CROWN (Alcest, Depeche Mode collabs) share video for "Violence" from forthcoming album on Pelagic Records

“A nihilistic listening experience” – The Quietus 

"Brings forth the tangential and historical relationships between industrial and its 'sister' genres like coldwave while splicing them with influences that range from shoegaze to black metal." -- Heavy Blog Is Heavy

"Long-standing darkness merchants... brooding, Katatonia-esque gloom." -- Metal Injection

"Promises to change the way we hear heavy music." -- PopMatters

Experimental duo CROWN premiere the video for "Violence" from their forthcoming sophomore album on Pelagic Records today via PopMatters. Watch and share "Violence" HERE. (Direct YouTube.)

CvltNation recently shared the intense and beautifully directed video for "Illumination" Watch and share "Illumination" HERE. (Direct YouTube.) Metal Injection previously hosted the "Illumination" single HERE. Heavy Blog is Heavy recently shared the single "Shades" HERE. 

The End Of All Things is for CROWN what Kid A was for Radiohead: an album that nobody was expecting from them.

Dark and moody; bleak and sublime; airy and crushing; mesmerizing and engrossing; bold yet unerring; strident, danceable and suffocating, all at the same time. An album oozing with tasteful, fragile hook lines flirting with the abyss they are hovering above, encapsulated within an ingenious major production, provided by one half of CROWN himself: David Husser has worked as a sound engineer, producer and musician all across the globe with artists like Alan Wilder of Depeche Mode or at Peter Gabriel's Real World studio, and has toured with his industrial band Y Front alongside Rammstein in the 90s. Paul Kendall (Mute Records, NIN, Nick Cave) said about David: “a distorting diamond... we have collaborated on a number of projects and I have been amazed by his ability to teach an old dog new tricks. He is simply the best recording engineer I have ever met.”

The other half of CROWN is founding father and vocalist Stéphane Azam, who has worked as live sound engineer for French blackgaze pioneers Alcest for years. Stéphane's low, soothing voice on The End Of All Things comes as a complete surprise to anyone familiar with the band's previous 2 records, which featured mostly screamed vocals – a fact showcasing the immense versatility of the musicians at work here.

Furthermore, In contrary to previous efforts, there are (almost) no vocal guest appearances on The End Of All Things – 'almost', because Karin Park of Årabrot lends her beautiful voice to closing track “Utopia.” David pushed Stéphane from the start of the writing and recording process to do all the vocals himself, for the sake of coherence: he wanted the band and the album to have one single “captain of the vessel. Stéph sings with a very low voice now, and it was a challenge to make space for that sound- and production -wise, we had to find some kind of relief in the low register. It took us pretty long to find what we consider the right recipe to make it work”, Husser explains.

Crown started out in 2011 as 2 men and a drum machine, and their debut album instantly got them an invitation to the prestigious Roadburn Festival in 2013, and a record deal with Candlelight Records. The duo's early sound was defined by hissing electronics, soaring heavy guitars and the absence of “real” drums, touching on industrial metal acts like Godflesh, Ministry or Killing Joke. The End Of All Things is clearly a departure from that sound in almost every imaginable way.

“Life is change, it’s the only thing we can always expect”, says Husser. “It's the same with music. I personally feel offended when a band just regurgitates their own ideas and delivers a copy of the previous album, over and again... I want to take risks and let myself in for adventures and ventures into new territories, otherwise it wouldn't be art anymore.”

The End Of All Things is a seminal album, which could well turn into a new 'Shape Of Heavy Music To Come'. Get involved.  

The End Of All Things will be available on LP, CD and digital on April 16th, 2021 via Pelagic Records. Pre-orders are available HERE

Artist: Crown

Album: The End of All Things

Record label: Pelagic Records

Release Date: April 16, 2021

01. Violence

02. Neverland

03. Shades

04. Illumination

05. Nails

06. Gallow

07. Extinction

08. Fleuves

09. Firebearer

10. Utopia

On The Web:

crownritual.com

crownritual.bandcamp.com

facebook.com/CROWNBAND

pelagic-records.com

WARISH (feat. Riley Hawk) share demented "Second Hand Misery" video featuring Barney the Dinosaur via Kerrang!

