Posts Tagged ‘Official music video’

Watch: ‘Wastelands’ by IRON ALTAR

Posted: 14 November 2026 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
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Edinburgh extreme metal five-piece IRON ALTAR have announced their new album, From the Bones of the Earth, set to be released on January 29, 2027 via Road to Masochist. To coincide with the announcement, the band have dropped the music video for “Wastelands”, the first single taken from the forthcoming record.

Check it here:

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Combining modern death metal, discordant sludge and metallic hardcore, From the Bones of the Earth marks a significant step forward for the Scottish outfit, expanding their uncompromising sound through increasingly dynamic arrangements, dissonant textures and oppressive atmospheres.

Recorded at No Studio in Manchester with producer and engineer Joe Clayton (Conjurer, Mastiff, Underdark), the album builds upon the foundations of their previous work while introducing a more focused and ambitious approach to songwriting. Its lyrical themes explore postmodern dystopia, societal disconnection and decay, reflecting a fractured world through violent rhythmic shifts, suffocating heaviness and moments of atmospheric restraint.

The newly released ‘Wastelands’ provides the first introduction to this new chapter, capturing the band’s ability to move between crushing death metal aggression, discordant sludge and the visceral intensity of metallic hardcore.

Formed in 2016 and featuring members of Hammer and Codespeaker, Iron Altar have steadily established themselves within the UK underground metal scene through their relentless live performances and distinctive approach to extreme music.

Their previous album, Promethean, was released in 2023 through Trepanation Recordings and recorded with Lewis Johns at The Ranch Studios. Following its release, the band toured extensively across the UK and Ireland, sharing stages with Heriot, Conan, Hellripper, Blood Red Throne and Baest, alongside appearances at Bloodstock Open Air and airplay on BBC Radio 1 Introducing.

With From the Bones of the Earth, Iron Altar continue to develop their identity at the intersection of death metal, sludge and hardcore, delivering their most mature, dynamic and uncompromising material to date.

From the Bones of the Earth will be released January 29, 2027 via Road to Masochist, pre-orders will be announced soon.

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Watch: ‘Walking with the Angels’ by David J

Posted: 8 November 2026 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
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The lushly orchestrated ‘Walking With The Angels’ has been released as a new single by the alternative rock musician, producer, writer and artist David J. Renowned as the co-founder, co-songwriter and bassist of legendary post-punk bands Bauhaus and Love and Rockets, J has also enjoyed a successful parallel solo career with sixteen solo albums released to date.

‘Walking With The Angels’ was recorded in Prague using two dozen musicians from the city’s Symphony and Philharmonic Orchestras hand-picked by lead violinist Karel Holas, with Jan Valta orchestrating and conducting. “The song came about very spontaneously, as I was actually there to produce an incredibly talented singer-songwriter who shall remain nameless,” admits J. “However, he had some very self-destructive traits and was in no fit state to enter the studio, so the sessions were cancelled. But, we still had the orchestra booked for two days, so I stayed up all night writing this song about the situation, venting my frustration over what had gone on. I went into the studio the next day and did the vocal in one take.”

A video for ‘Walking With The Angels’ has been made by the actor Marc Warren (Van der Valk), a friend of J’s who attended the recording session. “I had the good fortune to witness the inspiration, birth and production of the song, which had a synchronicity to it that only the magic of Prague could manifest," explains Warren. "For the video, I back projected (out of focus) the inspiration for the song onto a wall of the studio and shot David in front of it in one take. Only we know what’s in that projection.”

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‘Walking With The Angels’ follows the recently issued ‘Requiem For The Rose Garden’ a protest song about the Trump administration. Both tracks are included on J’s new album, Postcards From The Afterlife, out on 27th November via Label 51 Recordings on 2xLP coloured vinyl, CD and digitally.

A musically diverse 14 song set with numerous autobiographical references that climaxes with ‘Walking With The Angels’, the album features a revolving cast of musicians including the talented multi-instrumentalist Julian Shah-Tayler, who co-wrote three tracks with J. Several songs feature string arrangements, with others ranging from the soulful to hazy ‘60s orchestral pop influenced, and from Leonard Cohen-esque Euro-style chanson to the alternative rock for which J is best known.

