Alt-UK

Music, Film, and Gaming

Rich

Josh Allen is the Madden 24 Cover Star

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The Madden 24 cover star has officially now been revealed, and there’s exciting news for all Buffalo Bills fans out there as it’s their very own Josh Allen.

Since being drafted by the Bills back in 2018, Josh Allen has been able to make quite a name for himself out in Buffalo, and there’s genuine hope that the 7th overall pick could ultimately help guide them to glory.

In the 2020–21 season Allen was right on the cusp of taking the Bills to the Super Bowl, he’s twice been involved in the Pro Bowl, and in Madden 24 he’s officially now set to be the cover star, something that he’s stated on Twitter is “a childhood dream come true”.

Early access for Madden 24 will officially begin on August 15th, the worldwide launch will then take place on August 18th, and if you pre-order the game then you’ll also receive the following:

F1 Manager 23 Release Date Confirmed

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F1 Manager 2023 now has an official release date, with the game officially set to drop digitally on July 31st across PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.

Players that pre-order the game will receive 3 exclusive scenarios, whilst those that purchase the deluxe edition will receive an additional 12 exclusive scenarios as well as also gaining access to the game four days early.

Brand new for F1 Manager 2023 is a new Race Replay mode, challenging players across two different disciplines; Starting Grid and Race Moments. Starting Grid will replicate the track conditions and grid positions from the real-world F1 race, whilst Race Moments will provide you with specific objectives part-way through a race, enabling you to make important strategic decisions. As these are based around real race outcomes; the Starting Grid and Race Moment for each location will be added to the game following the conclusion of every real-world race.

An all new visor cam has also been added for this years iteration, providing you with a great new way of immersing yourself in the race and following all the action.

You can check out a brand new gameplay trailer for F1 Manager 2023 below:

Architects announce support bands for European Tour

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Architects will be performing a number of tour dates across Europe this summer, and have now announced the support bands for their shows in Bulgaria, Poland and Hungary.

While She Sleeps will join them in Bulgaria, Swedish metalcore band Imminence will support them in Poland, whilst over in Hungary they’ll be joined by Sleep Token. In addition to this, Heriot will be providing support for all three shows.

Architects released their tenth studio album The Classic Symptoms of a Broken Spirit through Epitaph Records last year, have an incredible back catalogue of material, and if you’re heading to Download Festival next weekend then you’ll also be able to catch the band there, where they’re sure to put on as huge a show as ever.

Massive Wagons Announce UK Tour

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Having previously performed a ten date run of shows back in April in support of their latest studio album Triggered!, Massive Wagons will once again be touring the UK this November, taking in nine more tour dates across the UK.

The band will begin the tour at Portsmouth’s Wedgewood Rooms on April 13th, tickets are officially on sale now, and the following is a full list of dates for the tour:

Tue 14th Nov – NORWICH Epic Studios
Wed 15th Nov – SWANSEA Patti Pavilion
Thu 16th Nov – FROME Cheese & Grain
Sat 18th Nov – BOURNEMOUTH The Old Fire Station
Sun 19th Nov – HOLMFIRTH Picturedrome
Tue 21st Nov – LIVERPOOL Hangar 34
Thu 23rd Nov – NOTTINGHAM Rescue Rooms
Fri 24th Nov – TROON Winterstorm Festival
Sat 25th Nov – NEWCASTLE Northumbria University

Random Hand – Lifejackets Review

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Having played over 2000 shows throughout their 20 years, Random Hand are a band that have worked incredibly hard at perfecting their craft, with their experience definitely very much on display here as they blast their way through Lifejackets.

Taken from their forthcoming fifth studio album which officially drops on September 29th, Lifejackets lyrically address the disparity between the top and the bottom in this country, with far too many people fighting just to try and survive in the current financial climate.

With its big chunky guitar riff, well placed horn section, and incredibly catchy chorus; Lifejackets has a great deal of depth and… buoyancy about it, and if this is at all a sign of what’s to come from their self-titled studio album later this year then we should certainly be in store for something truly special.

There’s a heightened level of maturity on display from the band here, a confidence in themselves and their craft that absolutely radiates from the track. Random Hand sound incredibly assured and this is something that’s absolutely fantastic to hear.

It’s been eight years since the band last released a studio album, Lifejackets provides a very tasty hint of what’s to come next though, and if you’re at all a fan of ska punk then I definitely highly recommend giving this one a listen.

Bad Religion’s ‘Recipe For Hate’ re-pressed to Celebrate the 30-year Anniversary of its Original Release

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With Bad Religion’s Recipe for Hate recently having turned 30 years old, the album has now been re-pressed by Epitaph Records and will be officially available from July 28th.

Sandwiched between Generator and Stranger Than Fiction in the Bad Religion back-catalogue, Recipe For Hate is the album that brought us American Jesus, a song that remains a Bad Religion setlist staple and continues to be a huge crowd pleaser to this day.

The vinyl is available for pre-order now, with a red/beer vinyl exclusively available for those in the UK/Europe, whilst a clear/orange version will only be available from the US Epitaph store.

Bring Me The Horizon – AmEN! ft. Lil Uzi Vert & Daryl Palumbo (Glassjaw) Review

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We wondered if Bring Me The Horizon would ever release a heavy single again, and I guess we now have our answer. AmEN! is the heaviest song that the band has released in a long time, complete with a rapped verse from Lil Uzi Vert, and even features the legendary Daryl Palumbo of Glassjaw and Head Automatica fame. In fact, Palumbo’s inclusion makes a huge amount of sense as the song certainly has a distinctly Glassjaw feel about it in places.

