Reading & Leeds Festival is right around the corner, so we’ve highlighted the best in rock and alternative music that you can expect to catch across the weekend.
With their roaring new album ‘Give Me Dirt’ finally out in the world, Cancer Bats arrive at Bristol’s Rough Trade to celebrate in expectedly raucous style.
An older, more refined, more Americana-inspired take on The Afghan Whigs’ sound makes for a late-period album with so much value.
In this Review Round-Up, Zebrahead round out their EP series with its best entry; Dead Tired put out some solid hardcore; and AXTY…are here too.
Although a little small and unable to go as far with its concept as it could, there’s still a good amount of likable, listenable character in Role Model’s latest foray into Americana.
With a stacked bill reaching prog, metalcore, hardcore and beyond, RADAR Festival is bigger and more diverse than ever in 2026, headlined by Thy Art Is Murder, Skindred and Animals As Leaders, and featuring Northlane, ten56., unpeople, Employed To Serve, Graphic Nature and more.
Ceremony’s latest left turn takes them into brittle, hardened post-punk, often with some really compelling results.
A combination of sludge, doom and traditional folk brings out a uniquely captivating vision in heavy music from Crumbling Ghost.
The boldness and zaniness of Electric Callboy has grown even more, losing its way more than preferred, but generating plenty of truly great sparks along the way, too.
In this Review Round-Up, heavy music hits a triplet of winners, thanks to prog-metal from Allt, and varying flavours of hardcore from Negative Frame and Initiate.