Venera, the hypnotic, ambient duo featuring Atlanta-based composer/filmmaker Chris Hunt and James Shaffer (Korn), have shared a third, and final preview of the pair’s forthcoming album, Venera (Oct. 13, Ipecac Recordings), with today’s release of ‘Disintegration’.
“We hoped to explore drifting, gridless timelines of drums and guitars, which converge midway in a wall of harmony and chorale,” explains Hunt of the five-minute song that features drummer Deantoni Parks (Mars Volta, John Cale). He continues, speaking directly to the video, which also features words by author Blake Butler: “Blake’s text sees and explodes light and experience in a way that is deeply committed to density and emotion – an honest voice in ‘Disintegration.’”
Watch the video here:
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Several guests join Hunt and Shaffer on the self-produced Venera. Parks (Mars Volta, John Cale) also contributes to ‘Erosion’ and HEALTH’s Jacob Duzsik contributes vocals on ‘Ochre,’ and Alain Johannes lends his voice to ‘Triangle.’
LASTER did not only stun the audience at Prophecy Fest last weekend with their memorable performance, but the three masked Dutchmen have also revealed ‘Afgelopen tijd’ (‘expired time’ or ‘time run out’) as the final advance single taken from their forthcoming album Andermans Mijne. The stunning new full-length from the avant-garde metal trio is scheduled for release on October 13, 2023.
LASTER comment: “On ‘Afgelopen tijd’, we have pinned down our passion for a hybrid of swing and groove”, vocalist and guitarist Nicky explains on behalf of the trio. “Perhaps it’s the thrust of the drumming, which might wake memories of the ‘Stadsluik’ EP. Those two nocturnal tracks that seemed to be buried in the background of a wacky after-party. However, our guitars flow more than ever as crisp as high speed internet. They are accompanied by prominent bass lines that are eager to reject any atavistic dictate. So what does the clean singing command? Nothing. It should rather be perceived as a free roaming element that gets mixed up with an increasingly repressing harshness.”
Indigo Sparke has released a soaring new single ‘In the Garden,’ co-written by Chairlift’s Patrick Wimberly and produced by Jake Portait (Unknown Mortal Orchestra). The track is accompanied by a gorgeous music video.
The song is arguably Indigo Sparke’s most pop leaning production to date and boasts a big sound. Driving beats, groove laden bass, seductive guitars and what sounds like an actual choir of angels all serve to build this intoxicating sound but it’s Sparke’s beautiful vocal delivery, lyrics, and her gentle invitation toward madness that give this song its euphoric and poignant edge.
Keeping up with their schedule of a single released on the first of each month, Argonaut have pulled ‘Not Motivational’ from the Black Hat.
So when they write ‘September’s single is not motivational,’ they mean it most literally, going on to outline the song as being ‘punk pop protest with a dual vocal assault high on energy and attitude. A catchy diatribe against bad influencers and motivational speakers who aren’t.’
German post–modern noise rock ensemble ZAHN present their second full–length album Adria, an 80–minute–long journey into the heart of classic European holiday culture. Adria offers a bold escape from your daily life through technicolor transmissions of post–rock, krautrock, dark jazz, noise–rock, post–punk and electronic music. Influenced by the likes of TRANS AM, THE JESUS LIZARD, METZ, THE MELVINS and TORTOISE "Adria" is a compelling soundtrack to a 1980’s anti–utopian road movie!
‘Adria’ was mixed and mastered by Magnus Lindberg (RUSSIAN CIRCLES, CULT OF LUNA) at his Stockholm studio. The cover artwork, based around photographs by Lupus Lindemann(KADAVAR), was designed by Fabian Bremer (RADARE, AUA).
Adria is a testament to the incredible power of this trio and its ability to effortlessly ensnare your attention for the duration of a ten minute–song of purely instrumental music. Over the course of the albums 11 tracks ZAHN emerge as a form of PINK FLOYD of noise rock, relentlessly pushing the envelope on what’s already accomplished while remaining tasteful and tasty at every corner.
In advance of this, they’ve released a video for ‘Apricot’.
