Phoenix-based metal band Buried has just released a gripping lyric video for their single ‘No Saviors,’ off the band’s forthcoming debut EP, Infect and Replicate.
‘No Saviors’ is just a taste of what’s to come from their debut EP, set for release in early 2025. With this powerful introduction, Buried is poised to establish themselves as a force to be reckoned with in the metal world.
Watch the video here:
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Founded by the creative forces of Preston Wilson (bass) and Alex Valdés (guitar), they sought to channel their vast array of influences into a sound that melds multiple genres. In search of like-minded bandmates, they brought on Erik Scott, a powerful drummer with a diverse style, and Ben Rosputni, a fierce vocalist who had shared the stage with Preston in a band 15 years prior. Their reunion added a layer of depth and history to the band’s formation, grounding Buried in both experience and renewed passion.
Buried’s music can be described as a mix between the heavy, doom-laden riffs of Black Sabbath and the aggressive intensity of Burn the Priest. Infect and Replicate is set for release in early 2025, promising to introduce their powerful sound to metal fans everywhere.
Huge Molasses Tank Explodes will release their new album III on 6th September via Tidal Wave Records.
They have now shared ‘Distant Glow’, a track that starts with a slow and soothing mood reminiscent of 60’s psychedelic pop, accompanied by layers of mellotron and Farfisa, and it later evolves into space-rock, where fuzzed-out guitar echoes and trippy synths take over. The song’s soundscape is simultaneously melancholic and colourful, creating a perfect canvas for its themes of isolation and distance.
Listen here:
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‘Distant Glows’ follows previous singles ‘Bow of Gold’, a track built upon contrasting kraut-derived sequenced synth lines, spacy textures, jangly guitars drenched in reverb and full psych fuzz-driven drone walls, and ‘Indeterminate’, a song driven by a motorik rhythm sustained by a stubborn synth bass sequence on top of layers of synths, spacey guitars and vocoder vocals.
An immersive psychedelic reverie. This is what Huge Molasses Tank Explodes has to offer: a liquid continuity of landscapes, as envisioned by the minds of Fabrizio De Felice (voice, guitar, synth), Giacomo Tota (guitar), Luca Umidi (bass) and Gabriele Arnolfo (drums, now played by Michele Schiavina). The Milan, Italy-based band offers us a kaleidoscopic experience, ranging from rugged and evocative beats to dreamy soundscapes, inspired by post-punk and psych-wave. With a hypnotic and almost serene sound in mind, transfiguring humanity with new electronic streaks and vocal blends, the brand-new album ‘III’ showcases ethereal, yet powerful, musical canvases that celebrate the band’s influences, taste and psychedelic vision.
Once again, following the release of a four-way split showcasing local talent a few months ago, Stoke proves the be the spawning ground of more off-kilter noisy noise, this time from no-wave duo Don’t Try with their second EP. As an additional point of note, and also something of a recommendation / hype point, the EP’s artwork is courtesy of Dan Holloway, of USA Nails/Eurosuite/Dead Arms fame, who worked with the band previously on their 2018 single ‘JWAFJ’. To accompany the release, Dan has also realised a video in his own inimitable style.
Like ‘JWAFJ’, their first EP, Elvis Is Dead was released in 2018, meaning it’s been a full six years since they last released anything, suggesting that on the output stakes at least, they’ve been living up to the band’s name.
Lead track ‘my grazed knee’ with its gritty yet poppy synths and urgent, determined beats isn’t actually a million miles from the sound of The Eurosuite. It reminds us of the proximity of new wave to punk, and the reasons why new wave and post-punk are essentially interchangeable terms. And while punk did, undoubtedly, spawn some great tunes (I’d perhaps contend less great bands, in that many punk acts, with a few notable exceptions like The Ruts and Adverts, produced only one or two outstanding or even memorable sings, and were unable to deliver the entirety of a solid album, let alone a career), it was post-punk where things got interesting, after things had evolved from three-chord stomps. If punk was predominantly pissed-off, railing against boredom and just off the rails, what followed explored a greater emotional range, and was more articulate, both musically and lyrically. For all its rebellion and antagonism toward conventions and norms, punk very quickly established its own conventions and norms: post-punk broke down those definitions to explore in myriad different directions, fragmenting and evolving into countless new genres.
