London-based band Harsh Language recently dropped their staggering new single "Helium Heart," successfully capturing the untethered, dizzying panic of sudden grief. The three-piece Sean Shreeve, Rob Green, and Alec Albury wrestle with an incredibly difficult headspace here. They boldly smash the raw, muscular grit of progressive metalcore against the bruised melancholy of electronica, forging an aggressively heavy, boundary-defying soundscape. https://open.spotify.com/track/2ObVXZYfe16OiJd44zSSIy?si=00913aad74f2461a Grief is a chaotic animal, and...

Flavor Wave’s single, “The Optimist,” arrived less like a declaration and more like someone tentatively drawing back a dusty curtain on a grey afternoon. From West Chester, PA, these five lifelong friends – Kyle Loedel (vocals, lyrics), Matthew Stretch (lead guitar), Patrick Blair (rhythm guitar), Noah Montgomery (bass), and Joshua Speaker (performer/drums) – typically tread alternative rock paths nodding to influences like The Strokes....