Archive for the ‘Recommended Streams and Videos’ Category

Scottish alt/post/progressive-rock outfit Midas Fall will release their fifth studio album, Cold Waves Divide Us on March 8th, 2024 worldwide on Monotreme Records.

Michael Hamilton joins founding members Elizabeth Heaton and Rowan Burn for the follow-up to their 2018 Prog Magazine Awards ‘Limelight Award’ winning album, Evaporate.

Cold Waves Divide Us sees Midas Fall at their most confidently visceral, each song moving beautifully between quiet and loud, gentle and crushing. “This album is a heavier and bigger experience than the last album”, says Heaton. “We kept the atmospheric strings and 80s synths of Evaporate but wanted to add heavier layered elements, to represent more what we sound like live.”

Today they also share the eponymous single from the album, with a dark sci-fi video from Sharon Ritossa and Gabriele Ottino of Riot Studio. The music builds slowly as Elizabeth Heaton’s voice floats gracefully above the growing force beneath it, against a racing visual landscape of "nature, but not-quite-as-we-know-it”.

According to Ottino, “We aimed to imbue this music video with the ambiance of a dystopian jungle. Nature is genetically altered by the virus of a hypercapitalist and hyperproductive civilization, where technology begins to gain consciousness. Instead of annihilating humans and plants, it opts to adapt and modify itself to exist within the bodies and limbs of those who have survived Earth’s catastrophes. No one perishes, no one lives as they did before; everything undergoes transformation.

The technique used is a mixed technique, combining footage, 3D, pure generative, and they were edited to create a narrative foundation. The next step involved passing various sections of the video through the AI Stable Diffusion tool to create surreal and unique environments, suggestions, forms, and textures.”

Watch the video here:

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No words needed: just check it.

Avantgarde black metal outfit FARSOT unveil the first disturbing video single ‘Nausea’ taken from the Germans’ forthcoming fourth album Life Promised Death, which is scheduled for release on February 16, 2024.

Watch the video here:

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FARSOT comment: “The first video single, ‘Nausea’, which is taken from our forthcoming new album Life Promised Death deals with the radical realisation of nothingness”, vocalist X.XIX writes. “Within the absurdity of life we are like numbers without any deeper meaning. We are stuck in our roles and alienated from ourselves, which makes life feel surreal and sickening.”

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London-based progressive metal collective Dawnwalker have just shared a new music video for the track ‘Pagan Plains’, which is taken from the band’s third studio album Human Ruins recently reissued by Room 312.

Watch the video here:

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Originally released in 2018, the album has been partly re-recorded, expertly remixed by No Studio‘s Joe Clayton and remastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege.
The album is now available on vinyl for the first time in a deluxe 2xLP gate fold edition with expanded artwork, and represents a fully realized version of the original. ‘Human Ruins’ charts a journey across an ancient landscape over the course of a calendar year. It’s a journey through the seasons, guided by flora, fauna and the phases of the moon. Set in a time of myth and magic, it blends lush soundscapes, joyful post-metal and searing black metal ballads into an epic journey across a forgotten world. Orders are still available at location.

To celebrate the release, Dawnwalker will head out on their first UK tour in a co-headliner with Edinburgh’s HEALTHYLIVING fresh from their recent live debut at Roadburn festival, and featuring members of Maud the Moth, Ashenspire and Falloch. With additional support from bands cherry-picked from the U.K.’s rich heavy music underground, each show promises to be a unique mix of heady and emotive post-metal. Check out the confirmed dates below:

07.12 – Le Pub, Newport
08.12 – Retro Bar, Manchester
09.12 – The Flying Duck, Glasgow
10.12 – The Black Heart, London

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Orcus Nullify has just unveiled their highly-anticipated new full-length album, Creatures Of The Wheel.

The new LP was influenced by the current of darkness running blatantly through the United States’ politics. This has brought with it a blood red flood of gun violence, inequality and cultural warfare.

Society’s eyes are closed tightly shut as it votes in well-branded neo-fascism. This blindness is an abandonment of a government for and of its people. There is indifference and lack of respect towards our fellow man. There’s a struggle between environmental policy and greed. It’s a short, dark road we’re on.

As a taster, they’ve released a video for the track ‘No Justice’, and a song that’s brimming with early 80s UK goth vibes. Watch the video here:

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Orcus Nullify is mainly a solo project of Bruce Nullify. Bruce is a multi-instrumentalist that has been creating music under this name since 2012.

Bruce had his start in the mid eighties, playing bass for a  hardcore band, Birth of a New Generation (BONG). During this time, Bruce was fortunate enough to open for acts like 7 Seconds, Agnostic Front and Gang Green. He then played guitar and performed vocals for a few other local bands in Central Florida.

