January is over - and good riddance! Alright, it wasn't that bad, but we're just itching to get stuck into the rest of 2025 with plenty of brilliant new albums to come. In that spirit (pun half-intended), we've got rising stars Spiritbox back on the cover of Metal Hammer ahead of the release of Tsunami Sea in March.
But while that's well and good, we're also bringing you fresh faces you perhaps haven't heard of. Much as we did last month, we've scouted far and wide to bring you some of the most exciting sounds from across the metal and heavy spectrum, this month unearthing everything from pop-infused metalcore to self-styled fairy doom.
You can read about those brilliant bands below and also listen to our massive playlist of the hottest bands of 2025, containing the latest releases from every band featured in the New Noise section of Metal Hammer. Enjoy!
Conquer Divide
Cross-continental quintet Conquer Divide are on their second life and determined to make this one count. Formed in 2013 by Michigan-based guitarist Kristen Sturgis, she carefully handpicked her bandmates from the US, UK, and Canada to execute her ambitions for an all-female metalcore band. The fact 2015’s self-titled album has amassed more than 30 million streams proves Kristen’s vision was worth pursuing. However, with its follow-up readied, the pandemic and personal issues condemned the band to the gallows.
In hindsight, the death of their first era was a blessing. With their second album, Slow Burn, they’re back from the dead, refined and reinvigorated. Their gnarly riffs are augmented by sharper pop sensibilities for songs that can open pits and garner mainstream radio play in equal measure.
“We’ve gotten away from that classic metalcore sound,” explains Liverpudlian co-guitarist Izzy Johnson. “We have a more modern and polished sound.”
Via breakdowns and seven-string riffage aplenty, Conquer Divide get seriously heavy. Yet their pop-centric approach to songwriting means that, no matter how bruising, their music is always infectious.
“We always start with a chord progression,” explains Izzy. “Once you take away all the instruments and effects, genres don’t matter. Some of our songs sound heavy as hell, but they’ll share a chord progression with Taylor Swift. We use the pop element to our advantage.”
The band have also worked with esteemed songwriter Johnny Andrews (Halestorm, Buckcherry, Motionless In White) and collaborated with Electric Callboy and Attack Attack!. While Izzy admits that metal bands bringing in outside help can be deemed as “taboo”, she says working with others “really helps your art flourish”.
Two UK tours, with New Years Day and Ankor, and a “heavy radio rock” single, Bad Dreams, will see the band start 2025 with a bang. Conquer Divide are hellbent on making up for lost time. Phil Weller
The Deluxe Edition of Slow Burn is out now via Mascot. Conquer Divide support Ankor on their UK tour from February 7.
Sounds Like: Gut-wrenching modern metal getting seduced by heart-churning pop hooks
For Fans Of: We Came As Romans, Parkway Drive, Demi Lovato
Listen To: system_failure
Faetooth
Fairy tales don't always have happy endings. In the twisted literary world of The Brothers Grimm, these fantastical stories often involved harrowing ordeals, offering a reflection on the true, darker nature of reality. In a similar spirit, California’s Faetooth combine “the trials and tribulations of life” with ethereal imagery, often seeking to blur the distinction between them as they transform from moments of light, mystical shoegaze to “visceral and unsettling” heaviness.
“In these tales there is usually some kind of moral, lesson, or deeper meaning,” explains bassist/vocalist Jenna Garcia. “We’re definitely inspired by that.”
Jenna formed Faetooth in 2019 alongside guitarist/vocalist Ari May and drummer Rah Kanan. The trio – who met at high school and on Los Angeles’ DIY music scene - classify themselves as “fairy doom”, which Jenna summarises as a kind of “magical doom that is sparkly but heavy”.
So far, they’ve released the 2019 EP …An Invocation, and one full-length, 2022’s Remnants Of The Vessel. From its gossamer cleans and delicate, gorgeous riffs to its murderous, sludge-backed screams, it thrums with treacherous magic and potent rage.
“Life can suck sometimes, and not even in just our personal lives, but the world is constantly on fire,” says Jenny of what informs the album’s darker side. “So I think there are a lot of reasons to be pissed off.”
As well as fairy tales, Faetooth feed off their many interests, such as witchcraft, the occult, European folklore, psychology and horror films, including Robert Eggers’ The VVitch.
