‘Safe Routes’ encourages an end to all arms sales everywhere, and an end to all wars! No borders! 100% of proceeds from Bandcamp sales (after fees) will be donated to Campaign Against Arms Trade.
Archive for the ‘Recommended Streams and Videos’ Category
Listen: ‘Safe Routes (single version)’ by Knitting Circle
Posted: 8 March 2025 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPsTags: alternative, Campaign Against Arms Trade, Charity, Knitting Circle, left, Political, Post-Punk, Protest, Safe Routes (single version), single stream
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Watch: ‘Wolfsbane’ by Cwfen
Posted: 7 March 2025 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPsTags: Cwfen, Faetooth, New Heavy Sounds, Reliks, Single, Sorrows, video stream, Wolfsbane
There are two kinds of heavy bands: the ones that make a lot of noise and the ones that drag you somewhere you didn’t know you needed to go. Cwfen (pronounced ‘Coven’) are the latter, and Sorrows is a record that doesn’t just crush – it haunts long after the final note.
The allure of Cwfen’s sound lies in contrasts: the glacial ferocity of Amenra, with the velvet-and-razor vocals of King Woman, and the rotting grandeur of Type O Negative. It’s as hypnotic as it is harrowing, but somehow even better than the sum of those parts.
Since emerging from Glasgow’s underground just 18 months ago, Cwfen have built a solid reputation, selling out shows and pulling growing audiences into their doom-laden fever dream. Released in October, the band’s debut single ‘Reliks’ was a hit with fans and critics, landing a spot on Kerrang!’s release of the week playlist. And rightly so. Their sound devours and delights in equal measure. And people are craving more.
"Cwfen have emerged from the darkest depths of the Caledonian underground with a beguiling blend of doom metal and gothic post-punk for those who like to live deliciously." – Kerrang!
About new album Sorrows – released on 30th May via New Heavy Sounds (Shooting Daggers, MWWB, Death Pill):
“We never set out to write an album. We were just four friends making music we wanted to hear. But then Sorrows emerged, and when it did, it pulled us into its orbit. We couldn’t ignore it,” says Agnes Alder, vocalist and rhythm guitarist for Cwfen. “When we stopped trying to fit into any one space, what came out was this beautiful mix of dark and light. Something visceral and cathartic.”
Sorrows lives in the space around doom where the weight of the riffs is matched by the weight in your chest, where the lyrics and the songwriting are as important as the music itself. Loud and crushing, yet sharp enough to stick in your head for days. It builds, burns, collapses, resurrects. Big on riffs, bigger on feeling. The kind of songs you carry with you. Agnes Alder bears her claws one minute, then whispers the next, as the band follows like a storm front, rising, breaking, drowning you in the weight of it.
The songs have range. From the guttural Penance to the lush Whispers, to the feral Wolfsbane and the insurrectionist Rite. It includes a long anticipated reworking of Embers and Bodies, the two self-recorded demos that launched them into the scene with a bang and that fans already adore. Intricate vocal arrangements, heavy and harsh guitars, a mix of atmosphere and heft, produced by the band alongside Kevin Hare at Deep Storm Productions, and mastered by James Plotkin. It punches above its weight for a debut.
Upcoming shows including UK tour dates with Faetooth:
16/03 – Audio, Glasgow – supporting Dopethrone
24/04 – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds – Strangeforms Festival
21/5 – Audio, Glasgow – Supporting Castle Rat
22/5 – Legends, Edinburgh – Supporting Castle Rat
13/06 – Glasgow, Hug & Pint w/ Faetooth
14/06 – Huddersfield, Northern Quarter w/ Faetooth
17/06 – London, The Black Heart w/ Faetooth
18/06 – Manchester, Star & Garter w/ Faetooth
19/06 – Norwich, Arts Centre w/ Faetooth
20/06 – Ramsgate, Music Hall w/ Faetooth
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Watch: ‘Ідзі І Глядзі (Come And See)’ by Dymna Lotva
Posted: 6 March 2025 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPsTags: accordion, black metal, Dymna Lotva, Ідзі І Глядзі (Come And See), Prophecy Productions, Single, The Land under the Black Wings: Blood, video stream
Restless Belarus expatriates DYMNA LOTVA release ‘Come and See’ (Ідзі І Глядзі), another lavish music video for the opening track from their current album, The Land under the Black Wings: Blood (Зямля Пад Чорнымі Крыламі: Кроў). This harrowing piece adds an accordion to black metal that is also prominently featured in the clip:
Video by Jancyk Kurcavy
DYMNA LOTVA comment: “We have never treated music videos as just another promotional tool”, enigmatic singer Katsiaryna ‘Nokt Aeon’ Mankevich declares. “We see every clip as a chance to explore the story and emotions behind a track even further through visual means. This video was originally planned for 2023, but due to many reasons, we are only able to reveal it now. Despite the long wait, its topics have become even more relevant as Plague, War, Famine, and Death have not gone away. These Four Horsemen have only moved closer towards all of us. Then again, just maybe these are actually Four Horsewomen.”
