Sammy Andrews

About Me

  York, UK based

Assistant Album Review Editor at Distorted Sound Magazine

Specialising in hardcore, emo and indie reviews and features. 

Featured in Distorted Sound, Redbrick, Gigwise and The Unwritten. 

My Work

Distorted Sound Magazine •

EP REVIEW: Winter - Halfway Home - Distorted Sound Magazine

Buckinghamshire five piece, HALFWAY HOME stare down the bleakness of depression on their new EP Winter. From the energetic passion of metalcore to the emotional roots of post-hardcore, HALFWAY HOME waver between the two in order to ensure that emotional catharsis strikes at the core of the EP. 

Winter opens with an audio clip set to a haunting piano, isolating ruminations on identity and despondency. Depression and anxiety fuel the early moments of Winter, with the opening track Solstice buildi...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

Love Is Noise: Living in your own way - Distorted Sound Magazine

“I want LOVE IS NOISE to be the band for people where they can listen to us and it helps them in whatever way they need to be.” Cam Humphrey, vocalist and guitarist, is keen to create catharsis and connection through his music. LOVE IS NOISE burst into the alternative metal space, garnering comparisons to bands like DEFTONES. Yet on their debut album To live in a different way, they are keen to liberate themselves from expectations and foreground emotional connection.

Cam shares the vulnerabili...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

ALBUM REVIEW: To live in a different way - Love Is Noise - Distorted Sound Magazine

On their debut album To live in a different way, LOVE IS NOISE tear down any risks of putting themselves in a box. They may have gained momentum within the alternative metal space, but on To live in a different way, LOVE IS NOISE utilise swooping cinematic soundscapes to carry you through shoegaze, alt-metal and post-hardcore influences. Each culminates at the album’s core: a listening experience rooted in embracing emotion in all of its different forms and intensities. 

Opening To live in a di...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

EP REVIEW: You'll Know It Was Me - Church Tongue - Distorted Sound Magazine

Indianapolis’ CHURCH TONGUE are reintroducing themselves to the metalcore world on You’ll Know It Was Me, and do so with pummelling precision. Exploring love in its varying facets, You’ll Know It Was Me is as emotionally striking as it is sonically intense, ensuring a compelling and commanding experience of just what they are capable of. 

Opening track Heart Of Darkness is gnarly straight out of the gates. Pummelling drums and assaulting vocals hit immediately, with a gritty breakdown making it...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

ALBUM REVIEW: Fire In Heaven - The Nightmares - Distorted Sound Magazine

Welsh noir pop band THE NIGHTMARES have a flair for the gothic, and their sophomore album Fire In Heaven is no exception. Casting their bewitching aesthetic across the album, synths are paired with ruminations on lost love, existentialism and anxiety, offering an other-worldy exploration of the human condition.  

Opening track Siren Song finds THE NIGHTMARES laying the benchmarks of Fire In Heaven out in the open. Celestial lyrics, synth melodies and upbeat indie pop beats all come out swinging...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

Top 10 Emerging Bands That Will Make Their Mark in 2025 - Distorted Sound Magazine

The alternative scene hasn’t been in such rude health in a while. Sure, there’s a big ol’ dose of nostalgia going round with anniversary tours, but that doesn’t mean bands are slacking from putting out fantastic, creative new work. This year, Ukrainian prog metallers JINJER will release their hotly-anticipated Duél, and we’ve also got the debut to look forward to from rising pagan metallers FORLORN. On top of that, there’s plenty of bands set to break out this year – here’s our picks for ten eme...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

HEAVY MUSIC HISTORY: The Upsides - The Wonder Years - Distorted Sound Magazine

Released on January 26 2010, The Upsides saw a turning point for pop-punk’s THE WONDER YEARS. As their second studio album, this was a new approach to their music following 2007’s humour-led Get Stoked On It!. The Upsides, whilst not losing sight of playfulness, turned to vulnerability and saw THE WONDER YEARS release an and more mature outing that has since seen the album become their spiritual debut.

THE WONDER YEARS set out with their sophomore release to write an album about giving up. Init...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

ALBUM REVIEW: If It Matters - Inside Voices - Distorted Sound Magazine

A decade into their career, INSIDE VOICES offer their second album If It Matters. Part consolidation of where they have come from and part re-introduction to where they are going, INSIDE VOICES assure that no corner of their sound is left unturned. In this process, they set alt rock, indie and emo influences to introspective lyricism, foregrounding emotional weight against dynamic soundscapes.

