The French darkwave group Divine Shade, has just unveiled their brand new single, ‘Heaven’.
The last single, ‘Oublier’ featured Steve Fox-Harris (guitarist for Gary Numan). These songs will be part of an album, Fragments Vol.1 available in April, 2024.
The album’s theme focuses on the concept of resilience and the inner capacity to fight against self-defense mechanisms and identification with nature. darkness through rebuilding self-esteem and love.
Check ‘Heaven’ here:
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It’s been quite the year for Argonaut, as they land the final instalment for 2023 for their ‘open-ended’ album project Songs from the Black Hat, they started back in October of 2022, and which has seen them release a single a month this year, and despite being reduced to a three-piece due to geographical disparities, they’ve maintained their momentum.
One major benefit of doing everything DIY is having no constraints or dictations, and an open-ended album doesn’t have to conform to any rules of cohesion or length, and ‘Christmas No. 1’ is a bit different from the rest of the album to date – namely it’s an overtly Christmas song, replete with a soft-focus, shimmery, tinsel-draped video.
‘Musically channelling all the classic Christmas songs (6/8 timing, jingle bells, key change, anthemic coda singalong!) and lyrically tracing Lorna, Nathan and Deb’s first London Christmas to our last. Please download for free, play alongside Wham Shaky and Macca and have a number one Christmas and a punk rock new year!’
Watch the video here – best enjoyed with a glass of port, or maybe Bailey’s if that’s your thing:
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Norwegian noise rock innovators Barren Womb have just shared a brand new single off their fifth full-length album titled Chemical Tardigrade, which is set to be released on digital and vinyl formats through Fucking North Pole Records/Blues For The Red Sun on February 16th, 2024.
Entitled ‘Bachelor Of Puppets’, you can hear it here:
“’Bachelor of Puppets’ came together through a swift writing process, mostly by jamming round this crude beat with definite husky tendencies,” says Barren Womb’s drummer/ vocalist Timo Silvola. “It became something we felt sure to be the envy of cavemen everywhere. The title came before the lyrics and they were written very much like a jam as well: late night with beers and a demo version blasting loud through our PA system, comparing notes and reading through the lyrics for Master of Puppets.
”The result became a sordid tale of a Chemical Tardigrade, a half-fictional dope fiend struggling to escape the stale grip of the bourgeoisie. Both being huge fans of The Mandalorian, yelling ‘this is the way’ as a chorus made for a perfect trashy Trailer Park Boys-esque punchline.”
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Barren Womb released their fourth album Lizard Lounge, a bombastic slab of modern noise rock in the vein of Daughters, Metz and Viagra Boys, to critical acclaim through Loyal Blood Records in 2020. They have played close to 300 shows in the US and Europe so far, sharing stages with among others Entombed A.D., Voivod, Conan, Nomeansno and Årabrot, and have played festivals like SXSW, by:Larm, Tallinn Music Week, Øya and Pstereo.
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Chicago-based electronic pop artist Brittany Bindrim has released her debut single, ‘Obelisk’, today on Metropolis Records, accompanied by a beautiful yet dystopian video directed by Simona Noreik. Known for her catchy melodies and powerhouse vocal performances in the post-industrial rock band I:Scintilla, Bindrim now ventures into foreign sonic terrain as a solo artist with this hard-hitting, edgy song packed with punishing beats and harsh synthesisers.
This new chapter of Bindrim’s career takes her into experimental territory along with producer Matt McJunkins (A Perfect Circle, Puscifer, Eagles of Death Metal, Poppy). While the lyric for ‘Obelisk’ explores themes of tribalism, political divides, collective trauma and a surrendering to peace, Bindrim states that its music “is an interplay between the words and harder-edged, percussive musical elements. The heavier drums and the main driving bass synth line were written first, which then inspired a pleading vocal melody. I had previously written a lyrical seedling that was close to what ended up in the chorus lines, which I thought fit perfectly and helped spawn the rest of the lyric in conjunction with the harder, marching energy of the music.”
‘Obelisk’ is included on an album entitled ‘Velella Velella’ that is set for release on 8th March 2024. “The songwriting process for every song was a little different, but I didn’t try to force ideas or overthink things,” she continues. “Each song developed very naturally and instinctively."
From moody, ethereal ballads to gritty dance bangers, ‘Velella Velella’ showcases both the versatility and evolution of Bindrim’s work. Channelling transformation, sociopolitical climates and explorations to understand the darker side of human nature, her vulnerable and unapologetic lyrics showcase themes of self-discovery, empathy, apathy, disillusionment and growth.
