Ludwig Jonsson, hailing from Jönköping, Sweden – a place I once imagined was solely populated by competitive furniture assemblers – has unleashed "Anybody Out There," a single that slams into you like a rogue shopping cart on a downhill slope. It's hard rock, sure, but it's got this texture, like sandpaper dipped in honey. https://open.spotify.com/track/4Dulb3Cng8qV360NJFtEBr?si=dMYRbliySw6ImpUIoMQ8Cg Jonsson, the one-man army of sound, crafts everything in his home...

Winning has no shine in Brian Hunsaker’s “Final Score.” Brian Hunsaker’s fifth and final single before Where Dreamers Fall uses speed metal and power metal to face war’s aftershock. He frames conflict as a mental trap. The end keeps coming into view, yet no outcome feels clean. It suits listeners who want intense metal with a dramatic premise. It avoids a simple tale of triumph. The path...