Release Date: 28th August 2026
Label: Perpetual Paradox, Bleeding Art Collective
When new blood is laced with this much venom, it’s a relief to see the scene is still alive and kicking. With a follow up to last year’s debut full length Deathwish, our homegrown riff machines in Perpetual Paradox have tightened up their technical metalcore chops in this new EP May Misery Befall You.
Trailblazing through numerous international appearances since their inception six years ago (including features on Alyx Holcomb’s BBC Radio 1 show, Kerrang and Metal Hammer), 2025 saw the group signing to Bleeding Art Collective in a bid to showcase their prolificacy to wider audiences. Now thirteen months on from their last time in the studio, Perpetual Paradox brings us five new reasons as to why they should be on your radar
‘Bound and Strangled by a Black Snake’ is as gentle an opener as you would expect from its title, launching from gentle piano melodies to banshee screams and Gothenburg melodeath in an instant. This decadent track not only showcases frontman Adrian Caucelo’s diverse vocal range in his abrupt (and partly unexpected) clean harmonies half way through, but also the groups fine tuned understanding of their own instrumental dynamics, in a way that sidesteps being onanistic while still pushing these performances to the nth degree.
‘Laconic’ continues with the Gothenburg musings with some extra spice on its groove driven swings and breathtaking gutterals. Between the gravity blasts and a delectably resonant snare in this pieces closing breakdown, this track is sure to lay waste to any venue that dares our Londoners to play it.
Lead single ‘Smell the Rot’ keeps the energy high, filled with wonderfully claustrophobic vomit riffs powering throughout, parting only for appropriately stink-face inducing down beats. Fans of a well-timed guitar solo are also in luck with some mighty fine neoclassical shredding that rips through this track’s closing moments, while the most recent release ‘Source of Hate’ is a relentless anthem to aggression. Littered with snare bombs and harmonic scrapes, this thrash-tinted pile driver isn’t for the faint of heart.
Closing this EP in a blaze of glory is title track ‘May Misery Befall You’, that aptly bookends some of the more melodic moments this record has to offer with absolute sheer chaos. With a breakdown that would give Will Ramos a run for his money, this unforgiving and unpredictable exhibition brings a harmonious mixture of both traditional and modern prowess. The only paradox here seems to be how a group can be this refined so early into their career.
FFO: Kassogtha / Lorna Shore / Crypta
Recommended Track: Laconic