Sammy Andrews

About Me

  York, UK based

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 •

ALBUM REVIEW: These Graven Halls - Balmora - Distorted Sound Magazine

These Graven Halls is an ambitious and bold debut album from BALMORA, but you can’t help but feel like it treads on uncertain ground. Building a name for themselves and their 00s infused metalcore over the last few years, BALMORA’s debut album feels less like an introduction to their vision, and more a full on assault of everything they have. 

Album highlights come in the various collaborations across the album. Lead single Ophelia featuring HOLDER is a cinematic and brutal track that melds met...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

ALBUM REVIEW: WIRED - Basement - Distorted Sound Magazine

“We must create or die” BASEMENT call out in the middle of their fifth album WIRED, and it couldn’t feel more true as a thesis for the album. Returning to their original record label Run For Cover and their first album in eight years, it feels like somewhat of a reintroduction for BASEMENT. A reset, and a reclaiming of their creativity of sorts. 

Nowhere is this more evident than with the album’s dynamic but consistently sharp approach. These twelve songs are ever shifting but also meticulously...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

ALBUM REVIEW: Directions - Knumears - Distorted Sound Magazine

SoCal screamo revivalists KNUMEARS are not only carrying the torch for the genre, but moulding it in their shape on Directions. Mapping their forbearers and utilising the cathartic output of the genre, their debut album is an unrelenting outburst that reckons with identity, coming of age, and grappling for a sense of direction amidst it all.

Resonant guitars are set against building drum lines on instrumental opening track Introduction. As it erupts into a frenetic explosion, KNUMEARS set the s...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

ALBUM REVIEW: Lost On You - Tigers Jaw - Distorted Sound Magazine

On their seventh album, TIGERS JAW are doing what they do best. Lost On You traces the passage of time, and reckons with the very act of existing in every version of yourself and space at once. This is where TIGERS JAW shine, handling the heartbreak and hope of it all at once. 

Primary Colours ushers in luscious harmonies and alt rock guitar tones that TIGERS JAW utilise across the album. Its rich, layered soundscapes always favour a hook to enhance a lyric, and a chance for a soaring guitar so...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

ALBUM REVIEW: Moments Before The Wind - Free Throw - Distorted Sound Magazine

Moments Before The Wind was born out of an extremely tumultuous time for FREE THROW vocalist Cory Castro. Dealing with the ending of a long-term relationship and finding out he was going to be a father, the album holds self-reflection at its core. It was also recorded in two sessions that were split across touring stints, and that sense of immediacy in expression is crucial to the album’s conception. 

This immediacy is a double edged sword for FREE THROW. Some tracks shine in the sense of an ou...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

HEAVY MUSIC HISTORY: Promise Everything - Basement - Distorted Sound Magazine

When BASEMENT announced their hiatus in 2012 just before the release of their sophomore album Colourmeinkindness, it seemed as if the band were temporarily closing the book on that chapter of their lives. Drummer James Fisher went back to art school, guitarist Alex Henery moved to Boston to become a videographer for Run For Cover, and vocalist Andrew Fisher became a teacher. 

When their Twitter account posted the cryptic “hi” in January of 2014 and the dates 2008-2012 were removed from their bi...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

EP REVIEW: Mizery - Mizery - Distorted Sound Magazine

Their first release in 10 years, MIZERY‘s self-titled EP reckons with all that has come their way in the last decade. Following the passing of their drummer Cayle Sain in 2023, the band discovered he had tracked drums for some of their demos, which they were able to obtain and use for the EP. Each track uses his recordings, with the exception of closing track Eulogy which was built from his programmed drums, with David Stalsworth (MILITARIE GUN) stepping in to record them. 

Reckoning with loss,...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

ALBUM REVIEW: Is This The Low Point Or The Moment After? - Shoreline - Distorted Sound Magazine

SHORELINE have been cultivating a crowd amongst emo circles for a few years now, but with the release of Is This The Low Point Or The Moment After? they solidify themselves as main players in the scene. If you haven’t been paying attention to them yet, its time you allow SHORELINE to envelope you in their world of a hardcore and pop-punk infused brand of emo that finds melodic infectiousness and emotional output at the forefront. 

