Archive for the ‘Recommended Streams and Videos’ Category

Swedish crust/grind outfit CHILD have just dropped a brand new track off their second full-length album ‘Shitegeist’, which is set to be released on March 29th via Suicide Records.

Check out ‘Creative Inventions of Killing’ here:

The band has this to say about this new track: “We seem to be paralyzed in order to come up with ways to save this world, the climate, the animals, ourselves. But we never seem to fail in finding new ways to kill it all. Another creative way after the other. We’re good in that sense, the human species. We’re good at killing ourselves.”

Founded in 2015 by Albin Sköld and Alex Stjernfeldt, two prolific musicians from the Stockholm scene whose curriculum includes names like Grand Cadaver, Novarupta and Aardena among others, CHILD was created with the intent to play a nasty and caustic blend of grindcore, punk and hardcore. The line-up was completed in 2021 when Jocke Lindström, Staffan Persson and Per Stålberg joined the duo and started writing material for a full-length, which was released in 2023 on  Eat Heavy Records and garnered strong reactions from both fans and press.

Recently the five-piece outfit signed to Suicide Records for the release of their second album Shitegeist, a powerful album that delivers a furious mix of grindcore, crust punk, death-metal and noise rock.

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Copenhagen progressive melodeath act Mother of All will release their second album, Global Parasitic Leviathan, on 12 April 2024 physically (CD & vinyl) and digitally. As the second preview from the record, the Danish band is streaming a new single, titled ‘Hypocrisy: Weaponized.’

According to Martin Haumann, the architect of Mother of All: “‘Hypocrisy: Weaponized’ is about how the charge of hypocrisy is an effective guard against changes and thoughts within an all-encompassing system.”

Listen here:

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Formed in 2013, Mother of All is the brainchild of Martin Haumann, a sought-after hard-working musician in the Danish and international music scene, having performed with artists like Myrkur, Afsky, Timechild, and Mercenary. With a background in The Royal Danish Conservatory and extensive training in different musical disciplines, Martin draws on varied and unusual influences to create a unique vision for Mother of All, but his prime inspiration comes from the deep cauldron of metal. Continuing to explore the art form with Mother of All, Martin creates songs that are diverse and eclectic in nature by incorporating melodic and progressive elements into death metal.
Exploring existential themes in our current age, Mother of All’s debut album, Age of the Solipsist, is a collaborative effort bringing Steve Di Giorgio (Testament, Death, Sadus) on bass and newcomer Frederik Jensen on guitars, with Hannes Grossmann (Alkaloid, Triptykon, ex-Obscura, Hate Eternal, Necrophagist) taking care of the mixing, mastering and production duties and Travis Smith (Opeth, Nevermore, A7X, King Diamond) crafting the cover art. The album, released in 2021 via Black Lion Records, garnered attention and recognition from metal media all over the world.

The sophomore full-length, Global Parasitic Leviathan, marks Mother of All’s first recording with a full lineup, having recently recruited members from acts such as Lamentari, Chaoswave, and Withering Surface. The new lineup has yielded an enthralling sound and direction for the band, ultimately resulting in an album grander in scope both sonically and lyrically.

Mother of All once again unapologetically confronts challenging and contemporary issues on the new album, which thematically revolves around the pervasive turn to corporate and financial tyranny in the Western world. The diverse aspects covered in each song all tie back to this central theme, examining how individuals and nations are controlled and the ideological underpinnings labeled as a “religion” on the album, justifying such domination. The symbolic use of “the Leviathan,” a biblical sea monster that philosophers usually associate with a King or a sovereign ruler legitimated by God, takes on a new meaning on Global Parasitic Leviathan. The Leviathan, replacing the religions of old, now embodies what the band terms “the religion of self-interest.”

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Welsh avant-garde ‘post-rock, post-pop (post-everything)’ band Photographed by Lightning, consisting of Syd Howells (words and music, vocals and instruments) and D M Mitchell (music, instruments, painting) have released their first album in a long time – a 20-years long time, in fact.