It’s been a long time since the advent of both punk and new wave now, and in theory, any contemporary exponent of either is liable to tie themselves to certain tropes. But contemporary punk bands, more often than not, seem to be so limited in their scope, whereas many current acts who align themselves with post punk / new wave offer a broader range – even the ones who have been lazily lumped into the bracket of Joy Division imitators. I mention this as I discovered both Interpol and Editors because they were constantly being compared to Joy Division, and while I came to like both bands very much, my first reaction was dismay laced with disappointment over how unlike Joy Division either act sounded.
And so, circuitously, we arrive back with Don’t Try. ‘my grazed knee,’ as I was starting to say before I embarked on my obligatory and epic detour, is a fuzzy, low-fi keyboard-driven cut that boasts a monstrous throbber of a grindy synth bass groove that lands between Suicide and Cabaret Voltaire’s ‘Nag Nag Nag.’ But it’s a lot harder, harsher, noiser, more aggressive, more antagonised. Punkier? I suppose it’s representative of the point at which that nascent industrial sound began to evolve, but there’s also a manic hardcore edge to it, which is more apparent on the harsh assault of ‘climax in the imax’. Here, everything is ratcheted up in its volume and intensity, there’s a clattering metallic snare sound that crashes like a bin lid through the song’s duration, and about two-thirds in, it sounds like someone’s started up a drill and it all suddenly goes slower and heavier and you start to feel like things are getting dark and tense. This is very much a positive, in case you’re wondering.
There’s a clear trajectory to this EP, a sonic evolution which moved forward with each track, and things turn full-on industrial on the third track, ‘ritual’, which manifests are a monstrous, relentless rhythmic pounding reminiscent of mid-80s SWANS and the heavy grind of Godflesh. The crazed, anguished vocals are howled, yelped, drawled, hinting at the manic howl of the Jesus Lizard (and so, equally, Blacklisters). After hitting what feels like a locked groove around the mid-point, everything explodes and the track – and EP – climaxes in a slamming wall of ear-blasting noise. None of it’s pretty. All of it’s good.
The ever-enigmatic Godspeed You! Black Emperor have announced their new album in suitably oblique form – only, their message is loud and clear here. There’s no press hype for the album in their accompanying statement, but no explanation is required when it comes to the their focus: the album’s title alone speaks for itself. NO TITLE AS OF 13 FEBRUARY 2024 28,340 DEAD. This is, of course, the number of Gazan casualties since 7th October 2023. That number now stands at in excess of 41,000.
The final track on the album, ‘GREY RUBBLE – GREEN SHOOTS’ is an expansive seven-minute piece which balances darkness and hope.
The accompanying statement reads as follows, and you can hear the track below:
THE PLAIN TRUTH== we drifted through it, arguing. every day a new war crime, every day a flower bloom. we sat down together and wrote it in one room, and then sat down in a different room, recording. NO TITLE= what gestures make sense while tiny bodies fall? what context? what broken melody? and then a tally and a date to mark a point on the line, the negative process, the growing pile. the sun setting above beds of ash while we sat together, arguing. the old world order barely pretended to care. this new century will be crueler still. war is coming. don’t give up. pick a side. hang on. love. GY!BE
