HOLY WATER (ex-Heat Dust) shares "Persistent Dream" from forthcoming album, CvltNation: "melodious post-punk metalgaze"

"Downtrodden post-metal." -- Metal Injection

“At once melodious, infectious post-punk; heavy droning doom; and dissonant, experimental punk.” — CvltNation

"Blends doom riffs, art-funk rhythms, ethereal harmonies, and a gothic monotone to conjure the spirits of Ian Curtis, Coliseum, and Jeffrey Lee Pierce, all bent to Den Hartigh's own enigmatic purpose." -- Austin Chronicle

Austin band Holy Water share a third single today via CvltNation from their forthcoming self-titled debut album. Hear and share "Persistent Dream" HERE and via Bandcamp HERE and Spotify HERE. 

Metal Injection recently shared "Waterest Him With Tears" HERE. New Noise Magazine hosted "Sit Down, Restless" HERE. 

Heavy music is experiencing a renaissance of innovation and creativity, while most of contemporary music genres have stagnated in recent years. 

Case in point: Holy Water, a powerful new step merging heavy doom guitars, stoic experimentalists like Caspar Brötzmann Massaker and Khanate mixed with early 80s proto-industrial sounds like Psychic TV and The Leather Nun, metalgaze melodies and hints of Wovenhand’s gothic folk. Yes, that’s a wide range of styles, but it shows just how deftly Holy Water, the nom-de-tune of vocalist/guitarist Jasper den Hartigh cuts its own sonic space. 

Jasper den Hartigh was previously a member of critically praised New Orleans post-punk band Heat Dust, which released a handful of recordings on The Flenser label and toured with Thou and The Body. 

Holy Water’s 11-song eponymous album was self-recorded in 2021, at home and at den Hartigh’s Austin rehearsal space. Help on drums came from Andrew Stevens, guitar from Neckbolt’s Ben Krause, and vocals from den Hartigh’s wife, Sarah Contey. 

“The album came after an extensive creativity exercise I did called Compost-Turn,” den Hartigh explains. “In which I put out 7 releases from friends and myself as physical bookmarks. When it came time to work on a self-titled solo project, this helped the songs appear rapidly. This album was my attempt at making a pop-record, while trusting my gut, using lessons learned over the course of my entire musical life. From being in punk bands, to playing slowcore, to ambient noise, and heavy metal. The songs all have references to Dutch fairy tales but also contain more personal writing.” 

Holy Water will be available on cassette and digital on February 3rd, 2023, LP to follow in summer. Cassette preorders via Primal Architecture, digital via Bandcamp and LP via Time Release.

Artist: Holy Water

Album: Holy Water

Record Label: Self-released / Primal Architecture (cass) / Time Release (LP)

Release Date: February 3rd, 2023

01. Burning Handle

02. Waterest Him With Tears

03. Break My Back

04. Sky-Flayer

05. With Hoarse Note

06. Persistent Dream

07. Water Rotted

08. Latter End More Than The Beginning

09. Sit Down, Restless

10. Struggle Into Life

11. There Was No Lock

On The Web:

jasperdenhartigh.com

instagram.com/jasperdh

Latin Cumbia rhythms/Krautrock/retro Electronic duo DRECKIG share dazzling video for "Non Zero Sum"

 

"Mesmerizingly fun madness" -- Freeform Portland

“What you might call Latin Electronica… There’s a light dreaminess to much of the music — the mood is more chill than high BPM — and songs like “Non Zero Sum” lull you into a blissful state.” – Gillian Gaar, Audiofemme

Portland, OR duo Dreckig share their first ever official video, for "Non Zero Sum" from their forthcoming album Digital Exposure today. Watch and share "Non Zero Sum" on YouTube HERE. 

Growing up in México and Germany, Papi Fimbres and Shana Lindbeck’s destiny led them to meet in Portland, OR. Wanting to honor their heritages in a new and collaborative way, they set out to form Dreckig, which means dirty in German.

