Tearing up rulebooks and expanding minds, alternative music is more important than ever as we roll hard into 2025. To celebrate, we’re spotlighting the artists spearheading this new year’s revolution…
New years mean different things to different people. Fresh starts. Well-intentioned resolutions. The bittersweet pull of the road ahead tugging us away from the nostalgia that always comes with last year’s end. Careering into 2025 those feeling are stronger than ever, as we wonder where the hell the first quarter of the 21st century went. But they’re eclipsed by the promise of an alt. scene that's bolder, brighter and more pervasive than perhaps at any point in the history of Kerrang!.
The gob-flecked anti-establishment need to smash the system and eardrum-bothering heaviness still play their parts in that. There are plenty of earworm slogans and smashing riffs to break the January gloom. But it’s the willingness to find new ways to press the boundaries that really raise our goosebumps: a loud and proud emphasis on character, colour and weirdo individuality that doesn’t just light up the world we exist in right now, but promises that it will endure and evolve in unexpected and invigorating new ways as we continue to forge into the future.
Creating a conveniently-numbered shortlist is almost impossible. There are literally thousands of artists out there worthy of your time, and new talents emerging every day. But from Artio to Winona Fighter we’ve whittled down our 25 acts guaranteed to light up the next 12 months…
Named after a Celtic bear goddess, Leeds queer alt. collective Artio already took a bite out of the UK scene in 2024. Releasing debut LP Babyface back in March, they went on to support the likes of Lake Malice, Mothica and Honey Revenge – not to mention festival appearances at Slam Dunk, 2000trees and Burn It Down – scooping up worshippers at every turn. They’re just getting started, too. With charismatic vocalist Rae Brazill leading the charge, an opening spot on VUKOVI’s European/UK tour and a Download bow booked, expect their 2025 to be beastly.
Vibrant colour and swirling darkness mix compellingly in the music of rising Milton Keynes songstress BEX, but there’s a defiant liveliness that’s always a good time. Speaking to us last year, we found out how her K! TV-marinated early years and a latter-day love of pop stars like Olivia Rodrigo had fed mischievously into songs like Hazmat Suit (My Ass) and Chained Into My Brain. And having long since caught the attention of movers and shakers like WARGASM’s Sam Matlock – a collaborator on killer cuts SPYD4 K1NG and Taste Better – a big breakthrough feels assured.
Given the runaway success of Brit metal superstars Sleep Token, it’s been surprising that so few contemporaries have tried to follow in their mysterious path. It takes a lot of nerve, sure, but also a spark of genius so few possess. International collective breakk.away seem to have it, though. Meeting in – and not long graduated from – high school but also residing in countries as far-flung as Canada, Mexico and France, little is known about the group. But from their perfectly conceptualised visual art to the combination of concrete crunch, subtle storytelling and post-rock scope, they have the potential to be the next big name in a burgeoning alt. metal movement.
Not to be mistaken for legendary Dutch hardcore punks Gore, Texas trio GORE. are an altogether different proposition. Built around vocalist Haley Roughton – an experienced electrical engineer – the band churns her work ethic, appetite for precision and desire to capture lightning in a bottle into music that finely balances emotional fragility (the metaphorical ‘gore’ pulsing through our veins) and explosive modern metal. October’s debut EP A Bud That Never Blooms already delivered on the promise that had Motionless In White and Papa Roach singing their praises, but they stress it’s just a taste of the bigger picture still to unfold.
Stage names simply don’t get more accurately evocative than Harpy. A black-haired goth-pop mistress with a penchant for provocative S&M gear who who routinely likens their music to that of Adele or Sam Smith by way of nu-metal (and, probably, a shitload of drugs), songs like Swallow, Medicine and Not My God Anymore deliver exactly what you’d expect in the best possible way. Combining the attitude of modern UK renegades Cassyette and WARGASM with the darker vision of Mimi Barks, it’s a black hole that’s hard not to hurl yourself into. ‘Sometimes Mommy, always Goth. Music to **** to…’ surmises a shameless social media bio. Quite.
