Archive for the ‘Singles and EPs’ Category

Projekt Records artist Lowsunday emerges with their first record comprised of all-new material since 1999, bridging three decades of distinct sonic legacy. The Low Sunday Ghost Machine – White EP delves into emotional isolation, this music laced with a counterbalance of escapism, dreamlike sounds, drones and feedback, with carefully-placed classic song structures with melodic hooks. This is the first of a two-EP series being released via Projekt.

Based in Pittsburgh, Lowsunday is now a duo made up of Shane Sahene (vocals, guitar, synth, bass, drums) and Bobby Spell (bass, guitar, drums), this EP serving as both a reflection and a resurgence. The band also presents their new video for ‘Love Language’.

AA

Blurring the lines between post-punk, shoegaze, dreampop, and darkwave since 1994, Lowsunday brings something new to the music scene, treading sonic waters with screeching guitars and layer upon layer of arsenic-laced melodies, crowned with bittersweet and emotive vocals. From quiet intensity to sweeping sonic landscapes, Lowsunday makes a welcome return with their retro-futurist daydream.

The White EP demonstrates a connection to the band’s history while showcasing a natural expansion that builds upon guitar-driven atmospheres, synth textures, emotive vocals and stripped down drum beats. A confident return to form that explores darker yet more expansive sonic territory, at times, they push atmospheres to the limits of noise and, at more delicate moments, into a dream pop air of deeper melancholia.

Sahene and Spell distill years of sonic exploration and inspiration into this release. Lyrically and sonically, these songs use classic post-punk rhythms and atmospheric layers to express simple, fundamental emotion.

This five-track EP arrives on the trail of the extended 30th anniversary remaster of their debut album Low Sunday Ghost Machine a 2-CD feast recorded at the height of their ascent. The original nine tracks are complemented by a second disc with seven unreleased tracks, remixes and reinterpretations. Projekt also released the 25th anniversary remaster of their sophomore album Elesgiem in 2024.

AA

lowsunday

Society is in a shambles, fascism is in fashion, and the Ultra Heavy Beat remains resolute and resolved to rise up and rip the system! 42 years of conceptual continuity and distinction through diversity, KMFDM are back, declaring themselves the ‘ENEMY’ with their 24th album! It is out on 6th February 2026, two weeks before the band begins a previously announced and almost sold-out European tour.

‘OUBLIETTE’ is out today (12th December) as the first single from ENEMY. From the French word ‘oublier’, meaning ‘to forget’, an oubliette is a dungeon with the only access being via a trapdoor in its ceiling. Perfect constructed from a captor’s perspective, detection and escape are more or less impossible. “A place to be forgotten,” the band simply state. “What nobody sees, nobody knows.”

Kommanded by the songwriting and vocal power of Sascha ‘Käpt’n K’ Konietzko and Lucia Cifarelli, and backed by the percussive onslaught of Andy Selway, KMFDM is now joined by London six-string slinger Tidor Nieddu bringing his own bold and vivid guitar flavours. Having hypnotised audiences on the band’s 40th anniversary tour with her rendition of ‘Professional Killer’, Annabella Konietzko also appears with her own hit-list on the explosive ‘YOÜ’, marking her songwriting debut with the group.

Never a band to take the easy path, ENEMY delivers some of KMFDM’s most stylistically challenging and politically scathing material yet; from the dance/rock melodicism of ‘OUBLIETTE’ to the darkened grooves of ‘CATCH & KILL’, the satirical brute force thrash of ‘OUTERNATIONAL INTERVENTION’ to the vicious and hyperbolic industrial metal of ‘L’ETAT’, and the funky throb of ‘VAMPYR’ to the cheeky dub of ‘STRAY BULLET 2.0’.

KMFDM keeps moving, dancing on the blood-dimmed tide, roaring as a rough beast to make noise against a world that demands the silence of ignorance. Join the Ultra Heavy Beat and make yourself the ENEMY of hypocrisy, discrimination and injustice!

AA

a2652867002_10

Foetus has unveiled the first material from the forthcoming final album. When JG Thirlwell told us at Aural Agravation  it was going to be ‘epic’, he wasn’t kidding. AS if we ever thought he might have been.

‘Succulence’ is featured on the imminent new Foetus album HALT. All instruments on this track played by JG Thirlwell except drums, which are played by Brian Chase of Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Play it LOUD!

AA

8596317461801017532

German-born, Ireland-based musician DAMIEN CAIN returns this winter with Standarte, an atmospheric, emotionally charged alt-rock album available from today December 12th on the main digital streaming services. Now living in Co. Laois, the artist describes the record as “the most honest and personal work I’ve ever made,” a project shaped as much by his three decades in music as by the new creative grounding he found in Ireland.