29 Sep 2024 • London UK • Troxy 30 Sep 2024 • Glasgow, UK • Barrowlands 01 Oct 2024 • Manchester UK • Ritz 02 Oct 2024 • Bristol UK • Marble Factory 03 Oct 2024 • Coventry UK • The Empire 04 Oct 2024 • Tourcoing FR • Le Grand Mix 05 Oct 2024 • Esch-Alzette LU • Kufa 06 Oct 2024 • Paris FR • Le Trianon 08 Oct 2024 • Nantes FR • Stereolux 09 Oct 2024 • Nancy FR • L’Autre Canal (Jazz Pulsation Festival) 10 Oct 2024 • Zürich CH • Volkshaus 11 Oct 2024 • Lausanne CH • Les Docks 12 Oct 2024 • Frankfurt DE • Zoom 14 Oct 2024 • Berlin DE • Huxleys 15 Oct 2024 • Amsterdam NE • Paradiso 16 Oct 2024 • Brussels BE • AB 18 Oct 2024 • Athens GR • Floyd
NORTH AMERICA NOV 2024 04 Nov 2024 • Hamilton ON • Bridgeworks 05 Nov 2024 • Toronto ON • History 06 Nov 2024 • London ON • London Music Hall 07 Nov 2024 • Grand Rapids MI • Elevation 08 Nov 2024 • Chicago IL • The Salt Shed 09 Nov 2024 • St Paul MN • Palace Theater 11 Nov 2024 • Lawrence KS • Liberty Hall 12 Nov 2024 • Fayetteville AR • George’s Majestic Lounge 13 Nov 2024 • Nashville TN • The Basement East 14 Nov 2024 • Knoxville TN • Bijou Theater 15 Nov 2024 • Atlanta GA • The Masquerade 16 Nov 2024 • Charleston SC • The Music Farm 17 Nov 2024 • Saxapahaw NC • Haw River Ballroom 19 Nov 2024 • Washington DC • 9:30 Club 21 Nov 2024 • Brooklyn NY • Pioneerworks 22 Nov 2024 • Norwalk CT • District Music Hall 23 Nov 2024 • Boston MA • Roadrunner 24 Nov 2024 • Philadelphia PA • Union Transfer 25 Nov 2024 • Montréal, QC • MTELUS
NORTH AMERICA APR/MAY 2025 25 April 2025 • Austin, TX • TBA 26 April 2025 • Dallas, TX • Granada Theater 28 April 2025 • Denver, CO • Ogden Theater 30 April 2025 • Los Angeles, CA • The Bellweather 01 May 2025 • Santa Ana, CA • The Observatory OC 02 May 2025 • Tijuana, B.C., Mexico • Cine Bujazán 03 May 2025 • Ventura, CA • Ventura Music Hall 04 May 2025 • San Francisco, CA • Curran Theater 06 May 2025 • Portland, OR • Wonder Ballroom 07 May 2025 • Portland, OR • Wonder Ballroom 08 May 2025 • Seattle, WA • The Neptune 09 May 2025 • Seattle, WA • The Neptune 10 May 2025 • Vancouver, BC • Vogue Theatre 12 May 2025 • Kelowna, BC • Revelry 13 May 2025 • Calgary, AB • Palace Theatre 14 May 2025 • Edmonton, AB • Midway
Following the announcement of their new album Syv and the release of the wonderfully brutal first single ‘Utbrent’ last month, Norwegian black metal masters Mork are back today with their latest instalment of filth and misanthropy, ‘Heksebål’. An epic and progressive piece journeying back to the old times of judgment, fear and witch burning, ‘Heksebål’ arrives alongside a haunting new video by Matt Vickerstaff.
Watch the video here:
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When asked about the new single, Mork creator, frontman and mastermind Thomas Eriksen said “A depiction of mankind destroying what they don’t understand. Witch-hunts and witches at the stake burned to a crisp. Probably one of the more progressive songs with spellbinding riffs of witchery. May the spell curse those in doubt to a lifetime of bad luck and misery!”
Now marking twenty years since inception – which has seen a strong rise through the tiers of the black metal scene – Mork was created by Thomas Eriksen in 2004 & was primarily a side-project from inception until the debut album, Isebakke, in 2013. Since then, with a constant flow of releases and live performances spanning various continents including a hugely successful slot at this year’s Hellfest, the band has rightly earned the accolade as one of the top Norwegian black metal acts of recent years.
UPCOMING MORK SHOWS
14th September – Royal Metal Fest, Aarhus, Denmark
21st September – John Dee, Oslo, Norway (SYV release show)
28th September – The Bell Festival, Enebakk, Norway
12th October – California Deathfest, Los Angeles, USA
30th January -> 2nd February – 70.000 Tons Of Metal, Miami, FL – Ocho Rios, Jamaica
Norwegian hardcore/noise-rock innovators Hammok have just released the video for their latest track, ‘One Minute.’ Known for their explosive energy and genre-pushing sound, Hammok takes a step in a different direction with this release, offering a moment of calm after the storm that was their debut album, Look How Long Lasting Everything Is Moving Forward For Once.