Opening track The Desire finds INSIDE VOICES laying the groundwork for the album’s distinct characteri...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

Distorted Sound's Top 20 Albums of 2024 - Distorted Sound Magazine

Well, 2024, you’ve been a year. Although events around the globe have made navigating this year a massive challenge, as per usual, we can always find solace in music and this year, we’ve been treated to countless albums of utter brilliance. Narrowing down the quality of this year to just 20 releases is a mammoth task, and after much deliberation and debate amongst the Distorted Sound team, here we go: our Top 20 albums of 2024!

20. Scotland’s Hardcore – DESPIZE
If you have been yearning for an...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

EP REVIEW: Yom-Ma-Lok - Whispers - Distorted Sound Magazine

If you haven’t heard of ‘Bangkok Evilcore’, you’ll want to familiarise yourself fast. The self-designated title describes the unique, creative and enrapturing brand of metallic hardcore that WHISPERS have to offer. On Yom-Ma-Lok, the band deliver their most cohesive and elevated sound to date, staking their position as titans of metallic hardcore.

Bringing their distinct sound to the EP, the fittingly titled opening track Bangkok Evilcore is an instrumental introduction to the world WHISPERS ar...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

ALBUM REVIEW: Your Love Is Conditional - K. Soto - Distorted Sound Magazine

Embracing vulnerability and fragility, K. SOTO moves through the downfall of a relationship and the memory of it on Your Love Is Conditional. The album sets miscommunications and disconnection throughout a relationship to melodic indie rock soundscapes. Throughout this, K. SOTO offers conversational and honest storytelling, immersing you into an intimate portrait of love, loss and heartbreak.

Opening track Memorial Day is a slow introduction into the album’s melodic pace. Simple guitar patterns...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

ALBUM REVIEW: No Souvenirs - Fightmilk - Distorted Sound Magazine

On their third studio album, FIGHTMILK have set out to evolve and explore new sounds. The result is No Souvenirs, an album that pulls upon varying degrees of pop-punk and DIY punk influence, but keeps its feet firmly planted within the indie-rock sphere.

No Souvenirs moves through a variety of anecdotal offerings and each track feels like a snippet of a diary entry. Opening track Summer Bodies is a delightful indie rock track that approaches body issues face on. Opening the album, the song’s fu...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

ALBUM REVIEW: State Champs - State Champs - Distorted Sound Magazine

The self-titled album is a pivotal statement for any band. It stands in the band’s career as a declaration their DNA as a group, who they are, where they’ve been and where they’re going. On their self-titled album, STATE CHAMPS solidify their position as giants of the modern pop punk scene, consolidating their sound into an energetic and sharp album.

Opening track, The Constant, is a quintessential STATE CHAMPS song. Bursting out with powerful drums and guitars, it’s full of the attitude that y...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

ALBUM REVIEW: Dial In The Ghost - Ritual Error - Distorted Sound Magazine

London-based RITUAL ERROR refuse to have their voice unheard on debut album Dial In The Ghost.Channelling both the sound and the confrontational ethos of 90s post-hardcore and noise rock, RITUAL ERROR pay homage to what has come before them, whilst firmly planting their feet in the present scene. Dial In The Ghost brings a frustrated and ferocious outlook on current society, and leaves nothing unsaid.

On opening track Good Conscience In Three Stages, RITUAL ERROR ensure that you enter the album...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

ALBUM REVIEW: Ultrabliss - Mother's Cake - Distorted Sound Magazine

On their fifth studio album Ultrabliss, the follow-up to 2020’s Cyberfunk!, MOTHER’S CAKE find themselves forging a new path for their sound. Melding psych and prog jams with a free forming direction, Ultrabliss attempts to find MOTHER’S CAKE liberated in their expression. Yet, laced with cinematic and musical references, the album at times becomes weighed down by its influences, and struggles to tow the line into a fully realised expression of MOTHER’S CAKE‘s sound.

Opening track Clockwork ent...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

ALBUM REVIEW: Tar - Corecass - Distorted Sound Magazine

On Tar, CORECASS envelopes you into a haunting journey from despair to regrowth. Blending dark ambient with post rock and neoclassical, Tar is consistently compelling. Uniquely combining piano, organ, harp, drums and electric guitar, Tar displays CORECASS’ musical proficiency and willingness to explore unexpected avenues. Each track builds to euphoric heights but does not shy away from strangeness. In fact, it is in the strange and in counterpoints, that Tar truly comes to life.