“This album is essentially about the poignant persistence of connection, be it in life or in death,” states J. "Schisms and transitions. Love found and love lost. Requiems, reflection and revelation.” The front cover is a painting by the artist Stefan Prince that features a large owl, a classic ‘psychopomp’ acting as a guide from the earthly realm to the afterlife. It is fitting for what J says is an album that “acts as an escort of sorts, leading the listener through the corridors of the liminal where some doors close as others open and the moon illuminates the path.”

J will play nine UK shows in December and also has upcoming dates in Portugal, Germany and Greece. The full itinerary is as follows:

27th November  PORTO Auditório CCOP (PT) tkts
28th November  LISBON RCA Club (PT) tkts
1st December  LONDON Moth Club (UK) tkts
2nd December  READING Face Bar (UK) tkts
4th December  HEBDEN BRIDGE Trades Club (UK) tkts
5th December  LIVERPOOL Rough Trade (UK) tkts
8th December  EDINBURGH The Voodoo Rooms (UK) tkts
9th December  GLASGOW Stereo (UK) tkts
10th December  NEWCASTLE The Cluny (UK) tkts
11th December  BIRMINGHAM Hare & Hounds (UK) tkts
13th December  BRIGHTON Daltons (UK) tkts
15th December  ATHENS Death Disco (GR) tkts
17th December  BERLIN Frannz Club (DE) tkts

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David J

The Slow Day – Fire

Posted: 5 November 2026 in Reviews, Singles and EPs
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18th September 2026

Christopher Nosnibor

After a five-year hiatus, Manchester alt-rock band The Slow Day made their live comeback in August of last year, following it with the singles ‘Antidote’ and ‘All We Left Behind’ earlier this year. The arrival of ‘Fire’ firmly re-establishes their place as one of Manchester’s finest contemporary acts. Much has already been said of the way their sound draws on a broad range of ‘classic’ acts of the past but injects enough fresh energy to steer them well clear of being a nostalgia rip-off band.

‘Fire’, which they say is “a love song about acceptance, honesty and finding the one person brave enough to let you burn brighter,” is both a grower and an instant grab, starting out with sparse, shimmering guitar spaced out over a mellow, sedate bassline. Adam Moss is in a romantic mood, his grizzled tones crooning gently, ‘your heart takes me to desire’, and opining on his love’s fine features, including her red hair. Then, in a beat, he’s belting out with full lungs ‘YOU SET MY SOUL ON FIRE!’ Now, lyrically, this is hardly some novel poetical creation: love burning like fire and the like was a staple of the sonnet in the Elizabethan era. Similarly, starting delicately to entice the listener in before letting fly with the full band sound driving an anthemic chorus is by no means an innovation. But, when it comes to tried and tested tropes and templates, it’s all about the execution.

These guys are no youths, and have been around long enough to hear plenty of bands, meaning they don’t have the arrogance – or ignorance – to think that what they’re doing is breaking new ground, and instead, they’re able to work to their strengths. They’re not just technically solid, but the song positively crackles with the kind of energy that’s never been present on an Oasis record.

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The Slow Day Artwork

Watch: ‘Ruins’ by Meersein

Posted: 30 October 2026 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
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What remains when everything we have built begins to fall apart? With ‘Ruins,’ the first single from the upcoming album Perfection, the artist explores a dark vision of a world pushed beyond its limits. The song confronts the consequences of relentless ambition, environmental destruction, and the loss of humanity in the pursuit of progress.

The lyrics paint a picture of a civilization in decline: poisoned air, collapsing skyscrapers, burning forests, and a sun that has become a cold, distant observer. The absence of laughter and children playing makes the devastation feel even more profound. This is not just the destruction of buildings and landscapes, but the loss of hope and the promise of a future.

At the heart of the song lies the recurring line, “We pushed too hard, we went too far.” It serves as both an accusation and a warning. The catastrophe is not portrayed as an unavoidable fate, but as the result of human choices and the belief that everything can be controlled, improved, or conquered.

The image of holding the sun in our hands before burning it down captures the central contradiction of human ambition: we have the power to create extraordinary things, yet we can also destroy the very foundations on which they depend.

