‘Broken Heart’ / ‘Fire’ is a brand new double AA single by the darkwave and goth scene leaders Clan of Xymox. Out today (23rd September), it is the first new music by the group since the release of their ‘Exodus’ album in mid-2024.
Clan of Xymox co-founder and frontman Ronny Moorings describes ‘Broken Heart’ as “a journey through heartbreak, desire and emotional combustion.” Driven by haunting synths, a hypnotic pulse and melancholic vocals, his aim with the song was “to capture the tension between losing someone and still being consumed by them.”
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Formed in the Netherlands in 1982, Clan of Xymox were originally signed to 4AD and established a cult following in the UK and mainland Europe with a highly atmospheric post-punk sound. The group enjoyed US chart success after signing to Polygram in the late-‘80s and shifting into a more commercial synth-pop direction that incorporated alternative dance elements, but it was the resurgence of the gothic and electro-industrial rock scenes a decade later that gave Moorings and his bandmates a fresh impetus from which they have prospered ever since.
The group have maintained a consistent international presence with regular releases and tours, with their 2026 schedule including main stage performances at the renowned WGT-Leipzig and M’era Luna festivals. Their live itinerary to the end of 2026 is as follows:
2nd October ROME Traffic Club (IT) 3rd October NAPLES Lizard Club (IT) 7th November BOCHUM Gleis 9 (DE) 10th November MUNICH Strom (DE) 11th November VIENNA Chelsea (AT) 12th November BUDAPEST A38 (HU) 13th November ZAGREB Culture Factory (HR) 21st November VALENCIA Sala Jerusalem (ES) 27th November ZABRZE Klub Ck Wiatrak (PL) 5th December STRASBOURG La Laiterie (FR)
Stockholm post-punk trio Then Comes Silence presents ‘Remaker Redeemer’, the second single from their forthcoming Requiem Ballroom album, due in November via Metropolis Records. The music video, filmed by Damon Zurawski of Future Legends Films, captures the song perfectly, descending into the space between death and rebirth, where the final journey into darkness becomes a passage toward transformation, renewal and the possibility of another world.
Then Comes Silence has also just launched their European tour, which runs throughout September and October, bringing them to venues and like-minded music lovers in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy and Czech Republic, before returning home to Sweden for the final show on this leg.
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A tightly focused trio since 2022, Then Comes Silence was formed in 2012 by vocalist-bassist Alex Svenson in 2012. Drummer Jonas Fransson and guitarist Hugo Zombie, round out the band in its most direct, powerful and uncompromising form. One of the leading names on today’s goth, post-punk and darkwave scene, they are driven by a fascination with horror, the occult and the raw intensity of underground music, having forged a distinctive sound and a devoted international following.
The Requiem Ballroom album itself is divided into two parts: ‘Ballroom’ was mixed by Jon Bordon (Nicole Sabouné, Melody Club, The Exploding Boy) and the ‘Requiem’ half was mixed byTom van Heesch (Rammstein, Apocalyptica, Backyard Babies). Svante Forsbäck / Chartmakers (Rammstein, Amaranthe, Ville Valo, The Rasmus, Apocalyptica) assumed mastering duties. ”Remaker Redeemer introduces the second part of the album ‘Requiem Ballroom’. It’s about new life, and being reborn with the old sins washed away. A kind of cleansing, a fresh start, and the feeling of beginning again. The choice of instruments and sound on this track is a way to explore something different this time,” says Alex Svenson.
“Death is generally regarded, across many cultures, as the final blackout where nothing follows. Yet in another sense, death can also serve as a metaphor for change and transformation. To take the next step, change is inevitable.”
Then Comes Silence earlier released ‘Judgement Day’, a driving anthem that embraces failure, reckless choices and the thrill of living without regrets, embracing a final celebration before the inevitable reckoning. The vivid behind-the-scenes documentary by Marzipan Moonlight offers a glimpse into the video’s creation and the thriving spirit of Stockholm’s goth community.
