The UK’s Fastest-Rising Heavy Label Is Unstoppable — 3 Essential Ripcord Records Releases You Need NOW
If you’ve been watching the UK underground shift under your feet, you’ve probably felt the tremors coming from Ripcord Records, one of the most exciting, fast-growing labels in the isles right now. Today I’m sending you three of their defining new releases, each carving a completely different path through post-rock, hardcore, and post-metal, and each demanding serious attention.
Below is a quick hit of what Ripcord has lined up, three records that prove the UK scene is not just alive, but mutating into something thrilling, ambitious, and impossible to ignore.
1. IN A HOUSE OF HEARTBEATS — Divination Of Dreams
Out 16 January 2026
Emerging from the shadows of Essex’s underground, In A House Of Heartbeats build euphoric nightmares from post-rock, doom, goth, shoegaze, and the dream-logic of arthouse cinema. Their debut album Divination Of Dreams (recorded at Holy Mountain Studios, mastered by Magnus Lindberg of Cult of Luna) is a vast, cinematic descent through whispered ambience, tectonic weight, and subconscious unease.
This is for writers who crave atmosphere, texture, and emotional depth, just think If These Trees Could Talk, A.A. Williams, early Crippled Black Phoenix, Have A Nice Life, all filtered through fog and fever dreams.
This album will be talked about in 2026.
2. KAKIHARA — Love Songs Part II
Out Now
From Edinburgh: metallic hardcore with the subtlety of a brick to the skull.
Formed from Scotland’s 00s hardcore scene, Kakihara specialise in mathcore chaos, screamo abrasion, and the kind of beatdowns that would make Botch, Converge, or Coalesce smirk.
Recorded live in a single living room, Love Songs Part II captures the kind of raw, sweat-drenched energy that most bands lose the second they see a microphone.
Urgent, unpolished, unhinged and profoundly alive.
VANDAMPIRE — Hope Scars
Out Now!
From the South West, Vandampire rise with their first full-length: Hope Scars, a crushing, atmospheric, riff-obsessed post-metal work recorded with Jack Ashley and mastered by Magnus Lindberg.
Imagine Old Man Gloom meeting Kowloon Walled City in a dark country road ditch while Cult of Luna, Torche, and Isis howl through the trees.
This is their most immersive, emotionally heavy work — and their first with a twin-guitar attack that transforms their sound into something colossal.
A true UK standout waiting to erupt onto bigger stages.
If you’d like additional assets, interviews for any of these releases, just let me know, Ripcord is building serious momentum, and these three records show exactly why.
Vandampire is a post-metal band from South West England featuring ex-members of We Heart Records alumni andtheywillriot! and Serena Joy. Formed in 2018, the band fuses crushing riffs and post-rock atmospherics with a raw hardcore edge.
Their debut EP You Will Be The Bones (2018) was self-released, followed by The Last Good Thing Has Happened (2020, Land of Treason/Trepanation Recordings), which earned strong reviews across the DIY doom and post-metal scenes.
Now, Vandampire return with their first full-length album, Hope Scars, recorded at The Bookhouse and Hackney Road Studios, London, produced by Jack Ashley and mastered by Magnus Lindberg (Cult of Luna).
Hope Scars marks the first Vandampire release to feature a second guitarist, broadening their sonic scope to expansive new heights. The record shifts seamlessly between visceral heaviness and immersive atmosphere: crushing guitars, thunderous drums, and searing vocals drive a sound as punishing as it is captivating. Refusing easy classification, Vandampire draw from sludge, post-metal, and noise rock, anchored by their DIY screamo and post-rock roots, channeling emotional depth through uncompromising heaviness.
Conceived as an audio journey from city to country, Hope Scars reflects the band’s navigation through major life changes, moving between sprawling, atmospheric passages and moments of raw intensity, always circling back to their core weapon: The Riff.