As the first single from the new album, ‘Ruins’ introduces one of the album’s central questions: is the pursuit of perfection worth its price? With its apocalyptic imagery and uncompromising lyrics, MEERSEIN delivers a powerful reflection on a world on the edge – and the choices that brought it there.

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MEERSEIN is a solo music project blending the nostalgic spirit of 1980s synth music with dark atmospheres, melancholic depth, and contemporary electronic production. With the upcoming album Perfection, the project explores the boundaries between human ambition, imperfection, and the world we create.

Stream/download the digital single: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/meersein/ruins

The upcoming album Perfection is available for pre-order here: https://www.meersein-official.com/shop.html

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Meersein photo by Patrick Nelke

Watch: ‘T.R.L.T’ by Shooting Daggers

Posted: 19 October 2026 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
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London punk trio Shooting Daggers released their new mini-album The Real Life Thing in June via New Heavy Sounds, which featured special guests in the form of The Menstrual Cramps and Dennis Lyxzén from Refused.

This morning the band have shared a new video for the single, ‘T.R.L.T’ a track which they say, "is an invite to keep focusing on what’s real and tangible, genuine relationships with people, animals and the planet.”

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“’T.R.L.T’ is an invite to keep focusing on what’s real and tangible, genuine relationships with people, animals and the planet.”

‘T.R.L.T’ is the new single from Shooting Daggers, the band that never seems to stop. Sal, Bea and Raquel are one of the hardest working outfits out there, constantly playing shows and lending their support to myriad causes all around the U.K. and Europe.

Two years on from the release of their acclaimed debut album Love & Rage the band released new mini-album The Real Life Thing in June (New Heavy Sounds).

Recorded at Bear Bites Horse Studio with Wayne Adams (Big Lad, Green Lung), The Real Life Thing is the latest hardcore sonic missive from one of London’s must-see bands, and it absolutely does not disappoint. Shooting Daggers are the real deal; the best, and most exciting and adventurous hardcore-inspired band in the country. A ‘mini album‘. 7 songs and 20 minutes of driving rocket fuelled punk meets melody picking up from their debut to go further into their own space, featuring special guests in the form of ‘The Menstrual Cramps’ and Dennis Lyxzén from Refused.

Thinking of a concept for the video for new single ‘T.R.L.T’ was an easy choice for the band. They state, “We wanted a good old tour and recording BTS video.  We wanted to capture some of the good moments we had as a band so far, highlighting the wonderful people we met on our path, the beautiful cities we visited and the ecstatic energy that only playing on a stage can give you and lastly the love we have for each other as band members that goes behind simple friendship. You can find snippets of tours and moments as old as 3 years ago right up to last summer.  It’s such a privilege to be able to look back and realise how lucky we’ve been and how far in the world hard work can take you.”

Upcoming shows:

Oct 22nd – Rotterdam – Poortgebouw ^ (NL)

Oct 23rd – Charleroi – Carolo Culture ^ (BE)

Oct 24th – Paris – Le Chinois (FR) ^

Oct 29th – Strasbourg – Molodoi (FR) ×

Oct 30th – Karlsruhe – P8² (DE) ×

Oct 31st – Basel – Sommercasino (CH) ×

Nov 13th – Manchester – The Old  Pint Pot (UK)

Nov 14th – Glasgow – Core Fest (UK)

Nov20th – Bordeaux – Burdi Fest  (FR)

Nov 21st – Montaigu – Fury Dance Revenge (FR)

^ w/ The Menstrual Cramps

× Femme Rebellion Fest

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Watch: ‘The Dead End’ by Virgin Birth

Posted: 18 October 2026 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
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Louisville, Kentucky – based industrial punk band, VIRGIN BIRTH has just returned with a new six-song EP, The Dead End.

The Dead End continues VIRGIN BIRTH’s fascination with the darker corners of electronic music, punk, and the increasingly strange world we all find ourselves living in. Where previous releases looked outward at collapse on a larger scale, these songs feel closer to the ground… more immediate, claustrophobic, and personal.

The Dead End is a collection of songs about exhaustion, isolation, dread, and the feeling that the path forward has narrowed considerably. It’s industrial punk for a world that seems to be running on fumes. There’s no solution waiting for you at the end of these songs… only a dead end.

