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After their debut full-length album, Puritan Masochism, took the entire doom and heavy metal scene by storm upon its release in 2020, critically acclaimed Danish blackened death doom outfit KONVENT returns with a sophomore offering that doubles down on the band’s songwriting talent and brutal, heavy sound! The sonic evolution of KONVENT over the course of just two years is immediately evident on Call Down The Sun, surprising with new elements at every turn. Undoubtedly inspired by recent dark times, the ongoing pandemic and cancellation of live performances, the new album sees the Copenhagen-based band more pissed off, fast-paced and pitch black throughout. Rikke Emilie List’s guttural, sublime growls and fierce screams perfectly integrate with a heavy as hell wall of blackened death and funeral doom metal riffs from guitarist Sara Helena Nørregaard, backed by a thick, profound rhythm section provided by bassist Heidi Withington Brink and drummer Julie Simonsen. Tracks such as “Grains” – a ground-shaking, stomping black doom metal epos that will be a must-hear on KONVENT’s upcoming live setlists – showcase the band’s deep black soul with a hint of post-metal and even progressive elements. Featuring a haunting violin and cello guest performance by Felix Havstad, the band creates dark, eerie yet epic atmosphere on “Harena”, revealing threatening yet beautiful facets of their sound. With songs such as “Pipe Dreams” and massive album opener “Into the Distance”, the four-piece unleashes hurricanes of blackened death doom metal. Recorded and mixed by Lasse Ballade at Ballade Studios, Sweden and mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege Studio, the new album’s thunderous apocalyptic sound is impossible to escape. Call Down The Sun a refreshing, vibrant record that is not only poised to top 2022 Album Of The Year lists, but reign as one of the best death and blackened doom metal records of modern times!

Omowale is the powerful new album from Wildchild, one third of the legendary Lootpack crew and a formidable solo artist who released many projects on the iconic Stones Throw Records. Across the 15 tracks, the Cali rapper deftly explores what it means to be a Black man in the U.S. today with timely, poignant lyrics. It’s a hard-hitting look at this country and its decades of wrongdoing, all with an air of optimism for the future. This album is Wildchild’s first solo release since 2016’s T.G.I.F., though he’s clearly kept busy in the interim by working on Omowale and making a number of standout guest appearances. Many of his past collaborators are returning the favor, as we’re treated to dope features from Posdnuos (of De La Soul), Big Daddy Kane, Guilty Simpson, Ras Kass, Murs, and more. Plus, there’s head-nodding production from Madlib, Nottz, Georgia Anne Muldrow, and Mr. Brady, among others. They’re all bringing their A-game on Omowale, an impeccably produced album beyond its instrumentation and rhymes. Wildchild builds on the project’s narrative by incorporating audio from newscasts, protests, and other live events. He also brings that real-world feel to his lyrics, from joyful raps with his son (Black-ish actor/emcee Miles Brown) on the funky “G.O.A.T.” to raw rhymes about police brutality on “Breathe.”
When the album culminates with “Say Their Name”—a moving tribute to the rap legends we’ve lost over the years—Wildchild proves on Omowale that you can balance hope with the harsh, unjust realities of the world.

Dead Head wurde 1989 in der Region Zwolle/Kampen in den Niederlanden gegründet. Von Anfang an zeigte die Band eine harte Arbeitsmoral
und veröffentlichte mehrere Demos und gab eine Menge Live-Shows. Die Band veröffentlichte außerdem drei Alben in voller Länge und eine EP,
bevor sie mit der Arbeit an ihrem vierten Album „Haatland“ begannen. Mit sechs Jahren zwischen „Kill Division“ und „Haatland“ perfektionierte
die Band ihren rohen, aggressiven Thrash Metal-Sound noch mehr. Die Produktion verbesserte sich erneut und die Band zeigte, dass ihr Potenzial
dem vieler etablierter Namen im Thrash Metal-Genre ebenbürtig war. Glücklicherweise wird „Haatland“ 2021 von Petrichor auf 2-CD und LP neu
aufgelegt, damit die Welt dieses Meisterwerk schierer Brutalität und raffinierter, eindringlicher Melodien wiedererkennen kann. Petrichor hat
der CD-Version dieser Neuauflage wieder eine Menge Bonusmaterial hinzugefügt. Dead Head ist keineswegs ein Knaller aus der Vergangenheit,
denn 2022 wird die Band ein neues Album veröffentlichen. Ein rasendes Stück Thrash vom Feinsten. Großartige Produktion, wahnsinnige Riffs
und wahnsinnige Vocals kombiniert, um dir den Schädel zu zerschmettern.

There seems to be something in the water down in Hastings as a veritable hive of electronic music artists have been busy making beats in ever growing numbers down there - including Kim Cosmik.

Kim's debut on 20/20 Vision is an impressive and highly original mix of techno, electro, broken beats and industrial sounds, destined to destroy the long-anticipated dance floor revival. Although overall the record is abrasive, hard-hitting and takes no prisoners - beneath the surface, in tracks like 'Drifting' we also find nuances of emotional musicality that shed vast streams of light on the proceedings. The record does indeed kick off with intent though with 'Night Flight' - a blistering techno workout that would resonate magnificently in the mighty Berghain hall. There's no holding back the menacing bass line, fortified tough jacking groove on this one as strong synth lines and strings embellish and complete the soundscape.Over to 'Ore' which cranks up the gears into an industrial techno slammer packed with abstract outer-planet sound design finished off with pounding overdriven drums programmed with military precision.

On the flip side is a gem called 'Nocturnal'- this is the cut that first really caught our attention at 20/20 Vision, with it's merciless industrial dubstep kick drums and brutal precision. It's a simple, stripped back workout held in place beautifully by a discordant string - there's just no escaping this fierce ruling diva. Not for the faint-hearted but those who dare will be rewarded.

Kim's final track 'Drifting' is the jewel in the crown that provides the light after the storm. It's a blissful, cosmic, jazz fused musical tapestry driven by break beats, while compassionate strings infused with Kim's own vocal harmonies and subtle piano motifs glisten and glide over the track adding soothing layers of harmonious quality. Drifting is the perfect close to a truly stunning debut EP.

Es gibt keinen perfekten Weg, um das New Yorker Duo Water From Your Eyes zu beschreiben, sie allein auf Zahlen zu reduzieren wäre ungenau und leichtsinnig. Bestehend aus Nate Amos (er/sie) und Rachel Brown (sie/sie), die beide auch für ihre Soloarbeit unter den Namen This Is Lorelei bzw. Thanks For Coming bekannt sind, ist die Gruppe seit 2016 zusammen und hat einen klarsichtigen Ansatz für zukunftsweisende Tanzmusik entwickelt, die Strenge, Charme und Satire in einem Paket vereint, das durchweg innovativ und anders als alles ist, was ihre Zeitgenoss*innen in der Brooklyner DIY-Szene oder außerhalb davon machen. "Structure" ist ein Album, das sich an Widersprüchen erfreut und mit augenzwinkerndem Witz und unzweifelhaftem Know-How durch geradlinige Subgenres watet - ein Album, das das bisher erstaunlichste Projekt von Water From Your Eyes darstellt. Beeinflusst von Scott Walkers einziger Veröffentlichung aus den 80ern, "Climate Of Hunter", und den nachhallenden Werken des Farbfeldmalers Mark Rothko, ist "Structure" ein Konzeptalbum, das sich über die Idee von Konzeptalben lustig macht. Wie aus Höhlen zu kommende Tanzstücke dienen als hypnotisches Fundament zwischen Spoken-Word-Monologen, cineastischen Nummern und einem scheinbar fröhlichen Opener. Die siebenminütigen Epen "My Love's" und ""Quotations"" sind ausufernde, an Industrial gemahnende Stücke, wobei beide Tracks sägezahnartige Loops und Grooves einsetzen, die in der Lage sind, selbst die passivsten Zuhörer zu hypnotisieren. Wie Rothkos widersprüchliche Darstellung des Statischen und Kinetischen laden Water From Your Eyes dazu ein, an der stoischen Fassade von "Structure" zu kratzen, einen genaueren Blick auf die detaillierte Handarbeit zu werfen und die Risse im Spiegel zu verfolgen. Trotz der titelgebenden Implikationen und der kunstvollen konzeptionellen Ästhetik ist "Structure" eher unbeschwert als ernst. Sowohl Rachel Brown als auch Nate Amos, die in ihren jeweiligen Solo-Projekten bissig witzig sind, wenden ihren Humor natürlich auch auf "Structure" an, eine Platte, die den kreativen Prozess der Band widerspiegelt. Eifrige Hörer werden sich an wiederholten Durchläufen erfreuen, um die melodischen Feinheiten, die rhythmischen Kleinigkeiten und die lyrischen Wiederholungen der Platte zu entdecken. "Structure" ist eine erstklassige Errungenschaft des "brutalen" Pop: Es ist verträumt und dissoziativ, nuanciert und hypnotisch und webt Fäden zusammen, die der Hörer mit jedem Durchlauf neu entwirren kann.