For fans of: Old Man Gloom, Cult of Luna, Kowloon Walled City, Big Business, Neurosis, Russian Circles, Torche, Pelican, Isis, Hey Colossus.
Links:
Vandampire
https://www.facebook.com/
https://vandampire.bandcamp.
http://instagram.com/
Ripcord Records
https://ripcordrecords.bandcam
https://www.facebook.com/weare
http://www.instagram.com/weare
Kakihara
Love Songs Part II
Formed in 2018 from Edinburgh’s underground, Kakihara deliver metallic hardcore with all the subtlety of the One O’Clock Gun. Vocalist Keith Muddiman, drummer Gary Hollingsworth, bassist Biff Paris, and guitarists Fraser McNeill and Kris Kournavos grew up in Scotland’s 2000s hardcore scene, took a few quiet years away, and came back, average age, a midlife crisis of 36.5, convinced the world desperately needed more Big Stupit Beatdoons.
Ready to hit the road again, COVID had other plans. But once stages (and floors) reopened, Kakihara went all in, touring the UK from Inverness to Bournemouth, tearing up festivals in Manchester, Nottingham, Edinburgh, Dundee, Leeds, and London, and sharing bills with The Callous Daoboys, Portrayal of Guilt, Kaonashi, Meth, and ’68. The band freely admit they just love playing shows, and are grateful for every chance to step on a stage (or floor) and unleash the chaos.
Their new EP Love Songs Part II captures that same live ferocity while staying true to their DIY ethic. Tracked over several days in a single living room, live drums one day, roaring amps the next, vocals the day after, the band chased the raw electricity of a gig, with guitarist Kris Kournavos handling recording and mixing, and mastering by Fader Mastering.
Drawing inspiration from Coalesce, Converge, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Heaven In Her Arms, Envy, and Botch, Kakihara fuse mathcore chaos, ’90s screamo textures, and punishing hardcore beatdoons into a sound that’s urgent, unpolished, and unmistakably their own.
Links:
Kakihara
https://www.facebook.com/
https://instagram.com/
https://kakihara.bandcamp.com
Ripcord Records
https://ripcordrecords.bandcam
https://www.facebook.com/weare
http://www.instagram.com/weare
In A House Of Heartbeats
Divination of Dreams
Emerging from the shadows of Essex’s underground scene, instrumental trio In A House Of Heartbeats have been quietly sculpting soundtracks for euphoric nightmares since 2022. Their music, steeped in atmosphere and cinematic tension, walks the line between dream and dread, an ever-shifting blend of post-rock, doom, goth, and shoegaze, filtered through inspirations that reach far beyond the musical world.
From arthouse cinema and silent film to folklore, myth, and the murky corners of the subconscious, the band construct deeply absorbing sonic “journeys” rather than conventional songs. It’s a style that encourages deep listening: passages unfold with deliberate patience, building from whispered ambience to tectonic weight, always leading the listener somewhere unexpected.
This approach takes a significant leap forward with the announcement of their debut album, Divination Of Dreams. The trio signed with Scottish post-rock and post-metal label Ripcord Records earlier this year, with the album set for release on 16 January 2026.
Recorded at London’s analogue-driven Holy Mountain Studios, Divination Of Dreams benefits from the meticulous ear of engineer Misha Hering, whose work has long been associated with experimental and atmospheric music. The mastering was handled by Magnus Lindberg of Swedish post-metal titans Cult of Luna, who brings out the record’s full dramatic sweep and dynamic power.
In A House Of Heartbeats continue to chart their own path, crafting instrumental music that feels intimate, vast, dreamlike, and unsettling all at once. With their debut full-length on the horizon, 2026 may be the year their ethereal nightmares find a much wider audience.
Links:
In A House Of Heartbeats
https://www.facebook.com/
https://www.instagram.com/
https://inahouseofheartbeats.
Ripcord Records
https://ripcordrecords.bandcam
https://www.facebook.com/weare
http://www.instagram.com/weare