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Watch: ‘Empire’ by Wheel

Posted: 5 March 2024 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
Tags: Charismatic Leaders, Empire, InsideOutMusic, progressive metal, Single, video stream, Wheel

Anglo-Finnish progressive metallers Wheel are pleased to announce the release of their much-anticipated third studio album Charismatic Leaders on the 3rd May 2024 (InsideOutMusic). The album was meticulously crafted to meet Wheel’s ever-heightening benchmarks and recording with engineers/co-producers Daniel Bergstrand and Fredrik Thordendal (Meshuggah) stretched from August to December 2023. The end result, mixed by Forrester Savell, has consolidated all the gains of what came before: singer/guitarist James Lascelles, lead guitarist Jussi Turunen and drummer Santeri Saksala’s third album represents their heaviest and most conscious music to date.

To mark the announcement, the band have launched the first single taken from the album, and you can watch the video for ‘Empire’ here:

Vocalist & guitarist James Lascelles comments of the track: “This is probably the most metal song I have ever written – it is intense as all hell when it kicks in and it keeps finding new ways to punch you in the face all the way to the end! Santeri did an incredible job with the drum track on this one and playing it live is really going to take some work in the rehearsal room..

Lyrically, it is about media empires and the effect they have on wider society – all of us are influenced to some degree, even if we would rather not admit it. Issues that require nuance are presented as binaries and opposing views are made into caricatures – a target for us to rage at that far too often, doesn’t even exist. This is not a new phenomenon by any means but it is one that seems to have been catalysed by the modern landscape of media, the internet and populist politics. As you might be able to tell from the mood of the song, this pisses me off immensely and it was cathartic to vent about it.”

The band will be celebrating the release of their new album with their first ever shows in Australia (supporting label-mates Caligula’s Horse) as well as their first ever North American headline shows. Later in the year the band will return to Europe for further headline dates, which have just been announced and can be found below:

31^st October – Olympia, Tampere, Finland

1^st November – Sawohouse UG, Kuopio, Finland

2^nd November – On The Rocks, Helsinki, Finland

7^th November – Lutakko, Jyväskylä, Finland

8^th November – Finlandia-Klubi, Lahti, Finland

9^th November – 45 Special, Oulu, Finland

15^th November – Logo, Hamburg, Germany

16^th November – Melkweg Up, Amsterdam, Netherlands

17^th November – 013, Tilburg, Netherlands

19^th November – Rebellion, Manchester, UK

20^th November – Cathouse, Glasgow, UK

21^st November – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham, UK

22^nd November – 1865, Southampton, UK

23^rd November – Underworld, London, UK

24^th November – Thekla, Bristol, UK

26^th November – Kavka, Antwerp, Belgium

27^th November – Luxor, Cologne, Germany

28^th November – Colos Saal, Aschaffenburg, Germany

30^th November – Backstage, Paris, France

2^nd December – Komplex, Zurich, Switzerland

3^rd December – Legend, Milan, Italy

4^th December – Backstage Halle, Munich, Germany

5^th December – Analog Music Hall, Budapest, Hungary

6^th December – Chelsea, Vienna, Austria

8^th December – Hyrdrozagadka, Warsaw, Poland

10^th December – Lido, Berlin, Germany

11^th December – Pumpehuset, Copenhagen, Denmark

12^th December – John Dee, Oslo, Norway

13^th December – Nalen Klubb, Stockholm, Sweden

Photo by Anastasya Korol

Watch: ‘Ride Or Die’ by Then Comes Silence

Posted: 1 March 2024 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
Tags: A Place to Bury Strangers, electronica, Fields of the Nephilim, Metropolis Records, Post-Punk, Ride or Die, Single, The Chameleons, Then Comes Silence, Trickery, video stream

‘Ride Or Die’ is the first single release in nearly two years by Swedish post-punk/goth icons Then Comes Silence. It is also an opening statement of intent from their stunning new album, Trickery, which is out on 5th April, with vocalist Alex Svenson stating: “Friendship is love. It is important and worth fighting for. It’s ride or die."

