Following a sold-out debut in 2025, SOL Sonic Ride Cologne returns for its second edition in 2026. On Saturday, April 11th, 2026, Carlswerk Victoria and the neighboring Club Volta will once again turn into a get-together for the heavy music scene, featuring a massive lineup!
Hosted by underground record label and booking agency Sound Of Liberation (Desertfest Berlin, Keep It Low, Up In Smoke and many more), the one-day festival offers a full day of international live performances, fuzzy riffs and heavy grooves across two stages in an intimate festival setting.
Confirmed acts include Swedish retro doom pioneers Witchcraft, fuzz rock mainstays Truckfighters and desert rock veterans Lowrider. The lineup is completed by Elephant Tree, Cult of Occult, Zerre, Bongbongbeerwizards, Coltaine and Yeast Machine; representing a cross-section of today’s heavy underground.
Derby-based classic rock blues outfit BEGGARS BLISS are set to release their debut album this May. To celebrate the launch of their inaugural LP, the band is hitting the road for a series of live dates, featuring a high-profile slot at the Call of the Wild Festival.
“Beggars Bliss” (self-titled album) is exactly what a debut record should be: a clear statement of a band releasing their first LP to the world. Ten tracks drawn from sweat, repetition and instinct to what drives their passion for the arts. Joyous in places, reflective in others, but always grounded in the simple reason the band formed in the first place, because playing this music together feels right.
Watch ‘Peaches ‘N’ Cream’ (official music video):
Formed in 2024 with one simple rule — “if it’s not fun, it’s not worth doing” — Beggars Bliss built their sound the direct way. Tight, expressive and driven by the joy of making noise in the same room, they’ve spent their first two years relentlessly gigging across the Midlands, sharpening their set in packed venues and marking a standout moment at Off The Tracks Festival in 2025.
Beggars Bliss came together with a shared pull towards weighty guitars, deep grooves and vocals that carry both grit and lift. The self-titled debut gathers the strongest ten tracks from more than thirty written in their first two years: a body of work forged through a passion to write songs, constant rehearsals and gigging that has got them where they want to be right now.
At its core, “Beggars Bliss” is classic rock and blues rock played with conviction, shaped not by imitation but by the band’s genuine love of the music that brought them together. The guitars are thick and overdriven, with keys that bring weight and melody, the rhythm section swings rather than stomps, and three-part vocal harmonies add shape and bite. There’s space for funk, flashes of grunge heft, touches of stoner depth and even a hint of country phrasing, but the foundation never shifts: solid, groove-driven danceable rock built on riffs and choruses that land quickly and stay camped in your head, rent free.
Across “Beggars Bliss”, the stories come straight from lived experience. “I Am I” and “Spiralling” confront fractured friendships and the arguments that happen in your own head long after the room’s gone quiet, while “Rabbit Hole” wrestles with self-doubt, the slow realisation that sometimes the only thing in your way is you. “Forbidden Fruit” and “Peaches N’ Cream” lean into temptation and obsession in all their chaotic pull, while “Dusk ’Til Dawn” sits with the quiet aftermath of heartbreak. On the other side, “Sunshine” captures the lift that comes when someone drags you out of a rut, and “Train Song” reframes the road as something to embrace rather than escape. Taken together, the record moves through defiance, longing, loss and hope without ever drifting away from the band’s central instinct: life’s complicated, but it’s better faced head on and played loud.
Recording followed the same logic. After trying several studios, the band settled at RatCat Studios with Natt Webb (The Struts, Alt Blk Era) whose laid-back approach and technical clarity allowed the band’s performances to breathe. The focus wasn’t polish for its own sake. It was about capturing the feel and keeping the takes that carried energy, whilst leaving in the humanity.
On stage this is music designed to make you move, physically and emotionally. That’s why the band momentum continues into 2026, with the band announced as finalists in the Call Of The Wild – Trailblazer Competition at Corporation in Sheffield, which has landed them at the Lincolnshire festival this May and they’re set to open the Oakley Stage at Northants Rocks Festival alongside Breed 77, Hacktivist and Viking Skull this July.