Mit nur zwei Demos seit Gründung im Jahr 2018 scheint es, dass MALIGNANT ALTAR nach modernen Maßstäben etwas zu ruhig gestartet waren. Doch dieses Monster hat nicht geschlafen oder sich auf seinen Lorbeeren ausgeruht, sondern das ranzigste, obszönste Album geschaffen, das man sich vorstellen kann. Aus dem tiefsten Schlund 80er-Horror-Einflüssen ergießt sich eine Flut von Innereien in Form von eitrig faulen Riffs und zermürbenden Drums in einem dicken teerigen Matsch instrumentalen Verfalls über den Hörer. Gesanglich wird purer Ekel ausgekotzt, der sich glorreich klebrig über die letzte Ritze bösartig hypnotisierender Rifflandschaft einfügt und wie verfaulte Leichenreste aus euren Lautsprechern tropfen. Wenn das alles nach einer Demo-Band mit begrenzten technischen Spielfähigkeiten klingt - Nichts wäre weiter von der Wahrheit entfernt, da MALIGNANT ALTAR mit gnadenlosem Drumming und technisch ausgefeilten Riffs aufwarten können.

Über fünf typische Tracks und einem spektralen Zwischeninstrumental ist die Platte zwar gnadenlos brutal, verzichtet aber dennoch nicht auf Dynamik. Diese Texaner haben Würze in ihrem Death Metal und wissen genau, wann unausweichliche Attacke oder zermürbender Groove bis hin zum Pulverisieren der Nackenwirbel gefragt ist!

"Même Soleil" is the result of a dialog between the French photographer Gaël Bonnefon and the French musician Frédéric D. Oberland initiated by IIKKI, between December 2019 and June 2021.

Self-taught multi-instrumentalist & photographer, Frédéric D. Oberland finds himself at the crossroads of image and sound, favoring a synesthetic approach. He articulates different modes of narration, combining the raw character of the documentary form with the transfigured reality of myth and poetry, allowing him to question notions such as the sacred, the monstrous, the fraternity, while at the same time returning to the political news of the present. Attentive to the pulse of the body, his work is willingly itinerant, modulating between the ripples of dreams, watching the points of incandescence and the bursts of electricity that act as revelations of our presence in the world, here and now. He’s the co-founder of leading bands such as Oiseaux-Tempête, FOUDRE!, Le Réveil des Tropiques, FareWell Poetry and is co-curating the label NAHAL Recordings.

"Fueled by travels and their emanations, Frédéric D. Oberland’s music had to build new horizons this year, outlined by the curves of semi-modular synthesizers, the avalanches of effect pedals and the zigzagging paths of electric circuits. Même Soleil, his third solo album, manages to merge mystical visions of the unconscious and the absurdity of an apocalyptic present in a sensory whirlwind, operating an astonishing mutation with tones still unexplored in his previous releases. A visual as well as a musical journey that takes shape in a book and a record of the same title, Même Soleil is the result of a collaboration with the photographer Gaël Bonnefon. Seeking the tension between the blinding light of day and the glittering visions of saturated night skies, the two pieces in dialogue transcend reality to deliver their own truth, as bright as the first light of the sought-after morning." (Alice Butterlin)

Gaël Bonnefon graduated with highest honours from the Fine Arts School of Toulouse (Isdat) in 2008. He has exhibited at Villa Pérochon, at the Eté photographique in Lectoure, at the 104 in Paris during Jeune Création 2012, at Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie d’Arles and at PhotoEspaña, at the Abattoirs Museum in Toulouse in 2014, at the Château d’Eau Gallery in 2012 and 2019 and in the Vitrine of Frac Île-de-France in 2020. His work is part of the collections of Frac Midi-Pyrénées, Château d'Eau gallery, Kulturamt in Dusseldorf and Kiyosato Museum in Japan ; he participated in Temps Zero projects Berlin, Braga, Rome, Bucarest, Groningen and Thessaloniki. He has also been granted artist’s residencies in Germany, France and Israel. His first book Elegy for the Mundane was published by La Main Donne in 2019. He continues his intimate and dense journey and presents his second publishing, Même Soleil with photographic works from 2009 to 2021.

"At first brutal and declining, the substance of Gaël Bonnefon's photography is just like a gaze that fears being one day extinguished and that is always looking to be born again. In photography as in love, recoil and desire, tension and easement, repetition, wandering and rest, flight and pursuit. Here photography allows itself to be traversed by flashes of life, renewed forces, echoes of far-off kindnesses and lost joys. It sings silently, lover of a thousand faces from which the thread of a single and same image is born, followed without relent, from the snowy peaks of childhood to the lost worlds of the present." (Michaël Soyez)

Auslandsländer neigen dazu, südamerikanische Länder als „exotisch“ zu betrachten. Aber wir können Ihnen versichern, dass es nichts Exotisches
ist, wenn 95 % der Bevölkerung um ihre Grundbedürfnisse kämpfen, hohe Kriminalitätsraten und Regierungen nacheinander nichts tun, um die
Situation zu ändern – tatsächlich folgen sie ihrer eigenen Agenda, um den Ball am Laufen zu halten.
Aus diesem Grund haben Bands wie die brasilianischen NERVOCHAOS eine solche Atmosphäre echter Brutalität und Authentizität. Sie machen
keinen „südamerikanischen Death Metal“. Sie nahmen einfach ihre harte Realität, nahmen den Einfluss von frühen Death Metal-Bands wie Morbid Angel, Vader und Sinister auf und spuckten sie so aggressiv wie möglich aus. Nervochaos, 25 Jahre alt und Teil der ältesten Generation der
brasilianischen Extremszene – zusammen mit Sepultura, Krisiun, Rebaelliun oder Abhorrence, um nur einige zu nennen – haben natürlich die
Erfahrung, die Abstammung und das technische Know-how, um tun Sie es in Pik.
Genau das ist „All Colours Of Darkness“, das zehnte (!) Studioalbum des São Paulo-Fünflings: Pechschwarzer Death Metal, so rauh gemacht, wie
es eine Band nur kann, mit der brutalen Atmosphäre, die wir von brasilianischen Extrem-Metal-Bands zu erwarten. Mit lyrischen Themen, die
sich um die dunkelsten Gefilde des Satanismus und der dunklen Magie drehen, beschwört Nervochaos den Metal über den Tod, wie es heute nur
noch wenige Bands können – mit einem brutalen Ansatz, einem technischen Rückgrat und einer effektiven Tiefe der Themen.
Nervochaos haben durch ihre harte Arbeit in den letzten 25 Jahren Kultstatus in der Musikszene erlangt und bieten auf ihre einzigartige Weise
eine klangliche Extravaganz. Die Gruppe hat neun Studioalben in voller Länge herausgebracht und tourt ständig weltweit, um ihre Veröffentlichungen zu unterstützen, und gibt rund 100 Konzerte pro Jahr – von Clubs bis hin zu Festivals.