Indeed, much of Trickery celebrates friendship, unity and the feeling of belonging to a tribe, with TCS explaining that “being a part of the post-punk and goth scene is a great privilege. After being on the road for so many years, we have experienced caring and welcoming audiences, both old and young, some with a similar background and some just for the love of the music and the culture that comes with the lifestyle. Uniting and harmonising with other people, we feel an incredible community together and it is a feeling that is both priceless and a blessing."

Trickery is also the audio definition of triumph over adversity. Backtracking to 2022, on the eve of their first-ever US tour and eager to promote their just released ‘Hunger’ album and its 2020 predecessor ’Machine’, TCS were suddenly and unexpectedly reduced to a three-piece. Would their famed darkwave wall-of-sound still work in a trio format? Fortunately, the answer was resoundingly positive, so much so that they resolved to continue with this slimmed-down line-up on a permanent basis, a period that has already included further US and European tours, followed by their return to the studio to make Trickery.

The inadvertent metamorphosis of the band has also led to a different way of creating new music. In order to capture the heart and essence of the trio’s live prowess, Trickery was recorded in just three days in Kapsylen Studio in Stockholm. With Jonas Fransson (a band member since 2015) laying down an energetic punk backbeat and sleaze punk fan Hugo Zombie (a 2018 recruit) providing inventive and rhythmic guitar lines, the main focus remains on singer and bassist Svenson, the sole surviving founder member from the band’s 2012 debut album. His velvety croon and solid bass lines are enhanced on ‘Trickery’ by retro synth sounds reminiscent of his recent solo futurist wave project, Neonpocalypse. "The electronic elements are essential to ‘Trickery’," he adds, "but are also a salute to punk music, the cradle of Then Comes Silence and the cradle of post-punk.”

Founded by Svenson in 2012 and touring frequently to promote three albums released in quick succession, TCS soon found a large audience in Germany. Signing to Nuclear Blast in 2016 for the release of Blood, their fanbase widened as they shared stages with artists such as A Place To Bury Strangers, Chameleons and Fields Of The Nephilim and performed at festivals all over mainland Europe. Firmly in the vanguard of the new generation of post-punk, darkwave and goth artists releasing high quality new material, they work hard to promote it and are recognised as a leading live act in their genre. They have also built a significant UK following and 2024 has already seen them play a sold out London show at the 229 venue.

TCS recently signed to Metropolis Records for the worldwide release of Trickery.

Check ‘Ride Or Die’ here:

Listen: ‘In Your Night’ by Eye

Posted: 29 February 2024 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
Tags: dark, Dark Light, electro, Eye, In Your Night, introspective, Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard, melodic, New Heavy Sounds, single stream

EYE – the new band from Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard (MWWB) singer-songwriter/musician Jessica Ball – has announced the arrival of their eagerly awaited debut album, ‘Dark Light’ set for release on 26th April via New Heavy Sounds (Shooting Daggers, MWWB, Blacklab)

"These songs have been many years in the making… Some of these ideas were crafted before MWWB, this is something I’ve always wanted to do. Over the last couple of years, I’ve spent some time on finishing and crafting these ideas and pieces of music into songs. Some were snippets of lyrics from my early twenties which reflect on what seems like a different person. I think it’s quite poetic how it’s all come together now.

I was also encouraged after finding musicians who understood the vision and style I was trying to achieve, and of course my experience of being in MWWB. I’m a guitarist above all, and I loved reconnecting with guitar again. It feels like all my influences and favourite styles have come together in this album. Shoegaze, doom, folk, dream pop… It’s a real mix bag but as a whole, it represents many different stages of my life and tells a story.

