Bristol Vinyl Guy

By Joe Guatieri

“Vandalism, as beautiful as a rock in a cop’s face”

Calico is a transfemme noise project based out of Bristol, created by Kayleigh Beez. She was previously a big part of the South West Scramz scene being the drummer in Nasty Fishmonger and still has a solo Scramz project under her own name. I met her through her girlfriend Alina (Distraxi), where I think that the first time we met or at least I remember us interacting in-person at a gig that I put on last May at Moor Beer in Bristol. It was a bill that featured Prior, Swords Of Damocles, Pale World, Distraxi and it was headlined by Parasite Nurse. She was blown away from that gig and I remember getting a big hug from her afterwards to symbolise that. We continued going to the same sorts of gigs and slowly started having more detailed conversations about noise music and her becoming more and more fascinated by it all until she started making it herself. Then use released her first EP last August, “Still Waiting”. I still haven’t listened to it yet as I was listening to so mic at once it sort of ran away from me. A few months later in October she released an EP called “Intermittent Fasting”. This was the first release of Kayleigh’s that I listened to and I really enjoyed it. I was listening to it on the Bus and it felt very appropriate, it felt stuck in place, incredibly anxiety-inducing. The track “sorryfordoingurdrungs” comes to my mind when thinking about it as I love the panning of electronics with the cut-up noise by the end of the piece. Before I decided not to put it out, I was going to put “Reconciliation” on that said EP onto my songs of the year list of 2025, that shows you what sort of opinion I had on it. From that point onwards, I was seeing Calico perform noise live for the first time, I put her on in a noise context at a gig for the first time in a collaboration between her and Distraxi, what a surprise! The bill also included Puddle Brain, sevenyearwaitinglist X DJ JG (myself) and PNC made up of Doctor Girlfriend and Lucifer Sky. Kayleigh and Alina’s performance together was absolutely incredible with Calico fumbling around and scratching her bass, Distraxi overloading the PA with feedback and heart wrenching screams of anguish. It ripped my soul out of my body so much so that I screamed loudly at my own gig after their set finished, “That’s how you do a fucking noise set!”. That took place at Cafe Kino in Bristol and then when she played solo for the first time, it was at the same venue. Her set then was like her ripping her heart out and showing every spectator, it was so personable and came from such a genuine place, you can’t fake emotion like that. There was a moment in that set which put the biggest smile on my face which is when she grabbed her bag and pulled out some My Little Pony Dolls, one of the most joyous things I’ve ever seen! It was also this which made me think, “No, she can’t be inspired by me in a way can she?!”. I was baffled as I have my “slightly-themed” Crash Bandicoot noise project where I have fun bits like that and I felt so proud as it felt like that she was calling out to me in my mind, “I love you Joe!”. So yeah it was safe to say then that I was looking forward to hearing her first full-length, here we are now then, going into “A Feast For The Worms” by Calico.

The albums opens with “Asking for much”, a song that is a pool of Drone made of deep distorted bass hits. It lures you in with its sense of mystery but it doesn’t push you away, neither welcomes you in, it just exists, like an asteroid floating through space, you know that the chaos will eventually happen but you’re just waiting to see when that hammer will strike. The idea of that “Asking for much” being lost somewhere also extends out to vocal which sounds lightyears away. The track verges of Death Industrial as there is a sense of dread and intensity that is just seething throughout, I also feel like that it takes queues from Doom Metal and even the Blues. There is something about these patterns that I recognise that I find comforting, it’s like if Son House played in Khanate at the bottom of the well, you can hear the tears.

Next we go into Track Two with “Eulogy” and this song fucks you up, it’s over 9 minutes of pure guitar fuckery and contact mic abuse! It’s the most spontaneous and in the moment song on the entire record, no order and no structure, just screeches and crashes, that rare case where only violence will win. It sits somewhere within the Drone works but it runs as far away from Sunn O))) as humanly possible.

Next is “Smile” which incorporates the sound of being stuck in a jet engine, you feel that powerful gust of wind on every piece of your person. There are guitars right at the back of the mix which are very sitar like and are the only thing that’s calming about this track because nothing else is. Kayleigh reads out her poetry as her words are completely muffled. Words are read out like “I don’t have a choice” and “These burns were made by accident”, it’s all incredibly concerning. “Smile” bubbles from start to end in its uncertainty in life, when will it end, how will I continue?

As we dig deeper into the LP we get Track Six with “Forever Descending”. The track shows a more Ambient side to a “Feast Full Of Worms” but unlike what most pieces in the genre try to do, this doesn’t make your mind wonder, it keeps you focused, it needs action. It’s polluted by what sound like a lighter clicking over Calico’s poetry. There are so many lines that strike a chord with me here like Steve Albini cutting his guitar with his wrists, “When I was born into poverty”, “I was born to very young parents”, “My father could of done better”, “You know how scared I am”, “The smell of butane”. The song cuts deep into my chest into a place which is rarely touched, getting to be made to feel uncomfortable through sound, it makes me want to throw out my arms and try to save my friend Kayleigh Beez for whatever is keeping her as a hostage in her mind. The beautiful haunting synth heard near the end of the song just adds the cherry onto the cake, it all makes me think, hang on a moment, is Kayleigh presenting all of this purposefully as an allegory for burning down one’s past or something else that I would be afraid to think about. I love “Forever Descending”, it is genuinely terrifying, it’s so much more than a tear-stained diary entry, it is hearing another voice that someone has in their head. No doubt my favourite song on the album!

Track Eight, “Hurt Me”… The dictionary definition of the word punishment. The high-end makes me want to rip my ears off and the low-end makes me want to sink into the earths core. The space the the frequency’s inherit just reverberates off of the walls of whatever room or K-hole Calico is recording in. Hurt me? Yes, yes it did. THIS IS NOISE MUSIC!

