Composer and experimental filmmaker Christina Vantzou has shared "Kimona I", set to powerful and heart-breaking footage from Lizzie Borden’s 1983 feminist film, Born in Flames.
"Kimona I" is a sparse track with only a piano and one vocal present, echoed and distant as though the song is being performed at the end of a cathedral. Quietly melancholic, the track is somewhat at odds with the footage of smiling women, which makes the ending all the more impactful. Christina Vantzou speaks to the inclusion of the Born In Flames footage;
"Filmed in the early 80’s, mainly in the East Village, largely with friends, non-actors and activists, Born in Flames is a film about work, class & race divisions, and organized revolt. Meanwhile on No. 5, ‘Kimona 1 & Kimona II’ were written for workers, specifically low-wage employees at giant institutions."
About her collaboration with Christina Vantzou Lizzie Borden says;
"I was honored when Christina Vantzou approached me with her beautiful piece of music “Kimona I,” accompanied by scenes from my film Born In Flames. As we collaborated, I was stunned to see familiar images take on new meaning when set against her haunting, elegiac music. Thank you for your exquisite work, Christina."
The Bobby Lees are thrilled to share their brand new full-length, Bellevue, available via Ipecac Recordings. The band have also shared the video for title track, which you can view below.
The Bobby Lees recently wrapped up a European tour that included the Woodstock, N.Y-based band’s first stint in the UK. The four-piece band have several shows coming over the next few months including a 9th October performance at Aftershock 2022.
The Bobby Lees tour dates:
October 9 Sacramento, CA Aftershock 2022
October 25 Brooklyn, NY Baby’s All Right
October 28 Woodstock, NY Colony
November 5 Tulsa, OK Cain’s Ballroom
The 13-song album, which was recorded live in-studio, was produced by Vance Powell (Jack White, Chris Stapleton, The Raconteurs).
Iggy Pop, Debbie Harry, Henry Rollins…these are just a few of the punk icons who have shown support for Woodstock, NY based band The Bobby Lees. Sam Quartin [vocals, guitar], Macky Bowman [drums], Nick Casa [guitar], and Kendall Wind [bass] — make music that is punk in spirit and soul; unfettered and resolutely honest. To say their sound is wild and untethered is an understatement. It’s the kind of aural exorcism any listener can tap into, something that struck a chord with Henry Rollins who brought them to Ipecac Recordings where Mike Patton and Greg Werckman signed them.
The immense success of Psychonaut’s Pelagic debut album Unfold The God Man, which has been repressed 3 times throughout the pandemic and sold close to 3000 vinyl copies to date, has proven that Psychonaut are a force to be reckoned with.
The three gentlemen from Mechelen, Belgium now return with a ferocious and muchly anticipated concept album that proclaims the formation of a new world through the acceptance of a new human identity.“We’ve always been interested in religion, spirituality and philosophy,” explains vocalist/guitarist Stefan de Graef about the music of Psychonaut. “We’ve meditated together, had long discussions about the nature of life, and we share a common vision.”
Now, with the release of their sophomore album Violate Consensus Reality on 28th October (Pelagic Records), the Belgian three-piece take you on a visceral trip into our collective human consciousness. A journey marked by explosive riffs, soaring vocals and intricate yet catchy compositions.
An impressive album which cements PSYCHONAUT’s standing as aspirants to the throne of the contemporary European progressive / post metal community. On new single ‘All Your Gods Have Gone’ the band add,
"This track is one of the shortest and heaviest tracks we’ve ever written. We don’t usually allow ourselves to put too much anger into our songs because we try to focus on the positive, but this album made us realize that it can actually be a very healthy thing to give into your anger from time to time. There’s no use in ignoring it because that only makes it grow. The lyrics to this track were very cleansing and healing to write in that way.”
Watch the animated video now created by Eric Lempens:
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Violate Consensus Reality engages the senses in a way that is quite rare for concept albums, it is raw and brutal, unlike the lofty concept albums of yore with their endlessly repeating motifs and needlessly complex song structures. It stands in a long tradition of activism in music, but it also deconstructs this tradition by taking its loud and admonishing tone and providing it with a thoughtful base rooted in philosophy and spirituality.
