Kety Fusco is to harp what Helen Money and Jo Quail are to cello.
One year after the release of her debut album Dazed, the young Italian-Swiss harpist and composer Kety Fusco gives us a very personal version of the famous song ‘Gnossienne N.1’ by Erik Satie. In this modern reinterpretation, which Kety has entitled ‘Ma Gnossienne’, the harp is used in an unconventional way to generate sounds that have nothing to do with its classical timbre. The entire sound system is set up with sounds of vinyl scratched on metal strings, objects struck on the soundboard of the pre-sampled classical harp, and analogue effects manipulated live.
Switzerland-based Kety Fusco has embarked on a unique harp sound research. She works with Delta Electric Harps from Salvi Harps, who have taken Kety on as their official Ambassador. Her exploration of harp and effects technology began successfully with the debut of her album Dazed, described by Swiss critics as "a white fly". Kety Fusco has over 80 concerts throughout Europe, and she is working on the first world’s sound library of non-traditional harp sounds.
UK electronic indie outfit H2SO4 were one of the best kept secrets of the late ’90s, releasing a slew of singles and a brace of albums at the turn of the millennium that were well received by pundits and public alike, with songs that can be heard in TV shows such as ‘The Sopranos’, ‘Six Feet Under’ and ‘Queer As Folk’.
Now, via a collaboration with production duo Bombay Monkey, they have created a stunning new album of ’80s tinged electronic prog-pop interlaced with atmospheric soundscapes. Entitled ‘Love And Death’, it will be released on 23rd July 2021.
The slinky and hypnotic album opener ‘Machines Love’ is available as a single now. A bittersweet take on love, loss and the transience of passion, the accompanying video features H2SO4 vocalist James Butler battling with dancer Lydia Savva as the physical embodiment of his virtual chess opponent. Watch the video here:
Portuguese deathcore newcomers Inhuman Architects have just revealed a music video for a new song off the band’s debut full-length album Paradoxus , which is set for release on July 16th via Vicious Instinct Records.
Titled ‘Nephilim’, this new video is now playing here:
On 12th June, Southern Lord and DVL Recordings co-release a deluxe edition of Neon Christ’s 1984 sessions for Record Store Day. Digital format will also be available via Bandcamp only, and non-Record Store formats will follow at a later date via Southern Lord Europe.
Neon Christ, the cult hardcore luminaries featuring William DuVall (BL’AST!, Comes With The Fall, Alice In Chains), Jimmy Demer (Gardens of.., Accidents), Danny Lankford (Gardens of.., GoDevils, Accidents) and Randy DuTeau (Gardens of) share the entertaining new video for "Neon Christ" which features the band’s children, and gleefully conveys the appreciation of this music across generations. The band comments, "We all had a lot of fun making this video with the kids. They did a fantastic job. It was a wonderful full-circle moment. And much hilarity ensued on set."
Six months on from landing the video for ‘The Geneticist’, Vexillary unveil the video for the SPANKTHENUN Remix of the track as the leader for a remix EP.
‘The Geneticist’ was so rich in context and musical raw material that a sequel had to follow. This time, 3 different electronic scientists, Andy Martin, Signal Deluxe, and SPANKTHENUN re-engineered the track like geneticists manipulating genetic code to reach their desired outcomes. Tempos were augmented, beats were mutated, and new basslines were spawned, to unleash a whole new beast – The Geneticist Remixes.
It’s pretty intense, uncomfortable, and gnarly, and you can check the video here:
The press email landed with the leader: ‘UK based, anti-facist black metallers Underdark have announced details on their debut album Our Bodies Burned Bright on Re-Entry which is set for release on 30th July via Surviving Sounds (UK), Through Love Records (EU) and Tridroid Records (US/CAN).’
In a time where the outgoing US president identified antifa as ‘the enemy’, we here at Aural Aggro are proud to back and provide coverage to any act with an expressly anti-fascist agenda – although it does also help if they produce good noise, and Underdark most definitely do.