"Remember when indie rock sounded all grimy, corroded and metal-sludgy -- the last thing you'd hear in a commercial or being played at an arena show? Warish do. It's music to the ears of anyone who wants to damage their ears." -- Rolling Stone

"Warish totally rules... An awesome mixture of punk energy, biker rock fuzz, and grunge growl." -- Kerrang!

"Sludgy and punk-y at the same time, with an Iggy and the Stooges meets Misfits vibe, plus a bit of stoner rock and metal mixed in, as well." -- Consequence of Sound

Southern California trio Warish share a new video & single from their anticipated sophomore full length, Next To Pay (RidingEasy Records) today via Kerrang! Watch and share "Second Hand Misery" HERE. (Direct YouTube and Bandcamp.)

Consequence of Sound recently shared the single "Seeing Red" HERE. Revolver Magazine premiered the video for "Say To Please" HERE. (Direct YouTube.)

About the video, Riley says:

“This video came to mind when I heard the 'If you’re happy and you know it' song by Barney playing somewhere while I was in a bad mood and was thinking, this song is kinda evil sounding. Then I went home and instantly started editing the video to the track S.H.M. Because it’s the polar opposite of If You Are Happy And You Know it. It fit nicely I thought, hah.” 

With a name like Warish, the San Diego noisy punk-metal trio assured listeners they were in for a maniacal bludgeoning from the get-go. But the band has never been as dark and bitingly vicious as the wholly ominous Next To Pay. The band’s mix of early AmRep skronk, dark horror rock and budget doom antipathy is taken to a whole new level on this 13-song invective. 

“‘Next To Pay’ is about a sense of imminent doom, everyone is going to die,” vocalist/guitarist Riley Hawk says. “It’s not the happiest record, I guess.” To say the least. On the title track opener, Hawk screams through shredded vocal chords with the tuneful rage of Kill ‘Em All era James Hetfield and the seething desperation of Kurt Cobain. 

“This album is more of an evolution, it’s a little more punk-heavy,” Hawk says of the group quickly founded in 2018. “We figured out what our sound was.” And with that evolution comes a change in the lineup. Original drummer Nick (Broose) McDonnell plays on about half of the songs, while new drummer Justin de la Vega brings an even tighter urgency to the remaining, more recent tracks. Bassist Alex Bassaj joined after the debut album was recorded and here showcases muscular and melodic low end previously missing. Riley Hawk is also the pro-skater son of Tony Hawk. 

Inspired by early-Nirvana, The Misfits, The Spits and Master of Reality-era Black Sabbath, Next To Pay keeps things heavy and pummeling at all times. The guitars are heavy and powerful, though decidedly not straightforward cookie cutter punk; more like Greg Ginn’s and Buzz Osbourne’s wiry contortions, and occasionally drenched in chorus effects. The rhythms bash right through it all with aggressive force ensuring that nothing gets overly complicated. Warish’s cover of 80s Dischord Records punks Gray Matter turns the emotive flail of “Burn No Bridges” into a Motorhead style basher. 

Next To Pay will be available on LP, CD and download on April 30th, 2021 via RidingEasy Records. Pre-orders are available HERE.

Artist: Warish

Album: Next To Pay

Label: RidingEasy Records

Release Date: April 30, 2021

01. Next To Pay

02. Another No One

03. S.H.M. (Second Hand Misery)

04. Burn No Bridges

05. Say To Please

06. Seeing Red

07. Destroyer

08. Woven

09. Scars

10. Ordinary

11. Superstar

12. Make The Escape

13. Fear and Pride

On The Web:

instagram.com/warish.usa

facebook.com/Warishband

ridingeasyrecs.com

Blackout Transmission premiere official video for "Portals"; L.A. post-punk/shoegaze FFO: Echo & The Bunnymen, The Verve

"Opens with a dusty tremolo guitar sound, like a grungier Duane Eddy, with vocalist Christopher Goett showcasing a voice that’s uncannily similar to Echo & the Bunnymen’s Ian McCulloch. It’s fuzzy, hard-driving rock ‘n’ roll at heart." -- Treble

"A tight 34-minute dose of post-punk, shoegaze, and neo-psychedelia that evokes low-shutter-speed nocturnal journeys through desert canyons and winding coastal highways." -- New Noise Magazine

Los Angeles quartet Blackout Transmission share the official video for "Portals" from their debut album today via New Noise Magazine. Watch and share "Portals" video HERE. (Direct YouTube.)