The video for ‘Apricot’ was directed by N. Hildebrandt, bringing ZAHN’s unique vision to life. The track was recorded by Peter Voigtmann at Die Mühle Studios, Gyhum, and expertly mixed and mastered by Magnus Lindberg at Redmount Studios, Stockholm.
ZAHN comments: "Being in a band often entails profuse sweating, whether it’s under the stage lights, lifting heavy gear, sitting on a sweltering bus without air conditioning or the anxiety-induced perspiration before a performance. For many rockers, being intoxicated is a vital element of a show. With ZAHN we’re approaching this in a different way – we’re pursuing an altered state of consciousness by pushing ourselves to the limit in a sauna – Apricot is a sober yet sensory and psychedelic sauna experience.”
‘Dead Air’ is the lead single from ferocious noise rock duo Modern Technology’s new full-length Conditions of Worth.
‘Dead Air’ kicks into life with a dense smog-like atmosphere, engulfing the listener in a battering of hard-hitting drums, fuzzed out bass riffs and gruff, acidic yelling. The song’s chorus “IS THIS HOW THE WORLD ENDS!?” becomes a cautionary mantra as the duo reminisce about good times gone, trudging on through a world that has become increasingly scarier, more dangerous, inhospitable and absurd. Dead Air is a sonic beatdown forged from chaos, restlessness and hostility concerning our impending shared future. The goal for the Dead Air music video was simple – to capture the rawness and visceral live energy of Modern Technology’s celebrated live performances.
Shot in exquisite black and white, director Chris Purdie favours simplicity and authenticity, stripping everything back and placing the duo and their live gear into a proverbial blank space, captured in minimal unbroken takes. Even devoid of an audience feeding back their energy, the heavy pair showcase the sweat, fury and unyielding power that makes their exhilarating shows so compelling. With this song and much of the album being written and demoed during the pandemic, the band’s on screen solitude echoes the conditions in which the album was conceived. The visible anguish on the faces of band members Chris Clarke and Owen Gildersleeve mirror their shared concerns about social unrest, austerity, the climate crisis, and the feelings of fear, hopelessness and anger that came from such turbulent times – the very themes that make up Conditions Of Worth.
Director Chris Purdie, who has previously worked on seminal videos for the likes of Oxbow and AVSA, says of this project “I knew from the first time I heard Modern Technology that I wanted to work with them on a video like this. Visually I felt we shared similar aesthetics, so I pitched to them the idea of a RIFF.Underground-style performance video, minus the trappings of the live environment. When the band explained the meaning behind the song to me, it became clear that we were all on the same page so the visual design came together quickly. Having that extra freedom to explore meant we could really go to town with extreme camera angles, fog, and especially light placement.”
Operating in the same dark and subversive corners where Fever Ray, Jenny Hval or Bjork may find solace, ‘Flesh it Out’ is a track that arrives shrouded in a mystique all its own, with a strident confidence to defy conventions.
Written while gazing into the flickering flames of an open fire in her current base of Nashville, Proteins of Magic found herself caught in the daze of a flashback in which she had seen a young couple openly having sex during the day on the beach in Aotearoa / New Zealand. As Kelly Steven AKA Proteins of Magic remembers:
“The hope and the idealism, the youthful sheen on their skin, being unaware of what life lies ahead for them. That is what triggered the start of the lyrical process. I think the song lays out an emotionally treacherous life for them, a day in the life spanning 10 years and 2min52 seconds.”
Surrounding surrealistic lyrics with hex-like incantations, tribal rhythms, sinister synthesiser trills, and haunting woodwind sections, PoM creates an unsettling ambience and intimidating presence to send shivers. “If I give you a smile will you resuscitate me?” she coos through gritted teeth. Building to a hypnotic climax, ‘Flesh It Out’ couples brooding instrumentals with a litany of foreboding vocal textures, each representing a disjointed voice of differing lost souls. Foreshadowing a bleak future, these spectres emerge to erode the wide eyed innocence of youth and replace it with existential questions and hollow false promises.
As its title may suggest, ‘Flesh It Out’ was born from within a jam to evoke a spirit that is discernibly raw and immediate, before being layered and moulded repeatedly to find its current recorded form. The finished song spawns, regenerates and severs over its three-minute course, summoning a sense of self determination out of the chaos.
