Archive for July, 2026

Christine Plays Viola – At Last, I Found You (Fear Increases Violent Emotions)

Posted: 28 July 2026 in Reviews, Singles and EPs
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22nd July 2026

Christopher Nosnibor

‘At Last, I Found You’ arrives as a standalone single to bookend the releases from their album, F.I.V.E. (Fear Increases Violent Emotions), released in January, ahead of a two-month tour of Europe, including some UK venues that are some way off the beaten track (which is a bummer for those on the regular circuit stop-offs, but a boon for those in neglected places like Whitchurch and Morecambe. The song was written during the F.I.V.E. sessions but intentionally held back until listeners had time to fully absorb the album, before emerging as its final companion piece, and it says something of the standard of material – as well as the level of confidence in said material – when a band are comfortable leaving what they know to be one of their strongest cuts off the main release.

But, as guitarist and bandleader Fabrizio Giampietro explains, “‘At Last, I Found You’ was always the most immediate and instinctive song we wrote during the F.I.V.E. sessions. We deliberately left it off the album because we wanted listeners to experience that record’s emotional arc without this song becoming its centre of gravity. Six months later, it

felt like the right moment to finally share it.” There’s a logic to this: so many albums are dominated by THE single, and in the age of streaming, where people tend to play tracks rather than albums (apparently – I personally shun streaming as a medium, and make a point of listening to vinyl and CD albums in full, from end to end, both when reviewing and also while cooking) it’s a decent strategy to encourage – by any means – listeners to focus on the body of work that is the album, over individual tracks.

‘At Last, I Found You’ is an obvious single cut, being a classic slice of dark synth pop with a distinctly European feel, and in drawing comparisons with early A-Ha I’m paying a strong compliment (I will forever maintain that the darker currents in their music are severely underappreciated, and songs like ‘I’ve Been Losing You’ and ‘Manhattan Skyline’ have ben wrongly eclipsed by ‘Take On Me’, because the Internet and compilation album compilers have a tendency to reduce acts with many, many hits down to one song to be endlessly repeated… don’t believe me? Duran Duran’s ‘The Reflex’ spent six weeks at number one in the UK, but you could be forgiven for thinking that ‘Rio’ was their only hit, and likewise that The Cult only had ‘She Sells Sanctuary’ as a charting single. We can learn from this just how history gets twisted, not primarily by the dissemination of false information, but by omission. Of course, I’ve digressed – that’s what I do, and I also strongly believe that the narrative of real life isn’t to be found in the main thread, but in the digressions. It’s not about the career or the landmark events, it’s about the weird detours and the dirt that falls between the cracks along the way, the stuff you don’t even notice while you’re looking at the next thing, the goals.

‘At Last, I Found You’ is dark but positive: Massimo Ciampani’s baritone vocal  leaps upwards for the soaring choruses. An insistent beat and throbbing bass drive the song, which draws together elements of 80s synth pop, 90s goth and contemporary darkwave with a crisp precision.

What goes around certainly comes around: Christine Plays Viola formed in 2008, which was certainly a lull time for the popularity of goth and adjacent music. The present is another world, not just with heritage bands like Corpus Delicti and Red Lorry Yellow Lorry and The March Violets releasing new material and / or touring, but new acts like Mouth Ulcers and Just Mustard bursting onto the scene. These are exciting times, and ‘At Last, I Found You’ is an exciting release. And while I rarely give advice, I would strongly recommend checking out the album.

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Pop Goes Metal / Dismiss / Too Late for Gods – The Fulford Arms, York, 26th July 2026

Posted: 27 July 2026 in Live, Reviews
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Christopher Nosnibor

Did I ever mention how much I fucking hate ABBA? No? Well, I really, really fucking hate ABBA, and pretty much all covers of ABBA songs too, with the exception of The Sisters of Mercy’s cover of ‘Gimme Gimme Gimme’ which made the set a few times in 1984 just after Wayne Hussey joined. To provide a measure of just how much I fucking hate ABBA, just after university, my then girlfriend and I got a flat, and took her best mate on as a lodger. She loved ABBA. So much so that ABBA Gold was pretty much, the only CD she owned. And she played it all the time. That’s no exaggeration. We’re talking legitimate grounds for eviction or even murder here. So when I upgraded my stereo, instead of selling the old one – which would have fetched a good hundred and fifty quid, which was some wedge back in ’98 – I gave it to her for her room on the proviso that she would never play ABBA in the living room ever again. The rationale for this anecdote will make sense later on.

