FIREBREATHER streaming upcoming album on RidingEasy early, US tour w/ Monolord starts in March

"Firebreather veer towards roaring, High On Fire-esque sludge, and they've got the chops and the grit to pull this kind of thing off." -- Brooklyn Vegan

"A thrilling style of Progressive Sludge/Stoner Metal that will rank as one of the best albums of the year." -- Outlaws Of The Sun

"Firebreather do a bang-up job capturing what it feels like for one’s inner being to be lit afire through the use of scorching hot riffs, stomach-churning bellows, lightning-fried drums and intestine-rattling bass." -- Metal Sucks

"Effectively a class in how to write the chunkiest riffs possible." -- Metal Injection

Swedish trio Firebreather are streaming their forthcoming album Dwell In The Fog ahead of release today via Metal Injection. Hear and share Dwell In The Fog HERE. (Direct YouTube.)

The band kick off North American tour dates with Monolord on March 3rd. Please see dates below. 

Gothenburg, Sweden trio Firebreather’s 2019 RidingEasy Records debut album Under a Blood Moon was a powerhouse that most certainly established the band’s incendiary potential. But none of us would be prepared for the suffocating onslaught that is Dwell in the Fog. While that album was in-your-face and raw, Dwell in the Fog rumbles and rages with a fury the band had only hinted at previously. 

Firebreather has a streamlined focus on driving, symphonic riffs in the vein of High on Fire, Inter Arma and their tour- and label-mates Monolord. The guitar and bass tones are, quite simply, entrancing. Paired with vocalist/guitarist Mattias Nööjd’s guttural yet melodic howls and drummer Axel Wittbeck’s groove based rhythms, their entire sound flows like thick, viscous lava. 

“The album is a cathartic journey inwards and a musical continuation from Under A Blood Moon, but with more emphasis on groove and feel,” Nööjd says. From the first notes of album opener “Kiss Of Your Blade” you’ll know exactly what he means. 

Like their preceding two albums, Dwell in the Fog was also recorded and mixed by engineer Oskar Karlsson at Elementstudion in Gothenburg. The band is joined by new bassist Nicklas Hellqvist on this album, who seems to have increased the thunder rumble tenfold. 

From the aforementioned album opener “Kiss Of Your Blade”, with its droning opening chords over a rollicking tom pattern, the band quickly shifts gears into a head bobbing, serpentine riff with a transcendent melodic hook. Elsewhere, as on the title track and “Weather The Storm” rapid-fire hummable riffs come and go in an ever-shifting mass of devastating swirling churn. It’s like the band has such an endless supply of great hooks that to, ahem, dwell for too long on any one would undo their constantly building momentum. That they somehow give each song, and the album as a whole, a streamlined and cohesive, monolithic groove is testament to their skill. And, proof that the album must be absorbed in its entirety to experience the overwhelming swaying and lunging low end growl that drives the band’s most captivating work to date. 

Dwell in the Fog will be available on LP, CD and download on February 25th, 2022 via RidingEasy Records. 

FIREBREATHER LIVE 2022:

03/03 Berkeley, CA - Cornerstone*

03/04 Sacramento, CA - Harlow's*

03/05 Portland, OR - Dante's*

03/06 Seattle, WA - Chop Suey*

03/08 Salt Lake City, UT - Metro*

03/09 Denver, CO - Marquis Theater*

03/11 Chicago, IL - Reggie's*

03/12 Detroit MI - Sanctuary*

03/13 Buffalo, NY - Town Ballroom*

03/15 Boston, MA - Sonia*

03/16 New York, NY - Le Poisson Rouge*

03/17 Philadelphia, PA - Underground*

03/18 Cleveland, OH - The Grog Shop*

03/19 Indianapolis, IN - Black Circle*

03/20 Memphis, TN - Hi-Tone*

03/21 New Orleans, LA - Gasa Gasa*

03/22 Austin, TX - Mohawk*

03/23 Denton, TX - Thin Line Fest*

03/25 Phoenix, AZ - Rebel Lounge*

03/26 San Diego, CA - Brick By Brick*

03/27 Los Angeles, CA - Teragram*

*w/ Monolord

Artist: Firebreather

Album: Dwell in The Fog

Record Label: RidingEasy Records

Release date: February 25, 2022

01. Kiss of Your Blade

02. Dwell in the Fog

03. Weather The Storm

04. Sorrow

05. The Creed

06. Spirit’s Flown

On The Web:

firebreatherdoom.bandcamp.com

ridingeasyrecords.com

 

