Acid Cauldron
Haunted House EP
Self-released, 2026
One of the newest UK horror punk bands on the scene, I happened across Acid Cauldron from the South East of England whilst on a Bandcamp tag crawl - and I'm very thankful that I did. Perhaps labelling them as just 'horror punk' though is a disservice to the band. There's obviously nothing wrong with the genre (if there was, this blog would really be some sort of self-flagellation on my part) but there's so many influences and musical sub-genres thrown into the mix that it feels to constricting. From the sub-minute opening track of the same name as the EP, with it's 'This place is haunted and I'm scared' repeated lyric over horror sounds, vocal delivery ranging from spookily soft to hardcore screaming and a metal twang in the air, you know it's going to be a bit different. 'Poltergeist' follows on with the same sort of mix; near four minutes of horror punk metal with a creepy and menacing vibe. It's not straight ahead punk or metal, and there's plenty of hardcore influence thrown around as well, although there's an undeniable horror punk influence about half way through the song. It's all about atmosphere though - and this hits the mark. Great start to the EP.
The short third track 'Trip To The Morgue' is much more in the horror punk vibe - fast melodic and fun punk rock, it packs a punch early on. Even here though the band don't play it safe - a breakdown into a pounding hardcore and metal sound is finished off with a suitably macabre and gothic spoken word ending. Quite an achievement to pack so much into less than two minutes, but it's a bit of a banger again. That spoken word ending though tells us of what is to come - 'Graveyard Stomp' builds up with stripped back and suitably gloomy drums and bass and lyrics that sound like they're delivered by a TV horror host of a bygone age, before the gates of hell themselves are broken open (twice) and the band knock you out with a swift hardcore punk punch to the guts with agonised vocals and a touch of distortion. It's the one song I hadn't heard before the EP's release, and it doesn't disappoint.
Finishing off the record is 'Moonlight Waltz'. Similar in style to what came before it, it builds up the horror on a bed of metal sounding punk and throws some tortured gothic hardcore into the mix, ratcheting up the terror by the end and leaving you in no doubt that this is a band who do things dark. A very good debut release for the band, dark, gothic and twisted hardcore punk and metal with a menacing atmosphere.
You can grab the physical (or digital) release over on Bandcamp and follow the band over on Instagram. I've popped the Spotify embed of the EP at the bottom of the page, but please if you can go and support yet another great UK horror punk band.
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