Listen: ‘I’m Tired Of Being Your Mother’ by the Jesus Lizard
Posted: 5 March 2025 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPsTags: Flux EP, I'm Tired Of Being Your Mother, Record Strore Day, Single, Stream, The Jesus Lizard
‘I’m Tired Of Being Your Mother’ is the third and final post-release digital single from the Jesus Lizard and, along with ‘Cost of Living’ and ‘Westside’, will make up the Record Store Day exclusive Flux EP, out April 12th in independent record stores.
This will be the only physical release of these three songs, available April 12th, on Black Vinyl with an etched b-side. Download and stream now, along with the new album, Rack here.
About the track, David Yow says; “When a friend of mine was about eight years old, living outside of New Orleans, his mother once said to him, in a slow dull drawl, “I’m tired uh bein yo mutha.” That really struck me. The lyrics are actual quotes of awful things mothers have said to their children. Heartbreaking!!”
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Photo credit: Joshua Black Wilkins
Watch: ‘Among Us’ by Amammoth
Posted: 4 March 2025 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPsTags: Amammoth, Among Us, Electric Valley Records, psychedelic Distant Skies and the Ocean Flies, Single, Sludge, Stoner, video stream
Sydney’s sludgiest stoner outfit Amammoth has dropped a new single, ‘Among Us,’ from their forthcoming record, Distant Skies and the Ocean Flies, to be released via Electric Valley Records on February 21 on three vinyl variants and across digital platforms.
“Our second single ‘Among Us’ is a B-grade psychedelic, sci-fi adventure, kind of like ET on acid,” says Ammamoth about the track.
WATCH the video for ‘Among Us’ here:
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Watch: ‘Tomorrow Lied The Devil’ by Noisepicker
Posted: 3 March 2025 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPsTags: Exile on Mainstream, Metal, Noisepicker, Orange Goblin, Single, skating, The Earth Will Swallow The Sun, Tomorrow Lied The Devil, video stream
This is the third single from NOISEPICKER’s 2nd album "The Earth Will Swallow The Sun", released on 21st March 2025. Noisepicker’s Harry Armstrong about the video: "Just like our music, all our videos are homemade, organic and completely free from ‘AI’. We create 100% of our art and stand by all of its flaws. And we have the scars to prove it! This video was filmed in London at the historic ruins of the Crystal Palace, which burned to the ground in 1936. The ruins are surrounded by some of the smoothest concrete in England, and contain much of the skin I lost learning to skate as a child. This video combines our love of noise and skateboards. An idea that was originally written off as logistically impossible – Somehow mounting all our equipment onto skateboards and capturing it like a live performance? Madness. But the seed had been sown, and we just had to try. The result is ‘Tomorrow Lied The Devil’. The bruises that cover our limbs tell the truth. Skate and create."
With more than a quarter of a century of noise making history behind him, singer and guitarist Harry Armstrong returns, alongside drummer Kieran Murphy, as Noisepicker and release their second album on March 21st 2025 via Exile On Mainstream Records.
Also known as the current bass player in Orange Goblin, you may well have caught Armstrong on countless festival line ups, experimenting with sounds in bands such as the hard rock of Blind River, the thrash metal of End Of Level Boss, the piano-led jazz rock of The Earls Of Mars, getting his stoner fix in Hangnail and Firebird (alongside Bill Steer and Ludwig Witt), the instrumental soundscapes of The Winchester Club, the death metal of Decomposed, and that’s just to name a few. Murphy has been earning merits in Cold Comforts and several other bands such as being the drummer for Paige Kennedy.
On a permanent search to constantly try “something else”, Armstrong has taken to writing, recording and mixing this new record himself, just to see if he could. Recorded in a rehearsal room, and mixed in his kitchen, it is an approach to music with a DIY ethic fully embedded in it’s heart.
Do not expect neat, polished, note perfect, carefully constructed opuses in this environment. Noisepicker are loud, abrasive and in constant flux, influenced by their love of all things doom, punk and blues. Come stare aghast at it. The album is released on vinyl with the CD bundled, No seperate CD release.
Watch: ‘Can’t Do Without You’ by Pink Turns Blue
Posted: 1 March 2025 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPsTags: Black Swan, Can't Do Without You, Orden Records, Pink Turns Blue, Post-Punk, Single, video stream
Friday 28 February brought the new Black Swan album from German post-punk / darkwave legacy band PINK TURNS BLUE , which is released on limited edition vinyl, CD and digitally via Orden Records. They simultaneously unveiled the video for the focus track ‘Can’t Do Without You’, a song about the increasing polarization of society, the counterproductive nature of dismissing opposing viewpoints, and a plea for unity and understanding in a world marked by division.
Watch the video here below… album review to follow…
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Watch: ‘Self-Destruction’ by Mission Jupiter
Posted: 28 February 2025 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPsTags: Aftermath, alternative metal, Label 51 Recordings, Mission Jupiter, Self-Destruction, Single, video stream
Formed in Minsk, Belarus, two previous album releases by alternative metal group Mission Jupiter have hinted at their potential to be one of the few acts from that territory to achieve lift-off worldwide. Having recruited powerhouse singer Kate Varsak prior to writing and recording their upcoming third album, Aftermath, the result is a set of dramatic, epic songs with thoroughly modern production values that should see them soar.
