Top 10 Emerging Bands That Will Make Their Mark in 2025

The alternative scene hasn’t been in such rude health in a while. Sure, there’s a big ol’ dose of nostalgia going round with anniversary tours, but that doesn’t mean bands are slacking from putting out fantastic, creative new work. This year, Ukrainian prog metallers JINJER will release their hotly-anticipated Duél, and we’ve also got the debut to look forward to from rising pagan metallers FORLORN. On top of that, there’s plenty of bands set to break out this year – here’s our picks for ten emerging bands to keep your eye on this year.

THE DSM IV

Some twenty-or-so years ago, Guy McKnight was the frontman of chaotic British gothic noise punk darlings THE EIGHTIES MATCHBOX B-LINE DISASTER. Perhaps unsurprisingly he isn’t growing old gracefully and has now returned with brooding electronic synth-pop outfit THE DSM IV. Based in Liverpool, the trio (completed by Jade Ormesher and Pav Ummins) have spent their time since forming in 2018 honing their uniquely dark sound, a heady mix of the bleak, punk energy of THE FALL, the horn-filled electronica of THE HUMAN LEAGUE and the all-out gothness of the SISTERS OF MERCY.

Their songs tackle modern Britain and all of its problems head on, taking inspiration from external stimuli like the rise of the far right (Racist Man) alongside the extremely personal like abuse and addiction (Scumbag). Their hypnotic live shows – and they play a lot of them – have brought the band to the attention of a wider audience in recent months and, paired with their 2023 debut album New Age Paranoia, show a group of artists ready to take the next step into the darkness.

CWFEN

A Glaswegian quartet that has its origins in combining doom-tinged elements and post-black metal stylistics.  CWFEN, pronounced Coven, released their debut single Reliks at the tail end of last year. The four piece are a passionately driven group concocting an ethereal, occult sound.  Best recognised as doomgaze. There’s a beguiling blend of dreamy melodies with a ferocious undercurrent of doom drenched riffs.

The vocals of Agnes Alder are both enchanting and menacing as the music provides a darker back drop.  The recent single release heralds an intensity that is bursting at the seams to be realised. As if there is a powerful pressure valve waiting to be released. The riffs are catchy and engaging while the rhythm section broods and offers a counter weight to the melodies and vocal delivery. With the potential to bewitch the senses, CWFEN are destined to take audiences on a journey through the occult but with a few twists thrown in. The path will lead to fragmented emotional states and startling realisations. All wrapped up in evocative and haunting doom like reverie.

EXPLORING BIRDSONG

From a genre perspective, EXPLORING BIRDSONG defy traditional definitions. The trio blend a diverse range of sounds from the domains of modern progressive rock, banging electro-pop, tender balladry, and other experimental fusions; the end result is somewhere between SARAH LONGFIELD and PVRIS. Driven throughout by the deft piano work and balladry of frontwoman Lynsey Ward, the band eschew electric guitars entirely without losing the ability to craft their progressive rock-out moments, as evidenced in the heavier moments of their well-received 2023 EP Dancing In The Face Of Danger.

The energy and excitement around the band has built over the past year, with sold-out headline shows at Downstairs At The Dome in London and the Deaf Institute in Manchester. A steady stream of new singles dropped throughout 2024, each new song revealing a new facet or side to the band, subverting expectations each time. EXPLORING BIRDSONG are unafraid to experiment and push the boundaries of their songwriting, which draws on conceptual, literary and more personal influences. The only guarantee with this year’s highly anticipated debut album is to expect the unexpected.

WHISPERS

Self-described as ‘Bangkok evilcore’, WHISPERS’ unique style of metallic hardcore offers an exciting and fresh spin on the genre. The Thai outfit have been building momentum since the release of 2021’s crushing EP Narok Bon Din, and 2024 saw the group laying the groundwork for gnarlier heights. In October 2024, the band announced that they had signed to Flatspot Records, through whom they released their latest powerhouse of an EP Yom-Ma-Lok.

WHISPERS deliver everything you’d want from metallic hardcore and amp it up with an indistinguishable flair for intoxicating riffs and annihilating break downs. Equally enthralling and unrelenting, their dynamic and creative approach sees brutally dark atmospheres weaved through their explorations of karmic retribution, spirituality, and self-hood. WHISPERS offer metallic hardcore that is as infused with authentic spirit as it is razor-sharp purpose and conceptual execution. This unrelenting ferocity and creative vision is only growing, and will surely see WHISPERS tearing into 2025, making their mark on everything they approach.

