INTRODUCING: Storm Orchestra

French trio STORM ORCHESTRA were birthed from the underground Paris alternative scene, where they spent time creating their own take on modern alt-rock, combining intricate riffs, catchy choruses and a whole lot of meaning.



Consisting of singer and guitarist Maxime Goudara, bassist Adrien Richard and drummer Loïc Fouquet, STORM ORCHESTRA came out of the gate swinging with their album Get Better featuring both CHUNK! NO! CAPTAIN CHUNK! and JJ WILDE.

Speaking to Max and Loïc from their studio (their camera was literally propped up on a snare drum) they delved into the creation of the band, the album, and how they ended up with two insane features on their album.
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The band initially formed due to Max and Adrien meeting as they studied to become sound engineers, but it wasn’t until 2019 when they met Loïc that STORM ORCHESTRA really started to take shape; to the point where only months after joining the band, they won a competition to open a festival stage in France to an audience of thousands. Reminiscing, Max called Loïc joining the ‘real birth’ of the band.

The name itself came from the band listening to Brainstorm by ARCTIC MONKEYS, deciding to take the ‘storm’ section and combine it with ‘orchestra’ to create their name “we chose to add orchestra as a joke, because there’s only three of us, but we want to create the noise of a whole orchestra,” Max laughs.

The band lean quite a lot into the orchestra section of their name, “when you listen, we use violin sounds quite a lot in our work,” Loíc points out, “it’s actually a dream of ours to put on a big show with a full orchestra,” he adds excitedly, “but it has to be at the Royal Albert Hall!” Interjects Max excitedly, leading them to launch into impassioned discourse on their favourite artists that have performed there.

When asked on how a young band have already got two albums and an EP out, Loïc was quick to say “COVID meant we had a lot of time. We weren’t touring, so we were in the studio, it helped us get our emotions out in the first album.” Since then, they have signed with Mascot Records in 2023, which was a game changer for them. “We had real support through creating our second album, it let us push ourselves to give them something to work on,” Loïc explains.



Their latest album Get Better, was released in 2025, with track Drummer hitting particular success online “that’s the thing with social media and Spotify, this new industry we navigate now, a track just has to be on the right playlist and it can get attention, this is what happened for us,” comments the drummer. “Our music video was a bit more funny, it was a new side of the band for fans, the label helped promoting it too, we didn’t expect it.” Max adds, “we faked me leaving the band and it caused a lot of panic!”
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Rest assured, the trio are still going strong. “This album is our strongest music, we have a great mix of strong choruses and deeper songs,” Max praises. “There are no fillers, just showcasing different musical parts of the band.”

The album features Bert Poncet of CHUNK! NO, CAPTAIN CHUNK! on Crash the Mirrors and JJ Wilde on Désolé. The collaboration with Bert is described as a “natural progression” by the pair, as he has worked on all of their releases so far and is a “long time collaborator and friend”. “We wanted to start opening up the possibility of collabs, so it was perfect for him to be first,” Loïc comments, “who better than him to help us showcase the heavier side of our band!”

Désolé on the other hand was originally written and recorded with just Max’s vocals, but the band turned to their label and suggested a female voice, to which the label responded with the recommendation of JJ WILDE. “My girlfriend is a huge fan of JJ WILDE, and I wrote this song thinking about her [the girlfriend] so it just fit,” Max chuckles. “She added her own lyrics and harmonies, it was a great combination!”

Though the band don’t have specific messages per songs, their second album overall focuses on the state of the world, global warming, wars and how we have to either be part of the solution or just learn to live through it. “I believe that changing the world starts with changing yourself,” proclaims Max.

As for favourite tracks, Max waxes poetic that his is Superplayer due to the experience of playing it live and having that connection with the audience “there’s a football chant and heavy riffs, we love it, the fans love it, what more do you want?” Loïc’s favourite? Crash the Mirrors and why? “It’s the heaviest!”