‘Self-Destruction’ has been released today as the latest single to be teased from the record. The heaviest and punchiest song by Mission Jupiter to date, the band explain that the story behind it is deeply personal and refers to a battle with mental disorder. “When you’re feeling down, it feels like the parasite living inside you has won, and you’re stuck in mental and physical discomfort forever. The only way to survive is to take a pill to ease the pain. We hope this song will resonate with our listeners on a profound level.”
’Self-Destruction’ follows the recent ‘Human Nature’, a song that Prog stated “displays the far-reaching appeal of a band who mix atmospheric prog, the darker undercurrents of Cocteau Twins and up-tempo alternative metal”, while Metal Talk described it as being “swamped by wonderful moods and melodies driven by guitarist Vlad Shvakel and drummer Eugene Zuyeu, all wrapped around a stunning female voice.”
Check it here:
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Watch: ‘Eight Fourteen Monday’ by The Speed Of Sound
Posted: 27 February 2025 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPsTags: Big Stir Records, Eight Fourteen Monday, Hiroshima, Isolation, Single, The Speed Of Sound, video stream
Long-serving Manchester UK Psychonauts The Speed Of Sound present ‘Eight Fourteen Monday’, a compelling highlight track from their mega-album trilogy A Cornucopia: Minerva, Victory, Bounty, released via Californian cult label Big Stir Records.
Arriving on the heels of their latest audio-visual trip – ‘Permafrost’, this song narrates the everyday experience of a dreary commute to explore themes of isolation, detachment, and the contrast between superficial politeness and genuine emotion, all while subtly referencing the devastating historical event of Hiroshima.
Since their formation in 1989, The Speed of Sound’s music has always been idiosyncratic and counter-intuitive, in search of something new. Creating music with lyrical bite, expanding their foundation of 1960s, punk and new wave influences, their dynamic and stylistic variation crossing borders and pushing boundaries at every opportunity.
“Light and spaciously airy, the music contrasts with the imagery of a dark and gloomy early Monday Manchester morning commute. The inevitable announcements of delays and cancelations say “we would like to apologise” rather than “we apologise”; a subtle difference with a totally different meaning. Everyone is wrapped in their own thoughts and staring at their phones, retreating internally to avoid thinking about the discomfort of the journey,” says frontman John Armstrong, further noting "Eighty years ago, as of August, the bomb fell above Hiroshima at eight fourteen on a Monday.”
With overlapping themes of independence – both culturally and artistically – each disc of the A Cornucopia trilogy has its own vibe and personality: Minerva is belligerence in musical form, Victory is a manifesto of artistic creativity and Bounty represents the fruits of artistic freedom, all taking place far from the grasping tentacles of the ‘music industry’.
A Cornucopia began with the band’s own love of the album format and a determination to make long-form music rather than merely produce a conveyor belt of unrelated singles. The interlocking themes of A Cornucopia are deliberately made for album listeners to enjoy, each disc being its own standalone entity while also forming part of the larger whole trinity.
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Photo by Shay Rowan
Watch: ‘9th Heaven’ by BACKXWASH
Posted: 27 February 2025 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPsTags: 9th Heaven, BACKXWASH, Experimental hip-hop, Lyric Video, Only Dust Remains, visualizer
Backxwash, aka Ashanti Mutinta, is a Zambian-Canadian rapper & producer based in Montreal, Quebec. She is most noted for her 2020 Polaris Music Prize-winning album God Has Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of It.
Her work includes a culmination of themes around the intersection between faith, identity, and queerness. The poetry of her lyrics are the beginning of a cathartic healing process in which she is granting herself permission to be angry.
Backxwash’s critically acclaimed trilogy—God Has Nothing to Do With This Leave Him Out of It (2020), I Lie Here Buried With My Rings and My Dresses (2021), and His Happiness Shall Come First Even Though We Are Suffering (2022)—has cemented her as a visionary in experimental hip-hop. The trilogy reflects different points in her life and delves into themes of identity, spirituality, and personal struggle, blending haunting beats with unfiltered, introspective lyricism.
Backxwash emerges from the shadows of her trilogy with Only Dust Remains, a new direction that showcases her evolution into a broader and more diverse sonic landscape. The record details the experience of life and death all occurring at once, while embracing a more melodic and complex soundscape.
Lyrically, the verses on Only Dust Remains are more complex, word-heavy, and poetic. The album touches on themes of mourning, reflection, and hope, exploring them with a sincerity and depth that deepen her storytelling. This is a work that balances light and shadow, crafting a narrative that is as introspective as it is outward-reaching.
Only Dust Remains stands as a testament to Backxwash’s ability to evolve while maintaining the raw emotional power that defines her music. This is an album that demands to be felt as much as heard, inviting listeners to engage deeply with its intricate layers and striking themes.
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Aural Aggravation 