Vol. 138
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Full Pelt Magazine
Tag: Music
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Dea Matrona
‘Hate That I Care’
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DEA MATRONA – HATE THAT I CARE – ALBUM REVIEW
Irish duo Dea Matrona released their debut album, ‘For Your Sins’, in 2024 and instantly grabbed the attention of critics and fans alike with their high potential being immediately transformed into tangible credibility.
They’ve continued to elevate their brand over the past couple of years with impressive live shows and festival appearances. Now they are back with their second album, ‘Hate That I Care’ as they expand their sonic palette further.
Their sophomore album is a more sophisticated affair then their debut album. That record was a smorgasbord of style and influence whereas ‘Hate That I Care’ is a far more coherent album.
WATCH THE VIDEO FOR ‘Hate that i care’
The album is again entirely written, produced and recorded by the band themselves in true DIY fashion. Mollie McGinn and Orláith Forsythe showcase their varied talents including covering all instruments themselves along with their elegant vocal interplay.
The results are that fabled more mature sound which is rooted in confidence and ability. Lyrically this follows suit with some of their most vulnerable and genuine work to date which fits into the more melodic and harmonious sound of the album.
This is clearly a band still growing and experimenting. Whilst this album might lack the immediate punch of their debut, if offers listeners a far more captivating time and ensures they remain a band you can’t afford to sleep on.
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BIG SPECIAL
‘O’JOY!’
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BIG SPECIAL – O’JOY! – EP REVIEW
Over the course of their two studio albums, ‘POSTINDUSTRIAL HOMETOWN BLUES’ and ‘NATIONAL AVERAGE.’, BIG SPECIAL have already staked their claim to be one of the most frank, visceral and fascinating bands of their time.
The pace of their releases and associated rise has been swift and they are already back with another record for fans to get their teeth into. This time in the shape of an EP (although traditionalists may argue that ten tracks and thirty minutes is an LP not an EP), ‘O’JOY!’.
There is a mixture of tracks that didn’t fit their two albums and some recent singles such as ‘PLAINTIVE NATIVE’, ‘SLUGLIFE’ and ‘DRAGGED UP A HILL (and thrown down the other side)’.
There is therefore a natural familiarity to the EP, albeit a disjointed one with the clever pacing of their albums limited by the varied origins of these tracks. Arguable there isn’t much that will stand out beyond those singles, but at the same time if these are so called offcuts then this does again highlight how valuable this duo are as songwriters of these troubling times.
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Levellers
UEA LCR, Norwich
Thursday 4th June 2026
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📷 Denis Gorbatov
LEVELLERs – Norwich – live review
Brighton folk-punks Levellers have long since secured their place in history. From their Britpop adjacent 90’s popularity and headlining Glastonbury, to creating their own much-loved festival Beautiful Days and their continuing longevity as a revered collective.
With festival season again upon us, the band are again out and about. Tonight they are at the UEA in Norwich where the typical British summer is in full flow. The weather doesn’t dampen the spirits of fans however as they queue round the block to get in and get their spot.
THE MEFFS
Early attendees are in for a treat as The Meffs have made the journey from Colchester to get us warmed up. Levellers have a knack for good supports, and this duo is one of the best new bands on the circuit right now.
They are given a generous opening set, and they absolutely make the most of it. With many Meffs t-shirts visible in the crowd it’s clear that many are already fans and for any in attendance not familiar, then they are soon converted with the crowd happily getting some crowd interaction practice in before the headliners.
With a new album on the way it’s great to see how new tracks ‘Business’ and ‘Disorder (Wake Up)’ fit in so seamlessly against fan favourites like ‘Broken Britain, Broken Bones’ and ‘Clowns’.
The Meffs are pretty faultless live with their punk energy always creating a fun atmosphere. Not many bands are going to be able to follow them in the future.
LEVELLERS
But that’s not a worry for Levellers, who are among the very best at bringing about a punk rock party full of singing and dancing!
You can feel the love from the audience immediately as they begin their set with ‘The Fear’ and ‘Hope St.’ from their fourth album, ‘Zeitgeist’, which turned thirty last year. Tonight though is centred around the thirty-fifth anniversary of their seminal sophomore album, ‘Levelling the Land’.
As such the vast majority of the album gets an airing this evening but intermixed with other tracks rather than the now standard album in full style celebrations. This works well and whilst giving the album the love it deserves ensures that this is still at its core just another big Levellers party.
The band are full of energy, and the crowd tonight are more than happy to reciprocate that passion. The likes of ‘One Way’ and ‘Beautiful Day’ naturally get big responses but its telling that the levels never drop throughout their performance. Levellers are indeed in blistering form.
Tonight is something of a teaser, an amuse-bouche if you will, for a full UK Tour this autumn which will also feature The Meffs in the opening slot (plus Neds Atomic Dustbin on select dates). On the evidence of this performance, those are shows that you will not want to miss.
