Archive for the ‘Singles and EPs’ Category

Noir Addiction – Money For The Honey

Posted: 20 June 2026 in Reviews, Singles and EPs
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19th June 2026

Christopher Nosnibor

If you couldn’t guess by the name, one look at these guys and you know that there’s some industrial action in the mix. This Italian trio describe themselves as ‘dark alt. rock’ and as blending ‘alternative rock, darkwave and industrial influences with a strong focus on songcraft and melody’. And as the tiles of previous releases, which include ‘Decadent Desire’ and ‘Lust of the Flesh’, they have something of a penchant for the seamy and the lascivious.

A year on from their debut single, ‘Chemical Bride’, they serve up single number six.

Front man Sonny Lanegan explains that “‘Money for the Honey’ is about the things we chase when we know they probably won’t give us what we’re looking for. There’s desire in it, there’s attraction, but there’s also that feeling of searching for something more. The song plays with those contradictions and leaves room for people to find their own meaning in it… The phrase ‘Love me for the money, taste me for the honey’ became a kind of centerpiece for the song. It’s playful on the surface, but it also hints at the different reasons people connect with each other and the expectations we bring into relationships.”

There’s a strange interconnection in western culture with sex and money, and the notion that an abundance of the former has an allure and appeal that begets an abundance of the latter seemingly isn’t entirely without foundation. It’s a fucked-up world, but that’s capitalism for ya. Then there’s the sex and death equation… And Noir Addiction bask and revel in all of this, and never more so with the sleaze-grind industrial-tinged glam-groove of ‘Money For The Honey’. In some respects, it calls to mind latter day PIG, in its combining of pulsating synths, thumping beats and an unashamedly big chorus – all of which is a strong positive – and delivered with the swagger of Depeche Mode at their most overtly stadium.

The dark is very much the undercurrent rather than the main focus, instead pushing up the hookline ‘All I wanna do is make you think that I could kill it’. Well, they’re certainly killing it here.

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Photo by Valerio Fanelli

Listen: ‘One Line Sky’ by Lawrence English

Posted: 20 June 2026 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
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Lawrence English shares a second piece from his forthcoming album, The Rest Is My Ghost arriving on Room40 on 7th August. ‘One Line Sky’ starts uneasy, towering and stuttering before bursting forth into an ecstatic wash of bass heavy, dense harmonics.

About ‘One Line Sky’, Lawrence says, "I spent a good deal of time researching in mega-cities whilst making this record. ‘One Line Sky’ was a term passed to me by a friend in Hong Kong. It has numerous readings, many of which float around the experiences of being at the bottom on these long canyon of buildings. which form the one line sky. The sky then is a slither of something else we can see beyond the immediate towers of architecture. I like the sense of escapism that is promised in that view, that outside of these places we build and sometimes cage ourselves into, a whole other possible life exists."

Hear ‘One Line Sky’ here:

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Photo credit: Traianos Pakioufakis

Watch: ‘The Boat of Despair’ (feat. Aaron Stainthorpe) by Dymna Lotva

Posted: 19 June 2026 in Singles and EPs, Recommended Streams and Videos
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Belarus metal pioneers DYMNA LOTVA reveal the outstanding music video ‘The Boat of Despair’, which was filmed deep underground in a historic mine. The track features guest vocals by former MY DYING BRIDE frontman Aaron Stainthorpe (HIGH PARASITE), which means a dream come true for the band.

‘The Boat of Despair’ is the second advance single taken from the forthcoming new full-length Vyraj. The fourth album of the post-black metal band has been slated for release on August 7, 2026.

DYMNA LOTVA comment: “Sometimes dreams do come true”, vocalist Nokt muses. “For decades, I have dreamed of creating a song that is based on my favourite book, Laddzia Rospačy by Uladzimir Karatkevich. For so many years, I have dreamed of seeing Aaron Stainthorpe live on stage. Later I have dreamed of sharing a stage with Aaron, and then even of singing a song with him. And for some years, I have dreamed of singing inside a cave, in an old mine, on a boat flowing on an underground river. Here we are now, all those dreams have miraculously come true. I wish the same might happen to all of you, who listen to our song and watch our music video ‘The Boat of Despair’!”

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DYMNA LOTVA are taking a quantum leap in their rapid musical evolution with their fourth album Vyraj. The rebellious Belarus dissidents are powerfully demonstrating that they are far more than a ‘one-trick pony’ in every conceivable artistic aspect.