LIVE DATES SEP. 11 - Glain, Belgium @ Deux Ours SEP. 12 – Rotterdam-Albrandswaard, Netherlands @ Baroeg Open Air 2026 SEP. 13 - Rennes, France @ Brewklyn SEP. 14 - Paris, France @ Le Chinois SEP. 15 - Rezé, France @ Cold Crash SEP. 16 - Lyon, France @ Rock N’Eat SEP. 17 - Marseille, France @ Le Molotov SEP. 18 - Torino, Italy @ Ziggy Club SEP. 19 - Castelfranco Veneto, Italy @ Sale Improve SEP. 20 - Hlavní Město Praha, Czechia @ Subzero OCT. 24 - Stockholm, Sweden @ Kollektivet Livet
Cor de Lux are getting closer to releasing their Ipecac Recordings debut album, YEAR OF THE HORSE, on 18th Sept, which captures their competing impulses: abrasion and melody. Across nine songs, the Kill Devil Hills quartet balances post-hardcore urgency, shoegaze bliss, and guitar-driven catharsis. Recorded and produced by J. Robbins (War on Women, Mary Timony), YEAR OF THE HORSE preserves the raw chemistry that defines the band while pushing their songwriting into sharper, more immediate territory.
Today the band share a final preview of the album with the release of ‘Blind Smile’, a track about the beauty in the complete freedom to be who you are.
“The blind man smile, the deaf laugh for all to hear, to be so brave, you can’t hear anyone”
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About the track, Dawn Moraga says, “My cousin is deaf and his true laugh that isn’t altered from what he thinks he should laugh like is one of the most joyous sounds. I think this song is about for me personally trying to find that freedom to not care about what people think of me and to dig deep to find the real. It came together with John and I talking about the beauty from a true smile.. the blind smile.”
John Bliven adds, “The title for ‘Blind Smile’ came about because I wanted to illustrate an event that inspired and humbled me when I was a videographer during a Visually Impaired Persons (VIP) Fishing Tournament, an event that brings hundreds of VIPs to the Outer Banks every year. I got to witness the most joy filled smiles I’ve ever encountered as they felt the scales of the fish and commented about the texture and sliminess as they saw with other senses.”
COR DE LUX LIVE:
Aug. 29, 2026 Raleigh, NC Lump Gallery
September 10 Raleigh, NC Hopscotch Festival @ Kings September 20 Durham, NC Stanczyks + October 7 Philadelphia, PA Ortlieb’s October 8 Brooklyn, NY The Broadway October 10 Toronto, ON Lee’s Palace * October 11 Detroit, MI El Club * October 13 Chicago, IL Outset * October 14 St. Paul, MN Turf Club * October 15 Davenport, IA Raccoon Motel October 17 Louisville, KY Whirling Tiger October 18 Asheville, NC Static Age
Chat Pile’s heralded debut album God’s Country depicted a particularly American flavour of dread, and their 2024 LP Cool World showed a cruel planet defined by global systemic violence. Now, Chat Pile return with Who Loves the Sun, an album that peels back the skin on how a collective indifference for a decaying world defines this new century.
Spanning imagery of coastlines devouring cities as a result of inaction on climate change, the dread of working dead-end jobs, and the species’ collective submission to data-driven inauthenticity, Who Loves the Sun depicts the common experience of existing in a doom loop which feeds the malaise that permeates all aspects of our lives.
The album”s latest single ‘Same Rules’ is lyrically and sonically as aggressive and confrontational as ever, but Chat Pile approach songwriting with hooks in mind, drawing on melodic tones. Bassist Stin says it’s the “…first real Chat Pile song mostly recorded on 4-track cassette. Ray B. had given us the challenge to write a trip hop song and this is what we came up with. Unfortunately he’s rejected ‘Same Rules’ from the challenge as he claims it’s not trip hop at all and that we have to try again. Perhaps we’ll get it right next time.”
