We're officially a quarter of the way through the year! 2025 has got off to a pretty strong start so far as new metal releases goes with the likes of Spiritbox, Killswitch Engage, Jinjer and Wardruna all releasing albums in recent weeks, but there's still plenty more to come with new albums from Ghost, Babymetal, Lord Of The Lost and more lined up on the calendar.
And that's to say nothing of new bands to discover, of course! Much as we did last month, we've hunted high and low, far and wide to find you some of the most exciting new sounds around as we enter April.
You can hear the latest releases from those bands in our massive playlist below, but read on to (possibly) discover your new favourite band. So stick 'em on, and have an excellent month!
Grima
“For more than half half the year, our home is covered in snow. The majestic yet desolate mountains and forests paint powerful landscapes. That cold, raw beauty finds its way into our sound,” explains Vilhelm, regarding the compelling natural muse behind Grima, the project he began with his twin brother, Morbius, more than a decade ago.
From the use of regional Russian folk instrumentation (such as the sorrowful-sounding bayan accordion), to the wearing of remarkable phellem masks, to the band’s evocative album artwork and snow-forest fixations of their music videos, Grima have devoted themselves wholesale to the Siberian vistas of their surroundings. Even the name Grima has come to represent a malign forest deity conjured by the twins to reign over their mystical world.
“Our music is performed as a ritual, and the audience becomes part of the ceremony,” says Vilhelm. “Our costumes, our aesthetics, they alter our existence, allowing us to channel dark Siberian art. The album covers and videos help us to convey these images remotely, extending the essence of our music and its lore.”
“Grima symbolises the dark, rebellious spirit of the forest, where nature is predominantly hostile to human presence and activity,” Morbius elaborates. “An unwelcome visitor may face punishment if they don’t treat the forest temple with respect.”
With latest album Nightside, the brothers cloak Grima’s dominions in an extra layer of obsidian, escalating levels of dread and sorcery.
“Nightside explores the forest’s nocturnal side – its inhabitants and mystical entities,” states Vilhelm. “It tells of lost souls wandering tangled paths, tales of Grima’s most devoted servants, who collect skull trophies from the bodies of the dead. The album is full of stories of those who found their final rest in the taiga.” Spencer Grady
Nightside is out now via Napalm. Grima tour the UK from May 25.
Sounds Like: Melancholic black metal instilled with the frostbitten essence of the taiga
For Fans Of: Wolves In The Throne Room, Drudkh, Panopticon
Listen To: Flight Of The Silver Storm
Catch Your Breath
Mainstream metalcore has never been bigger, thanks to the likes of Bring Me The Horizon, Sleep Token and Spiritbox. Catch Your Breath’s debut album, Shame On Me, sees the Texans aiming to be part of the next wave. Originally released in 2023, it offers a swaggering collection of riff-driven anthems that aren’t afraid of a catchy hook, while last year’s deluxe edition added dreamy pop and urgent rave to their sonic arsenal in Good In Goodbye and Ghost Inside The Shell respectively.
“It’s kinda all over the place, but that’s what I like about it,” says vocalist Josh Mowery, adding the band listened to Halsey, Banks and Demi Lovato while recording. “You need to look outside of metal for inspiration, otherwise the scene is going to eat itself.”
Lyrically, the album is a cathartic purge of repressed feelings. “All the songs come from a very real place,” Josh explains.
At first, he was worried about being too direct about his own turbulent upbringing because he “didn’t want it to feel ‘woe is me’”, but he found strength in using that pain to create something empowering.
“I was let down, neglected and abandoned, but at the same time, I created this music because of that,” he reasons.
The album bounces between fury and reflection. “Every bit of anger is usually caused by sadness of some kind. We wanted to stay true to that,” Josh adds. “But if someone is singing about being pissed off, you want to feel it.”
As well as blowing up on streaming services – they have over 2.2 million monthly listeners on Spotify – Catch Your Breath have spent the past year stealing the spotlight while supporting the likes of Dayseeker and Breaking Benjamin. Now their sights are set on Europe with their own headline run.
