We Came As Romans continue to progress and evolve at lightspeed, maintaining a place at the forefront of heavy music and culture.  Never content to follow, they seamlessly alchemize crushing groove-driven catharsis, spacey electronics, and arena-size singalongs into a sound that refuses to sit still, naturally dipping in and out of metal, alternative, hardcore, and rock without breaking a sweat. Since emerging in 2005, the Michigan quintet—Joshua Moore [guitar], Dave Stephens [vocals], Lou Cotton [guitar], Andy Glass [bass], and David Puckett [drums]—have pushed the envelope. Following To Plant A Seed [2009] and Understanding What We’ve Grown To Be [2011], Tracing Back Roots cracked the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 and catapulted to #1 on the Independent Albums Chart and Top Hard Rock Albums Chart in 2013. Two years later, We Came As Romans bowed at #11 on the Billboard 200, while Alternative Press hailed 2017’s Cold Like War as “a milestone for WCAR.”  Along the way, they sold out successive headline tours and shared stages with A Day To Remember, Bring Me The Horizon, I Prevail, The Used, Sleeping With Sirens, Parkway Drive, and more.   During 2018, the group weathered the tragic loss of original clean vocalist Kyle Pavone. However, the musicians kindled a newfound strength in the wake of Kyle’s passing. This energy surged through Darkbloom in 2022. Produced by Drew Fulk [Knocked Loose, Lil Wayne, Disturbed], it earned some of the highest praise of their career. Beyond applause from Loudwire, Consequence, and more, KERRANG! rated it “4-out-of-5 stars,” going on to praise the LP as “both a carrier for a knot of emotion, and a tribute to their friend.” Not to mention, it yielded two of the most successful tracks of their career. “Black Hole” [with Caleb Shomo of BEARTOOTH] eclipsed 102 million-plus Spotify streams, and “Daggers” [with Zero 9:36] generated north of 32 million Spotify streams.   Moving forward yet again, they ignite another era with the 2025 single “BAD LUCK.” On the track, an electronic vocal loop gives way to a thick and trudging battering ram riff. A head-nodding rhythm seethes beneath the verses as Dave wonders, “Been fighting for space with all the same ghosts, am I spinning out of control?” It culminates on a chantable chorus, “I spent all my life wondering why the bad luck always comes so easy…All this time, I’ve realized the worse things in life are free.”    About “BAD LUCK,” the Dave said, “Bad Luck is a song that is so important to each of us. Lyrically, it’s about our journey as a band since the very beginning. We’ve faced so many setbacks and problems behind the scenes, and sometimes it feels like Bad Luck is all we have - but the way that we’ve persevered through all of them to become who we are today is the real story, not the issues along the way."   As always, We Came As Romans level up again with more music to come in 2025 and beyond.

Varials channel hardcore intensity and nu-metal groove into something unapologetically human. Formed in Philadelphia, the band built its reputation on unflinching honesty across Pain Again, In Darkness, and Scars for You to Remember. Their fourth album, WHERE THE LIGHT LEAVES (Fearless Records, 2025), marks a rebirth—four musicians tearing everything down to rebuild stronger.  Produced by Josh Schroeder (Lorna Shore, Dayseeker), the record captures Varials at their most instinctive and unfiltered. Imperfect takes, emotional performances, and new melodic textures create a sound that’s both crushing and alive. Onstage, the lineup (Skyler Conder, Mike Foley, Sean Rauchut, and Shane Lyons) continues to prove why Varials remain one of heavy music’s most cathartic and commanding live acts.  

Cane Hill is a metalcore band from New Orleans known for blending crushing riffs, raw emotion, and an unfiltered intensity that pulls from metal, alternative, and grunge. Their sound pairs aggressive heaviness with vulnerable, often unsettling honesty, exploring themes of identity, addiction, and self-destruction. Never content to stay in one lane, Cane Hill constantly evolves, pushing their music into darker and more experimental territory. The result is a band that feels as confrontational as it is cathartic, built for both chaos and connection.