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Hey, it’s time for another Unreviewed Roundup. This is all about releases that, despite not getting a full review due to time constraints or whatever else, I still wanted to talk about and introduce everyone to, because I still think that they’re very much worth a spin. And remember, if you like any of these releases that I talk about today, support these bands with a digital album purchase or physical media, or even buy a shirt or add them to your favorite playlist, or whatever the case is. It’s really tough out there for artists, and I’m sure your support means the world. That being said, let’s dive in and discover something new.

Bleed by Bleed

Amid the masses of nü-tinged shoegazy alternative rock revival bands, Bleed should be either at the top or pretty close to it.

I’m not really sure anyone else is doing it better than Bleed in terms of pure modern nostalgia. Bleed gets so much of that late 90s and early 2000s sound right, that so many other bands in the same vein just kind of miss. There’s plenty of well-placed record scratches. The drumming is loose and bouncy but still tasteful, and the guitars utterly nail it with these huge, extended chords that get held out as whole notes or whatever the note values are in any given song. Oh, and of course, the vocals are plenty moody in all of their stacked harmony glory.

Even better, Bleed throws in a ballad-type song called “Shallow” right at the end that sounds like if Linkin Park wrote a song for Incubus‘ 1999 record Make Yourself. My only real criticism of this record is that Bleed could stand to vary up their writing a little bit and maybe even shamelessly lean into some of the bigger, hookier choruses—which isn’t something that they shy away from on this record—but it’s just an aspect that I think would probably put Bleed over the top into, like, “opening-for-Deftones” kind of territory.

Oh, and speaking of Deftones, it’s worth noting that longtime Deftones and Linkin Park artist Frank Maddocks also did the cover for both this record and Bleed‘s 2021 EP Somebody’s Closer. So yeah, these guys know their 90s and 2000s nostalgia really well.

The Calling of Fire by Blood Monolith

Blood Monolith is the new band featuring guitarist and vocalist Shelby Lermo of Nails and Ulthar, guitarist Tommy Wall of Undeath, bassist Mike Nolan of Genocide Pact, and drummer Aiden Tidings-Lynch of Brain Tourniquet. And given all the names that I just rattled off, I think you could probably already guess what this sounds like—and you’re probably correct.

The Calling of Fire has some serious heft to it thanks to a tastefully cranked-up bass presence, a rhythm section that sounds like they’re just constantly trying to break their instruments, and vocals that sound like they’re trying to out-bass the bassist in terms of who can go lower.

Lyrically, The Calling of Fire deals heavily in modern-day world affairs. To make that a little clearer, Blood Monolith is from Washington, DC, and plainly states that their location ties heavily into their anger. To quote the band’s own bio: “The band’s location ties deeply into their sound, as this epicenter of mass murder and corruption provides constant fuel for boiled-down anger, as well as a rich history of rebellion through music.”

I also love that the cover of The Calling of Fire uses Nick Blinko‘s 1980 drawing titled Black Eyed Baby as its cover. The drawing has this very crammed, irritated feel to it, as the face in the center seems to constantly want to break free from everything that’s going on around it. It’s the kind of cover that, given the context of what you’re about to hear, lends a layer of narrative to the whole entire record. It’s a cool choice.

Changeling by Changeling

Former Obscura guitarist Tom Fountainhead has a new project called Changeling, and it answers the question: “what if Obscura continued their upward ascent after their 2016 record Akróasis?” I mean seriously, this Changeling record might as well be the textbook on how to write immersive, interesting, technical, progressive death metal in 2025.

Outside his own otherworldly compositional abilities, Fountainhead amassed a small army of musicians for the debut Changeling record that include former Fear Factory drummer Mike Heller, Virvum bassist Arran McSporran, and Alkaloid vocalist Morean. Outside that core lineup, Changeling also features guest guitar spots from I Am Morbid‘s Bill Hudson, Jason Gobel formerly of Cynic, and King Diamond‘s Andy LaRocque, and that’s barely scratching the surface of everyone that plays on this album.