Finally we have Track Ten with Silver Linings which is definitely the most unique song here. If this LP wasn’t already full of surprises, this is the biggest or dare I say nicest one yet. After all of the fear, frustration, grief and thinking of one’s place in the world, we get a song which I can only describe as Dungeon Synth meets Lo-Fi Hip Hop! It’s hopeful, it’s looking up and smiling, picking yourself up, dusting yourself off and carrying on, things can only get better. It ends the album on an optimistic note which cannot be said with so many Noise albums out there. Too many only deal in the pain and exacerbate it, whether in this circumstance it raises you up from the pit of hell into the pearly gates of heaven. Sometimes you need to smile in the face of despair, that way you can only come back stronger.

Overall, with “A Feast For The Worms”, Calico has casted her net of creativity out as wide as she can. I can tell that she was very confident in how good these songs were and how well they paired with one another. So many emotions were addressed here in a way that didn’t feel forced. It’s so easy to go surface level with things of this nature, everyone knows what these moods involve and what these patterns are, the difference is with what Kayleigh is doing is that these are hers. They are coming for her soul and from her stunning performance of her baring her soul, you know that to be true. It’s showing an artist in their most honest light. You know how weird and deprived Weezer’s Pinkerton is? “A Feast For The Worms” takes that approach and puts it out there in the right ways, less perverse, less looking for someone who will listen, more fuck it this is who I am! Calico’s name is Kayleigh Beez and her noise and words mean something to her and to me. This right now is making me tear up because Kayleigh is a great friend of mine and I can’t believe that her art struck a chord with me like this. I love her and I can’t wait to see what she does next, “A Feast For The Worms” is wonderful! This is her first Uboa moment. I am a fan of Calico for forever more. It’s not even been a year of her doing Calico yet and she’s done all of this, I am so proud of her!

9/10

Below is footage of Calico performing her first solo set, Cafe Kino, Bristol, 16th January 2026, Gig put on by Eggy Tapes

By Joe Guatieri

angelangelangel is the solo project of Liverpool musician Lott Ridgley. He is most well known for being the vocalist of the Noise band Victim Unit, alongside Danny Page. angelangelangel sees Lott stepping out into performing music on his own for the very first time. I met Lott through attending gigs that Victim Unit were performing at in Bristol, the duo wowed me with their visceral aggressive sound and deeply meaningful lyrics about freedom from the pain of SA. They came across as so genuine and every time you see Victim Unit live you’re not sure wether to bring out the finger guns, mosh or have an emotional breakdown in the corner, or all 3 at once. They are overwhelming and genuine. I previously put them on live at a gig last September with Nadja, Urzah and Crash Bandighoul at The Cube in Bristol. They killed it then and they still kill it now. Over time I became a close friend of Lott’s and he started telling me about this other project that he was working on, prefacing that he wanted to make something beautiful. I took note of these exchanges that we were having and eventually put him on as angelangelangel at an all-dayer called Pissmas which happened at the Exchange, in Bristol last December. He had only performed as angelangelangel very few times at that point and although he was nervous beforehand (anyone would be playing on the stage in the main room at the Exchange), he ended up smashing it with a stunning all-encompassing performance. Marrying together Drone and Noise in a way that soft and intriguing, no attack, just simply existing. It was the outlier of the day and he the entire noise scene proud. Now at this point he has more performances under his belt, so far in 2026, Lott had played more angelangelangel sets than what he has done with Victim Unit and I think that is a testament to this project. Now with no singles or teases of any kind, angelangelangel brings us his studio debut, nuntius.

nuntius opens with capillary waves which presents us with sprinkles of bells and chimes, whispering through both channels. A track that contains no vocals whatsoever and is purely just focused on feel. capillary waves is a blanket made up out of clouds, sitting in a place of comfort, not to cause any harm. It sounds like it was made entirely outside, it might as well be a field recording, you can almost sleep to it.

Then we go into Track Two with eupnea. Unlike the previous song, this one is entirely made up of Lott’s voice, going through effect after effect and slowly layering up on top of each other. In continuation of opposing forces, it doesn’t feel welcoming at all, more anxious, in the way that the voicing cry’s out. It reminds me a lot of what Bjork was doing on her Medulla record, making songs entirely out of the human voice, an instrument that we’re all born with. It’s unnerving, you get bombarded by backwards reverb that sounds like angelangelangel is snoring, this is a nightmare.

Up next we have echos in which after the hit of the now all-so familiar tiny cymbal, there is a high-frequency hum going on, like a kitchen appliance that hasn’t been turned off. echoes feels more open compared to the two previous songs as there are more elements at play in the background, the piece goes from being directly in your ear to being behind you. There’s a dripping sensation happening which just makes me comprehend what exactly is going on until an itchy distorted texture creeps up into your space, slowly getting louder as more time passes. In my head for echos paints the picture of breaking into a top-secret lab after-hours to see what the hell is going on. Stumbling upon an experiment that evil scientists have been cooking up, you can’t explain what you see but an unknown entity is under captive. Danger is for now hopefully under control but what happens when it isn’t, what happens when the locks are unsealed? Will you be safe? The uncertainty presented with echos makes it my favourite track on nuntius.

Closing the LP we have a two song suite with nuntius I and II. The first chapter presents a role reversal on capillary waves, it takes bird sounds and elongates them into unfamiliar territory. It’s followed by Lott’s deep breaths which cause confusion as the bells start ringing, is this deja vu, are you living the same day again? Whether yes or no, it’s too late now as distortion rears its ugly head and boils around you until it’s too hot to handle, it’s overwhelming. My ears genuinely start to rumble from the simple inclinations that Lott is applying with his breathing, that joint with the incessant buzzing feedback. As far as I’m concerned, nuntius I is a sleep paralysis doing who’s only goal in life it too upset you. Then we have the next page which continues the assault on your senses. Whilst the other tracks on the album have hints of it, this is as noise-induced piece here with such a scratchy surface. There are frequencies which when noticed rise and fall throughout, this definitely fits into the Harsh Noise Wall arena but there are changes going on, there is a pulse. It’s punishment whilst dangling a rope towards freedom, it’s a tightrope balancing fear on one side and hope on the other, the hell continues on for over 6 minutes. Then to your amazement, after fumbling in the dark for what feels like an eternity, you grab onto the rope with all your might and pull yourself up back into society. Again you hear Lott’s breathing and birds chirping, the beauty of nature is back once more.

