heldt) in 2022, DOMINUM have rapidly carved out a niche by combining melodic power metal with horror aesthetics, theatrical stagecraft and an unapologetic love of catchy hooks. Think somewhere between the theatrical spectacle of Ghost and the anthemic bombast of modern European power metal, all wrapped in a zombie apocalypse narrative. Their rise has been equally impressive, with 2024's The Dead Don't Die breaking into the German Top 10 before the band embarked on major European tours and festival appearances.

Released through Napalm Records on 3 July 2026, Night Is Calling feels like the logical next chapter in DOMINUM's undead universe. Right from explosive opener "The Circus Is In Town", the album embraces its horror-carnival concept with infectious enthusiasm, before charging through memorable cuts like "Doctor Doctor", "Children of the Night", "Dark Melodies", and the soaring title track featuring Marina La Torraca. Even a full-blooded cover of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" somehow fits perfectly into the band's gleefully macabre world.

Image credit: "Dominum Rockharz 2024 09.jpg" by S. Bollmann, via Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under Creative Commons.

The real triumph here is the balance between heaviness and accessibility. Yes, there are chunky riffs, pounding drums and plenty of metallic muscle, but DOMINUM clearly understand that memorable choruses win hearts. Nearly every track arrives with a hook that demands to be shouted back by festival crowds, making Night Is Calling feel tailor-made for massive live singalongs.

Production is equally polished. Produced by Felix Heldt and mixed by the ever-reliable Jacob Hansen, the record sounds enormous without sacrificing clarity. Every orchestral flourish, guitar lead and vocal melody has room to breathe, adding cinematic scale to the band's already theatrical presentation.

What makes DOMINUM especially refreshing is that they never seem embarrassed by having fun. In an era where so much metal strives for crushing seriousness, the band lean headfirst into horror movie camp, comic-book storytelling and larger-than-life spectacle. It's theatrical, it's knowingly cheesy, and it's impossible not to smile along with.

Ultimately, Night Is Calling isn't trying to reinvent heavy metal. Instead, it reminds us why we fell in love with the genre in the first place: unforgettable choruses, outrageous concepts, fist-pumping energy and enough theatrical excess to make every song feel like the grand finale.

DOMINUM may be singing from beyond the grave, but judging by Night Is Calling, the future of this undead metal collective has never looked more alive.

On "Where Rivers Meet": Two Generations of Jazz Converge: Your Brother's Keeper and Gary Bartz Unite

Where Rivers Meet, the new collaborative album from London collective Your Brother's Keeper and legendary saxophonist Gary Bartz, brings together one of spiritual jazz's most enduring voices with one of the UK's most exciting emerging ensembles.

Released on 19 June 2026 via Brownswood Recordings as part of the label's 20th anniversary celebrations, the seven-track record is far more than a meeting of generations—it's a conversation between musical traditions, built on trust, improvisation and fearless exploration.

Gary Bartz – Still Pushing Forward

For more than five decades, Gary Bartz has remained one of jazz's most influential saxophonists. After performing with giants including Charles Mingus, Max Roach, Art Blakey, McCoy Tyner, and later joining Miles Davis during the groundbreaking electric period of the early 1970s, Bartz became one of the defining voices of spiritual jazz through his celebrated NTU Troop recordings.

Rather than simply revisiting familiar territory, Where Rivers Meet finds Bartz continuing to evolve. His unmistakable alto saxophone is placed within a modern sonic landscape that blends acoustic instrumentation with modular synthesis and electronics, creating music that feels simultaneously timeless and completely contemporary.

The chemistry is immediate, with Bartz sounding every bit as adventurous as the younger musicians surrounding him.

Photo: Bob Travis / Wikimedia Commons.
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 (CC BY-SA 2.0)

A New Chapter for London's Jazz Scene

Your Brother's Keeper is a newly assembled London collective led by drummer and producer Jake Long, best known for his work with Maisha. The group also features Ali MacSween, Axel Kaner-Lidstrom, Twm Dylan, Tim Doyle, and Chelsea Carmichael—musicians who have each become important contributors to the thriving UK jazz movement.

