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.
Helen Svoboda now shares another glimpse of her forthcoming album, Headwater (out 26th June via Room40), with the mystical ‘Veins’. In collaboration with Finnish vocalist Selma Savolainen, Helen Svoboda delves into her Nordic background in the vocal work on this track and throughout the album, carrying echoes of Finnish folk harmony and traces of invented “Finnish” words with Savolainen as the second voice.
The distinctive sonic world of Headwater weaves sixteen threads or ‘earworms’ built around two double basses, two voices, and electronics; heard as singular and combinatory bodies of material. The album forms an abstracted picture of self, rooted in a devolved song form. It can be experienced as a tapestry that blurs the edges of identity; strange, beautiful, evaporative, and fluid, like memory itself.
About the track, Helen says, “’Veins’ features the inimitable vocals of Finnish artist Selma Savolainen, as she explores the repeated phrase; ‘The veins I’ve grown from my mother/The tentacles beneath my skin’. This short pondering is injected with raw emotion and melancholic beauty, as if she is bursting out of her younger self.”
Listen to ‘Veins’ here:
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The instrumental pieces reveal an articulate language, with an expanded approach to the melodic and textural qualities of the double bass. Svoboda’s fascination with timbre is explored with collaborator Jacques Emery through the interplay of the two basses and Robinson’s electronics, extending traditional understandings of how the double bass might typically operate in a chamber context. The result is a different sound-realm entirely – traversing between spaces of lightness and weight, bound by a sense of youthful curiosity.
The ensemble features Helen Svoboda (double bass, voice, composition) with close collaborators Jacques Emery (double bass), Finnish vocalist Selma Savolainen (voice), and Tilman Robinson (electronics, production).
Emma Ruth Rundle’s 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.
These Killing Times, her sixth full-length, will be released via her own imprint Errant Child on September 18 and preceded by the lead single and album opener ‘Powerless.’
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.
MISSOULA return with their latest single, ‘Ted Dollop’. The track is the third preview of the band’s upcoming debut album, Death Doula, due June 26 via Org Music.
Featuring drummer Brooks Wackerman (Avenged Sevenfold, Bad Religion), guitarist John Konesky (Tenacious D), and bassist/keyboardist John Spiker (Tenacious D, Beck), MISSOULA have quickly established themselves as a unique instrumental force, blending cinematic composition, heavy grooves, and adventurous musicianship into something that feels both technical and wildly imaginative.
If previous singles ‘Love Bombs’ and ‘Crimson’ introduced listeners to the band’s dynamic range, ‘Ted Dollop’ showcases another side of the project—playful, unpredictable, and driven by an irresistible rhythmic pulse.
Konesky explains:
“Much that was known of the legend of Ted Dollop is lost to the annals of history, but those that still speak to his glory will often hear his name in the rustling leaves and fields of wheat as the wind calmly blows rhythms of 7/8 o’er this great land. On June 3rd Missoula releases Ted Dollop in honor of the best to ever do it.”
Like much of Death Doula, the track balances virtuosic musicianship with a sense of fun and exploration. Rather than treating instrumental music as an exercise in technical excess, MISSOULA focus on memorable compositions, unexpected turns, and the chemistry between three accomplished players who know exactly when to push forward and when to leave space.
The forthcoming Death Doula expands on that approach across eleven instrumental tracks that move between crushing riffs, melodic passages, and cinematic arrangements. Built around Wackerman’s powerful and precise drumming, Konesky’s expressive guitar work, and Spiker’s inventive low-end foundation, the album feels less like a side project and more like a fully realized artistic statement.
As Konesky previously described the band: “Missoula is what happens when you take the reins off and let yourself run free, naked and fearless, thru an infinite universe.”
French quartet Mourir recently announced the release of their second full-length studio album, Nous, le venin, this summer via Pelagic Records. Their forward-thinking take on black metal and uncompromising approach to their work marks them out as ones to watch when they present this new material live at festivals across Europe including Hellfest, Rock In Bourlon and Resurrection festival in the months to come.
To mark the release of Mourir’s second single ‘Feu d’un regard’, the band is unveiling a live video filmed during the recording sessions for the album Nous, le venin last January. It’s a way for the band to document the album’s recording and showcase the first two singles, ‘Nous, le venin’ and ‘Feu d’un regard’ live.
