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Hello

I am a Manchester-based journalist and editor, specialising in music and culture. Alongside running my magazine, Out Of Rage, and working as a PR representative with Opaline Press, I have a wealth of experience in print, online, broadcast, radio, and social media. 

I am always up for an adventure, so if you're keen to work with me,  contact me at ambertayebrooks@gmail.com. 

Recent Written Work

DISTORTED SOUND: Pinkshift - From Chaos To Clarity

A year ago, PINKSHIFT set the world on fire. One Nation, a single kindled by the rising political climate and the decisions made by those at the top level, set ablaze a manifesto of change for young punks in America, some of those who may be voting for the first time. The message was clear, to make sure their generation was represented, intending to move forward with their firecracker band of skate-park punk, hope and togetherness.
Sabrina Ramdoyal
Distorted Sound Magazine •

LIVE REVIEW: Parkway Drive @ AO Arena, Manchester - Distorted Sound Magazine

For PARKWAY DRIVE, destination was always an integral part of the band’s brutal design. Born in the sweaty basement brawls of Byron Bay’s ‘Parkway House’ and destined to dominate globally with a devastating vice grip, over the last twenty years modern metal has gained impressive Australian ambassadors. As they wave the flag through the swarming crowds during their entrance into Manchester’s AO Arena on their anniversary tour, the heavyweights finally size up to meet their fate: 23,000 formidable...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

ALBUM REVIEW: Flesh Stays Together - Dying Wish - Distorted Sound Magazine

DYING WISH are immortalised with their fatal third record Flesh Stays Together. As it stands, it is safe to say that this is the album that will define the Portland metalcore quintet – asphyxiated with the chilling reminder that horror reveals the beauty in the band’s complex sound. 

With the release of 2023’s Symptoms Of Survival, there was something chaotic lurking in the depths of the record. As one of the first opportunities to let Emma Boster’s silken vocals carve through the tracks like a...
Ace Cheng
Out Of Rage •

LIVE FROM THE PIT: Basement, Anxious, Dynamite and Midrift

Almost ten years ago, five guys from sleepy Ipswich opened for BRING ME THE HORIZON. At the time, basking in the pop-centric lull of That’s The Spirit, plucky openers BASEMENT would make the mark with releasing the first singles from their third studio album Promise Everything. Here, their set would be defined by their second album Colourmeinkindness, which would eventually gain a cult following with time and nostalgia, and was honored wholeheartedly with a full album playthrough at Outbreak Fes...
Libby Percival
Out Of Rage •

LIVE FROM THE PIT: No Play Festival 2025

For hardcore, it begins and ends with the scene. For Out Of Rage, a magazine deep-rooted in the hardcore identity, Liverpool’s No Play was the perfect finale to the festival season. The Scouse promotion has ensured that heavy music has had a home on the Mersey all year round, but in Port City, last weekend’s festivities were the cherry on top of it all, in their own terms the Liver Bird on top of the Royal Liver Building, or even the Mohamed Salah on the Liverpool FC starting formation. No Play...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

ALBUM REVIEW: Genknosis - Knosis - Distorted Sound Magazine

Ryo Kinoshita’s latest project, KNOSIS, encompasses all. During their debut record, the gravitational pull of complex emotions, intense catharsis, and enraged outbursts has been compacted to form the beginnings of a brilliant shining star; one that guides him through the darkness, but also sets the path for the direction of the future of Japanese, if not global, metalcore. In Genknosis, we see Kinoshita’s world with a deep understanding of introspection and with the greatest attention to detail....
Distorted Sound Magazine •

ALBUM REVIEW: New World Heat - Fox Lake - Distorted Sound Magazine

We’ve done our time with the legacy of LIMP BIZKIT. Fred Durst’s baggy-jeaned bravado and the – he said, she said – bullshit that turned nu-metal on its head in the nineties. Even now, hip-hop heavy has the same heat as it did when the Undertaker rolled into Wrestlemania XIX on a Harley. Headlining Reading Festival aside, the influence of the chocolate starfish has captivated the next generation, thankfully without the need for backwards baseball caps. 