So good that they immediately got invited back for a second year at ArcTanGent last summer, Sheffield blackgaze crew Hidden Mothers already had a solid rep before the release of their Erosion/Avulsion debut album in November. Thanks to its well of deep emotion and waves of turbulent post-hardcore that balanced out the blasts, they’ve now got their name locked in. Rarely has music with gnarled roots in black metal come with such an openly bruised heart, like Deafheaven crossed with Touché Amoré. With a reaction like the one they’ve had so far, they won’t stay hidden much longer.
Last seen rounding out 2024 on tour with Kids In Glass Houses at the end of a year that included stadium gigs with Foo Fighters, Cardiff’s HIMALAYAS are getting set to move mountains in 2025. They’re off to a good start, having just released riffy new single Nothing Higher, which sees them heading into Muse/Royal Blood-ish territory for what they promise is a heavier chapter. All of which bodes incredibly well for their highly-anticipated second album, pencilled for springtime. “People want rock music again,” they told us a while back. This being the case, HIMALAYAS are in exactly the right place at exactly the right time.
When Stephen Harrison and Aric Improta came together to form the instrumental backbone of FEVER 333 the fire of their past work with The Chariot and Night Verses bled through. Longtime fans, however, couldn’t escape the feeling they were holding something back. House Of Protection is proof. Immediately incendiary, everything so far, from Jordan Fish-produced debut EP GALORE to the unhinged music video for Pulling Teeth, has felt like the work of renegades finally off the leash in a band as dangerous as this dynamic duo deserve. Who knows what’s next?
Still a sprightly 18 years of age at the time of writing, Hunter Oliveri understandably still doesn’t have it all figured out. And that’s very much the charm of the Paso Robles singer-songwriter. Combining the unaffected silliness and slacker charm of 100 gecs with an even simpler, more adolescent sense of wonder and joy, songs like Spiralling Out and Queen Of The Slum instantly connect on an emotional level, evoking both nostalgia for simpler times and the thrill of an artist still living through them. Here’s to stardom emboldening this hunter to keep stalking ever more offbeat musical prey.
It was quite the thing to learn that i Häxa’s spellbinding performance at ArcTanGent last summer was their first ever gig. Cloaked in witchy folk-noir vibes, the Westcountry collective’s otherworldly mix of post-rock and trip-hop proved irresistibly captivating even at lunchtime with the sun up, with their atmospheric, sexy sounds working their charms perfectly. Fans of Chelsea Wolfe will find much to love on their self-titled debut, but that’s only a loose reference as a starting point. Think instead of the Midsommar soundtrack, Portishead at their most vibed-out, something modern made from something old and earthy, topped with the exquisite vocals of Rebecca Need-Menear. Though existing in the shadows, don’t be surprised if this becomes the year of the witch.
Karen Dió might be a new name in the world of UK alternative, but she’s already two decades into her musical journey. Born and raised in Brazil, she toiled for years in bands like Violet Soda but found that the closed-mindedness and misogyny of her native scene was suffocating her artistic ambitions. Moving to Brighton with husband and Dinosaur Pile-Up frontman Matt Bigland, and forging out as a solo artist, has finally unleashed the ‘Latin riot grrrl’ inside. With bands like Amyl And The Sniffers making huge waves recently it feels like there’s no ceiling on how far Karen can go – the strength of last year’s My World EP earned her a support run with Sum 41 while she’s already booked to hit the road with the mighty Limp Bizkit this spring. Keep rollin’ on to bigger things.
Coming of age in the merciless confines of an all-girls school, Mollie Clack found herself bottling up many of her more gothic tendencies inside. As such, KNIFE BRIDE feels like a glorious uncorking: the vocalist pouring endless midnight melodies into beautiful and, at times, startlingly heavy compositions that bridge the worlds of velvety goth-rock, alt. pop and metal as vibrantly as a bloodstain on a wedding dress. The band see themselves pioneering their own ‘nu-gothika’ genre, and so inspired is their reimagination of well-worn tropes that they deserve to be labelled as recognised as something new.
