Thursday, August 31, 2017

CRUEL WHIP (Xetas, Gospel Truth) stream full debut album early, harsh industrial/noise/experimental from Austin


"Sticks to the principles taught by the likes of SPK, Einsturzende Neubaten and Throbbing Gristle. Menacing, mechanical and downright sinister at times the album leaves little room for contemplation - nothing short of a total war, indeed." -- I Heart Noise


Austin, TX experimental noise concern Cruel Whip are streaming their forthcoming debut album Fatal Man today ahead of release via I Heart Noise. The album is out September 1st on Self-Sabotage Records (subsidiary of Super Secret Records) and is available to hear and share now HERE. (Direct Soundcloud). 

The first of three Self Sabotage titles coming out September 2017, Fatal Man is the debut album of Cruel Whip, David Petro's solo project. Petro, better known to many as the vocalist/guitarist of Xetas and the bassist in both The Gospel Truth and Art Acevedo, utilizes myriad electronic devices & pedals, shuffling genre-bending influences from Industrial to Drum 'N Bass to Electro, to create a cacophonous blend of ambient noise backed by blasting rhythms that will make your heart palpitate.

Fatal Man is an industrial album that incorporates harsh noise & glitch with moments reminiscent of Einstürzende Neubauten's clanging propulsion, the experimental dub of Porter Ricks, the dark ambience of Main and the grit of early & late pioneers like Throbbing Gristle, Coil and Skinny Puppy.

Recorded by Maxi Deems on a 4-track cassette recorder in the back house of the defunct DIY venue Motel Hell in Austin, Texas.

Cruel Whip plays a hometown tape release show at Beerland, Texas on September 13th, an unofficial kickoff to the Sonic Transmissions Festival

Fatal Man will be available on cassette and download on September 1st via Self-Sabotage Records. Pre-order on cassette HERE and digital at Bandcamp.  


Artist: Cruel Whip
Album: Fatal Man
Label: Self-Sabotage Records
Release date: September 1st, 2017

01. Deathwatch
02. Table of Drops
03. Disinterred
04. Consumption
05. Æther/Ore
06. Fatal Man

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Monday, August 28, 2017

FACIAL premiere new track from forthcoming album, L.A. post-thrashers on Chain Letter Collective


"Post-thrashers Facial peel away the pretense with the album's lead single, 'Animals.'" -- Consequence of Sound

"A seething post-punk missile fired across the bow of your comfort zone. Punch something if you must." -- Buzzbands.LA


Los Angeles trio FACIAL premiere a new track from their forthcoming sophomore album today via Buzzbands.LA. Hear and share album opener "Black Noise" HERE. (Direct Soundcloud). 

Facial plays a hometown show tonight at The Satellite as part of Nightmare Air's residency. West Coast tour dates start in late September. Please see current shows below. 

Consequence of Sound recently launched lead single "Animals" HERE. (Direct Soundcloud and Bandcamp.)

On Facial's new record Facade, the band takes a look at their city (Los Angeles), their country (U.S.A.), and within themselves, to see what kind of ugly truths lie behind the front. Inside of all of us there are things that we try very hard to conceal: animal urges, selfishness, anger, hate, envy, violence, sexuality. We push them down and paint an alternate reality on the surface: happy, caring, altruistic, confident, peaceful, benevolent. But when the discrepancy between facade and reality becomes too great, we are forced to confront the facade and to question the fabricated surface realities fed to us all.

The music on this record cuts, churns, and moves. It bombards the listener, as if in attempt to disarm the defenses that we use to protect ourselves from these uncomfortable truths. Perhaps facades are necessary in certain scenarios; little white lies. We do not want to expose our weakness. We do not want to appear scared. An outward appearance must be maintained. But at some point, one must come up for air. We can't hide forever. One day we will have to unmask. 