Whilst bands like BLACKGOLD, SILLY GOOSE...
Out Of Rage •

LIVE FROM THE PIT: The Big Outbreak Review 2025

2025 was the year Outbreak truly became countercultural, a razor-cut celebration of the sharpest edges of the music spectrum. In the overcast haze of Sleep Token headlining Download, and with it the speculation about the future of live music, Outbreak offered a lineup which was arguably the largest statement piece that European, if not global, hardcore could offer, a thrilling insight into the future of the genre, a reality where Turnstile could headline a festival the same weekend as Charli XCX.
Out Of Rage •

DESOLATED: On finding peace and gaining strength from the hardcore community

When it comes to hardcore heavyweights Desolated, guitarist Richy Unsworth has always felt more comfortable playing intimate venues, with devoted crowds that ooze with disorder. “I love it when it properly kicks off, and you’ve got a massive pit. That’s my perfect vibe. I like stage divers, but they don’t happen very often for us, because I think there is not normally a front row, they sort of evacuate.” Perhaps that’s why the title of Desolated’s new album, ‘Finding Peace’, works so well; there...
Out Of Rage •

New Cross Inn to put on a week of extreme shows with Real Life Presents

Six summer nights and twenty bands ready to get you moshing, Real Life Presents is putting on an entire week of heavy shows at the New Cross Inn. The Real Life Summer Jams will take place from the 2nd to the 8th of July. (Minus a much-needed rest day in the middle!) As a central hub of everything extreme, Real Life Presents always delivers on bringing the freshest metal and hardcore acts to London. All of the lineups represent the best in both UK and international heavy acts, a must-follow for a...
Out Of Rage •

REVIEW: Desolated - Finding Peace

Hardcore has come a long way in the last nine years, and we’ve seen the monumental rise of the genre, going from strength to strength in underground venues to monstrous no-barrier sets at Coachella. Charli XCX made it known to the heavy music girlies that 2025 will be a Turnstile summer, and even in the UK, the community descends in its droves to Manchester for Outbreak Festival.  In the blink of an eye, how we perceive a genre rooted in community, with its raw brutality of sound and unwavering...
Marco Cornelli
Out Of Rage •

LIVE FROM THE PIT: Mannequin Pussy and Shortstraw

Pure feminine rage descended onto Manchester Academy 2 with the arrival of Philly firestarters Mannequin Pussy. After the release of the spectacular 2024 album ‘I Got Heaven’, they made a casual trip last summer to play to both the audiences at Glastonbury and Outbreak, proving that they’ve made peace with both the mainstream crowds, whilst also shining brightly within the heavy music scene. Now their dazzling blend of indie rock and riot grrrl punk is back, and the band are becoming increasingl...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

Top 10 bands you must watch at Slam Dunk Festival 2025 - Distorted Sound Magazine

The iconic Slam Dunk Festival is back for 2025 – and the Vans-wearing, Monster-drinking, pizza-eating elder emo’s will arrive in their droves to Leeds and Hatfield to kickstart the beginning of festival season. Headlined by the phenomenal A DAY TO REMEMBER, the Floridian five-piece will set the tone for the nostalgic barrage of pop-punk that sets the high standard across the weekend. Amongst the checker-printed chaos, the festival also champions metalcore, Midwest-emo and the brightest rising st...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

ALBUM REVIEW: Will You Haunt Me, With That Same Patience - Bury Tomorrow - Distorted Sound Magazine

BURY TOMORROW have always been a band flooded with emotion, but could also survive the toughest oncoming storms. For their latest release, Will You Haunt Me, With That Same Patience, their eleven-track odyssey into darker waters, is navigated with the intense forces of relentless self-destruction, overwhelming anxiety and a deep absence of emotional clarity. 