Reaching into the collective consciousness to commiserate and carouse, Chat Pile dissect how the apathy-bloated state of 21st-century existence is an active, slow-motion apocalypse, threads of which are woven through the album. Vocalist Ray B. adds: “Everyone needs to read as much as possible. There is so little emphasis put on knowledge right now— it is your most important tool. Engagement with the world might lead to death, but shutting off and staring at your phone all day is suicide.”
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Since Chat Pile’s formation just over six years ago, the Oklahoma City-based quartet has grown from a scrappy passion project of four local film and music enthusiasts into one of the defining heavy acts to emerge from the 2020s underground.
Ray B. (vocals), L. Manhole (guitar), Stin (bass), and Cap’n Ron (drums)’s crushing, crass, and cathartic take on noise rock resonates in a cracked reality. Their music captures a raw, undeniably human essence that’s increasingly fleeting in an age marked by ceaseless torrents of algorithmic slop, technological overreach, and the cold, crestfallen state of society. Nothing about their forthcoming third LP, Who Loves the Sun, feels synthetic. In a world increasingly shaped by disposable content, Chat Pile answers with something defiantly real and organic.
Live dates:
UK/EU 08/11 – Vienna, AT – Arena (supporting HEALTH and Carpenter Brut) 08/12 – Munich, DE – Live/Evil ~ 08/14 – Col Du Lein, CH – Palp Festival 08/17 – London, UK – Bush Hall ~ SOLD OUT 08/19 – Dublin, IRE – Button Factory ~ SOLD OUT 08/20 – Dublin, IRE – Button Factory ~ SOLD OUT 08/22 – Bristol, UK – Arctangent Festival 08/23 – Hasselt, BE – Pukkelpop Festival
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09/12 – Oklahoma City, OK – Tower Theatre = (SISU Fundraiser Fest) 09/17 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue +^ 09/19 – Chicago, IL – Riot Fest 09/20 – Englewood, CO – The Gothic Theatre +& 09/23 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Metro Music Hall + & 09/25 – Seattle, WA – Showbox SoDo + & 09/27 – Portland, OR – Revolution Hall + & 09/29 – Sacramento, CA – Ace of Spades + 09/30 – San Francisco, CA – The Regency Ballroom + & 10/03 – San Diego, CA – Music Box + & 10/04 – Los Angeles, CA – The Belasco + & 10/06 – Mesa, AZ – The Nile Theater + & 10/08 – Austin, TX – Radio/East + & 10/09 – Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall + & 10/10 – Dallas, TX – Granada Theater + & 11/05 – Detroit, MI – The Majestic Theatre + % 11/06 – Millvale, PA – Mr. Smalls Theatre + % 11/08 – Norwalk, CT – District Music Hall + % 11/10 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Steel + % 11/11 – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer + % 11/12 – Washington, DC – Black Cat + % 11/14 – Charlotte, NC – Underground + % 11/15 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade + % 11/16 – Nashville, TN – Brooklyn Bowl + % 11/18 – Columbus, OH – Newport Music Hall + % 11/20 – Indianapolis, IN – Deluxe at Old National Centre + % 11/21 – St. Louis, MO – Delmar Hall + % 11/22 – Lawrence, KS – The Granada + %
~ with Ragana + with Soul Glo ^ with Prize Horse & with Virga % with Shallowater = with Portrayal of Guilt, Nightosphere, Traindodge, Primal Brain
UK industrial glam maverick Raymond Watts aka PIG has released a brand new single, ‘An American Ideal Of Beauty’, on Metropolis Records. Co-written with old friend Marc Heal (Cubanate, C-Tec), who provides a co-vocal and synth work, the song also features Günter Schulz (ex-KMFDM) sharing guitar duties with Watts’ regular songwriting partner Jim Davies (ex-The Prodigy and Pitchshifter).
“I wanted to distil and hone the sound of the current PIG album, ‘Hurt People Hurt’, so inviting my old partners in swine Marc and Günter to join Jim and myself in the studio seemed the perfect blend of brutality and beauty to feed, fertilise and transmogrify the hog into Hogzilla,” Watts explains. "This new single was the first result of our work as a quartet, hammered in the heat of the anvil of hurt.”