To accompany / promote the release of NO, Not Now, never, they’ve made and released a video for ‘Hands of Humans’. While the review of the album is in the pipeline, you can watch the video here:

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With the release of The Body & Dis Fig’s debut collaborative album Orchards of a Futile Heaven just on the horizon, coming 23rd February, the group share smouldering new single ‘To Walk a Higher Path.’ Heavy without conforming to any of the usual tropes of metal or electronic music, the trio here carve out their own distinctive soundworld, neon-lit scenes slowly unfurling amidst light and shadow. Rippling synthesisers beam out like searchlights scanning the horizon, slowly coalescing into strafing melody and staggered rhythms, with Dis Fig’s vocal vapour trails floating weightless above The Body’s obliterated howls and blasted electronics.

Orchards of a Futile Heaven’s walls of sputtering texture and tectonic booms are soaked in the reverence and melancholy of sacred spaces brought to life by palpable intensity by Chen’s voice. Crafted during a time of personal fragility, the album’s devastating force lies beyond any of the expected noise and abrasive textures typically associated with both The Body & Dis Fig. Suffused with a raw vulnerability and a longing for catharsis, Chen’s voice searches for escape in the midst of oppressive atmospheres as if determined to find relief from guilt.

Following the new single, The Body have also announced a string of U.S. tour dates. The Body & Dis Fig plan to tour throughout the US, UK, and Europe in 2024, with collab tour dates to be announced.

Listen to ‘To Walk a Higher path’ here:

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Pissed Jeans shares ‘Sixty-Two Thousand Dollars in Debt,’ a crushing new track about the heady excitement of shrinking debt-to-credit ratios, and a highlight from their forthcoming album Half Divorced.

Listen here – it’s a belter!

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Last month, the band announced the release of the album with the official video for indelible lead single ‘Moving On’ from director and frequent collaborator Joe Stakun (‘The Bar Is Low,’ ‘Bathroom Laughter,’ ‘Romanticize Me’).

Pissed Jeans’ Half Divorced is the follow-up to 2017’s Why Love Now, an album that took aim at the mundane discomforts of modern life. The twelve songs of Half Divorced skewer the tension between youthful optimism and the sobering realities of adulthood. Pissed Jeans’ – Matt Korvette (vocals), Bradley Fry (guitar),  Randy Huth (bass), and Sean McGuinness (drums) – notorious acerbic sense of humor remains sharper than ever as they dismember some of the joys that contemporary adult life has to offer.

Half Divorced was produced and mixed by Pissed Jeans and Don Godwin and engineered by Mike Petillo at Tonal Park in Takoma Park, Maryland, and mastered by Arthur Rizk (co-producer and mixer for Why Love Now).

Pissed Jeans’ previously announced international tour dates in support of Half Divorced span Friday, February 29th through Thursday, April 4th. Additional live dates will be announced soon.

Thu. Feb. 29 – Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios

Fri. Mar. 01 – Seattle, WA – Madame Lou’s

Sat. Mar. 02 – Los Angeles, CA – The Echo

Fri. Mar. 15 – Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts

Sat. Mar. 16 – Brooklyn, NY – St. Vitus

Fri. Mar. 29 – Schijndel, NL – Paaspop Festival

Sat. Mar. 30 – London, UK – EartH (aka Hackney Arts Centre)

Sun. Mar. 31 – Manchester, UK – Manchester Punk Fest

Tue. Apr. 02 – Glasgow, UK – Stereo

Wed. Apr. 03 – Dublin, IE – Whelan’s

Thu. Apr. 04 – Leeds, UK – Brudenell Social Club

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The Melvins’ latest opus, Tarantula Heart (April 19, Ipecac Recordings), is quite possibly the band’s most unconventional, catchiest and imaginative work yet, continuing a legacy celebrated for its eccentric and extraordinary output.

A preview of the five-song, 39-minute collection arrives with the release of ‘Working The Ditch,’ and the accompanying Jesse Nieminen-created video. Nieminen previously directed the band’s short film, ‘A Walk With Love and Death.’

Watch the video here:

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“The way we approached Tarantula Heart was different than any other Melvins’ album,” explains Buzz Osborne. “I had Dale and Roy Mayorga come in and play along with Steven and I to some riffs, then I took those sessions and figured out what parts would work and wrote new music to fit. This isn’t a studio approach we’ve ever taken. Usually we have the songs written BEFORE we start recording!”