Regardless, the relentless nature of the band, through the uncertainty of the pandemic and then the future of the melodic metalcore outfi...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

FEATURE: LANDMVRKS - The Darkest Place I've Ever Been

Assembling the dismembered limbs of their single, Creature, well over a year before beginning the production of their latest record, the members of French metalcore collective LANDMVRKS realised that in order to create life, it needed to meet its maker. The Darkest Place I’ve Ever Been is an album that embodies the damaging spiral of mental health, whilst putting yourself into your art becomes as much of a struggle as it is an enduring strength.
Sabrina Ramdoyal
Distorted Sound Magazine •

LIVE REVIEW: Heriot @ Rebellion, Manchester - Distorted Sound Magazine

As one of the defining voices in the British metal community currently, HERIOT’s Manchester show – and the final night of their headline tour – could only be described as a victory lap of sorts. In the devastating wake of their Devoured By The Mouth Of Hell album release, there has been an undeniable shift in the standings of the Swindon four-piece, a knowing glint in their listeners’ eyes that unimaginable ferocity is currently on the way. 

Somewhere, late last year, during their UK tour with...
Dave Ellits
Out Of Rage •

LIVE FROM THE PIT: Metal To The Masses Manchester - Quarter Final 4

We're back at Rebellion tonight for the fourth and final quarter-final round of Manchester's Metal To The Masses. The cultural home of the city's local music scene, the venue has hosted some of the best emerging bands, with irreplaceable memories slathered in sticky floors and dripping ceilings. Amongst the lively raucousness of show-goers, there is the unmistakable claim that they made their moment count.Now at OOR, we know a thing or two about raging (it's in our namesake, and we know it), but...
Izzy Scott
Out Of Rage •

LIVE FROM THE PIT: Manchester Punk Festival

A constellation of seven local venues mapped out the weekend’s entertainment at Manchester Punk Festival, shining with brilliant underground talent as they pilot kindness and visibility for the transgender community, after the Supreme Court's landmark statement on the definition of a woman. Whilst navigating the darkness and looming uncertainty of queer futures in the UK, solidarity took to Manchester’s streets, not just in the peaceful protest that took place on the saturday afternoon, but in t...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

ALBUM REVIEW: VAMP - Magnolia Park - Distorted Sound Magazine

Within the towering metropolis of Nocturne Nexus, a sprawling futuristic city that grows within the wilderness of the Shrouded Forest, the cursed foundations of VAMP, MAGNOLIA PARK’s third record, began to plant its roots within the alternative music landscape. The record is the most ambitious feat yet for the Florida five-piece MAGNOLIA PARK, who have constructed an otherworldly narrative of shadow cults, cursed magical objects and cyborg warriors, even placing themselves in the story as their...
Kieran Atkinson
Out Of Rage •

LIVE FROM THE PIT: Skunk Anansie and So Good

“If you find yourself having to stick out for people and support them, it's not about politics, it’s about basic, decent human empathy.” Skunk Anansie’s Skin preaches to the crowd before playing their hit song, ‘God Only Loves You’. The vocalist, clad in an oversized shirt and a thick black line of paint rolling towards her forehead in an S-shape, continues her monologue, determined to uplift the crowd at Manchester’s O2 Arena. She speaks quickly and concisely, making sure every word matters. ‘I...
Out Of Rage •

THE OUT OF RAGE 2025 GIG GUIDE

Slam Dunk is an alternative music festival held in the UK and has been growing yearly since its launch in 2006. What started as a single stage in Leeds, now consists of two days (with the same line-up) in two different locations, with 5 stages - one in the North (Leeds) and the other in the South (London). The festival is typically home to pop-punk and various metal-type bands; however, this year we are seeing the biggest and most diverse line-up of the festival so far. Headlining and must-see,...
Out Of Rage •

REVIEW: JIVEBOMB - ETHEREAL

You have just under fifteen minutes left to live - so why not get the sledgehammer out? Baltimore darlings JIVEBOMB are about to release their brutal assault of an EP ETHEREAL, a ten-track firecracker of a record, with each song lasting well under the two-minute mark. At the perfect length to let off some much-needed steam, it pushes the boundaries of hardcore, grindcore and the realms of the extreme with two raised fists. There’s no doubt about it - JIVEBOMB are back for blood. Whatever happens...
Load More
Out Of Rage •