Facade will be available on LP and download on September 29th via Chain Letter Collective. Pre-orders are available for digital at iTunes and vinyl HERE

FACIAL LIVE:
08/28 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Satellite
09/27 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo
09/28 - San Francisco, CA @ The Eagle
09/29 - Eugene, OR @ Black Forest
10/01 - Seattle, WA @ Black Lodge
10/02 - Bellingham, WA @ TBA
10/03 - Portland, OR @ Liquor Store
10/04 - Vancouver, BC @ Cobalt
10/18 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Hi-Hat
10/22 - San Diego, CA @ Blonde Bar
11/02 - Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon


Artist: FACIAL
Album: Facade
Record Label: Chain Letter Collective
Release Date: September 29th, 2017

01. Black Noise
02. Hakeem
03. Animals
04. Fiend
05. Fashion Show
06. Unknown
07. Disappointment
08. Carrying The Load
09. Halitosis
10. Zero Sum
11. Go Away

On The Web:

Thursday, August 24, 2017

R.I.P. premiere new track from forthcoming album 'Street Reaper', Portland's street doom band returns Friday, Oct. 13th


"R.I.P. nails down that slower heaviness of classic doom bands, yet bares its teeth like a punk band --hence, street doom." -- Metal Injection

"Stepping into a cassette-era theatricality that suits the rawer production almost surprisingly well, R.I.P. finding a place for ’80s and early ’90s nostalgia that’s not overblown would-be glam or retro-minded thrash, but would nonetheless fit well on a bill next to Slayer during their big-hair days, despite the obvious sonic discrepancies." -- The Obelisk


Portland, OR 'Street Doom' quartet R.I.P. shares a new track from their forthcoming sophomore album Street Reaper today via The Obelisk. Hear and share "Unmarked Grave" whilst reading editor JJ Koczan's astute observations HERE. Direct YouTube & HERE.

Metal Injection recently shared lead single "The Other Side" HERE. (Direct YouTube HERE.)

When R.I.P. came crawling out of the sewers of Portland, OR last year, their grimy, sleazy Street Doom was already a fully formed monstrosity that quickly infected the minds of everyone it encountered. Now, borne from the band's declining state of mental health and increasing focus on songwriting, Street Reaper is an even more unhinged and menacing album than their 2016 debut In The Wind

Borrowing equally from 80s Rick Rubin productions and Murder Dog magazine aesthetics, Street Reaper is a streamlined, yet brutally raw manifesto of heavy metal ferocity hearkening to the era when both metal and hip hop were reviled as the work of street thugs intent on destroying America's youth.

Throughout, Angel Martinez's guitar and John Mullett's bass are inextricably interlocked, sounding like a massive sonic steamroller, while drummer Willie D keeps the beat solid and simple for the most powerful impact. And, the band's extensive touring and excessive virgin sacrifices have clearly endued singer Fuzz with evermore agile vocal chords to drive it all home with extreme precision.

Operating on the belief that doom is not tied to a tuning or a time signature, but rather a raw and terrified feeling, R.I.P. eschews well trodden fantasy and mysticism tropes of the genre and focuses on conveying the horror and chaos inherent in the everyday reality of the human mind. With several years of touring under their heavily studded belt, R.I.P. has distinguished themselves from the interchangeable hordes of bands trying to play heavy metal by crafting an aesthetic and a sound all their own, focusing on the things that make metal heavy rather than adhering to the formulaic confines of a particular sub-genre.

Street Reaper opens with the knockout punch of "Unmarked Grave" and the rest is just sheer bludgeoning for bludgeoning's sake as the album echoes the grimy vibe of legends like Saint Vitus, Pentagram and Motorhead, with the no b.s. aesthetic of the early Metal Massacre compilations. 

Street Reaper will be available on LP, CD and download on October 13th, 2017 via RidingEasy Records


Artist: R.I.P.
Album: Street Reaper
Record Label: RidingEasy Records
Release Date: October 13th, 2017

01. Unmarked Grave
02. Street Reaper
03. Mother Road
04. The Dark
05. The Other Side
06. Shadows Fools
07. Brimstone
08. The Cross
09. The Casket
10. Die In Vain









On The Web:

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Tera Melos premiere new song from forthcoming album, tour w/ Speedy Ortiz supporting this Fall


"A refreshing step forward for Tera Melos." -- NPR

Tera Melos premiere a new track from their forthcoming third album Trash Generator today via Brooklyn Vegan. Hear and share album "Your Friends" HERE. (Direct YouTube HERE.)