After forming in 2015, Nottingham based black metallers Underdark are finally ready to present their debut album to the world. Following their recent ‘Plainsong/With Bruised & Bloodied Feet’ single release in 2020, ‘Our Bodies Burned Bright on Re-Entry’ is the sound of a new chapter of Underdark, set for release on 30th July via Surviving Sounds (UK), Through Love Records (EU) and Tridroid Records (US/CAN).
While still utilising a dreamlike and heavy mixture of black-metal, post-metal and shoegaze, Underdark’s debut album also packs a renewed punch alongside a ferocity and intensity matched only by the innovative and engaging song structures.
Recorded & mixed with Misha Herring at Holy Mountain Studio (40 Watt Sun, Inhuman Nature, Idles, Spiritualised, Puppy) & mastered by Adam Gonsalves at Telegraph Mastering (Emma Ruth Rundle, Southern Lord Records, Power Trip, Mizmor), the album captures five tracks of intense & emotional progressive compositions, not limited by genre to create a tidal wave of sound; that shift in emotions, drowning you between sections of crushing blast beats and ear splitting vocals to blissful, atmospheric soundscapes that engulf you within them.
On first single ‘Coyotes’ vocalist Abi comments,
“THE ALBUM IS READY. You thought we were dead. At times, we thought we might be too, but we’re here, we’re (mostly) alive, and this is COYOTES. It’s one of the first songs I wrote in Underdark and it’s about the ongoing humanitarian crisis at the Mexico/US border. Hope you’re as stoked on it as we are.”
Year of No Light have shared the harrowing new video for ‘Réalgar’, written and directed by Corentin Schieb, Mathias Averty & Célia Le Goaziou. The track, described by the band as, ‘a mineral dive in the interzone, a journey between several realities and a confrontation with our inner demons’, is taken from their new album “Consolamentum” set for release via Pelagic Records on 2nd July. Watch the video now:
Pelagic Records are releasing not only their new album “Consolamentum” but also a wooden box set, to celebrate the band’s 20th anniversary, containing their entire discography of 5 studio albums, several split EPs, and the collaboration with Belgian composer Dirk Serries from the ‘Live At Roadburn’ recordings, on 12 vinyl records.
YEAR OF NO LIGHT’s lengthy, sprawling compositions of towering walls of guitars and sombre synths irradiate a sense of dire solemnity and spiritual gravity, and couldn’t be a more fitting soundtrack for such grim medieval scenarios. But there is also the element of absolution, regeneration, elevation, transcendence in the face of death. Consolamentum is dense, rich and lush and yet somehow feels starved and deprived.
It comes as no surprise that ever since the beginning of their career, the band have had an obsession for the fall of man and salvation through darkness. The term “consolamentum” describes the sacrament, the initiation ritual of the Catharic Church, which thrived in Southern Europe in the 12th – 14th century – a ritual that brought eternal austereness and immersion in the Holy Spirit.
“There’s a thread running through all of our albums”, says the band, collectively “an exploration of the sensitive world that obeys a certain telos, first fantasized ("Nord") and reverberated ("Ausserwelt"), then declaimed as a warning ("Tocsin"). The deeper we dig, the more the motifs we have to unveil appear to us. Yes, it’s a bit gnostic. This album is invoked after the Tocsin, it’s the epiphany of the Fall”.
Pennies By The Pound present classic/psych-rock-imbued ‘Indigo Screams’ ahead of new LP, mastered by Ride’s Mark Gardener.
With comparisons to Bob Mould, And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, Marillion, and Jethro Tull being tossed around – and not wrongly – there’s a hint of early 90s Dinosaur Dr in the mix, too. Check ‘Indigo Screams’ here:
Hailing from Helsinki, Pennies by the Pound was formed in 2016 by Johannes Susitaival as a solo project, but it quickly became a three-piece involving musicians from his past bands.