A stunning video for ‘An American Ideal Of Beauty’ directed by E Gabriel Edvy for Blackswitch Labs can be seen here:
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The recording sessions produced three more new songs, each of which has been remixed by contemporaries that include Stabbing Westward’s Chris Hall and Combichrist. All eight tracks are collected on Dirt Box, an EP that will be issued on 4th September, a week after the commencement of PIG’s ‘Hurt People Tour’ of North America. The 44 dates are to promote Hurt People Hurt, which received stellar reviews upon release in late May, and include performances in Chicago, Los Angeles and Austin as part of the Cold Waves XIV festival.
Since Chat Pile’s formation just over six years ago, the Oklahoma City-based quartet has grown from a scrappy passion project of four local film and music enthusiasts into one of the defining heavy acts to emerge from the 2020s underground.
Ray B. (vocals), L. Manhole (guitar), Stin (bass), and Cap’n Ron (drums)’s crushing, crass, and cathartic take on noise rock resonates in a cracked reality. Their music captures a raw, undeniably human essence that’s increasingly fleeting in an age marked by ceaseless torrents of algorithmic slop, technological overreach, and the cold, crestfallen state of society. Nothing about their forthcoming third LP, Who Loves the Sun, feels synthetic. In a world increasingly shaped by disposable content, Chat Pile answers with something defiantly real and organic.
Who Loves the Sun’s latest single, ‘PEN I S MALL’ is “…the heaviest Chat Pile song to date. The song and title refer to a stretch of time when Raygun was working as a maintenance man at one of the local shopping malls here in OKC. He screamed himself into a pretty brutal headache tracking this one if I remember correctly,” says Stin. Ray B. continues: “If survival wasn’t so brutal in the United States, a maintenance job at a local mall could in theory be a fun gig… Of course, the awful beast known as Capitalism is extremely rickety with not enough to truly go around in fair share as those in the lower and even middle positions know all to well.”
AA
While Chat Pile’s debut album God’s Country depicted a particularly American flavor of dread, and the follow up Cool World showed a cruel planet defined by global systemic violence, Who Loves the Sun now peels back the skin on how a collective indifference for a decaying world defines this new century. Touring off the back of their previous albums in part lent itself a confidence in the universality of their music. Stin comments, “I’ve always felt that Chat Pile is such an American concept thematically, but it seems like that’s not particularly true – people all over the world are resonating with what we have to say.” Spanning imagery of coastlines devouring cities as a result of inaction on climate change, the dread of working dead-end jobs, and the species’ collective submission to data-driven inauthenticity, Who Loves the Sun depicts the common experience of existing in a doom loop which feeds the malaise that permeates all aspects of our lives.
Reaching into the collective consciousness to commiserate and carouse, Chat Pile now dissects how the apathy-bloated state of 21st-century existence is an active, slow-motion apocalypse, threads of which are woven through the album’s ten tracks. The album is lyrically and sonically as aggressive and confrontational as ever, but here Chat Pile approached the record’s songwriting with hooks in mind, drawing on the melodic tones of pre-2000s indie/alt-rock and new wave.
The perfect allegory for the thematic essence of Who Loves the Sun is the photo embossed on the record’s cover. As with much of Chat Pile’s work, Oklahoma City itself looms over the album like a character, its sprawling isolation, economic contradictions, and underlying sense of decay embedded in the fabric of the record. Devon Tower, a glassy, largely vacant monolith of a building, looms alone high above the Oklahoma City skyline, while an unknown burnt-out home or storefront envelops the foreground. Devon Tower was originally owned by the Devon Energy Company, who announced they were leaving Oklahoma last year. A monument to empty promises stands without a care in the world, while it’s only a matter of time before the blight it was responsible for swallows it up, too.