Hear and share the full album Sparse Illumination HERE. (Direct Bandcamp.)

Echoes & Dust previously shared "Since She Guided You Away" HERE. Treble hosted lead single "Portals" HERE. Outburn shared "Heavy Circles" HERE. Spill Magazine launched "Sleepwalking Again" HERE. 

Los Angeles-based post-punk shoe-gaze band Blackout Transmission summon a psychoactive rush of sound on their debut long-player Sparse Illumination out February 19, 2021 via Etxe (et-CHAY) Records.

The album has an artful intentionality and natural cadence to its composition. The meditative, atmospheric opening track “Once There” dovetails into a catchy, Bad Seeds meets Bunnymen groove of “Since She Guided You Away” wherein questions of mortality and the afterlife collide. The late-night romantic pursuit of “Tactile Responses” summons sultry Wire and Public Image Limited vibes while incorporating beautiful, bowed-like choral guitar effects. Side A flows to conclusion with the shimmering, and faster-paced, “Heavy Circles” oscillating between driving, frenetic moments and textured, ethereal passages.

Side B launches with the intoxicating and gauzy, “Verdant Return” that features jaunty melodies and blooming choruses juxtaposed with a biting, confrontational lyrical narrative. The hypnotic groove of “Pacifica” eases off the gas pedal with a psychedelic coastal exploration crossfading perfectly into “Portals” a late-night driving track replete with Storm In Heaven textures and propulsive energy framing desert-evening ruminations about space and time. “Sleepwalking Again” closes the album reflecting upon exhausting, widening income inequality and social movements with a simmer- to-a-boil composition that conjures the more reflective moments of Unwound and early Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

Bright and gleaming at times, warm and meditative at others – Sparse Illumination effectively creates a seamless, lysergic journey filled with potent lyrics coupled with a rush of multi-chromatic textures anchored by magnetic bass grooves and feverish drumming.

Christopher Goett (Silo Halo), the main creative force of Blackout Transmission, had a growing body of work since his return to Southern California after a decade in Washington, DC. He attributes reconnecting with longtime friend Adam D’Zurilla (Sleepmask, Dreamland) as a catalyst to further explore and refine those ideas.

Arrangements were rounded out with the addition of Kevin Cluppert on bass and Anthony Salazar (Teenage Wrist) on drums culminating with the band playing out in late 2019 and harnessing their live chemistry as they entered the studio in early 2020.

A good portion of album was recorded at Dream Machine in Long Beach and produced by Scott Holmes (Highlands) with Goett. “Scott pushed me in the best way to reimagine elements of my approach” says Goett, “as such we captured the vibe and feel that I was seeking with these songs.” The pandemic forced Goett to finalize many of his overdubs at his home studio in Los Angeles (Twin Dragon West) as well as birthing two additional tracks included on the LP.

Collectively, the eight tracks on Sparse Illumination combine for a tight 34-minute dose of post-punk, shoegaze, and neo-psychedelia that evokes low-shutter-speed nocturnal journeys through desert canyons and winding coastal highways.

Sparse Illumination is available on LP and download, released February 19, 2021 via Etxe Records. LPs are available HERE. 

Artist: Blackout Transmission

Album: Sparse Illumination

Record Label: Etxe Records

Release Date: February 19, 2021

01. Once There

02. Since She Guided You Away

03. Tactile Responses

04. Heavy Circles

05. Verdant Return

06. Pacifica

07. Portals

08. Sleepwalking Again

On The Web:

blackouttransmission.bandcamp.com

etxerecords.com

facebook.com/BlackoutTransmission

instagram.com/blackout_transmission

Clone (ex-Dead Leaf Echo) & Swallow The Rat (ex-My Education) share first singles from forthcoming split LP

 

Kindred spirits from far across the globe, Brooklyn, NY quintet Clone and Aukland, NZ trio Swallow The Rat announce their forthcoming split LP today, sharing one track from each band via New Noise. Hear and share both tracks HERE. (Or listen/share via Clone's Bandcamp or STR's Bandcamp.)