Watch the video for ‘Obelisk’ here:
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Two years following the release of their Dead End EP, Portuguese melodic death-metal group KARNAK SETI are ready to drop a new EP titled Restos on January 12th.
Throughout four new tracks, the four-piece now comprised of António Jesus on guitars, Cláudio Aguiar on bass, Luís Erre on vocals and Luís Freitas on drums, continue to churn out a powerful and melodic combination of thrash and death metal elements.
Listen to leading single and title track ‘Restos’ here:
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Since 2001, Karnak Seti have consistently blended all the very best elements of thrash and melodic metal, having released three demos, four studio albums and their latest EP Dead End, proving they’re one of most resilient and determined coming from the Portuguese island of Madeira.
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Cold in Berlin steps back into the spotlight with the second track taken from The Body Is The Wound EP … aptly entitled ‘Spotlight’.
Once more combining the tribal post punk beats of 80s goth with a crushing chorus of doomy fuzz, CiB delivers another gothic anthem for the ages.
The band comment, “’Spotlight is a lullaby about a haunting. We took the metre of a Victorian dirge and added our potent mix of post punk and gothic doom. We knew the visuals would have to feature a dancer and we’re very grateful to Amanda Dufour for her mesmeric performance. (Instagram @mandymakesshapes )
We found the perfect filming location at The Cavendish Arms – South London’s best pub and venue! There we could lean into the retro Music Hall vibes and Twin Peaks colour schemes.”
New Heavy Sounds recently announced a new multi-record project by Cold in Berlin ‘The Wounds’’ Consisting of an EP, The Body is the Wound, and an album, due in 2024, The Wounds is a musical vade mecum of what is to come in a fresh era for the band. The Body is the Wound EP launches the next chapter in CIB’s journey.
Released on 19th January (New Heavy Sounds), the four tracks cover diverse musical ground, drawing ideas from krautrock, post-punk and doom, but always with the requisite amount of weight.
The Body is the Wound EP is the first new material from the band since the lauded 2019 album Rituals of Surrender.
The lyrical themes dance around sex, murder, suicide and broken dreams, brought together in loose storytelling that allows listeners to add their own experiences and bring personal meaning.
“I wanted to loosely tie the lyrics around two ideas,” explains Maya. “Psychology, which tells us the body houses the trauma we experience and carry with us – and Buddhism, which suggests there is no growth unless from pain; we choose to hold on to suffering even though we can learn not to, and so we continue in disillusionment – aware but not aware.”
The Body is the Wound was recorded at Dalston’s Bear Bites Horse studio by Wayne Adams (Green Lung – Woodland Rites) and is an exciting precursor to a new album in 2024.
Watch the video for ‘Spotlight’ here:
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Two years following the release of their ‘Infernal End/Intracranial Form’ single, Helsinki-based death-metal quartet Soul Incursion now return with a new five-track EP titled Eternal Darkness, which is set to be self-released on December 15th.
Recorded by Tomi Uusitupa at Oxroad Studios & Oskar Bruun at Vallila ’87 Studios, mixed by Tomi Uusitupa at Oxroad Studios, and mastered by Matias Nastolin at Louhinta Studios, Eternal Darkness features the artwork of Vermin Graphics and sees the band distilling a brutal and vicious death-metal with a increased focus on crushing and heavy riffs and pummelling rhythms.
Listen to the EP’s leading single and title track here:
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Hailing from Helsinki, Soul Incursion was formed in early 2020, when guitarists Oskar and Henri started writing songs in the vein of old school death-metal bands like Pestilence, Death and Demolition Hammer, highlighting a penchant for an unrelentingly heavy, catchy riffage.
The band’s first studio recording, the ‘Infernal End / Intracranial Form’ single was released in late 2021 and found the Finns intertwining fast thrash-inspired riffs with a decimating death-metal attack and some catchy melodies.
With new member Arttu Turunen behind the drum kit, Soul Incursion returned to the studio to record five songs for a new EP and if their previous single suggested the path they might tread, this new EP confirms it and shows that Soul Incursion know how to write some serious and potent death-metal.
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Following on from Marthe’s incendiary debut Southern Lord full-length, Further In Evil, released this October, she now teams up with †The Lord† (Greg Anderson) to release two brand new collaborative tracks, ‘The Eye Of Destiny’ and ‘Wisps of the Black Serpent’.
Marzia comments on this collaboration:
“Collaborating with The Lord was an exciting challenge, and something new, and stimulating to me. I don’t usually deal with such soundscapes and when Greg asked me to add vocals and drums to ‘The Eye of Destiny’, I accepted. The track was intended by Greg to be a tribute to Quorthon (Bathory), an artist who has been a huge influence on my moods. I had started to add in battle-drum beats, but soon faced the hard task of using words to describe what (to me) is the most talented artist of all time. How to contribute in words what I can’t even process in emotions?”