Overall with nuntius, angelangelangel presents a listening experience which is human in every way. It take you on an emotional journey without the safety net of lyrics, instead presenting landscapes for you to gaze upon and make up your own mind. It doesn’t take you by the hand, there is no guide here, it’s just you and the world at your feet. Instead of being a hammer over the head, it’s kept ambiguous and the views that you get do the talking and the thoughts that you gain paint the pictures. The music that Lott presents in Victim Unit with Danny is much more immediate, it has something to say and with angelangelangel, Lott simply just lets it be. This listening experience is for those people who are patient and looks for the finer details in life, it looks down to a grassy floor and sees a ladybug and wonders how it got there. nuntius is wonderfully crafted by angelangelangel, seemingly from scratch it has been born into this world fully realised, bringing a tear to my eye with its careful approach. It’s here, it’s now and it’s real. “I just want to make something beautiful”, you have done!

I can’t give art like this a rating, it would do is a disservice. Listen to it and experience your own journey by yourself x

Footage of angelangelangel at Pissmas 2025 / 9th December, Exchange (main stage), Bristol

By Joe Guatieri

Members:

-J Kamboh

-Mat Martin

Bone Folder are a Bass and Guitar duo from London who’s sound falls somewhere between Drone, Ambient and Noise. They have been making a name for themselves with a handful of live sets in the nations capital, fascinating people with their approach to music. I got to know them through Mat as he sent me a very complimentary email after a gig that I put on last September in Bristol at The Cube. The bill of which were headlined by Nadja and also featured Urzah, Victim Unit and Crash Bandighoul. They were amazed by what they saw and suggested to me that their new band Bone Folder would be a good fit for my shows. It was a few months but I didn’t forget about them, they were lovely enough to send their LP to me early and after cycling around some tracks of theirs I made a decision. At the time in my head I thought this presence that this band were creating takes the shape of the weather and feels natural as if it should be crashing against a hillside like a wave. I decided that they would be a great fit for a Dungeon Synth, Noise and Drone gig that I was thinking about putting on. As of yet this gig hasn’t happened but it will take place on 24th May at Cafe Kino, co-headlined by Blades of Folmar and undume, the show will also feature a collaboration between H’ST and DJ JG, the aforementioned Bone Folder and you are drowning in evil, there are angles everywhere. I’m very excited for it!

Returning to Bone Folder, I will now be reviewing their self-titled debut. The record contains 3 tracks at varying lengths, no vocals, just purely focused on the art of the instrumental. On impact this listening experience presents a world of uncertainty, the bass and guitar bump, slice and grind throughout the day, refusing to your hand and guide you in its action. It’s merely just there to exist, to me it speaks of an animal with its own personality, regardless if it’s a pet that you would keep at home or not, it will hide itself from existence if bothered. It’s a cat that hisses at you when it senses danger, making you well aware to leave the area.

Unlike most Drone, I see Bone Folder as a band who are not there to overwhelm your senses but there too provide a window for you to look through. If you take notice then the shapes and colours change in front of your very eyes. You get both sides of the coin with Tract II and Tract I providing a softer touch but then gradually getting more anxious over time, comparing that to Form II where the damage has already been done and the emotions are already on high alert.

*I am now going to describe the songs by saying tracks as it makes more sense, otherwise I’m at risk of repeating myself a lot and not making enough of a distinction

Tracks 1 and 3 are more of an ambient affair, they have moments which make you turn your head thinking “What the fuck was that?” with a harsh note but then return to building a mood. They are never calm and I enjoy how these songs feel like they are trying to bother you, it reminds of struggling to find a position in bed to sleep in. You try sleeping on your side but the pillow acts as a finger digging it’s way into your temple, then you feel too hot underneath your cover so you take your leg out in order to find coolness, it’s incessant. These two songs match the original description for Bone Folder that I had, they feel like they take place entirely outside.

Track two on the other hand is more alarming from the get-go. Panic surrounds the space as an alarm is heard within the first few seconds of Form II. There is a level of attack here which can’t be understated, punches of feedback, and teeth scraping noises pollute your ears. It paints the picture of an abandoned factory, it’s not safe to go galavanting about in. There are puddles of unrecognisable fluids, broken glass and rats everywhere. It’s strikingly obvious that even when in production, this location was never in working condition to begin with, only evil could be manufactured in a place like this. I can do nothing but praise the constant dread that Form II possesses, at times it can hurt my ears, it it is no doubt my favourite song on the album.

The band have their influences, there are crevices buried into the fabric which on occasion pop up, I hear Sunn 0))), Nadja, Merzbow, Shellac and even Ryosuke Kiyasu in this. I enjoy how it shakes on tightrope striking the hard balance between pain and solitude.

Overall, I think that Bone Folder has found themselves in that rare position of being wholly unique. The duo have accessed an approach which is rounded in its feel with no instrument that dominates the scene. Instead of the intensity felt within focusing on a certain aspect, the bass and guitar play catch with each other, trying to find a goal together. The entire listen feels as natural as it can get, it’s head-scratching as I can’t tell wether this record is built up brick by brick or is complete improv and thats the beauty of it. Bone Folder’s debut is mysterious, adventurous and always leaves me thinking “How did they do that?”. It’s an old oak tree in the woods that continues to grow forever and always and no one can put a finger on why that is. This is a rare case where I can’t come up for a numerical rating for this record as there are too many factors at play that tell me that is the wrong thing to do. Would you rate a picture out of 10 in an art gallery? I feel like that leaving this review on this movie quote sums Bone Folder’s full-length up perfectly:

“Life moves moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

-

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

By Joe Guatieri

Band Members:

-Orla: Guitar

@poo-woman

-Arden: Bass

-Wolfie: Vocals

@swarfegaaaaaaa

-Petal/Heron: Drums @thetrannyappears

Album Art: Erika Price

Production: Roman

Mastering: Danny Page

Label: Eggy Tapes

Byford Dolphin Incident are a Powerviolence band from Bristol, England. The four-piece only started midway through last year and yet they’ve already played 10+ gigs, seemingly getting booked in Bristol every week. Their live shows are a chaotic riffs, down-tuned bass fuckery, vocals that would make satan blush and stunning drums that are locked-in yet make no sense. The band may describe themselves as “Powerviolence” but in reality they encompass so much more then that, Doom, Hardcore, Grindcore, Sludge and Noise to name a few more pools that they dive into. There’s so much going on that the crowd become stunned as they don’t know how to react to the music, the pit becomes a mess of finger guns, moshing, two-stepping and crowd killing. I’ve known about them since they started, having getting to know Wolfie beforehand, seeing her ex-band Autoslaughter previously. Slowly I started meeting other members of the band and started getting excited about them. At this point, I’ve seen Byford Dolphin Incident so many times live now and yet I still find myself asking questions about them…

Getting into the EP, it’s difficult going through song by song without repeating myself again and again. Every aspect of the band attacks you in every which way possible, making for a sound that is constantly cathartic. It’s sequenced more like a Grindcore album than anything else, in that its goal is to get in and out as quickly as possible, attempting to give you a migraine. It’s a brief window of poking you and shouting in your face “Can you fucking hear me?!”.

For me to be able to explain myself, I’m going to have to do a list here as this album makes my imagination run wild. Just know that conceptually for me, you’re being locked away in a room with Byford Dolphin Incident, like you’re starring in your own Snuff Film:

-Orla sits with her guitar at back of the room, audibly a lot of the time at the back of the mix. She’s stretching her guitar out as far as she can like tape to put over your mouth. The sound of it makes you tremble with fear. What Orla unleashes throughout the runtime with her bends, mud soaked riffs and belligerent noise is like a car crash that you can’t look away from.

-Arden is standing directly right in front of your person, she’s the one that does the threatening around here and is ready to smack you with her bass to make you talk. She thumps, twangs and hits her instrument, effortlessly moving up and down the neck, she’s a spider spinning her web. At its loudest and lowest, the bass rumbles throughout your entire being.

-Petal/Heron is behind you, its drums are a gun that’s resting against your head, at any point it could pull the trigger and make the room its own. Their pounding and snare abuse is a total shock to the system, mixing stunning technical prowess with the firepower of at least 7 tanks. Surprising or not, a lot of influence comes from the Jazz world, it feels like improv but every movement is expertly planned.

-Wolfie is everywhere all at once and is your sleep paralysis demon come to life. Ear-piercing highs and beastly lows, she screams at the top of her lungs no matter what she’s doing, it’s that feeling of struggling in public and not being able to hide it. It goes beyond anxiety-inducing and brings a tear to my eye as you can’t fake that, it’s as real as a voice as it gets.

To reiterate and bring context to that list, with the production that Roman done for the album and Danny’s subsequent master, it makes the band sound unreasonably loud and like they recorded in several different places, of what locations I can’t tell you for sure but I wouldn’t be surprised if a dungeon was one of them. No doubt it’s got Steve Albini influence all over it as the band is placed as if they are in a room performing in front of you.

Highlighting some of my favourite moments across the EP, first I want to mention “1.8k degrees”, which is the song that I think of when I’m thinking about Byford Dolphin Incident. That intro to me with a call and response from the bass and guitar is like an argument, their both stumbling over each other, trying to say the last word until the drums and vocals come in, not to break things up but add fuel to the fire.

Next a shoutout to “Hell”. It’s my favourite song that the band have done and it’s stunning in how immediate it is. The stop start nature of the song is mesmerising to me, the instrumental clashing combined with the shouts of anguish feel so satisfying, it always makes me want to bellow along with it.

Last for the song mentions, I want to bring attention to the closer with “Nothing but The Face”. It’s the band at their most “catchy” if you can say that… The song is about the accident that Byford Dolphin Incident are named after that happened in 1983 which is truly harrowing stuff. One of best riffs of the album, it feels like that Orla wants the song to end, she’s playing it so fast. Crawling in further we hear Wolfie’s speech over the tannoy which is the alarm sounding out over the rig. Towards the end of the track things take a more Stoner Doom direction, it’s a fun and memorable section for me as I have a visions of an act being played off the stage, it is the finale and what is a finale without a bang? So usually in a live setting Orla will dance across her fretboard in a beautiful grating solo but in this studio setting it feels downed out ironically enough. I can’t hide my disappointment as it can’t be heard amongst the chaos in the mix but it does make me laugh a bit, maybe with some discomfort. The solo washes away with the carcasses of the workers, it makes me think this was all on purpose, just to fuck with me.

Everything on this record feels like that it shouldn’t be seen by human eyes, it’s the type of shit that you stumble across online at 3AM and you can’t sleep because of it. It’s no surprise that all of the tracks on display are themed around industrial disasters, Byford Dolphin Incident provides a soundtrack to them. They remind me of the band meth in that every song feels like the end of the earth, you can’t stop scratching yourself, it’s the itch that won’t go away.

Byford Dolphin Incident have made art that lays somewhere for me between reality and a dream state. Song by song, the records degrades into extremity with instruments blending together, creating an all out assault of the senses, not giving you anytime to breathe. The emotions displayed across this EP feel personable and genuine to a point of concern, this is juxtaposed with a sense of happiness as you can tell the band are enjoying what they are playing.

Overall, I really enjoyed listening to this release and find myself asking the same question again and again, “How the fuck did they do that?”. It’s a very good start by a band that is forever moving forwards, always finding new ways to terrify you, they have already transformed into a living breathing fever-dream as far as I’m concerned. No matter what they do next, I’ll be here for it. Just please whatever you do, don’t show this to your parents, something tells me that they won’t get it… And remember that DEATH IS ALWAYS CERTAIN!!!