“Beggars Bliss” isn’t trying to reinvent anything with its release. This is a debut album comprised of ten songs that sound like the band actually mean them. And when they mean it, you will feel it when listening to this record. The music reflects emotions we all feel, sad, angry, playful and everything in between. Beggars Bliss have put their authentic selves into this record. It stands as a confident first chapter and a clear marker of where they are now; a band playing because it moves them, and finding that it moves other people too.
“Beggars Bliss” is released 21st May 2026.
Album tracklist:
1. I Am I 2. Forbidden Fruit 3. Peaches N’ Cream 4. Train Song 5. Dusk ‘Till Dawn 6. I’m On Fire 7. Sunshine 8. Butterfly 9. Spiralling 10. Rabbit Hole
Live dates:
24 Apr – NEWARK-ON-TRENT, The Navigation 23 May – DERBY, The Vic (Album Launch) 24 May – NOTTINGHAM, Rescue Rooms Dot to Dot Festival 25 May – LONDON, Dublin Castle 29 May – LINCOLN, Call Of The Wild Festival 05 Jun – DERBY, Derby Market Hall 04 Jul – DERBY, The Vic 25 Jul – NORTHAMPTON, Northants Rocks Festival (w/ Breed 77, Hacktivist, and Viking Skull) 25 Jul – GNOSALL, OXFEST Rally 19 Sept – BLACKPOOL, The Waterloo (w/ Apriori) 19 Feb – CARLISLE, The Brickyard (RockMantic Weekender)
Beggars Bliss is:
Henry John – Guitars, lead vocals Milly Ayesha – Keyboardist, backing vocals Dan Griffiths – Bass guitar, backing vocals Chris West – Drums, backing vocals
Danish metallers GRADIENCE are pleased to drop their new single and companion video for “Master To The Slave.” The track is taken from the band’s forthcoming new full-length, set for release on their new label home of Metal Blade Records later this year.
The usually clear-cut boundary between apocalyptic, sludgy blackened death metal and dark urban trap-rap is thrillingly pulverized by GRADIENCE. Lines of musical convention are further blurred by disarmingly emotive and intimate vocal lines, and a vibrant sound picture heaving with glacial synths and hypnotic sonic details. At first it might daunt and confuse those who like their boundaries clear-cut, but at the heart of GRADIENCE‘s brash and radical new sound is an authentic and heartwarming new friendship. In 2022, guitarist Jakob Harris and vocalist Gavin Mistry struck up an immediate creative rapport at a Copenhagen show for local deathcore heroes Cabal. Although from very different backgrounds – Jakob a visual artist and musician playing in “a popcore band,” Gavin is a main player “in different hip-hop constellations” – they quickly found common ground in an area both were keen to explore.
“It just feels completely natural for us to mix everything,” notes Harris. “We’re really up for whatever label people want to put on us. We’ve actually found it difficult for ourselves to narrow it down Harris but we like to think of ourselves as just being a metal band. We’ve used the description ‘blackened rap metal’ just to catch people’s attention. But to me, rap is just a tool we use to convey an emotion or feel, just like we use screams and melody. We’ve found different styles of rap and singing that suit Gavin really well, and when we’re writing vocals for a song, we’re only thinking about what would be the best fit with the energy and vibe. For us, there needs to be an emotional connection in order for heavy music to resonate with the listener on a deeper level.”
Harris comments further on the band’s new single, “The song is about Gavin’s struggle with managing his self-destructiveness and we wanted the video to feel like a physical manifestation of Gavin’s internal war. The moment in the music video where the hangman’s noose becomes a crown of rope is a deliberate visual metaphor of Gavin gaining the upper hand of what could potentially destroy him.“
Your favourite pirates have returned. Rising from the mythical floating island of Lyxion in the Bermuda Triangle, Pirate Queen continue their legendary voyage across the seas of heavy metal. Said to be descendants of infamous pirate families, the band claims a history stretching back more than 500 years, having first hoisted their musical sails in 1524.