Live dates:
UK/EU 08/06 – Ancora, PT – Sonic Blast 08/08 – Katowice, PL – OFF Festival 08/09 – Prague, CZ – Fuchs2 ~ 08/10 – Budapest, HU – A38 ~ 08/11 – Vienna, AT – Arena (supporting HEALTH and Carpenter Brut) 08/12 – Munich, DE – Live/Evil ~ 08/14 – Col Du Lein, CH – Palp Festival 08/19 – Dublin, IRE – Button Factory ~ 08/20 – Dublin, IRE – Button Factory ~ 08/22 – Bristol, UK – Arctangent Festival
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09/12 – Oklahoma City, OK – Tower Theatre = (SISU Fundraiser Fest) 09/17 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue +^ 09/19 – Chicago, IL – Riot Fest 09/20 – Englewood, CO – The Gothic Theatre +& 09/23 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Metro Music Hall + & 09/25 – Seattle, WA – Showbox SoDo + & 09/27 – Portland, OR – Revolution Hall + & 09/29 – Sacramento, CA – Ace of Spades + 09/30 – San Francisco, CA – The Regency Ballroom + & 10/03 – San Diego, CA – Music Box + & 10/04 – Los Angeles, CA – The Belasco + & 10/06 – Mesa, AZ – The Nile Theater + & 10/08 – Austin, TX – Radio/East + & 10/09 – Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall + & 10/10 – Dallas, TX – Granada Theater + & 11/05 – Detroit, MI – The Majestic Theatre + % 11/06 – Millvale, PA – Mr. Smalls Theatre + % 11/08 – Norwalk, CT – District Music Hall + % 11/10 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Steel + % 11/11 – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer + % 11/12 – Washington, DC – Black Cat + % 11/14 – Charlotte, NC – Underground + % 11/15 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade + % 11/16 – Nashville, TN – Brooklyn Bowl + % 11/18 – Columbus, OH – Newport Music Hall + % 11/20 – Indianapolis, IN – Deluxe at Old National Centre + % 11/21 – St. Louis, MO – Delmar Hall + % 11/22 – Lawrence, KS – The Granada + %
~ with Ragana + with Soul Glo ^ with Prize Horse & with Virga % with Shallowater = with Portrayal of Guilt, Nightosphere, Traindodge, Primal Brain
In a world increasingly shaped by disposable content, Chat Pile answers with something defiantly real and organic, a mentality that permeates Who Loves The Sun, their third full-length record.
Since the band’s formation just over six years ago, the Oklahoma City-based quartet Chat Pile has grown from a scrappy passion project of four local film and music enthusiasts into one of the defining heavy acts to emerge from the 2020s underground. Ray B. (vocals), L. Manhole (guitar), Stin (bass), and Cap’n Ron (drums)’s crushing, crass, and cathartic take on noise rock resonates in this cracked reality. It captures a raw, undeniably human essence that’s increasingly fleeting in an age marked by ceaseless torrents of algorithmic slop, technological overreach, and the cold, crestfallen state of society. Nothing about Who Loves The Sun feels synthetic.
“This record focuses on my grievances with the modern world,” says Raygun. “AI, genocide, climate change, the power elite, $$$$ hoarding pigs – all that shit fucks up your life and mine. The band is definitely stretching out their abilities on the album and I too felt inspired to go further- as a huge fan of Boston, I like to think Brad Delp is somewhere up there, smiling down, as I take the layering to new heights, but who can say? We have fun with it." Stin adds "This album contains a healthy dose of the usual Chat Pile airing of grievances against the state of the world, but deeper at it’s heart I feel Who Loves the Sun is grappling with the challenges of trying to keep one’s humanity in a time of extreme anti-humanity.”
As a first taste of the album, Chat Pile shares the menacing track ‘Deep Blue’. Stin comments, “This is the first track we wrote for the album and the one that helped set the tone for the whole thing. I personally love this because it sounds like Chat Pile doing a Billy Squire song. It’s our ‘Lonely is the Night’, which is actually a fake Led Zeppelin song so who knows what the hell we’re actually doing here?" And Raygun adds, "Technology is rapidly ruining our lives, all promise seemingly squandered on the worst things, like killing people, wasting resources, destroying art- shrinking our brains and pulling us further apart than ever before.”