Although Vyraj is still based on a solid foundation of black and post-black metal, DYMNA LOTVA move far beyond any easy labelling by also drawing inspiration from doom, heavy, and progressive metal, while venturing even deeper by incorporating elements from electronic music, goth, and folklore. The album is a cornucopia of great songs that are atmospherically dense and invite the listener onto an emotional roller-coaster ride from the darkest depths of depression and fear, via raw anger and defiance, to heights of ecstatic exhilaration. Vyraj is a musical kaleidoscope with ever changing patterns and sonic colours of remarkable beauty – that often dissolves into captivating melodies that at times even achieve a pop-like appeal.

DYMNA LOTVA continue to carry the torch of rebellion, which is only natural as the founding members had to flee their native Belarus due to political persecution and continued attempts by the Lukashenka regime to censor and suppress their art. Yet on Vyraj, they put their lyrical focus elsewhere. The album’s main concept could be described as ‘Belarusian ethno-astronomy.’ In Slavonic legends, the starry sky is associated both with the afterlife and with journeys, which becomes closely intertwined with the musicians’ personal experience of forced emigration. This idea is captured in the album title Vyraj, which is a mythical realm to where birds migrate for the winter, and where the souls of the departed find their final rest.

An important aspect of this concept is the idea of finding a way back home, just as the birds return in spring. A group of DYMNA LOTVA’s friends had travelled to the dying Belarusian village from which the ancestors of vocalist Nokt hail. There, they spent the entire night photographing the sky during the Perseid meteor shower from a small family cemetery. These images were used for the cover art and booklet of Vyraj.

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Picastro – Double On Time

Posted: 18 June 2026 in Reviews, Singles and EPs
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12th June 2026

Christopher Nosnibor

Picastro may not have the swiftest workrate – it’s been three years since their last release, the single ‘Earthseed’ / ‘Tacitus’ and four and a half since their EP of cover versions, I’ve Never Met a Stranger. But they’ve maintained a steady flow for the best part of three decades now, evolving through manifold permutations and carving time out for creative endeavours among the usual obstacles which face most adults, including, but no limited to, day-jobs and simply life itself.

At their (slow) core has always been Liz Hysen, vocalist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist, and this time around she’s joined by longstanding contributor Tim Condon (synth, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, harmonium, piano) and Alex Fournier (double bass). Together, they’ve created a set of songs which – recorded primarily in their homes – conjures a weirdy, warping, lo-fi ethereality. ‘Fell the Family Tree’, centred around a stuttering discordant piano loop, laced with tremulous strings, is stark and revels in the perversely awkward nature of the way in which the elements rub against one another. ‘Remember who you are my son,’ Hysen croons, her meandering vocal swerving around a melody rather than holding one, in a way that’s haunting, the way sing-song tunes sung off-key in thrillers and horror movies are employed as a way of alluding to emotional disturbance, or being psychologically unsettled. I’m not actually sure it happens so much in real life, but the effect is unnerving.

‘Chance Striker’ is droney and foggy, and drags a deep weight, low and slow, and in this context, the skipping lightness of ‘Ring Description’, which clocks in at exactly just two minutes sounds and feels like a different band entirely. With a soaring vocal delivery which has a certain jazziness to it, the pulsing keyboards almost lean into a kind of groove. To describe it as ‘fun’ might be a bit of a stretch, but these things are relative, and it happens to land bang in the middle of an EP that, while moving, emotionally powerful, and inventive, is by no means designed with entertainment in mind.

Pairing acoustic guitar with strings and extraneous clanking and noise, ‘Move Fast, Break’ is a mournful folk song at its heart – but it’s a challenging listen, and not only because all the elements appear to be battling against one another to play different tunes. Hysen sounds emotionally hollowed out, before dragging herself through the moody piano murk of ‘Believer End’ with a tense, breathy performance.

Nothing about Double On Time is comfortable or easy: it leaves you feeling somewhat stricken – somewhat lost for words, and short on breath. It may be superficially simple in its instrumental arrangements, but the extent to which Picastro explore dissonant tunings and atonality is affecting. It feels wrong. And it’s this wrongness which is very much its strength, in that is hauls the listener from whatever comfort zone they might be lounging in, and into a space that forces them to look directly at scenes they might find hard to process. In doing so, Picastro give us true art.