Tera Melos recently released the official video for the album title track, available to watch and share via YouTubeNPR previously premiered lead single "Don't Say I Know" HERE. (Direct YouTube HERE.) 

Tera Melos launch an extensive North American headlining tour with Speedy Ortiz supporting in October. Please see current dates below. 

Trash Generator, the trio's third full length, is an astonishing blast of confidence and rejuvenation. It sounds as if the 4-year downtime since their last album has recharged the band with an entirely new sense of purpose. The performances are brilliant and sharp, the songs concise yet intricately detailed, and the album production deftly captures the band's strength as a live unit. Their dalliances with mellower psychedelic phrases on their previous two albums, X'ed Out (2013) and Patagonian Rats (2010) are significantly trimmed and instead utilized as colorations within a swirling maelstrom of righteous aggro punk-jazz abandon. As such, it sounds like Tera Melos has fully metabolized their pop tendencies and found a way they can coexist with the band's iconoclast origins. Tera Melos -- guitarist/vocalist Nick Reinhart, bassist Nathan Latona and drummer John Clardy -- have learned to stop worrying and just be Tera Melos. 

In the downtime since their last full length, Reinhart remained active in multiple endeavors: contributing guitar to Death Grips' The Powers That B and Bottomless Pit albums + the I.L.Y.'s (Zach Hill and Andy Morin's other band), Big Walnuts Yonder (with Mike Watt, Nels Cline and Greg Saunier), Portugal.the man and many others. Latona completed a college degree he'd put off for 11 years. Clardy became and integral faculty member at the School of Rock in Dallas/Ft. Worth, inspiring young musicians with his real-world approach to learning music.

"Wth this record it was 100% let's not concern ourselves with what we should be doing at this point in the band's lifespan, and just fully focus on what makes us happy," Reinhart says. 

Trash Generator will be available everywhere August 25th, 2017 on LP, CD, click, like and download via Sargent House. Pre-orders for LP/CD via HelloMerch and download via iTunes.

TERA MELOS & SPEEDY ORTIZ 2017
Oct 13 Los Angeles, CA @ The Roxy 
Oct 14 Sacramento, CA @ Harlow's 
Oct 16 Portland, OR @ Holocene 
Oct 17 Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey 
Oct 19 Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court 
Oct 20 Denver, CO @ Globe Hall 
Oct 21 Omaha, NE @ Slowdown 
Oct 22 Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St Entry 
Oct 24 Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon 
Oct 25 St. Louis, MO @ Firebird 
Oct 26 Chicago, IL @ Subterranean 
Oct 27 Lakewood, OH @ Mahall's 
Oct 28 Toronto, ON @ The Hard Luck 
Oct 29 Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz 
Oct 31 Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair 
Nov 01 Hamden, CT @ The Ballroom Outer Space
Nov 02 Brooklyn, NY @ TBA
Nov 03 Philadelphia, PA @ The Foundry @ Fillmore 
Nov 04 Washington, DC @ Rock & Roll Hotel 
Nov 05 Carborro, NC @ Cat's Cradle 
Nov 07 Orlando, FL @ Backbooth 
Nov 08 Talahassee, FL @ Club Downunder (FSU) 
Nov 09 Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade Purgatory 
Nov 10 New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa 
Nov 11 Houston, TX @ Secret Group 
Nov 13 Dallas, TX @ Three Links 
Nov 15 Phoenix, AZ @ The Rebel Lounge 
Nov 16 San Diego, CA @ The Casbah 
Nov 17 Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room 
Nov 18 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill


Artist: Tera Melos
Album: Trash Generator
Record Label: Sargent House
Release date: August 25th, 2017

01. System Preferences
02. Your Friends
03. trash Generator
04. Warpless Run
05. Dyer Ln
06. GR30A11
07. Men’s Shirt
08. Don’t Say I Know
09. A Universal Gonk
10. Like a Dewclaw
11. Drawing
12. Super FX








On the Web:









Monday, August 21, 2017

And So I Watch You From Afar premiere first track from forthcoming album via DIY

"Combining a few slower, more contemplative yet complex melodies alongside passages of pure, blistering riffs and thunderous percussion, it shows off the raw energy that they aimed to instil into the whole of The Endless Shimmering."-- DIY


Northern Ireland's And So I Watch You From Afar (ASIWYFA) announce their return today with their forthcoming album The Endless Shimmering. This will be the eclectic quartet's fifth full length album following on from their widely acclaimed album Heirs. Alongside the album announcement, the band premiere a video for the first single, "A Slow Unfolding Of Wings" via DIY HERE. (Direct YouTube HERE.)