New Zealand's Swallow the Rat (featuring ex-My Education guitarist Brian Purington) and New York's Clone (ex-Dead Leaf Echo, Squad Car) shared a stage in Queens, NYC on perhaps the last day before the city shut down in 2020. A mutual appreciation society was formed over drinks later that night. Swallow the Rat were in town to play the New Colossus Festival, while Clone were playing what was to be the first date of their debut tour of the East Coast. There were plans to share the stage again in New Orleans and in Austin at SXSW.

A global pandemic put an end to this, but the bands kept talking. Both had recently recorded EPs, and so a plan was hatched: a split 12" with songs from both bands. Four tunes apiece, about the irony of memory recall, the loss of friends by their own hand, frustrations of gender role psyche and the fear of looking back. Dissonant delayed guitars and martial drums abound, despite the oceans and continents separating the groups.

Swallow The Rat / Clone split LP will be available on LP and download on May 21st via Headbump Records. Pre-orders are available via Rough Trade in the US HERE and Golden Antenna in the EU HERE. 

Artist: Swallow The Rat / Clone

Album: Split LP

Label: Headbump Records

Release Date: May 21, 2021

01. STR - Fall Away

02. STR - Preservation Plan

03. STR - Don’t

04. STR - Station

05. Clone - Deja Vu

06. Clone - Speak, Memory

07. Clone - Woman Of The Year

08. Clone - Easy On The Eyes

On The Web:

facebook.com/swallowtherat

instagram.com/swallow_the_rat

twitter.com/swallowtherat

facebook.com/clonebknyc

instagram.com/clonebknyc

twitter.com/clonenyc

Årabrot share "Hallucinational" single and livestream video from rural Swedish church "Neo-Depression" performance

"They’re at their weirdest and best." -- The Wire

"Superb." -- The Quietus

“Noise rock gone strange.” — Metal Injection

"Dark and heavy yet almost startlingly accessible. It's an evil twist on a punchy, concise pop song, and there's really nobody who does this kind of thing the way Årabrot does." -- Brooklyn Vegan

Norwegian Grammy Award winning band Årabrot share a new single today from their forthcoming new album. The epic 2xLP album Norwegian Gothic, is due out in April on Pelagic Records and finds the historically caustic band expanding melodically with evermore catchy hooks. Hear and share "Hallucinational" HERE. 

The band also share today a live performance of the song from their "Neo-Depression" livestream performance via YouTube. 

About the song, Karin Park explains:

“‘Hallucinational’ came from a futuristic dream I had. In the dream, half our bodies had already reached Nirvana so we no longer needed to walk. We were just floating around. The train no longer needed rails and we were eating our food on square metal plates. I wrote down my thoughts on the dream and that became the lyric for ‘Hallucinational.’”

Clash Music recently premiered part one of two videos, "Kinks Of The Heart" HERE. (Direct YouTube.) Metal Injection followed with part two, "Hailstones For Rain / The Moon Is Dead" video HERE and YouTube HERE.

Årabrot's 9th full-length album Norwegian Gothic (its title a play on the Grant Wood painting American Gothic) sees the band collaborate with Lars Horntveth (Jaga Jazzist), cellist Jo Quail, Tomas Järmyr (Motorpsycho), Anders Møller (Turbonegro, Ulver) and Massimo Pupillo (Zu). A stellar production by Jaime Gomez Arellano (Black Eyed Peas, Paradise Lost, Hexvessel, Oranssi Pazusu) makes this the quintessential Årabrot record, as guitarist and vocalist Kjetil Nernes confirms: 

"Norwegian Gothic is the culmination of everything Årabrot has done musically the past 10 years. It is not only the climax of the band so far, but also a good indication of what to come. It is basically anamalgamation of all of our influences here in the church where we live. Musically it is inspired by all the albums of our record collection and thematically by the books we have in our shelves. More specifically it is our special brand of rock'n'roll music mixed with fin-de-siecle decadence, surrealism and even a pinch of old German philosophy to boot.”

While the 20-year history of the band is a story of change and correlation, it would be too simple to break this creative duality down to the stereotypical dichotomy of the yin and the yang... and if one attempted to do so, it would turn out to be quite difficult to determine which of these forces would be represented by which individual. 