REVIEW: Desolated - Finding Peace

Hardcore has come a long way in the last nine years, and we’ve seen the monumental rise of the genre, going from strength to strength in underground venues to monstrous no-barrier sets at Coachella. Charli XCX made it known to the heavy music girlies that 2025 will be a Turnstile summer, and even in the UK, the community descends in its droves to Manchester for Outbreak Festival.  In the blink of an eye, how we perceive a genre rooted in community, with its raw brutality of sound and unwavering...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

Top 10 bands you must watch at Slam Dunk Festival 2025 - Distorted Sound Magazine

The iconic Slam Dunk Festival is back for 2025 – and the Vans-wearing, Monster-drinking, pizza-eating elder emo’s will arrive in their droves to Leeds and Hatfield to kickstart the beginning of festival season. Headlined by the phenomenal A DAY TO REMEMBER, the Floridian five-piece will set the tone for the nostalgic barrage of pop-punk that sets the high standard across the weekend. Amongst the checker-printed chaos, the festival also champions metalcore, Midwest-emo and the brightest rising st...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

ALBUM REVIEW: Will You Haunt Me, With That Same Patience - Bury Tomorrow - Distorted Sound Magazine

BURY TOMORROW have always been a band flooded with emotion, but could also survive the toughest oncoming storms. For their latest release, Will You Haunt Me, With That Same Patience, their eleven-track odyssey into darker waters, is navigated with the intense forces of relentless self-destruction, overwhelming anxiety and a deep absence of emotional clarity. 

Regardless, the relentless nature of the band, through the uncertainty of the pandemic and then the future of the melodic metalcore outfi...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

FEATURE: LANDMVRKS - The Darkest Place I've Ever Been

Assembling the dismembered limbs of their single, Creature, well over a year before beginning the production of their latest record, the members of French metalcore collective LANDMVRKS realised that in order to create life, it needed to meet its maker. The Darkest Place I’ve Ever Been is an album that embodies the damaging spiral of mental health, whilst putting yourself into your art becomes as much of a struggle as it is an enduring strength.
Distorted Sound Magazine •

ALBUM REVIEW: VAMP - Magnolia Park - Distorted Sound Magazine

Within the towering metropolis of Nocturne Nexus, a sprawling futuristic city that grows within the wilderness of the Shrouded Forest, the cursed foundations of VAMP, MAGNOLIA PARK’s third record, began to plant its roots within the alternative music landscape. The record is the most ambitious feat yet for the Florida five-piece MAGNOLIA PARK, who have constructed an otherworldly narrative of shadow cults, cursed magical objects and cyborg warriors, even placing themselves in the story as their...
Out Of Rage •

THE OUT OF RAGE 2025 GIG GUIDE

Slam Dunk is an alternative music festival held in the UK and has been growing yearly since its launch in 2006. What started as a single stage in Leeds, now consists of two days (with the same line-up) in two different locations, with 5 stages - one in the North (Leeds) and the other in the South (London). The festival is typically home to pop-punk and various metal-type bands; however, this year we are seeing the biggest and most diverse line-up of the festival so far. Headlining and must-see,...
Out Of Rage •

REVIEW: JIVEBOMB - ETHEREAL

You have just under fifteen minutes left to live - so why not get the sledgehammer out? Baltimore darlings JIVEBOMB are about to release their brutal assault of an EP ETHEREAL, a ten-track firecracker of a record, with each song lasting well under the two-minute mark. At the perfect length to let off some much-needed steam, it pushes the boundaries of hardcore, grindcore and the realms of the extreme with two raised fists. There’s no doubt about it - JIVEBOMB are back for blood. Whatever happens...
Out Of Rage •

"I am the fire": A History of Donington, told by the Women of Download

Since the beginning of its mosh-heavy operation, Download has become the home of the most innovative rock and metal talent in the UK, if not the entire world. The festival’s history is etched deeply into the hills of Donington racetrack as each year passing brings both the best breakthrough talent and rock royalty alike.  With it, more and more exciting female acts are paving the way for future generations. Whilst alternative music has struggled to represent women in lineups, it is important to...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