The video stays true to the rest of the album, which was recorded live at The Apiary in Laval by Amaury Sauvé, mixed by Clément Libes at La Tanière in Copenhagen, and mastered in Paris by Adrien Pallot at Chab Mastering.
Filmed and edited by Clara Griot and Emma Mari, this behind-the-scenes look at the recording of Mourir’s second full-length album gives a glimpse of what awaits fans who cross paths with the Toulouse-based band this summer.
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With a demo, an album and an experimental EP to their name, the four-piece retreated to the studio at the end of 2025 to write the music for Nous, le venin. Recorded in January 2026 with Amaury Sauvé (Birds in row, Igorrr, Pneu) at The Apiary Studio in Laval, France, the six tracks are the very embodiment of Mourir’s approach to black metal. Although they draw inspiration from many artists in the old-school black metal world, they opted to lean into a more modern sound – one that would allow the depth of their sonic choices to shine. Blending elements of sludge and post-metal to the rawness of their black metal sound, and combining this with a mix that gives space to both the low frequencies and the high-octane viscerality, Mourir have created something both distinctive and captivating, which is demonstrated on epic first single and album title track, ‘Nous, le venin’.
Thematically, the band turns their detached gaze towards an ever-more untethered modern society, one that is inhospitable to those seeking meaning in the cruelty and absurdity of a seemingly senseless world. Yet within these tracks exists slivers of light, of hope and of luminosity – a belief that something better is possible is woven throughout the melodic passages and most celestial, ecstatic elements of their sound. The evocative cover art by Thomas Davezac captures the feeling of disconnection that permeates the album.
Mourir have recorded an album that cements their place among underground greats who deftly eschew the nostalgic trappings of black metal convention and breathe new life into the genre. Nous, le venin is imbued with raw emotion that is perfectly complemented by stylistic choices that echo the sentiment of being freed from the chains of the past.
Nous, le venin by Mourir will be released via Pelagic Records on 10th July.
Swedish forest rockers BESVÄRJELSEN drop the first advance single from their third album Till Glömskan Ad Oblivionem (Swedish and Latin for: "Into Oblivion"), accompanied by a slightly disturbing music video ‘Didn’t Come to Party’ about that guy, the one nobody ever wants at their social gathering.
BESVÄRJELSEN comment: “There’s a scene in the Titanic movie that has always stayed with me, when the musicians keep playing as everything falls apart around them”, vocalist Lea Amling Alazam muses. “This is one of my all-time favorite moments in cinema, because it captures something important about music: the devotion, the need to create, and to hold onto something beautiful, even in the face of disaster. Like, we’re literally going under, but hey, let’s play. Dance to the sirens. In this day and age, it’s hard not to be affected by the chaos of the world. ‘Didn’t Come to Party’ is not a political statement but rather a cry of frustration. We’re living on this incredible planet, so why are we destroying it? Why war, why poverty, why harm the most vulnerable, when we have the resources to make life better for everyone? This quite reminds me of people who show up to parties just to ruin it for everyone else. Why is there such a drive to hurt, to dominate, to tear things apart in the pursuit of power? It’s senseless.”
Till Glömskan Ad Oblivionem is scheduled for release on August 28, 2026.
Neo Dimes, the musical identity of Denver-based musician Stephen Edmunds, has released the debut album Alone, available on vinyl, cassette, and digital platforms as of 19 May 2026. The music video for ‘Trigger,’ directed by Ty Borkowski, is also now streaming, bringing the song’s themes of isolation, shame, and emotional fracture into stark visual form.
Media outlets like Discipline Mag and Post-Punk.com consider Neo Dimes an artist unafraid to tackle the social ills of the digital age with both sonic innovation and lyrical directness. Reflecting that, his debut full length Alone stands as much a critique of music consumption as it is a sonic statement. Physical copies (vinyl and cassette) of Alone was made available ahead of its digital release, pushing back against the industry’s usual consumption model.
“A song chronicling my lifelong fear of being alone,” says Stephen of the song ‘Trigger.’ “Alcohol is the trigger that brings on all kinds of other issues (addiction, anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation) but all of that pales in comparison to how terrifying loneliness and both physical and emotional isolation is to me.”
Speaking about the album as a whole, he shares: “The album concept and the release itself is a fuck you to the tech overlords and the world they have foisted on all of us.”