You can probably tell a lot about Native James by song titles like HAMMER, BLOCK and POWER. Punchy. Uncompromising. Rock hard. But it’s the depth of emotion behind the blend of spit bars and crunching guitars that sets the Bedford-born rap-rock renegade on another level. A fan of bands like Motörhead, Evanescence and Linkin Park from his primary school days, who had since diverged exclusively into the world of hip-hop, it was sets at 2023’s Reading & Leeds that reminded him the two worlds weren’t mutually exclusive, leading on to 2024’s Rebirth EP and the thrillingly fleet-footed first steps of a new musical adventure.
Old school death metal isn’t all that old school anymore. With everyone from U.S. kingpins Gatecreeper and Frozen Soul to UK upstarts Coffin Mulch and Celestial Sanctuary reanimating the heaviest, nastiest sounds of the 1980s and ’90s, the subgenre’s extended resurgence has made filthy riffs and gnarly gutturals feel invigoratingly current. Danish collective NECKBREAKKER (previously ‘Nakkeknaekker’ in their native tongue) add a touch of clean-edged innovation that sets them apart from even their freshest-faced contemporaries, with their debut album Within The Viscera fixating more on surgical steel than putrefied sludge or mindless grind.
Not only do the men of Old Horn Tooth do a superb service to the UK doom underground by putting on shows, releasing albums and hosting the Capital’s Masters Of The Riff festival under the London Doom Collective banner, they’re also one of its finest musical operatives as well. On last year’s brilliant Mourning Light album, they perfectly captured their skill at taking a huge, heavy riff and kneading it until every bit of its power has been fully explored, in a manner that’ll make fans of YOB very happy. Live, it’s hypnotic, heavy stuff that’ll cave your skull at the same time as it blows your mind. Presumably, they named their festival in honour of themselves…
It’s been a long road to seeing herself declared one of alternative music’s hottest new prospects for RØRY. Finally reaping the rewards of a decades-long struggle that’s seen the English singer overcome depression, addiction and pretty much every obstacle the music industry can throw up, however, is absolutely in keeping with their brand of powerfully affirmative alt. pop. Rolling a wealth of hard-won experience and expertise creating wholesome content about experiences with mental health to millions online (for ADHD Love) into the bittersweetness and defiant hope of songs like Sorry I’m Late and BLOSSOM, they’ve already won over a legion of converts. Debut album Restoration – out on January 31 – promises to supercharge an already remarkable rise.
Originally started as a solo project for Memphis-based vocalist and United States Army veteran Cullen Moore to combine his loves of R&B, funk and hard rock, Sleep Theory is an overnight success that’s been years in the making. Said success came when first release proper Another Way hit over 500,000 views on TikTok within 36 hours of release in January 2023, but rather than any flash-in-the-pan impermanence, that moment became the starting point for one of the most compelling new acts in heavy music. Built around Cullen’s legitimately incredible voice, singles Paralyzed and Stuck In My Head call to mind the slickness and savagery of A Day To Remember or Linkin Park at their most full-throttle. And with a debut album still to be announced, their inevitable stardom could really be the stuff of dreams.
Philadelphia’s Sweet Pill first met at New Jersey’s Rowan University, but were drawn to The City Of Brotherly Love post-graduation by the sounds it had produced. Broadstrokes of that scene’s 21st century heroes – The Wonder Years, Modern Baseball, The Menzingers – are present in Sweet Pill’s brand of impassioned, roadworn emo, but their scattered math-rock tendencies and Zayna Youssef’s gorgeous, glassy vocals prove they’re very much their own band. Debut album Where The Heart Is dropped in May 2022, followed by signing with Hopeless and a slew of material in 2024. Latest release Unraveled is due on January 31 and if lead single Cut (Unraveled) is anything to go by, it could be the beginning of an intriguingly stripped-back new chapter.