Get Better is out now via Mascot Records. View this interview, alongside dozens of other killer bands, in glorious print magazine fashion in DS126 here:



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INTRODUCING: Pravitas

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INTRODUCING: Pravitas



The tech metal scene has flourished over the last decade with visionaries such as PERIPHERY, TESSERACT and MONUMENTS injecting their own creative spin on the genre established by giants such as MESHUGGAH, CYNIC and ATHEIST. UK-based quintet PRAVITAS have been causing quite a stir in the underground scene since their arrival back in 2014 but they have, by their own admission, let their performances do the talking rather than pushing the social media promotion side of things. Whilst this has allowed them to steadily build their reputation as an impressively tight live band they have realised in this current digital age that it has become a significant part of the process.



“We’ve played hundreds of gigs and that’s no exaggeration. There was a point where we were playing multiple gigs a week,” explains guitarist Joseph Taylor. “We were more focused on being musicians, rehearsing, practising and playing but it has become more apparent that there is a big shift in bands having an online presence now.”



“We’ve not done a lot of promotion over the years, we’ve kind of relied on just playing live shows to help spread the word and it has worked really well but I feel like we’re at the point now where we need to focus on our social media promotion,” admits guitarist Richard Barnes. “We always get positive feedback but we’re bad at telling enough people. We are still trying to get our heads around it all and make some shiny new videos.”

After a few shifts in lineup, PRAVITAS are entering an exciting new chapter with the recruitment of new vocalist Chris Sellers. “We’ve all been good mates for quite a while. Me, Joe and Conor all met at Leeds College of Music,” informs Rich. “Me and Joe started jamming and writing demos together with our original drummer. Our previous vocalist Jack left the band for personal reasons, there was no bad blood. We used to live with Chris at one point and he is in another band called AFTER THE ABDUCTION, so we knew what he could do and it seemed like a no-brainer to get him on board. It took a lot of the stress out of finding someone and wondering whether we would gel and get along.”
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“I actually played bass for PRAVITAS at a few shows back in 2016 so it was great to be able to re-join the band further down the line,” adds Chris.

The impending release of their debut full-length album The Parasitic Divine is just over the horizon and as well as showing the progression in their songwriting abilities through years of grinding around the circuit, it is also a nod to the journey they have experienced thus far. “Some songs are completely new and some of the songs have been written for a long time, back to when we first met,” discusses Rich. “There is a song called The Crustacean which was written as far back as 2014 and was previously released on an EP but we felt we could do it more justice with better production. The album is kind of an anthology of sorts where we have modernised some of our older catalogue and we wanted Chris to put his stamp on them. It was produced by our friend Sam Butterfield at Pitch Black Audio. I like to dabble in mixing but he’s on a completely different level. He’s a wizard.”

“When we were talking about making the album an anthology piece it was quite difficult to whittle the list down of what we wanted to include,” adds bassist Conor Devlin. “We had around an eleven year period’s worth of tracks to choose from and we were conscious that we didn’t want to recycle too much as we want to show our evolution as a band as well.”

“When we’re writing songs we like to have a lot of guitar solos in them,” states Joe. “Me and Rich are really influenced by shred guitarists like YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, JEFF LOOMIS and JOE SATRIANI which also gives our music a bit of an old school vibe as well.”

The dedication to their craft has not gone unnoticed, being rewarded with multiple festival appearances which has only fuelled that fire further. “We’ve played Tech-Fest a few times, as PRAVITAS and as our MESHUGGAH cover band MILK AND TWO ‘SHUGGAH’S where we played the main stage, that was huge,” smiles Rich. “Our previous drummer Don left the band around 2018 so we were searching for a replacement and we have been friends with Les (Harrison) for a long time who is an insane drummer. He comes from more of a jazz background but is really into tech-death. He bailed us out at a really critical time as we were due to play Tech-Fest and he came in as a bit of an emergency situation and learned some of our songs in a matter of days. That was his first show he played with us, the rest is history! We also won Metal 2 The Masses in 2019 and played at Bloodstock. Hearing our single playing on the big screens walking around which was so surreal. I’m also very proud of us for getting this album out too as it’s a lot of hard work getting everything in order and getting the arrangements right. There are so many great bands out there that we want to make sure that we stood out from the crowd. Our first single Defragment has done really well. We got a few thousand views on our video within the first week and I know we’re not pulling huge numbers like METALLICA or anything but for us it shows we’re growing and we’re really happy about that. We’ve also released Monolith which shows the groovier side to our sound as opposed to the crazy, technical, note-filled music most people probably know us for.”

