Archive for the ‘Recommended Streams and Videos’ Category

Chicago-based dark synth / industrial artist Tatv Gral (ˈtätü ˈgräl) announces the release of the Treachery EP, a new remix EP featuring the original version of the ‘Treachery’ single, produced by William Faith at 13 Studio, alongside exclusive remixes by DSTR (Daniel Myer of Haujobb), Tweaker (Chris Vrenna of NIN), and fellow Chicago underground denizens, [melter]. The EP is released on 6 July 2026, with presales available on Bandcamp now. The EP release is also flanked by the new video for the DSTR remix of the track, following on the heels of the video for the original single version in June.

Thematically, ‘Treachery’ emerged from a chance encounter that led Tatv Gral’s Allen Addington deeper into the symbolic world of Hellenistic astrology, as Addington explains: “It was a discovery in the ancient texts that unlocked the whole song – both Saturn and Mars independently carry the signification of ‘Treachery’, translated directly from the Ancient Greek. Two malefic forces, each already marked by betrayal, meeting in the same charged space. Following Richard Tarnas and James Hillman, I wanted to explore that archetypal collision phenomenologically – the Old Man and the Young Man, bondage and erotic force – seen through a gay male gaze and the cinematic shadow world of William Friedkin’s Cruising.”

Drawing on the archetypal psychology of James Hillman, who argued that images arising from the psyche carry their own intelligence and must not be immediately moralized, Tatv Gral uses music as a container for difficult energies rather than a platform to promote them. This approach places ‘Treachery’ in a lineage that runs through Coil’s ritual electronics, Kenneth Anger’s astrologically-timed film workings, and the Jungian shadow work that informs all of them. The queer lens is not incidental: it is the specific viewpoint through which these archetypal forces become visible.

Musically, Tatv Gral draws on the colder edges of industrial, EBM and dark electronic music, combining mechanical rhythms, claustrophobic textures and cinematic tension with an emotionally exposed vocal approach. Coil’s occult philosophy as genuine practice is at the centre of Tatv Gral’s frame of reference, while other influences range from Chicago’s industrial lineage via WAX TRAX! Records, through to the brutalist intersection of early British and German electronic music, shaped by the severity of Kraftwerk and DAF, while also maintaining a distinctly personal and contemporary perspective.

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On the trail of the Low Sunday Ghost Machine – Black EP, newly released via Projekt Records, Pittsburgh darkwave-shoegaze pioneers Lowsunday present ‘You’re So Wired’, with the video produced by Jer Herring. Capturing the roller-coaster experience of being drawn to a highly energetic, erratic individual, who blurs the line between imagination and everyday life, this song channels a vibrant, alternative rock spirit that ultimately celebrates breaking free into a state of liberated peace.

“’You’re So Wired’ is a song that touches on a manic type of experience. It also touches on the  classic Chuang Tzu question, after having had a vivid dream: "am I man dreaming I am a butterfly or am I a butterfly dreaming I am a man?" — The experience of not knowing if you’re awake or dreaming. In this case, the rapid eye movements shown in the video capture both dreaming and erratic behavior, making it hard to interpret which is which,” says Shane Sahene.

“In the video, I love the way Jer shows the subject looking through a camera – like a search for honesty or an altered reality. It relates to the song like a form of detachment – just one step removed. Ultimately it’s the experience with this type of person – that when they’re gone, you miss the excitement they create and when you’re together, the unpredictably can feel overwhelming. I enjoy the idea of being in a permanent dream state, like an overlay to reality, where one is only stabilized by their dreams.  The beauty of the video comes when the escape has been made – just as the song opens up in the bridge – it captures a freedom that had been searched for and finally found.”

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Formed in 1994, Lowsunday (initially Low Sunday Ghost Machine) emerged as a “retro-futurist” pioneer, blending darkwave and shoegaze long before the genres saw their modern revival. The ‘Black EP’ is their second release of all-new material released since 1999, previewed by the darkly fascinating lead track ‘This Is Not Heaven’ and focus track ‘Shattered’.
Their legacy was cemented with their 1996 debut album Low Sunday Ghost Machine and the 1999 masterpiece Elesgiem, both with extended re-releases out via Projekt Records in the past 18 months (for the 30th and 25th anniversaries, respectively). With a cult reputation for mercurial sounds and blistering guitar work, their music set the stage for subsequent generations of alternative artists. Following a nearly 25-year hiatus, the band resurfaced as the duo of original member Shane Sahene (vocals, guitar, synth, bass, drums) and Bobby Spell (bass, guitar, drums).