While still part of a punk rock band, Johannes began exploring some quite different musical avenues, which led to the self-produced ‘Bloodshed and the Blinding Sunlight’ EP in 2018. Having found their ideal producer after several years of searching, they began recording demos in 2019 for what would become this album. Due to the pandemic, they were finally able to record these tracks in autumn of 2020.
Pennies By The Pound’s sound blends ’80s prog rock and ’90s-early ’00s alternative rock – essentially heavily guitar-driven with a touch of keyboards… Big choruses, quite a few guitar and keyboard solos and grandiose arrangements.
Nadja reveal another track "Starres" from their forthcoming album Luminous Rot, which shall be released on CD and DL formats via Southern Lord on 21st May, with the LP version arriving on 13th August. Luminous Rot pre-orders are live from today, and info can be found on the Southern Lord store, Southern Lord Europe store and via Bandcamp.
About the track and video Nadja comments, "Starres is about both inner- and outerspace, a conflation of the internal neural-network of the human brain with the external cosmos, and how the act of observation might alter those, both from the viewpoint of the observer and the one observed. The video attempts to replicate something of that feeling of cognitive dissonance in the observer, taking a mundane image of houses and warping them, both through reflective filming and digital effects."
Nordic pop diva Karin Park of Årabrot adds her ethereal, mournful voice and keys to the primordial sound of legendary electronic pioneer Lustmord for this sublime and poignant collaboration. Alter is a ritual of our times and ‘Hiraeth’ is the new single.
Watch the video here:
AA
On the pair’s frst collaborative work, the nine tracks that make up ALTER are every bit as heart-wrenching as they are terrifying, mining new sonic territory, it is a fascinating study of light and shade that delves deep into vast uncharted darkness. Their ability to create atmosphere on the album opener "Hiraeth" is second to none, perfectly assembling a harrowing backdrop for Park’s lilting sound of longing. From there, Park’s vocals add all of the emotional depth and power found in names like Kate Bush, Maynard J Keenan and Elizabeth Frasier, perfectly playing against Lustmord’s waves of dark drama and creating a wholly unique record that recalls Dead Can Dance, Massive Attack and Portishead at their greatest.
Considering Park’s credentials, it might be surprising that a collaboration with Lustmord would fit so seamlessly. Utilizing a sound comprised of elements of industrial, synth pop and more, the celebrated Swedish solo artist and member of Norwegian rock band Årabrot utilizes experimentation in her work, blazing trails and bringing to mind the work of her peers The Knife, Scott Walker, Robyn, Depeche Mode and Burial with her darkly-rich compositions. Multiple winner of Norway’s Spellemann award, Park co-wrote the Norwegian entry for the 2013 Eurovision, fnishing fourth overall. But it is the sensibility of the sacred music of her youth that Park adds to ALTER, contributing a powerful vocal that guides the listener through the cavernous, mystical depth of their collaborative work.
”Lustmord is the Gustave Doré of music", Karin Park offers pensively. "Painting magical pictures with a sound that is so vast, it gives space for your own imagination.” Brian Williams grew up in North Wales, beginning his musical career as Lustmord in 1980 and becoming a pivotal fgure and pioneer in the early industrial music scene in the UK.
A former member of SPK during arguably their most crucial era, Williams went on to work with Throbbing Gristle members Chris & Cosey and appeared on early albums by Current 93 and Nurse With Wound amongst others. After relocating to Los Angeles in 1993, Williams worked on dozens of motion picture soundtracks including The Crow, Underworld and Paul Schrader’s First Reformed, as well as on several video game, television scores and solo albums. Williams has also contributed to and collaborated with artists as varied as the Melvins, Clock DVA, Jarboe, John Balance of Coil, Clock DVA, Paul Haslinger (Tangerine Dream), Wes Borland (Limp Bizkit), Puscifer and more, including Grammy Award-winners Tool from their much acclaimed efforts 10,000 Days and Fear Inoculum.
Alter is set for release on 25th June (Pelagic Records).
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