Bring the noise: 24 loud bands from outside the U.S.

Reykjavik, Iceland's Börn sounds like the unholy love child of Killing Joke and Christian Death. The three ladies and one guy tackle themes of feminisim, body image, and dehumanization. Most of the songs are in Icelandic, but with Alexandra's tortured vocals, there's no mistaking what they are going for.

As Kyoto, Japan's Otoboke Beaver took their name from a short-stay hotel in Tokyo (that, um, charges by the hour), it's a good bet it was intentionally chosen to be provocative and ironic. The band began in 2009, and started touring internationally in 2016, bringing the world their face-melting mix of angular post-punk and hardcore. Song titles like "I Am Not Maternal," "Love Is Short!!", and "Dirty Old Fart Is Waiting for My Reaction" tell you exactly what you are in for.

Deathbell sort of formed in 2014, but didn't really become a serious concern until 2016. The band members bonded over a shared love of psychedelic rock and doom metal, and set out to make music to open up the imagination and create something familiar, yet challenging. Heavy and fuzzy, their songs tackle themes of introspection, the occult, and nature. You know, witchy things.

Heavier and darker than most rock bands, but never quite approaching metal or goth, DOOL carve out a unique sound. They exist at some mythical crossroads of post-rock, prog-rock, and doom. They sound like finding an unfamiliar religious ritual in the woods on a winter's night, both appealing and unsettling. Frontperson Raven was born intersex, but has lived most of her life as a woman. They have recently embarked on a journey to reclaim (in their words) their "hermaphroditic nature."

One would be forgiven for thinking that Sweden's Lucifer rolled right out of 1978. The logo, the look, the sound — all of it is a perfect soundalike for classic records of that era. Their sound is a mix of hard rock, doom, new wave of British heavy metal, '70s kitsch, and just a splash of pop sensibilities. They've not quite made it big in the United States, but they're the perfect soundtrack for sitting on an orange shag carpet in a basement covered in wood paneling.

Cardiff's mclusky (sometimes mclusky*) began in 1996, but split by 2005. Now they're back, playing their unique brand of post-punk and noise rock. Now that they are an ongoing concern again, it's a great time to get on board and enjoy the blistering guitar and vocalist Andrew Falkous' dry wit.

Swedish-born singer / guitarist Linnéa Olsson moved from Stockholm to Berlin and served time in Sonic Ritual, The Oath (with Lucifer's Johanna Sadonis), and Beastmilk before striking out on her own as Maggot Heart. Named after Funkadelic's "Maggot Brain" and Ann & Nancy Wilson's band Heart, Olsson plays a mix of post-punk beats with heavy guitars that's not quite gothic but also not quite metal. Olsson also founded and runs Rapid Eye Records.

Vancouver's Actors play a synth-driven post-punk, heavily influenced by Roxy Music, David Bowie, Gary Numan, and Duran Duran. Band leader Jason Corbett has been known to score television and film in the downtime, including contributions to Letterkenny. With their most recent album coming out in 2021, a new record is imminent.

Karolina Engdahl was known in her native Sweden as the singer of pop/punk/indie band Vånna Inget. Engdahl cited boredom with the Swedish music scene, plus a desire to sing in English that caused her to start True Moon. The band draws inspiriation from The Mission, Killing Joke, and Joy Division, and the result is a dark, post-punk band that sounds like "what if Stevie Nicks was an actual witch and liked goth and frequented The Batcave?"

Not since Falco has Austria produced anything so good. Heckspoiler are a duo, drummer and bassist... but not drum-n-bass. The duo play a sort of stoner street punk, which amounts to fast-paced music, and a bunch of crazy screaming which is 90 percent in German. The language barrier shouldn't be off-putting, though — picking practically any song at random will have you bouncing in no time.

The members of Ex People cut their teeth in London's punk and riot grrrl scenes before coming together to write songs that sound like The Breeders harmonizing on a pre-fame Soundgarden record. While they have songs about apocalypse and dystopian futures, they also throw in some lyrics about catcalling and mansplaining.