In order to celebrate his new effort, DAMIEN CAIN released the music videos for the songs ‘Fascinating Face’ and the title-track. A dark, emotional fusion of nu-metal and emo rock, ‘Fascinating Face’ the song explores the feeling of being trapped between denial and desire, telling yourself you’re not in love anymore, while every memory still pulls you back in. The video reflects this tension: a stream of hyper-real faces emerging from darkness, each one holding a different emotion: longing, fear, hope, desire, regret. Behind them, subtly woven into the shadows, DAMIEN CAIN appears singing the song, as if haunting their memories… or being haunted by his own. It creates an unintended, but powerful illusion: as though the story plays out inside the minds of the people on screen, and inside the places we hide our unsaid feelings. ‘Fascinating Face’ is about the intimacy we try to forget, the seconds we sealed inside us, the scent, the skin, the breath – the pieces of someone we carry even when we insist we’ve moved on.

The title-track goes back to ‘Wallenstein’, a song from the early ’90s. DAMIEN CAIN explained that “the original ‘Wallenstein’ was inspired by Salvador Dalí’s Christ of Saint John of the Cross. It was my protest song against war, power, and blind faith – written when I was twenty and full of rage and questions. The new song continues that thread, but from a different angle. It’s still a protest, but now it’s also a reflection. I’m angry about the same things, but I’ve learned to turn that anger into poetry instead of noise.”

AA

Damien M. Cain_1 (c) 2025 by Peter Smallwood

Damian Cain by Peter Smallwood

Beak> have remixed ‘Bus Stop’ by Litronix and today share a video, directed by Alex Terrazas and filmed on the sunny streets of East LA by Ské üblé.

Litronix comments, “Earth is a bus stop.  The… ‘in between’… another destination. Some of us wait patiently.  Some of us miss the bus.  We’re only here for a short period of time.  But why?  What is the reason?   Think deep, ruminating on this question, and you won’t be late for your bus.”

AA

AA

Beakremixart-990000079e05143c

Artwork Credit : Alex Terrazas

You’re being watched… Los Angeles rockers CRYMWAV have unleashed new single ‘Speak No Evil’ ft. Roman Jugg (The Damned), and it’s accompanied by a video directed by Joe Cardamone, formerly of The Icarus Line.

‘Speak No Evil’ is about creeping fascism, big tech, and the sense that you’re always being watched, so watch what you say… The mood is dark, but the music and message hit hard, stamped with CRYMWAV’s signature twist on the classic rock sound. New drummer Pat Muzingo (Junkyard) kicks things off with a Jerry Nolan–esque drum intro, while a gothic piano/harpsichord break courtesy of former Damned guitarist/keyboardist Roman Jugg injects the haunting spirit of Phantasmagoria.

AA

AA

Formed in Los Angeles in 2022 from the ashes of glam rockers Smash Fashion, CRYMWAV (pronounced Crimewave) is the brainchild of lead singer/songwriter Roger Deering. With roots in the American hardcore scene of the 1980s and influences spanning punk, post-punk, goth, NWOBHM, Thin Lizzy, UFO, and The Ruts, Deering recalls how the project first sparked, “I was staying in London about four years ago when a songwriting spree hit me. I wanted to channel the spirit of bands from that area—Hawkwind, The Clash, Killing Joke, Motörhead. I came back to LA with a fistful of songs, and CRYMWAV was born.”

That vision led to CRYMWAV’s self-released 2023 six-song EP 24/7, which drew rave reviews. Now, Speak No Evil—alongside the acclaimed earlier singles Contagious and Sense of Adventure, offers a glimpse of the band’s forthcoming full-length album, due spring 2026.

AA

Crymwav cover

Inverted Grim-Mill Recordings – 4th December 2025

Christopher Nosnibor

Before we arrive at the present, let’s rewind a bit. Everyone likes some backstory, a hint of prequel, right? So we’re going back to 2018, and the arrival of the Crusts EP by Pak40, a band named after a German 75 millimetre anti-tank gun, and a review which I started by saying that ‘I practically creamed my pants over Pak40’s live show in York, just up the road from my house, a few months back. I didn’t exactly know what to make of them, which was part of the appeal – they didn’t conform to any one style, but they were bloody good.’ 2021 brought the arrival of debut album Bunker, a heavy slugger by any standards.

They’ve always been a band devoted to sonic impact, and since guitarist Leo Hancill paired up with Cat Redfern to form Teleost and then relocated to Glasgow, Pak40 have been resting – but not giving up or growing tame. And more than anything, that time out has been spent in contemplation over intensifying their sound.

It may be that production plays a part, but Superfortress goes far beyond anything previous in terms of density and intensity. This is not to diminish the potent stoner riffery of Bunker, which contained some mammoth tracks with some mammoth riffs, but Superfortress is a major step up. Sure, Bunker was all the bass, but here, they elevate the volume and intensity in a way which replicates the thunderous, ribcage-blasting, ear-flapping force of the live show.

Four years on from Bunker, Superfortress very much solidifies the Sabbath-influenced aspect of their hefty doom / drone sound with the reverb-laden vocals, but also ratchets up the monstrous weight of previous releases by some way.