Watch the video for the title track here:

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VIRGIN BIRTH is an industrial punk trio consisting of Phillip Olympia (vocals, synth, drum machines), Jake Miller (guitars, synth) and Matt Haas (bass) based in Louisville, Kentucky. All three bring deep roots in punk and indie rock, having played in various bands over the years. Their shared appreciations for the industrial scene of the ’80s and ’90s sparked numerous conversations, which eventually led them to aggressively experiment with drum machines, synthesizers and sampling.

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Virgin Birth

Watch: ‘Seven’ by Gates Of Autricon

Posted: 14 October 2026 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
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French melodic death metal/metalcore quartet GATES OF AUTRICON have released a music video for their new single ‘Seven,’ a hard-hitting blast of relentless riffs, guttural vocals and epic melodic leads, fusing melodic death metal with modern metalcore muscle.

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Hailing from France’s Franche-Comté region, GATES OF AUTRICON bring together the melodic aggression of death metal with the immediacy and power of modern metalcore. Drawing influence from bands including Trivium, Malevolence and Children of Bodom, the quartet balance crushing riffs and visceral vocals with soaring melodies, guitar solos and an unmistakable desire to tear things apart on stage.

With ‘Seven’ that aggression is matched by an equally confrontational subject.

“This song is about our leaders’ disregard for the voice of the people and social peace,” says the band. “It crystallizes 10 years of mounting tension. It was important for us to record it in the studio and pay special attention to our sound. It’s a hard-hitting track that encapsulates what we do best.”

The band’s roots stretch back to Chartres, known as Autricon in the Celtic language, where its members spent years developing their shared musical identity and love of aggressive riffs and guttural vocals. It was later in Belfort that GATES OF AUTRICON fully brought the project to life, eventually releasing their debut EP Reclaim.

Since then, the band have steadily established themselves within the eastern French metal scene. With artistic support from Belfort venue La Poudrière, they opened the Sapins Metaliks Winter Fest in November 2025 alongside Assigned Fate, Fractal Universe and Gorod, closed the Fête de la Musique at the legendary Atelier des Môles in June 2026, and most recently headlined La Poudrière’s Support Your Local Bands event in October 2026.

At the heart of GATES OF AUTRICON is a constantly evolving take on modern metal, pairing ambitious songwriting and an aggressive, melodic sound with socially conscious lyrics rooted in anxiety, frustration and growing social tension.

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Watch: ‘Cop Out’ by Bokassa

Posted: 8 October 2026 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
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Norwegian stoner-punk rockers Bokassa return with a bang on ferocious new single ‘Cop Out,’ a no-nonsense barnburner set to please fans of the band’s heavier side.

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The track sees the power trio firing on all cylinders, leaning into their metallic hardcore roots with a dash of thrash metal. ‘Cop Out’ is an unapologetic blast inspired by everything from protest songs with lyrics so broad they could apply to anyone, to bands that probably should have called it quits years ago but are still squeezing money out of their fans.

“It’s about quitting while you’re ahead, before you become something you despise. Before you start doing expensive VIP meet & greets, before you write lyrics that are just empty buzzwords, before you start doing TikTok dance videos to sell more tickets. I don’t wanna spend my time coming up with new ways to get views on social media when I know there are still different pizzas out there I haven’t tried yet,” says vocalist Jørn Kaarstad.

Perhaps that’s one of the reasons why, in 2026, Bokassa are releasing music through their own label, Kings of Stonerpunk Records, under which they’ve released several titles over the years, including their universally acclaimed 2017 debut, Divide & Conquer.

Alongside the new single, Bokassa also announce their fifth album, Anomalies, a fitting title for a band that has never quite fit in anywhere.

The band’s relentless collision of punk, metal and rock subgenres into their own self-styled stonerpunk has seen them tour with acts as diverse as Clutch, Lagwagon, Therapy?, Zebrahead and Mastodon. That same refusal to stick to a single genre has always made Bokassa difficult to pigeonhole. In a world where bands are often rewarded for sounding like other bands people already love, Bokassa mostly sound like themselves.