Auslandsländer neigen dazu, südamerikanische Länder als „exotisch“ zu betrachten. Aber wir können Ihnen versichern, dass es nichts Exotisches
ist, wenn 95 % der Bevölkerung um ihre Grundbedürfnisse kämpfen, hohe Kriminalitätsraten und Regierungen nacheinander nichts tun, um die
Situation zu ändern – tatsächlich folgen sie ihrer eigenen Agenda, um den Ball am Laufen zu halten.
Aus diesem Grund haben Bands wie die brasilianischen NERVOCHAOS eine solche Atmosphäre echter Brutalität und Authentizität. Sie machen
keinen „südamerikanischen Death Metal“. Sie nahmen einfach ihre harte Realität, nahmen den Einfluss von frühen Death Metal-Bands wie Morbid Angel, Vader und Sinister auf und spuckten sie so aggressiv wie möglich aus. Nervochaos, 25 Jahre alt und Teil der ältesten Generation der
brasilianischen Extremszene – zusammen mit Sepultura, Krisiun, Rebaelliun oder Abhorrence, um nur einige zu nennen – haben natürlich die
Erfahrung, die Abstammung und das technische Know-how, um tun Sie es in Pik.
Genau das ist „All Colours Of Darkness“, das zehnte (!) Studioalbum des São Paulo-Fünflings: Pechschwarzer Death Metal, so rauh gemacht, wie
es eine Band nur kann, mit der brutalen Atmosphäre, die wir von brasilianischen Extrem-Metal-Bands zu erwarten. Mit lyrischen Themen, die
sich um die dunkelsten Gefilde des Satanismus und der dunklen Magie drehen, beschwört Nervochaos den Metal über den Tod, wie es heute nur
noch wenige Bands können – mit einem brutalen Ansatz, einem technischen Rückgrat und einer effektiven Tiefe der Themen.
Nervochaos haben durch ihre harte Arbeit in den letzten 25 Jahren Kultstatus in der Musikszene erlangt und bieten auf ihre einzigartige Weise
eine klangliche Extravaganz. Die Gruppe hat neun Studioalben in voller Länge herausgebracht und tourt ständig weltweit, um ihre Veröffentlichungen zu unterstützen, und gibt rund 100 Konzerte pro Jahr – von Clubs bis hin zu Festivals.

Master are an old school death metal band from
Chicago. Originally formed in 1983 as Death Strike
after the demise of the band War Cry, they were
heavily influenced by the rough brutal assaults of
Venom, Slayer and Motorhead.
 In 1985 vocalist / bassist and bandleader Paul
Speckmann renamed the band Master and obtained
a record deal with Combat Records. An album was
recorded but then shelved by the label (later to be
released as the ‘Unreleased 1985 Album’). The
band were then signed by German metal
powerhouse Nuclear Blast and the debut album
‘Master’ was finally released in 1990.
 Two more albums appeared on the label but Master
went on hiatus while Speckmann focused on several
other projects like Abomination and Krabathor (and
relocated to the Czech Republic). Since then Master
have been releasing new albums with various
different labels and embarking on several European
tours.
 This live release is a recording of the 2014 show
Master performed in Athens, released by Doc
Records on CD and double vinyl - a full show of
Paul and his crew with all the highlights from his
career.
 For fans of Obituary, Autopsy, Possessed, Vader,
Benediction, Massacre, Death, Bolt Thrower.

As the world continues to plunge into a fiery blaze of calamity, the Southern Hemisphere's air warms, its leaves glow green, and the damp earth jolts awake. Springtime is coming to Australia, and it will be ushered in by three sonic shamans who are no strangers to our ears. Gareth Liddiard (Tropical Fuck Storm / The Drones), Jim White (Dirty Three / Xylouris White) and Chris Abrahams (The Necks) are Springtime _ a new endeavor that is as much a tonal experiment as it is a meditation on modern-day absurdity. Springtime's self-titled debut combines free jazz, poignant lyricism crafted alongside renowned Irish poet Ian Duhig -- aka Gareth Liddiard's uncle - and improvisation to craft austere portraits of a world paralyzed by shellshock. It's as monstrously ravishing as it is clumsy in its elegance. Words run into each other with little regard for one another's injuries. There are sounds which come out of nothingness to wallop and brutalize their fellow sounds. The live recording of Will Oldham's "West Palm Beach" is treated with love and respect and would certainly be met with open arms by its author. Across the span of seven tracks, Liddiard incants with wild-eyed fury as White and Abrahams lay down stuttering strings, fizzling electronics, and feathery piano melodies. It is within these raving abstractions that one may find an answer to the enduring question, "What fresh hell will this new season bring?"

Abhoria was created by guitarist Vor (aka, Trevor Portz of Ashen Horde) as a way to satiate his appetite to play classic, aggressive black metal. Recruiting some top-notch players from the L.A. metal underground to join him, he rounded out the band with vocalist Walthrax (ex- Catheter) and bassist Koszmar (Vimana). The band quickly got to work on their debut album with engineer Shane Howard (Vale of Pnath, Martriden, Helleborus), and the result is a black metal album that harks back to the 90s black metal scene, but with modern production. While rooted in the more brutal side of black metal, the album blends the requisite blast beats and tremolo picked guitars with many melodic passages, doom-inspired detours and a variety of tempos. While “Mountebank” is a relentless blitz of high-speed black metal, closing track “Sunless” is a seven-minute epic that incorporates mid-paced, atmospheric grooves and clean vocals. Though the energy never relents, the album is not relentless. Abhoria is hellbent on carrying on the musical torch of the genre’s founding fathers Immortal, Dark Funeral and Emperor.

Sarcasm has had a storied career. Originally formed in Sweden in 1987, Sarcasm would release blistering Death Metal throughout the early and mid-90’s. After a short-lived reunion in 1997, they would come back into the fold in 2015 with a new re-designed version of their lineup. Now they return with their new full-length album “Stellar Stream Obscured”. A concept-based album that is a journey. Managing to sound like their old selves, the bands launches a fine assault here featuring plenty of furious melodic rhythms alongside their traditional leanings. Although, they clearly have their ties in being an older Death Metal band, their sound still brings with it the youthful exuberance of newer Death Metal bands. They have this almost blackened style of Death Metal that cuts like a knife. The impressive guitar work is highlighted by the brutal blast beats and vile vocals emanating in every track. A surprising factor to their music is the slowing down of the tempo to offer up a more melodic sound. A lot of times the old school Death Metal bands seem to be stuck in their ways, but Sarcasm has implemented the more melodic sound to their brutal repertoire. One should appreciate the vile black metal styled vocals on the album, as they work so well together with the professional sounding musicianship. Take Black Metal, melodies, and Death Metal and blend it all up then you’ll have “Stellar Stream Obscured”. The music is beautiful, vile, and brutal all in the same. “Stellar Streams Obscured” is a triumphantly diverse Death Metal album that brings a complete and competent sound. Sarcasm deliver on every facet musically.

Reykjavik-born producer Volruptus, kown for several crazy bombs on трип, bbbbb or Sweaty Records (with Jensen Interceptor), is back with a 4-tracks EP that is made with hypnotic elektro, brutal braindance, and many explosives substances. Ignite your senses ! Feed the fire burning within! Blaze through explosive soundscapes where the heat is blistering ! Detonate into a feverous rage! Get engulfed in it's flames!