Meanwhile, when I took this gig on, I hadn’t appreciated that the band I was here for – Dismiss – were only the support, and it blows my mind that a band with some kind of following, however moderate here, would come from Greece to support a local covers band in York. We’ll come back to this presently, too.

My introduction to Too Late for Gods was a pub gig on the other side of town, and my reaction was very much mixed. So, seeing them on a proper stage, through a full PA, and without the element of surprise means I’m in a better position to properly assess their skills.

Their first song is a straight up post-hardcore metal rager, the five-string bass bringing significant depth and power. It’s the grunge leanings which shine through during the next couple of songs, and it’s very soon apparent what a difference a decent mix can make to how songs come across. There are some meh punk pop / emo cuts mid-set, but they’re performed with guts and gusto, which carries them. Their drummer is a solid asset, too, a strong player with a big personality, bringing dynamics and showmanship, and very much driving the band. The penultimate song of the set has a hint of Placebo and a strong hook. They look comfortable in this setting, and give the impression that they would deliver in significantly larger venues, too.

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Too Late for Gods

I’m here for Dismiss, and woah! They are all the energy straight out of the traps. My notes are scant: I’m too busy trying to catch my breath. They play hard rock with a punk edge, and they bring the fire, and what’s more, they’re absolutely relentless, powering through fifteen original songs in forty minutes (the setlist indicates that they dropped two from the planned set, too), but it feels like about twenty whiplash-inducing minutes, as they the songs back-to-back. Their singer is a blur of peroxide, the bassist is a spike-studded energy blast, and they make a strong case for the prosecution in the case that women rock harder than men. And if we’re doing touchstones and references, Lita Ford and The Plasmatics and Amyl and the Sniffers are where we’re at. They absolutely fucking slay. You wouldn’t want to go on after them, especially as, judging by the T-shirts on display, a good number of the punters are here for them. And deservedly. They absolutely play their arses off and are nothing short of phenomenal. Not only band of the night, but one of the highlights of the year to date.

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Dismiss

But suddenly, just as Pop Goes Metal take to the stage, the place is rammed from the front to the back. I guess this is telling. Do we talk about covers bands? Should we contemplate guilty pleasures? I wrote about covers bands just the other night – but can’t help but feel differently about covers bands playing village pubs as background, and covers bands playing ‘proper’ venues and headlining over bands playing sets of original material. Like Natalie Imbruglia, I’m torn. It’s great that people are coming out to small venues and supporting live music. But…

I’ve personally never been embarrassed by my appreciation of pop tunes, and I don’t just mean the 80s stuff I grew up with, like Duran Duran and A-Ha. A good tune is a good tune, irrespective of genre. As such, I’m personally comfortable with the fact that Pop Goes Metal start strong with a thunking Nu-metal take on Katy Perry’s ‘I Kissed A Girl’. However, am I comfortable with the principle of what is, in essence, a novelty covers act? While perhaps not as corny as, say, Elvana or Tragedy (the metal Bee gees tribute), they certainly sit within that bracket.

Objectively, Pop Goes Metal do a great job of delivering what they pitch. They bring a brace of chunky guitars melded to a chunky rhythm section, and Emz gives us gutsy vocals, with rasp and power. Britney’s ‘Toxic’ is a solid choice at the front end of the set and works over the more obvious choice of Britney tunes in terms of their sonic and stylistic range. The Dua Lipa and Billie Eilish songs are beyond my ken, but they go down well.