“The majority of Tarantula Heart has dual drum parts,” adds long-time Melvins drummer Dale Crover. “Roy is an amazing drummer. We would discuss what we would do pattern wise, then we’d just go for it. Improvising riffs and trading off on drum fills.”

In actuality nothing appeared out of thin air. Buzz spent hours and hours with the drum tracks by himself writing songs to what he was hearing drum wise. “When the rest of the band heard these songs I’d created from the sessions, they were blown away,” Buzz shares. “These were fully developed new songs that they’d never heard before that had seemingly appeared out of thin air. Presto!”

Recorded, mixed and co-produced by longtime Melvins’ collaborator Toshi Kasai, the album also features We Are The Asteroid guitar player Gary Chester. Gary and the Melvins’ history goes back to their days on Boner Records, with the guitar player formerly having been a part of the legendary band, Ed Hall.

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Next month sees the Melvins head overseas, playing in Japan for the first time since 2019 following a stint where they join current labelmates, Mr. Bungle, for a trek across Australia and New Zealand. Buzz and Bungle bass player Trevor Dunn team up later this year for the “King Dunn Tour,” a 45-date excursion that sees the pair play songs from the King Buzzo releases: This Machine Kills Artists and Gift of Sacrifice. The full list of dates can be found via Ipecac.com/tours.

Melvins tour dates:

March 3  Auckland, NZ  Auckland Town Hall

March 6  Melbourne, AUS  Festival Hall

March 7  Adelaide, AUS  Hindley Street Music Hall

March 9  Sydney, AUS  Hordern Pavilion

March 10  Brisbane, AUS  Fortitude Music Hall

March 12  Perth, AUS  Metro City

March 17  Osaka, JP  Music Club Janus

March 19  Tokyo, JP  Shibuya WWW X

March 20  Tokyo, JP  Shibuya WWW X

Hot on the heels of their acclaimed EP Hex Domestic, Dragged Up release their new single ‘Missing Person’ on Rare Vitamin Records on 2 February, as digital, super-limited CD and cassette.

The single is taken from the band’s forthcoming album, High On Ripple, which will be released in April by Cruel Nature and Rare Vitamin Records.

Check the video here:

Missing Person was recorded by Robbie Wilson (The Kundalini Genie) and Chris Geddes (Belle and Sebastian), mixed by Tommy Duffin (The Cosmic Dead) and mastered by Sam Smith at Glasgow’s legendary Green Door Studio. The flipside is the a dub-dirge remix of the title track, entitled ‘Machine Person’.

Dragged Up are an off-kilter psych-garage proto-grunge band with a spoken word element, founded in late 2018 by Eva Gnatiuk (Violent Butlins) with Simon Shaw (Trembling Bells) and writer Lisa Jones. Chas Lalli (Vom) and Stephen Mors (The Owsley Sunshine) joined in 2019 and 2022 respectively.

Upcoming live shows (more to be added):

Feb 3rd – The Ferret, Preston (daytime)

Feb 3rd – The Source Collective, Carlisle (evening)

March 8th – Summerhall, Edinburgh (with Amateur Cult)

April 11th – Stereo, Glasgow (supporting House of All)

May 2nd – The Ferret, Preston

May 3rd – Big Hands, Manchester

May 4th – The Underground, Bradford

May 5th – Museum Vaults, Sunderland

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(Click image to listen / purchase both tracks on bandcamp)

Belgian shoegaze outfit Newmoon are back with ‘Crazing’, the 3rd single taken from their brand-new album Temporary Light, set for release on March 22nd, 2024 through [PIAS] Recordings (EU) and Manifesto Records (US).

“Crazing is one of the noisier songs on this album”, singer-guitarist Bert Cannaerts explains. “We’re always looking for that one melody that hides within a song. With Crazing we wanted to try our hand at a song that incorporates loads of guitar textures but still feels melodic and airy. On one hand it has these dark and droning fuzzed out guitars but on the other hand it sounds fresh and uplifting. The song exists on the edge of dark and gloomy with a hint of brightness and optimism. The exact spot where we like our music to sit”, he adds.

Watch the video here:

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