With music deeply rooted in communal meditation sessions, psychedelic metal outfit Psychonaut are a unique entity in the Belgian metal scene and beyond. The mantric title track of their upcoming second album, which they have now shared, sees the trio once more aligned in body and mind as they appeal to the listener with a 9-minute atmospheric slow burner. Their stature is once more affirmed by Amenra’s Colin H. van Eeckhout, who ushers the track to an unforgettable climax.
What does worldwide quarantine do to our favourite porcine libertine? Raymond Watts holed up in his sty and created The Merciless Light, the new album by PIG. Ably aided and abetted by long time accomplices En Esch and Steve White, Watts also welcomes a new swine to the trough as Jim Davies(Pitchshifter/The Prodigy) adds another new level of impeccable (in)credibility and talent.
The Merciless Light seethes, swings, seduces and snarls. Extraordinary electronics and a glut of glitz, glam, guitars and grooves create a masterful mélange of mirth from our very own venerable Vicar of Vice.
Today, PIG shine the spotlight on the seven deadly’s with Ed Finkler’s stunning new video for the album song ‘Speak Of Sin’. For when too much isn’t enough, this visual treat will burn your eyeballs and beat your ears as the latest of the bounteous delights to be lifted from The Merciless Light.
Well, if you’re going to do goth, it’s best if you go all-out on it. Cleveland-based electro-goth rock collective Dispel certainly don’t toy with half-measures.
‘Flames of Greed’ is the lead single from their second album, Inferno (out on October 12th).
As the title may suggest, the album is based on Dante’s seminal text, and the premise is that ‘Dispel follows Dante and his guide Virgil down each layer of the Nine Hells, dedicating a song to each level of mortal sin. Sprinkled with diabolical personalities from ancient mythology and fantasy literature, this undertaking took two years to complete.’
‘The Flames of Greed’ is an interesting hybrid of pulsating electro pop and dark disco, spiky post-punk and high theatre, with Ravensea’s semi-operatic vocal dominating the insistent drum-machine driven electro grind that pulsates away relentlessly and it’s compelling, multisensory, especially when accompanied by the video…
Ah, the video, directed and edited by filmmaker Rafeeq Roberts, which ‘sees vocalist Ravensea play the part of the diabolic and tormenting empress of greed Fierna, her powerful voice serenading the fallen souls who succumbed to greed in the material world, delivering their eternal fate in Hell’.
It’s epic, and no mistake. And given the inspiration and subject matter, it’s entirely fitting.
This isn’t simply goth or a cliché rendering of any goth template: Dispel fully embrace presenting high art and literature, and when so much is dumbed down to nothing, it’s welcome, and the presentation is impressive.
And while content is king and image only counts for so much, presentation definitely matters. Dispel have got it all going for them here.
The latest single by Swedish post-punk/darkwave act A Projection sees the Stockholm-based quartet maintain their recent move towards a more electronic sound with a new single entitled ‘Anywhere’ that has a distinct mid-80s electro-pop vibe. Out on 30th September, a video for the song has been made available a day ahead of its release.
The group’s upcoming fourth album, In A Different Light, has already had the songs ‘Darwin’s Eden’, ‘No Control’, ‘Careless’ and now ‘Anywhere’ lifted from it as singles. Encompassing both ‘80s post-punk and electronic elements, it will be their second full-length record released on Metropolis Records and follows 2019’s ‘Section’. Further details will follow shortly.
Initially inspired by the dark post-punk/proto-goth of The Cure, Sisters Of Mercy and Joy Division along with the electronica of Depeche Mode, the band are also known for their compelling and dynamic live shows.
The video for ‘Anywhere’ has been made by Ukrainian filmmaker and artist Shorkina Valeri, who also shot the recent promo clip for ‘Careless’.