After almost a fifteen year hiatus from music, Bruce returns with the band name Orcus Nullify – a name that he created for a previous band back in the 90s.

Despite his youth, Bruce had been hurt, seen people hurt and hurt others deeply. He saw that lies were very powerful and evil – something to be destroyed. Orcus is a mythological Roman god, specifically, the punisher of broken oaths. Orcus Nullify is the weapon which destroys lies and takes revenge for the oppressed.

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Louisiana’s renowned Industrial Bass artist, SINthetik Messiah has just unveiled a new single titled ‘Der Anfang’.

The heart of ‘Der Anfang’ beats with the story of a multi-dimensional being embarking on a cosmic odyssey in search of answers that transcend the boundaries of space and time. This immersive track delves deep into the mysteries of the multiverse, inviting listeners to explore the intricate layers of existence and consciousness.

Bug Gigabyte, the talented Cajun songwriter and sound designer behind SINthetik Messiah, is the creative force responsible for the creation, composition, production, and mixing of ‘Der Anfang.’ The track’s undeniable prowess is further amplified by the mastering expertise of Plasma Pool Records, solidifying it as a groundbreaking addition to SINthetik Messiah’s illustrious discography.

SINthetik Messiah has garnered worldwide recognition with radio play and critical acclaim from industry peers. The release of ‘Der Anfang’ is poised to add another layer of complexity to the project’s extensive repertoire and push the boundaries of what industrial music can achieve.

‘Der Anfang’ was released under the banner of Plasma Pool Records, one of Germany’s leading dance record labels The single is available on all major digital platforms including Beatport, Itunes and Bandcamp.

Check the video here:

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The Czech gothic rock band, Cathedral In Flames have unleashed their version of Billy Idol’s legendary song, ‘Rebel Yell’.

In their version of the iconic song, Cathedral In Flames toyed with tempos, added strings and flirted with blast-beats for the first time in their history. Produced by the legendary John Freyer, the song retains the anthemic fast-paced chorus, which is further supported by a stylized comic book video.

Singer Phil Lee Fall says, “The songs were basically made to order. And we had a lot of arguments over it. We couldn’t figure it out for a long time, but when Gatsby threw in the tempo changes, everything clicked. And John added the blast beats symbolically at the very end.”

And Gatsby adds, “I’ve never liked this song, so I approached it in the end in the style of seeing if something interesting could be made out of a thousand times stale little ditty. How it turned out, judge for yourself. I’m washing my hands!”

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To mark the 20th anniversary of Opeth’s ground-breaking 2003 album Damnation, a special vinyl re-issue was recently announced, which has been meticulously crafted to pay homage to a pivotal and trailblazing moment in the band’s illustrious history. Originally recorded in the serenity of Åkerfelt’s native Sweden, with additional production from Porcupine Tree’s Steven Wilson, the album acclaimed by fans and critics alike has since received a re-mix and master in 2015, pressed to vinyl on a double LP together with the dichotomous ‘Deliverance’.

Now just a month away from its release, Music For Nations have re-discovered the long lost video for the single ‘Windowpane’. Originally released in 2003, the Fredrik Odefjärd directed video has been digitally processed from the archival tape for 2023.

Watch the video now:

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La Force, the fascinating solo project of Ariel Engle, released a critically acclaimed second album, XO SKELETON this Autumn and today she unveils a music video for ‘outrun the sun.’

The video for ‘outrun the sun’ was directed by two faithful collaborators of Engle – Sara Melvin and Ali Vanderkruyck – in scorching hot locations in the Californian Anthropocene.

“The video for ‘outrun the sun’ explores the pride and arrogance of humanity, which thinks it can fool Mother Nature. Instead of a vital force, the sun is turning into something that makes us fear for our lives,” say the directors.

“Thanks to animation and an infrared drone, the perspective shifts between the runner (La Force) and the stalker (the sun). We shot in arid places like the Sepulveda Dam, an abandoned open-air location. Among the hot concrete and dried weeds, Ariel and our small crew were overheating, sweating, covered in dust. In the Californian Anthropocene, we experienced the issues addressed in the song in real time.”

Watch the video here:

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Photo credit: Norman Wong

Polish post-punk/darkwave band, Mekong has just unveiled the first single from their upcoming album, Danse Danse.

In ‘Going Numb’, the hypnotic fusion of post-punk and dark-wave weaves a haunting tale of a girl’s last night out. The dance floor becomes her sanctuary one final time. Amidst the pulsating beats and disco-inspired rhythm, she embraces the numbness, surrendering to the melancholic melodies that guide her through a poignant journey.

The song encapsulates her bittersweet dance, capturing the raw emotions of her final moments before the inevitable darkness descends.

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