INTRODUCING: Henka - Distorted Sound Magazine

“I remember watching Eurovision for the very first time in 2005 when Greece won. I was just mesmerized. And I never thought that if I could go back to 2005 and say, ‘By the way, you might be in this in like 20 years- you might be performing at this very on the very same stage.’” HENKA – a name meaning ‘change’ in Japanese – is the first heavy music act to potentially represent Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest. As a country with a proud love of its language, tradition, and emotive ballads,...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

ALBUM REVIEW: Who Let The Dogs Out - Lambrini Girls - Distorted Sound Magazine

Brighton punk powerhouses LAMBRINI GIRLS are undeniably back – and sticking their middle fingers up to the patriarchy. With their debut album, Who Let The Dogs Out, dynamic duo Phoebe Lunny and Lilly Macieira are putting up a fight against the ruling class and using their personal experiences to speak louder than ever before. In 2024, the girls supported Kim Gordon (of SONIC YOUTH fame), played four shows at Glastonbury and supported IDLES when they went to Alexandra Palace. Now this year nothin...
Stephanie Hudson Blogs •

Afterlife 101 - The Sumerians and The Supernatural

During Keira and Dominic’s wedding, We learn that our King of Kings also goes by Enki -a Sumerian deity- which Stephanie refers to as Lord of The Earth. But who is this mysterious  god and how does this relate to how Dominic is portrayed in the books. The Sumerians are the people of the Southern Mesopotamia (an area that encompasses parts Iraq, Turkey, Syria and Kuwait) As the oldest known civilisation, most historians agree that their land (known as Sumer) was settled between 5500 and 3300 BC....
Distorted Sound Magazine •

INTRODUCING: Whispers - Distorted Sound Issue 116

The most sought after band to come out of this year's Outbreak Autumn- Thai hardcore power outfit WHISPERS have had an immense year with the release of their brutal assault of an album YOM-MA-LOK. From opening for Turnstile in Bangkok, to heading out with SPEED across Europe, they bring with them their unique self-proclaimed ‘Bangkok Evilcore’ sound and an immense love of the hardcore scene. We chatted to guitarist Ole-Kitti Suwan about their bright future in the scene, the bands that helped them along the way and their homecoming from the other side of the world.
StephanieHudson •

Afterlife 101 - Janus and Saturnalia

Towards the end of Pentagram Child 2, Dominic mentions that he can marry Keira on New Years Eve or her birthday. Whilst the couple opt for the latter of the two, New Years is extremely sacred to the Supernaturals at Afterlife. Let's explore this in further detail in today's deep dive.In Triple Goddess, we are partial to the first New Years Eve party with Keira and Dominic. This party, held in the Janus temple, marks the beginning of the new year and also a celebration of Janus- a god of many thi...
Out Of Rage •

Out Of Rage Top 20 Albums Of The Year - 2024

We've had our brat summers, our hardcore-tumns, and plenty of shows - but more than those, we've had a mindblowing number of brilliant albums released this year! From Kendrick Lamar's unannounced 'GNX', to the sensational Magdalena Bay's LP 'Imaginal Disk', and One Step Closer's glorious 'All You Embrace'. However, none of those three gems quite made it into our top twenty, but there is not much room to breathe for all the quality on display below. Our Christmas present to you has finally arrive...
Out Of Rage •

Out Of Rage Top 20 EP's Of The Year - 2024

2024 has been a bumper year of EP's, with some of the best we've heard in years! Across the entire scope of alt and heavy music we've seen a litany of phenomenal releases, with some debuts pushing the boundaries of music and some late career gems, from bands of all sizes - an honourable mention must go to the band flat (@flat.dchc on Instagram) from Washington DC, whose demo wasn't quite inside our top twenty but deserves a shout out for punching so far above their weight! With that one mention...
StephanieHudson •

Afterlife 101 - Creature Hunting and the Loch Ness Monster

The second largest lake, Loch Ness -with Loch meaning river or sea in Gaelic- has more water than all the lakes in England and Wales combined. Located in the Scottish Highlands near Inverness, It has a depth of 230 meters and in its depths is home to -what people call- ‘the Loch Ness Monster’ a mythical creature from Scottish folklore.The earliest report of a monster in the vicinity is in a book called the ‘Life of St. Columba’, written by Adomnan, who was an Abbot in the 7th century. He encount...
StephanieHudson •