“Music brings people together – we want to celebrate that,” says Josh, who’s determined to turn each gig into heavy metal karaoke. “A lot of our songs are about things that would usually be hard to talk about, but we do it to show people they’re not alone. We want to prove you can be more than your trauma.” Ali Shutler
The Deluxe Edition of Shame On Me is out now via Thriller Records. Catch Your Breath tour the UK from April 8.
Sounds Like: Poptastic metalcore with plenty of bite For Fans Of: Bad Omens, Poppy, Spiritbox
Listen To: Dial Tone
Church Tongue
Hardcore might have a reputation for lyrical aggression and righteous anger, but that’s certainly not the case with Church Tongue’s incredible new EP, You’ll Know It Was Me. Instead, frontman Mike Sugars has written six “songs about love” for his band’s latest release. Themes range from Mike embracing sobriety to the deep adoration he feels for his wife and his mother. It’s all very sweet.
“That’s the challenge: to make really heavy music but to embrace this feeling of pure love,” he says. “I’ve been making this brutal, beatdown music for a decade now. So, I’m a bit older, more comfortable in myself, and I love my mom! Why should I feel embarrassed by that?”
You’ll Know It Was Me is a sublime slab of pummelling, destructive hardcore. It grinds, blasts and is thoroughly chaotic, guests like Deafheaven’s George Clarke, Twitching Tongues’ Colin Young and Initiate’s Crystal Pak adding extra screams and howls.
“We aimed high with our guest spots,” recalls Mike. “It was a dream to get all of them. We’re just a little band, and to get these artists that we’re such big fans of to say yes to us, it’s just incredible.”
You’ll Know It Was Me is Church Tongue’s first release in four years, and it’s worth the wait. The delay was because guitarist Nicko Calderon found himself swept up in a tide of activity surrounding his axe duties in breakout hardcore stars Knocked Loose.
“We are really proud of what Nicko’s done,” explains the vocalist, swelling with pride. “He’s got his own fanbase now, so we might have a few more eyes on us, but we’re our own thing and we’re all really committed to this band, no matter who shows up.” Stephen Hill
You'll Know It Was Me is out now via Pure Noise.
Sounds Like: Being smothered in a crushing bear hug, by an actual bear
For Fans Of: Knocked Loose, Poison The Well, Renounced
Listen To: The Fury Of Love
Mélancolia
Mélancolia are a band destined to divide opinion. Not only do they play a pimped-up take on deathcore – itself a genre with as many critics as adherents – they do so with a style, swagger and visual flair not often seen in these breakdown-laden depths.
“I need visual representation or it just doesn’t do it for me,” explains frontman Alex Hill. “Too often I will scroll past bands that all look the same with their black hoodies. I’ve always wanted a strong image that matches the music.”
That image is culled equally from horror movies and underground industrial clubs, while the music mixes those pummelling deathcore grooves with nu metal undertones, electronic embellishments and a spatter of Cradle Of Filth.
“Dani Filth is like the magnum opus of high screams and there’s an artistry in how he creates a world for his band,” Alex nods.
The Melbourne-based newcomers presented their vision on their debut full-length, HissThroughRottenTeeth. It’s a concept album that the singer describes as being about “a deity that was thrown out from the afterlife and condemned to live in the mortal realm, with all the knowledge of being a deity but none of the power”. It’s a twisting, churning descent through personal hell that uses horror as allegory.
“There’s definitely dramatisation, but I think I create characters that are a catalyst to explain emotions, scenarios and feelings that I’ve had and experiences that I’ve gone through in life,” explains the frontman.
Mélancolia hit UK shores supporting death metal legends Suffocation this month, and Alex suggests you get there early if you’re going.
“We put on a show sonically,” he says. “We’ve got the heaviness and the evil moments, but visually you’re not going to see a band like us in this genre. Love us or hate us, you will remember us." Paul Travers
HissThroughRottenTeeth is out now via Nuclear Blast.
Sounds Like: Cerebral celluloid splatter set to deathcore riffage and blackened screams
For Fans Of: Suicide Silence, Ice Nine Kills, Cradle Of Filth
Listen To: HissThroughRottenTeeth