8.5

Byford Dolphin Incident - Zero Barbershop, Bristol. Saturday 31st January 2026!

(EP Review)

By Joe Guatieri

GET FUCKED are a Bristol two piece Noise band made up of Chris on Drums and Sam on Bass and “Vocals”. They have been around for a good while now, playing gigs and causing headaches wherever they roam. Recently I saw them play for the first time, opening a stacked gig in the Exchange basement on a bill which also included The Hirs Collective, Death Goals, Grim Harvest and Proprioception. I recall describing GET FUCKED’s set as fucking horrible, it was as blown out, distorted and nonsensical as possible and I loved it!

In terms of their releases, they put out their self-titled EP last year which made rounds on Bandcamp, dwelling in the swamp of the Goblin Punk category. Now in 2025 over a year later, they bring us their latest EP with IT IS WHAT IT IS.

It’s a much shorter showing compared to their last effort, 6 songs, Grindcore energy, shortest at 30 seconds and the longest is 2:48. Let me tell you, it’s difficult to describe an EP when you’re getting the same song again and again with shitty production standards, which is exactly what I want. It goes from tortured feedback to a riff equivalent on a football chant and anti-melody.

Chris’s drum kit is squished right into the corner of the room, taking up the entire left-channel with 50 mics hovering over the high hats and cymbals and 1 room mic. This is very evident on the opener with the fly as you can hear very delicate swishes, amongst the hits to that poor snare.

As for Sam’s bass, it’s obnoxious and farty in it’s delivery, it’s like he’s playing catch-up with his own overdubs not having a clue where he ends or the song begins. Sam’s expertly performed vocals are noise on top of everything else, you can’t tell a word that he’s saying whilst he screams at the top of his lungs, singing inside of a trash can. Truly the Oscar The Grouch of Punk.

IT IS WHAT IT IS is a riot and makes me chuckle at how ridiculous it is. It’s perfect music to switch your brain off too, it’s not serious at all and is just pure fun! We’ve all been there, it’s that dream situation of starting a band with your friends 5 minutes after having a conversation about it, instead of never doing it.

GET FUCKED have made Punk that I want to hear, it’s two people from Bristol having a laugh which brings a huge smile to my face. It’s real, loud and proud!

Below is footage from the aforementioned gig that they played in the basement of the Exchange, 7th September 2025

(Album Review)

By Joe Guatieri

Links to previous mentions of Nadja are at the bottom of this review

Thank you to Aidan Baker for giving me a copy of the album early and letting me review it. Thank you as well to Matt Bladen for letting me review Nadja and in-turn introducing them to me

Nadja are a two piece experimental band from Toronto and Berlin, made up of multi-instrumentalists Aidan Baker and Leah Buckareff. Known for their Drone and Doom Metal soundscapes, the duo’s sound has reached out far and wide into the world where it feels like that every stone has had their name imprinted on it. Genre means nothing to them as they do it all with a rumble that every bone in your body can feel.

I have previously reviewed their collaboration with Fawn Limbs, 2023s Vestigial Spectra for Musipedia Of Metal, a publication that I write for. It was an album that made such an impact on me with its dissonance and abrasive nature, that I not only gave it my album of the year but also proclaiming that it was a masterpiece, giving it a 10 out of 10. That rating still rings true to me to this very day, I love it and would list it in my top 10 favourite albums of all time. This eventually led me to putting them on at a gig in my city of Bristol, England, where they headlined at The Cube on September 14th, 2025. They played alongside Urzah, Victim Unit and Crash Bandighoul. That was a fabulous gig where they played a stunning set, one that I will never forget!

This leads us till today where I’ll be reviewing Nadja’s latest 2025 studio album, Cut. Four tracks, all over 10 minutes long, each is a mountain to climb…

The album opens with, It’s Cold When You Cut Me. As the gunshot rings out and the race begins, you are already faced with uncertainty. A broken drum machine leaves an irritation that can’t be ignored, you have to scratch at it. Soon after it claims its territory, it’s joined by a hard thud on the downbeat, then Aidan’s vocal reveals itself in a soft and delicate manner. His voice is nestled in dark damp spaces, not only behind you but right in your ear as well. It feels defeated before we’ve even begun.

As we progress through the song a tornado of horns is seen far out in the distance, they are attempting to migrate, trying to find purpose but they’ve ended up going around in circles. They are left, unsettled and in a never-ending purgatory, floating out into the void.

It’s Cold When You Cut Me presents itself to me as cold industrialised orchestra, played in reverse. It’s highly ironic how the lyrics mention a safe space when this feels like anything but that. For me the track is giving Glenn Branca meets Khanate, with a dash of Eastern influence. It’s a haunting, living art-piece and my favourite song on the album.

Next up we have Dark, No Knowledge. For the first 3 minutes we are witnessing a live séance made up of nothing but voices. The spirits much like the tornado of horns of the previous track, feel stuck in place with no means of finding vessels to settle in. Dark, No Knowledge’s first foot forward is an anti-melody before, whoever the fuck is hosting this evil event makes you disappear out of thin air.

You awake, reincarnated as a solider in a marching band, scaling a seemingly never-ending mountain in the biting cold. Both yourself and all of your comrades instruments are almost destroyed to the weather’s unwelcoming breath but that still doesn’t stop you from trying to bang along all in unison. The drum machine is letting you listen to this struggle, sounding so rigid as new threats are created with Leah and Aidan’s overwhelming fuzzy guitars. They envelope everything within your path, creating a fog, the most dangerous things always come from the unknown.

Their collective tone is so overboard, I can only imagine that the pair were forcing it through a computer and leaving cyberspace, it’s completely synthetic. Through all of this energy and danger, Aidan conducts a magnificent solo from 8:38 onwards which acts as the marching bands guide. It’s a vacuum that sucks up all of the clouds in the way, “I can see clearly now the rain has gone”. There’s a big cheer from the camp as they continue their journey, it was as if that moment God himself worked a miracle through playing guitar. This was their mantra, their national anthem, a reason to never stop moving forwards.