New addition to the set, ‘Umbrella’ is only so-so, and while Emz reads the lyrics from her phone, the song slides into an extended fretwanking solo. Their interpretation of Mark Ronson’s ‘Uptown Funk’ sounds too much like ‘Free Range’ by The Fall crossed with ‘Black Betty’ to be entirely successful, and while ‘Let Me Entertain You’ benefits from a huge chugging break, it’s still a shit song. ‘Toca’s Miracle’ translates from a dance-pop banger to a thunderous disco metal banger, and it would be curmudgeonly not to acknowledge a job well done there.

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Pop Goes Metal

The audience is particularly hyped and vocal, and increasingly so as the night progresses. Emz’s voice starts to go with five songs to go, and by the end she can barely croak between songs, but still belts ‘em out full lungs. ‘Shake it Off’ not only proves I’ve never knowingly heard a song by Taylor Swift, but that perhaps I’m not entirely the target demographic. ‘Sk8er Boi’ comes in pretty much untouched, and Anastacia’s ‘Left Outside Alone’ is a strong tune that it would be hard to go wrong with, and credit where it’s due, they do it justice. And then it’s onto ending on ‘Mama Mia’… just no. No no no no. They’ve crossed the line.

Watch: ‘Lost My Guiding Light (Again)’ by Tiny Magnetic Pets

Posted: 27 July 2026 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
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Irish synthwave outfit Tiny Magnetic Pets return with ‘Lost My Guiding Light (Again)’, a stellar single that reflects the search for hope and direction in an increasingly uncertain world, inviting listeners to consider what their own guiding light might be.

A compelling preview of their coming three-track ‘Astralux’ EP, slated for release on July 21, this is a bold reinvention of one of their most-loved tracks and Blending cinematic synth textures, soaring melodies and an irresistible electronic pulse, they transform the original into a vibrant new anthem.

Based between Dublin and Belfast, Tiny Magnetic Pets has become one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary electronic music since emerging in 2015. Here,  vocalist Paula Gilmer, keyboardist-guitarist Sean Quinn and drummer Eugene Somers are joined by Seamus Quinn on bass.

Mixed and mastered by Tim Dorney, whose music career includes time as keyboardist of Republica, in addition to Flowered Up and Tin Gun, this release combines classic synth-pop songwriting with contemporary electronic production, bringing together melodic depth and club-ready energy.

“When we play live we like to do different versions from the records. Last year, we were asked to play a dance music festival in Dublin, so we re-arranged the opening track from our second album ‘Deluxe/Debris’ for an EDM audience, and it has now become the opening tune to our live shows,” explains Sean Quinn.

“We re-recorded this new version in 2026 and we feel it is significantly different from the original to warrant its own release and slight re-title: Lost My Guiding Light (Again) – a wee nod to Bowie’s John I’m Only Dancing (Again)…”

Paula Gilmer adds, “A re-imagining of two of our most popular live tracks for the 21st century dancefloor, this song is about how everyone at some point loses their way – in life, in work, in relationships, in faith but the theme carries more weight in 2026 with the whole world seemingly losing its way! What is your “guiding light” in 2026? Morality? Truth? Honesty? Love? Empathy? Compassion? Fill in the blank, post it on TikTok and hope it goes viral.”

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The Astralux EP also features two remixes of ‘Low Places’ by pioneering producer and DJ Paul Dakeyne, whose innovative work has helped shape electronic dance music for over three decades. A Ministry of Sound resident DJ, he has played sets for U2 and Kraftwerk. Endorsed by Paul Oakenfold and Fatboy Slim, he has created 250+ remixes, including for George Michael, The Cure, Tori Amos, New Order, Enya, Soft Cell, Erasure, Nancy Sinatra, Yello, and The Housemartins.

Combining the melodic songwriting and electronic textures that have defined Tiny Magnetic Pets’ sound, infused with adventurous new energy, ‘Lost My Guiding Light (Again)’ is a confident statement of where they are heading next, towards what promises to be the band’s most ambitious chapter yet.