She continues, “There’s the person behind it, and along with the talent there’s the reality of the loss, since he’s not here anymore to witness the legacy of his sound. What’s left of his feelings on his blog, his emotions, his development as an artist and as a person and that spark in his eyes. The eyes are the mirror of the soul, we say. And I was reading some notes he left on a letter and it went something like "may the eye of destiny be wild with you and show you the right way through life". "The Eye of destiny" was an evocative image to me, to picture in my mind the aura of his memory, as a human being and a musical genius. As words are dominant in a tribute, it was impossible, in the most humble way, to find words for him. So, I took his own words: checked all the lyrics and made a caviardage of words that in the end composed a tribute in what I considered the most honourable way possible. I love the final result, it’s my small tribute to a musical giant.”
Listen to ‘The Eye of Destiny’ here:
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Bedless Bones is Kadri Sammel, a singer-songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist and interdisciplinary artist from Tallinn, Estonia. As Bedless Bones, Sammel presents what she describes as ‘incantations of nocturnal rapture’, building bridges and bending borders in her experiments with electro-noir sub-genres such as darkwave and EBM and marrying them with techno beats, industrial sounds and otherworldly atmospherics.
Mire Of Mercury is the third album by Bedless Bones and was released on Metropolis Records in early November. A Kenneth Anger-style video for a song from it entitled ‘Solar Anumus’.
"The video is directed and edited by me and filmed by [Bedless Bones drummer] Anders Melts,” explains Sammel. The song is inspired by the contrasexual archetype in the unconscious. The predominance of the shadow extends to a possession, a chronic eclipse of the sun. Animus in anima. So she has to transform her Eros."
Watch ‘Solar Animus’ here:
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Sammel’s influences are vast and varied. She has spent a decade singing in choirs and has studied cultural theory, audiovisual media and photography. She is a member of Estonian avant-garde deathbeat/outdustrial outfit Forgotten Sunrise and the singer in the UK/Estonian dystopian industrial band Deathsomnia. Additionally, under the alias DJ Dirt Vessel, she has been a crucial part of Beats From The Vault, an underground event series in Estonia that has been in existence since 1998. Her captivating and transcendental live sets see her performing dark industrial techno, EBM, darkwave and post-punk.
As Bedless Bones, Sammel has performed at festivals that include Wave-Gotik-Treffen (Germany), Cold Hearted Festival (Germany), Castle Party (Poland), Kalabalik på Tyrolen (Sweden) and Tallinn Music Week. She has shared stages with acts as varied as She Past Away, Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio, New Model Army and Sex Gang Children.
‘Wanderer’ is Këkht Aräkh’s first new music since the release of the highly praised album Pale Swordsman.
Of late, Këkht Aräkh has been a music project on the move. Originally from Ukraine, Dmitry called many places home, finally taking up residency in Berlin. So unsurprisingly, the themes touch on very real and personal experiences pertaining to the complexity of identity and belonging. His inner sensitivity, in the absence of and longing for a sense of home, is a physical one.
Sonically, Këkht Aräkh took inspiration from second wave black metal, as well as neo-folk, hip-hop, and nu-metal. ‘Wanderer’ is an evolution of sound but his signature melancholic atmosphere and escapist nostalgia are fully present.
Watch the video here:
Mirroring the artist’s life, the writing and recording process of ‘Wanderer’ was a nomadic journey in itself. Recording took place in two different locations – Berlin, Germany, and Espoo, Finland. Every borrowed guitar and impromptu studio session became a vital thread in the song’s intricate tapestry. Invaluable contributors also brought their unique elements to ‘Wanderer.’ Wanja from Mrtva Vod lent his raw drumming, and Chase, the Galrög from Lore Liege, played a crucial role in shaping the song’s brooding sound. Nick from IC3PEAK also provided a creative haven for the visceral vocal work.
The eerie tranquility of the Finnish woods provided the necessary space for Këkht Aräkh to breathe life into the song. Here, the finishing touches were added – the delicate keys and haunting vocals. The accompanying music video was also crafted in this setting, amidst dense forests and derelict churches.
The title, ‘Wanderer,’ is a nod to the well-known hook from Pale Swordsman; "Wandering in the night, Pale Swordsman." However, it’s also a reflection of Këkht Aräkh’s personal journey as an immigrant, perfectly encapsulating the essence of the song’s inspiration.
Aural Aggravation 