The album ultimately is quite introspective yet lyrically loose enough to be open to interpretation – I’ve always been a fan of songs that seem to perfectly slot into the situation I’m experiencing and not too specific to one person’s experience… I think that comes across in this album.”

Jessica relocated from Wrexham to join her new partner, veteran Welsh musician Gid Goundrey (Gulp, Ghostlawns, Martin Carr), in Cardiff just as the pandemic era dawned. Confined to their small Grangetown flat, they quite naturally began making music together.

Having earned acclaim and a fervent fan following for her role in MWWB, Ball took the opportunity to compose songs that were all her own – nuanced, lyrical, and hypnotically distinctive.

Triggered in part by the existential dread looming outside as well as the sudden ill health of her dear friend, MWWB guitarist Paul “Dave” Davies, then fighting for life after a Covid-related stroke.

With Goundrey on drums (for the first time in his musical career) and joined by keyboardist Johnny TK, Eye experimented with sounds to match Ball’s melodic songs, traversing a diverse spectrum of dark folk, dreampop, IDM and psychedelic doom, to create sometimes heavy and foreboding drones, alongside spare but still richly textured sonics.

The result is their debut album ‘Dark Light’. An intensely atmospheric fusion of emotionally charged songcraft and inspired sonic energy. The clue is in the album’s paradoxical title. Chilling and even bleak melodies with arrangements daringly and deliberately stripped down and minimal. Revealing a kinship with sonic bed-fellows Mazzy Star, Chelsea Wolfe or even Portishead, which can be heard on first single ‘In Your Night’. Jessica comments,

"Our first release ‘In Your Night’ represents Eye musically, conceptually and lyrically and I’m proud for this to be the first song that everyone hears from us… Light and dark, night and day, quiet and loud is the running theme throughout this song and album as a whole. Whether you’re up close to a song, or listening to the album as a whole, these themes will be ever present throughout. We’re playing around with these two extremes sonically and what these represent emotionally and mentally. I feel that nothing takes you on a journey more effectively than a good build up, or something happening unexpectedly, much like real life. We are just the eye that witnesses it all."

Listen to ‘In Your Night’ here:

Watch: ‘I Won’t Work for You’ by CNTS

Posted: 28 February 2024 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
Tags: CNTS, Dead Cross, I Won't Work for You, Ipecac Recordgings, Punk, Retox, Rock, Single, Thoughts & Prayers, video stream

CNTS, the Los Angeles-band featuring members of Dead Cross, Retox and Qui, have debuted a second song from their forthcoming album (Thoughts & Prayers, 29th March) with today’s release of ‘I Won’t Work For You’ and its accompanying video.

Matt Cronk shares the story behind the song: “’I Won’t Work For You’ was inspired by the talking point being bandied about, mostly by conservatives, that ‘nobody wants to work anymore’ after having collected unemployment during the lockdown. I think a more accurate way to frame that is that nobody wants to work for people who treat them badly. Nobody wants to work without the expectation of fair pay and dignity. Nobody wants to work for the sole purpose of enriching someone else, and nor should they! Work sucks. I think a lot of people, myself included, are inspired to find more equitable means of supporting themselves or at least expect more from their employers.”

Michael Crain adds, very succinctly: “Bosses suck.”

The video, directed by Meriel O’Connell, who also crafted the band’s ‘Smart Mouth’ clip, was filmed at a pizza joint where Michael Crain worked. During tough times, Crain occasionally treated Cronk to a free slice.

Watch the video here:

Watch: ‘Cling to a Poisoned Dream’ by Pissed Jeans

Posted: 27 February 2024 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
Tags: Cling to a Poisoned Dream, Half Divorced, Pissed Jeans, Single, Sub Pop, Video

Pissed Jeans is sharing the Joe Stakun-directed official video for “Cling to a Poisoned Dream,” a bruising meditation of harsh truths, and a highlight from their excellent sixth album Half Divorced, out this Friday, March 1st, worldwide on Sub Pop.