Hamburg-based sludge metal act High Fighter are
gearing up for release of their first live album ever.
 Soon after their sophomore album, the critically
acclaimed ‘Champain’ in 2019, the band were
forced to stop promoting the record live due to
obvious reasons, when they got invited by German
tv and iconic live format WDR Rockpalast to be
part of a special Offstage series.
 Filmed in August 2020 at an industrial, breathtaking setting of the Landschaftspark DuisburgNord, Germany, High Fighter’s only show since the
beginning of the pandemic, without a crowd, was
aired on national television.
 This live album was recorded by Dominik Schenke
with a pre-mix by Christoph Scheidel at 79 Sound
Studio, while Jan Oberg (Earth Ship / Grin) added
the final mix and mastering at Hidden Planet
Studio in Berlin.
 With their vibrant blend of sludge metal, doom and
stoner blues, High Fighter‘s ‘Live At WDR
Rockpalast’ features a heavy set and collection of
songs taken from the band’s first three records: the
rough and raw 2014-debut EP ‘The Goat Ritual’,
their first full-length album ‘Scars & Crosses’
(2016, Svart Records) and the latest, fast-paced
and brutal sludge juggernaut ‘Champain’, released
in 2019, also on Argonauta Records.
 White coloured vinyl.

The career defining 5th album from South African Slam juggernauts VULVODYNIA. Featuring a slew of guest performances and production from Christian Donaldson. Looking in a medical textbook will tell you the following: Vulvodynia is a chronic, severe vaginal pain with no identifiable cause. While the severe part is dead on, what a medical textbook won’t tell you is that Vulvodynia is also the pioneer in what is rapidly becoming South Africa’s most eviscerating export: Technical Slamming Brutal Deathcore. With lobotomizing, lurid riffs, skin-shredding blast beats and slams gruesome and filthy enough to induce septic shock, Vulvodynia are a lethal plague, spreading throughout the flesh of today’s heavy music scene—infecting one set of ears at a time, and leaving no survivors. Vulvodynia have toured Europe, USA, Australia, New Zealand, and played numerous festivals worldwide.

The career defining 5th album from South African Slam juggernauts VULVODYNIA. Featuring a slew of guest performances and production from Christian Donaldson. Looking in a medical textbook will tell you the following: Vulvodynia is a chronic, severe vaginal pain with no identifiable cause. While the severe part is dead on, what a medical textbook won’t tell you is that Vulvodynia is also the pioneer in what is rapidly becoming South Africa’s most eviscerating export: Technical Slamming Brutal Deathcore. With lobotomizing, lurid riffs, skin-shredding blast beats and slams gruesome and filthy enough to induce septic shock, Vulvodynia are a lethal plague, spreading throughout the flesh of today’s heavy music scene—infecting one set of ears at a time, and leaving no survivors. Vulvodynia have toured Europe, USA, Australia, New Zealand, and played numerous festivals worldwide.

The career defining 5th album from South African Slam juggernauts VULVODYNIA. Featuring a slew of guest performances and production from Christian Donaldson. Looking in a medical textbook will tell you the following: Vulvodynia is a chronic, severe vaginal pain with no identifiable cause. While the severe part is dead on, what a medical textbook won’t tell you is that Vulvodynia is also the pioneer in what is rapidly becoming South Africa’s most eviscerating export: Technical Slamming Brutal Deathcore. With lobotomizing, lurid riffs, skin-shredding blast beats and slams gruesome and filthy enough to induce septic shock, Vulvodynia are a lethal plague, spreading throughout the flesh of today’s heavy music scene—infecting one set of ears at a time, and leaving no survivors. Vulvodynia have toured Europe, USA, Australia, New Zealand, and played numerous festivals worldwide.

CELESTE have been breaking the outer boundaries of heavy music for over fifteen years. When they first evolved from the Lyon hardcore punk scene, they were absolutely brutal and entirely unique, delivering extremity on their own terms that they pushed further and further with each successive album. “We just wanted to get darker and more violent,” says drummer Antoine Royer, until 2017’s Infidèle(s) saw the incorporation of a more melodic streak. Their most focussed record yet, it was tremendously received, critically adored, and backed with the band’s biggest shows to date.

Its follow-up was always going to be something radical. Even by their own inordinately high standards, however, new record Assassine(s) is one hell of a step forward. Even if this album still contains cyclonic walls of guitar, of battering rhythm, and passages of blissful, rushing release. it’s unlike anything the band have ever released; embracing a modern and forward-thinking production, they're just as complex but more direct, diverse and accessible than before. “Our leitmotif here was to open our minds,” says guitarist Sébastien Ducotté. “We made a real effort to think outside of our box.”

During lockdown CELESTE’s members were forced to each write individually. “We each went further into our personal, inner views of what the songs were,” says bassist and vocalist Johan Girardeau. When eventually they began sessions under producer Chris Edrich, it was gruelling. “We ended up exhausted, physically and mentally” says Johan. “There was no break in two weeks. We didn’t see the sun at all during that time. Every night we were so tired that we didn’t enjoy being together as much as we’re used to.” Nevertheless, in the same way the hardships of isolation led to richer and more complex songwriting, it’s that relentlessness that led to the record’s razor-sharp edges.

Above all else, CELESTE are innovators. Whether by pioneering French avant-garde metal when they formed at the turn of the millennium, by making their boldest leaps despite being seven albums deep into their career, or using two years away from live shows to tightly finetune their stagecraft, they refuse at all costs to rest on their laurels. There can be consequences to this instinct – fans of the band’s older work might be thrown off by their constant shifts of pace – but they’re throwing caution to the wind. A bit of backlash “would be a good thing, because it would mean that we’ve really changed,” says Guillaume . “It's not disrespectful, it's just that we never made music to please people, but just to enjoy what we're doing.” In the end, CELESTE are a band so forward-thinking that they can only be judged on the strength of their latest work. And when it comes to a record as bold as Assassine(s), they’ve hit a whole new peak entirely.

When the world shut down in March 2020, Charlotte Cornfeld was in the
middle of an artist residency in the Rocky Mountains, hunkered down in a
hut with a baby grand piano, sketching ideas for a followup album to her
Polaris-Longlisted 2019 LP The Shape of Your Name - In a matter of
hours, she found herself back home in Toronto with months of touring
cancelled and a wide swath of time ahead of her
She began to write feverishly, mining her memories and dreams and recounting
them with vivid detail. When the songs were fnished, she headed to Montreal to
record with producer/ engineer Howard Bilerman (Arcade Fire, Leonard Cohen),
drummer Liam O'Neill (Suuns), bassist Alexandra Levy (Ada Lea), and guitarist
Sam Gleason (Tim Baker). The group tracked the album in 5 days, mostly live off
the foor, seeking to capture the raw emotion of the songs. The result is Highs in
the Minuses, a memoir in fragments. Here Cornfeld fully embraces the role of
narrator, moving from one vignette to another in a colourful collage. We see her at
21, heartbroken and lost, carrying a friend's 3-legged cat back to her apartment in
a box; then as a teenager, playing a new song for a group of friends on a
trampoline. She sings of a magical frst date, an ex with a mean streak, two
skateboarders gliding in a lakeside parking lot. The brutal honesty in her lyrics
brings to mind writers like David Berman and Adrianne Lenker, while musically
she conjures a Zuma-era Neil Young, leaping from crunchy guitar rock to piano
ballads with effortless grace. Highs in the Minuses is Charlotte Cornfeld's
strongest offering to date, each song a gem in and of itself.