N8NOFACE drops "Hate Me When I'm High" single from upcoming album, tour w/ Ho99o9 in April-May

"Has the short and sweet hookiness of the Ramones or the Descendents, the rigid minimalism of Suicide, the playful, gooey synths of chiptune and a splash of hip-hop delivery in the vocals, which are deceptively catchy and full of character." -- Revolver Magazine

"His abrasive melding of everything from synthpop to industrial to new wave to other points in between can probably best described as 'synthpunk,' but whatever you call it, it's catching on." -- No Echo

L.A. via Tucson singer N8NOFACE today shares a new track from his forthcoming album Homicide. Hear and share "Hate Me When I'm High" alongside a short interview with No Echo HERE, or direct to all DSPs and physical preorders via Linktree HERE. 

N8NOFACE also recently announced Spring '22 tour dates with Ho99o9. Please see all dates below. 

Revolver Magazine recently launched the video for lead single "A Joy in Death" HERE. (Direct YouTube.) Watch a mini-documentary about Nate HERE. 

The intense, hypercranked aggression of Homicide, the new full length by N8NOFACE is a stark contrast to the introspective and almost indie rock leanings of his 2021 album Bound To Let You Down. Although the two were written and recorded in close succession, the screaming hardcore synthpunk of album opener “Burn This MF” aptly sets the tone for this album’s about-face and brutal catharsis. 

“While my previous album Bound To Let You Down was mostly about me coming to grips with my addiction, Homicide is me in the ‘ready to face the fight’ mode,” N8 says. “Once I was getting clean and no longer in a state of regret (as Bound To Let You Down was really about) I was no longer feeling sorry for myself. So it’s like: homicide time, ready to kill it! I do feel this is part two to my last album being they were all songs I made during that time of my life.”

N8NOFACE has been described as a Chicano Flannery O’Connor playing chiptune Ministry, the Sleaford Mods of the American Southwest, Suicide for the 21st Century and Ghostmane meets darkwave synthpunk dashed with early Ween’s glue-huffing pop. Lyrically, his sometimes romantic, oftentimes violent storytelling tunes lean toward Narcocorrido, the bloody ballads of Mexican drug cartels. It sounds dark on the surface, but really N8NOFACE’s music is a lot of fun, and as exciting as the birth of punk rock and hiphop. 

He’s been making and posting glitchy synthpunk since the days of MySpace, when he first gained attention in chiptune duo Crimekillz. Even before the demise of that band, however, N8NOFACE was disseminating his dadaist lo-fi rants online, recording them on the cheap on his home computer setup. “Even to this day, everything I do is recorded in my closet,” he says. “I’ve never recorded at a studio.”

N8NOFACE has to date released 4 proper albums (available on vinyl) — Bound To Let You Down (2021), Just Here To Die (2020), Synth Up The Punks (2019) and True Story (2018) — and a slew of singles, mixtapes and collaborations, many of them with sprawling double-digit track listings. Before relocating to Long Beach, CA around a decade ago, he owned a graffiti & record store in his hometown of Tucson, AZ. It was here that he developed his vast musical taste from grimy hiphop beats to seminal aggressive synth punks The Screamers. 

“I grew up around some guys living outside the lines of the law,” N8 explains. “When I first started doing this I called it Narco Punk. I’m not glorifying it, I’m giving both sides of the story. Telling the heartbreaking side of the dark side.” Coming from a hiphop and border town culture, he found it difficult to share his esoteric tastes with friends. “How do I make my friends enjoy this music?” he wondered. “I’ll take some Suicide music and twist it to get my friends to listen to this.” 

Throughout, Homicide is guided by greasy synths pushed all the way to the max, lo-fi drum machine beats and N8’s charismatic vocal delivery that draws the listener in and elevates his dark lyrical themes. The claustrophobic mix and stripped down instrumentation really drives home the singer’s isolation and anger. “Fala” is a breakneck electro-hardcore love song. “F U N U N U” (say each of the letters slowly) is a chirping hook-filled mantra, “fuck anyone who ain’t ever believe in you.” Elsewhere, “Hate Me When I’m High” revolves around a bass synth line pushed to the brink of clipping while N8 remorsefully sings, “baby I'm a lost cause, this is true/ A real rock’n’roller this is true/ Hate me when I’m high.” Album closer “On My Side” is the most unabashedly synthpop tune, with an infectious, repetitive bass hook as N8 intones, “I’d kill anyone you asked me to/ Yeah, I”m here to ride/ As long as you’re on my side/ It’s a homicide, homicide, homicide.” 