Opening track O...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

EP REVIEW: This Won’t Last When You Know the Beginning - trueandtrue - Distorted Sound Magazine

From Oslo, Norway, TRUEANDTRUE bring their own distinct spin to hardcore and post-punk on their latest EP This Won’t Last When You Know the Beginning. The band energetically move through big and small moments capturing intense themes in their most intimate and most overwhelming of forms. TRUEANDTRUE create an intense and emotional listening experience, ensuring that no turn is left untaken on this journey.

Opening track Doomed immerses the EP into a space of existential contemplation. The track...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

ALBUM REVIEW: With You In Spirit - Balance And Composure - Distorted Sound Magazine

After a four-year hiatus, BALANCE AND COMPOSURE have returned with their first full-length album in eight years. Yet With You In Spirit is far from a simple comeback album, and instead offers a glimpse into a band laying all to bare and leaving nothing unsaid. It finds the band coming back together to confront life’s uncertain questions, contemplating themes across grief, mortality, faith and family. In interrogating such anxieties, BALANCE AND COMPOSURE create an atmospheric, swirling explorati...
Redbrick •

Album Review: Dead Pony- IGNORE THIS | Redbrick Music

IGNORE THIS is a brash and unapologetic call to attention from Dead Pony. On their debut album, the Glasgow band refuse to play it safe, experimenting with genres, production and what an album itself means to them. 
Melding their established grunge leaning alt-rock sound with crunchier guitars, intense drums, and electronic production, Dead Pony refuse to be put in one box on IGNORE THIS. Influences can be heard from the hyper-pop production of title track ‘IGNORE THIS’, to the dance grooves of...
Redbrick •

Album Review: Kacey Musgraves- Deeper Well | Music

It has become very easy to say that an album is an introspection. Artists more and more frequently are looking inward, utilising the form of an album to navigate and document that process. But Deeper Well deals with something a little bit more than simple introspection. Balancing the spiritual with the mundane, in Deeper Well Kacey Musgraves ruminates on her position in the world around her and all of its kaleidoscopic offerings.

Bristling with beautiful folksy guitar patterns, Musgraves is son
Gigwise •

Album Review: Birdy - Portraits | Gigwise

If you think you know what you’re getting from a Birdy album, think again. Expecting intimate piano ballads, I was swept into the synth filled opening track ‘Paradise Calling.’ A burst of energy, and an upbeat assertion of ‘all I ever wanted was something to believe in’, Birdy throws you headfirst into the album. This is the liberation of an artist finding their voice.

It's not a coincidence then that a lot of the songs ponder the idea of letting go of something. Both ‘Heartbreaker’ and ‘Automa
Gigwise •

EP Review: GIRLI - Why am I like this?? | Gigwise

Girli is reckoning with the messiness of life on Why am I like this?? Refusing the tie herself down, the alt-pop singer sets out to capture the multitudes of herself.

The EP is easily at its best when Girli tackles her own insecurities head on. Brutally forthcoming, witty, and sharp, her pen feels especially sharp on opening track ‘I really f**ked it up.’ The song is a catchy affirmation of the need to embrace the messiness of life.

As she reckons with her own insecurities, it always feels rel
Redbrick •

Album Review: Fall Out Boy - So Much (For) Stardust | Music

Music Critic Sammy Andrews reviews Fall Out Boy’s new album, So Much (For) Stardust, highlighting its variety of coexisting elements and the return of the band’s classic sound

So Much (For) Stardust is Fall Out Boy’s step back onto the stage after five years. A dive back into their classic pop-punk/rock sound, the album sees the band firmly returning to their roots, and it is a return that is very welcome.

From the opening few chords of ‘Love From the Other Side’ I knew I would be in for a rid
Gigwise •

Album Review: Billie Marten - Drop Cherries | Gigwise

Four albums into her career, Billie Marten is not reinventing herself. On Drop Cherries, Marten is instead, turning further inwards. Examining, musing, and ruminating on love, Marten makes introspection her own.

Opening track ‘New Idea’ feels like a wistful entrance into the imaginative space of the album. Simple hums and guitar patterns build over the echoes of the tape recording, and you are lulled into Drop Cherries slowly and gracefully as the strings further pull you along.

It is easy eno
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