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The brainchild of Kittie’s Mercedes Lander, White Swan eschew snarly rock’n’roll for richly textured, Alice In Chains-inflected doom. This three-track EP finds an enrapturing point between 70s atmosphere and 90s nous.

Having freelanced regularly for the Melody Maker and Kerrang!, and edited the extreme metal monthly, Terrorizer, for seven years, Jonathan is now the overseer of all the album and live reviews in Metal Hammer. Bemoans his obsolete superpower of being invisible to Routemaster bus conductors, finds men without sideburns slightly circumspect, and thinks songs that aren’t about Satan, swords or witches are a bit silly.

White Swan - The White album review

Small Mercies - New Blood