Staggering third album GLOW ON changes the game once again. Upping the experimentation and layering on unprecedented emotional textures, its mixtape-alike 35-minute sprawl is more intricate, engaging and ambitious while feeling simultaneously even further laid back.

Halsey’s If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power is an album best served whole. Sure, it’s packing some infectious, radio-ready choruses, but there is so much more to unpack, with each listen peeling back layers of heartache but also dexterity and adventure, and much-needed sense of danger that their peers are lacking.

While this is certainly different from anything they have released previously, it is unmistakably an Amenra album – they’ve lost none of their razor sharp edge and are every bit as crushingly oppressive as they’ve always been. However, De Doorn has allowed for them to explore a much wider range of the emotional spectrum that their music is skilfully able to express and, as such, breaks down the boundaries that they have spent decades expanding on and pushing the limits of.

The solos are absolutely enormous and are some of the most interesting song writing that they’ve produced to date.

Katakana builds from scratchy verses to a drilling riff, Missile Command boasts an undulating Sergio Vega bassline par excellence and album closer Rodan summons an oversized riff worthy of its kaiju namesake. Yet so often it’s the little surprises, the achingly cool flourishes, that impress here.

To some, Infinite Granite is a further step away from what they want. To others, a step further into it. For Deafheaven, it’s simply who they are. Truthfully, it’s who they’ve always been. No surprises here.

You have a record that defies easy categorisation, reminiscent only of the restlessness embodied by outfits like Liars. If their music feels trippy and amorphous, their lyrical focus is often surprisingly specific.

By the time this EP draws to a close, it’s fair to say that its creators haven’t really strayed too far from their core sound – something they’ll want to build on with future releases – but when the songs just work and everything sounds so fun, it feels rather greedy to ask for more.

Foxing, however, just keep getting better. Who knows what they’ll sound like by the time the next emo reboot kicks in. But, for now, Draw Down The Moon makes them a champion in their own field.

Kristin has created the heaviest, most intense album you’re likely to hear this year, one that makes a tremendous addition to what is becoming one of the most idiosyncratic bodies of work in modern experimental music.

It has evolved beyond the blueprint they set out on their first album to expand their sound into new and exciting territory. Whether you’re a fan of slowcore, grunge, doom or shoegaze there is a song for absolutely everyone to enjoy on this album. Simply put, it is a must listen.

It broadens and deepens the story that began with that album [Sex, Death & The Infinite Void], acting as a requiem to the alien character of Roe. ... It’s simply eight tracks of lovely, rousing rock opera. Whether you’re after one, the other, or both, you’re sure to be left more than satisfied.

At no point is it bad, and sometimes it’s rather good, but nothing here is particularly essential.

It’s a record influenced by Sabbath and Sleep, Power Trip and Pantera – and it shows through proudly.

Hideaway could perhaps have done with a few more leftfield moments, then, because while it’s breezy and over before you know it, that’s largely because the majority of it is in one sedate speed setting.

Calm and collected when it needs to be but by no means lacking in heart and passion, this album is a fine collection of songs by an artist intent on forging her own path.

It’s a joyous riot from start to finish, and all comes together to form a loveable, middle-fingers-up record that furthers the recent work of bands like Dream Nails, Drones and Nova Twins in demonstrating the strength of modern UK punk.

On the whole, they should definitely be commended for their ambition in mixing things up at this stage of the game, the result making for a compelling, quite fascinating collection.

This is a record just as colourful as its creator’s hair (which is handy). And while rapping about Bill Gates, Elon Musk, The Office’s Michael Scott and members of One Direction in closer See You In The Future might prove one step too far for some, for everyone else it’s all just a part of the ride. Indeed, this is very weird shit. But it rules.

Atreyu’s act of streamlining has sanded many of their edges clean off, leading to moments that sound like they’ve been made by anyone but the actual authors.

This incarnation of Fear Factory is bowing out with a tense, aggressive and satisfying final act. There are exactly zero signs of them adopting fresh approaches, but dissing them for this is like criticising chocolate for continuing to taste chocolatey.

Here, remastered, it sounds even huger than ever. And on the bonus North American Tour Live ​’75 discs, the power of these songs live is captured in all its steamrolling glory.

You can’t help but feel that some creative tension and idea-bouncing in there might have led to some more invention and exploration in the album’s midsection. Nevertheless, though, this is still an impeccably delivered slab of hard rock fun.

The band’s desire to suffuse their sound with new tones and textures is admirable and frequently pays dividends, but there are moments when that drive to evolve leads them to either cleave too close to other bands or stray too far from their own fundamentals.

No Gods No Masters is one of the coolest, most vital releases of 2021, let alone one by a band some 30 years and seven albums into their career. Listen and learn.

BUMMER is an album where cleopatrick excel more than they struggle. Their sound could do with a little streamlining, but for a debut LP, this is a bold and at times very enjoyable effort.

There’s still a lot that will be familiar to longtime fans, but the most impressive thing is how passionate Rise Against remain. Twenty years in, and their revolutionary fire is still as relevant and as sadly needed as ever.

As much as the impressive company, what stands out on this compilation is the undimmed volatility of these songs, waiting to be set off.