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Watch: ‘Inside’ by Ships in the Night

Posted: 18 June 2026 in Singles and EPs, Recommended Streams and Videos
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‘Inside’ is the latest music video by Ships In The Night, the ethereal darkwave project of Alethea Leventhal. Renowned for her distinctive electronic production technique and delicate yet mesmerising voice, Ships in the Night creates dark pop songs that feel both intimate and cinematic.

Included on the 2025 album Protection Spells, a bold and powerful collection informed by trauma, magic, darkness and hope, ‘Inside’ balances opposing forces of stillness and tension, vulnerability and resolve. The video for it is a glimpse into a world of transformation, with creatures hatching, plants unfurling and everything growing and finding its way.

“This song is about looking for feelings of safety and comfort in a world that is out of our control,” explains Leventhal. "It’s about finding places where you can just exist and be yourself. It’s about nurturing community, lifting up queer spaces and reaching for utopia.”

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Watch: ‘Rites of Blasphemy’ by Temple Of Dread

Posted: 17 June 2026 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
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TEMPLE OF DREAD reveal the crushing music video ‘Rites of Blasphemy’ as the second advance single taken from the forthcoming new full-length Dreadspawn Dominion. The East Frisians’ sixth album has been chalked up for release on August 7, 2026.

TEMPLE OF DREAD comment: “Who is a true believer, and who is a blasphemer?”, guitarist Markus Bünnemeyer asks rhetorically. “This is always the most difficult question when you want to start a new religion. This track is a typical Temple of Dread ‘ballad’, and it will go straight to your hearts. No surrender, no prisoners!”

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Like a mighty battle trireme, TEMPLE OF DREAD are leaving their port on the East Frisian island of Spiekeroog to deliver brutal death metal with the new massive ram bow Dreadspawn Dominion to all that dare to try and block their course.

Musically, TEMPLE OF DREAD remain true to their old school death metal roots but continue to expand their sonic range by further honing their cinematic aspects with even more dark and heavy elements that began to receive special attention on the previous albums Beyond Acheron (2023) and God of the Godless (2024). These veterans are making full use of their vast experience and audible confidence in their deadly craft to add true emotions into their often rather technically focussed genre.

Once again, these hardy islanders make use of classical themes from the ancient world with lyrics penned by their friend and long-time collaborator, the psychologist Frank “Doc” Albers. Followers of TEMPLE OF DREAD will recognise familiar threads, particularly the continuation of the clash between Charon, the ferryman of the souls across the River Styx and the personalised deity of the underworld, Hades.

The stunning cover artwork of Dreadspawn Dominion was again created by celebrated Italian artist Paolo Girardi and the resoundingly sharp-edged production also returned into the most capable hands of TEMPLE OF DREAD drummer Jörg Uken, whose renowned Soundlodge Tonstudio has also been frequented by such acts as DEW-SCENTED, GOD DETHRONED, OBSCENITY, and SUICIDAL ANGELS.

The most obvious change that has affected TEMPLE OF DREAD between the recording of God of the Godless and Dreadspawn Dominion is the addition of second guitarist Daniel Maurer and bass player Andi Bauer, who enhance the Frisian band with even more punch – both live and in studio.

TEMPLE OF DREAD were founded on the island of Spiekeroog in 2017 by Markus Bünnemeyer with the intent to play old school death metal. The guitarist was soon joined by vocalist Jens Finger, who also plays guitar in SLAUGHTERDAY, and drummer Jörg Uken. Both musicians have remained in the line-up ever since.

Already the first TEMPLE OF DREAD full-length, Blood Craving Mantras (2019), hit the scene hard. Their excellent reputation grew with the next albums World Sacrifice (2020) and Hades Unleashed (2021) that followed in rapid succession.

With Dreadspawn Dominion, TEMPLE OF DREAD do not just deliver about everything that their old school death metal following might desire but also invite listeners from other realms on the darker and harder side of metal to lend an ear. Listen and behold: an ancient darkness is rising to claim your souls!