‘One Minute’ is a collection of thoughts, feelings, and observations from the past two years of traveling and playing shows. Written early in the process of creating Long Lasting, the song didn’t quite fit with the rest of the album but always felt like it deserved to be heard. Now, presented in isolation, this track stands as the odd one out—an introspective piece devoid of screams, offering a different side of Hammok’s musical journey.
The band comments: “The calm after the storm that was Long Lasting. This is one of those songs that just slips out of you when you least expect it. While writing the Long Lasting album this song was finished early in the process but never really fit the album but there was always a feeling the song deserved to be put out for people to hear. The song is a collection of thoughts, feelings and observations throughout traveling and playing shows the past two years. Both the good and the bad. So here it is, presented in isolation, the odd one out. NO SCREAMS THIS TIME!!!!!!!!”
Bordeaux-based rock/metal band Seeds of Mary are back with a powerful new video for ‘Amor Fati,’ the first single from their highly anticipated new album, LOVE, set to be released on October 18th via Klonosphere / Season of Mist.
Directed by Thomas Duphil, the video for ‘Amor Fati’ delivers the big, bottom-heavy riffs that fans have come to expect from Seeds of Mary, coupled with dark and somewhat melancholic choruses.
Watch the video here:
AA
The band comments: ‘Amor Fati’ is the opening track of the new album. We chose it as the first single because it can be seen as a distillation of what the rest of the record holds: heavy riffs, haunting melodies, and ethereal atmospheres. Lyrically, it has a philosophical approach, drawing on the concept of Amor Fati dear to the Stoics and Nietzsche: ‘love what happens.’ The lyric video, created by our friend Thomas Duphil, features bodies in all their roughness and imperfections. This was the most obvious way for us to talk about self-acceptance, reality, and the trials of a fleeting life that leave their mark on our flesh. Each song on the album LOVE deals with a facet of love. Here, it’s perhaps its most intimate expression. And the fact that this track was written during the Covid period is probably no coincidence. We inevitably found ourselves confronting ourselves a lot during this significant time.”
LOVE, due out on October 18th, promises to be a defining moment in Seeds of Mary’s discography, blending their signature heavy riffs with dark, introspective lyrics and a raw, emotional edge. The album sees the band walking into heavier and darker tunes, incorporating more aggressive and screamed vocals, adding a new dimension to their already dynamic sound.
When iconic Norwegian vocalist Gaahl, revived TRELLDOM he did the only thing that could ever be expected from this exceptional artist: the unexpected. Hardly anybody could have predicted the stylistic shifts and the twists and turns of the forthcoming new full-length: …by the shadows…
A few weeks back, TRELLDOM opened their set at this year’s edition of Bergen’s Beyond the Gates festival followed the introduction via By the Shadows with the new opening track ‘The Voice of What Whispers’. This avant-garde jazzy yet relentlessly driving song conjured looks of confusion, fascination, and even rapture onto many faces in the crowd. Now the band releases ‘The Voice of What Whispers’ as the third single in the shape of an equally unexpected yet fascinating video. Who would have thought to see a Japanese horror style clip from a Norwegian band with deep roots in the black metal scene?
Dallas Kent might sound like a fictional cowboy, or possibly a made-up American town in a made-up state, but it’s actually the name bestowed upon the collaboration between London-based composer/producer Ian Williams (originally from Canterbury, Kent) and singer Crystal Brown (from Dallas, Texas). In that context, the moniker makes sense, of course.
As their bio explains, ‘It started in the late 2010s when Williams was looking for a singer to work with on some of his dark electronic pop songs, with Brown happening to live one street away from his studio in Hackney, East London… They swiftly recorded a considerable amount of material, but had to shelve the project when Brown relocated to the USA. The duo continued to discuss their options until finally, with Crystal settled in San Francisco and the pandemic giving everyone time to pause their normal lives, they decided to complete what they had begun so many years before.’