Thankfully for those in attendance tonight, there is still time for an encore of ‘Far From Home’ and ‘The Riverflow’, which really is the cherry on top of the cake that this evening has been.
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Evanescence
‘Sanctuary’
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EVANESCENCE – SANCTUARY – ALBUM REVIEW
Evanescence are not known for being prolific when it comes to albums. Indeed, in the past twenty-three years since their debut, ‘Fallen’, they’ve only released four more albums with the most recent in 2021.
That album, ‘The Bitter Truth’ was the first of all new material since 2011 and ten years on was the recipient of much praise. You can probably trace the quasi-nostalgic renaissance of early 2000’s rock and metal to around then too. So now feels like a pretty good time for Amy Lee to bring about album number six!
‘Sanctuary’ is a full-blooded Evanescence record that features much of everything that made the band unique. Whether delivering soaring rockers and tender ballads, the aura of Lee is forever mesmeric.
WATCH THE VIDEO FOR ‘WHO WILL YOU FOLLOW’
You can easily apply one of the current buzzwords, cinematic, to this wonderful world of symphonic metal and much like a good film, you can easily lose yourself in these beautifully crafted twelve tracks.
Created over a three-year period during which the world has made us all question what is happening, Lee is influenced here by world events, and you can tell that she has poured herself into the record with hope at the very heart.
With just two pre-release singles (‘Who Will You Follow’ and ‘Afterlife’), this is one of those rarer moments these days when fans can immerse themselves into a new album without having already heard most of it.
That does help the listening experience and ensures that you’ll be left in awe of the fact that Evanescence have delivered another stunning collection and seem more powerful now than ever!
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Full Pelt Magazine
Vol. 137
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Shinedown
‘EI8HT’
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SHINEDOWN – Ei8ht – album review
“…A lot can happen in a year…”, Brent Smith sings on ‘Three Six Five’ – the fourth track of a whopping eighteen on new Shinedown album, ‘EI8HT’.
Indeed, it can! The build-up towards what is, yes, their eighth album has been elongated with the pre-release singles stretching back to January last year. In that time the band the have played a huge set at Download here in the UK and well, not played a certain festival in the US which has led to a fair amount of criticism from all sides.
Whilst the lead-up to the album hasn’t been traditional, the band aren’t exactly traditional and have always done things their own way even where that courts elements of controversy. On record though it’s hard to argue with the quality of their work.
They’ve been on a musical evolution throughout their career, and each album or period of releases has had distinct identities. This new album however feels a little different.
WATCH THE VIDEO FOR ‘Searchlight’
Across the hour and four minutes of music, you get glimpses of everything that has gone into the band over the past two decades, but you also get a band seemingly desperate to not just repeat what they’ve done before.
This does make the album difficult to pigeonhole but that’s not always a bad thing. Over the course of such a long collection however this does mean it can feel more of just that – a collection of songs rather than a fully cohesive album.
There are plenty of good songs on here, so fans of the band won’t be short of highlights, but undoubtedly the album would’ve benefitted by losing twenty minutes or so.
Still, fans of this modern Shinedown are going to get their fill with this album. A steady stream of radio rock friendly songs will have them eating for the next year or two until album number nine arrives.
The band may be marmite and will always have people talking about them. You just sense that they don’t care and will continue to do whatever they want. ‘EI8HT’ is the album of a band comfortable in their skin but happy to cover it with fresh ink!
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Saint Agnes
‘Your God Fearing Days Are About To Begin’
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Saint agnes – Your God Fearing Days Are About To Begin – album review
Saint Agnes have already built themselves a solid (and growing) following in the aftermath of their first two commanding albums. Now they are back to triple-down on their signature mix of chaos and power to add an exclamation mark to their potential.
‘Your God Fearing Days Are About To Begin’ kicks off with recent standout singles, ‘Good Boy’, ‘The Ghost’ and ‘The Father, The Son and The Holy Beast’ and never really lets up from there.
This album represents an enormous step up in heaviness and atmospheric style for the band. Sounding like a crossover between modern Poppy, full throttle Nine Inch Nails and hard-hitting Pendulum, these are songs designed for the dancefloor whilst oozing rock energy.
WATCH THE VIDEO FOR ‘The Ghost’
Lyrically the album doesn’t seek to pull any punches, instead covering personal and wider topics with frank and direct vigour.
Whilst the majority of the songs feature that industrial intensity, the likes of album closer ‘Where Do I Begin’, do superbly showcase a more melodic, tender side which adds the depth needed to bring this record to life.
Following on from its vampire themed predecessor, ‘Your God Fearing Days Are About To Begin’, sounds like an underground club just waiting for Blade to arrive and unleash hell!
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Vol. 136
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Slam Dunk Festival
Hatfield Park
Saturday 23rd May 2026
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SLAM DUNK SOUTH 2026 REVIEW
The late May Bank Holiday means only one thing for rock fans – the start of festival season!