“I don’t wanna be a ‘we got McDonald’s at home’ version of an older, better band. I see bands becoming universally acclaimed for that, and it’s probably smart to do so for commercial success, but then again, we’ve never been a band known for smart decisions. So we’ll stick to what we think is exciting,” says Kaarstad.

Anomalies will arrive in March 2027, accompanied by an extensive tour across Europe, the UK and the band’s native Norway.

Catch Bokassa live across Norway, the UK and Europe on the following dates:

March 12 – Kulturhuset i Bergen – Bergen, NO
March 13 – Blårock – Tromsø, NO
March 20 – Rockefeller – Oslo, NO
April 2 – Kafé Krank – Kristiansand, NO
April 3 – Folken – Stavanger, NO
April 9 – Byscenen – Trondheim, NO
April 16 – The Cobblestones – Bridgwater, UK
April 17 – The Black Heart – London, UK
April 18 – The Old Salutation – Nottingham, UK
April 19 – The Lodge – Manchester, UK
April 20 – The Joiners – Southampton, UK
May 6 – Monument 013 – Gothenburg, SE
May 7 – Stengade – Copenhagen, DK
May 8 – Betty – Hamburg, DE
May 9 – FRANNZ CLUB – Berlin, DE
May 11 – Nachtleben – Frankfurt, DE
May 12 – Luxor Live – Arnhem, NL
May 13 – DB’s – Utrecht, NL
May 15 – Antwerp Metal Fest – Antwerp, BE

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Photo by Thomas Moe Ellefsrud

Watch: ‘Get Up’ by Mass Minor

Posted: 5 October 2026 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
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Mass Minor is an Austin, Texas-based darkwave and electronic rock project led by Andrew J. Martin, Jr.. Blending atmospheric synths and driving guitars into cinematic songwriting, Martin also draws from post-punk, synth-pop and alternative rock influences to create a sound that feels both nostalgic and thoroughly modern.#

Mass Minor recently signed to Metropolis Records and have released a new single entitled ‘Get Up’. “This song is a conversation with God at 169 BPM  about sin, money, mortality and the things we sacrifice our lives to,” explains Martin. "It comes from this idea of asking God to save us from problems we created ourselves. Maybe it’s not God’s job to save us. Maybe we need to fix our own shit. You’re the one holding the light. Get up.”

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‘Get Up’ is the follow-up to the pulsating ‘Nowhere Now’, which was issued as a single in late July, with both songs included on a long-awaited new Mass Minor album, Beyond The Edge Of Reason, out in late February 2027.

Martin self-released the 2020 debut Mass Minor album, Become Each Other, as well as several singles subsequently collected together on EPs, and has maintained a consistent presence in the dark alternative scene via radio support, multiple SXSW appearances and performances alongside groups such as Twin Tribes, Ultra Sunn, TRAITRS, Vision Video, Urban Heat and Sacred Skin.

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Metamorph – Witchfire

Posted: 30 September 2026 in Reviews, Singles and EPs
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18th September 2026

Christopher Nosnibor

Every day is Halloween in the world of Margot Day. So the fact that she’s dropped ‘Witchfire’ mid-September is simply her doing her thing. The New Yorker’s been doing shimmery gothy stuff since the 80s with The Plague, and as Metamorph, she’s been prolific in conjuring witchy-themed electropop for a whole decade now, and ‘Witchfire’ is all treat, no trick.

It’s a succinct sliver of a song, which balances equally elements of quintessential post-punk and contemporary pop stylings. How this translates is a song driven by an uptempo, propulsive synth bass and pumping drum machine paired with a song-song vocal melody treated, in places, with some heavy autotune. The autotune thing has become a massive trend in recent years – not in using it to tidy things up, but that wildly overprocessed ‘feature’ that we first heard on Cher’s ‘Life After Love’. Why is it all the rage now? I don’t know, and I can’t say I’m a fan, but its application here shows how Margot Day continues to move with the times, and that she’s unashamedly a pop artist as much as she is as a purveyor of sultry, seductive, supernatural gothiness. And it would be difficult to deny that ‘Witchfire’ is catchy.

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The dance mix which provides the b-side emphasises the bangin’ beats and adds a minute and a half, some of which is given to a flute solo, which works considerably better on the ears than it does on paper.

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