Afterlife 101 - Zal and Rhudaba, Adventures with the Shahnameh

Maybe some time in the (near) future Stephanie will give us some more information, but a summary of how they met is featured at the end of Two Kings. Dominic reads a passage of the Shahnameh to Keira, and later reveals that this story is a mythological retelling of Sophia and Zagan’s story. In the tale of Zal and Rhudaba, Zal is an albino who was rejected by his father and cast out as a child. On the Damavand mountain (in modern day Iran), the gods send down a phoenix called Simurg to guard the...
Out Of Rage •

REVIEW: Hidden Mothers - Erosion / Avulsion

An album release of landmark proportions - Sheffield post-hardcore outfit Hidden Mothers signify their arrival proper on to the British heavy music scene with their first album ‘Erosion / Avulsion’. A highly anticipated debut, prophesied by their aggressive and abrasive performances at Mangata and ArcTanGent. The band are another spoke to the great wheel of Church Road Records, which already churns the ever-flowing stream of emerging UK metal talent. Whilst it feels we have already heard so much...
StephanieHudson •

Afterlife 101 - Blood Bonds and the Origins of Erebus

With the release of Blood Bonds, here is a little deep dive to sink your teeth into (pun intended). So Victor and Talon are part of the ‘Erebus’ family- a esteemed and well-respected vampire dynasty. The etymology of Erebus dates back to ancient Greek as a personification of darkness or gloom and is often associated with the underworld. Hesiod, one of the oldest Greek poets, writing at around 700BC, describes Erebus as one of the first beings to exist. In his account of the origin of the gods ca...
StephanieHudson •

One Hell Of A Writer- On Beast 666 (Part 4)

666, the number of the beast! But why is it 666? Why have others said 616? Why is this known as the devil’s number? Let's use this as an excuse to look at Adam or Abaddon in Stephanie's books. Whilst there is a lot of contention in to the origins of 666 or 616, scholars have had to find the earliest manuscripts possible to have an understanding of this interesting corner of history. Most of the time, evidence is found in fragments or incomplete scriptures that often does not tell the full story...
Distorted Sound Magazine •

156/Silence: People Watching - Distorted Sound Magazine

Sitting in a tour van somewhere near Atlanta, guitarist Jimmy Howell talks about the inspiration for 156/SILENCE’s new record People Watching. “You’re about to catch the bus and there’s just some guy sitting over there, and you don’t know if he’s going to be weird or do something, but you just want to stay away from him.” The latest haunt of the Pittsburgh metalcore outfit is an album intent on peeling away the skin of false facades to reveal the full horror of the subconscious. The band had put...
StephanieHudson •

One Hell Of A Writer- About Asmodeus (Part 3)

Whilst we are given a brief account of their relationship through their children, (Dominic, Sophia and Vincent), their true narrative has been a part of Jewish scripture since roughly -300BC. The book of Tobit is a work describing how God tests the faithful and protects the Jewish community. This is a part three on understanding Hell in Stephanie Hudson’s books and the first of two parts about Asmodeus. Today we will specifically be looking at some Jewish texts which have fables about Asmodeus.T...
StephanieHudson •

One Hell Of A Writer- Researching Demons (Part 2)

This time we will be looking at Demons. Specifically how we know about specific demons when there is little to no mention in the bible that covers them. As a part 2 to the first blog post on how Stephanie created her version of Hell, I will be looking at how characters like Zagan, Astaroth and even Dariush Decarabia came into being by looking at occult texts.It’s worth mentioning that demonology is a wide and expansive topic, and its contents range far and wide outside of Christian or Christian...
Out Of Rage •

Introducing: We Are The Weirdos

Hope Parry does everything herself. Her solo
music project We Are The Weirdo’s, a cathartic
amalgamation of Laura Jane Grace and Frank
Turner, is just her and her guitar. Hope tells us
with a smile that everything from recording to
performing is entirely done independently. After
working in venues for a lot of her adult life, she
realised that if she wanted to get more involved
in DIY spaces she could create her own solo pro
ject, borne from an evening watching the iconic
1996 film The Craft.
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