A glimpse of the next phase in Tiny Magnetic Pets’ musical evolution, its rhythms and emotional core point towards the darker, more cinematic sound of their coming fourth studio album, A Black Frame. Out later this year, it is produced by Gareth Jones, whose work with Depeche Mode, Wire, Interpol and Nick Cave has made him one of alternative music’s most respected producers.

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Millennium Bug – The Red Lion, Alnmouth, 24th July 2026

Posted: 26 July 2026 in Live, Reviews
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Christopher Nosnibor

In keeping with my (recent) policy of never not writing about a live act I see, I find myself presenting some diaristic notes from my break from reviewing. The plan had been to avoid emails, the Internet, people, and pretty much everything by escaping to Alnmouth for four nights. Historically, I’ve used such holidays as an opportunity to concentrate on some of my fiction or other writing, but instead, I decide to walk and read and decompress for a while. And if this reads more like an extract from my diary than an actual review, that’s because, ultimately, it is. The review element is but a prelude to a ponderance, you might say.

For context, last week marked three and half years since the death of my wife, and some proper time out with our daughter, now 14, and just broken up for the summer holidays, was what was needed. Much as I depend on my routine to an extent – which involves chipping out a review of between 600 and 1,000 words a night, when not out watching bands, it’s certainly work. And you know what they say about work… Well, they say a lot, very little of which is positive. And while we’re here, this isn’t so much a review, as a review as a pretext for an essay of reflection and contemplation.

Alnmouth, while pretty sleepy, is home to no fewer than four pubs / hotels with public bars, and having just last week written about how I’d been missing bands in bars, and having clocked the The Red Lion was hosting a live band on Friday night, decided I should pop down for a last pint or two before the train home on Saturday morning. I expected a naff covers band, and while Millennium Bug are very much a covers band, they weren’t naff. They could certainly play, at least. And their choice of songs was not the obvious.

It must be hard for musicians wanting to play round here. Newcastle has a vibrant scene with an abundance of metal and noise and all sorts, but it’s a different world out here on the coast in a small village that’s a low-key tourist destination, primarily for retirees. You’re not going to get going with a metal band here.

When I set out with Aural Aggravation, the rubric was pretty explicit: music as far from the mainstream as you could possibly get. So why am I now documenting a covers band in a pub? The musical landscape has changed in the last decade, and my focus on the grass roots has developed over this time as things have got more challenging, particularly post-COVID. And I’d contend that you can’t get much further from the mainstream than this.

They’re playing ‘When You Say Nothing At All’ off the bat – as they say. It’s a shit cliché. Most cliché are, though. They forewarn that their set will consist of ‘cheesy nineties and noughties pop songs’, and they’re not kidding. The trio, consisting of acoustic guitar, bass, and minimal drum kit make their way through ‘I Want it That Way’ which I’ve always jokingly said was a song about anal sex, but, on reflection, may be about pegging, and ‘I Miss You’ by Lisa Loeb. They perform a pretty spirited and harmony-laden rendition of ‘Torn’, a passable take on ‘Unwritten’, and a killer version of ‘Genie in a Bottle’ follow. Cher’s ‘Life After Love’ actually sounds better as an acoustic song without the autotune.

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So what’s the thrust here? They’re three forty-something guys playing a local village pub against a barrage of chatter. The applause starts off strong, but diminishes after about three songs as the punters lose interest and the music falls to background. It’s nothing like the volume of talk when I saw BRMC in Leeds last December, but it’s a tough gig. And yet they take it in their stride. No strops, no huffs. It’s simply the gig. And while many musicians aspire to supposedly greater things, they’re clearly enjoying doing this – and when it’s so easy to give up doing anything outside dayjob and family life and whatever, this is certainly better than that.

It’s easy to denigrate this level of the music scene, a level which exists outside of the industry. But I’d put this above tribute acts. They’re not pretending to be another band or cashing in on another name, and in many respects, this kind of live music is foundational. The first gigs I ever saw, when I was probably thirteen or so, were covers bands playing in pubs in Lincoln.

Ultimately, I have no real point, no angle, beyond this being a slice of life, and that it’s good to hear live music in even the most rural of settings.