Next week, Pissed Jeans will appear on The Best Show with Tom Scharpling on March 5th and will also host an hourlong takeover of NTS Radio on Friday, March 8th (5pm GMT).

Watch the video here:

The twelve songs on 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 recorded by Don Godwin with assistance from Mike Petillo at Tonal Park in Takoma Park, Maryland, and mastered by Arthur Rizk (co-producer and mixer for Why Love Now).

VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: ‘Pistol Shrimp’ by Pound Land

Posted: 26 February 2024 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
Tags: Cruel Nature Recordings, Jase Kester, Mugged, noise-punk, Ombibadger, Pistol Shrimp, Pound Land, Sludge, video stream

We love a bit of Pound Land here at Aural Aggravation, so we’re particularly proud to be able to break some news and present an exclusive in the form of the video for ‘Pistol Shrimp’ waaaay ahead of the release of the forthcoming album.

Following 2023’s critically-acclaimed album Violence, Pound Land return with Mugged which despite being their 7th album release, is their first to have been fully recorded in an actual studio.

Recorded live in one intense day at Tremolo Studios, Stoke-on-Trent (UK), Mugged is a 48-minute whirl of raw frustration, kitchen-sink surrealism and filthy noise-punk sludge, soundtracking vitriolic stream of consciousness societal observations.

It’s also the first album to fully feature the full Pound Land band that many experienced on last year’s UK tour: Founding duo Nick Harris and Adam Stone, along with Rich Lamell on bass, Steve Taylor on drums and Jo Stone on sax. Additionally on this album, Jase Kester of Omnibadger/Omnibael joins on electronics.

Check it here:

Listen: ‘Stone Pillars’ by Kati Rán

Posted: 23 February 2024 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
Tags: Gaahl, Kati Rán, Napalm Death, Netflix, Nordic folk, SÁLA, Stone Pillars, Svart Records, track stream, VIKINGS: VALHALLA

Dutch artist and Nordic folk pioneer Kati Rán presents the new single ‘Stone Pillars’ together with the news of her signing to Svart Records, based in Finland, for the 2024 release of her long awaited 13 track full length album SÁLA.

The track “Stone Pillars” written and performed by Kati Rán, explores new prophecies, stone circles, and the hand of the spinning Fates. Lyrically, “Stone Pillars” hints at the Icelandic oldest counsel tradition of the Allting, old Nordic Gods, and a prophecy by a female seer. With Norwegian metal vocalist extraordinaire Gaahl (Gaahl, Wyrd, Wardruna) and Mitch Harris (Napalm Death) on backing vocals, Icelandic choir, and the resurrection of a rare lava stone marimba (Sígur Rós, Steindór Andersson) the new single “Stone Pillars” by Kati Rán is deeply set in a Nordic landscape, as the 1st single of the new album “SÁLA” (24th May 2024).

Kati Rán is known for her collaborative audio work for Netflix’s tv series VIKINGS: VALHALLA, films and work for videogames, her stage appearances with Wardruna, Myrkur and Gaahl’s Wyrd to name a few, and her previous releases of the successful album; and Nordic dark folk tracks “Blodbylgje” and Icelandic track “Unnr | Mindbeach”; that run millions of streams and gathered a tightly knit Nordic Folk music loving audience around her.

Kati Rán elaborates: ”Signing to Svart Records was for me the most natural next step to collaborate and release my music with long-standing expertise in bringing out amazing artists and vinyl for true music connoisseurs, and to be able to bring my audience a full experience to enjoy my new Nordic Dark folk album SÁLA (Old Norse for both “sea” and “soul”). My album SÁLA has been tenuously crafted and produced together with Jaani Peuhu (Swallow the Sun, IANAI, Lord of the Lost, Hallatar) and is curated of sorts by my many years of writing, researching and travelling the Northern landscapes; taking on board with me incredible artists, sounds, musicians and producing it together closely with Jaaniand also Christopher Juul (Heilung) to breathe the Nordic soul into the heart of this album. It’s exciting to open the gates to SÁLA with the release of STONE PILLARS. It embraces our most vulnerable side, questions our mind, and attempts to resurrect, or reposition ourselves through spinning with the Fates. It dips right into the heart of things”.