Both deeply influenced by Cumbia’s melodious rhythms and German electronic compositions, they have created their own unique sound within that realm. Using all vintage drum machines and synthesizers, these elements are combined & envisioned in the studio, then brought to the stage in a mystical, dance club frenzy. 

For Dreckig’s third album, Papi and Shana once again collaborated with Pinewave Studio’s Johann Wagner. Utilizing the studio’s impressive array of vintage drum machines, synthesizers and modulars, their favorites being the Roland 808, DMX & Moog Voyager, they created Digital Exposure. Continuing with the tradition of singing in Spanish, German and English, the album touches on topics of social constructs — such as “Own Your Shadow” and its call to look deep into one’s existence, on environmental impacts — such as “La Ballena,”a love song for our deep blue ocean, on embracing everyday life — such as “La Mita,” telling the story of an adventurous trip to México’s stunning coast. The flute, Dreckig’s third and sometimes only vocalist, adds a focused perspective to their unique sound and rounds out the album in its truest form. This is Dreckig’s first time collaborating with San Francisco’s Broken Clover Records to release the album on vinyl and all music platforms. 

Digital Exposure is available on LP, CD and download, released on August 12th, 2022 via Broken Clover Records. Orders are available HERE. The album hits all streaming services on February 17th, 2023.

Artist: Dreckig

Title: Digital Exposure

Label: Broken Clover Records 

Release Date: 8/12/2022 

01. Non Zero Sum 

02. Astrometric

03. La Mita

04. Dream Moon 

05. Exposicion 

06. La Ballena

07. Own Your Shadow

08. Meaty Okra

09. Que No Sepa

10. Qo’noS

HOLY WATER (ex-Heat Dust) shares new track from forthcoming album of heavy post-punk doom

"Downtrodden post-metal." -- Metal Injection

"Blends doom riffs, art-funk rhythms, ethereal harmonies, and a gothic monotone to conjure the spirits of Ian Curtis, Coliseum, and Jeffrey Lee Pierce, all bent to Den Hartigh's own enigmatic purpose." -- Austin Chronicle

Austin band Holy Water share a new single today from their forthcoming self-titled debut album via New Noise Magazine. Hear and share "Sit Down, Restless" HERE and via Bandcamp HERE and Spotify HERE. 

Metal Injection recently shared "Waterest Him With Tears" HERE. 

Heavy music is experiencing a renaissance of innovation and creativity, while most of contemporary music genres have stagnated in recent years. 

Case in point: Holy Water, a powerful new step merging heavy doom guitars, stoic experimentalists like Caspar Brötzmann Massaker and Khanate mixed with early 80s proto-industrial sounds like Psychic TV and The Leather Nun, metalgaze melodies and hints of Wovenhand’s gothic folk. Yes, that’s a wide range of styles, but it shows just how deftly Holy Water, the nom-de-tune of vocalist/guitarist Jasper den Hartigh cuts its own sonic space. 

Jasper den Hartigh was previously a member of critically praised New Orleans post-punk band Heat Dust, which released a handful of recordings on The Flenser label and toured with Thou and The Body. 

Holy Water’s 11-song eponymous album was self-recorded in 2021, at home and at den Hartigh’s Austin rehearsal space. Help on drums came from Andrew Stevens, guitar from Neckbolt’s Ben Krause, and vocals from den Hartigh’s wife, Sarah Contey. 

“The album came after an extensive creativity exercise I did called Compost-Turn,” den Hartigh explains. “In which I put out 7 releases from friends and myself as physical bookmarks. When it came time to work on a self-titled solo project, this helped the songs appear rapidly. This album was my attempt at making a pop-record, while trusting my gut, using lessons learned over the course of my entire musical life. From being in punk bands, to playing slowcore, to ambient noise, and heavy metal. The songs all have references to Dutch fairy tales but also contain more personal writing.” 