TAPE012 ASYLUM - Is This The Price? 7” EP Formed in 1981 by a crew of hardcore punx and skins from Stoke-on-Trent in the industrial Midlands of England, Asylum fully embraced the ‘Noise Not Music’ rallying call. The missing link between Discharge and Japanese Noisecore, their sound is characterised by detuned ear-piercing distortion: buzzsaw guitars, fuzzed bass, charging drums and gargled vocals battle each other in a maelstrom of lo-fi production murk that reflects the bleak outlook of their lyrics. Only existing for a brief moment in time (playing a handful of mainly local gigs and releasing one demo tape and the occasional track on compilation tapes) and obscure even during their existence, Asylum were nonetheless influential, their ‘1,000 M.P.H. Hardcore Punk’ inspiring other U.K. groups such as Skum Dribblurzzzz and Napalm Death. This release contains the 6 Track demo Is This The Price? Which was originally released as a tape only EP on Retaliation Records. The tracks have been remastered and mark the first time Asylum have released anything on vinyl. Asylum had an urgent intensity that surpassed other bands of the era: Death of Music - Birth of Noise. (Nic Bullen) This reissue comes with a 12 page booklet and repro of the original lyric insert. FFO: LÄRM, Early NAPALM DEATH, DISCHARGE, WRETCHED, GASMASK, TRANQUILIZER, DISCLOSE

BURNING THE OPPRESSOR is a group founded in 2012 by passionate musicians with different influences and armed with remarkable stage dynamism. With intense texts and brutal riffs, BTO puts into words and sounds the trials of modern life and the sufferings of a society in turmoil. Militant in favor of social equity and the inclusion of all people, the band denounces discrimination and oppression through its work.

BURNING THE OPPRESSOR is a group founded in 2012 by passionate musicians with different influences and armed with remarkable stage dynamism. With intense texts and brutal riffs, BTO puts into words and sounds the trials of modern life and the sufferings of a society in turmoil. Militant in favor of social equity and the inclusion of all people, the band denounces discrimination and oppression through its work.

Seit ihrer Gründung im Jahr 2008 hat sich die moldawische Progressive Modern Metal-Macht INFECTED
RAIN rund um Multi-Talent und Frontfrau Lena Scissorhands zu einem der aufregendsten Szene-Acts
entwickelt. Mit ihrem frenetisch gefeierten 2019er Album „Endorphin“ gewann die Band weltweit eine
treue Fanbase für sich, welche sich nun mit Spannung auf den heiß erwarteten Nachfolger, „Ecdysis“,
freuen darf. Vom ersten Ton an elektrisiert das Album mit messerscharfen Riffs, kosmischem Elektro,
Lena‘s Schatzkammer an stimmlichen Fähigkeiten sowie lyrisch tiefgehenden Themen, die von Depression
und Verlassenheit bis hin zur allumfassenden Realität reichen. Die Band scheint eine Metamorphose zu
durchleben, während sie gekonnt Extreme Metal mit progressiven Groove und dunklen, eindringlichen
Melodien verbindet.
Erneut von Voluta Valentin produziert, demonstriert „Ecdysis“ auf sehr erfolgreiche Weise ultramoderne
Brutalität, ohne dabei auf Emotion und Melodie zu verzichten – und präsentiert INFECTED RAIN auf
einer neuen Ebene, der sich langjährige Anhänger der Band und zahlreich neue Fans ebenfalls anschliessen
dürften

KiNK is back with number six on his sometimes experimental, often exemplary, but always exciting Sofia outfit. The driving force of Clap On 2 are the tropes of acid and its numerology (101/202/303/). The opener Disco Spectrum shows why the sound rose from the shards of smashed mirror balls in Chicago – updated and optimized for today. Turbo – nomen best omen – takes it even further, faster and fiercer, while the theme song completes the pogo picture. Finally, Almond Break lulls you into a false sense of security (think yoga camps, namaste cults, kale drinks and Balearic sunsets), before it turns into a pagan ritual to complete this acid test. Remember: wo wants to own the future needs to conquer the past!

SOFIA: Founded by Strahil Velchev and Konstantin Petrov, Sofia is not only the physical location where this music was made, the city where they met and developed as artists, but also a paradox that is reflected in the art and music that comes from the place. Beautiful and ugly at the same time, clean and dirty, brutal as well as romantic, it’s a place where aesthetically seemingly incompatible styles come together in a twisted, yet unifying form. The photographs for the sleeves are made by influential local selector DJ Valentine, effortlessly capturing the local reality.

‘Expressions of Interest’ is the debut album from Melbourne/Naarm post-punk group screensaver.

Sonically, the 10 track album is rich and detailed, and pays homage to its era of inspiration (late 70s-mid 80s post-punk and new wave) with gripping vocals, dissonant guitar, melodic basslines, washes of synths and motorik drumming. Engineered by Julian Cue alongside band member Chris Stephenson and recorded over multiple studio sessions between 2020-2021

The album opens with the ominously titled ‘Body Parts’, an immediately arresting song that showcases the bands penchant for blending classic post-punk elements, leaning into a sound somewhere between the Banshees and Protomartyr.

Maynard doubles down on these themes in the frenetic second track, ‘No Movement’. Guttural organ tones swim under overdriven guitar, jagged and intense. Additional textures and sound effects are used percussively to embellish the dynamics, creating a feverish atmosphere with some Martin Hannett like flourishes.

The album takes a surprising turn into electronic driven krautrock on track three with 'Buy, Sell, Trade' - a rollicking piece of danceable ephemera, dominated by swirling synth sounds and punctuated with electronics reminiscent of Sparks/Moroder collaborations. Chris Stephenson's masterful guitar work begins with Greg Sage-esque determination before a crescendo into a lush Frippertronics outro.

'MEDS' transports us back to the foundation established on 'Body Parts', a gothy piece, full of tribal toms and dirge-y synths. Industrial punk rock nearly swallowed whole by the keys in the middle and slowly building back to complimentary guitar and vocal hooks.

It's from this point in the album that the band let's their other influences rise to the surface, as they explore touches of EDM on 'Static State' - a brutal, death-disco style track, Krystal Maynard's lead synth and gloomy vocal complimenting the pounding drums and dub-esque bass line culminating in a track worthy of the dancefloor.


Opening side two we have 'Skin', beginning with a solid and simple backbeat, James Beck’s post-punk percussion provides a steady and minimal framework for the rest of the band to colour in with great depth and detail. Giles Fielke’s bass guitar wobbles brilliantly leading the verse melody, whilst Chris Stephenson’s guitar drives the chorus that folds neatly in on itself.

In ‘Attention Economy’, Krystal Maynard is flexible with her lyrical style, and knows how and when to lend her voice to the greater backdrop of the composition. ‘Attention Economy’ has an almost Kraftwerkian structure - repetitious, but engaging with its constant tom driven beat, lush synth lines and minimal bass tones.

Just when you thought things had slowed down, screensaver ramp things right back up again with ‘Overnight Low’ - a no holds barred thumper. Giles Fielke underpins the hard-edged sound with his bassline, keeping things smooth and tight. It brings to mind a hybrid of PiL’s ‘Annalisa’ and Wire’s ‘Two People In a Room.’

Before you can catch your breath, we have ‘Regular Hours’ - another industrial track, and perhaps the sister song to ‘Static State’ heard earlier on side one. Seething electronic drum samples cut through an abyss of growling synths, Giles Fielke hanging up the bass temporarily to accompany Krystal Maynard on synth duties.

The album closes with the fittingly titled ‘Soft Landing’, literally bringing the listener back down...softly. The song is heavy on atmos, and resembles the aesthetics previously encountered on ‘Attention Economy’ a few tracks earlier.