Listen: ‘Understand’ by Soft Science

Posted: 26 July 2026 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
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Sacramento outfit Soft Science presents ‘Understand’, the second offering from their fifth album Sand, released via Shelflife Records in North America and Spinout Nuggets in the UK. A reflection on time, memory, and emotional patience, the song drifts through the feeling of carrying someone close even as years pass, holding onto their words like echoes that refuse to fade.

A buoyant track with a glimmer of hope and Lush-infused vibes, at its heart, ‘Understand’ offers reassurance: when life becomes difficult, return to what is simple and true. Darkness may come, but so will another day—bringing space, breath, and the possibility that one day, everything will make sense.

Soft Sciencepairs shimmery atmosphere with a sense of restless momentum via their signature blend of dream pop, shoegaze and indie rock. Made up of longtime collaborators Katie Haley (lead vocals, percussion), Matt Levine (lead guitar), Ross Levine (guitar, backing vocals), Tony Cale (drums), Becky Cale (bass, backing vocals), and Hans Munz (atmospheric electronics), they craft immersive music defined by layered guitars, ethereal vocals, synth textures, and postpunk-influenced propulsion.

“As we were writing this song, Ross came up with the chorus ‘and I know one day you’ll understand’. It made me think about my kids, who are teens now. Your teens can be hard and the things you go through often feel very raw. I like to think that this is a song of encouragement to anyone who is going through something hard, but my teenagers were an inspiration,” says Katie Haley.

“The first verse is about how much I treasure them and the second verse is words of encouragement and reminders that you can get through hard things and sometimes we just need time to let things pass. It’s good to learn how to give yourself a break. It can take time to "understand" some of the things we go through in life and find a deeper meaning or pivot to find a better way to go. I hope the song brings that kind of comfort to those who hear it”.

Ross Levine adds, “Writing ‘Understand’ started with the verse melody and figuring out the chords to go with it, but we tried not to always go with the obvious change, which I think gives a little more freshness and a sense of exploration while still being solidly pop”.

‘Understand’ arrives on the trail of the lead track, ‘Spinning’, a propulsive and emotionally charged track with accompanying video by Matthew Maxwell, capturing the dizzying frustration of being caught in an emotional loop—repeating the same conversations, hoping to be heard, and wondering if anything is getting through. Here, they turn relationship fatigue into something hypnotic, melodic and relatable.

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Soft Science

Photo by John Conley

Amps Kill – Avulse EP

Posted: 25 July 2026 in Reviews, Singles and EPs
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23rd July 2026

Christopher Nosnibor

With Amps Kill’s Avulse EP, we’re in dark ambient territory here, with the emphasis on the dark, at least sonically. In terms of intent and narrative arc, it’s a little more nuanced in hue.

As the accompanying notes outline, ‘Without lyrics, Avulse guides the listener through a story. The track titles on the EP provide some context to the emotional inspiration behind the music… Avulse explores the idea of removing aspects of the self or of one’s life that are holding one back from growing and moving forward just as lizards, spiders, and insects need to shed their skin to grow. It’s a process that is often quite painful but always for the better. That pain is the core of Avulse’.

The EP’s title certainly makes sense in this context, the dictionary definition being ‘to pull or tear something away, especially a part of the body as a result of an accident or surgery’. And so it is that Amps Kill delivers something of a performative purging over the course of the EP’s five compositions.

As is the method when it comes to EP releases in recent years, the four of the five tracks on Avulse have been released individually as singles. I’m still not entirely clear on the wisdom of this approach to promotion: there’s building interest through advance singles, and then there’s emptying the tank. But then I spent a long time being accustomed to one or two singles in advance of an album’s release, and one or two more after to maintain its profile and to extend its trailing sales. Now, everything is up-front – a consequence surely being that anticipation for an EP is diminished because there’s less – if any – new material to look forward to. But I’m 50 and came to music in an era of physical releases and singles chart shows on the TV and radio, and I’m clearly get to grasp the benefits of the new way.