Holy Water will be available on cassette and digital on February 3rd, 2023, LP to follow in summer. Cassette preorders via Primal Architecture, digital via Bandcamp and LP via Time Release.

Artist: Holy Water

Album: Holy Water

Record Label: Self-released / Primal Architecture (cass) / Time Release (LP)

Release Date: February 3rd, 2023

01. Burning Handle

02. Waterest Him With Tears

03. Break My Back

04. Sky-Flayer

05. With Hoarse Note

06. Persistent Dream

07. Water Rotted

08. Latter End More Than The Beginning

09. Sit Down, Restless

10. Struggle Into Life

11. There Was No Lock

On The Web:

jasperdenhartigh.com

instagram.com/jasperdh

Slumbering Sun (Temptress, Destroyer of Light, Monte Luna members) share new track from forthcoming debut album via CvltNation

 

"Trippy, melodic doom metal. From the moment you hit play, 'Liminal Bridges' feels like a transitional track meant to guide you along a wispy, winding trail in a slightly foggy forest while on a quest." -- Metal Sucks

“An ice-cold blend of 90s alternative, doom, and prog that will quench your thirst for captivating melodies, thundering percussion, and grungy riffs! They’ve created an epic mash-up of classic doom and added the soaring vocals and towering instrumentation that took us on the sonic journey from Sabbath to Maiden to Soundgarden.” — CvltNation

Austin band Slumbering Sun share a new single from their forthcoming debut album today via CvltNation. Hear and share "Dream Snake" HERE. (Direct Bandcamp.)

Metal Sucks previously shared lead single "Liminal Bridges" HERE. 

Slumbering Sun is a powerful new melodic doom entity formed by members of underground mainstays Destroyer of Light and Monte Luna. Their resulting sound explores broader melodies and sonics than their other bands, inspired as much by Celtic folk standards as by doom in the vein of Warning, even with hints of the classic 90s heft of Soundgarden and Alice In Chains. 

After the breakup of their previous band, James Clarke & Keegan Kjeldsen resolved to forget the pain of an album that would never be released by creating something new. They resolved to launch a new band, with an album Keegan composed between work on other projects. They began one afternoon at the rehearsal space during the warm spring of Austin, with a few songs strummed on a clean, electric guitar. James began to write melodies, the two of them finished the lyrical content, and the idea began to evolve.

The band was assembled with other friends in the Texas metal scene, who’ve known each other from years of shows together. Kelsey Wilson of Temptress joined as lead guitarist and sojourned back and forth from Dallas. Garth Condit and Penny Turner – both in other bands with James & Keegan respectively – formed the rhythm section. Slumbering Sun was born. On a blisteringly hot week in the summer of 2022, the group recorded The Ever-Living Fire, the culmination of months of rehearsing and revising. All veterans of the road, the band plans on touring in the coming year.

The Ever-Living Fire will be available on CD, cassette and digital on February 24th, 2023. Vinyl LP will follow by summer, due to pressing plant delays. Pre-orders are available HERE. 

Band members:

James Clarke (Vocals) – of Monte Luna

Keegan Kjeldsen (Guitar) – of Destroyer of Light

Kelsey Wilson (Guitar) – of Temptress

Garth Condit (Bass) – of Monte Luna, Scorpion Child

Penny Turner (Drums) – of Destroyer of Light

Artist: Slumbering Sun

Album: The Ever-Living Fire

Record Label: Self-released 

Release Date: February 24th, 2023

01. Morgenröte

02. Liminal Bridges

03. Love In a Fallen World

04. Dream Snake

05. The Ever-Living Fire

On The Web:

slumberingsun.bandcamp.com

instagram.com/slumbering_sun

UK psych-punk phenom DEZ DARE shares "Bloodbath-on-HI" video from forthcoming album Perseus War

 

"This balance - between big and small, between composure and fury - is what makes the record so engaging, Smallman's gaze of disdain flitting from universal issue to idiosyncratic bugbear without pause. Where the emotive weight could easily be lost within the tumult of post Geelong guitars, here it is high and bold, registering with intimacy and wit." -- The WIRE Magazine