“There’s a lot of inspiration in terror and it can be so beautiful too,” says Ari. “It’s often really poetic.”
This year they’ll release their second LP, which they’re currently recording. “We’ve somehow gotten heavier and softer at the same time,” says Jenna of the album, while Ari promises it will be “depressing in the best way possible.” Liz Scarlett
Faetooth play Roadburn Festival in April and Download Festival in June. Their new album is expected later this year.
Sounds Like: Being lost in the woods of another realm, sword-in-hand, surrounded by bloodthirsty creatures
For Fans Of: Chelsea Wolfe, King Woman, Thou
Listen To: Echolalia
![Faetooth - Echolalia [Official Lyric Video] - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/5s-UQ2Q0KZ0/maxresdefault.jpg)
Avoid
Avoid have one of the more eyebrow-raising biographies on Spotify. Described as what would happen “if Dale Earnhardt, Guy Fieri and Steve-O started a Spinal Tap cover band”, it somehow manages to be completely spot-on yet massively inaccurate. It conveys their infectious enthusiasm and the general goofiness of their catchy metalcore anthems, even if they sound nothing like Derek Smalls and co.
Formed in Seattle when its members were just 14 years old, the band spent their school years as “the local opener for every metalcore band coming through town”, according to singer Benny Scholl. After graduating, they realised that continuing the band would be a good excuse to keep hanging out together, so kept playing. They’ve since built a wave of momentum and are entering 2025 with a new album on the way. They’re also branching out beyond what would traditionally be considered metalcore.
Avoid’s music incorporates hip hop and electronica influences, and Benny sees no problem with pushing the boundaries.
“We’re not gatekeepers,” he says. “There are no rules with music. If you’re having fun and being creative, you’ll figure out something that hits for you. People say, ‘You can’t put a blastbeat there.’ Why not?”
It’s a wide-eyed, genre-hopping approach with a keen sense of fun, but it’s not all silly, lightweight fluff. Avoid use positivity as an act of rebellion and want to be a light in the dark.
“I hope that we can continue to create a space with our band where everyone feels welcome, even though our country isn’t doing a great job at that. Sometimes you have to be able to find the humour in a sad thing, and smile through the pain, or else the other shit wins, and that’s when it gets real scary.” Tim Bolitho-Jones
Burn is out now via UFND.
Sounds Like: Upbeat and catchy metalcore with a smattering of hip hop and electronica
For Fans Of: The Word Alive, Fall Out Boy, Bleed From Within
Listen To: Burn
![AVOID - Burn [Official Music Video] - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/6cWGiB3jdqk/maxresdefault.jpg)
Defences
When asked to give an elevator pitch for Shadowlight, their latest full-length album, the members of alt metal band Defences strike decidedly different tones. Vocalist Cherry Duesbury declares the record is “a journey towards acceptance”. Meanwhile, with a cheeky grin, guitarist Calum Wilmot suggests it sounds like “Silent Hill if it had breakdowns and choruses”.
It’s one hell of a juxtaposition, but one that isn’t entirely unfounded. Taking its title from Jungian psychotherapy, Shadowlight is fixated on contrasts: darkness and light, melody and heaviness, internal and external.
“It’s an amalgamation of all our personal influences from within alternative music,” Calum explains. “We wanted to say something very honest. Although it’s very personal, I think fun was also probably more at the forefront of this record than perhaps it has been in the past.”
This desire for joy translates to some of the Hertfordshire quintet’s most urgent material to date. Whether it’s through Perish’s quaking riffs crashing against soaring melodies, Gold In The Dark’s harsh screams and synth lines dancing around metalcore progressions and pop crescendos, or the towering heights of Cherry’s angelic clean register on The Almost, Shadowlight proves the group have what it takes to stand with the UK’s current alt metal vanguard.
Ultimately, however, the strength of Shadowlight hinges on seeking authenticity through storytelling, as Defences seek to channel vulnerability into a creative vessel for personal growth.
“I was ready to make changes and start a new chapter of my life,” Cherry explains. “I had this vision of a different version of myself that was a bit more whole than I was at the time. I started to take steps to go on that journey, and that’s essentially what the album is: a journey from darkness into light.” Owen Morawitz
Shadowlight is out now via Long Branch.
Sounds Like: A seductive modern metal serenade
For Fans Of: As Everything Unfolds, Sleep Token, Gore.
Listen To: The Almost
