LEWIS (ex-vocalist The Kinison) announces debut full length produced by Paul Fig (Ghost, Alice In Chains)

L.A. multi-instrumentalist Christopher Lee Lewis, with the nom-de-tune LEWIS, shares the title track to his forthcoming solo debut full length Son On The Floor today via Spill Magazine. Hear & share "Tobi" HERE and via Bandcamp, Spotify and Apple Music. 

Christopher L. Lewis (moniker LEWIS) is an American songwriter, musician and producer. He grew up in Oblong, Illinois (pop. 1,391) and began his solo career in 2019, having previously been the frontman for the punk outfit, The Kinison. Starting on drums from the age of four, Christopher has been involved in a number of groups since ranging from the mellow pop-rock group, Pioneers, to signer-songwriter acoustic duo Canada.

Throughout Christopher's career, he has recorded several studio full-lengths, three EPs and one live album. His 2019 EP LEWIS, released through his own Sona Baby Records, is the first release to showcase his musical talent across all instruments. Christopher's Mom said: "It's his best drumming since 1987!" 

LEWIS recorded the forthcoming full-length album at fabled studio Dave's Room in Los Angeles with Grammy nominated engineer/producer Paul Fig, for release in 2020. A prolific artist, he's been known to write up to thirty songs in a weekend.

Having played at Coachella, multiple Warped Tours, and Wembley Arena, Christopher is no outsider to being on the stage. You are sure to see him live soon at a venue near you, as soon as that becomes a thing again. 

Son On The Floor will be available on LP and download on August 21st, 2020 via Sona Baby Records. Pre-orders are available HERE. 

Artist: LEWIS Album: Son On The Floor Record Label: Sona Baby Records Release Date: August 21st, 2020 01. Tobi 02. She’s Mine 03. Bathe Clean 04. What We Give 05. Pargana 06. Settle Down 07. I’m Nervous, Too 08. Son On the Floor 09. Fasten It Up 10. My Modesty 11. Intentions On the Web: lewismusic.us musiclewis.bandcamp.com instagram.com/lee.lewis.music

VILE CREATURE premiere new track from forthcoming album on Prosthetic Records

Doom metal experimentalists VILE CREATURE premiere a new single from their upcoming new album, Glory, Glory! Apathy Took Helm! The track, titled "When The Path Is Unclear" is streaming exclusively via Decibel Magazine alongside an excerpt from an interview due to be published in full in the print edition. Hear and share "When The Path Is Unclear" HERE. It will be available on all DSPs tomorrow, pre-order/pre-save SmartURL HERE. 

The five track album will be their first full length studio album under the Prosthetic Records banner. Metal Injection recently shared the video for "You Who Has Never Slept" HERE. (Direct YouTube.) Kerrang! previously launched the single audio HERE. 

VILE CREATURE is:

Vic (they/them) -  vocals, drums

KW (he/they) -  vocals, guitar, drums, percussion

About the new single, the band says:

"'When the Path Is Unclear' was the last song completed for the record and the one that, we feel, perfectly melds the slow, meditative doom of our past records with the musical experimentation & exploration we gravitated towards when making some of the more out there musical pieces from Glory, Glory! Apathy took Helm! Lyrically the song is a direct accusation towards those that would do harm by holding up failures of the past as pillars of strength for the future."

VILE CREATURE has been constantly evolving during their six years as a band; from each release to the next, the Hamilton, Ontario duo have been pushing the boundaries of their own creativity, and testing the limits of their own place in the world. Nowhere is this more evident than on their latest experimental doom metal album, Glory, Glory! Apathy Took Helm! VILE CREATURE are digging their heels in, ready to fight against the all too easy slide into nihilism -- as embodied in the sardonic album title. 

Opener, "Harbinger of Nothing" (which first emerged on an Adult Swim compilation in 2019 and was re-recorded for the album) provides a jumping off point for a record that traverses myriad raw, real life experiences and marks a distinct new chapter for the band. The album features contributions from vocalist Laurel Minnes and her choir, Minuscule, and additional instrumentation from Bismuth’s Tanya Byrne. VILE CREATURE remains embedded in the oppressive sounds of doom and metal, only now they are covered with a luxurious veil of majestic embellishments.