“The lone fighter is something like the punky-grungey and above all a few years younger version of Bevis Frond, offering fuzzy psychedelic noise rock on ‘Ulysses Trash’.” OX FANZINE [8/10]

“It’s a wild mix of classic garage rock, psychedelic elements (Hawkwind says hello), typical punk riffs of the late 1970s, noise rock à la Sonic Youth or Fugazi, repetitive, shamanic recitations. 34 captivating minutes over thirteen songs from one cast.” Amplified [8/10]

“’Ulysses Trash’ is brilliantly conceived, shockingly under-produced and a worthy testimony to one man’s trip. Over in the blink of an eye in a gloriously extended WTF moment of unbridled chaos “Ulysses Trash” is a triumph and will comprehensively add more aural colours to your sonic palette.” All Music [9/10]

“I would say if Hawkwind wrote two-three minute punk songs, they would sound just like this and that’s a hell of a compliment!” Über Rock

"Bloodbath-on-HI" is the 1st video and single from the forthcoming album, Perseus War by Dez Dare. Diving in hard, animated and full of riffage, the track tackles one of humanity's best pastimes: Collapsing societies. We fight with our neighbours, over farm lands we steal, pollute in the name of progress. Societies fall, we never learn and, now we live globally. Watch/share "Bloodbath-on-HI" via YouTube. 

Perseus War is the 3rd album by Australian born, UK based artist Dez Dare. Leading on from 2022's Ulysses Trash, Dez presents 10 songs of dystopian indifference captured over 4 weeks in late 2022. Meant to be a companion EP to the last record, ideas spilled, riffs flowed, Perseus was born.

Dez Dare (aka Darren Smallman of BATTLE WORLDWIDE, Low Transit Industries, Thee Vinyl Creatures, The Sound Platform, Warped) grew up in Geelong, a port city located on Corio Bay and the Barwon River, in the state of Victoria, Australia where he became involved in the local punk and rock scene in 1990, playing in a band called Warped, sharing stages with the likes of Bored!, The 5678s, Fugazi, and The Dirty Three, going on to play in multiple bands spewing out sludgy punk rock, drone riffage and noisy pop abundance. Darren was embedded in the scene, playing music, running labels (founding record label and touring company Low Transit Industries in 1999 working with bands such as The Essex Green, Lilys, Elf Power, Okkervil River, Of Montreal, Black Mountain, Trans Am) before moving to the UK in 2010 where he has operated ever since.

Perseus War album will be available on March 17th, 2023. Pre-order the CD and pre-save streams at dezdare.com

Artist: Dez Dare

Album: Perseus War

Record Label: CH!MP Records

Release Date: March 17th, 2023

01. Bozo

02. Perseus War

03. Myopic Tropic

04. Bloodbath-on-HI

05. A Chimp, A Tricycle, New World Order

06. I Know Why You Cry at Adam Sandler Films

07. OUCH!

08. My Heels + My Toes, My Lies + My Nose

09. BEACH!

10. STOP. STOP. STOP. TALKING.

Cellist Lori Goldston (Nirvana, Earth) & trumpeter Greg Kelley album exclusively streaming on Bandcamp, vinyl out today on Broken Clover Records

“An unsung hero of Seattle’s music scene.” – KEXP

“Goldston's music is expansive, at times otherworldly. She doesn't just show you the little universes she makes with droning, textured sounds, she builds them all around you.” – The Stranger

Renowned cellist Lori Goldston and experimental trumpeter Greg Kelley are streaming their new album All Points Leaning In today exclusively on Bandcamp. The vinyl is also available now on Broken Clover Records. The album won't hit other streaming platforms until July 2023. Hear and share All Points Leaning In via Bandcamp HERE.