AmEN! comes complete with the obligatory huge chorus that we’ve come to expect from the band in recent years, vocal touches from Daryl Palumbo that add extra depth, and the Lil Uzi Vert feature also sits extremely well in the mix. What I didn’t expect to think going into the track, however, is that I would have liked to have heard more of Lil Uzi Vert in there. I had my reservations about how they could possibly make this collaboration work, but honestly, they probably actually ended up using him a little too sparingly here.

You can hear touches of Post Human: Survival Horror era Bring Me The Horizon in this one, a huge helping of Glassjaw, and Oli Sykes shows a great deal of range and variation with his vocal delivery. The clean chorus sounds incredibly modern and massive, whilst some of the growls that he musters here wouldn’t have sounded out of place on Count Your Blessings.

Similarly to with their last single LosT, there’s a lot going on in this one. It’s a very different tone and approach, but there’s a similar sort of chaotic energy that takes a little bit of time to adjust to. On first listen I actually found the experience somewhat overwhelming, providing an attack on my senses that I didn’t quite know how to take. With repeat listens I’ve grown to love it though and can definitely see myself listening to this one a whole lot more in the future.

If you’re a fan of Bring Me The Horizon’s heavier side then the chances are that you’ll see this as a real return to form. Glassjaw fans should also be pleased and will definitely hear the bands influence in this one, and even if you prefer the cleaner side of Bring Me The Horizon’s sound then there should still be more than enough chorus for you to get your teeth into here.

AmEN! is an extremely impressive single from Bring Me The Horizon and if you’re lucky enough to have tickets for Download Festival then I’m sure it’ll sound absolutely huge live.

Pendulum & Bullet For My Valentine – Halo Review

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Having previously collaborated with In Flames on 2010s Self vs Self, Pendulum have long been a band with one foot in the metal scene, and once again they explore their heavier side here as they team up with Bullet For My Valentine frontman Matt Tuck on this latest single.

Halo is extremely fast out of the gates, distinctly Pendulum in sound, and Matt Tuck’s slightly harsher vocals combine brilliantly with the clean vocal sound of Pendulum’s own Rob Swire. The collaboration sounds extremely natural and these two artists work incredibly well together here, creating a huge sounding drum’n’bass track with a delightful metallic twinge. If you were a fan of the aforementioned Self vs Self, then Halo should surely be right up your street and is definitely a track that you should be immediately adding to your rotation.

Pendulum will soon be performing at Download Festival, and Halo should surely receive an absolutely almighty reception from the Donnington crowd in attendance. It’s big, it’s bold, it’s ballsy, and Halo is a single that absolutely captures Pendulum at their brilliant best.

Holding Absence Announce European Tour

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With their third studio album officially set to drop in August, Welsh rock band Holding Absence will be heading out on tour later this year, starting out on November 3rd in Eindhoven in the Netherlands and finishing up at the O2 Institute Birmingham on November 28th.

They recently released a taste of what’s to come from their third album The Noble Art of Self Destruction in the form of False Dawn, and it has to be said that they’re sounding as huge as ever. Lucas Woodland’s vocals continue to sound absolutely beautiful, instrumentally they remain excellent, and this European tour should provide for an absolute treat of oral excellence from a band that has fast become my favourite UK artist in a long time.

Tickets for their UK and European tour are on sale now, and the following is a full list of dates:

03.11 – NL, Eindhoven – Dynamo
04.11 – DE, Berlin – Hole 44
05.11 – DE, Hamburg – Gruenspan
07.11 – DE, Munich – Backstage Halle
08.11 – CZ, Prague – Fuchs 2
09.11 – AT, Vienna – Flex Cafe
10.11 – IT, Milan – Legend Club
12.11 – CH, Zurich – Dynamo
14.11 – FR, Paris – Backstage
15.11 – DE, Cologne – Essigfabrik
17.11 – UK, Brighton – Concorde 2
18.11 – UK, Cardiff – The Great Hall
19.11 – UK, Glasgow – The Garage
20.11 – UK, Newcastle – Boilershop
22.11 – UK, Manchester – O2 Ritz
23.11 – UK, Southampton – Engine Rooms
24.11 – UK, London – O2 Forum Kentish Town
25.11 – UK, Leeds – Stylus
27.11 – UK, Norwich – Epic Studios
28.11 – UK, Birmingham – O2 Institute

Bowling For Soup Announce 2024 UK Tour With Less Than Jake

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Bowling for Soup will celebrate 30 years as a band next year, and they’ve now announced that they’ll officially mark the occasion with an eight date tour of the UK with Less Than Jake.

The two bands recently both performed the Dickies Stage at Slam Dunk Festival, they’ve also in recent times toured together across North America, and this upcoming tour will provide a fantastic opportunity to see these two bands together that brought us such absolute classics as Girl All The Bad Guys Want and Gainesville Rock City.

Country rock band Vandoliers will be opening all eight shows, they’ll kick off the tour in Wolverhampton, and you’ll be able to find these bands in action across the following dates:

16th – Wolverhampton – The Civic At The Halls
17th – Manchester – Academy
18th – Leeds – The Refectory
19th – Newcastle – O2 City Hall
21st – Hull – Bonus Arena
22nd – Glasgow – O2 Academy
23rd – Cardiff – International Arena
24th – London – Eventim Apollo Hammersmith