Homicide will be available on LP, CD, cassette and download on May 6th, 2022 via Blackhouse Records. Pre-order physical HERE, digital HERE. 

N8NOFACE W/ HO99O9 TOUR 2022:

April 15 - Los Angeles - Echoplex

April 16 - San Jose - The Ritz

April 17 - San Francisco - August Hall

April 19 - Santa Ana - Constellation Room

April 21 - Phoenix - Valley Bar

April 23 - Denver - Marquis Theater

April 25 - Minneapolis - Varsity Theater

April 26 - Chicago - Subterranean

April 27 - Detroit - The Sanctuary

April 29 - Washington D.C. - Songbyrd

April 30 - New York City - Bowery Ballroom

May 1 - Boston - Brighton Music Hall

May 2 - Philadelphia - Underground Arts

May 3 - Durham, NC - Motorco

May 4 - Atlanta - The Masquerade (HELL)

May 6 - West Palm Beach - Respectables

May 7 - Orlando - Henao

May 9 - Nashville - Exit/In

May 10 - Memphis - Growlers

May 12 - Dallas - The Loft

May 13 - Austin - SS Oblivion @ Cheer Up Charlies

May 14 - Houston - Satellite Bar

Artist: N8NOFACE

Album: Homicide

Record Label: Blackhouse Records

Release Date: May 6th, 2022

01. Burn This MF

02. Fala

03. Kill The Killer

04. F U N U N U

05. Doesn’t Count Here

06. Down One

07. A Joy in Death

08. Pushing The Line

09. Poor Dom

10. No Dead Found

11. Yea

12. Hate Me When I’m High

13. I Was Aye Aye Aye

14. lfflugcvj (Ain’t No In Between)

15. Lost That Found This

16. On My Side

On The Web:

linktr.ee/n8noface

n8noface.bandcamp.com

Wrack (ex-Totimoshi, The Mass) post-metal math-doom hybrid shares lead track from upcoming album via Metal Injection

 

"Spinning, crushing death metal." -- Metal Injection

Bay Area post-metal artist Wrack shares the title track from their forthcoming Repulsive Gravity album today via Metal Injection. Hear and share "Repulsive Gravity" HERE. (Direct Bandcamp.)

Wrack is a one-man metal band formed in 2009 by Bay Area producer and multi-instrumentalist Tyler Cox. The music of Wrack at times recalls the aggro post-metal of early Isis, the patient math-riffing of Nothing-era Meshuggah, or the grandiose soundscapes of proggier Enslaved. But make no mistake, Wrack is steadfastly its own entity. Cox exploits his singular control of the project to express a holistic vision of heavy riffs, menacing vocals, doomy atmospheres, and organic, no-bullshit production. 

Tyler Cox broke into the underground Bay Area music scene in 2000 when he formed the jazz-punk quartet The Mass (Crucial Blast records) on drums. The band made waves locally and internationally with its unique blend of mathy, angular thrash, hardcore, free jazz, and a shifting, genre-defying approach to songwriting. 

In 2004, Cox joined Oakland heavy rock trio Totimoshi on drums and toured the US supporting acts like High on Fire, Melvins, and Helmet. In 2011, he branched out on bass, joining Noah Landis (Neurosis) and Wes Anderson (Idiot Flesh) in a power trio called Young Lions. He is currently playing bass in the wiry, modern post-punk Oakland band Thought Leaders.

Repulsive Gravity is the third Wrack EP, following 2018’s Hollow Sun and 2009’s Graveyard. Conceived and meticulously produced over a two-year period of pandemic-induced solitude, Repulsive Gravity is the heaviest and most cohesive Wrack release to date. The 3-song, 26-minute EP fuses the aggro ferocity of Hollow Sun with ominous, simmering doom first heard on Graveyard. A suffocating, dread-soaked atmosphere permeates, gluing dissonant riffs, churning polyrhythms, and raw, bellowed vocals into a cinematic, apocalyptic musical journey.