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Watch: ‘Treachery’ by Tatv Gral

Posted: 16 June 2026 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
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Chicago-based dark synth / industrial artist Tatv Gral (ˈtätü ˈgräl) announces the release of the Treachery EP, a new remix EP featuring the original version of the ‘Treachery’ single, produced by William Faith at 13 Studio, alongside exclusive remixes by DSTR (Daniel Myer of Haujobb), Tweaker (Chris Vrenna of NIN), and fellow Chicago underground denizens, [melter]. The EP is released on 6 July 2026, with presales available on Bandcamp now. The EP release is also flanked by the new video for the DSTR remix of the track, following on the heels of the video for the original single version in June.

Thematically, ‘Treachery’ emerged from a chance encounter that led Tatv Gral’s Allen Addington deeper into the symbolic world of Hellenistic astrology, as Addington explains: “It was a discovery in the ancient texts that unlocked the whole song – both Saturn and Mars independently carry the signification of ‘Treachery’, translated directly from the Ancient Greek. Two malefic forces, each already marked by betrayal, meeting in the same charged space. Following Richard Tarnas and James Hillman, I wanted to explore that archetypal collision phenomenologically – the Old Man and the Young Man, bondage and erotic force – seen through a gay male gaze and the cinematic shadow world of William Friedkin’s Cruising.”

Drawing on the archetypal psychology of James Hillman, who argued that images arising from the psyche carry their own intelligence and must not be immediately moralized, Tatv Gral uses music as a container for difficult energies rather than a platform to promote them. This approach places ‘Treachery’ in a lineage that runs through Coil’s ritual electronics, Kenneth Anger’s astrologically-timed film workings, and the Jungian shadow work that informs all of them. The queer lens is not incidental: it is the specific viewpoint through which these archetypal forces become visible.

Musically, Tatv Gral draws on the colder edges of industrial, EBM and dark electronic music, combining mechanical rhythms, claustrophobic textures and cinematic tension with an emotionally exposed vocal approach. Coil’s occult philosophy as genuine practice is at the centre of Tatv Gral’s frame of reference, while other influences range from Chicago’s industrial lineage via WAX TRAX! Records, through to the brutalist intersection of early British and German electronic music, shaped by the severity of Kraftwerk and DAF, while also maintaining a distinctly personal and contemporary perspective.

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Watch: ‘You’re So Wired’ by Lowsunday

Posted: 15 June 2026 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
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On the trail of the Low Sunday Ghost Machine – Black EP, newly released via Projekt Records, Pittsburgh darkwave-shoegaze pioneers Lowsunday present ‘You’re So Wired’, with the video produced by Jer Herring. Capturing the roller-coaster experience of being drawn to a highly energetic, erratic individual, who blurs the line between imagination and everyday life, this song channels a vibrant, alternative rock spirit that ultimately celebrates breaking free into a state of liberated peace.

“’You’re So Wired’ is a song that touches on a manic type of experience. It also touches on the  classic Chuang Tzu question, after having had a vivid dream: "am I man dreaming I am a butterfly or am I a butterfly dreaming I am a man?" — The experience of not knowing if you’re awake or dreaming. In this case, the rapid eye movements shown in the video capture both dreaming and erratic behavior, making it hard to interpret which is which,” says Shane Sahene.

“In the video, I love the way Jer shows the subject looking through a camera – like a search for honesty or an altered reality. It relates to the song like a form of detachment – just one step removed. Ultimately it’s the experience with this type of person – that when they’re gone, you miss the excitement they create and when you’re together, the unpredictably can feel overwhelming. I enjoy the idea of being in a permanent dream state, like an overlay to reality, where one is only stabilized by their dreams.  The beauty of the video comes when the escape has been made – just as the song opens up in the bridge – it captures a freedom that had been searched for and finally found.”

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Formed in 1994, Lowsunday (initially Low Sunday Ghost Machine) emerged as a “retro-futurist” pioneer, blending darkwave and shoegaze long before the genres saw their modern revival. The ‘Black EP’ is their second release of all-new material released since 1999, previewed by the darkly fascinating lead track ‘This Is Not Heaven’ and focus track ‘Shattered’.
Their legacy was cemented with their 1996 debut album Low Sunday Ghost Machine and the 1999 masterpiece Elesgiem, both with extended re-releases out via Projekt Records in the past 18 months (for the 30th and 25th anniversaries, respectively). With a cult reputation for mercurial sounds and blistering guitar work, their music set the stage for subsequent generations of alternative artists. Following a nearly 25-year hiatus, the band resurfaced as the duo of original member Shane Sahene (vocals, guitar, synth, bass, drums) and Bobby Spell (bass, guitar, drums).