In support of the album, ASIWYFA launch an extensive EU/UK tour this Fall. They will be joined by Gallops for all of their UK dates. Please see complete dates below, 

ASIWYFA have a relentless thirst for touring and over the past 7-years they have tallied up almost 500 shows worldwide -- including less common tour stops such as China, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

The Endless Shimmering will be available everywhere October 20th, 2017 via Sargent House. Pre-orders are available at iTunes HERE and LP/CD HERE.

FULL BIO & TOUR DATES BELOW

Instinct. We all know what it is, but are hard pressed to acknowledge just how it guides us. Instinct subtly defines our identities, despite our attempts to defy it. The Endless Shimmering, the fifth album by Belfast, Northern Ireland quartet And So I Watch You From Afar, is the sound of a band operating on its pure instincts. 

Every individual is an algorithm of prior lives and experience acting as its own sovereign entity. Every band is itself a combined algorithm of those instincts, driven by unconscious will to replicate itself in the world as if it were flesh and blood like the people who embody it. The Endless Shimmering is visceral and expressive -- decidedly alive and purely instinctual; not conceptualized or postured. It's ASIWYFA -- guitarists Rory Friers and Niall Kennedy, bassist Johnathan Adger and drummer Chris Wee -- manifest as a being beyond itself. 

"We laid everything bare and put everything we had into the songs," Adger says. "And we hope people can feel that and use that without us having to be to overt in how we present it. The album was charged with a lot of what we were all going through as individuals, but we wanted to allow it to become people's soundtrack to whatever they need in their life at this moment."

Perhaps the most immediately noticeable difference on this album is that the ensemble vocals of the previous recordings Heirs and All Hail Bright Futures is dialed back considerably to allow the music to come to the fore. The difference gives the musicians freedom to stretch out and truly shine as performers. 

The decision was made early on that this record would not be rushed toward completion and the band allowed themselves the time to let it come together organically. "We wrote around 30 tracks before deciding these 9 tracks would make the record," Friers explains. "We then spent a long time playing them everyday to allow them to become almost as if we'd already toured them, ingrained in our muscle memory."

The band flew to Machines with Magnets in Pawtucket, RI in March 2017, aiming specifically to record live performances of the songs. Just as they arrived, a major snow storm brought the Northeast coast to a standstill. "We tracked, ate, washed and slept at the studio," Friers says. "And 9 days later we had recorded and mixed the entire album just as the snow began to melt." 

The album opens with a brief, hushed guitar murmur as Wee's forceful galloping beat sets course on "Three Triangles" while the guitars seem to slowly awaken with whining notes that slowly build upon one another until it all abruptly halts. The whole band suddenly kicks in with chopping start and stop blasts as the chirping lead melody leads the proceedings toward a swirling apex. Elsewhere, "All I Need is Space" and "Terrors of Pleasure" show the band at their finest, unfolding complex, bobbing guitar figures over propulsive and jagged rhythms, while occasionally lunging into ethereal blooms at the drop of a hat. The title track's unabashedly beautiful and hopeful melody begins so quietly it's as if it tries to sneak in under the radar as palm-muted arpeggiated chords and a clean plucked single note line asserts an optimism that finally infects the rest of the band, as they join the chorus of, well, near endless shimmering. Album closer "Chrysalism" is just the anthemic rush that makes ASIWYFA's live shows such transcendent experiences. 