‘Expressions of Interest” was recorded at various locations across Melbourne, with a handful of songs being captured before the start of the Covid pandemic in January 2020. With the recording timeline being drastically altered, the band shifted focus to work on what would become their first single ‘Strange Anxiety’, throughout the first months of the Melbourne 2020 lockdown.

Deathbomb Arc is very excited to be working with Pumpkin Witch yet again for another vinyl edition, this time of their 2nd album 'In The Frightful Gaze of the Pumpkin Witch'! Never before available on vinyl, this raw and, of course spooky, dungeon synth classic is full of dead leaf incantations and brutally minimal no-fi mad doctor rhythms. All hail the Pumpkin Witch!

GENOCIDE PACT return with their eponymous new album. An overdose of gut-wrenching Death Metal, Genocide Pact is heavy, engrossing, and undoubtedly brutal. "This album reflects on the feeling of watching the world crumble while dealing with personal tragedy," says guitarist/vocalist Tim Mullaney. True to his word - every track on Genocide Pact is a sonic assault brimming with palpable malaise. From the guttural screams in the album's opener "Led to Extinction", to the driving double bass that carries "Perverse Dominion", and a head rattling low end on "Deprive Degrade" - Genocide Pact is wholly negative Death Metal. The fury behind Genocide Pact captures the band's collective frustrations and personal journeys through these turbulent times. "You turn on the news and see mass shootings, a global pandemic, endless war, and corporations and politicians trying to sell you bullshit. You pick up your phone and another friend or family member has died. On top of that, you’re broke as fuck and work endlessly for a boss that doesn’t even know your name. You find yourself paranoid, pissed off, and embracing nihilism," Tim Mullaney says. GENOCIDE PACT have learned to embrace the negativity, churning out one of 2021's ugliest and unforgiving records.

Ohio's most promising upcoming Death Metal outfit Sanguisugabogg will release their anticipated full-length debut album “Tortured Whole”. After making their debut with their fan-hailed 2019 four track EP “Pornographic Seizures'' the band took it to the next level by delivering a smashing and brutal Death Metal firework which is up to all the dodges. Explicit song titles like “Menstrual Envy”, “Dead As Shit” & “Dick Filet” already give you an idea why the band calls themselves “Caveman” Death Metal. While establishing their own unique and ferocious musical approach one can clearly notice the 80´s and 90´s influences in Sanguisugabogg’s music. The band pays tribute to genre legends like Bolt Thrower, Obituary, Cannibal Corpse and Mortician.

clear vinyl / incl. poster

The music of Parallax is part of the foundation of Zodiak Commune Records since 1998. With ZC002 - Sinister Projects EP- and ZC005 - Occult Technology EP, Parallax created timeless underground anthems which are being reflected in the Archive EP. With previously unreleased live recordings, this EP is a well-preserved document of the past whilst being relevant in today's underground techno and acid scene. Parallax his live set was recorded at the legendary "old" Effenaar (Acid City Eindhoven, The Netherlands) while the Zodiak Commune's 10th anniversary was being celebrated. With its massive and no-nonsense acid-techno sound, Parallax transformed the dancefloor into a vortex, fueling up people with positive energy while taking them on his musical journey. A nostalgic journey that will make you crave for more timeless underground bliss! With 2002 Live Pt1 being over 12 minutes long a true story is being told. Enjoy this fine release of the purest acid-techno around!

2003 Live Pt1
A dark entrance, heavy basses that make the roof rattle, the smell of stale beer and sweaty people who all seem to speak another language but listen to the same... Those of seemingly soulless beats, but which ultimately take you closer to one self and each other than most religions have managed to realize...
Enjoy 12:30 minutes of storytelling!

1998
Clashing raw 303's, brutal beats colliding mid-air, ear piercing percussion. The soundtrack of the battle of 1998 is all but merciful, sending shivers down your spine.

2003 Live Pt2
Time seizes to exist. Beats provide the energy needed on a journey so loud there is no choice but to join. Guided by musicians, they who make you walk but not go anywhere but inside. Rebel minds choose to renounce their disobey, for their worries to be taken far, far away.

Underground coldwave duo The KVB are back
with their most potent and immediate record yet.
Produced and mixed by Andy Savours (Black
Country New Road, My Bloody Valentine, The
Horrors), ‘Unity’ represents an exciting
development in the band’s sonic journey.
 Across the album’s ten songs, The KVB
masterfully pull together their trademark
components; radiant guitars, textural synths and
an ear for a moody, brooding melody all presented
here with a renewed dynamism.
 Throughout the album, lyrical themes combine
double meanings and a sleight of hand is present;
Le Corbousier’s brutalist ‘Unité d’habitation’
informs the title track and via the French-to-English
translation ‘Unité’ becomes ‘Unity’ - a rallying cry to
totality on the dancefloor. ‘Unbound’ is informed by
the classic shoegaze stylings of Slowdive and Ride
but also late-modern poet Keston Sutherland and
the idea of recreating a special moment lost to the
past.
 Black vinyl, housed in a deluxe spined sleeve with
the vinyl itself housed in a double sided printed
inner sleeve. Comes with digital download card
included

"If you look at the band photo on Make Me Sick’s insert, you’ll see people from pretty much all the best and most popular hardcore punk bands in Pittsburgh for the past few years. These people know how to make great hardcore punk, and Make Me Sick is White Stains doing just that. While White Stains isn’t as as blistering as Loose Nukes or as brutally intense as Blood Pressure, that’s only because they’ve taken a different tack here, channeling the snotty, punky hardcore of bands like the Circle Jerks, Sick Pleasure, and Chronic Sick. Of those bands, Circle Jerks is the most apt comparison given how White Stains’ snottiness comes along with so much catchiness and rhythmic density. And like Group Sex, the drum parts are almost catchier than the riffs here… I need to be careful listening to this while driving because these songs might make steering seem less important than air drumming" (Daniel Lupton)

Germany-based metal band OBSCURA launch trilogy concept on stunning new album “A Valediction”. The group’s first (sixth overall) album for Nuclear Blast pivots on many fronts. Advanced, elegant, and yet refreshing, “A Valediction” sums up past endeavors effortlessly as it gazes with purpose and conviction into the future. OBSCURA are fan-renowned and critically acclaimed for challenging and then expanding upon norms. From “Cosmogenesis” (2009) through “Diluvium” (2018), the band flourished and made significant progress in a musical genre unprepared for a creative shot of German invention. “A Valediction” spearheads OBSCURA into a new era of extreme metal.

Guitarist/vocalist Steffen Kummerer founded OBSCURA in 2002. Early on, he set out to improve, redefine, and push forward. Under his self-label creation, the Bavarian released debut album “Retribution” (2006), followed by heavy touring throughout Europe. Word quickly spread that a brand-new band from the south of Germany was on the rise. Buzz lead to a deal with U.S.-based Relapse Records. The first record out was “Cosmogenesis”. In Europe, Metal Hammer Germany awarded the album 6/7 while in the U.S., “Cosmogenesis” hit the Billboard charts at #71. The cross-continental praise and fevered momentum landed OBSCURA on high-profile tours in Europe, North America, and Japan.

When follow-up “Omnivium” arrived in 2011, they upped their chart success (Billboard #11; Media Control #14), received more accolades from publications like Terrorizer, Rock Hard, and Decibel, had another massive round-world tour cycle, while enhancing and making progress on their clever brutality. OBSCURA further developed their sound on “Akróasis” (2016). Moored by jaw-dropping tracks like ‘Sermon of the Seven Suns,’ ‘Ode to the Sun,’ and the title track, “Akróasis” elevated OBSCURA to the highest levels of international renown, having climbed up the Billboard charts (#5) as well as earning top marks in Rock Hard (8.5/10), Metal Hammer Germany (6/7), and Revolver (4/5). The Germans toured the world yet again, playing over 100 shows in support of “Akróasis”.