We then have Track 3, She Ate His Dreams From The Inside & Spat Out The Frozen Fucking Bones. Rest is a must as our merry group set up camp for the night, at least they hope so… There is always one person who brought an acoustic guitar with them and this soldier sits inside a big tent, bundled, shoulder to shoulder their friends with a massive shit-eating grin on his face.

It’s like a medieval Folk song, one that is hushed and incredibly patient. With the guitars, you can hear every single little detail as the fretboard rings out in a forceful manner, showing that there is beauty in imperfection. What strikes a chord particularly with me joint with that is hearing someone breathing, it goes to show that this is genuine and in an acoustic realm like this you can’t fake it, you can only be yourself. Other elements slowly start to fade in with this jam like a harp, helping accentuate the notes and adding depth.

From 4:27 rumbling drums make an entrance like the heartbeat of the song which continues throughout, playing catch with the other instruments, going backwards and forwards. Buzzing feedback rises as well, this all shows that the elements are still at war outside of this very tent, wanting to remove all signs of life from existence. Even if this is Nadja at their most calm on Cut, it remains anxious as the journey is far from over.

We then have the final song with Omenformation. There’s a strange effect that I love with what sounds like two drums on top of each other, like a super kit, one controlling the pinging highs and the other with the earthly lows. All in operation from those fuzzy demons, it’s aggressive in its stop start approach.

Then comes breaking point as from 6:21 Aidan strangles his guitar, making it wail as if it was an injured animal for well over a minute. It’s a torturous technique, one that is usually used to annoy a crowd from an opening band that feels unwelcome at a gig but it feels so right here. Fitting in with the context of Omenformation, it’s suffering with a purpose as it takes the listener into the next section of the song.

Darkness then rears its ugly head, plodding its way through the snow with frantic clangs and constant noise. Faces are frozen, eyes almost shut, your nose could fall off at any second. Every part of your body is like you’re carrying an anvil as you come to the realisation that you’re the only one left. You look behind you and you don’t see any companions for they’ve punished to the most natural of causes in the extremity of circumstance. You might as well have been going in circles, nothing can help you out here as the scenery growls at you. The cold is the wolf and you are its meat. This is your life and it is ending one minute at a time.

With Cut, Nadja has built yet another exhibit in there forever-growing gallery. They have pulled the curtain to unveil 4 new pieces of which each painting shows a scene of an arctic landscape from different points of view. All of which have something in common, that being that they are all vast and seem to go on forever, lost in their own worlds. Each song on this record to me is a cliffhanger, they have all made their beds without lying in them and feel unresolved as a result and that is a wonderful thing to me and these songs could last forever.

With their last few releases, the shapeshifters in Nadja have went through a telling of seasons. Using their instruments and ideas as natural disasters that the world faces. If 2021s Luminous Rot was volcanic summer then Cut is killer winter. Nadja are everywhere and everything, all at once.

You need patience to allow these tracks to dig a hole through to your heart. In time the rewards can be fruitful but you have to open your mind and give it time in order for that to happen. Cut doesn’t beg for your attention, it’s just there to be heard. The path is yours.

9/10

Footage of Nadja at The Cube

Links to relevant articles

Fawn Limbs & Nadja - Vestigial Spectra (Review for Musipedia Of Metal)

My albums of the year for 2023

(Live Review)

By Joe Guatieri

I was excited about this gig for ages, knowing two out of the four acts on the bill, that being Distraxi and Field Boss, was definitely a good sign. Originally Gluey Porch Treatments Promotions were attached to promote this gig but they had to move it onto a different promoter as they were moving somewhere else around the same time the gig was taking place. I found out about this through the Bristol Scene Promotions group chat that I’m a part of. A friend of mine was asking if anyone wanted to take it on and Daryl Hembrough of Two Tough Bastards Promotions had agreed to it. Leon Nicholls is also the promoter who runs it with Daryl and both of them have been running a radio show through Arc Bristol Radio for a while now. They play what they like, all sorts of weirdo Punk and Metal that we all love to hear so both of them inheriting this strange lineup only makes sense.

Distraxi / 10

Local Noise sweetheart Alina Church opened the night under her Distraxi project, starting the gig of with its most violent foot forward. I’ve spoken about Distraxi countless times before, to those who haven’t read my reviews or heard about her before, her style is like combating a maze full of complex emotions, trying to find your way through the darkness. This set in particular was different compared to the last time I seen her, it had been a good few months.

It started off on a warmer, more calming note on a synth that rose up like the sun before plunging into hell. Alina’s vocals felt so more prominent here than previously, a real focus on them while the synth was getting taking a battering to noise. Then Distraxi came out into the crowd, wailing like an animal on the brink of death, assaulting the poor poor head with horrible feedback, placing the mic against it.

As she continued her tirade, a vital cable detached from a pedal, to a point where the microphone stopped working but this didn’t detract from anything, only adding to the experience. I was loving it but wasn’t sure wether the artist was stressed out because of this technical fault or not, regaining composure and going back around to her laptop, the wall continuing throughout. Alina then tried to best to cut through the sound, screaming with every fibre of her being until the microphone miraculously started working again, only to shut everything off and flee the seen.

Distraxi’s set was intense from start to finish, her vocals were being swallowed up by the noise, it was a battle to be heard and that made an impact on me. Dare I say, this was the best vocal performance that I have seen from Alina yet, clearly she’s been working on it which makes sense why it’s so much more present here. It’s a sort of raspy scream, as if someone’s voice was only coming from out of their throat, probably painful to do but definitely painful to hear. Distraxi continues to top herself and keeps on showing why she’s one of the very best performers in the experimental scene right now. Harsh Noise deserves harsh vocals!

Throb / 8

I had never heard of this band before this gig and with the poster describing then as Thrash-trash, I was definitely curious. There was a weird start with the set as the guitar sounded really off but not in a fun way, sounding like a Crosley Record Player. Though they were still going for it, turns out it was not fault of the guitar itself as it wasn’t plugged into the amp properly, it then took on a more full tone. As the set settled into its groove, Throb’s sound was a mix of quite a lot of different stuff which really gelled well, a bit of Grindcore, Speed Metal and all in an old school Punk style. They had lot of fast songs, throwing caution to the wind with big open bombastic drums.

