The catalogue of material released by Papillon de Nuit, the ever-shifting, ever-evolving musical project of Stephen Kennedy, continues to expand with the release of single number eight.
Kennedy’s approach to the project is both interesting and unusual, with each song recorded at a separate session, often not even fully-formed in terms of writing and arrangement beforehand, and realised with various guest musicians and vocalists. Retuning once more to Young Thugs studio in York, ‘The Pilgrim’s Arc’ again sees Stephen handle a considerable range of duties, from drums to grand piano and providing spoken and sung vocals, as well as writing and arranging the song itself, while joined by Michalina Rudawska (cello) and Karen Amanda O’Brien (spoken word).
The Exceptional Mr Hyde make a guest appearance here, providing ‘menacing spoken word’, while Steve Whitfield added bass and guitar, as well covering production work
The result is a striking, dramatic, percussion-driven piece with some chunky bass, and layered vocals creating an almost schizophrenic mutter behind a soaring melody.
Minsk, Belarus-based alternative metal act Mission Jupiter have recently issued Aftermath, their third album but first with powerhouse new singer Kate Varsak, whose voice is suited perfectly to a set of epic, drama-packed songs that should see the group achieve lift-off far beyond their home territory.
Describing the song’s meaning, the group explain that “it asks if we can be less selfish. Most of us tend not to look beyond our own doorstep….can we be better?”
Aftermath contains ten superbly produced songs in all. Fans of alternative and hard rock, progressive rock, metal and even Eurovision-esque crossover rock (on ‘Jak Spyniajecca Bol’, recorded in the group’s mother tongue and translated as ‘How The Pain Stops’) will be wowed by Mission Jupiter’s new songs, which combine sounds, moods and melodies wrapped around a stunning voice to leave listeners breathless.
Hailed as a “hardcore Toxic Holocaust,” Wellington’s BRAINWAVE have just released ‘Lost My Way’, a ferocious new single from their upcoming debut full-length Ill Intent, due out October 22, 2025.
“’Lost My Way‘ channels the rage of feeling disorientated and directionless, of not achieving your potential and the sense that every way forward is blocked. It’s extremely personal, but in our atomised modern world, it’s also a sentiment that everyone has felt at some point,” says vocalist Rob Thompson.
Legendary Italian experimental trio Zureturns withFerrum Sidereum (produced by Marc Urselli), a big and bold double album arriving on House of Mythology on the 9th January.
Ferrum Sidereum – Latin for ‘cosmic iron’ – draws inspiration from the mythological significance of meteoritic iron, found in artefacts like ancient Egyptian ritual objects, Tibenta “Phurpa” blades, and the celestial sword of Archangel St Michael. This elemental force imbues every moment of the album’s apocalyptic sound. Whilst heavy in tone and subject matter, bassist Massimo Pupillo comments that their music also aims to "raise good energy… people would come up to us after the show and tell us that they felt alive."
The music combines the complexity of progressive rock, the grit of industrial music, the precision of metal, the spirit and energy of punk, and the freedom of jazz. The result is a sonic journey that is as cerebral as it is visceral, defying easy categorisation while remaining unmistakably Zu.
Today they share the track "Golgotha", about which Massimo says; “Once upon a time, the stars spoke to men, but now cosmic destiny brings a silence. Silence in which lies what men say to the stars. Man radiates atmospheres and is in continuity with the cosmos. These are atmospheres of colour and atmospheres of sound. What we radiate is colour and sound. And the cosmos listens. The return of what it incessantly gives to the earth.”
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The trio – Paolo Mongardi (drums, percussion), Luca T Mai (baritone saxophone, synth, keyboards) and Massimo Pupillo (electric bass, 12-string acoustic guitar) – spent a year refining this sprawling 80-minute epic through relentless rehearsals and live studio recordings in Bologna. Produced and mixed by three-time Grammy-winning engineer Marc Urselli, known for his work with Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed, and Mike Patton, the album balances raw intensity with refined production tweaks and textures.