Worry Count opens the album on a gentle note before drums and gu...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

Bloom: Chasing Lights - Distorted Sound Magazine

“When I’m listening to it, I could see myself seeing this as a kid and really enjoying this,” drummer Jack Van Vliet of BLOOM confesses, and strikes at the core of the Sydney melodic hardcore band’s earnest approach to nostalgia on their sophomore album, The Light We Chase. Vocalist Jono Hawkey and drummer Jack Van Vliet are only weeks away from the album’s release when we catch up with them to chat about their new album.

Nostalgia is the beating heart of the album, with opening track Belrose i...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

EP REVIEW: Ruin The Best Of Me - Holder - Distorted Sound Magazine

With only two songs, Ruin The Best Of Me spares no time demanding you pay attention to HOLDER. With their second EP, the Massachusetts post-hardcore outfit offer two tracks that push you through frenetic heights and soaringly visceral moments that echo out of 90s and 00s screamo scenes. It’s a blast of an old school approach to post-hardcore that’s inflicted with a keen sense of moving forward. 
Inconsolable is a fast hitting, intense run through HOLDER’s ability to balance their raw edges with...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

Distorted Sound's Top 20 Albums of 2025 - Distorted Sound Magazine

2025 has been a year that has, at times, felt utterly relentless. Once again, we’ve had a year of tremendous ups and downs, trials and tribulations to navigate in a ever-changing and challenging world. It may sound cliché, but there’s such solace to be found in music. And 2025 delivered. Across the entire ecosystem of alternative and heavy music, we’ve been spoilt with an abundance of quality albums. After much debate and discussions, here we go: our top 20 albums of 2025!

20. THE FUTURE IS HER...
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HEAVY MUSIC HISTORY: Around The World And Back - State Champs - Distorted Sound Magazine

Following the success of their debut album The Finer Things, the spotlight was on STATE CHAMPS to see how they would follow it up. Poised as one of the new faces of the bustling pop-punk scene of the mid 2010s, STATE CHAMPS had something to prove with Around The World And Back, and 10 years later, it still stands as a crucial album for the band’s position in the world of pop-punk.

As its title alludes to, the album was written largely on the road, with the success of their debut album The Finer...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

EP REVIEW: Coalesce - Second Harbour - Distorted Sound Magazine

SECOND HARBOUR’s debut EP Coalesce is a deep dive into the end of the world, musing upon the reflections and affirmations that come with taking stock of your life. Moving between emo tinged melodies, post hardcore riffs and pop punk hooks, SECOND HARBOUR are laying out their influences, but truly find clarity in their own journey when they strike true at the EP’s emotional core. 

Opening track Relative hits at the EP’s emotional cords from the offset. Reckoning with a fractured family dynamic,...
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ALBUM REVIEW: Faded Intentions - False Reality - Distorted Sound Magazine

On their debut album, Faded Intentions, London hardcore’s FALSE REALITY sound assured, confident, and invigorated about the direction they want to take hardcore. Fusing a tapestry of influences across 12 intensity ferocious tracks, FALSE REALITY present what feels like a manifesto for their vision of hardcore, and test the waters of what that sound could be for them.

Opening track Intro sets the score for the album, building from a dramatic and distorted audio sample to an assault of mean riffs...
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ALBUM REVIEW: Don't Take Forever - The Maple State - Distorted Sound Magazine

On Don’t Take Forever, THE MAPLE STATE display what can be found in reconciliation. Coming back together as the band’s original lineup after disbanding in 2008, this album was 17 years in the making. Musing on loss, friendship, and passing time, Don’t Take Forever is exactly what you’d expect from an album that was brought from such an experience. 

The album meets THE MAPLE STATE where they left off, with their staple indie and emo sound charging through from the offset. On Zero Days Since Last...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

ALBUM REVIEW: The Light We Chase - Bloom - Distorted Sound Magazine

Sydney metalcore outfit BLOOM are drawing upon their past for their sophomore album. The Light We Chase is fuelled by nostalgia, and in this space, the band delves into the emotional thread that come with the act of self-reflection. Sonically diving between varying and new facets of their melodic hardcore infused sound, BLOOM are keen to experiment, keeping a keen eye on how where they’ve been will determine where they will go. 