Mirror of My Soul, the solo project of Patrik Andersson Winberg (Dun Ringill, ex-The Order of Israfel, Doomdogs), has just shared a new video for ‘The One Who Sings The Songs’, the latest single taken from the forthcoming debut album October is Rising, due out June 12 via Majestic Mountain Records.
Describing the track, Winberg states: “A song for the unseen. A voice for the unheard. What if music could carry more than melody? What if a song could feel your sorrow, walk beside your struggle, and remind you that love still speaks louder than fear? ‘The One Who Sings The Songs’ is more than a track, it’s a moving anthem of compassion, resilience, and shared humanity. Inspired by those fighting invisible battles, it speaks for the voiceless, stands with the fallen, and offers hope to every soul still searching. With raw, heartfelt lyrics on empathy, strength, and the courage to keep going, this is music that lingers long after the last note. For the dreamers. For the survivors. For anyone learning how to love again. Join the song. Feel the story. Become part of something bigger.”
With deeply emotional lyrics and a powerful sense of empathy, the track stands as an anthem for anyone navigating loss, struggle, or personal transformation. It is a reminder that even in our darkest moments, connection remains possible and love can still be found amid uncertainty.
Rome’s post-rockers KLIMT 1918 reveal their ethereal and minimalist aspects with the sky-gazing advance track ‘Petricore’ as the final single taken from their forthcoming new full-length Àmor. The Italians’ fifth album has been chalked up for release on June 12, 2026.
KLIMT 1918 comment: “’Petricore’ is the story of a realisation: the sense of inadequacy that has been with me since I was born and that will never leave me”, frontman Marco Soellner reveals. “It will always be the ghost that is lurking behind the words, the shadow on sunny summer days, and the loneliness creeping into my body even when I’m surrounded by people. Like petricore after a storm, it seeps into the air, haunts memories, disarms and numbs. It turns me once again into the person that I used to be, and the very one that I never wanted to be again.”
Be the aftermath. Be everything you feared you’d become. Be the wound that never healed. Be the ghost you thought you’d buried.
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 unexpected 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.
This journey is captured beautifully in the form of a new video for the song ‘Whispers’, perhaps the most gut-wrenching and dynamic track from the band’s debut. Juxtaposing the stunning landscapes of northern Europe in winter shot from Cwfen’s tour van, with footage of the band’s dynamic live performances across Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Ireland, the Whispers video shows the band doing exactly what they love – presenting their songs to wrapt audiences while they reach new musical and emotional heights. Shot and edited by Amy Greenbank, the video shows the band at their very best.
The release of the ‘Whispers’ video is accompanied by specially designed ‘Whispers’ merchandise, which comes with previously unheard live and studio recordings of the song.
‘Hell, they were great before. Now they’re on another level.’ Out of Rage, review of Cwfen at Desertfest 2026.
Lead vocalist and guitarist Agnes Alder said:
"It’s taken a while to feel comfortable releasing Whispers as its own thing. The song itself, lyrically, came from a very personal place, in contrast to the broader themes elsewhere on the record. This, for me, is a song that cuts right to the bone; it might not be too obvious in the lyrics themselves, but it’s taken a year of seeing the fans respond to it, watching it become one of their favourites, to really have the courage and the confidence to give it some of the love it deserves.
The screams weren’t planned. They weren’t on the first version, but when we went back into the studio after a few weeks, that’s what had to come out, so what you hear in this song is the depth of that feeling. It’s one of the most cathartic, tender, and ultimately visceral songs on the album, and deciding to release it now feels like the acceptance of a direction in my songwriting that I feel ready to explore on the next record.
We were so lucky that our Creative Scotland funding allowed us to take this tour and to bring Amy Greenbank with us. We got to work with an incredibly talented videographer, and we made a friend for life. She’s someone who will always be part of the Cwfen family. We made incredible memories on this tour and it’s so lovely to see some of them here.’"
Guitarist Guy DeNuit had this to say:
"Following an unexpectedly busy and wonderful 12 months since the release of Sorrows, we’re proud to share our new video for ‘Whispers’. This song has become a live favourite with the band and audiences, and we are so fortunate to have had this documented and beautifully presented by our videographer and dear friend, Amy Greenbank.”
Watch the video now:
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Forthcoming shows:
Wed 10th June – Download Festival, Donington, UK
Sat 6th July – Resurrection Fest, Galacia, Spain
Sun 16th Aug – Dynamo Metalfest, Eindhoven, Netherlands
Aural Aggravation 