While the album may appear to pair established legend with rising stars, Where Rivers Meet never feels like a mentor-and-students project. Instead, every performance unfolds organically, driven by collective improvisation and deep listening. Bartz becomes another voice within the ensemble rather than its sole focal point, allowing ideas to develop naturally across expansive compositions.

An Album That Lives in the Moment

Opening with "Cauldron", the record establishes its expansive mood immediately before flowing through pieces including "Ground Loop," "Eclipse," "Solar Flare," "Locris," "Petrichor," and concluding with the meditative "Mantra."

Throughout its 41-minute running time, Where Rivers Meet avoids obvious solos-for-the-sake-of-solos. Instead, textures slowly evolve, rhythms breathe naturally, and melodies emerge almost by instinct. Electronics are used with restraint, complementing rather than overshadowing the acoustic interplay.

The result is an album that honours jazz's history without becoming nostalgic. Instead of looking backwards, it demonstrates how different generations of musicians can create something genuinely new when hierarchy is replaced by collaboration.

For longtime followers of Gary Bartz, it's another remarkable chapter in an extraordinary career. For those discovering Your Brother's Keeper, it serves as a compelling introduction to a collective whose future already looks incredibly promising.

If Where Rivers Meet proves anything, it's that jazz remains at its most exciting when experience meets curiosity—and both sides are willing to listen.

Witchsorrow Conjure One of 2026's Essential Doom Records with The Devil and All His Works

For over two decades, Hampshire's Witchsorrow have quietly built a reputation as one of Britain's most uncompromising traditional doom metal bands. Never chasing trends and never softening their sound, the trio have consistently embraced crushing riffs, occult atmosphere and the slow-burning heaviness that defines classic doom. After an eight-year wait since Hexenhammer, they've returned with what may well be their strongest statement yet: The Devil and All His Works.

Released through Church Road Records on 3 July 2026, the album immediately feels like the work of a band completely comfortable in their own darkness. Rather than reinventing themselves, Witchsorrow refine everything that has made them such a respected name in modern doom, while allowing a richer psychedelic edge to seep into the music.

Opening with the mammoth eleven-minute "Omnia Finiuntur," the album wastes no time pulling listeners into its suffocating atmosphere. Thick, lumbering riffs move with absolute confidence, while Nick Ruskell's unmistakable vocals sound more ritualistic than ever. Every note feels deliberate, every pause calculated to maximise tension.

Tracks like "Bacchus" and "Hades Chains" demonstrate just how expansive Witchsorrow have become. The latter even features guest vocals from Serena Cherry of Svalbard, adding another layer of menace to one of the album's standout moments. Throughout the record, there's a subtle psychedelic undercurrent that keeps the songs evolving without sacrificing the crushing weight that fans expect.

What makes The Devil and All His Works particularly impressive is its patience. In an era where many heavy bands chase instant gratification, Witchsorrow remain committed to the long game. Songs breathe naturally, riffs unfold gradually, and the oppressive atmosphere grows heavier with every passing minute. It's an album designed to be experienced from beginning to end rather than cherry-picked for individual tracks.

The record also marks the final studio appearance of longtime drummer David "Wilbrahammer" Wilbraham before his departure from the band, making the album feel even more significant within Witchsorrow's catalogue. His powerful, measured drumming provides the perfect foundation beneath the band's immense walls of guitar and bass.

Fans of Black Sabbath, Saint Vitus, Candlemass and Electric Wizard will naturally find plenty to admire here, but reducing Witchsorrow to simple influences would be doing them a disservice. By this stage in their career, they've carved out an identity entirely their own—one built on authentic devotion to doom rather than nostalgia.

The production deserves special praise, striking a fine balance between vintage warmth and modern clarity. Every instrument has room to breathe, allowing the album's colossal riffs to retain both weight and definition without descending into murk. The result is an immersive listening experience that rewards repeat plays, with fresh details revealing themselves each time the needle drops.

For doom metal devotees, The Devil and All His Works is more than just another solid release—it's one of the defining records the genre has produced in 2026. Witchsorrow haven't merely returned; they've delivered a masterclass in atmosphere, patience and crushing heaviness that reminds everyone why true doom remains such a powerful force.

Slow, sinister and utterly spellbinding, The Devil and All His Works stands as one of this year's finest occult doom albums—and one that deserves a place in every serious metal fan's collection.