Then Comes Silence has been glooming and dooming the music scene in Sweden since 2012. The band plays songs about spirituality, romanticism and gothy death while cranking the guitars and layering on the psychedelia. They've made fans out of members of The Mission and Cradle of Filth, what more do you need?

Canada's Kittie got kind of a raw deal from the get-go. Their debut, Spit, came out when they were teenagers, and at the height of nu metal. While they were moderately popular, they also caught a lot of criticism. They soldiered on and split in 2017, but no sooner did they break up when a documentary stirred up renewed interest. Now the band is back together and a new album is imminent, and they're ready to be taken seriously.

Berlin's Diät plays a dreary style of post-punk. The songs focus on the realities of barely getting by, while naming their album Positive Energy. Truthfully, they care only about making music, and even then you half expect them to just give up mid-song and leave. They are strongly influenced by Killing Joke and Wire, but while those bands had a mission, Diät's mission seems to be indifference. "Write a manifesto, write a shopping list," indeed.

Gaupa (Swedish for lynx) is a psychedelic rock band from Falun, Sweden. The band mix influences of doom and folk into their sound with surrealist lyrics, and singer who has a healthy dose of Björk worship. While they have yet to make a big impact stateside, they are crushing audiences all over Europe with their live shows. 

What, exactly, is King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard? Are they rock, metal, prog, electronica? The answer to that question is, "yes." The band do whatever strikes their fancy, and they do it a lot. They've released a staggering 25 studio albums and 16 live albums since 2012. Being a fan of this band takes dedication — they released an album on an original NES cartridge. It's as fun as it is confounding.

Alunah formed in Birmingham, UK in the shadow of Black Sabbath, and it's readily apparent in their sound. While one wouldn't say that they are a carbon copy, they definitely draw from the same blues, psychedelia, and rock that Sabbath mined. Fronted by Sophie Day, the band has had high-profile shows opening for The Obsessed, Mondo Generator, and Paradise Lost, as well as playing festivals all across Europe.

Italy's Horror Vacui started as punk, but evolved soon to play goth/deathrock. The band draws from influences such as Christian Death, Bauhaus, Joy Division, and Sisters of Mercy. They've yet to make a reasonable impact in the U.S., but their popularity is growing quick in South America and Mexico, so it's only a matter of time. Get ahead of the curve and stock up on eyeliner today.

Germany's Doro (full name Doro Pesch) fronted heavy metal band Warlock through most of the '80s, but went solo in 1989 with Force Majeure, which is her only charting album in the United States (at number 154). During the '90s, when labels shied away from metal, her label refuse to promote her in North America, but she continued on in Europe where her popularity has never waned — especially in Germany and Switzerland.

Made up of veterans of the punk scene, London's High Vis plays post-punk through a hardcore filter. As reluctant champions of the working class, High Vis plays songs about guilt, shame, and trauma in what amounts to a cathartic release for both band and audience alike. Check them out the next time they tour the U.S.

Austria's Mother's Cake have been around for 14 years, and their album Cyberfunk! was the one that was going to blow them wide open... but then the global pandemic happened. Never to be deterred, however, the band resumed the world tour and traveled all over to bring their prog-disco with Zeppelin-esque riffs to fans in every corner of the globe.

Devil's Witches is the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Witchdoctor General (presumably not his real name), who grew up in a Christian cult and played music to himself as an escape. Devil's Witches funnels surrealism and avant-garde ideas into psychedelic rock influences, courtesy of all the late '60s/early '70s touchstones.

Sweden's The Goners play a grim type of garage rock, with splashes of surf, glam, rockabilly, and psych. Fronted by a newly sober Nick Gone from Salem's Pot — and the rest of the band filled out with members of Yvonne — the band plays songs about death, death, and more death. But it's not all sour grapes. In fact, it sounds quite uplifting.

Mat McNerney may have been born British, but he's traveled across Europe founding bands in many countries. He founded Beastmilk in 2010 in Finland, and they released and EP and an album. By 2013, they were rebranded as Grave Pleasures after some lineup changes (including Maggot Heart's Linnea Olsson). They play dark post-punk with a focus on the 1950s' Atomic Age.