OBSCURA’s most significant accomplishment was, however, just around the corner. The final part of a tetralogy, “Diluvium” (2018), fiercely pursued OBSCURA’s multi-album transformation into musical innovators and metal powerhouses. Music videos for the title track, ‘Emergent Evolution’ and ‘Mortification of the Vulgar Sun,’ in concert with a substantial interest in virtuosic, forward-thinking metal, posited OBSCURA in the good graces (yet again) of the worldwide press in addition to rocketing up, for the very first time, the official album charts in Germany (#58) and Switzerland (#93). The Germans also topped out at #3 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart with “Diluvium”.

OBSCURA‘s stats have been impressive: Twenty years active; six highly prized albums; over 600 shows on four continents. Worldwide fan and press engagement—the videos for ‘The Anticosmic Overload,’ ‘Akróasis,’ and ‘Diluvium’ have over 4.5 million views—is only getting stronger the longer OBSCURA continue to offer up and interact with (via play-throughs and member/gear spotlights) their very captive audience. This is only the tip of Kummerer’s custom ESP guitar, however. A Valediction finds OBSCURA turning the page to a new chapter in the band’s evolution. A year in the works, the songwriting sessions followed a new approach, where the framework was relaxed, allowing new inspirations, imagining, and opportunities to arise. Songs like the opening epic ‘Forsaken,’ the '80s-tinted ‘When Stars Collide’ (featuring Soilwork/The Night Flight Orchestra frontman Björn Strid), the brutal groove of ‘Devoured Usurper,’ the ethereal artistry of ‘Heritage,’ and the fleet-fingered title track benefitted compositionally (refined structures) and aesthetically (more dynamism) from OBSCURA’s restyled songwriting stratagem.

OBSCURA wrote, recorded, and finalized “A Valediction” during the pandemic. The stipulations of working during this time allowed OBSCURA to work cross-country, tracking each respective part—drums, guitar, and bass—in national studios across The Netherlands, Austria, and Germany. Once the pieces were completed, the recordings were shipped off to award-winning producer Fredrik Nordström and Studio Fredman (In Flames, Architects) in Gothenburg, Sweden, where Kummerer and Münzner completed vocals and acoustic guitars using custom-built ENGL amps. Nordström was also tapped to mix and master. The final result is a deeper, heavier, yet more rounded production.

Lyrically, “A Valediction” is layered in structure and meaning. The word ‘valediction,’ by definition, deals with goodbyes and farewells. In a way, this is auf wiedersehen to the four-part album series while also addressing complex topics of Kummerer’s personal life. Instead of obscuring issues of loss, death, and abandonment in metaphor and allusion, the German laid bare his torment across songs like ‘Forsaken,’ ‘Solaris,’ ‘In Unity,’ ‘The Neuromancer,’ and ‘In Adversity.’ But for every line of desperation, he also offers positivity. Indeed, new beginnings—physical, emotional, or environmental—can provide light in the darkness. Lauded artist Eliran Kantor (Testament, Helloween) was brought on board to visualize the leitmotif. The bronze-themed colourway Kantor used exemplifies OBSCURA’s resistance to individual and sonic corrosion.

In 2021, OBSCURA will lighthouse their musical prowess, thematic complexity, and lyrical ambition on “A Valediction”. The group continue to be a beacon for change. No doubt OBSCURA’s new stats will amaze, but what they’re focused on is the release of “A Valediction” and then taking it on the road. Several high-caliber tours of Europe, North America, and Asia are planned through to 2023, with routes are in the works for the band to visit Australia, South America, and beyond. Truly, there is no band quite like OBSCURA. “A Valediction” proves that persistence, perseverance, and enterprising minds can achieve anything. Welcome to the next level!

1. Some records hit you with an instant impression of timeless brilliance, and Low Life’s Dogging is one of those records, what the wise call “an instant classic”. 2. From Squats to Lots: The Agony and the XTC of Low Life is more like their second album Downer Edn (read Edition), a little more withdrawn, a little more textured. Complex. Rich. Which is to say: you’re going to need some time with it. 3. Some show, some grow. Low Life have done both. This one is a grower. Spend some time with this one. It’s got that nuanced flavour. Don’t guzzle. Sip. Savour. 4. Sip it, and sense the recurring brilliance of Mitch Tolman’s lyrics, exploring the usual territory of gutter life, lad life, punk life, low life. The dirge. Disgust and shame in white Australia. Council housing, bills piled to the neck, substance abuse and rehabilitation, the fallen lads and lasses who stood too close to the flame, loss and loneliness, from squats to lots. Un-Australian gutter symphony. 5. There is a celebration of resilience and that’s a central theme of this record and a time like ours needs a record like Agony & XTC. Low times are coming through, but if you’re low they won’t get to you. 6. Iggy Pop’s Bowie produced studio rock masterpieces ‘The Idiot’ and ‘Lust For Life’ are important reference points to the 3rd album sounds of Low Life. Here comes success! 7. ‘The Agony and Ecstasy’ is a 1985 novel by Irving Stone about the life of Italian Renaissance painter Michelangelo. Stone wrote another novel about the single eared painter Vincent Van Gogh called ‘Lust For Life’. This synchronicity hit me. 8. Iggy and the Stooges are a pretty safe reference for Low Life (and all good rock music). Iggy and the Stooges are a low life’s Michelangelo, but solo Iggy like Lust for Life is a better reference for this particular incarnation of Low Life, which is to say they are studio rock albums. 9. Bowie later referred to this period of his life as profoundly nihilistic. But Iggy looked at it as the period of his life that saved him from an early grave. This confrontation is Low life lore. 10. Let’s stick to this, because there’s something about this era of Bowie that makes sense with Low Life’s new album, particularly Low. One should never miss the Low in our new album from Low Life. Producer and studio boss Mickey Grossman has the ear for the Low, and he has carved out a little statue of David right here. 11. Mickey’s ears are recording, mixing and producing the best of Sydney, most notably the Oily Boys Cro Memory Grin. A great companion record to this one. Use Agony & XTC AFTER Oily Boys. Not on an empty stomach, and don’t try to operate heavy machinery (bobcat, bulldozer etc). 12. The relationship between Low Life and Sydney hardcore should not be understated, but it also shouldn’t guide how to listen to Agony & XTC. This is not austere, disciplined music. 13. Think, like, if Poison Idea were given the kind of studio time and budget as Happy Mondays. You wouldn’t play it to a teenager. It’s not for children. This is a mature flavour, one for the adults who have had to contend with failure and hardship, medical bills and disappointed family members, betrayed lovers and worrisome growths, police brutality and tooth decay, humiliating bowels and collapsed septums, detoxing and drying out, for those who have seen themselves as corrupted and putrid and unloveable, for those who endure all of this and aren’t willing to lie down and cop it sweet: Low Life are still here and they ain’t going nowhere. NOTES ON HOW NOT TO LISTEN TO AGONY AND XTC OF LOW LIFE: 1. Don’t think of shoe-gaze. It suggests a safe passage to 90’s reminiscences, a vogue style of our time, but nothing to do with Low Life style. Low Life style is always of its time. The content changes. Agony & XTC shares weight of records like My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless and Slowdive’s Kebab, records that were laboured on after the songs were recorded, songs that were written as they were recorded. 2. We can call these “studio albums” as opposed to albums built in the heat of live performance. Studio albums from the 90’s are called shoe-gaze by some journalist nerds, but we know better than to use words like this. 3. Studio albums are excessive and, at the same time, so empty. Agony & XTC, Loveless, Kebab, Rumours: excessive! And empty. This is not to suggest this is Low Lite, some throwback, soft. A band like Low Life can make an overproduced studio rock album without having to use the word shoe-gaze. So, don’t think studio albums mean anything especially 90’s. Don’t look back. 4. Let’s lose these distasteful labels, like “shoe-gaze”, “rehab rock”, “stab”, “guitar OD overdrive”, “western Sydney wonder”. They can fade out. A low life was once referred to as a vagabond. Who uses this term today? Nobody. Language can murder. Words can die. Kill ‘em all! - Daniel 'DX' Stewart, Melbourne, 2021.