Yes, Slam Dunk is firmly rooted into the fabric of the scenes DNA, and we once again popped to Hatfield Park for the South version of the two-day event. Tomorrow the circus will travel to Temple Newsum in Leeds for the North edition of 2026’s event, but for today the sun is certainly shining on Hatfield.
Indeed, we are in the midst of a spring heatwave and that does add an element of lethargy to what is normally a full-throttle day of relentless music. Fans, as is always the case in these scenarios, seek out any inch of shade and the water points become as popular as the bars.
With only one tented stage this year, that shade is at a premium, but the water points do appear to cope with the demand unlike previous warm years. The queues for the bars are their usual busy selves but the wait for food (barring the ice cream vans) isn’t bad in our experience today.
That’s enough of the admin stuff though, let’s get to the music! We commence our full-on day in that tent with upstarts Call Me Amour who are playing their first ever festival. You wouldn’t tell as they make the most of the early excitement amongst the crowd to engage them immediately with a polished set of atmospheric rockers.
This festival is of course built both upon nostalgia but also a fair splattering of the best new bands on the scene. We catch perhaps the two biggest hopes of rock music at the moment next as Dead Pony captivate the tent and then unpeople bring the riffage to the sun-soaked main stage. Both you’d expect will become mainstays of this event as they work their way to the top of the bill.
Our first dose of nostalgia comes next as we stick on the main stage for A! The band are back with a new album, ‘PRANG’ (their first in two decades), and it’s great to see the crowd enjoying the likes of ‘Shit Summer’ and ‘Hello Sunshine’, just as much as ‘Starbucks’ and ‘I Love Lake Tahoe’. A mass line-dancing session accompanies ‘Kings of Lowestoft’ and ‘Nothing’ provides the perfect exclamation mark to a brilliant set.
Each year the festival changes up their stage types and locations as they try to shoehorn in as much music as possible. After complaints surrounding their double ended tent set-up, the Monster stages this year are outdoor side-by-side offerings, and we catch Set Your Goals next who clearly appreciate the love shown to them. The only issue with this set-up being the big sound-bleed from the larger outdoor side-by-side setup opposite.
Slam Dunk this year celebrates twenty years and it has been fascinating watching the event grow, expand and change throughout those years. Equally numerous bands on the line-up this year are celebrating their own various anniversaries which both makes their performances extra special and makes us feel extra old!
Over the course of the next couple of hours, we catch Trash Boat celebrating, ‘Nothing I Write You Can Change What You’ve Been Through’ and Boston Manor recognising, ‘Be Nothing’. It’s a unique variant of nostalgia when bands you consider to be newer are celebrating such anniversaries, but both bands do so stunningly in their own ways.
Trash Boat purely focus on that album, and the performance has a real throwback vibe throughout. Boston Manor, sandwich ‘Burn You Up’, ‘Lead Feet’, ‘Cu’, ‘Laika’ and ‘Stop Trying, Be Nothing’ between more recent bangers. Both sets though are memorable and with both bands announcing anniversary shows for later this year, fans will no doubt be motivated to check out the full shows.
We then head back to the main stage for an emotive serenade from Dashboard Confessional including their brilliant Spiderman hit ‘Vindicated’. After then enjoying the latter part of the stirring The Menzingers back over at the Monster stages we catch Tonight Alive who commence their performance with their own Spiderman hit ‘The Edge’!
The Australians deliver a fantastic performance which is amongst the best of the day and incorporate guest spots from Harmony Cavelle (South Arcade) and Bonnie Fraser (Stand Atlantic), not to mention a cover of Mumford & Sons (never expected to say that at Slam Dunk, but it was great!).
The clashes are always a conundrum for Slam Dunk goers and attendees are split between Tonight Alive, Taking Back Sunday on the main stage and the most-hyped band of the moment PRESIDENT who evidently draw a massive crowd to the heavy stages.
We then head into the tent again for a high energy VUKOVI performance and another dose of big-time modern nostalgia with Deaf Havana. With a set celebrating their seminal record, ‘Fools and Worthless Liars’, Deaf Havana provide the most emotive set of the day. The genuine outpouring of love for these songs clearly moving frontman James Veck-Gilodi as crowd and band share a beautiful moment together.
Going back to the ever-revolving stage set-ups of Slam Dunk, the tent this year has a literal revolving stage set-up which keeps changeovers to a minimum!
We conclude what has been another full pelt (see what we did there) day at Slam Dunk with main stage headliners Good Charlotte. The band announced a couple of huge arena shows this week and many mocked the band thinking they would struggle to sell them…
…Well, today they attract one of the biggest crowds we’ve witnessed for a Slam Dunk headliner. The show, the performance and the setlist all equally suggest that the Madden brothers will have no issue convening their fans again when they return.
With a never-ending parade of hits, there is plenty of singing for fans to do before going home. The band sign off with a run of ‘I Just Wanna Live’, ‘Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous’ and ‘The Anthem’. That ensures that as fans make that journey back home, they can once again reminisce about a wonderful day of music.
The sun is out, Slam Dunk is in the bag and festival season is underway – let’s gooooo!
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