The first four tracks, all released as singles do, it has to be said, work better in succession than as standalone pieces. ‘Slough’, landing with a dense, hard, serrated-edged billow of noise that crashes in like a tidal wave, is heavy and oppressive. There are softer sounds beneath, but overall, it forges a thick, oppressive atmosphere, and ‘Chronophage’ plunges deeper. The title references the Corpus Clock, also known as the Grasshopper Clock, outside the library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, a clock with no hands or numerals and guarded by a metal grasshopper or locust. Amidst scrapes and hums of feedback, electronic insectoid skitterings create texture on the track, creating a scratchy, uncomfortable tension, and ‘Husk’ brings more heavy, sonorous drones and cracking distortion at the edges of dense surges of sound. It’s not entirely ambient, as there are thick, booming beats which land like detonations, and the atmosphere is tense, akin to the sound of low-flying planes and crashes and splashes like shattering metal rupture all about. It’s pretty intense, and comfortable it is not.

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‘Basilisk’ brings more of the same, in essence, but the thunderous beats are brought to the fore, amidst the flutter of flapping, like the sound of a thousand bats fleeing a bottomless cave. And so there is a clear sense of progression here: dark ambience transitions to throbbing industrial – in the more traditional sense, tracing a lineage to Throbbing Gristle, Coil.

Arriving at the last piece, the only one previously unreleased, there is a significant shift in tone. As Amps Kill intimates, “‘Des Pas Sur Les Cendres’ completes the idea of the group and ties all of them together. That track takes all of its musical thematic material from a piano work by Claude Debussy called ‘Des pas sur la neige’ and expands or explores it’. It sure as hell doesn’t sound like Debussy, but it very much does feel like a composition which brings the EP to a fitting close – altogether more subdued, softer, more delicate, it’s five and a half minutes of mellow ambience, albeit with a few serrated edges – which, while dark, hints at some vague sense of hope, and the sense that once the avulsion is complete, there is the potential to grow anew.

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Watch: ‘Enough’ by Emma Ruth Rundle

Posted: 25 July 2026 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
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‘Enough’ is the scathing new track to be taken from Emma Ruth Rundle’s These Killing Times. The album will be released via her own imprint Errant Child on 18th September.

Clocking in at 6 minutes and 29 seconds, ‘Enough’ serves as a reminder of how Emma Ruth Rundle uniquely fuses gentleness and intensity. Opening with a hypnotic drum rhythm (courtesy of Jess Gowrie, drummer for Chelsea Wolfe and Mrs Piss), the single is driven by a deep-toned acoustic guitar riff that nonetheless offers a sense of calm. A distinct note of optimism emerges the moment the iconic singer’s voice enters—a sentiment that swells during the choruses, which grow increasingly impassioned with each repetition, ultimately building to a crushing heaviness in a climax tormented by Patrick Shiroishi’s saxophone. It is a track that offers comfort, even as its message proves scathing. Emma elaborates:

“‘Enough’ is inspired by the ‘Man Who Sold The World’ – and in a retelling of the story of Elijah, we imagine him as an Elon Musk type figure – we ask – is not the whole world enough? We ask the many gods to unleash vengeance and carry this man away into the angry sky – piece by piece  – this song is a reflection of the times we live in and is a vision for the dispensation of the billionaire class. The world belongs to all beings."

Conceived by Emma in collaboration with artists Mason Rose and Blake Armstrong, and edited by Mitch Wells, the music video for ‘Enough’ showcases a gothic theatricality that is sure to pique curiosity. Almost as if Nosferatu had landed in the world of legendary puppeteer Jim Henson—a major inspiration for the visual universe of These Killing Times — the video depicts the singer haunted by a creature known as ‘The Companion’. The video’s atmosphere, at once romantic and dark, is further heightened by a series of shots that look for all the world like stop-motion animation.

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These Killing Times is electrifying, emotional and charged with anti-patriarchal feminist rage. The forthcoming studio album from the multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and multi-disciplinary artist is a reactive anthology, bristling, full of life and full of resistance.