Directed by Ranger Garrett, ‘Flesh It Out’ arrives with an art-house style official video intended to capture a ‘day in the life’ in Nashville. Showing another side of the fluorescent glitz and glamour of the music city, it was shot around various alternative landmarks using a vintage Sony PMW-F3 and Sony Handycam DCR-SX45, including footage of the Dragon Park that was featured in Harmony Korine’s Gummo.
“I liked the idea of it being lo-fi and raw, and I wanted the filming to be like the recording process,” says Kelly of the video. “Less formulated. The cameras were actually literally held together with tape and things were falling apart. I wanted it to be a ‘day in the life’ in Nashville, in a manic, irregular, fractured way.”
French/Irish alternative rock-metal outfit MOLYBARON, known for their energetic, hard-hitting sound, are set to release their new album Something Ominous in just 2 weeks, on the 15th of September via InsideOutMusic/Sony Music.
Today, MOLYBARON are pleased to share the epic 4th single from the album – ‘Reality Show,’ a high-energy track, fusing driving guitars and bass with soaring synths, alongside a catchy memorable vocal melody.
You can check out the video here:
Formed in Paris, early 2015, by Dublin-born singer/guitarist Gary Kelly, MOLYBARON have become one of the most talked-about bands in the modern metal scene.
Fusing together elements of alt rock, hard rock, and modern metal to create an eclectic, sonically dynamic experience, MOLYBARON deliver an intensely raw, original musical signature, appealing to fans across the genres.
Mumbai deathgrind band Gutslit explores the darkest impulses of the notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in the music video for ‘Altar of Putridity,’ a track that served as the third single from their new full-length, Carnal. The band celebrated the album’s release by performing at Obscene Extreme 2023 on 07 July, aligning with the official release date.
Of the track, the band states: “The composition at hand delves into the intricate depths of human depravity, drawing inspiration from the haunting figure of Jeffrey Dahmer, an embodiment of moral corruption and an indelible legend within the annals of serial killers. The magnitude of the devastation, carnage, and unfathomable tragedy he wrought in his wake reverberates throughout history, leaving an indelible mark on the collective consciousness.
“This poignant musical creation strives to encapsulate the very essence of Dahmer’s unremorseful and nonchalant disposition, a chilling manifestation of his contempt for the sanctity of life. Moreover, it seeks to shed light on the shocking reality of his perverse creativity, as he callously constructed an altar, an unholy sanctuary, fashioned from the remnants of his hapless victims. In this ghastly act, Dahmer, consumed by a godlike delusion, dared to elevate himself above mortal boundaries, cultivating a sense of invincibility and untouchability.
“Through haunting melodies and lyrical narratives, the song weaves a somber tapestry that invites contemplation on the depths of human darkness and the disturbing allure of those who transgress the very foundations of our moral fabric. It serves as a sobering reminder of the eternal struggle between good and evil, and the devastating consequences that arise when evil is left unchecked.”
Swiss blackened doom-metal alchemists Rorcal have just shared a music video for a brand new track off the band’s sixth album titled Silence, which is set to be released on CD, vinyl and digitally on Sept 29 via Hummus Records and on cassete via Sludgelord Records.
The follow-up to their critically acclaimed 2019’s Muladona album was recorded live at Blend Studio by Stéphane Kroug, edited by Jean-Philippe Schopfer at Yellow Recordings, mixed by Raphael Bovey at My Room Studio and mastered by Lad Agabekov at Caduceus Studio and sees the five-piece group masterly merging elements of black, doom, sludge, post-metal resulting in an unique sound that’s as adventurous as it is horrifying and unyielding.
Since its inception in 2006, Rorcal has always sought pitch black darkness. The means to reach it have been diverse but share one constant: extremity. From the insane heaviness of their debuts, to the blasting dissonant malevolence they display on their recent albums, their take on doom, black metal, industrial haunting soundscapes, drone and noise have all shown a strong and unique musical identity.
After five full-lengths and numerous collaborative splits, the band is about to release Silence, a new album on which the five musicians prove their constant dedication to the dark arts.
Aural Aggravation 