Dead Cross unveil a third and final single, and video, from the band’s eagerly-awaited album, II (28th Oct, Ipecac Recordings) with today’s release of ‘Christian Missile Crisis’.
Justin Pearson explains the themes behind the song: ‘Christian Missile Crisis’ takes an obvious jab at organized religion, NRA-holes who clearly compensate for their lack of masculinity by fixating on gun ownership and gun ‘rights,’ and the fact that a large enough amount of Americans have the inability to negotiate peace and prefer oppressing others.”
Watch the video here:
Accompanying the release of “Christian Missile Crisis,” is the launch of an online auction, in partnership with Fender, to benefit the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (San Diego chapter) and The Satanic Temple’s Religious Reproductive Rights Campaign. The fundraiser, features two custom Fender Player Lead III guitars, one black, and one beige. Both guitars have been modified by The Black Moon Design with clear vehicle wrap grade vinyl decals featuring art from the band’s album. The band said, collectively: “In light of the recent loss of our ex-bandmate, comrade, brother, and all around amazing person Gabe Serbian, Ipecac Recordings and Three One G will donate all proceeds from the beige guitar to help suicide prevention awareness. All proceeds from the black guitar will go to help fight laws that do not promote the health and safety of individuals in relation to bodily autonomy.”
Swedish crust/death-metal unit Industrial Puke featuring members of Burst and Rentokiller have recently shared a music video for a new track off their debut EP Where Life Crisis Starts, released on September 16th via Suicide Records. The video for "Industrial Puke" was filmed by Mathias Coulouri and features Dödsvarg as guest vocalist, check it out here:
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Linus Jägerskog from Burst and Jens Ekelin from Rentokiller started Industrial Puke out of their common love for Disrupt and Dismember, along with a pressing need to make music for imminent affect release.
After a long period of writing, finding band members and recording, the debut single ‘Mental Taxation’ was released in June of 2022. The single spawned a partnership with Suicide Records for the release of their debut EP Where Life Crisis Starts in September and a full-length album titled Born into the Twisting Rope is already set for release in late spring of 2023.
The EP is a direct bombardment of crust, death metal and hardcore minced down to four relentless songs about failing yourself and the men that fail the world.
"White Noise is about sensory overload and the overwhelming feeling of claustrophobia that neurodivergent humans experience on a near daily basis,” explains lead vocalist Harvey Freeman. “It’s a horrible feeling of helplessness and anxiety that nothing can really help other than a quiet space and something to take your mind off of the situation.
We wanted to create something visually that could portray how that experience feels. The room used with the exposed hole in the wall was the perfect fit paired with the mirrors in particular scenes. We wanted it to almost look like you were inside the mind of someone going through that feeling."
Mixing moments of snarling nu-metal aggro and the scalding fury of Slipknot’s debut album with instrumental passages that at times recall the genius of Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor, is where they have nailed the Graphic Nature sound.
US post-metal trio Girih have recently shared a music video for ‘The Key’, a new song off their forthcoming second album Ikigai, due out on vinyl and digital formats on October 14th via A Thousand Arms and dunk!records!
Filmed by gotdamnjoshua and Brad Griffin and edited by Brian Luttrell, this video was captured at local show in their hometown Manchester, NH and is now playing here:
Named after the Japanese conceptual philosophy of finding purpose and fulfilment, the eight-track release was recorded at Wachusett Recording Co. by Girih and Mike Moschetto, who also engineered and mixed the album, and was mastered by Zach Weeks.
Girih formed in 2016 in New Hampshire and released their debut album Eigengrau in 2018, which was met with great critically acclaim and allowed them to play numerous shows throughout their local scene, including a slot in 2019’s Post Festival.
Comprised of Alex Paul (guitar), Brian Luttrell (guitar) and Jeremy Dingman (drums), Girih made significant strides towards to improve and evolve their sound and new effort Ikigai is not merely a continuation of their impressive capabilities; it is an evolutionary progression in every tangible facet of their artistry.
Aural Aggravation 