This album seamlessly flits from one brilliantly bold idea to another with no dips in quality.

Earth's continued trudge into beatific wilderness sees Dylan Carlson return to territory traversed by the desolate windswept tundras.

Overall, If Not Now, When? is the sound of Incubus coming of age. It's not particularly experimental nor is it completely straightforward but it is concise and a risk that's paid off.

Twin Forks is an album of freedom and exploration, the sound of people taking risks for the sake of song. We like that.

The likes of 'The Resist Stance' and 'Someone To Believe' burn with righteous anger and the energy of a band half their age. Only the closer, the toothless 'I Won't Say Anything', isn't up to scratch. A fine addition to their cannon.

It all combines to make Citizen’s gloomiest, most atmospheric record yet--and also one of the most disturbing of the year so far. It’s a memorable journey.

Heritage is an infinitely more audacious beast, full of jazzy noodling, serpentine guitar leads, folky introspection and general acid-drenched freakiness.

Whether opting for the sledgehammer (check out the riffs on ‘The New Reality’) or an icy scalpel (the warped post-punk of ‘Ugly’), the Pittsburgh four-piece rain down a hail of killer blows. Welcome to Hell.

The Baltimore hardcore crew follow up their beloved 2015 debut full-length 'Nonstop Feeling' with an equally intense 13 tracks, dragging the best elements of 20th Century punk into the modern world.

It's probably about time more people started caring about this band, especially since they deal in the sort of sounds that demand to be taken to heart.

The Husker Du-lionising and strategic swearing of earlier releases might be absent, but Let's Wrestle's copious charms are otherwise very much in force on their full-length debut.

Few bands out there twist metal into such bewildering, bewitching shapes, and--somehow--there’s little sign of their well running dry.

Hope is the soundtrack to the summer you've not yet had, and from here it sounds like it might be the best one yet.

It sounds ferocious and is going to have you feeling filthy and dealing with tinnitus afterwards, but nothing's going to stop you from rocking.

Five Serpent's Teeth is 100 per cent square in the Evile MO: twisted kinetic riffs from the Brothers Drake push the needle into the red before resolving themselves in anthemic choruses.

In short To Be Everywhere... is another triumphant step for a band whose two-decade growth from able but impetuous riff merchants to purveyors of truly ambitious art has been nothing short of inspiring.

They're back in irresistibly anthemic form, with just the right blend of punk attitude and pop genius.

Beloved is both a reincarnation of old and a lesson in modern metalcore that makes IKTPQ the oldest newcomers to stake their claim for 2014.

While A Nation Sleeps is typically impassioned, excellent stuff that marries wretched, raw aggression and political indignation with massive melodies that are just on the right side of cheesy.

Revel in the gloom.

Gareth’s vocal is less shrill these days, his lyrics are less desperate (though just as despairing), and the band’s soundscapes are increasingly diverse....A big step forward.

Stoke Extinguisher offers both food for thought and fuel for the pit; cheap gags jostle for space with anti-establishment rhetoric and a wry sense of self-depreciation.

We also love to party and this third effort from Cobra Starship screams ‘party’ right from blast off.

Baffling yet hum-able at the same time, this is the work of a band without a clue where they're going, and it's all the stronger for it.

Clouded is possibly the most beautiful record about heartbreak you’ll hear all year.

As fans of the group will attest, there's nothing quite like experiencing Mogwai in a live setting and while Special Moves might never fully capture that sheer weight of sound, it nevertheless represents a hugely impressive live document (even without Burning, the accompanying DVD).

It's challenging (but not a challenging listen), pushing boundaries and smashing down your very notions of what metal--or metalcore--is.

This is a grower not a shower but persevere because White Silence has been worth the wait.