At the end of 2025, Lowsunday released their Low Sunday Ghost Machine – White EP, ranked second among Post-Punk.com’s Best EPs of 2025, and showcased by the singles ‘Love Language’, ‘Soft Capture’ and ‘Nevver’. Both a reflection and a resurgence, Lowsunday’s two new EPs usher in a welcome return, marked by superb production and a renewed creative clarity, bridging three decades of distinct sonic legacy with balanced doses of escapism, dreamlike sounds, drones and feedback.

With a sound defined by atmosphere, precision, and heartfelt shadow and depths, Lowsunday is now asserting their presence with new strength. While the White EP explored light and texture, the Black EP is the darker counterpart and definitive statement. Shadow and intensity, layered guitars, tight rhythms, and austere synths, this new EP distills the duo’s vision into a sharper, more potent form — a bold declaration of their enduring artistic power.

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Lowsunday again

The pioneering electronic dance act Lords of Acid have released their third single of 2026. Blending infectious electronic beats, Latin-inspired hooks and the tongue-in-cheek attitude that has made the group a cult favourite all over the globe, ‘El Mundo Está Loco’ (The World Is Crazy) is a dance floor anthem for a world that seems to be getting crazier by the day.

Driven by an irresistible chorus and a playful exchange between Lords of Acid and the New York City-based duo Tony & The Kiki, the song captures the chaos, absurdity and excitement of modern life while inviting listeners to do the only sensible thing left….dance. Because, when the world goes crazy, turn up the music.

Tony & The Kiki blend gritty NYC glamour, disco decadence, punk, soul and high-voltage anthems into an unapologetically queer rock-and-roll spectacle. Channelling the spirit of Blondie, Queen and Scissor Sisters through a modern, theatrical, arena-ready lens, they have built a significant cult following and been praised by icons that include Lady Gaga, Celine Dion, Cyndi Lauper, Grace Slick and even Fred Durst.

It quickly became clear that Tony & The Kiki belonged in the Lords of Acid universe, so the idea of having them guest on ‘El Mundo Está Loco’ felt like the perfect collaboration – loud, chaotic, sexy, theatrical and completely unhinged in all the right ways. The duo also performed as one of the guest acts on the recently completed ‘Cheeky Freaky Tour’ of the USA with Lords of Acid.

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What happens when the release of a band’s debut exceeds their wildest dreams of what’s possible? 12 months ago, Cwfen (pronounced ‘Coven’) released their first album, Sorrows, which emerged from attempts to demo some material at a friend’s studio in a remote Scottish farmhouse. The results received instant and widespread acclaim, enjoying glowing reviews in the heavy music press (Metal Hammer, Kerrang!) and featuring in album of the year lists at the close of 2025.

Fast forward 12 months and the band have toured extensively with Paradise Lost and Faetooth, and played countless festival stages, crushing audiences and gaining new fans with consistently powerful performances of the Sorrows material.

To mark the first anniversary of the release of their debut, and the whirlwind 12 months that have passed since, the band are making two special releases of the album available for the first time. The first is a digital deluxe edition of Sorrows, which presents the original tracklist alongside more than 40 minutes of previously unheard music, including blistering live tracks from their early shows and recent touring, early demos of key songs, and eerie sonic experiments composed during the making of the album. The second new release is a special 3rd edition vinyl repress of Sorrows on neon violet vinyl, limited to 300 copies.

Fresh from a performance this week at Download Festival, the band are excited to share these releases, as they look ahead to a summer of festival performances across Europe, and then to beginning the process of preparing album number two.

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SOLACE offer a doom-laden glimpse of vintage heavy metal with the final advance track, ‘Malengine (The Scaffold)’, taken from their highly anticipated fifth full-length Fading Failing Ruin that is set for release on July 3, 2026.