Recording took place in February, 2020 at Boxcar Sound Recording in Hamilton, Ontario, with Adam Tucker once again in the producer’s chair. With Vic’s evocative and primal vocals often taking centre stage, their marked growth in confidence as a performer is evident. By collaborating with photographer, Danika Zandboer, the trio have fashioned a striking visual accompaniment -- manifesting the psychedelic and theatrical influences that become present in both audio and visual form. 

Glory, Glory! Apathy Took Helm! will be available on LP, CD and digital on June 19th, 2020 via Prosthetic Records. Pre-orders are available HERE. 

Artist: Vile Creature

Album: Glory, Glory! Apathy Took Helm!

Record Label: Prosthetic Records

Release Date: June 19th, 2020

01. Harbinger of Nothing

02. When The Path Is Unclear

03. You Who Has Never Slept

04. Glory! Glory!

05. Apathy Took Helm!

On The Web:

vilecreature.bandcamp.com

prostheticrecords.com

facebook.com/vilecreature

All-star experimentalists NOUS (Chris Bono w/ ex-Liturgy, Swans, Yoko Ono members) stream full album ahead of release

"A half-airy, half-aggressive interdisciplinary happening organized by the young and enterprising composer Christopher Bono, who brought together a wise, postcategory, electric and acoustic 12-person crew."  -- New York Times

"You couldn't pigeonhole it into one genre if you tried -- it goes from eerie David Lynchian soundscapes to Eastern melodies to avant-garde jazz drum freakouts to a million other places, all while remaining strangely accessible." -- Brooklyn Vegan

"One of experimental rock’s most stacked modern supergroups... I’m eager to hear what’s become my most anticipated album dropping this month." -- Heavy Blog Is Heavy

New York experimental music project NOUS, led by producer and composer Christopher Bono, is streaming their forthcoming album NOUS III early starting today via Brooklyn Vegan. The album is the third installment from the lineup and concepts which comprised the band's opening trilogy of releases. Hear and share NOUS III HERE. Pre-order/pre-save HERE.

Watch the full collection of videos from the album, all of which were shot in the studio during the album recording and feature the exact moments each performer's parts were recorded via the label's YouTube page. 

Flood Magazine previously shared the single "Never Can It Be" HERE. Heavy Blog Is Heavy hosted "Blush" HERE. Treble shared "We Hope The Weather Will Continue" HERE. 

NOUS is an experimental music project with a fluctuating group of artists exploring ritual and spontaneity within music. The first trilogy of releases were culled from a 5-day musical retreat wherein 13 musicians were invited to join Christopher at the legendary Dreamland Studios, a converted church, with producer Kevin McMahon (Swans, Titus Andronicus) on an intensive 7-day immersion -- recording for 5 days, with 2 live performances at the conclusion. Each member was given a 47 page handbook that included a series of 60 musical "seed" ideas along with a list of conceptual cues. These ideas acted as a starting place for each improvisation. Bono then designed a daily schedule that began with a morning warmup routine of yoga followed by silent meditation, vocal toning, body percussion, and then a mixed percussion and toning session before moving to their respective instruments. These morning sessions were designed to move gradually from silence to sound within the body (vocal toning), rhythm on the body and finally to a blend of external instruments coinciding with internal sound (instruments and vocal toning.) Once the recording schedule began each day, Bono mixed the seed and conceptual ideas along with timed periods of free improvisation.This conceptual social experiment led to 3 albums and a transcendent sound formed from a unique fusing of collective consciousness. 

A final, very special collaboration between ambient legend Laraaji with this NOUS ensemble will be announced soon for release in 2020. 

