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.
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.
Mayshe-Mayshe has released new single ‘Mycelium’, and an accompanying video.
This is a song is about autumn and decay, rainy woodland walks, lonely adventures, and setting off on a journey at nightfall. (Snufkin setting off on a journey to be specific.)
Following the announcement of Smote’s fifth release for Rocket Recordings – Songs From The Free House – the band now shares a second taster of what’s to come in the form of ‘Snodgerss’, a flute-led jig-turned-pitch-dark-ritual. Their deepest and most fully-realised album to date, Songs From The Free House continues Smote’s exploratory mission into heaviness in all its forms, and sees its primary creator Daniel Foggin exploring a variety of new avenues.
Songs From The Free House features guest appearances from Sally Mason of the Smote live band on vocals and Ian Lynch from Lankum on Uillean pipes and will be released via Rocket Recordings on 17th October.
Forged from repetition and mantric intensity and possessed of formidable psychic fortitude, this album proves that the only retro-chic Smote indulge in is liable to go back several centuries. The megalithic monomania of last year’s A Grand Stream set a formidable precedent, and Smote’s live shows in its wake have gradually built a reputation as visionary seers building audial monuments by cranked amplification and atmospheric intensity alike. Yet these five gnostic serenades offer portals and paradigms anew.
Smote has now shared the track ‘Snodgerss’. About the track, Daniel says,“’Snodgerss’ roughly translates to ‘smooth grass’ or ‘long grass’. Waves and layers dance around each other and modulate against the wind, each blade moving individually but still in harmony with the rest. Such is the nature of the 3rd track on the album, blown out percussion dances around flute melodies and explosive guitars alike, each playing its own part in the movement."
AA
Upcoming Smote live dates: 17 Oct / Falmouth / KCM Church 18 Oct / Bristol / Down Stokes Festival 19 Oct / Preston / The Ferret 20 Oct / Glasgow / Hug and Pint 23 Oct / London / The Lexington *sold out* 24 Oct / Derby / Dubrek Studios 26 Oct / Newcastle / The Lubber Fiend 13 Dec / Todmorden / The Golden Lion
Today, we share the mysterious and poignant track ‘Moonshiner’ from the eponymous solo album by guitarist, producer and composer Alessandro ‘Asso’ Stefana. The album is due for release on 17th May 2024 via Ipecac Recordings, with PJ Harvey as Executive Producer. ‘Moonshiner’ is one of the track from the albums featuring the voice of Roscoe Holcomb taken from the Smithsonian Folkways archives.
Asso describes his use of the archives as “a powerful and moving testimony to a bygone era… I have always been fascinated by the idea of mixing folk, a music so intimately linked to the land, with something that goes beyond the boundaries of the genre.” One of Asso’s aims for this album was for it to feel “suspended between earth and sky” – the interplay between decades old recordings with new improvisations evokes feelings of being grounded and untethered at the same time.
Yesterday, I discovered that the company I work for by way of a dayjob not only has a nut-free floor in its primary office on account of allergies – I get it, the potential for anaphylactic shock and death is something that requires precaution – but it also has two floors where strawberries are prohibited, and another which is a banana-free zone.
I began to consider the practicalities. How do these people get to their designated floors safely? How do they even get to the office? What do they do about supermarket shopping? After all, strawberries and bananas are out there. In fact, they’re on the street in front of various greengrocers’ near me. While I was considering this, the new Melvins single landed in my inbox. It’s as if they had planned to provide the soundtrack to my contemplations.
Yes, Melvins have shared a second song from their forthcoming album, Tarantula Heart (April 19, Ipecac Recordings), with today’s release of ‘Allergic to Food’.
Check it here:
“The way we approached Tarantula Heart was different than any other Melvins’ album,” explains Buzz Osborne. “I had Dale and Roy Mayorga come in and play along with Steven and I to some riffs, then I took those sessions and figured out what parts would work and wrote new music to fit. This isn’t a studio approach we’ve ever taken. Usually we have the songs written BEFORE we start recording!”
“The majority of Tarantula Heart has dual drum parts,” adds long-time Melvins drummer Dale Crover. “Roy is an amazing drummer. We would discuss what we would do pattern wise, then we’d just go for it. Improvising riffs and trading off on drum fills.”
Recorded, mixed and co-produced by longtime Melvins’ collaborator Toshi Kasai, the album also features We Are The Asteroid guitar player Gary Chester. Gary and the Melvins’ history goes back to their days on Boner Records, with the guitar player formerly having been a part of the legendary band, Ed Hall.
Industrial metal band Our Frankenstein has just unleashed their new video for the single, ‘Illuminate’.
‘Illuminate’ is a song about finding the light that can exist in a barren and hopeless wasteland while building a better future for yourself. It’s about forging forward and discovering the strength in yourself to move on past a difficult time in your life.
‘Illuminate’ is available on all major streaming platforms including Bandcamp.
Aural Aggravation 