GRIEF RITUAL

Exorcising their frustrations through cataclysmic riffs and thunderous drums, GRIEF RITUAL’s urgent and charged sound takes aim at the bleak state of the UK and wider world. Capitalism, genocide, and discrimination are just a few of the matters that GRIEF RITUAL take aim at, ensuring not only that their voice is heard, but that it rips unrelentingly through the noise. This disenfranchisement sees GRIEF RITUAL taking metalcore and adding a sinister blackened spin, offering brutally violent and intense tracks fuelled by misery and rage. 

Previous support slots have seen GRIEF RITUAL tour with the likes of KNOCKED LOOSE, HERIOT and PUPIL SLICER, in addition to their appearances at festivals including Bloodstock, 2000trees, and ArcTanGent. With an impressive belt of live shows behind them, and 2022’s unmissable EP Spiritual Disease, GRIEF RITUAL are on the verge of something massive. Their debut album Collapse was released last week and will surely see them exploding into 2025 with the cathartic rage that the state of the world needs right now.

MALLAVORA

Bristol quartet MALLAVORA are on a mission to break the rules, defy convention and reveal their truth. With the release of debut EP Echoes late last year, they began turning then heads of anyone who hadn’t had the pleasure of listening just yet. Their music is equal parts dark, brooding and furious, bringing to light their own experiences with disability and chronic illness.

Becoming one of alternative music’s most determined advocates for disability, they make a statement by only headlining venues accessible to them and their audience. It’s a bold, yet necessary move to make the scene progress in the right direction and make it sustainable and accessible for all. Raw, honest, and eye-opening for many, this sincerity sets MALLVORA apart from the crowd. They carry a clear message in all they do, and it’s one that many more will get to hear in 2025.

TAYNE

There’s already buzz around London industrial-noise-pop trio TAYNE thanks to recent shoutouts on the increasingly popular 2 Promoters 1 Pod podcast and the fact they’ve landed slots on bills supporting the likes of HEALTH and AUTHOR & PUNISHER as well as various festival appearances. That buzz is bound to turn into a cacophony now that their debut album Love has dropped.

Their sound blends pummelling industrial beats with ethereal vocals, delivered with pop sensibilities that owes just as much to LADY GAGA as it does to NINE INCH NAILS. Love deals with the concept of love as conflict, drawing on vocalist Matt Sutton’s own struggles with intimacy and his experience of his parents going through divorce when his father came out as a gay man, and the whole spectrum of emotions that he had to deal with as a result. This sonically and thematically complex album coupled with their blistering live shows is sure to turn more than a few heads in the year to come.

VOLATILE WAYS

Erupting out of the Aussie underground, VOLATILE WAYS have been wrecking stages across their home country and are set to release their debut album Perfect Dark on February 12th through Bereave In God Records. A seething concoction of death metal-flecked metallic hardcore that draws on beatdown and more, it’s a visceral, gut-wrenching cacophony of sound presided over by vocalist Emilly Beekmans and driven by the churning riffs of Jordan and Lewy Glass (bass and guitar, respectively).

With a rip-your-face-off chainsaw guitar tone, obnoxiously heavy breakdowns and that special Aussie something in the mix that seems to make everything from Down Under a certified rager, VOLATILE WAYS are set to make one hell of an impact in February and beyond.

HAMARTIA

Get ready to meet your new favourite emotionally driven, heavy riffing alt-rock group HAMARTIA. Having already made a splash in the South West’s thriving alternative scene with live appearances supporting heavy hitters such as MALLAVORA, ORCHARDS and DREAM STATE, HAMARTIA have carved out a perfect little niche for themselves with their blend of modern alternative, dramatic pop and riffy post-hardcore.

Led by frontwoman Sophie Smith’s passionate yet delicate vocals and backed by ambient cleans and chugging distorted riffs from guitarist Matt Shiels with a driving rhythm section comprised of bassist James Farmer and drummer Ben Shiels, HAMARTIA have only released a handful of singles so far, including their latest Is This It?, but have cemented themselves as a consistently fantastic live band. With more music on the way soon as well as a full calendar of shows, be ready to hear a lot more from this powerful, emotive quartet in the near future.

Words: Will Marshall, Sammy Andrews, Adam Robertshaw, Tom Lewis, Tom Bruce, Megan Jenkins, Phil Cooper, Chris Hart

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