Although this new album possesses a spirit of defiance, it retains the tenderness, rawness and vulnerability that saw her previous globally acclaimed full-length, Engine of Hell (2021), resonate with so many listeners.

These Killing Times returns to a full-band set up for a fuller sound, a more sonically powerful accompaniment to her now more direct vocal style. The album features drummer Jess Gowrie (Chelsea Wolfe, Mrs. Piss), long-time friend and collaborator Troy Zeigler, Patrick Shiroishi, Nick Reinhart (Tera Melos), Gina Gleason (Baroness), Marissa Nadler, Lukas Frank (Storefront Church) and Amelia Baker (Cinder Well). The instrumentation is brighter and more urgent than ever before, lending a fascinating magnetism to Emma’s music which feels fresh and new.

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Photo credit: Mason Rose

Watch: ‘In Unity’ WIELORYB vs PSYCHOTRIBE Tribute Remix by DEATĦ B¥ LØVE

Posted: 22 July 2026 in Singles and EPs, Recommended Streams and Videos
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Trans-Atlantic dark-electronic duo DEATĦ B¥ LØVE presents their new single ‘n Unity (WIELORYB Remix and Tribute)’ which is dedicated to Wieloryb a.k.a. Paweł Kmiecik, a groundbreaking music and video artist, known forhis aggressive brand of industrial music and post-apocalyptic videos and who also, tragically, passed away just a month ago.

This two-track offering consists of "In Unity (WIELORYB Power Noise Remix)" and "In Unity (WIELORYB vs. PSYCHOTRIBE Tribute Remix)", for which the accompanying video was created by Wieloryb. This single arrives soon after the release of DEATĦ B¥ LØVE’s debut album 444, released via Distortion Productions.

A talented artist, Wieloryb was the dark pulse of Poland’s industrial music scene, emerging in Gdańsk in 1994 during an era of concrete, rust, and cold electronics. From his first recordings, Wieloryb struck without compromise. Electro industrial, EBM, and techno merged with noise, metallic rhythms, and haunting ambient soundscapes. The debut cassette "I" earned a Fryderyk Award nomination and opened a new chapter in Polish electronic music that was brutal, uncompromising, and devoid of light.

For decades, Wieloryb’s music has existed where aggression meets trance, and destruction gives way to contemplation. It is more than sound. It is a complete mechanical ritual, where raw electronics intertwine seamlessly with Paweł’s experimental visual art and video work, creating a singular aesthetic language of industrial melancholy.

“We dedicate this release to Wieloryb, Paweł Kmiecik, an extraordinary artist, producer, and video creator, whose vision left a lasting mark on the industrial scene. ‘n Unity’was the final remix he completed before his sudden and unexpected passing,” says Pete Guellard.

“His post-apocalyptic industrial landscapes sent chills down our spines, while his relentless rhythms and crushing soundscapes raised our pulse and demanded movement. His work was raw, uncompromising, and unforgettable. Thank you for everything Paweł. Your legacy lives on through the art you left behind. All profits from this release will go directly to support Paweł fmily.”

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Watch: ‘Love, Light, Beauty & Truth’ by The Stevenson Ranch Davidians

Posted: 21 July 2026 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
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After years in the vault, The Stevenson Ranch Davidians share ‘Love, Light, Beauty & Truth’, a soaring anthem that feels more urgent than ever. Fusing shimmering ’60s-inspired psychrock, folk and Americana into a hypnotic swirl of hope, the New York collective delivers a powerful message of resilience in troubled times. Recorded years ago, the song’s relevance has only intensified, transforming it into a timeless rallying cry wrapped in radiant melodies and good vibrations.

This marks the beginning of a wave of previously unheard recordings, as they emerge with renewed momentum. Following their acclaimed Amerikana album, they recently completed their fourth album at Rick Rubin’s legendary Shangri-La Studio. 2026 also brings a run of live dates, including several with Elephant Stone ahead of the album’s release in early 2027. With this single, The Stevenson Ranch Davidians show that some songs aren’t just worth waiting for—they arrive exactly when the world needs them most.