The first track, the ten-minute megalith that is ‘Old Nomad’ is as heavy as it gets. The drumming is relentless in its weight and thunderous force, but the bass… Hell, the bass. It lands like a double-footed kick to the chest, even through comparatively small speakers, replicating the impact of the live sound on the current tour. ‘Crushing’ may be a cliché but Pak40 deliver a density of sound that just may smash your ribs and smash your lungs. The title track begins tentatively, the riff only forming at first, before the drums and distortion kick in and from then on it’s massive, even before the vocals, bathed in a cavernous reverb arrive. Its low and it’s slow and it’s doomy, but it’s also earthy and rich in that vintage folk horror doom vibe, and it’s the slowed-down Black Sabbath inspired riffing that dominates the third and final cut, the feedback-squalling instrumental ‘Ascend’.

There’s something wonderfully old-school about this – but at the same time, it pushes things further in terms of weight and volume. And in those terms, Superfortress sees Pak40 push those things to an extreme. This is a monster.

AA

AA

a4105998785_10

BLACK LUNG drop the opening track ‘Traveler’ as the first single taken from the American heavy psych rockers’ forthcoming new full-length Forever Beyond. The fifth album from the Baltimore, Maryland outfit is scheduled for release on March 6, 2026.

BLACK LUNG comment on ‘Traveler’: “This song is about relying on one’s anxiety and depression – almost like a super power”, vocalist and guitarist David Cavalier writes. “You think, it’s the things that are going to keep you safe and sharp. In reality, it’s the complete opposite. The song also touches on the idea of living in a blameless world. Radical acceptance of people and who they are. Musically, this is one of my favorite tracks. We made it as dynamic as possible and each section feels like its own moment.”

AA

AA

ecb388b6-fc1f-c736-5320-24e163284dee

Not so long ago, and not for the first time I got quite excited about WENCH! when they made the journey to York and performed an absolutely killer set.

Well, now the feisty riot grrrl punks have joined forces with electro party punk Jodie Langford to produce this stomping new single ‘You’ve Got Male!’ – a playful tune that mocks the stupid things heard coming out of men’s mouths when talking about women – and the single’s a taste of what’s to come from the upcoming album collaboration, released by the Hull based Warren Youth Project’s label Warren Records.

Recorded at The Warren’s in-house studio & produced by local indie maestro Adam Pattrick, ‘You’ve Got Male!’ is about misogynistic mole-rats who hold women at an unattainably high standard due to their perception of femininity being affected by unrealistic media imagery.

Excited to try out new ways of working, Jodie says “it’s not often I want to collaborate, so to get the opportunity to spend time in the studio with WENCH!, a band whose message & ethos I strongly agree with, was a real treat! I’ve gotten used to working with a producer of late, so it was eye-opening to see how a band form their ideas & structure a song” – as for WENCH!: “We loved working with Jodie as it’s not every day you get the opportunity to work with the queen of poetic party punk! She’s the perfect person for us to work with as we all fit together so well, like an unconventional punk family!”

Jodie Langford is well established on Hull’s local music scene & in recent years has become a festival showstopper, dominating stages across the UK with her unique blend of spoken word / electro party punk & visceral vocal deliveries – to boot, WENCH! are a powerful all-female, all-queer punk trio fuelled by female rage who’ve already made a strong impact on their local scene since forming in 2023! Both Jodie & WENCH! have individually performed at Reading & Leeds as well as other festivals across the UK in recent years.

Click on image to listen – we’re having site issues with embedding it right now.

JodieLangfordWench_ArtistImage1_1080sqr

Portion Control are a highly influential British electronic group who formed in London in 1979. Their early, innovative use of drum machines and samplers on classic albums such as I Staggered Mentally (1982) and Step Forward (1984) inspired a subsequent generation of acts that included Skinny Puppy, Nitzer Ebb, Front Line Assembly and Nine Inch Nails.

True forefathers of scenes such as electro-punk, Industrial and EBM, they continue to excite and inspire, regularly releasing new material promoted with bursts of hi-octane live energy, vocalist Dean Piavani prowling the stage as audiences are assailed by a deluge of electronic sounds aligned to a barrage of visuals.

Following decades of staunch independence, Portion Control have just signed to Artoffact Records with the intention of providing a much deserved broader platform from which to promote their work. Alongside new material, the label will curate and reissue the group’s back catalogue, allowing their work to be fully appreciated at last.

Marking the announcement of this exciting new partnership is the release today (5th December) of a fully remastered and expanded version of SEED EP3, first issued in 2021 as a set of short and long-form pieces. Expertly overseen by Paul Lavigne at Kontrast Mastering, SEED EP3.1 boasts an additional three new tracks that include ‘Possessed’ video. Now containing 16 electronic songs and instrumentals, with a total duration of almost 64 minutes, SEED EP3.1 acts as both a starting point to discover Portion Control as well as providing an enthralling revisit for existing fans.

AA

9116c2a5ae663800128440de7ac568f8047fbfbf