Repulsive Gravity is the culmination of Tyler Cox’s twenty-plus years’ dedication to refining his artistic vision and musical skill. Its uncompromising, honest approach to metal will appeal to fans who crave an authentic, forward-thinking, and crushing musical experience.

Repulsive Gravity will be available on CD and download on March 18th, 2022 via King of Sticks Records. 

Artist: Wrack

Album: Death By Comfort

Record Label:  King of Sticks Records 

Release Date: March 18, 2022

01. Repulsive Gravity

02. Abyss Within

03. No Body

On The Web:

wrack.bandcamp.com

instagram.com/wrackaudio

Karma Vulture debuts "Cheer Up" single via Metal Injection, classic melodic stoner rock

 

"Richer and fuller in sound and substance than your average heavy, yet melodic rock band." -- Idioteq

"Stacks up the riffs... If you're dying for something like Monster Magnet or old Queens of The Stone Age, then you're going to dig Karma Vulture." -- Metal Injection

Stoner rock trio Karma Vulture share the first single from their forthcoming Death By Comfort EP today via Metal Injection. Hear and share "Cheer Up" HERE. (Direct Bandcamp and pre-save Linktree.)

Karma Vulture is a desert rock power trio from Joshua Tree, now based in Nashville, consisting of singer/bassist Conor Spellane, guitarist Will Hammond, and drummer Ben Foerg. The band has a familiar yet idiosyncratic sound, blending elements of stoner rock and grunge with hints of classic rock, psych and modern alternative rock for good measure. The band executes their earworm hooks and hammer-dropping riffs with equal aplomb. Or, in other words: It’s super catchy, super heavy and super dope. 

Founded in mid-2018, the band hit its stride with the release of its first EP and the subsequent addition of Foerg in 2020. When the pandemic hit that spring, the band had just finished recording its second EP, Death By Comfort with producer Norm Block (Mark Lanegan, Brian Jonestown Massacre.) They mixed it remotely, and used the lockdown as an opportunity to record their debut fill-length, scheduled for release in late 2022. 

The band plans to tour hard in support of both records, while releasing a series of music videos, including an upcoming horror film homage for the their song “Better Luck Next Time.” 

Death By Comfort will be available on CD, cassette and download on March 4th, 2022 via Bent Knee Records. 

Artist: Karma Vulture

Album: Death By Comfort

Record Label:  Bent Knee Records 

Release Date: March 4, 2022

01. The Gift of Nothing

02. Better Luck Next Time

03. Cheer Up

04. All About You

On The Web:

linktr.ee/karmavulture

DIE! DIE! DIE! streaming full album ahead of release, New Zealand trio returns w/ original lineup

"Captures the spirit of anarchic post-punk — but their sound is so damn groovy, it’s a turn-on even for listeners who might be turned off by noise rock. Fans of the Icarus Line, early Blonde Redhead, Ken Mode and Blood Brothers will drool over their next favorite band’s distortion-doused dins." -- Big Takeover

New Zealand trio Die! Die! Die! are streaming their forthcoming new album This Is Not An Island Anymore early today via Rock 'n' Roll Globe in North America and XSNoize in EU/UK. Hear and share This Is Not An Island Anymore HERE. (Direct Bandcamp and pre-save Linktree.)

The band also recently released the insane, Peter Jackson inspired splatter-slapstick video for "Losing Sight, Keep On Kicking" via YouTube HERE. 

The band wanted to do something a little different from their previous clips for the music video. They reached out to Belgian director Jonas Govaerts (Cub, Tabula Rasa, F*** You Very, Very Much) who bassist Lachlan had met working on Tabula Rasa, a Netflix series that Jonas co-directed, a few years back.

 

Die! Die! Die! was excited about a director who loved punk rock and horror, so gave Jonas full license to make what he wanted. The pitch: "A workout video which descends into a gore fest". The idea was so unique they had to say yes.

 

Says Jonas of the finished product: "I'm pretty proud of the result, which hopefully looks a bit like an early Peter Jackson video. After all, shouldn't a band named Die! Die! Die! have at least one horror-themed music video?" 