All Points Leaning In was created after a couple of years of Greg Kelley and Lori Goldston performing together often throughout the Pacific Northwest, as a duo and in various ensembles, usually in artist-run spaces and occasionally scoring silent films. Most often they play completely improvised; occasionally their work is loosely structured or composed. Both are classically trained, and known for exploring deeply textured, expansive sounds on the outer edges of their instruments, drawn to pushing past the point of stability into less controllable threshold states. 

 

The album was recorded at the home studio of producer Steve Fisk, who contributes a legendarily fine, bold ear and originality. It was tracked live, through amplifiers and effects pedals, without overdubs or looping. The sound is visceral and airy, droning and densely layered, ecstatic and precise. 

Bio: Lori Goldston

Classically trained and rigorously de-trained, possessor of a restless, semi-feral spirit, Lori Goldston is a cellist, composer, improvisor, producer, writer and teacher from Seattle. Her voice as a cellist, amplified or acoustic, is full, textured, committed and original. A relentless inquirer, her work drifts freely across borders that separate genre, discipline, time and geography.

Current and former collaborators and/or bosses include Earth, Nirvana, Mirah, Jessika Kenney, Ilan Volkov, Eyvind Kang, Stuart Dempster, David Byrne, Terry Riley, Jherek Bischoff, Malcom Goldstein, Steve Von Till, Lonnie Holley, Cat Power, Ellen Fullman, Maya Dunietz, Mik Quantius, Embryo, O Paon, Tara Jane O’Neil, Natacha Atlas, Broken Water, Ed Pias, Christian Rizzo and Sophie Laly, Threnody Ensemble, Cynthia Hopkins, 33 Fainting Spells, Vanessa Renwick, Mark Mitchell, Lynn Shelton, and many more.

Her work has been commissioned by and/or performed at the Kennedy Center, Sydney Festival, Cineteca Nacional de México, Tectonics Festival, Frye Art Museum, Time Based Art Festival (TBA), WNYC, The New Foundation, Paris Fashion Week, Northwest Film Forum, On the Boards, Seattle International Film Festival, Seattle Jewish Film Festival, Bumbershoot, Crossing Border Festival, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, Joe’s Pub, the Stone, University of Chicago, and venues large and small throughout North America, Mexico, Australia, and Europe.

Bio: Greg Kelley

Greg Kelley began studying the trumpet at age 10. He attended the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, where in addition to studying the Conservatory curriculum, he immersed himself in a deep study of avant-garde and experimental music, eventually coming to the conclusion that his musical focus fell outside of the academic sphere. After his studies, Kelley moved back to his native Massachusetts, quickly situated himself into the local avant-garde circles and soon commenced a period of intense travel and collaboration, bringing him throughout North America, Europe, Japan, Argentina & Mexico. In 2020, he relocated back to the greater Boston area after spending 6 years in Seattle.

He has appeared on over 100 recordings as a member of Nmperign (with Bhob Rainey), Heathen Shame (with Wayne Rogers & Kate Village of Major Stars), Cold Bleak Heat (with Paul Flaherty, Chris Corsano & Matt Heyner) and Hound Dog Taylor's Hand (with Jeffery Taylor, John Seman & Mark Ostrowski) and has collaborated with Jandek, Keiji Haino, Donald Miller (Borbetomagus), Lori Goldston, Anthony Braxton, Kevin Drumm, Christian Wolff, Pauline Oliveros, Joe McPhee and Lionel Marchetti, among others. In addition to playing the trumpet, Kelley has also recorded music using electronics and musique concrete elements,

All Points Leaning In is available on LP and download on January 19th, 2023 via Broken Clover Records. Orders are available HERE. 

Artist: Secret Lori Goldston & Greg Kelley

Album: All Points Leaning In

Record Label: Broken Clover Records

Release Date: January 19th, 2023

01. Toward Clarity

02. All Points Leaning In

03. You're In Good Company

04. Seeing Stars

On The Web:

lorigoldston.com

brokencloverrecords.bandcamp.com

instagram.com/legoldston