Turnstile is live fire, and My Ticket Home make a comeback

So we’re back for another one of these, and I’m always excited to share news and thoughts in the heavy world! But real-life has also kept me busy, with a visit to Lisbon Games Week for my birthday — par for the course when it’s not on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday — but also more cool stuff happening.

I went on a mini-tour with my friends from Caos Cows, a portuguese surf-rock band. This mini tour consists of solely two dates, one in Coimbra and the other in Guimarães, and it’s always a fun time with them. The tour also included Caravanana and Marta San as the DJ, who I quickly also became friends with. Considering I love travelling to see and photograph my favourite bands, doing this tour was a lot of fun and visited new venues and met new people, and I’m looking forward to visiting them again.

The last season of Stranger Things also premiered on Netflix and it’s been a trip revisiting the universe and these characters we’ve been accompanying for the last decade. Only seen the first four episodes, but more will come for the holidays before the grande finale on New Year’s.

November 26th will be the day Lisbon remembers Turnstile. Just as they released the album of the summer with ‘NEVER ENOUGH’, the forever loved Baltimore band have been touring relentlessly throughout the world, celebrating with fans from all corners. This tour has also garnered a reputation, as seen on videos on social media. People, of all ages, moshing, crowd surfing, or just simply partying through the beautiful 21-song setlist.

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From the first moment, as the title song works as a sort of an intro to the rest of the night, we’re treated with the best Turnstile has ever been in their careers, and broke through into the mainstream with ‘GLOW ON’. Some purists might argue they sold out with this new sound, but if there’s anything worth proving, is that older songs like “Drop”, “Pushing Me Away” and “Keep It Moving” sound amazing alongside newer material.

It’s indeed the new material that shines the most and gets the ever heart warming chants, with “I CARE / DULL”, “LIGHT DESIGN” and “SOLE” getting a lot out of the audience. Of course modern classics like “T.L.C. (TURNSTILE LOVE CONNECTION)” and “HOLIDAY” sound as crispy as ever, especially with a band performing in high energy.

The three-song encore closes things tightly with “MYSTERY” for starters, “BLACKOUT” as main course and “BIRDS” for dessert, the last one where the audience is invited to join the rest of the band on-stage and make dreams come true, in a truly brilliant evening.

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For a while it was wishful thinking, but nobody actually thought My Ticket Home would drop their new record in 2025, announced just a week prior to its release — and on my birthday. It started back in June with “Tearjoint”, officially announcing their comeback, followed by “Urethane”, “Nothing Lost” and “Flooded Eyes”. The sound was a mix of their modern cult-classics ‘Strangers Only’ and ‘unReal’, which pleased both groups who listened to both bands’ sides. Vocalist Nick Giumenti has been posting about the album’s process, and then the unexpected happened.

A post on Nov 7th announcing that the album was finalized showed the light at the end of the tunnel, with many — me included — believing we’d get an early 2026 release. But then a post on Nov 12th announcing the album release for the following week, Nov 21st, left everyone immediately hyped and with good reason: it’s My Ticket Home’s first full-length record in eight years. And my gosh was it worth the wait.

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I knew that the singles, consistent between all four, indicated a very promising album in the making. But it’s everything else we hadn’t heard yet that hit the hardest. “Spliced” balances heavy melodics, while “If You Could Understand”, a more chill vibe song that impresses upon the first listen, and it’s not the only one. “Flooded Eyes” could’ve easily been an ‘unReal’ B-side (and possibly is). “Don’t Go Hollow’ might hit hard but it’s the one-two punch of “Sede”, another calm vibe song, that segueways into “Black Skies (Death of Desire)”, a plot twist of a track, that makes this album a very easy contender for AOTY. This is how you make an epic three record run in just over a decade!

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Despite being quite underground, Fuzz Lightyear keep surprising as they gather new fans. Last year’s double A-side “My Body” was a great reentrée banger, and “Visual Effect” started off the new year just right. With their new EP ‘Zero Guilt’, they’re the best they’ve ever sounded. A short sub-25 minute is also a very sweet one, as “White and Green” kicks things off properly. I’m a huge fan of “Aberfan”, “Christ Alive” and “Berlin, 1885”, the latter of which singer Ben Parry has called the EP a “time capsule” of songs the band have lived with for about five years, suggesting “Berlin, 1885” existed in earlier form and is now being presented in its definitive studio version as part of that collection. It’s a great EP to present for fans of the genre and will definitely make heads turn.

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Don Broco did that thing where they released a fourth single and no album announcement yet. Must be a trend of some sort, but “Euphoria” continues the string of singles teasing an already established record for 2026. This, alongside another US tour announcement, is leaving us in Europe very anxious. Here’s hoping for a spring headliner!

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VANA is well known on social media, specially TikTok, and it’s the best news to hear she’s just joined Sumerian Records, and released her new single “Pray”. With this new endeavor, I’m looking forward to seeing this New Zealand rising star get what she long deserves.

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Just announced, and after many teasers, Evanescence have finally revealed the big secret: A big 2026 tour, with some special guests and a new album. While the US will get Spiritbox and Nova Twins, the UK can count on Poppy and K.Flay, while the rest of Europe will see Poppy and Nova Twins slay. It’s a very exciting tour and I already got a ticket…

I’m still actively going through my remaining albums of 2025 and doing fairly good progress — depending on your perspective.

I See Stars ‘THE WHEEL’ was a fun listen, considering some songs were played live last year at the Palaye Royale gig, which was very cool. The remainder of the album is on par with what I expected, but “DRIFT” is a pretty solid proposition, so is “SPLIT”.

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Grandson ‘INERTIA’ shows an artist who’s come a long way from the singles and EPs from his early career, and this is the best album to date; and yet somehow is still not as big as I’d wish he was. Two-hit intro “BURY YOU” and “AUTONOMOUS DELIVERY ROBOT” set a chaotic rebel mood, while the rest of the record bounces back and forth with heavy ideas and chill minds.

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Faetooth’s second full-length album ‘Labyrinthine’ was a pleasant surprise. Self-described as “fairy doom”, it definitely holds close to the definition with heavy doomy guitares and haunting vocals, alongside eerie melodies, with a tinge of shoegaze. Exploring grief and trauma, as well as the quiet, ongoing work of processing pain, it’s a folklore-inspired tale that’s worth a listen, from start to finish. Between “Hole” and “Mater Dolorosa”, as well as the eight and a half minute finale “Meet Your Maker”, there’s a lot of narrative to explore on this album.

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We’ll still have some new albums in December, and I’ll still consider them before releasing my End of Year list. I’ll probably publish it during that weird week after Christmas and before New Year’s, but so far, it’s been a great year in music. I still have a few dozen albums I’ve only been able to catch up-to now, so perhaps there might be more surprises in the meantime! But until then, let’s see what the month reserves us!