Since their debut in 2005, Die! Die! Die! has blended a powerful and infectious concoction of post-punk, noise pop, shoegaze, lo-fi, and punk rock into one massive sounding whole. Fresh for a global pandemic outbreak, the trio returns in its original lineup for their most urgent and well honed album to date, This Is Not An Island Anymore. Since recording their debut album with Steve Albini (Shellac, Nirvana, PJ Harvey) in Chicago in 2005, Die! Die! Die! have worked with producers including Shayne Carter, Nick Roughan (The Skeptics), Chris Townend (Violent Femmes), and have written and recorded albums in New York, Dunedin, London and rural France. 

Their indispensable collection of records, and their intense and unflinching live show, continue to drive their connection with audiences across the globe. Both are a telling reminder of why Die! Die! Die! are one of the most enduring and unapologetic bands to ever emerge out of New Zealand. 

Artist: Die! Die! Die!

Album: This Is Not An Island Anymore

Record Label:  Self-released 

Release Date: February 18, 2022

01. This Is Not An Island Anymore

02.Is Darren There?

03.Takaparawhau

04 Losing Sight, Keep On Kicking

05.6 Months In The Lighthouse

06.15 Years

07.Vanish (but That's My Hometown, Marcus)

08.Never Tire Looking At The Sun

09.IMAGINE (Spending So Long Making Other People Feel Like Shit)

On The Web:

facebook.com/diediedieband

diediedie.bandcamp.com

Thirsty Curses issue hook-laden single "Jenny" from forthcoming album

Watch/share “Nothing Really Matters” video HERE

"There’s a ramshackle element to the music on the new record that firmly places this talented band alongside such Raleigh-reared greats as The dBs and Let’s Active." -- Rock & Roll Globe

"A refined take on the band’s punk-pop sound that showcases its most sophisticated hooks to date." -- Big Takeover

Raleigh, NC band Thirsty Curses share a new single from their forthcoming fourth album today. Hear and share "Jenny" via Bandcamp and Spotify. Also, Spill Magazine has premiered the frantic video "Nothing Really Matters" HERE.

Rock''n'Roll Globe recently hosted album track "Down & Out" HERE. Big Takeover Magazine also shared "Are You Still There?" HERE. 

To the Ends of the Earth is the fourth studio album by the Raleigh-based band Thirsty Curses. The band recorded most of the album at frontman Wilson Getchell's home studio in Raleigh, NC over the summer of 2021. The band also spent a day in Bias Studios in Northern Virginia where they recorded three songs for the album and did piano overdubs on the studio's baby grand.

The album is a moody mother, as it bounces between numerous rock subgenres throughout. A majority of the songs appearing on To The Ends of the Earth were written since the completion of the band's last album, Thirsty Curses. Incidentally, lead singer and songwriter Wilson Getchell began writing the album's final track "Baptist and a Rabbi" circa 2008, but the song had largely been forgotten and was unfinished. However, during the 2020 lockdowns, Wilson ran across an old demo of the song and ultimately re-wrote some of the lyrics and transposed the song from guitar to piano. 

To the Ends of the Earth is the first Thirsty Curses album to feature Evan Miller on drums and Alexander Weir on lead guitar, replacing Phil Harrington and Kelley Otwell, respectively, who left the band over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic. Hannah Chapman (who sang on "GDMNT" on Thirsty Curses) provided guest backup vocals on "Tell Me the Truth." The album was mixed and mastered by Benjamin Jenkerson.

To The Ends of the Earth will be available on CD and download on March 4th, 2022. 

THIRSTY CURSES LIVE:

03/04 Raleigh, NC @ Ruby Deluxe

03/19 Sanford, NC @ Hugger Mugge Brewing

03/30 Charleston, SC @ Awendaw Green

04/28 Durham, NC @ Rubies on Five Points

05/07 Richmond, VA @ Garden Grove

05/14 Sanford, NC @ Wampus Music Festival

06/11 Cary, NC @ Bond Brothers Eastside

Artist: Thirsty Curses

Album: To the Ends of the Earth

Record Label:  Self-released

Release Date: March 4, 2022

01. One of These Days

02. Are You Still There?

03. Your Next Move

04. What The Hell?

05. WhistlePig

06. Calmer Waters

07. Tell Me The Truth

08. Down & Out

09. Vera

10. Jenny

11. Nothing Really Matters

12. A Baptist and a Rabbi

On The Web:

www.thirstycurses.com

www.thirstycurses.bandcamp.com