Kati Rán’s new album SÁLA will be released 24th of May 2024 on Svart Records.

Listen to ‘Stone Pillars’ here:

Watch: ‘Milky Max’ by Lip Critic

Posted: 21 February 2024 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
Tags: alternative, electro, Hex Dealer, Lip Critic, Milky Max, Noise, Oddball, Partisan Records, Quirky, Single, video stream

NYC-based electronic punk band LIP CRITIC have detailed their anticipated debut album – Hex Dealer – out 17th May via Partisan Records. To coincide with the announcement, the band has shared the album’s lead single and accompanying music video: ‘Milky Max’.

‘Milky Max’ is a pulverising slab of electronic hardcore. The song’s shapeshifting groove anchors a sound that’s theatrical, captivatingly irreverent, and completely outside so much of modern experimental music. Meanwhile Bret Kaser’s vocal delivery feels like it’s being delivered by a cult leader who has occupied the announcer’s booth at a football stadium and refuses to come out (“All my life I just wanted to live / Now I gotta die just because of what I did”).

The official video for ‘Milky Max’ showcases a fully playable video game inspired by the song and designed by Jesse Natter (brother of Lip Critic drummer Ilan Natter). Direct link to play the video game HERE.

Check the video here:

‘Milky Max’ follows previous singles ‘It’s The Magic’ and ‘The Heart,’ which earned early critical acclaim from NME (“on their way to becoming the next great NYC band”), Paste (“an apocalyptic wasteland of NYC’s best underground punk”), Rolling Stone (‘Songs You Need to Know’), Mary Anne Hobbs on BBC 6 Music, and Matt Wilkinson (“totally essential”).

Produced in collaboration by vocalist Bret Kaser and Connor Kleitz, ‘Hex Dealer’ represents an evolution of the eclectic style that the group began cultivating on earlier projects. Drummers Danny Eberle and Ilan Natter combine breakbeats and pingy snares with heavy cymbal and tom work, creating a singular mixture of classic punk/hardcore and electronic styles. The end result is 12 frantic tracks of postmodern pop for the genreless future. A project of wide-reaching sonic and thematic curiosity, above all ‘Hex Dealer’ is an inquisition into the state of spiritual marketplace and the isolating results of consumption.

Audiences have also already been captured by the sheer energy and undeniable chemistry as they toured the US, sharing stages with IDLES, Screaming Females, and Geese, and made their way across the UK / EU including a stop at the Pitchfork Festival in Paris. Lip Critic will tour extensively behind ‘Hex Dealer’, including stops at SXSW, End Of The Road and further UK dates. UK dates are listed below.

LIP CRITIC – UK TOUR DATES:
13 May – The Louisiana – Bristol, UK
14 May – The Deaf Institute (The Lodge) – Manchester, UK
15 May – The Windmill – London, UK
29 Aug – 01 Sep – End of the Road – UK

Watch: ‘Change Your God’ by A Place to Bury Strangers – single series and tour dates

Posted: 20 February 2024 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
Tags: 7", A Place to Bury Strangers, Change Your God, Dedstrange, Noise, See Through You, Shoegaze, Single, The Sevens, video stream

Today, the long-running New York band A Place To Bury Strangers announce the single/video ‘Change Your God’, from their new 7-inch series, The Sevens, via Dedstrange. ‘Change Your God’ appears alongside ‘It Is Time’ in the first instalment of the series, out digitally today and physically this Friday, 23rd February. The Sevens are four 7-inch vinyl records on white vinyl being released each month from now through April. They unveil a treasure trove of previously unreleased tracks from A Place To Bury Strangers’ critically acclaimed sixth album, See Through You. Renowned for their visceral sonic assault and immersive live performances, A Place To Bury Strangers has cemented the end-all-be-all space for over-the-top post-punk/shoegaze destruction. With this special vinyl collection, the band invites listeners to delve deeper into their sonic universe, exploring uncharted territories and hidden gems.