A chubby child from a christian family, growing up in a small Swedish village and years spent in a Missionary school in Japan made Karin Park desperate to break away from narrow thinking. And she used her only advantages to do so; her unique voice and personality. By the age 15 she had moved away from home to find her place in music After studying at Stockholm Music Conservatory, a Norwegian poet took her to Norway where she started her pop career, this was followed by a move to London to write songs, and working as a model. 

After five albums, a few Grammys, writing a Eurovision entry for Norway and hits for other artists and performances with Lana Del Rey and David Bowie, Karin returned to the village of her youth and bought the church where she first sang in front of an audience as a child. She turned the church into iswhere they rehearse and record, surrounded by pianos, organs and hundreds of old bibles that the church left behind when the congregation stopped. The clerical environment has proven to be an excellent creative tapestry for a band whose lyrical focus orbits around sex, death and defiance.

Kjetil Nernes was diagnosed with malignant throat cancer in 2014, in the middle of a tour. Instead of heading in for surgery right away, the band finished a full European tour first, "Every night of that tour was like the last show ever“, Nernes comments, "It was really strange. When a doctor calls and says,'you're terribly sick', it's surreal. You go into this phase where life is more vivid and more real, in a weird way. We've done so many shows through the years and sometimes it’s a little like going to the factory to do a job. But with an axe hanging over your head you perceive the world differently.“

But the axe did not fall, and after successfully recovering from cancer, Årabrot are now stronger than ever. The band has collaborated with procuders like Billy Anderson and Steve Albini, and musicians like Ted Parsons (Killing Joke/Swans), Sunn O))))'s Stephen O’Malley, and Kvelertak's Erlend Hjelvik. They have composed music for silent movies like “Die Niebelungen” and “Doctor Caligari”, and have teamed up with The Quietus founder John Doran on his spoken word tour. Their album The Gospel was named “Album of the Year” by The Quietus.

Norwegian Gothic will be available on 2xLP, CD and digital on April 9th, 2021 via Pelagic Records. Preorders are available HERE. 

Artist: Årabrot

Album: Norwegian Gothic

Record label: Pelagic Records

Release date: April 9, 2021

01. Carnival of Love

02. The Rule of Silence

03. Feel It On

04. The Lie

05. The Crows

06. Kinks Of The Heart

07. Hailstones For Rain

08. The Voice

09. (This Is) The Night

10. Hard Love

11. Impact Heavily Onto The Concrete 

12. Hounds Of Heaven

13. Deadlock

14. The Moon Is Dead

15. You’re Not That Special

On The Web:

http://www.arabrot.com

https://www.facebook.com/ARABROT

pelagic-records.com

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpN0MnP1OT8HSoa-WmHL3Wg

https://twitter.com/ARABROT

 

Brooklyn trio Reverend Mother (formerly Priestess) streaming forthcoming EP early via CvltNation

"The looming riffs evoke the early King Woman EP Doubt, and the cadence of Green’s vocals call to mind those of Pallbearer’s Brett Campbell.." -- Audiofemme

"A doom communion." -- CvltNation

"More riffs than you're going to know what to do with." -- Metal Injection

Brooklyn, NY trio Reverend Mother recently announced their name change from Priestess, and today the band is streaming their upcoming self-titled debut EP via CvltNation HERE. (Direct Bandcamp and Spotify,)

Metal Injection recently featured the band's cover version of Fuzz's "Let It Live" HERE.

Brooklyn three-piece Priestess has reincarnated as Reverend Mother, due to put out their first S/T EP under the new moniker on March 19th, 2021. They are still led by songwriter and Black Sabbath enthusiast Jackie Green, who cut her teeth as a guitarist in local bands like Evil Daughter. 

Despite the name change, the band remains steadfast in their devotion to doom metal and psychedelic rock, with the EP offering up the same looming riffs, skuzzy reverbs, and haunting vocals Green has studied and refined to make her own. 

The band has completed recording its full length debut which is scheduled for release later in the year. More details to come.

Artist: Reverend Mother

Album: Reverend Mother EP

Label: self-released

Release Date: March 19, 2021

01. Let It Live

02. The Muse

On The Web:

instagram.com/reverendmother_bk

reverendmotherbk.bandcamp.com

priestessbk.bandcamp.com  

twitter.com/reverendmother_