Style: Progressive metal, post-hardcore, mathcore (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Black Peaks, Every Time I Die, Darkest Hour, Better Lovers
Country: UK
Release date: 26 June 2026

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If you’re anything like me, you miss Black Peaks. The fledgling Brightonian prog metal-y post-hardcore group had only released their second album when they announced the project had come to an end. If you haven’t heard their second and final album All That Divides, you owe it to yourself to check out an album that deftly blends sounds as disparate as Mastodon, Radiohead and Deftones. When they broke up back in 2021, it was a gut punch. But, fear not, the members are still mostly together and producing music, this time under the banner of Every Hell. That’s right, Will Gardner’s unparalleled voice—running the gamut from mournful falsetto to banshee wails to bovine bellows—is back!

So if Every Hell is mostly Black Peaks, what’s the difference? From the start of second EP The Peoples Republic of Hell [sic] you can hear the dissonance, the punch, the willingness to pull from a mathier The Dillinger Escape Plan-esque sound. That core Black Peaks feel is there, defined as it was by Gardner’s performance, but rooted in the punkier flavour of their debut Statues; it’s basically like if you swapped out the clear Mastodon influence on Black Peaks for Every Time I Die. You’ll also note a sax in the opening salvo of “Let Go”. Not content with one set of pipes, Gardner also regularly blows his own horn, so to speak, often harmonising with the rhythm section for extra texture, rejecting the normal metal impulse to use it as a solo instrument, though some overdubbed licks appear here and there.

Listeners will also note the mathiness. Every Hell like to play with time signatures, often playing in 5/4 and 6/4, resolving tracks with neat 4/4 headbanging outros, like that on “Let Go”. The old Black Peaks sound is mostly clear in “Catching Thunder” which has a proggier sense of composition and sees Gardner employing a lot of melodic hooks, as well as closer “Ironclad” which really does feel like an All That Divides cut. On the other hand, “Bane of the Bear” hits on a level of chaos that highlights the Every Hell difference with a chaotic overfretted pull-off motif, head-spinning verse polyrhythms, and some touches of deep south fuzz. Dissonant guitar work and the typically gravelly bass define the track, which closes out with a monstrous 5/4 neck-sprainer of a riff.

Finale “Ironclad” feels like the most ‘complete’ track and the most Black Peaks in style; centring Gardner’s mellifluous vocals and accented bellows, it feels reminiscent of “The Midnight Sun”. The huge refrain—‘Icarus, don’t fly to the sun!’—is destined to become a crowdpleaser, and the sax solo is a real treat, Gardner taking himself out of the rhythm section for once to stand apart. “Ironclad” in particular proves Every Hell’s readiness to go further, but the entirety of The Peoples Republic of Hell is a compelling showcase of the band’s talents. The only real gripe I have is that it’s only seventeen minutes long. 

With Every Hell opening on tour for a recently reformed Arcane Roots, it feels like the British scene is finally healing. The Peoples Republic of Hell is a short but compelling proof of concept (as was the band’s debut EP, Vertebrate), demonstrating a familiar yet refreshed sound with more bite than their previous work. We can only hope a full-length is in the works. After all, we’ve only heard from the People’s Republic, but presumably there are Hells that are constitutional monarchies, representative democracies, and anarchist communes! And I’d like to hear all of them. 

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Recommended tracks: Catching Thunder, Bane of the Bear, Ironclad
You may also like: Vower, El Moono, East of the Wall
Final verdict: 7.5/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram

Label: Froob Entertainment Records

Every Hell is:
– Will Gardner (vocals, saxophone)
– Julio Maas-Palmer (guitars, synth)
– Toby Stewart (guitars, vocals)
– Andrew Gosden (bass, vocals)
– Mark Roberts (drums, production)