AA
Photo credit: Ryan Lawson
AA
Live dates:
AUS/NZ 06/11 – Sydney – Manning Bar 06/12 – Melbourne – Max Watts 06/13 – Hobart – Dark Mofo 06/14 – Brisbane – The Triffid 06/16 – Adelaide – Lion Arts Factory 06/18 – Auckland – Tuning Fork 06/19 – Wellington – San Fran UK/EU 08/06 – Ancora, PT – Sonic Blast 08/08 – Katowice, PL – OFF Festival 08/09 – Prague, CZ – Fuchs2 ~ 08/10 – Budapest, HU – A38 ~ 08/11 – Vienna, AT – Arena (supporting HEALTH and Carpenter Brut) 08/12 – Munich, DE – Live/Evil ~ 08/14 – Col Du Lein, CH – Palp Festival 08/19 – Dublin, IRE – Button Factory ~ 08/20 – Dublin, IRE – Button Factory ~ 08/22 – Bristol, UK – Arctangent Festival
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09/12 – Oklahoma City, OK – Tower Theatre = (SISU Fundraiser Fest) 09/17 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue +^ 09/19 – Chicago, IL – Riot Fest 09/20 – Englewood, CO – The Gothic Theatre +& 09/23 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Metro Music Hall + & 09/25 – Seattle, WA – Showbox SoDo + & 09/27 – Portland, OR – Revolution Hall + & 09/29 – Sacramento, CA – Ace of Spades + 09/30 – San Francisco, CA – The Regency Ballroom + & 10/03 – San Diego, CA – Music Box + & 10/04 – Los Angeles, CA – The Belasco + & 10/06 – Mesa, AZ – The Nile Theater + & 10/08 – Austin, TX – Radio/East + & 10/09 – Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall + & 10/10 – Dallas, TX – Granada Theater + & 11/05 – Detroit, MI – The Majestic Theatre + % 11/06 – Millvale, PA – Mr. Smalls Theatre + % 11/08 – Norwalk, CT – District Music Hall + % 11/10 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Steel + % 11/11 – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer + % 11/12 – Washington, DC – Black Cat + % 11/14 – Charlotte, NC – Underground + % 11/15 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade + % 11/16 – Nashville, TN – Brooklyn Bowl + % 11/18 – Columbus, OH – Newport Music Hall + % 11/20 – Indianapolis, IN – Deluxe at Old National Centre + % 11/21 – St. Louis, MO – Delmar Hall + % 11/22 – Lawrence, KS – The Granada + %
~ with Ragana + with Soul Glo ^ with Prize Horse & with Virga % with Shallowater = with Portrayal of Guilt, Nightosphere, Traindodge, Primal Brain
NYC-based art-rockers Ecce Shnak are back with ‘Vincent’, the first single from their full-length album Dandy Variances, out later this year via Records, Man Records. Operatic trills collide with frantic rock energy in a high-decibel takedown of a formulaic antagonist through the power of one’s own voice. Directed and edited by DJay Brawner, the video was produced by DJay Brawner, Brooks Jones, Beth Narducci, and David Roush.
Formed in the mid-noughties and forged in NYC’s experimental scene, Ecce Shnak (pronounced Eh-kay sh-knock) is made up of David Roush (composer, bassist and one of two singers), Bella Komodromos (vocals), Chris Krasnow (guitar), Gannon Ferrell (guitar), and Henry Buchanan-Vaughn (drums).
“This is a mid-tempo, jumpy, flash-in-the-pan hardcore song with classical art song vocals. I originally wrote it for a film that was never made but was imagined by a classmate of mine at Temple University in Philadelphia in 2015. The character Vincent is an archetype of a smug, inconsiderate jerk most of us occasionally come across, try as we might to avoid them. Vincent is not an absolute scoundrel, but he is wack enough to rightly deserve the average person’s indignant eye-roll,” says David Roush.