SOLACE comment: “When I came up with the opening riff to ‘Malengine’, I really liked it”, guitarist Tommy Southard declares and explains: “The song felt moody and doomy with a certain sorrowful tone, but when I brought it to the band they had a hard time wrapping their heads around it. I guess it was in an odd time signature. Our other guitarist Justin presented it to some friends with deep formal knowledge of music, and they analysed that the first half of the riff is in 9/8 and the second half is 11/8! Once everyone had figured out the groove of the riff, the song really started taking shape. I really love all the twists and turns. It’s got doom. It’s got some metal flourishes and a killer kinda psych section. It went from maybe a song that wasn’t going to work to the final composition turning out as one of my faves songs on Fading Falling Ruin. This track comes with almost every element that makes Solace who we are. I sincerely hope people find it as interesting as we do.”

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SOLACE deliver their fifth studio album Fading Failing Ruin just in time to celebrate the anniversary of their 30th year as a band. And all the heaviness, experience, and obvious maturity of their songwriting across three decades is perfectly reflected in the seeming ease with which these master craftsmen hammer out one captivating and crushing track after the other.
Revolving around apocalyptic, infernal, and end time themes that easily fit this day and age, Fading Failing Ruin nails the current global mood by taking a strong dose of inspiration from the earliest days of metal and blending it with contemporary heaviness.

A direct link goes back to 1996, when SOLACE rose from the ashes of GODSPEED, who made their name on Headbanger’s Ball and Beavis & Butthead, appeared on the Nativity in Black tribute backing Bruce Dickinson, and toured with CATHEDRAL and BLACK SABBATH. Emerging at the dawn of the internet and the burgeoning stoner rock scene, SOLACE were driven by hardcore-infused metal, captivating vocals, and a dark doom underbelly.

The New Jersey band hit the scene with their ferocious debut Further in 2000. Its tracks remain as contemporary and relevant as in those early days, and an extended and re-mastered 25th anniversary edition became an unplanned but much deserved tribute to brilliant yet tortured original SOLACE vocalist Jason L., who had sadly passed away in January 2025. 
SOLACE continued to build on a solid foundation of classic metal, early doom, and punk ethic into which the four-piece infused a healthy dose of hardcore fury and groovy, grinding sludge.

Three years after the worldwide success of Further, SOLACE returned with the sophomore album 13 (2003), which highlighted the epic side of their songwriting. In the wake of this album, the band was invited twice to perform at the prestigious Roadburn Festival in 2006 and 2009.

The shoremen returned with their highly praised third album A.D. in 2010. Despite the band’s growing acclaim, SOLACE took an informal hiatus to revamp their lineup, returning even stronger with full-length number four, The Brink, in 2019.

SOLACE have called their amalgamation of doom and heavy metal with hardcore elements dirt metal, while elsewhere it has been somewhat tongue-in-cheekily dubbed shorecore. Others file the New Jersey five-piece under stoner metal – and in truth, all these descriptions have and still fit the band to an extent.

With Fading Failing Ruin, SOLACE erect a new milestone of US heavy metal that respects traditions from both sides of the Atlantic while churning toward a chaotic future. Time to bang those heads!

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VOX UMBRA returns with their two song maxi-single, ‘Afterglow’ / ‘The Train’, which pairs the duo’s cinematic atmosphere and emotionally focused songwriting. Across these companion tracks, the release explores movement, uncertainty, devotion, distance, and the fragile clarity that can emerge when old certainties fall away. Darkly elegant and deeply human, ‘Afterglow’ / ‘The Train’ balances widescreen tension with intimate emotional stakes.

‘Afterglow’ / ‘The Train’ is a cohesive two-song statement about how people carry each other through uncertainty, whether side by side or from afar. One song moves through pressure and fracture. One song lingers in grace and release. Together, they create a resonant emotional arc. For fans of thoughtful, atmospheric songwriting and listeners drawn to shadowed textures, lyrical depth and songs that stay with them after the final note, ‘Afterglow’ / ‘The Train’ offers two compelling new entries in the VOX UMBRA catalog.

Watch the video for ‘Afterglow’ here:

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‘Afterglow’: A sweeping and urgent meditation on disillusionment, loyalty and perseverance in a world where direction grows uncertain. ‘Afterglow’ transforms failing signals, collapsing promises and gathering pressure into a powerful personal narrative about choosing to keep moving. With lines such as “I loved you before the damage, I’ll love you through the break,” the song finds tenderness inside turbulence.