At the end of 2025, Lowsunday released their Low Sunday Ghost Machine – White EP, ranked second among Post-Punk.com’s Best EPs of 2025, and showcased by the singles ‘Love Language’, ‘Soft Capture’ and ‘Nevver’. Both a reflection and a resurgence, Lowsunday’s two new EPs usher in a welcome return, marked by superb production and a renewed creative clarity, bridging three decades of distinct sonic legacy with balanced doses of escapism, dreamlike sounds, drones and feedback.

With a sound defined by atmosphere, precision, and heartfelt shadow and depths, Lowsunday is now asserting their presence with new strength. While the White EP explored light and texture, the Black EP is the darker counterpart and definitive statement. Shadow and intensity, layered guitars, tight rhythms, and austere synths, this new EP distills the duo’s vision into a sharper, more potent form — a bold declaration of their enduring artistic power.

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Lumirex – Hurts

Posted: 14 June 2026 in Reviews, Singles and EPs
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28th May 2026

Christopher Nosnibor

It may only be three minutes and twenty seconds long, but this latest offering from Lumirex – an Italian musician based in Munich – has a lot happening. It’s dark and stark, with low, stealthy industrial bass tones strolling and bubbling. So far, so much standard dark electronica, the kind of stuff that’s been circulating since the late 80s when Wax Trax! created the template for all things of an electronic industrial persuasion. But with ‘Hurts’, Lumirex take that template and expand on it in the most unexpected of ways.

It begins with stealth, before building… and then something happens. That something is a magnificent vocal which soars and glides – not quite operatic, but every inch classical and the perfect contrast. Compressed and breathy, it suddenly soars skywards in a departure from this domain, while the beats flurry faster, evermore glitchy, evermore tense.

There’s a break where things clamour down to a hushed moment of breathing – a tense gasping, where the word ‘kill’ is repeated, and it feels dangerous, before, out of nowhere, a banshee scream erupts and the beats flitter in again and you find yourself in a total spin.

Sure, it incorporates myriad things you’ve heard before, so much so that it’s not only familiar, but borders on the cliché – but these are just the elements. The way Lumirex draws them together is something else, and ‘Hurts’ is nothing short of mind-blowing. It has to be heard to be believed.

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Watch: ‘The Human Error’ by Ølyp

Posted: 14 June 2026 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
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French instrumental progressive metal duo Ølyp have announced the release of their debut album, I(m)MORTAL, due out on September 25 via Klonosphere, and unveiled the album’s first single and video, ‘The Human Error.’

Blending the cinematic scope of post-metal with the technical precision and intensity of modern progressive metal, Ølyp create powerful instrumental journeys that explore humanity’s fractured relationship with nature, the environmental crisis, and the growing disconnect between individual and collective responsibility.

Serving as the album’s opening statement, ‘The Human Error’ confronts one of the central themes running throughout I(m)MORTAL: humanity’s role in shaping its own uncertain future. Without the need for words, the track unfolds through waves of tension, release, beauty, and devastation, capturing both the grandeur of the natural world and the consequences of our growing detachment from it.

Commenting on the single, the band states: “The Human Error explores the full breadth of our musical universe, painting landscapes drawn from our deepest emotions, from introspective, ethereal passages to massive and impactful moments of release.”

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Founded in the Norwegian fjords and now based in France, the duo was born from a shared need to express the dissonance between human progress and ecological collapse. Through towering compositions, atmospheric textures, and emotionally charged arrangements, Ølyp transform these concerns into a deeply immersive listening experience.

Drawing inspiration from artists such as The Ocean, Psychonaut, Russian Circles, and Night Verses, the duo balance technical sophistication with emotional depth, crafting compositions that are equally cerebral and visceral.

The album also features guest performances from Pauline Henric and Zoé Sallefranque on violin, Sylvain Rullier on viola, and Eugénie Ursch on cello, whose contributions add further depth and cinematic richness to the record’s expansive sound.

Recorded by Chiaran Verheyden and David Castel, mixed and mastered by Verheyden, and featuring artwork by Journal of Emptiness, I(m)MORTAL marks the beginning of an ambitious new chapter for the band.

I(m)MORTAL will be released on September 25 via Klonosphere.

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Photo by James K. Barbosa

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