“Ultimately, the narrator resolves to overthrow Vincent’s jerkface’itude in the final refrain: “I’ll destroy your equipment with my voice!” If you have a medium-tier opponent in your life whom you would like to rid yourself of somehow, you can sing this line to yourself. Hopefully your Vincent will buzz off and go kick rocks!”
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Ecce Shnak has a reputation for astounding performances, their music a volatile yet meticulously crafted ecosystem, where technical precision meets a sense of inspired mayhem. May brings their East Coast Tour with platinum-selling legends EMF, followed by UK dates in June. Last year, the bands did a West Coast tour, along with Spacehog. Then Ecce Shnak featured on EMF’s stellar track ‘LGBTQ+ Lover’ with both Davey and Bella contributing vocals. The video footage was filmed during the 2025 tour.
“The music video is an homage to an important music video in the average millennial’s musical subconscious, that of ‘Down’ by 311. The tempo, feel and musical production of the two songs is similar enough that, when I was imagining what the music video could be, the idea of doing a cinematographic tribute to that 1990’s relic seemed compelling. We asked the director and editor DJay Brawner to create as close to a shot-for-shot tribute as he could, and we feel that he and his crew succeeded handily. However, we deviated playfully a little from the original,” says David Roush.
“There is a reference to another important music video of the last 20 years in the pale, silver-haired, demon-like being who is the ‘Vincent’ in this music video – a re-imagining of the S&M-tinged monk-like Hell-being in the music video for Meshuggah’s ‘Bleed’. However, unlike the poor chap in the ‘Bleed’ video, the good guys (members of Ecce Shnak) liberate themselves from Vincent’s spiritual dominion with compassionate magic and send him hurtling into the blue sky, their raised jazz-hands trembling together as the video comes to a close.”
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TOUR DATES
MAY 07 Philadelphia, PA, USA – Nikki Lopez MAY 08 Buffalo, NY, USA – Town Ballroom MAY 09 Toronto, ON, Canada – Dance Cave MAY 10 Montreal, QC, Canada – Bar Le Ritz MAY 11 Boston, MA, USA – City Winery MAY 13 New York, NY, USA – Sony Hall MAY 14 Millersville, PA, USA – Phantom Power MAY 15 Baltimore, MD, USA – Metro Gallery MAY 16 Hamden, CT, USA – Space Ballroom JUN 02 Manchester, UK – Gorilla JUN 03 Worthing, UK – The Factory Live JUN 04 Portsmouth, UK – Kola JUN 05 Southend, UK – Chinnerys JUN 06 London, UK – The Garage JUN 07 Leeds, UK – Brudenell Social Club
Swiss noise-rock collective Coilguns have returned with their powerful new single ‘Peace Trader’, out now via Humus Records, accompanied by an official video.
The accompanying video, directed by Louis Jucker and shot and edited by Valentin Lurthy, reinforces the track’s raw and unfiltered energy, with DIY lyric subtitles further amplifying its message.
Check it here:
AA
Recorded by Scott Evans (Thrice, La Dispute, Neurosis), with additional production from Ben Chisholm (Chelsea Wolfe, The Armed), and mixed by Tom Dalgety (Ghost, Pixies, Royal Blood), the track hits with a new level of urgency and emotional intensity.
Built to be both punchy and deeply reflective, ‘Peace Trader’ confronts the growing dissonance between ideals and reality. As the band put it: “What is the meaning of laws, when our nations negotiate all?”
Rooted in their own reflections on Switzerland’s shifting identity, from a perceived safe haven for human rights and diplomacy to a more conflicted and ambiguous role on the global stage, the track channels frustration, disillusionment, and a stubborn sense of hope.