The album opens on the atmospheric and explosive Belrose, which in...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

ALBUM REVIEW: From Now On - Beauty School - Distorted Sound Magazine

On From Now On, BEAUTY SCHOOL stake their claim as pop-punk heavyweights. With larger than life hooks and big choruses, From Now On meets BEAUTY SCHOOL where they are and at what they do best. Yet, as its title invites, theres also a glimpse that there could be more beneath the surface to come for the band. The album opens on the two part introduction of A Part Of Everything and Seeds For The Roses. The building crescendo of the first propels the album into the quintessential BEAUTY SCHOOL sound...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

HEAVY MUSIC HISTORY: Life’s Not Out To Get You - Neck Deep - Distorted Sound Magazine

Life’s Not Out To Get You catapulted NECK DEEP into the forefront of the pop-punk scene in the 2010s – a position they have maintained to this day. The Welsh band redefined the optimism that could be behind the genre, and balanced earnestness with confrontation to create an album that still feels as impactful today as it did upon its release 10 years ago. 

Following the success of their first album, Wishful Thinking, the band left their day jobs to pursue music full time. The band, who had sign...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

ALBUM REVIEW: Desertion - Spite House - Distorted Sound Magazine

On their sophomore album, Desertion, SPITE HOUSE delve deeper into tragedy. Infusing their post-hardcore sound with a 90s punk undercurrent, the band channel guitars and brutal lyricism into reflective musings on the events that have informed their lives up to this point. From the loss of frontman Max Lajoie’s parents, to anxieties and self-doubt, Desertion reopens old wounds and examines just how they can change a life over time. 

Opening track Ashen Grey propels you into the album with the dr...
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HEAVY MUSIC HISTORY: Copacetic - Knuckle Puck - Distorted Sound Magazine

KNUCKLE PUCK’s debut album Copacetic resonates with fans as much today as it did upon its first release. By 2015, KNUCKLE PUCK had several EPs and a burgeoning fanbase under their belt, yet their debut saw them rocket to prominence in pop-punk and emo circles alike. Ten years since its release and its emotional core still strikes as true today. 

The group, made up of Joe Taylor, Nick Casasanto, Kevin Maida, Ryan Rumchaks and John Siorek, took to Always Be Genius recording studio from February t...
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ALBUM REVIEW: No One Was Driving The Car - La Dispute - Distorted Sound Magazine

No One Was Driving The Car finds LA DISPUTE staring down existential dread with disillusionment at the modern world. The tumultuous aspects of modern society and the fear of losing control all come to a head, and their response is to offer a narrative journey through five acts. LA DISPUTE lean into the cinematic for this journey, taking the 2017 film First Reformed as a direct influence. Meandering images act as abstract metaphors for deeper anxieties, and offer a compelling spin on their signat...
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HEAVY MUSIC HISTORY: All We Know Is Falling - Paramore - Distorted Sound Magazine

It seems almost impossible with their stature now to imagine PARAMORE as newcomers to the scene. But in 2005, the release of their debut album All We Know Is Falling saw the group working through more than growing pains to find their feet. 

Two years prior, vocalist Hayley Williams had signed with Atlantic as a solo singer, but knew she wanted to form a band. PARAMORE was formed with Williams, Jason Bynum, Josh Farro, Zac Farro and Jeremy Davis. As a group, the first track they wrote together w...
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HEAVY MUSIC HISTORY: From Under The Cork Tree - Fall Out Boy - Distorted Sound Magazine

When From Under The Cork Tree was released in 2005, it was a turning point, not only for FALL OUT BOY, but for the emo scene of the early 2000s. Lead single Sugar, We’re Goin Down skyrocketed to success, and FALL OUT BOY ushered emo into the mainstream. 20 years since its release it is still as influential as it was when it was first released, paving a way for a new generation of the scene.

The album came about as a part of FALL OUT BOY’s deal to release their first album Take This To Your Grav...
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ALBUM REVIEW: There’s Love In This World If You Want It - Higher Power - Distorted Sound Magazine

Approaching their sound with curiosity and the willingness to experiment, HIGHER POWER find wonder and weirdness on There’s Love In This World If You Want It. This eclecticism only further cements HIGHER POWER’s uniqueness, and pushes their sound into a new, and ever-evolving realm that is more colourful and more intriguing than ever before. 

Previously released single Absolute Bloom opens the album with a sun drenched, melodic punch. The hooks are catchy, and the track bolsters out to command...
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