The first NOUS trilogy along with the upcoming Laraaji & NOUS album will be followed by a new, entirely different incarnation of NOUS featuring Christopher Bono and Karl Berger, a jazz icon known for his stints with Ornette Coleman, Ed Blackwell and Don Cherry, and also for founding the now historic Creative Music Studio. Berger and Bono dubbed their collaboration NOUS: One Mind. They brought in 16 different musicians for various recording projects including Billy Martin (Medeski, Martin, Wood), Christopher Pravdica (Swans), Ira Coleman (Sting), master flutist Steve Gorn and many others. The two composers explored improvisation and composition in ways that blended their own unique backgrounds into a festive expression of improvised music that highlights the free power of the individual within the framework of a talented ensemble of deep listeners.

Each NOUS incarnation centers around a different focal concept, always seeking alternative ways of creating art. The name was chosen for its double meaning. 'Nous' in the French language is the plural personal pronoun in the first person, meaning 'we' or 'us'. However, within the philosophical tradition it is a word sometimes equated to intellect that is used to describe the faculty of the human mind which is necessary for understanding what is true or real, similar in meaning to intuition.

Nous band members on this recording:

~ Christopher Bono (Composer, Ghost Against Ghost)  www.christopherbono.com

~ Greg Fox (Guardian Alien, Zs, Ben Frost, ex-Liturgy) 

~ Shahzad Ismaily (Yoko Ono, Laurie Anderson, Bonnie Prince Billy)

~ Thor Harris (Swans, Angels of Light, Amanda Palmer, Shearwater)

~ Grey Mcmurray (itsnotyouitsme, So Percussion, Tyondai Braxton) 

Special guests:

~ Clarice Jensen, Cello (ACME: American Contemporary Music Ensemble, yMusic, Ra Ra Riot)

~ Caleb Burhans, Composer (itsnotyouitsme, ACME)

~ Laura Lutzke, Violin (ACME)

~ Alex Sopp, Flutes (ACME, yMusic)

~ Imago, Cello / Vocals (Múm)

~ Cecilie Hafstad, Vocals
~ Laraaji & Arji (Zither, Ambient Sounds)

NOUS III will be available for streaming and download on May 29th, 2020 via Our Silent Canvas. Pre-orders are available HERE. 

Artist: NOUS

Album: NOUS III

Record Label: Our Silent Canvas

Release Date: May 29th, 2020

01. We Hope The Weather Will Continue 

02. Ninths

03. A Falling Tear

04. Never Can It Be

05. Dust Suspended

06. Egac Ot Egamon

07. Blush

08. Chandra

09. Kindness

On the Web:

allnous.com

oursilentcanvas.bandcamp.com

oursilentcanvasstore.org

All-star experimentalists NOUS (Chris Bono, Greg Fox [Liturgy], Thor Harris [Swans], et al) share video for new track from upcoming album

"A half-airy, half-aggressive interdisciplinary happening organized by the young and enterprising composer Christopher Bono, who brought together a wise, postcategory, electric and acoustic 12-person crew."  -- New York Times

"You couldn't pigeonhole it into one genre if you tried -- it goes from eerie David Lynchian soundscapes to Eastern melodies to avant-garde jazz drum freakouts to a million other places, all while remaining strangely accessible." -- Brooklyn Vegan

"One of experimental rock’s most stacked modern supergroups... I’m eager to hear what’s become my most anticipated album dropping this month." -- Heavy Blog Is Heavy

New York experimental music project NOUS, led by producer and composer Christopher Bono, shares a new track from the forthcoming NOUS III today via Treble. The album is the third installment from the lineup and concepts which comprised the band's opening trilogy of releases. Hear and share "We Hope The Weather Will Continue" HERE. Watch/share the video via YouTube HERE. Pre-order/pre-save HERE.

Brooklyn Vegan recently premiered the lead single "Ninths" HERE. Flood Magazine followed with the second single "Never Can It Be" HERE. Heavy Blog Is Heavy hosted "Blush" HERE. 