‘The Train’: Reflective, restrained and quietly devastating, ‘The Train’ explores pride, grief, growth and the ache of letting someone move beyond your reach while still loving them fully. Centered by the lyric “Maybe this time I have done enough”, the track offers emotional generosity without sentimentality.

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In a world increasingly shaped by disposable content, Chat Pile answers with something defiantly real and organic, a mentality that permeates Who Loves The Sun, their third full-length record.

Since the band’s formation just over six years ago, the Oklahoma City-based quartet Chat Pile has grown from a scrappy passion project of four local film and music enthusiasts into one of the defining heavy acts to emerge from the 2020s underground. Ray B. (vocals), L. Manhole (guitar), Stin (bass), and Cap’n Ron (drums)’s crushing, crass, and cathartic take on noise rock resonates in this cracked reality. It captures a raw, undeniably human essence that’s increasingly fleeting in an age marked by ceaseless torrents of algorithmic slop, technological overreach, and the cold, crestfallen state of society. Nothing about Who Loves The Sun feels synthetic.

“This record focuses on my grievances with the modern world,” says Raygun. “AI, genocide, climate change, the power elite, $$$$ hoarding pigs – all that shit fucks up your life and mine.  The band is definitely stretching out their abilities on the album and I too felt inspired to go further- as a huge fan of Boston, I like to think Brad Delp is somewhere up there, smiling down, as I take the layering to new heights, but who can say? We have fun with it." Stin adds "This album contains a healthy dose of the usual Chat Pile airing of grievances against the state of the world, but deeper at it’s heart I feel Who Loves the Sun is grappling with the challenges of trying to keep one’s humanity in a time of extreme anti-humanity.”

As a first taste of the album, Chat Pile shares the menacing track ‘Deep Blue’. Stin comments, “This is the first track we wrote for the album and the one that helped set the tone for the whole thing. I personally love this because it sounds like Chat Pile doing a Billy Squire song. It’s our ‘Lonely is the Night’, which is actually a fake Led Zeppelin song so who knows what the hell we’re actually doing here?" And Raygun adds, "Technology is rapidly ruining our lives, all promise seemingly squandered on the worst things, like killing people, wasting resources, destroying art- shrinking our brains and pulling us further apart than ever before.”

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Photo credit: Ryan Lawson

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Live dates:

AUS/NZ
06/11  – Sydney – Manning Bar
06/12 – Melbourne – Max Watts
06/13 – Hobart – Dark Mofo
06/14 – Brisbane – The Triffid
06/16 – Adelaide – Lion Arts Factory
06/18 – Auckland – Tuning Fork
06/19 – Wellington – San Fran
UK/EU
08/06 – Ancora, PT – Sonic Blast
08/08 – Katowice, PL – OFF Festival
08/09 – Prague, CZ – Fuchs2 ~
08/10 – Budapest, HU – A38 ~
08/11 – Vienna, AT – Arena (supporting HEALTH and Carpenter Brut)
08/12 – Munich, DE – Live/Evil ~
08/14 – Col Du Lein, CH – Palp Festival
08/19 – Dublin, IRE – Button Factory ~
08/20 – Dublin, IRE – Button Factory ~
08/22 – Bristol, UK – Arctangent Festival

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09/12 – Oklahoma City, OK – Tower Theatre = (SISU Fundraiser Fest)
09/17 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue +^
09/19 – Chicago, IL – Riot Fest 
09/20 – Englewood, CO – The Gothic Theatre +&
09/23 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Metro Music Hall + &
09/25 – Seattle, WA – Showbox SoDo + &
09/27 – Portland, OR – Revolution Hall + &
09/29 – Sacramento, CA – Ace of Spades +
09/30 – San Francisco, CA – The Regency Ballroom + &
10/03 – San Diego, CA – Music Box + &
10/04 – Los Angeles, CA – The Belasco + &
10/06 – Mesa, AZ – The Nile Theater + &
10/08 – Austin, TX – Radio/East + &
10/09 – Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall + &
10/10 – Dallas, TX – Granada Theater + &
11/05 – Detroit, MI – The Majestic Theatre + %
11/06 – Millvale, PA – Mr. Smalls Theatre + % 
11/08 – Norwalk, CT – District Music Hall + %
11/10 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Steel + %
11/11 – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer + %
11/12 – Washington, DC – Black Cat + %
11/14 – Charlotte, NC – Underground + %
11/15 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade + %
11/16 – Nashville, TN – Brooklyn Bowl + %
11/18 – Columbus, OH – Newport Music Hall + %
11/20 – Indianapolis, IN – Deluxe at Old National Centre + %
11/21 – St. Louis, MO – Delmar Hall + %
11/22 – Lawrence, KS – The Granada + %