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LIVE REVIEW: Alter Bridge @ AO Arena, Manchester

Photo Credit: Emma Stone

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Manchester was treated to a night of towering riffs, powerhouse vocals and arena-sized ambition as ALTER BRIDGE rolled into town in support of their self-titled record with a heavyweight support bill in tow. With SEVENDUST and DAUGHTRY rounding out the lineup, the evening promised a blend of hard rock grit and soaring melody and from the moment doors opened, it was clear the crowd was ready for a show of serious scale. There was a palpable sense of anticipation in the room, the kind that only builds when a band known for arena-worthy performances steps into a space ready to match that energy.

Sevendust live @ AO Arena, Manchester. Photo Credit: Emma Stone

SEVENDUST were first to take the stage, delivering a performance that was undeniably tight and full of energy as they gear towards the release of their new album One. Their brand of heavier, groove-laden metal hit hard, with pounding rhythms and commanding vocals that cut through the room with ease. There was no questioning their ability as performers, they were polished, powerful and clearly seasoned. However, their sound did feel slightly at odds with the rest of the night’s lineup. In a bill leaning more toward melodic hard rock and soaring choruses, Sevendust’s heavier edge felt a touch out of place, even if the crowd still responded respectfully. It was a strong set on its own terms, just one that didn’t quite align perfectly with the tone of what followed.
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Rating: 7/10Daughtry live @ AO Arena, Manchester. Photo Credit: Emma Stone

DAUGHTRY, on the other hand, felt like a perfect bridge between support and headliner and judging by the crowd response, they could easily have been co-headlining. From the moment they stepped on stage, the energy shifted, with huge cheers greeting familiar songs and a sea of voices rising to meet them. Chris Daughtry’s vocals were as powerful and controlled as ever, effortlessly carrying the band’s anthemic sound across the venue. It quickly became apparent just how many fans in the room were there specifically for them, with singalongs rivalling what you’d expect for a headliner. Their set was polished, emotionally resonant and packed with hooks, leaving a lasting impression and raising the bar even higher for the final act.

Rating: 9/10Alter Bridge live @ AO Arena, Manchester. Photo Credit: Emma Stone

When ALTER BRIDGE finally took the stage, everything clicked into place. From the first note to the last, across a career-spanning set, they commanded the room with a presence that felt far bigger than the venue itself. Myles Kennedy’s vocals were nothing short of breathtaking, soaring effortlessly over Mark Tremonti’s crushing yet precise guitar work, while the rhythm section locked everything together with unwavering power. There’s a sense of mastery to an ALTER BRIDGE live show, every moment feels deliberate, every song lands with weight, and every member plays with a confidence that only comes from years at the top of their game.

What truly stood out, though, was just how captivating they were to watch. It wasn’t just about technical ability or big songs, albeit the band have an arsenal in their repertoire: Isolation, Metalingus, Open Your Eyes, Fortress. Need we go on. Rather, it was the way in which they held the audience, pulling them into every chorus, every solo, every quiet moment before the next explosion of sound. The crowd responded in kind, fully invested and hanging on every note. It felt like an arena show squeezed into a warm embrace of a dive bar, and in moments like these, it’s impossible not to think that ALTER BRIDGE are more than deserving of stages even bigger than this. An exciting thought indeed.

Rating: 9/10Alter Bridge live @ AO Arena, Manchester. Photo Credit: Emma Stone

All in all, the night felt like a showcase of just how powerful modern rock can be when delivered at this level. SEVENDUST brought undeniable intensity, even if their heavier edge felt slightly out of step with the rest of the bill, while DAUGHTRY proved just how deeply their anthems resonate, drawing a response that rivalled the headliner themselves. And then ALTER BRIDGE stepped in to tie everything together, delivering a performance that was as technically impressive as it was emotionally gripping. It was the kind of show that leaves no doubt, this is a band built for arenas, commanding every inch of the stage with ease. A night of huge voices, bigger riffs and even bigger moments, it served as a reminder that rock, when done right, still feels absolutely unstoppable.

Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in Manchester from Emma Stone here:






















































































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