NOVEMBER NEW MUSIC ROUND-UP: Ecca Vandal, Svalbard, Better Lovers, Deficit, Future Static, POPPY, Megadeth + chokecherry

Tiana Speter
4 hours ago
5 min read

2025 continues to press way too hard on the fast-forward button, and the new tunes just keep on rollin' in (which is an insanely good problem to have, let's not lie). And as we head towards the final month of the year, below is a mini round-up of some recent new releases we've been digging so far this month, spanning Aussies through to old-school icons and more.

To keep up to date on some of the new tunes The Soundcheck is frothing, you can loop in via our official mixtape, available on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube here as well.

But without further adieu: come get amongst new tunes out now from Ecca Vandal, chokecherry, Better Lovers, Svalbard, Deficit POPPY, Future Static and Megadeth!

Ecca Vandal - MOLLY

Recently tapped to support none other than Deftones on their 2026 Aussie tour, Ecca Vandal is certainly no new face on the scene. Releasing her debut self-titled album in 2017, Ecca Vandal has gone on to collab with the likes of Hilltop Hoods, Void of Vision and Nina Las Vegas, and was also nominated for Australian Video of the Year at the 2025 J Awards for Cruising to Self Soothe amongst many other accomplishments.

Now to start to close out the year, Ecca Vandal has unleashed a new tune and video MOLLY, with the clip becoming a Feature Video on ABC's RAGE, and also gifting yet another immersive performance. MOLLY is a powder keg of angular guitars, swagger and raw yet resplendent vocals that will tickle anyone's fancy who loves a 90s gritty throwback polished with some modern sheen.

chokecherry - Porcelain Warrior

San Francisco act chokecherry are another act who will excite anyone who likes a nostalgic 90s lean to their alternative tunes, with the band also just busting out their debut full-length, Ripe Fruit Rots and Falls out now via Fearless Records.

An album that traverses, as the band describe in their press material, "what it means to be a sentient being in this cruel world", Ripe Fruit Rots and Falls is a gripping love letter to 90s post rock, pop, indie, shoegaze and more, perfectly and intuitively snapshotting the current (and understandable) ennui faced by modern society. And alongside the album's release, chokecherry released a clip for the album's opener Porcelain Warrior; a slow yet insatiably satisfying cut that swells into a hypnotic wonderland.

Better Lovers - The Impossible End

Do you like Every Time I Die, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Fit For An Autopsy, and/or just generally music with razor-sharp fangs? To call Better Lovers a supergroup is honestly doing the five-piece a disservice; this is a band even greater than the sum of its parts, and their debut 2024 album Highly Irresponsible cemented that fact.

But how does one top such a blistering and compelling debut album in 2025? Well, lucky for us, Better Lovers just surprise-released a deluxe edition of Highly Irresponsible late last week, with new vinyl available and also two brand new songs: The Impossible End and Don't Forget To Say Please. On the former, The Impossible End expands the beautiful chaos of Better Lovers, and bolsters an already stacked band's ever-growing repertoire. (Plus, they're making their Aussie live debut in early 2026!)

Svalbard - If We Could Still Be Saved

It's always hard to say goodbye, and especially so when you are faced with the reality of saying goodbye to a band like Svalbard, with the iconic UK metal act announcing earlier this year that 2026 will be their final year as a band, following an incredible 15 years in their wake.

Ahead of their last UK tour early next year, Svalbard have also just unveiled their genuine swan song; the somewhat bittersweet titled If We Could Still Be Saved. A beautiful and achingly tumultuous track that glimmers with soaring melodics amongst churning verses, If We Could Still Be Saved is perhaps most perfectly summed up by co-lead vocalist and guitarist Serena Cherry herself: "Think of it as the metal version of 'Goodbye' by the Spice Girls!"; another 90s nod we are also entirely here for (I'm not crying, I just have something in my eye).

Deficit - FINAL BOSS

Aussie nu metal-meets-hardcore five-piece Deficit have come out swinging on their latest track and video FINAL BOSS; a new tune that also arrives ahead of their brand new EP DEATHSTYLE which will drop on November 21.

Perfectly merging nu metal bounce with barbed hardcore hues (and more throwback vibes in this list for those keeping score at home), FINAL BOSS is equal parts bop and sucker punch, complete with towering riffs, seething vocals and a hard-hitting message underneath. A song ultimately about perseverance and "about channeling the pain of growing up in environments that were suffocating, dysfunctional, and unsafe" (vividly reflected in its accompanying music video below), FINAL BOSS is as empowering as it is scathing, and will absolutely induce stank-face en masse in a live setting.

POPPY - Bruised Sky

If you're a fan of futuristic heaviness and aren't already on board the POPPY train, this 2 x GRAMMY-nominated artist is here to once again remind that heavy music doesn't need to adhere to expectations or genre-confines to break through. Recently announcing her seventh studio album Empty Hands due out January 23 via Sumerian Records, POPPY has now also released a brand new track and video Bruised Sky.

In another chameleonic outing, POPPY oozes her otherworldly charm throughout Bruised Sky, balancing lucid cleans with scathing harsh vocals, also channeling nods to industrial and pop elements that culminate in one of her heaviest outings to date.

Future Static - There's Nowhere Else To Go

It took me far too long to finally catch Future Static live in action, recently witnessing them enamour a Brisbane crowd while opening for DON BROCO alongside RedHook. Needless to say, the room was packed early for the group, and for obvious reasons: they're an internationally beloved band already, and their brand new chapter is only going to expand their reach further than ever. And on the topic of said brand new chapter, the group have recently dropped a new tune There's Nowhere Else To Go.

With crystalline vocals soaring across pummeling beats, measured chaos and just the right amount of unique identity spun into a metalcore foundation, There's Nowhere Else To Go follows the group's 2023 debut album Liminality alongside a driving message from the band: "it's important to believe in yourself despite the constant judgemental commentary especially from the worst critic: your own self."

Megadeth - I Don't Care

Does Megadeth need an introduction here at this point? For those who may need a recap, Megadeth will be pulling up stumps after the release of their final studio album I Don't Care, due out January 23. The group, fronted by Dave Mustaine, are of course infamous for their place as one of the "Big Four" of the American thrash bands, and after over 40 years and sixteen studio albums to date, 2026 will mark the band's final full-length release.

Earlier this week Megadeth dropped another single from their impending self-titled album; a punked up thrasher boasting a cavalcade of fiery guitars, including some fun soloing interplay between Mustaine and Teemu Mäntysaari. I Don't Care feels like a fitting addition, spiritually and musically, to a final Megadeth LP. And, as Mustaine revealed in the track's press release, the main riff has been kicking around since 2022's The Sick, the Dying...and the Dead!: "I really love the guitar nuances in the track. There is the main rhythm riff, next, a very deliberate down-picking part, next, the octave chords with jump picking on octave notes (while still down-picking!)."