The Bastard Sons were a York heavy rock band who moved with the grit of barroom rock and the impact of groove-oriented metal. The group first gained attention through EPs such as Bones and Roads, then expanded their sound on Smoke, a debut album that leaned into bigger riffs, rougher vocals, and songs built for direct live release. Tracks such as "Release the Hounds" and material around Smoke placed the band between punky rock and roll, bluesy hard rock, and metallic weight, with JJ Jackson's harsh-edged voice giving the music a bruised, confrontational character. The Bastard Sons did not sound like a retro exercise; they used classic rock swagger but pushed it through modern volume, breakdown-like dynamics, and a British underground touring sensibility. Their scope is metal-adjacent hard rock, with enough groove, grit, and aggression to sit comfortably beside heavier festival and club bills. The band's strongest material feels physical rather than ornate, driven by riffs that lurch, shout-along refrains, and a sense of momentum built for low ceilings and loud rooms.

Founded in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1996 by former At the Gates members Jonas and Anders Björler and drummer Adrian Erlandsson, The Haunted drew directly from the Gothenburg death metal scene but pushed the sound toward a harder thrash edge from their acclaimed self-titled debut (1998) onward. Their second album The Haunted Made Me Do It (2000) topped the CMJ Loud Rock chart for four weeks and won a Swedish Grammy for Best Hard Rock Album, establishing the band as one of the leading acts at the intersection of melodic death metal and groove-infused thrash. The band has endured multiple lineup changes across a catalog of over ten albums, remaining active into the 2020s.