There’s no question that the pandemic changed a lot, if not, in some ways, everything. While many suffered with extreme alienation and the traumas of isolation and separation, it also forced a realisation of what was achievable, creatively, despite separation, and proved that the idea that ‘distance is no object’, which had long been embedded within the channels opened by The Internet was not merely a concept, but something which was more than simply a conceptual matter.
I suppose I realised this around the turn of the millennium, when I experienced something akin to a lockdown situation of sorts, albeit for very different reasons. I had relocated to Glasgow around Easter 2000 under difficult personal circumstances. I didn’t really know anyone. I was yet to make friends in my new job there. And I was so fucking broke I could barely afford to eat – a situation not particularly conducive to socialising and building new friendships. A friend I had known in York, who had subsequently moved to Sheffield, introduced me to Hole’s chatroom, and, stuck at home and unable to sleep, I found myself spending my nights online chatting to people from around the world at all hours, at least until, with dial-up Internet costing a penning a minute, I racked up a phone bill I couldn’t pay, and had my phone cut off. Then along came MySpace, and again, the possibilities for communication and collaboration across continents were immediately apparent. People who missed the age of the chatroom and MySpace were perhaps less predisposed to these potentialities, and consequently, the pandemic lockdowns hit them harder: they had to learn these things anew.
Anyway. This single entitled ‘Ghost Highway’, which, their bio tells us, ‘is redolent of Massive Attack and Ennio Morricone’ is the first fruits of their collaboration, ahead of ‘a full album that promises to be a mash-up of cinematic downtempo sounds, Americana, French disco and anything else they can throw into the mix.’
‘Ghost Higheway’ is very much a spacious trip-hop-influenced piece, with haunting vocals and a thick, dubby bass rolling low under a slow, deliberate, nod-along beat. Its magnificence lies in its sparse simplicity, and the fact it’s over almost as soon as it begins, and you find yourself yearning to delve deeper, to keep moving into this atmospheric world they’re presenting… it’s like the opening pages of mysterious, mystical novel, drawing you in and then…
The accompanying video is similarly compelling but without resolution: they describe it as ‘David Lynch-ian’ and explain how it was ‘filmed by Brown on her phone before being edited as psychedelically as possible by Williams.’
That they’ve kept this all in -house and simple and delivered something so compelling, so strong, is testament to their imagination and capacity for innovation, proving just how much can be achieved with minimal tech and over distance, given the drive and determination.
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DALLAS KENT | Crystal Brown (photo by Ian Williams) & Ian Williams (photo by Damien de Blinkk)
Having founded the industrial-electro act genCAB in 2006, David Dutton put the group on hold following the release of their debut album II transMuter two years later. A forward thinking record in the genre, it had blended elements of EBM and synth-pop into song arrangements perfectly suited for aggressive rock.
genCAB eventually returned in 2022 with a long-awaited follow-up entitled ‘Thoughts Beyond Words’, as well as the genre-bending ‘Everything You See Is Mine’ EP. These were promoted on a US tour with Aesthetic Perfection, for whom both Dutton and genCAB drummer Tim Van Horn had spent the intervening years playing live. 2023 saw genCAB sign to Metropolis Records, with the album ‘Signature Flaws’ appearing in the autumn. A meditation on one’s own demise, it introduced elements of shoegaze and post-hardcore to an already dense melting pot of disparate sounds.
‘Let It Rip’ is a new EP that precedes the cryptically entitled album III I II (THIRD EYE GEMINI), due out in late September 2024. Half of the full-length record is a modern day update of the best material contained on their 2008 debut, with the remainder consisting of brand new songs inspired by the re-recordings.
An improvement in the genCAB sound was already apparent via a recent rework of the 2008 track ‘Perish The Thought’ released as a single in 2023, but everything else is also now amped up to 11. Although retaining a raw and fresh feel that is faithful to the original renditions, the songs have been completely restructured and are sung with more confidence and conviction than ever by Dutton.
Aural Aggravation 