Eventually I was surprised as the playing began to be more stop-start and get progressively sloppier and is if the two members didn’t know when the songs would finish. They burst into slower Sludge section with thunderous chords which I banged my head too, the aggression in both styles of play really lit a fire underneath me as I became excited to see what would come next.

The drummer was the star of the show here, it seems like that he could play anything, whatever pace the band were playing at he was super tight and made it look easy. Throb won me over, they clearly really enjoyed what they were playing and the crowd were very responsive to them. I would love to see them live again!

Field Boss / 9

Formerly TRACTOR, I’ve seen them live previously at an all-dayer and loved them then so I was excited to see them again here. They’re a super group made up of members of GlueHorse, Doom and Dirty Nips and the sound that they have blends elements of Stoner, Sludge and Noise Rock altogether, making for a lot of flavour.

For their sound check, the band they were incredibly loud so people were already took back from it and were prepared and then they started playing. Unfortunately there were more goblins in the system as a quarter way into the song, Craig’s (Guitar/Vocalist) guitar stopped working completely as Holly (Bassist) and Bri (Drummer) carried on pounding till the song finished. Of course stressed out, Craig was perplexed by the situation as Sean (sound technician) came in to save the day. After taking a look at the amp for a few minutes, the pair came to the conclusion that the guitar amp had blown up so Sean quickly brought over another one and Craig plugged in. All while this was happening, Holly and Bri were jamming and summoning explosions in the earth with their attack and this continued into the next song when Craig got his guitar working again.

The next few songs brought a form of noisy psychedelic focus in repetition making for something very hypnotic. Craig was constantly bending his strings and it looked like they were about to break every time and Holly was showing why she’s Bristol’s best bassist with constant groove, painting so many little details on her fretboard. All whilst Bri sounded massive behind the drums, an absolute rock and keeping everything ticking. There felt like an obvious wink and nudge to Nirvana’s Aneurysm in one of Field Boss’s songs. During its playing, Craig was moving up the neck in a similar style and it was all in good fun, taking it off-road afterwards, manipulating the feedback as he so pleased.

Whist it wasn’t all smooth sailing, Field Boss played an excellent set and got people banging their heads, mission accomplished!

Why Patterns / 10

Last but by no means least was Why Patterns, a band a few months ago I hadn’t even heard of before. I’ve seen a lot of stuff said about them and I hadn’t listened to any music that they put out there before this so I was seeing this set completely blind.

That turned out to be the correct decision, as 3 men were on stage, a bassist, a drummer and a vocalist, who was wearing fishnet tights under his jeans and “END” written on his forehead and that word was felt. Imminently they blasted into their set and I started punching the air violently as I heard a bass that sounded like it was from the depths of hell, smoking a joint with the devil and crazed drumming. The vocalist was prancing around shouting his damn head off, saying things which no one could understand, everything was completely incomprehensible and I love every single last second of it!

I can’t say much more, there was wild moshing, crawling, deranged cover of I Wanna Be Your Dog by The Stooges, and cow bell. I would describe their sound as Primus meets Grindcore but I can only do that without you seeing them. Equipment caught fire by the end of their set, if that doesn’t say it all, I don’t know what will. Now stop reading, find Why Patterns next set closest to you and go and see them as you will be overwhelmed in the best possible way!

Ok don’t stop reading for now, this gig was beautiful and everything that a show in Bristol should be! It was chaos, frightening and ecstasy all in one. Also the running order of the acts was very well thought out. Even if this entire bill is filled with abrasive acts, it’s the right call for Distraxi to open as if she was on halfway, it might of disturbed the flow and confused people. Noise acts on a bill that isn’t at extreme gig should either open or play last. Very well done to Tough Bastards for putting this on and the acts for playing, this was a superb gig and I will never forget about it!

Below is footage that I took of Why Patterns from this gig

By Joe Guatieri

Silversides is a one man band which consists of two completely different sounds. Based out of England they already have a Synthwave EP which was released back in February but in this post we will be focusing on the Industrial EP, “Imposter Syndrome” which came out recently on Friday 18th July. They have slowly been drip feeding singles in this experimental field since last year, one song ended up being included in my top 10 songs of 2024, the track in question was called ‘Asphyxiation Song’. This was an earlier more primitive version of the track which has been remixed for this new release.

(My top 10 songs of 2024 including Silverside’s ‘Asphyxiation Song’ is linked at the bottom of this review)

The album opens with the aforementioned ‘Asphyxiation Song’. A shadowed and mysterious start containing rising and falling buzzing synths, then adding a drum machine as a phaser effects swoops across from the left to right channels. These robotic elements then reveals itself as a low-tuned guitar groove, a well crafted surprise. The track prides itself on its catchiness with a soft vocal inflection as the guitars begin to unravel and play off each other. They sound very strangled which is ironic considering the name of the song and then the programming comes back in a dominating fashion, again covering every surface. It pushes out the reality of the instruments, making you think that more was a foot, teasing to some sort of explosion at the end but leaving you wanting more. ‘Asphyxiation Song’ is without a doubt my favourite song on “Imposter Syndrome”. The track displays the influences of Nine Inch Nails and Queens Of The Stone Age, a good well to pull from.

Later we go into track 3 with ‘Eyez All Around”, which leans into silliness as I alluded to previously, not taking itself too seriously, but making a good jam out of it, being more danceable. The tinny drum machine effects and the ridiculous vocal delivery, do make me laugh. I would say that this song displays the best guitar performance on the album, being cutting and fuzzy in its nature. If Ween was to do a take on Industrial music then it would sound like this.