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Elektrikill – Küntzpiracy

Posted: 20 July 2026 in Albums, Reviews
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Evol Music Group – 26th June 2026

Christopher Nosnibor

Over on this side of the pond, in the UK, we have plenty to beef about, and more than enough to worry about, too. But while we see endless footage of war in Ukraine, Gaza, and the whole of the Middle East as the US and Iran wrestle their way through the most futile war, we’re in a petty sheltered place, and as much as we may reel in horror over news of the latest high school massacre and laugh at Donald Trump’s daily meltdowns, we do so from a position of relative safety. However hard we continue to lumber into a state of total surveillance, however emboldened the racists become thanks to the rising right, however rapidly our government are eroding our right to protest, favouring perpetrators of genocide over those who speak in opposition to it, there’s still no danger of some masked ICE psycho pulling your car over and demanding your papers before shooting you in the head. Our politicians may nearly all be slippery, deceptive careerists who accept ‘donations’ from individuals and companies with vested interests, but we’re not led by a demented narcissist who’s openly professed to being a wannabe dictator. In short, I don’t think we fully grasp what it’s like to live in America right now.

Elektrikill’s founder, Steve Vil, says of Küntzpiracy – a title that’s both a fairly lame pun and a bit of cliché, but gets a pass because America and an approximation of a Butthole Surfers reference – “Basically it’s my most political album touching on themes of government corruption and half of this country’s loss of humanity while claiming it’s all in the name of Jesus. That pisses me off. I also call out closeted government officials in ‘The Scream’. Look, guys, just be gay instead of crashing Grindr any time you meet in large groups. I do give the listener a break from the political stuff. ‘Vampire Blond’, for example, is about a vampire drag queen.”

There’s a fair bit to unpack here, and he makes a number of valid points. It’s not the whole of America. In fact, it’s a slender majority backing the MAGA madness. Unfortunately, they’ve voted to facilitate an insane power grab, meaning that while there are a fair few who aren’t happy with the direction things have been taking lately, tough shot: you could have seen it coming, so this is on you. And this also involves the most overtly racist, homophobic administration in memory – but as with anything which involves hypermasculinity, what the world outside sees is massive repressed gayness. Yeah, we’re looking at you, Andrew Tate, with your no-bollocks swimming trunks and purple satin blouse, and the culture you espouse. What utterly fucked-up times we live in.

‘Thrum’ makes for a dark, dense start to the album, throbbing bass dominating, the distorted monotone vocals low in the mix as extraneous squalls of electronic noise burst all around, and ‘S(t)imulation’ keeps things dark with some hefty tribal percussion battering away through a murky wall of sound – although the choruses break out with a genuine hook driven by a pumping beat and punchy snare. It’s like leaping from Coil to late 80s Ministry, but it works, and the aforementioned ‘Vampire Blond’ swings into classic electrogoth / technoindustrial territory, and I could chuck a raft of touchstones in here – and that’s no bad thing. they clearly know what they’re doing, and where they’re positioning themselves, and do it well.

‘The Scream’ is again a bit Ministry circa The Land of Rape and Honey, and perhaps a bit KMFDM, and more broadly, a bit Wax Trax! Hardly innovative, but the delivery is top-notch. The beats slam hard.

Landing at the album’s midpoint the piano-led ‘A Chill in the Air’ is both expansive and claustrophobic, and slowing the tempo to explore a more brooding atmospheric, it’s well placed, ahead of full-throttle rager ‘Monoshift’ which brings the industrial aggression pumped to the max. Indeed, the second half of the album is harder, faster, and the altogether synthier ‘My Salvation’ rhymes ‘my salvation’ with ‘masturbation’ in a style reminiscent of early Revolting Cocks.

Stylistically, Electrikill don’t really break any new ground, but Küntzpiracy is intense, angry, and relentless, the aggro and the tempo picking up noticeably in the second half, with ‘Manifesto’ delivering a power finish. With Küntzpiracy, Elektrikill bring the fury and bring the force – and the political ire. This is very much an album of the now, and it hits hard.

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