Split Chain - vocalist Roberto Martinez-Cowles, guitarists Oli Bowles and Jake Reid, bassist Tom Davies and drummer Aaron Black – have been making waves in the alternative scene with a brazen mixture of heavy influences they call “nu-gaze”. With just a handful a self-released tracks they reached over 10 Million streams independently and before joining the Epitaph family. After dropping their official label debut single “(Re)-Extract” feat Softcult, they were quick to be named the AltPress Breakout Artist Of The Month, earning additional nods of approval from Revolver, BrooklynVegan, Stereogum and more. Formed as a creative outlet while on the road to recovery from addiction, the band members came together in support of each other and cemented a deep bond over the healing power of music. By channeling their personal struggles into emotionally charged songs, they have connected with a growing fan base drawn to their vulnerability and honesty. “We were writing music as an escape, a distraction, to create what we wanted to listen to,” they explain. “We ended up loving what we had created so much, and from this, Split Chain was formed.”
Death Lens want to be in your ear at all times. They hide their ferocity underneath a thick veneer of style until the energy and chaos of one of their live shows leaves every audience member disarmed and forever changed. Off the strength of 2022’s No Luck, tours with Militarie Gun and Together Pangea, and the support of their hometown, Death Lens is releasing their new album, Cold World, May 3rd on Epitaph Records. For Death Lens, it’s all been building to this. Cold World is a departure from the early styles Death Lens mimicked as a young band, transmuting them into matured and brawny post-hardcore tinged rock songs. On record, Death Lens have an established habit of writing hard-nosed rock that combines West Coast reverbed-out surf punk with tight and bouncy Britrock, deceptively characterizing the band as exclusively chill and vibe-focused when live, a Death Lens show has all the energy of hardcore. Slick guitar sonics and sugary backing vocal harmonies that feel like the best parts of indie punk and shoegaze are the foundation of their style, but in a 200 capacity room, Death Lens brings the same winning concoction as Turnstile and Militarie Gun. In other words, these are the kinds of songs that become the soundtrack to enduring memories of nights of drunken, sweat-drenched singalongs.