The Endless Shimmering will be available everywhere on LP, CD and download on October 20th, 2017 via Sargent House

ASIWYFA TOUR 2017
OCT 18 Haarlem, NL // Patronaat 
OCT 19 Utrecht, NL // EKKO
OCT 20 Nijmegen, NL // Doornroosje (Purple Room)
OCT 21 Osnabrück, DE // KI. Freiheit
OCT 22 Karlsruhe, DE // Stadtmitte
OCT 23 Eindhoven, NL // DDWMusic Festival
OCT 24 Rouen, FR // Le 106 Club
OCT 25 Nantes, FR // Le Ferrailleur
OCT 26 Bordeaux, FR // Le Void
OCT 27 Barcelona, ES // AM Fest
OCT 28 Madrid, ES // Sala Caracol
OCT 29 Porto, PT // Hard Club
OCT 30 Lisbon, PT // Musicbox
NOV 02 Milan, IT // Magnolia
NOV 03 Fribourg, CH // Nouveau Monde
NOV 04 Winterthur, CH // Gaswerk
NOV 05 Pratteln, CH // MiniZ7
NOV 06 München, DE // Ampere
NOV 07 Prague, CZ // NoD Teatro
NOV 08 Leipzig, DE // Conne Island
NOV 09 Berlin, DE // Lido
NOV 10 Hannover, DE // Bei Chez Heinz
NOV 12 Cologne, DE // Gebäude 9
NOV 13 Wiesbaden, DE // Schlachthof
NOV 14 Essen, DE // Zeche Carl
NOV 15 Hamburg, DE // Knust
NOV 16 Groningen, NL // Vera
NOV 17 Maastricht, NL // Muziekgieterij
NOV 18 Louvain-La-Neuve, BE // Festival La Ferme
NOV 19 Kortrijk, BE // De Kreun
NOV 21 Paris, FR // Maroquinerie
NOV 22 Luxembourg, LU // Rockhal
NOV 23 London, UK // Koko
NOV 24 Manchester, UK // Academy 2
NOV 25 Glasgow, UK // Oran Mor
NOV 26 Bristol, UK // Thekla
DEC 28 Dublin, Ireland // Academy
DEC 29 Castlebar Co Mayo, Ireland // Garbo's
DEC 30 Cork, Ireland // Cypress Avenue
DEC 31 Galway, Ireland // Roisin Dubh



Artist: And So I Watch You From Afar
Album: The Endless Shimmering
Record Label: Sargent House
Release date: October 20th, 2017

01. Three Triangles
02. A Slow Unfolding Of Wings
03. Terrors Of Pleasure
04. Dying Giants
05. All I Need Is Space
06. The Endless Shimmering
07. Mullally
08. I'll Share A Life
09. Chrysalism










On the Web:


Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Tera Melos share video for 'Trash Generator', tour w/ Speedy Ortiz supporting this Fall


"A refreshing step forward for Tera Melos." -- NPR


Tera Melos share the video for the title track to their forthcoming third album Trash Generator today. Watch and share "Trash Generator" -- directed by Behn Fannin, of "Bitchy Resting Face" viral video fame -- via YouTube.

NPR recently premiered lead single "Don't Say I Know" HERE. (Direct YouTube HERE.) 

Tera Melos also announce an extensive North American headlining tour with Speedy Ortiz supporting. Please see current dates below. 

Trash Generator, the trio's third full length, is an astonishing blast of confidence and rejuvenation. It sounds as if the 4-year downtime since their last album has recharged the band with an entirely new sense of purpose. The performances are brilliant and sharp, the songs concise yet intricately detailed, and the album production deftly captures the band's strength as a live unit. Their dalliances with mellower psychedelic phrases on their previous two albums, X'ed Out (2013) and Patagonian Rats (2010) are significantly trimmed and instead utilized as colorations within a swirling maelstrom of righteous aggro punk-jazz abandon. As such, it sounds like Tera Melos has fully metabolized their pop tendencies and found a way they can coexist with the band's iconoclast origins. Tera Melos -- guitarist/vocalist Nick Reinhart, bassist Nathan Latona and drummer John Clardy -- have learned to stop worrying and just be Tera Melos. 

Perhaps to understand Trash Generator, we must look at the situations leading up to it...

