CANDY

Positioning themselves as the heavier, more chaotic sibling of Pittsburgh metallers Code Orange - which is, indeed, a feat in and of itself - Richmond, Virginia upstarts Candy have made ripples in the underground hardcore and metal scenes since their debut three-track demo in 2017.

- Sam Roche

If their first full-length, 2018's Good To Feel, got their metaphorical foot in the genre's door, its follow-up, this year's Heaven Is Here, kicks that door squarely off its hinges. Alongside sporadic digitally influenced effects and soundbites sit guitarists Michael Quick and Steve Di Genco, whose urgent and frenetic alternate picking runs and doomy power chord riffs keep the Candy freight train barrelling along in a genre of their own crafting.