“We are very spiritually-oriented people,” says Massimo. “Machines and AI do not have spirituality. So they can mimic and they can assemble existing things, but they cannot create. That spirit is probably the most important thing that our music carries.”
Set for release in January 2026, Ferrum Sidereum is Zu’s biggest and boldest statement yet that challenges all conventional boundaries. Uncompromising, innovative, fiercely original.
Wounds is Cold in Berlin’s long-awaited and recently announced fifth album – their first in six years. As heavy as it is haunting, the record masterfully blends doom, post-punk, and driving krautrock in a dynamic, hypnotic maelstrom – pushing London’s most exciting cult band into intoxicating new territory.
“Wounds is a series of songs about the different ways people live with and process ‘the wounds’ of their lives,” explains vocalist Maya. “A strange celebration of that formative pain we have all experienced in some way. The loss and joy of survival – the celebration of finding others like us, the gift of knowing life comes after fire.”
New single ‘The Stranger’ is a song that is meant to allow for multiple interpretations. Vocalist Maya adds:
“Perhaps it is a song about addiction- the wound that doesn’t heal. The way the focus of an addiction sings to you, searching you out, twisting and flowing through the body- whispering beneath the skin until you answer the call and find home once more.
Perhaps it is a song about finding your place in the world- groups of people watching and experiencing something meaningful together- a way to heal and close old wounds. How live music can stay with you even as you are separated from it. How finding the strange songs, sang in dark places can actually bring you home to yourself.
Or perhaps it is a song about that sharp kind of love at first sight that can overwhelm, offering freedom and constraint all at once. When you are drawn to that person that you know can destroy you, but you cease to matter because they are somehow instantly your home and only resting place.
‘The Stranger’ can be all these things- a healer, a cage, an addiction, but it is most definitely a call into the darkness, reaching out to the listener to join us in the howl of life, to wake up the bones and the skin. Be with us in the noise and know that whatever it is that led you to us, we are grateful you are home.”
It’s been two years since Deep Cross delivered Royal Water, and now they return with the enigmatically-titled Scaffolded Dawn.
As the accompanying notes outline, ‘Utilizing treated vocal drones, tape, modular synth and an array of found sounds, on the new album, Deep Cross delivers seven tracks of heavy Devotional Electronics. Blistering and crude yet ecstatic and sacred, Scaffolded Dawn focuses on transition points where tempers blur beyond ideas of convention. In each track discomfort, overcoming, decay, lure, attraction and beauty inhabit an axis of equal reign where multitudes thrive.’
As a taster for Scaffolded Dawn, they’ve landed a video for the track ‘Ranine Copper’. With hints of The Walking Dead, it’s suspenseful, disturbing, and very, very dark.
We love dark here at Aural Aggravation, so we are immensely proud to premiere this video. Brace yourselves.
British industrial/EBM artist ESA is proud to release a new music video for the song ‘Pound Of Flesh’, taken from the artist’s recent album Sounds for Your Happiness out from July 5th via Negative Gain Productions label.
‘Pound of Flesh’ is the most ambitious cinematic journey from ESA to date. Shot on location in Bangkok (Thailand) during July 2025 with additional scenes filmed in Manchester UK, the video sees the participation of Tan Toafa Maneepasopchock (Gotham/Oceans 10) and Panita Hutacharern along with three other native Thai actors. ‘Pound of Flesh’ is in part a powerful and compelling narrative experience, alongside a love letter to Thailand. A country that has meant a lot to Blacker over the years.
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The story follows a troubled soul, tormented by inner demons, trapped within their own mental prison, happening upon a vehicle to allow astral projection from one body to another in a vain attempt to escape their own pain and anguish. From body to body, it soon becomes apparent that dwelling within a new host body is not the solution it might first appear to be. As time passes within the host, breakdowns begin to emerge and the demons that are tethered to the troubled now take up chase, culminating in a powerful and incredibly cinematic exorcism experience.