"We toured consistently for 19 months after X'ed Out was released in 2013," Latona explains. "We did two full US headliners, four full US support tours, a Japanese tour, a month in Europe, and a run of shows in the UK and Ireland. When we finished, we were pretty exhausted and frustrated." It had seemed that after all of that work, not much had changed for the band. Tera Melos took a short holiday break, which eventually turned into two years as each of them pursued other interests. "I found myself at ease with the idea of not worrying about ticket sales, strategic tours, units moved, likes, clicks, views, and the short-fused moodiness of living in a van with two other people," Latona says. In that downtime, Reinhart remained active in multiple endeavors: contributing guitar to Death Grips' The Powers That B and Bottomless Pit albums + the I.L.Y.'s (Zach Hill and Andy Morin's other band), Big Walnuts Yonder (with Mike Watt, Nels Cline and Greg Saunier), Goblin Cock, Portugal.the man and many others. Latona completed a college degree he'd put off for 11 years. Clardy became and integral faculty member at the School of Rock in Dallas/Ft. Worth, inspiring young musicians with his real-world approach to learning music.

For every touring band there's a subtle pressure -- from fans, industry, promoters, family -- that the band is supposed to be on a constantly rising trajectory of success. Regardless of the group's own potentially esoteric goals, if you're not reaching for the "next level" at every turn, you're supposedly not doing it right. Tera Melos thought long and hard about it, and said, "fuck it." 

"Wth this record it was 100% let's not concern ourselves with what we should be doing at this point in the band's lifespan, and just fully focus on what makes us happy," Reinhart says. "Making a new record seemed like a fun act of defiance," Latona adds. "The odds are against bands like us, but despite all the negativity involved in trying to struggle and survive as an artist, we made Trash Generator because we just wanted to get together, have some fun, and make something that we think is cool." 

The trio decamped to San Diego in late 2016 to record at Singing Serpent Studios with Ben Moore (Hot Snakes, Pinback). It was their first time recording in a continuous block of time, rather than the piecemeal stealth late night sessions at friends' studios of previous efforts. It gave the band a razor-sharp focus atop of their beholden-to-none attitude. "We stayed in a spare place at Rob Crow's house which had a barracks kind of feel to it," Clardy explains. "We'd come home exhausted each day and fall asleep within an hour. It was very spartan when away from the studio." That mindset clearly informs the direct, in-your-face energy of Trash Generator

Trash Generator will be available everywhere August 25th, 2017 on LP, CD, click, like and download via Sargent House. Pre-orders for LP/CD via HelloMerch and download via iTunes.

TERA MELOS & SPEEDY ORTIZ 2017
Oct 13 Los Angeles, CA @ The Roxy 
Oct 14 Sacramento, CA @ Harlow's 
Oct 16 Portland, OR @ Holocene 
Oct 17 Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey 
Oct 19 Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court 
Oct 20 Denver, CO @ Globe Hall 
Oct 21 Omaha, NE @ Slowdown 
Oct 22 Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St Entry 
Oct 24 Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon 
Oct 25 St. Louis, MO @ Firebird 
Oct 26 Chicago, IL @ Subterranean 
Oct 27 Lakewood, OH @ Mahall's 
Oct 28 Toronto, ON @ The Hard Luck 
Oct 29 Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz 
Oct 31 Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair 
Nov 01 Hamden, CT @ The Ballroom Outer Space
Nov 02 Brooklyn, NY @ TBA
Nov 03 Philadelphia, PA @ The Foundry @ Fillmore 
Nov 04 Washington, DC @ Rock & Roll Hotel 
Nov 05 Carborro, NC @ Cat's Cradle 
Nov 07 Orlando, FL @ Backbooth 
Nov 08 Talahassee, FL @ Club Downunder (FSU) 
Nov 09 Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade Purgatory 
Nov 10 New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa 
Nov 11 Houston, TX @ Secret Group 
Nov 13 Dallas, TX @ Three Links 
Nov 15 Phoenix, AZ @ The Rebel Lounge 
Nov 16 San Diego, CA @ The Casbah 
Nov 17 Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room 
Nov 18 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill



Artist: Tera Melos
Album: Trash Generator
Record Label: Sargent House
Release date: August 25th, 2017