Speaking of Obscura, one of the central themes on Changeling‘s debut record is the follow-up to Fountainhead‘s massive “Weltseele” composition that closed out Akróasis in 2016—which isn’t a diminishing of Fountainhead‘s capabilities in comparing it to his previous works. It’s more of a compliment that Fountainhead can take an album that I personally hold in such high regard and one-up it with his new project, and really kind of expand on that compositional prowess and show the world, “Hey, I have so many more good ideas. Let me show you them.”

Changeling‘s debut album is simply a feat in the world of technical death metal and progressive metal. It’s a shifting, changing beast that takes many forms but stays grounded and consistent with impeccable writing and limb-shattering musicianship throughout. I strongly suggest fans of dense progressive metal—or, again, technical death metal—to check this out in its entirety.

Spinner by Eyes

Do you like anime? Do you like chaotic punk-tinged metalcore that mirrors bands like Vein.fm and Converge? Have you not hit your monthly quota for panic chords just yet? Well, good, because Danish band Eyes‘ new record Spinner is exactly all of that and more.

Spinner is Eyes‘ debut album on Prosthetic Records, which makes damn sure to leave quite a few bruises on any listener across its 24-minute runtime. It also helps that Selma Bahner of Tower and Jesse Mathewson of KEN mode lend their voices to the madness on a few tracks.

Despite its generally loud and violent nature, Spinner is at its heart a catharsis through fiction. On the record itself, Eyes vocalist Victor Kaas said: “Spinner tells a loose story through the lens of a fictional early 80s anime episode and introduces a cast of various characters throughout the 10 songs, all based on situations, states of mind and personality traits of myself.”b

But if there’s one thing that you should know, it’s don’t expect anything on this record to sound like an anime theme song—unless that anime is about moshing or punching your friends in the face, in which case, quite a lot of Spinner might work really well.

Psalmus Mortis by Retromorphosis

Legendary technical death metal band Spawn of Possession broke up in 2017, but they’re pretty much back as Retromorphosis. The band features Spawn of Possession vocalist Dennis Röndum, guitarist Christian Münzner and Jonas Bryssling, bassist Erlend Caspersen, alongside former Decrepit Birth drummer K.C. Howard.

On the choice to reunite as a new band instead of reuniting as Spawn of Possession with a different drummer, Bryssling said that he wanted to make an album that wasn’t tied to anything they’d done before. Which makes sense—doing a new Spawn of Possession album would be met with certain expectations, but a new band with their debut album far less so.

And sure, a lot of this record is all the dizzying, flurry-fingered death metal that you’d expect from Spawn of Possession, but combined with that is a much slower, pounding, atmospheric, and at times creepy death metal style that lends a whole new atmosphere to the band’s music. I’m not sure Retromorphosis has completely figured out their sound post-Spawn of Possession, but this debut is still really good and pretty damn impressive.

Demo 2025 by Stolen Gun

Stolen Gun is the new project featuring Vincent Bennett of The Acacia Strain, Brandon Albaugh of Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Duncan Newey of No Cure, and Danny Grant of Pure Bliss. It sounds exactly like you’d think it sounds—plus like maybe an extra 20% violence on top of whatever you think this is gonna sound like.

Stolen Gun‘s debut is seven tracks long, and only one of them is over two minutes long. I love that. This demo starts off with the “SFG Intro”, which I have a hard time believing wasn’t written with a live setting in mind. The drums fade in, there’s a huge, stomping mosh riff, Bennett screams the band’s name, and everything drops in tempo for an insanely beefy breakdown. Keep in mind this intro is literally 64 seconds long, and I guarantee you you’re gonna have a hard time not moshing your house into the ground like immediately.

Stolen Gun feels like a super violent version of Vincent Bennett‘s old project Shut In with bassist Griffin Landa before he was in The Acacia Strain. Stolen Gun certainly has a groove, but it’s mostly a pressure washer filled with sand that’s just aimed directly at your face at all times.

I really hope this project becomes a more regular thing, because it doesn’t quite sound like anything from any of the bands that its members come from. It’s definitely the sum of its parts, and then some. Sure, there are plenty of shared elements, but Stolen Gun as the sum of its parts is just something else—and it’s very good. And again, I really hope this band continues on and does a lot more.