Getting deeper into the EP, later still we go into the final track with ‘Getaway Driver’. It knows exactly what it’s doing within its opening minute with the riff being a clear send up to ‘Push It’s by Static-X. Entirely instrumental this song is all about the pace of it, again hinting at its title, playing around with the electronics more just to see what would happen. Although it doesn’t completely stick with me, considering everything that came before it, it’s a decent finish to “Imposter Syndrome”.

There’s a variety of good singular instrumental performances throughout the run time which I find to be very gripping. The deeper dive took into the album, the more risks it takes, more great singular performances are had in the bass on tracks like ‘Down But Never Out’, as well as more pounding drums on ‘Just Can’t Help Myself’. The more beat induced sections wether intentional or not, verge upon Industrial’s club based beginning’s of Electronic Body Music.

There’s a consistency in hooks which highlights the EP at its engaging best, combined with melodic vocal performances. There is a case of becoming lost in itself though, a point where structure becomes too much and the need for extremities are needed. Even towards the back half of the album when there are more reasons to jump, some kind of spirit holds it back, refusing to go to the next gear into unexplored territory. The drums tend to sit back, staying within the confines of the melody and following it when it could have every reason to explode and just go fucking crazy.

Overall, Silversides does well to imprint a solid first step in the concrete, yet to have a hash out a style but having some great ideas to work with, establishing a clear structure. “Imposter Syndrome” introduces a solid listen with a few moments of genuine joy to be had, showcasing a lot of potential which excites me to see what they come up with next.

7

By Joe Guatieri

Credits:

Recorded By Linus

Mastered by Andrew Doig

Note: All of Linus’s other projects and the references in this review are included at the bottom of the article

Linus is a man of many hats being the screamer in Bristol Grindcore band Atomck, guitarist and vocalist of Thinking With Sand and Harsh Noise as Wulf Gas. Linus Fitness-Centre is one of his longer running projects and it presents the man at his most niche. It’s safe to say that not everyone has a Commodore 64 Noise Pop project but for Linus is makes a lot of sense when you think about it. At last count of mine this one-man-band has five EPs, yes that includes a Christmas one, and four full length albums. We are presented here with Linus’s fifth record release, the first in four years after 2021’s “again”, 2025 brings us “persistent random misfortune”.

The LP opens with ‘not now or never’, a futuristic Euro Pop banger, that brings me visions of having an out of body experience at a club abroad. This draws me to do a comparison between this song and a previous review that I had done earlier on in the year. The song ‘Terrified’ from Monika Badly’s album “Love Songs” made me think of being overly anxious in a club to a point of a nervous breakdown. ‘not now or never’ offers the antithesis of this emotional distress, being overly joyful instead. The opening track is enveloping, making you turn your head upon hearing those big icey beats before unraveling into a river of melody.

The following piece, ‘no fixed point’, brings not only a jolt of energy but a whole windmill farm full of it. I’ve witnessed Linus playing this song many times live and since the first time, regardless if he was wearing is patented disco cock or not, he would jump freely almost colliding with the ceiling ever time, like a crazed Tigger. I would always look forward to joining him in this, ‘no fixed point’ is a work out video that has come to life, so much so that I would always find myself drenched with sweat afterwards. In all aspects it’s a simple few chord refrain that the drum machine always pushes forward with its fast pace. This song to me perfectly captures the idea of what Linus Fitness-Centre is about, pure fun, no wonder why it’s my favourite song of his.

A bit later we go into track four with ‘nowhere to go’. It’s a surprise step into absurdity and I for one welcome it with open arms. It’s got a farty bass sound, reverse guitar melodies and a dog barking, what more could you want? It’s like if Ween were lost in cyberspace and have become entirely synthetic entities. Imagine if “The Pod” sounded a bit less shit and had a stomach ache over consuming nothing both but motherboards for two hours then you would end up here wether you like it or not. It makes me laugh so much, ‘nowhere to go’ is playful and hilarious.

Later still, we go into track six with ‘seethe’ which pushes you forcefully into a world of uncertainty. Waking up in a daze and seeing flickering lights, represented by glitchy synths in the distance through your blurry vision. You suddenly discover that you’re on a nondescript building site, colliding with unbuilt structures then suddenly alarm bells ring as fear rears its ugly head. Your eyes dart across the scene of chain link fences to a dark alleyway in which you immediately start sprinting down. Those dog barks that you heard before make a return but this time, their only purpose is to kill, by 2:27 you are deafened by enormous Industrial beats which take up the centre of the mix, as the left and right channels continue the torture with cutting synths that are buzzsaws, chopping your ears off. The track by the end disintegrates around you as these elements have been hitting too hard and though the damage has been done, the harmful memories remain. ‘seethe’ is tinnitus inducing, no wonder why I enjoy it so much.

Near the end of “persistent random misfortune” we have ‘home’ which after the listen that I’ve had so far, is where I want to be right now. In its opening I find it be reminiscent of Toto’s ‘Africa’ with its worldly funky drum pattern. The synths just seem to be forever rising here, beaming with life, like you could almost see them. If this album was a dangerous hike across the arctic, previously mentioning icey synthesisers earlier then ‘home’ is The Northen Light. You sit down a reflect on what you’ve experienced so far whilst admiring its wonderment. This song is beautiful and is up there with the very best things that Linus has done. If I could recommend only one song on the album for anyone to listen to, it would have to be this one.

Overall, “persistent random misfortune” by Linus Fitness Centre brings together several different worlds. He incorporates the pop sensibility of genres like Shoegaze and Electronica and effectively blends it with the extremities of Noise and Industrial music. He has created his own video game at home without any help or people knowing. A true passion project in which every level contains a piece of his soul. Although I do think at times it outstays its welcome a bit with it being twelve tracks long and over 45 minutes it length. Where there is too much is quantity, the quality shines through with its beating heart and endless creativity. Linus has constructed art and I can’t wait to see where he goes to next.

8

Below is footage from Linus Fitness-Centre playing ‘no fixed point’ in the Exchange basement, 8th February 2024

Linus’s Other Bands:

Atomck

Thinking With Sand

Wulf Gas

Refrence to Monika Badly review in second paragraph