01. System Preferences
02. Your Friends
03. trash Generator
04. Warpless Run
05. Dyer Ln
06. GR30A11
07. Men’s Shirt
08. Don’t Say I Know
09. A Universal Gonk
10. Like a Dewclaw
11. Drawing
12. Super FX








On the Web:









Monolord shares new track from forthcoming album 'Rust', Swedish doom trio's highly anticipated return


"Universally beloved... Swedish doom royalty." -- Noisey

"A truly modern sound: recognizably doom, but with glistening production values and adventurous songcraft." -- Consequence of Sound 

"Monolord's records have only gotten heavier, and now the band has taken a turn for the catchy (yet still crushing)." -- Metal Injection


Gothenburg, Sweden trio Monolord share a new track from their highly anticipated third album
Rust today via Facebook. The album opening song "Where Death Meets The Sea" is available to hear and share via YouTube and Bandcamp.


The band previously released the title track, which also features John Gamino (Mondo Drag) on keyboards and Trevor Church (Beastmaker) playing a guitar solo at the end of the tune. Hear and share "Rust" via YouTube

Monolord is a rare breed: A band both encompassing and transcending genre; a vortex of heavy rock density that consumes all others. Their thunderous, tuneful heft has built a rabid international fanbase in short order since their 2014 debut. But Rust, the band’s third full length, truly exemplifies why some refer to them as the Nirvana of doom.

Monolord’s enveloping, syrupy sludge is a vibe, it’s a state of mind. Not riffs for riffs sake, but a collective buzzing, rattling and rumbling that’s more total environment than collection of songs. Together, guitarist/vocalist Thomas Jäger, drummer Esben Willems and bassist Mika Häkki create a massive, dynamic sound with ultra-low frequencies serving as its fourth member. 

“We've always been inspired by great band musicians - as opposed to technical solo peacocks,” Willems says. “Because that force of a band really playing together as one single unit is incomparable. At its best, it's just unstoppable.” And, Monolord is truly unstoppable, on record and on stage. “A heavy groove that contains both bombastic overkill and a lot of dynamics is what we always aim for in Monolord; in playing, in song writing and arranging, in recording,” Willems says.

Album opener “Where Death Meets the Sea” perfectly exemplifies their mastery of dynamics and hooks with a driving, infectious buzzsaw riff that lesser bands would ride off into the sunset, but Monolord uses subtly to spur the song’s skull rattling rhythmic core ever onward. Jäger’s watery vocals glide over ominously building verses that erupt with the song’s insistent refrain. Being such a tight rhythmic unit, it sounds almost like an early ZZ Top record played at half speed. “Dear Lucifer” squeals and hums with slow deliberation as Willems summons Dale Crover pummel with chasm like low-tuned toms and syncopated cymbal crashes. The album’s title track is also its centerpiece, opening with a dramatic, shimmering Hammond organ intro as Jäger sings, “you are the reason that I lied/ You are the reason that I cried/ Please don’t wait until tomorrow/ There’s only pain, hate, grief and sorrow.” Suddenly, the band kicks in with a bellowing line downtuned to B that nosedives down the guitar neck as the drums hammer down for the kill. Elsewhere, tastefully understated guitar harmonies elevate the behemoth churn of “Wormland” and apocalyptic album closer “At Niceae” simmers in a slow build of rumbling guitars and rolling drum triplets.

Monolord formed in 2013, quickly recording their 2xLP debut Empress Rising, which RidingEasy Records released in April 1st, 2014. The second album, Vænir, followed April 28th, 2015. The 2-song Lord of Suffering / Die in Haze EP was issued in late 2016 amid the band’s relentless touring schedule in order to tide fans over until the next full length. Vænir landed on countless Album of the Year lists in 2015, and Rust is poised to open an entirely new range of possibilities for Monolord. 

Rust will be available on LP, CD and download on September 29th, 2017 via RidingEasy Records. Pre-orders are available at RidingEasy and Bandcamp


Artist: Monolord
Album: Rust
Label: RidingEasy Records
Release Date: September 29th, 2017

01. Where Death Meets The Sea
02. Dear Lucifer
03. Rust
04. Wormland
05.Forgotten Lands
06. At Niceae














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