There’s a lot going on with Tayne. Sonically, the English trio pour piston-thumping beats, sheet-metal riffage and shoegazey vocals into an enveloping brand of ‘industrial noise pop’ that’s both visceral and sensual, like finding true romance bumping bodies at 6am in a Berlin basement nightclub. Named, seemingly, after the Polynesian God Of The Sky and with artwork blending the intimate and the epic, there are both big ideas and personal vulnerability at play. And while their band doesn’t sound much like his, the involvement of Rolo Tomassi mastermind James Spence on recent single Fear underlines their place on that cutting edge of British alternative. Debut album Love is due on January 31. We can’t wait to unpack all the dizzying delights it has to offer.
The rules have changed for bone-shattering heavy music. Once upon a time, you couldn’t write songs as unapologetically brutalist as Sweden’s thrown and hope to reach farther than the blood-splattered underground. With the breakout success of Speed, Kublai Khan TX and Knocked Loose, however, there’s no limit anymore. And thrown have got the potential to be legitimately massive. September’s nightmarish debut EXCESSIVE GUILT laid out a blueprint for gouging violence galvanised by nu-metal swagger, and with several headline tours already booked for early 2025, they’re ready to take on the whole damn world.
South Africa hasn’t been a hotbed of traditionally ‘alternative’ music, and for years punk and metal bands in the Rainbow Nation have been confined to a vibrant underground scene that’s felt understandably distanced and disconnected from the rest of the world. Twenty One Children are about to change that. Combining U.S.-centric skate culture and their own idiosyncratic Sowetan identity with remarkable self-awareness and a sense of humour, the Johannesburg-based trio of Thula, Jazz and Abdula honour the legacy of their homeland’s rebellious, vibrant spirit by smashing out a racket that would do Dead Kennedys proud. Fresh, thumping and thrillingly alive.
Introduced to the world last April featuring members of Black Peaks, Toska and Palm Reader, VOWER burst properly into our consciousness over the summer with a brilliant first EP and electric, albeit unrefined, festival appearances at the likes of 2000trees, Radar and ArcTanGent. And they’ve not let up since then with November single Satellites showcasing a fascinating evolution, while December’s debut headline shows in London proved they’re now a well-oiled machine onstage. And with a full UK headline tour booked for February as well as their Download debut and – fingers crossed – more new music, they’re about to cement themselves as UK metal’s most intriguing new band.
Looking for Warhammer-obsessed stoner-metal, you say? Step into Warpstormer’s realm of chaos. Last year, the London-based riffsters impressed with riotous shows at Bloodstock, Desertfest and with Green Lung, before releasing their excellent self-titled debut in November. Driven by the wild-eyed energy of a younger Orange Goblin, topped with the roarsome presence of singer Richard Morgan – not to mention some of the best Games Workshop-inspired merch we’ve ever seen – they’ve yet to demonstrate they can do anything disappointing. Battle plans are still being hatched for 2025, but judging by the onslaught so far, there’s a very loud storm coming.
Speed frontman Jem Siow took time out of a no-holds-barred set at last October’s Outbreak Autumn to shout out Whispers for shining a light on South East Asian hardcore. Deservedly so. The Bangkok baddies actually classify themselves as ‘evilcore’ and anyone who’s pressed ‘play’ on the likes of Slaves To Darkness or Chains Of Hate will know exactly what they’re getting at: slab heavy beatdowns with inflections of thrash metal at its most unholy. Latest EP Yom-Ma-Lok (just out on Flatspot Records) is even gnarlier than what’s come before, pushing into outright powerviolence territory. 2025 will be brutal proof of just how pulverising they can get.
‘I’m a little stressed out / Just a little stressed out / Is anybody else stressed out?!’ The breathless lyrics to Winona Fighter’s superb 2023 single HAMMS IN A GLASS are as good as anything in summing up the Nashville trio’s brand of tight-stretched but ultimately euphoric punk rock. Basically, imagine Stand Atlantic or Sincere Engineer but several times more highly-stung. Having blasted out a flurry of singles over the last year and a bit, Valentine's Day 2025 finally sees the release of long-awaited debut album My Apologies To The Chef. “It’s raw. It’s got emotion. It’s got a little satire. Mostly, it’s uniquely us,” enthuses vocalist Coco Kinnon. “It’s three punks obsessed with music, making tunes for people obsessed with music!” So count us in!
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