~ with Ragana
+ with Soul Glo
^ with Prize Horse
& with Virga
% with Shallowater
= with Portrayal of Guilt, Nightosphere, Traindodge, Primal Brain

Tickets are available here.

Following the recent release of ‘Peace Trader,’ Swiss noise-rock collective Coilguns now return with a brand-new single, ‘Carbon Magic,’ taken from the band’s forthcoming album, due later this year via Humus Records.

Out now alongside an official video, the track arrives with the announcement of a new European tour that will culminate in a special hometown release show at Le Romandie in Lausanne on December 12, the band’s only Swiss performance of the run.

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Directed by Louis Jucker and filmed and edited by Valentin Lurthy, the video captures the band’s raw and uncompromising energy while reinforcing the song’s central message, which examines an uncomfortable contradiction in Switzerland: the growing obsession with exporting carbon emissions elsewhere rather than confronting the environmental consequences at home.

The band comments: “You only know the price we’ll pay.”

While Switzerland is debating a racist initiative aimed at “limiting” its population and denying migrants their fundamental humanitarian rights, it seems perfectly acceptable for our most prestigious universities to develop projects designed to liquefy our industry’s carbon emissions and export them to foreign countries, with the ultimate goal of burying them deep underground, as far away as possible from our Instagrammable landscapes. How can we be so stupid and selfish? Do we really want our borders to function like a filter that keeps people out, while letting our waste slip away.”

Through ‘Carbon Magic,’ Coilguns challenge the idea of so-called carbon compensation, questioning a system that seeks to bury environmental responsibility out of sight while maintaining the illusion of sustainability.

Musically, the track delivers everything that has made Coilguns one of the most vital and unpredictable voices in contemporary heavy music: abrasive noise-rock intensity, post-hardcore urgency, and a fearless willingness to confront difficult subjects head-on.

Recorded by Scott Evans (Thrice, La Dispute, Neurosis), with additional production from Ben Chisholm (Chelsea Wolfe, The Armed), and mixed by Tom Dalgety (Ghost, Pixies, Royal Blood), ‘Carbon Magic’ continues the band’s evolution while preserving the visceral and DIY spirit that has defined them from the very beginning.

To celebrate the release, Coilguns will embark on a European tour this November and December, bringing their energetic live show to the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland.

Tour Dates
25.11 – Utrecht, NL BUY TICKETS
26.11 – Brussels, BE BUY TICKETS
28.11 – Antwerp, BE
29.11 – Tilburg, NL
02.12 – Cologne, DE
04.12 – Hamburg, DE
05.12 – Berlin, DE
06.12 – Munich, DE
12.12 – Lausanne, CH (Release Show)

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Photo by Andy Ford

Industrial metal band, LUCID DEMENTIA has unleashed the first video from their newest album, Hexery.

‘Witches Hat’ presents a dark spell of inspiration put together on a low budget in an experiment to see what would happen if the band filmed an occult crime and called it a music video.

The song ‘Witches Hat’ at its core is about how one should not touch a woman without her consent. LUCID DEMENTIA is a dark thing that does more than bumps in the night. So the music and lyrics are intricately woven to tell a story about what should happen to a soul that would break this rule.

The video tells a tale in 3 parts:

The dirty man’s hand reaches out, strokes, grabs a flower and squeezes it until it bleeds, then releases the flower and retreats. A witch then casts a spell by manipulating different objects on a table. Finally, a person is trapped in a room with the band with only a camera that has a tiny pin hole light.

The band performs the song in the pitch black darkness as if in a dreamy nightmare. The trapped person is entranced by the band and cannot stop peering at them as they perform the song. The video remains, but why the trapped person?  Maybe there are clues within the other songs of the album, Hexery.

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