NOUS is an experimental music project with a fluctuating group of artists exploring ritual and spontaneity within music. The first trilogy of releases were culled from a 5-day musical retreat wherein 13 musicians were invited to join Christopher at the legendary Dreamland Studios, a converted church, with producer Kevin McMahon (Swans, Titus Andronicus) on an intensive 7-day immersion -- recording for 5 days, with 2 live performances at the conclusion. Each member was given a 47 page handbook that included a series of 60 musical "seed" ideas along with a list of conceptual cues. These ideas acted as a starting place for each improvisation. Bono then designed a daily schedule that began with a morning warmup routine of yoga followed by silent meditation, vocal toning, body percussion, and then a mixed percussion and toning session before moving to their respective instruments. These morning sessions were designed to move gradually from silence to sound within the body (vocal toning), rhythm on the body and finally to a blend of external instruments coinciding with internal sound (instruments and vocal toning.) Once the recording schedule began each day, Bono mixed the seed and conceptual ideas along with timed periods of free improvisation.This conceptual social experiment led to 3 albums and a transcendent sound formed from a unique fusing of collective consciousness. 

A final, very special collaboration between ambient legend Laraaji with this NOUS ensemble will be announced soon for release in 2020. 

The first NOUS trilogy along with the upcoming Laraaji & NOUS album will be followed by a new, entirely different incarnation of NOUS featuring Christopher Bono and Karl Berger, a jazz icon known for his stints with Ornette Coleman, Ed Blackwell and Don Cherry, and also for founding the now historic Creative Music Studio. Berger and Bono dubbed their collaboration NOUS: One Mind. They brought in 16 different musicians for various recording projects including Billy Martin (Medeski, Martin, Wood), Christopher Pravdica (Swans), Ira Coleman (Sting), master flutist Steve Gorn and many others. The two composers explored improvisation and composition in ways that blended their own unique backgrounds into a festive expression of improvised music that highlights the free power of the individual within the framework of a talented ensemble of deep listeners.

Each NOUS incarnation centers around a different focal concept, always seeking alternative ways of creating art. The name was chosen for its double meaning. 'Nous' in the French language is the plural personal pronoun in the first person, meaning 'we' or 'us'. However, within the philosophical tradition it is a word sometimes equated to intellect that is used to describe the faculty of the human mind which is necessary for understanding what is true or real, similar in meaning to intuition.

Nous band members on this recording:

~ Christopher Bono (Composer, Ghost Against Ghost)  www.christopherbono.com

~ Greg Fox (Guardian Alien, Zs, Ben Frost, ex-Liturgy) 

~ Shahzad Ismaily (Yoko Ono, Laurie Anderson, Bonnie Prince Billy)

~ Thor Harris (Swans, Angels of Light, Amanda Palmer, Shearwater)

~ Grey Mcmurray (itsnotyouitsme, So Percussion, Tyondai Braxton) 

Special guests:

~ Clarice Jensen, Cello (ACME: American Contemporary Music Ensemble, yMusic, Ra Ra Riot)

~ Caleb Burhans, Composer (itsnotyouitsme, ACME)

~ Laura Lutzke, Violin (ACME)

~ Alex Sopp, Flutes (ACME, yMusic)

~ Imago, Cello / Vocals (Múm)

~ Cecilie Hafstad, Vocals

NOUS III will be available for streaming and download on May 29th, 2020 via Our Silent Canvas. Pre-orders are available HERE. 

Artist: NOUS

Album: NOUS III

Record Label: Our Silent Canvas

Release Date: May 29th, 2020

01. We Hope The Weather Will Continue 

02. Ninths

03. A Falling Tear

04. Never Can It Be

05. Dust Suspended

06. Egac Ot Egamon

07. Blush

08. Chandra

09. Kindness

On the Web:

allnous.com

oursilentcanvas.bandcamp.com

oursilentcanvasstore.org

HELL FIRE reminisce about road dog life w/ new video single "Conquerors"

"Lots of thrash bands do their best to sound retro, but Hell Fire manage to sound classic." -- Kerrang!

"Hell Fire rocks harder than Stonehenge with the fury of Motorhead!" -- CvltNation

"Hell Fire is straight up incapable of writing a song that doesn't kick ass. They just can't do it... Pure heavy metal." -- Metal Injection

San Francisco thrash revivalists Hell Fire share a new single & video today via Metal Injection. The clip, comprised mostly of live footage and candid scenes from the band's seemingly endless touring from way back 'in the before-times' is touchingly celebratory of the live show experience. Watch & share "Conquerors" HERE. (Direct YouTube and Bandcamp.) 

