Caleb Shomo showed us the Sick Disgusting Aggressive Disease Below The Surface. In painful, lonesome catharsis and with reckless determination, the frontman and multi- instrumentalist forged Beartooth into a weapon. Pain blasted out as anthems as he ripped himself open, a raw nerve exposed. Beartooth is now one of the most important, vibrant, and visceral acts in modern rock. In 2026, roughly ten years after the gold “Hated” and platinum “In Between,” Caleb is finally… Free. The opening salvo from Beartooth’s new partnership with Fearless Records is a seismic-sized single. Inviting, melodic, powerful, loud, and crushing in equal measure, “Free” ignites a brand-new season. Beartooth began in Caleb’s Ohio basement in 2013. He self-produced and played all the instruments on an arsenal of angry yet melodic songs filled with reflection and confession. Beartooth remains his message in a bottle, hurled into a hungry sea from an island of depression, repression, and confusion. Shomo’s unapologetic insistence on growth, no matter how daunting or dangerous, is a creative musical and emotional salve for a legion of listeners, one that shimmers, shines, and shakes as it heals. The discography, through 2023’s The Surface (which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Alternative and Hard Music charts and No. 2 on the Album Sales, Rock Albums, and Vinyl Albums charts), wove together a bombastic narrative. “Might Love Myself” shot to No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Airplay and Mediabase charts. “I Was Alive” was the No. 6 th most played song on Rock Radio in 2024, and Beartooth was among the Top 10 most played artists. Beartooth in 2026 is an even mightier animal. Rolling Stone hailed Beartooth as one of 10 Artists You Need to Know. These songs are both bomb and balm, a refusal to suffer in silence, and a declaration for all who struggle with self-acceptance. Forbes wrote that the band is “inching towards a tipping point of becoming the latest arena headliner.” Tantalizing, suggestive, and unashamed, “Free” is the sound of a luminous artist clawing through to the other side. The nerve remains exposed, but the decay is fading, making way for a sharper ‘Tooth.

DON BROCO are a band that constantly defy categorization. Since forming in 2008, the English act—vocalist Rob Damiani, guitarist Simon Delaney, bassist Tom Doyle and drummer/vocalist Matt Donnelly—have been creating innovative music that effortlessly merges elements of metal, post-hardcore, and electronica, into a unique amalgam of music all their own. “I love being surprised and I love music taking turns that you wouldn’t expect,” Damiani explains. “When you’re writing a song you have a million options and it’s always the paths that lead somewhere unexpected that get me the most excited.” While this flair for experimentation has always been a hallmark of DON BROCO’s sound, the band’s Fearless Records debut Nightmare Tripping sees the quartet creating the heaviest and most nuanced album of their career. It also illustrates why the band have sold out venues like Wembley Arena and Alexandra Palace in the UK; performed to frenzied crowds at Download and Reading & Leeds Festival; headlined Slam Dunk Festival; and toured alongside Pierce The Veil, Bring Me The Horizon and 30 Seconds To Mars. To record Nightmare Tripping the band once again reunited with longtime producer/collaborator Dan Lacaster, who has gone on to work with everyone from Bring Me The Horizon and Muse since getting his start working on DON BROCO’s debut full-length Priorities in 2012. “It’s been so awesome to see Dan’s growth as a producer and musician in his own right,” says Damiani. “He’s also one of the best singers I’ve ever heard in my life which is great because it really pushes me and Matt to up our game in order to live up to that.” While the band’s last album, 2021’s Amazing Things has been streamed 57 million times, the band didn’t try to replicate that album this time around. Correspondingly, one of the most dramatic sonic shifts on Nightmare Tripping is the way that Damiani is able to further integrate screaming into the band’s sound. “It’s something I’ve always done live, but I found myself embracing that style on this album in a way I haven’t done in the past,” he explains. “Embracing those harsher vocals has been exciting for us creatively.” In that spirit, the infectious track “Cellophane” sees Damiani alternate between melodic vocals and throat-shredding gasps while “Disappear” sees him using his voice as another instrument that parallels the vibe of the music, which ranges from dance-inspired to straight-up demonic. “This is probably our darkest album yet and it’s definitely lost some of the positivity of Amazing Things,” Damiani admits. “I’m a very positive person in general and I’m always trying to find silver linings, but that’s not a fix-all tool.” From the rising popularity of fascism in Europe to the genocide in Palestine, many of the lyrics on Nightmare Tripping were driven by Damiani’s attempt to cope with a world that seemed to be descending into chaos. That said, the album isn’t all doom and gloom. “One song that’s very important to me is ‘Pacify Me’; it’s about finding the courage in yourself to speak out about things that are important to you. Hopefully the song can provide some positivity to people who are feeling the same things as me.” Nightmare Tripping also features some star-studded collaborations from the legendary rock act Nickelback (“Nightmare Tripping”) as well as Architects’ vocalist Sam Carter (“True Believers”). “I always had Sam in mind for ‘True Believers; ’it’s one of the angriest songs on the album and Sam stands for the same things that we do,” Damiani says. (Amazingly, Carter recorded his standout vocals for the song during the one day off he had back in the UK while supporting Linkin Park on their European tour.) The other notable collaboration came about because it turned out Nickelback were DON BROCO fans and reaching out to the band wanting to tour together. While the tour wasn’t able to happen due to logistical reasons, they were able to collaborate on this album for a song that further pushes the conventions of DON BROCO’s sound. Correspondingly, “Nightmare Tripping” both features a radio-ready chorus as well as earth-shaking breathdown that are certain to inspire mosh-pit theatrics around the world in a live setting. Ultimately with Nightmare Tripping, DON BROCO have successfully redefined their sound while staying true to their past, something that Damiani credits to the deep connection its members have forged since starting the band as teenagers. “As a band all four of us have very strong feelings when it comes to our songwriting, which is why it can take so long to write a record compared to other bands,” he explains. “As long as we keep our communication open and allow everyone’s ideas to be heard, things work out for the best.” That ability to listen to each other and not be closed off to unorthodox ideas lies at the core of what makes Nightmare Tripping such a powerful and groundbreaking release. DON BROCO isn’t one person, it’s the cumulative vision of all of the members of the band—and it’s a message that the world very much needs to hear right now.  