Two years ago, Pirate Queen burst onto the scene like a restless storm with the release of their debut album Ghosts. Blending cinematic storytelling with thunderous heavy metal, the record introduced listeners to the band’s mysterious world of piracy, myth, and adventure.
Now Pirate Queen return with their brand-new single William Kidd, the first glimpse of their upcoming second album. The track revisits an old pirate melody the band originally composed more than a century ago, now reimagined as a powerful and cinematic heavy metal anthem.
“William Kidd” tells the dramatic tale of the band’s old companion, the legendary pirate William Kidd — a battle-scarred sailor with a parrot on his shoulder and a sword by his side. Accused of treason, Kidd was sentenced to hang. Yet in his final moments, he cast a parchment map to buried treasure into the air, knowing that among the crowd stood his long-time love, the one person he trusted to catch it. The song unfolds as a romantic and mysterious saga of loyalty, destiny, and eternal love, wrapped in Pirate Queen’s signature blend of epic melodies and dramatic atmosphere.
With “William Kidd”, Pirate Queen invite listeners to leave their troubles behind and set sail once more — embarking on a voyage into a world of fantasy, freedom, and legend. The adventure has only just begun.
Atmospheric black metal project Zornhau has released the visualizer for “I,” the opening track of their forthcoming self-titled album. The track serves as a first step into a descent into darkness and inner fire, introducing listeners to a world of intensity and ritualistic atmosphere.
Rather than following a traditional narrative, Zornhau emphasizes immersion and transformation. The music unfolds as a continuousrite, demanding endurance, presence, and full engagement from the listener. “I” establishes the tone for the album’s journey, a voyage into shadow and introspection, where every note and texture draws the audience deeper into its ritualistic soundscape.
Game Over will re-release the “Burst Into The Quiet” LP on April 17 through Scarlet Records.
A classic 2010s thrash metal cornerstone, “Burst Into The Quiet” was the second studio album for Game Over, and the one that definitely put them in the international map.
Inspired by the classic Bay Area scene, Game Over mixed those influences with modern sounds, a very distinctive personality, and some striking aesthetics. These 9 killer tracks were made of sharp riffs, groovy rhytms and super-fast guitar solos – lyrics ranged from the horror imaginary of the 80s b-movies to social commentary and introspective thoughts.
“Burst Into The Quiet” allowed Game Over to reveal themselves as one of the most solid and credible European bands of the time, starting a path that has now made them a mainstay on the contemporary thrash world scene.
Second studio album for the Italian manic thrashers, originally released by Scarlet Records in 2014;
Game Over’s artistical and commercial breakthrough album;
produced by Simone Mularoni at Domination Studio;
cover & artwork by Mario López (Skeletal Remains, Toxik, Vulture);
“Burst Into The Quiet” will be re-released in the following format: vinyl LP: 300 marbled yellow
“Burst Into The Quiet” tracklist:
1 Masters Of Control 2 Seven Doors To Hell 3 The Eyes (Of The Mad Gardner) 4 C.H.U.C.K. 5 No More 6 Metropolis pt. 3 7 Trapped Inside Your Mind 8 Nuke ‘em High 9 Burst Into The Quiet
Presently working on the follow-up to the acclaimed “Face The End” album (2025), to be released in the second half of 2026, Game Over have been confirmed for the Ferrara Summer Festival (Italy) on June 14 supporting Megadeth, Anthrax, Black Label Society, Cavalera and Gaerea.
Game Over, current lineup (in the photo above): Danny Schiavina – vocals Luca ʻZeeroʼ Zironi – guitar, backing vocals Alessandro ʻSansoʼ Sansone – guitar Leonardo ʻLeoʼ Molinari – bass Anthony ʻVenderʼ Dantone – drums
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Visionary artist KIMMO KUUSNIEMI's ANCIENT STREAMING ASSEMBLY (ASA) have released “Aurora Nuclearis”, a powerful 12-minute audiovisual experience, dedicated to the Late Keyboardist Esa Kotilainen. - Click image to watch the video
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