Brooklyn Vegan previously shared Hell Fire's 2019 album Mania in its entirety HERE. (Direct YouTube.) 

"Conquerors" is a standalone single available on all streaming platforms today. Mania is the band's first proper album on RidingEasy Records, following the label's worldwide reissue of the band's self-released 2017 sophomore breakout Free Again, released on January 18th. 

Formed in recent years in San Francisco, though it may seem more likely that they hatched fresh out of a time travel portal from the mid-80s Bay Area thrash scene, Hell Fire have the classic look and sound of modern metal's halcyon days. Hell Fire's sonic assault warmly condenses elements of influences like Angel Witch, Iron Maiden, Rainbow, Exodus, Metallica, Riot, Virtue and Diamond Head into 10 tracks of headbanging MUYA anthems. 

The free-wheelin' creativity and infectious vitality of the 80s Bay Area thrash scene is a moment forever locked in time, but its spirit lives on in the band's galloping guitar picks, soaring harmonies and blistering rhythms. Hell Fire's perfect hybrid of NWOBHM theatrics and American thrash attitude.

Mania is available on LP, CD and download, released on March 29th, 2019 via RidingEasy Records. The album is available to purchase HERE.

Artist: Hell Fire

Album: "Conquerors" digital single

Label: RidingEasy Records

Release Date: May 14th, 2020

01. Conquerors

Artist: Hell Fire

Album: Mania

Label: RidingEasy Records

Release Date: March 29, 2019

01. Warpath

02. Mania

03. On The Loose

04. Born To Burn

05. Transcending Evil

06. Lashing Out

07. Isolator

08. The Dreamer

09. Knights of The Holy

10. Masochist

On The Web:

hellfiremetal.com

hellfiremetal.bandcamp.com

instagram.com/hellfiremetal

ridingeasyrecs.com

Maggot Heart (Linnéa Olsson ex-The Oath) announce sophomore album, share first single

Best of 2018: Dusk To Dusk  -- Revolver Magazine

"Similar to The Oath (or Ghost or Blue Oyster Cult) it has the spirit of darkness of metal, but really it’s a catchy, swaggering rock song." -- Brooklyn Vegan

Berlin based hard rock band Maggot Heart shares the title track to their forthcoming sophomore album Mercy Machine today on all DSPs. Yesterday, the track premiered via Brooklyn Vegan HERE. Hear & share "Mercy Machine" via Bandcamp, Spotify and Apple Music. 

Linnéa Olsson's Maggot Heart is back with their sophomore album, which will be released on Linnéa's brand new record label Rapid Eye Records. The Swedish guitarist and songwriter, based in Berlin since 2012, has made her band a much talked about force in the underground with their extensive touring (alongside Earthless and Voivod among others), cross-over hard rock sound, and punk ethos. 

The city as a throbbing organism is one of the fundamental themes of Maggot Heart, explored in several songs on City Girls (2017) and Dusk to Dusk (2018). On Mercy Machine (2020), the machinery of night runs on the steam of many bodies. Locked inside a prison of flesh the spirit will not soar, only in unity with the body can divine alchemy be achieved. Mercy Machine is a rock album about sex, death and the pursuit of freedom. 

This album was put together by Linnéa, long-time drumming partner Uno Bruniusson and bassist Olivia Airey (as well as on-and-off collaborator Gottfrid Åhman) at the end of 2019, and once again 

recorded in Stockholm, Sweden with award-winning producer Martin "Konie" Ehrencrona (Viagra Boys, In Solitude) in February 2020. It highlights Olsson's catchy, but strangely jarring songwriting in ten cutting tracks, swerving back and forth on the rock genre-spectrum. These songs contain a highly entertaining blend of urgency, bleakness and undeniable attitude which may or may not appeal to fans of Voivod, The Stooges and The Jesus Lizard. 

The incredible cover artwork is by Kristian Valbo, known to metal fans as the drummer for Obliteration.