The band elaborates: "We grew up being told that our country was a safe nest for human rights conventions, a historical hub for humanitarian organizations, a neutral haven for diplomacy, a sheltering home for those in need, and a centuries-long advocate for peace. Yet, the older we get, the more frequently we see this image turn into a Dorian Gray portrait. We recently witnessed our federal representatives minimize dual-use goods exportations or support partial views on major international law violations. We discovered that our asylum system had silently turned into a racist and humiliating discouragement plan, and we still haven’t been able to make our international enterprises accountable for their colonialist crimes. Looking back at our school history manuals, we wonder where this whole fairy tale has gone, or if it ever existed, but we’d like to allow ourselves, and invite you, to keep believing in the idea that a peace-making Switzerland might one day become an actual thing.”
Musically, ‘Peace Trader’ expands Coilguns’ already wide sonic palette. For the first time, a bass player was involved from the earliest stages of writing, reshaping the interplay between instruments and adding a broader, more fluid dynamic to the composition. From warehouse-recorded drum textures to tightly coiled bursts of noise, the track balances abrasion with atmosphere.
“We wanted ‘Peace Trader’ to be punchy and sad, something that could carry urgent empathy and hope,” the band explain, highlighting the deliberate tension that defines the song.
MORTIIS premieres the story-telling and visually impressive music video ‘Violent Silence’, which continues the narrative arc of the previous clip ‘Ghosts of Europa’, as the next advance single taken from the iconic Norwegian artist’s upcoming new full-length Ghosts of Europa.
MORTIIS comments: “Lyrically, ‘Violent Silence’ came into being as an apology to my wife”, the Norwegian admits ruefully. “I had done something stupid again, and she was really upset. I was trying to apologise in a text message – a really long one. The lyrics for ‘Violent Silence’ took a lot of inspiration from those words and that moment. As time goes by and having lived with this song for quite a while now, it gets harder for me to listen to those words. The gut-wrenching sensation of guilt never goes away fully. Musically, it was a very inspiring song to work on – especially with all those crazy fuzz and echo guitars that built up this song towards the end.”
Check the video here:
AA
The Witches of Dystopia Tour MMXXVI
16 APR 2026 Winnipeg, MB (CA) Sidestage 17 APR 2026 Minneapolis, MN (US) Skyway, Studio B 18 APR 2026 Madison, WI (US) Annex 19 APR 2026 Chicago, IL (US) Reggies 20 APR 2026 Detroit, MI (US) Sanctuary 21 APR 2026 Indianapolis, IN (US) Black Circle 22 APR 2026 Covington, KY (US) Madison Live 23 APR 2026 Pittsburgh, PA (US) Preserving Underground 24 APR 2026 Toronto, ON (CA) Lee’s Palace 25 APR 2026 Montreal, QC (CA) Cafe Campus 26 APR 2026 Quebec City, QC (CA) La Source 27 APR 2026 Boston, MA (US) Brighton Music Hall 28 APR 2026 Brooklyn, NY (US) Meadows 29 APR 2026 Bensalem, PA (US) Broken Goblet 30 APR 2026 Baltimore, MD (US) Metro 01 MAY 2026 Raleigh, NC (US) Chapel Of Bones 02 MAY 2026 Atlanta, GA (US) 529 EAV 03 MAY 2026 Orlando, FL (US) Conduit 05 MAY 2026 Houston, TX (US) Warehouse Live 06 MAY 2026 Austin, TX (US) Come and Take It Live 07 MAY 2026 Dallas, TX (US) Club Dada 08 MAY 2026 Albuquerque, NM (US) Launchpad 09 MAY 2026 Denver, CO (US) HQ 10 MAY 2026 Salt Lake City, UT (US) Urban Lounge 11 MAY 2026 Las Vegas, NV (US) Swan Dive 12 MAY 2026 San Diego, CA (US) Brick By Brick 13 MAY 2026 Los Angeles, CA (US) The Echo 14 MAY 2026 San Jose, CA (US) The Ritz 15 MAY 2026 Eugene, OR (US) John Henry’s 16 MAY 2026 Seattle, WA (US) El Corazon