“When looking back at the recordings that were done around the time of See Through You, there were a bunch of great tracks that just captured life back then and really had something incredible going on,” says frontman Oliver Ackerman. “Even though they are a bit raw and a bit personal, I thought it would be a mistake if they didn’t come out. I thought it would be best to go back to my roots and put out a series of 7-inches the way A Place To Bury Strangers started. That strange weird format where the tracks each speak for themselves; no album context to muddy the water. These tracks are such a contrast to the way I am feeling now and the current songs we’ve been working on so slip back into this moment in time.”

Watch the video for ‘Change Your God’ here:

A Place To Bury Strangers Tour Dates:

Thu 22 Feb – Queens, NY @ TV Eye [The Sevens Release Show]

Thu 21 Mar – Boise, ID @ Treefort Festival [The Sevens Release Show]

Fri 5 Apr – Nijmegen, Netherlands @ Doornroosje $

Sat 6 Apr – Köln, Germany @ Club Volta &

Sun 7 Apr – Karlsruhe, Germany @ P8 &

Tue 9 Apr – Milan, Italy @ ARCI Bellezza &

Wed 10 Apr – Bologna, Italy @ Coco Club &

Thu 11 Apr – Rome, Italy @ Monk &

Fri 12 Apr – Palermo, Italy @ Candelai *

Sat Apr. – Messina, Italy @ Retronouveau †

Mon 15 Apr – Zurich, Switzerland @ Bogen F &

Tue 16 Apr – Bern, Switzerland @ ISC Club *

Wed 17 Apr – Marseille, France @ La Make &

Thu 18 Apr – Toulouse, France @ Le Rex &

Fri 19 Apr – Barcelona, Spain @ Barcelona Psych Fest [The Sevens Release Show]

Sat 20 Apr – Madrid, Spain @ El Sol *&

Sun 21 Apr – San Sebastián, Spain @ Dabadaba &

Tue 23 Apr – Paris, France @ Petit Bain ^

Wed 24 Apr – Lille, France @ Le Grand Mix ^

Thu 25 Apr – Maastricht, Netherlands @ Muziekgieterij ^

Fri 31 May – Brooklyn, NY @ TBA [The Sevens Release Show]

Fri 2 Aug – Beleen, Germany @ Krach am Bach

* With Ceremony East Coast

& With Maquina (PT)

^ With Plattenbau (DE)

† With Patriarchy (US)

$ With ERRORR (DE)

Photo credit: Devon Bristol Shaw

Cancervo – Sacrilegious Mass

Posted: 17 February 2024 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
Tags: Black Sabbath, Cancervo, Doom, Electric Valley Records, Heavy, Metal, Sacrilegious Mass, track stream

Doom mountaineers Cancervo streams ‘Sacrilegious Mass,’ the first single from their third LP, III, set for release on 29 March via Electric Valley Records. On the album, the Italian trio continues the tradition of chronicling the myths surrounding Monte Cancervo — the Bergamo-based mountain that stands as the inspiration behind the band’s moniker as well as the thematic backdrop for their music.

On the theme of ‘Sacrilegious Mass,’ Cancervo informs: “The Sacrilegious Mass, celebrated in Val Vedra, is an ancient story about a herdsman and his rebellion against the conventions that required him to go down to the village for the celebration of Holy Mass. The brave man decided to create an altar and celebrate a sacrilegious mass that was interrupted by God. All the presents were engulfed in flames and bound for eternity to the underworld.”

Listen to ‘Sacrilegious Mass’ here:

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