MAGNOLIA PARK – vocalist Joshua Roberts, guitarists Tristan Torres and Freddie Criales, drummer Joe Horsham and bassist Vincent Ernst – have never been ones to settle for subtlety. Since forming in 2018, the Orlando, Florida-based quintet have repeatedly proven themselves to be one of the most exciting and forward-thinking groups in the underground, spinning a chameleonic, genre-spanning sound that incorporates punk, hard rock, hip-hop and metalcore into a dizzying, multisensory experience. Blazing onto the scene with an insatiable social media work ethic and prolific musical output, their popular Halloween mixtapes, multi-part Eater EP series and full-length debut, Baku’s Revenge, cemented them not only as a playlist and For You Page favorite for millions of listeners around the world, but a must-see live act on tour with A Day To Remember, From Ashes To New and the inaugural Summer School tour (where they served as a headliner). They’ve also graced the stages of major festivals like Reading and Leeds, When We Were Young, Sonic Temple, Louder Than Life, Welcome To Rockville and Riot Fest, plus the revived Warped Tour stops in D.C., Long Beach and Orlando. Making their way back overseas, in 2026 the band have European performances slated at Download Fest, Rock Am Ring, Rock Im Park, and more. The fivesome have unleashed their most ambitious effort yet: VAMP (Epitaph Records), a neo- gothic concept album rich in world-building and gripping storytelling. Culling influence from the band’s favorite anime including the long-running Vampire Hunter D, along with inspiration from iconic works like Star Wars, Dracula and Joseph Cambell’s legendary monomyth, Vamp unravels an ominous journey through Nocturne Nexus, where rulers and rebels battle with the future hanging in the balance. Across the album’s 11 tracks – produced by the band’s own producers, Torres, Criales and Ernst, alongside Andrew Wade (A Day To Remember, Wage War), Hiram Hernandez (blessthefall) and Andy Karpovck (408, Taylor Acorn) and mixed by Zakk Cervini (Bad Omens, Bring Me The Horizon) – Magnolia Park soundtrack this dramatic tale of crimson blood and chrome-plated courage through their own mix of man and machine, stacking whirring electronics and industrial undertones alongside sledgehammer breakdowns, walls of detuned guitars and Roberts’ seam-splitting vocals. There are few acts in the scene who could effortlessly alternate between covering a beloved Disney track (“I2I,” which the band lent to the 2024 A Whole New Sound compilation) and conceptualizing a heady, intricate work like VAMP, but that unpredictability is truly what keeps fans – and Magnolia Park themselves – on their toes. “The most exciting thing about this band is how everyone elevates everyone else,” Roberts says. “I'm just so glad that we're all able to do that and come out with great music and great vibes and feel like we’ve accomplished something special. That's the whole mission: to make sure that at the end of the journey, we're better than we were in the beginning.”

Windwaker tear at the seams of their sonic boundaries, refining and finessing their craft into something truly unique. Emerging out of Melbourne, Victoria, the Australian outfit have grown a dedicated and passionate fanbase, amassing millions of digital streams since their inception in 2017. “SIRENS”, cracked over 6 million Spotify streams and saw the band travel across the nation in celebration on the ‘Love In The Dark’ tour with Caskets (UK) and alt., selling out nearly every date. Windwaker’s latest extended release, ‘HYPERVIOLENCE’, out now via Cooking Vinyl Australia and Fearless Records is the evolution of the group’s fresh and unique sound. ‘HYPERVIOLENCE’ plays into each individual member’s strengths and influences, breaking new ground and extending the confines of modern metalcore with a potent mix of hip hop, EDM, hardcore, hyper pop and alternative rock. The band’s debut album ‘Love Language’ released in 2022 via Cooking Vinyl Australia & Fearless Records, demonstrating an undeniable exploration of love. Windwaker translated their electric and eclectic energy to the live stage, touring alongside some of metal’s most favoured acts— Beartooth (US), I Prevail (US), Motionless In White (US), Enter Shikari (UK), Caskets (UK), Northlane and more. The new year has welcomed Windwaker with open arms as they slayed Knotfest Australia in March and embarked on their first ever North American Tour with Northlane and Invent Animate. 2025 saw the band tear through Australia on the HYPERVIOLENCE tour and multiple returns to North America.