Raised on the salted air and pebbled beaches amidst the faded seaside opulence of Brighton, Tigers & Flies spent much of their formative years building a friendship forged on a diet of the melodies and rhythms to be found deep within their parents’ wildly eclectic record collections. A worthy and noble pursuit for anyone, from those wonderfully endless hours, those bottomless cups of tea great ideas can flourish. Tigers and Flies are a great and flourishing idea.

From the bounce and sunny optimism of Orange Juice to the brutalist edge of Gang of Four. From XTC to Bacharach. Each listen offers more. A harmony appears where you’re convinced there wasn’t one before, or a rhythmic change you hadn’t noticed. A lyrical twist. Harmonies that seem to float in through an open window.

Originally released in 1971. "What's Going On is not only Marvin Gaye's masterpiece, it's the most important and passionate record to come out of soul music, delivered by one of its finest voices, a man finally free to speak his mind and so move from R&B sex symbol to true recording artist. With What's Going On, Gaye meditated on what had happened to the American dream of the past -- as it related to urban decay, environmental woes, military turbulence, police brutality, unemployment, and poverty. These feelings had been bubbling up between 1967 and 1970, during which he felt increasingly caged by Motown's behind-the-times hit machine and restrained from expressing himself seriously through his music. Finally, late in 1970, Gaye decided to record a song that the Four Tops' Obie Benson had brought him, 'What's Going On.' When Berry Gordy decided not to issue the single, deeming it uncommercial, Gaye refused to record any more material until he relented. Confirmed by its tremendous commercial success in January 1971, he recorded the rest of the album over ten days in March, and Motown released it in late May. Besides cementing Marvin Gaye as one of the most important artists in pop music, What's Going On was far and away the best full-length to issue from the singles-dominated Motown factory, and arguably the best soul album of all time." John Bush, AllMusic

The Acclaimed Arab-Levantine Contemporary Music & Art Project Returns With Its First New Album Since 2018. Led By Lebanese-Canadian Producer Radwan Ghazi Moumneh, Whose Many Credits Include Matana Roberts, Big | Brave, Sarah Davachi, Suuns. Featuring A Different Guest Collaboration On Each Track, Including Tim Hecker, Moor Mother, Beirut, Lucrecia Dalt, Greg Fox. Europe & Canada Tour In November 2021 With Experimental 16mm Analog Films By New Duo Member Erin Weisgerber.

One of the most renowned and uncompromising entities working in 21st century avant-garde Arab-Levantine art and music, Jerusalem In My Heart presents a new album of vital and haunting electronics and electroacoustics, framed by founder and producer Radwan Ghazi Moumneh’s spoken and sungArabic, buzuk-playing and sound design. Qalaq is the most distilled, variegated and finely wrought Jerusalem In My Heart album to date – featuring a different guest/collaborator on every track, yet as cohesive, emotionally resonant, sonically adventurous and narratively powerful as any release in JIMH’s celebrated discography. Guests across the album's 13 tracks include Moor Mother, Tim Hecker, Lucrecia Dalt, Greg Fox, Beirut, Alanis Obomsawin, Rabih Beaini and many more. “Qalaq” is an Arabic word with many shades of meaning but Moumneh particularly intends it as “deep worry” – on various obvious global levels, but also specifically with respect to Lebanon: its collapsing domestic politics, economy and infrastructure; the tragedy and aftermath of the 2020 Beirut port explosion; the intractable geography and geopolitics that continue to condemn the country to corruption, disruption, destabilization and violence. Moumneh writes: “The Side Two tracks are all named ‘Qalaq’ and then numbered, representing the degrees of layered and complex violence that Lebanon and the Levant have reached in the last couple of years, from the complete and utter failure of the Lebanese sectarian state that has driven the economy to a grinding halt, to its disastrous handling of the migrant influx from neighbouring failed states, to the endemic corruption that led to the August 2020 port explosion, to the latest chapter of Palestinian erasure and yet another brutally asymmetrical and disproportionate bombing campaign on Gaza.” Qalaq is shaped by a "dismantled orchestra" ofmusical collaborations, forged through long-distance file exchange during lockdown winter 2020-21 (and the inverted companion to JIMH's previous 2018full-length Daqa'iqTudaiq, which featured a 15-piece orchestra recorded live in Beirut). Moumneh initially through composed Qalaq in purposely stark and skeletal form, then gave each guest artist a section to decompose, edit, re-interpret and recompose as they desired, working their stems back into his own mixes for each piece/section and moulding newfound coherences in the overall work. The result is The album artwork with a front cover colour photograph by Myriam Boulous capturing a scene during the Beirut October Revolution of 2019.











k 11 Qalaq 6 (w/ VÍZ Réka Csiszér)

Club / DJ Support
Jay Cunning, Ray Keith, Nookie, El Hornet, Billy Bunter, the Fat Controller, Liquid, Hyper On Experience, Glowkid, Slipmatt, Dj Jedi, Dj Luna-C, Dj Brisk, Jimni Cricket, Bustin, Sc@r, Doughboy, Saiyan, Dave Skywalker, Ponder and many others

The Kniteforce Complete Collection Volume 1 does exactly what it says on the box, giving you the first 20 Kniteforce Vinyl releases, fully remastered, in both Wav and MP3 format. This set of original old skool tracks made in the early 1990s is a package unmissbale to anyone into the original old skool sound, and it features some of the early work from legendary artists such as Dj Force & The Evolution, Luna-C, Cru-l-t, Future Primitive, The Trip, Alk-e-d and more…

Over the course of two EPs, two singles and a stripped-back
live album, Puma Blue has established himself as one of the
UK’s most vital new talents, quietly amassing over 50 million
streams in the process and selling out shows from London to LA
and Paris to Tokyo.
 His long-awaited debut album, ‘In Praise Of Shadows’, was a
delirious dreamland of soulful vocals, D'Angelo-ish guitars and
muted electronic beats. Its fourteen tracks are a contemplation
on “the balance of light and dark, the painful things you have to
heal from or accept, that bring you through to a better place,”
says the 25-year-old Puma Blue, real name Jacob Allen. “It's
about finding light in darkness and realizing that it’s what got me
here today.”
 Described by NME as “a brief moment of relief for those lost in
the darkness,” the album found his storytelling at its most
honest and vulnerable to date whilst his production reached
new heights, retaining its characteristic bedroom intimacy. Yet
for all the intimacy of his ‘voicemail-ballads’ on record, his songs
carry a different resonance in a live setting; a mix of
improvisation, in-the-moment escapism and the collective
power of an audience taking his music to new heights.
 ‘In Praise Of Shadows: B-Sides & Live Versions’ features
rarities and live recordings, mostly taken from rehearsals in
early 2021. With limited opportunities for people to hear the
album in a live setting thus far, this represents an intimate first
glimpse at the magic unique to the full band arrangements.
 This edition is completed by two new bedroom studio
recordings with new single ‘All I Need’ (a Radiohead cover)
perfectly extending the album’s small hours spirit, the raw
emotion of Puma Blue’s voice growing in tandem with the scale
of the initially skeletal production, and the previously unreleased
‘Postcard From Toyko’ exploring loneliness with brutal honesty
and a sparse acoustic atmosphere.
 Crystal clear LP in a deluxe clear PVC sleeve.