Mercy Machine will be available on LP and download on July 10th, 2020 via Rapid Eye Records. Pre-orders are available HERE. 

Artist: Maggot Heart

Album: Mercy Machine

Record Label: Rapid Eye Records

Release Date: July 10th, 2020

01. Second Class

02. Sex Breath

03. Justine

04. Roses

05. Gutter Feeling

06. Mercy Machine

07. High Rise

08. Lost Boys

09. Senseless

10. Modern Cruelty

On the Web:

maggotheart.bandcamp.com

maggotheart.com

rapideyerecords.com

Ghost Work (ex-Seaweed, Minus The Bear, Milemarker, Snapcase members) share new single from upcoming debut

"Strikes a balance between ’90s post-hardcore and ’90s indie rock, with a little post-punkiness in the mix too. Given these members’ pedigrees, a song like this is right in their wheelhouse, but it’s also not really a repeat of anything any of them have done before. It’s good stuff." -- Brooklyn Vegan

"A delicious blend of punk rock/post-punk goodness." -- PopMatters

Indie-punk supergroup Ghost Work share a new single from their forthcoming debut full length today via The Big Takeover. Hear and share "Statues in Spain" HERE. (Direct Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music.) 

The album's original release date has been moved back one month to June 5th. Brooklyn Vegan recently featured the first single, "Fake Blood" HERE. PopMatters previously hosted "Go Stat" HERE. 

Ghost Work is a new band from current and ex-members of Seaweed, Minus the Bear, Snapcase and Milemarker among others. The band brings their unique styles to the table along with various other punk and post-punk influences. Anyone familiar with vocalist/guitarist Aaron Stauffer's 90s work with Seaweed, Gardener (Sub Pop) and others will immediately recognize his voice the moment it drops in over a haze of chiming and chirping shoegaze guitars and the driving rhythm section in album opener "Fake Blood." 

You'll Be Buried With is the band's debut full length, recorded in various locations from Washington DC, Chicago, Seattle, Buffalo and Mendocino. It was mixed by Chris Rakestraw (Danzig, Megadeth, Retox, Deftones) in December 2019. 

Ghost Work is:

Aaron Stauffer (ex-Seaweed) - vocals, guitar

Dustin Perry (Snapcase) - bass guitar

Sean Husick (ex-Milemarker) - guitars

Erin Tate (ex-Minus The Bear) - drums

Here is what Stauffer had to say in a recent interview with No Echo:

"Ghost Work, yes. I don't know any of the other guys in that band [laughs]. I've only spoken to Sean [Husick], the dude that was in Milemarker. I got an email from Erin [Tate], the guy who was in Minus the Bear, and he was like, "I got your email from so and so, and I hope I'm not intruding, but here's some music, see if you like it, and if you want to sing on it." I remember reading that to my wife and saying, "This is going to be terrible." [Laughs] I saw Snapcase mentioned in the email, and I thought it was going to be like a hardcore band. I don't mean that it was going to be terrible because it was hardcore, it just wasn't going to be right for me as a singer. Anyway, I heard the music and I was like, "Wow! This is really good." The guitar playing is super- interesting, and it reminded me of My Bloody Valentine or Cocteau Twins, you know? "I can totally sing on this!" It's been so much fun because in Seaweed, I only wrote about 10% of the songs, max, maybe for like 5% to be realistic. Most of the time I was just singing over someone else's riffs, and that's pretty much the only band I've played in where that was the case. So, it's been fun to be doing that again with Ghost Work. Yeah, I'm having a lot of fun with this band." 

You'll Be Buried With will be released June 5th, 2020 via the IDEAS label. 

Artist: Ghost Work

Album: You’ll Be Buried With

Record Label: IDEAS 

Release Date: June 5th, 2020

01. Fake Blood

02. Go Stat

03. Favored Routes

04. Statues in Spain

05. Bricks of Sun

06. Greeting from Gates

07.Salt From Tears

08. Contact Contract

09. B. Ledgewood

10. Confession on 6

On The Web:

realghostwork.bandcamp.com

instagram.com/realghostwork

facebook.com/ghostwork

twitter.com/realghostwork