‘Pound of Flesh’ is a music film in 3 parts, both adventurous in script and energetic in its execution. The acting of Tan and Panita levels up further the Universe that Blacker is trying to achieve with the ESA multimedia experience.
For the second single from the companion album Best of Nine Inch Nails Redux that will be released parallel to the forthcoming MER Redux Series instalment The Downward Spiral Redux, sludge metal outfit THOU from Baton Rouge, Louisiana pay an ultra-heavy tribute with their cover of the NIN track ‘Suck’.
THOU comment by quoting Emil Cioran: “True confessions are written with tears only”, vocalist Bryan Funck cites an adage of the Romanian philosopher from 1934: “But my tears would drown the world, as my inner fire would reduce it to ashes.”
Parallel to the companion album Best of Nine Inch Nails Redux, Magnetic Eye Records will release The Downward Spiral Redux that contains 14 cover renditions of the original album tracks in sequence, recorded by some of the most compelling artists in hard and heavy music today.
LA-based psychedelic rock outfit Tombstones In Their Eyes presents their brooding single ‘Under Dark Skies’, previewing their Under Dark Skies album, to be released via Little Cloud Records (for North America) and Shore Dive Records (for the UK and EU). Without wallowing in self-pity and emotional upheaval, this song leans hopefully toward a new beginning in the understanding that sometimes the bottom is the best place to start.
The video was created by Italian multi-arts visionary Francesca Bonci, known for her work with Federale (BJM’s Collin Hegna), British bard Philip Parfitt, The Dandy Warhols’ Peter G. Holmström a.k.a. Pete International Airport and Slowdive’s Rachel Goswell.
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Tombstones In Their Eyes is made up of John Treanor (vocals & guitar), Stephen Striegel (drums), Courtney Davies (vocals), Phil Cobb (guitar), Paul Boutin (guitar), Nic Nifoussi (bass) and Clea Cullen (vocals). What began casually a decade ago has evolved into a powerhouse band known for their expansive psychedelic soundscapes. For Treanor, these sonic explorations are like a cosmic therapy session – an immersive subliminal journey, as well as a way to grapple with anxiety.
This record was created during a year of intense personal change, followed by a clearing of the decks and a move forward into a place light and gratitude. Recorded and engineered by Paul Roessler (Josie Cotton, Nina Hagen, Hayley and the Crushers, Gitane Demone) at Kitten Robot Studios, this album was co-produced by John Treanor and mastered by multi-platinum engineer Alex DeYoung at DeYoung Masters (Michael Jackson, BTS, Macy Gray, The Linda Lindas, TSOL).
“’Under Dark Skies’ is essentially a prayer sent for a path forward from the darkness of the spirit into the light. When the spirit is crushed, a rebirth is possible but the way forward is not always obvious. I feel fortunate to have a creative outlet like music to deal with the chaos in my head. Having said that, fighting the urges for self destruction by self-soothing in harmful ways is still not easy,” says John Treanor.
“We live in a tough and harsh world that is also filled with beauty and joy. Finding beauty and joy is the goal. I’m aware that I have many privileges and do not discount that, but mental health challenges do not seem to discriminate. Finding strength and hope is a daily practice that I must undertake and writing these songs is one of the many ways that I cope. By expressing and sharing these feelings, I let go of the poison and seek connection with others.”
The Hangnails have certainly evolved. Recent releases have been a very far cry from the raw garage blasts of their early works, starting out almost fifteen years as a full-throttle garage duo.
There was something of a fallow spell after the release of DOG in 2017, after which Martyn Fillingham and Steven Reid made an understated return, the dropping of the ‘…and the’ signifying their shift towards different territories.
‘Come On Outside’ may be their most different yet. Stripped back, mellow, atmospheric, and synthy, it boasts epic, cinematic qualities – and they still make sound that you’d think impossible for a two-piece.
The visuals for the video are pretty striking, too.
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