Cerca:doom

Every so often in music, we come across voices that achieve a certain timelessness, so naturally do they encapsulate both past and present. Laure Briard is one of these voices, retro in form but contemporary at heart, spanning a career rich in aesthetic twists and turns, never without her signature magic, a special kind of eternal filter. Her first album, Révélation (2015), reveals her yé-yé influences, a testament to her love for ‘60s French pop music. Her second studio album, Sur la piste de danse (2016), follows in this vein and finds Laure accompanied as always by her long-time bandmates who share an affinity for warm, catchy arrangements that never lose their appeal. Her tour of Brazil marks a turning point in her career, introducing her to the local indie scene and thus launching her collaboration with the band Boogarins, as well as inspiring the release of multiple EPs composed and performed in Portuguese. Today, her music is embellished by touches of bossa nova and a folk sensibility, boasting increasingly intricate arrangements, as exemplified by her 2019 release, Un peu plus d'amour s'il vous plaît. Several years later, the Californian desert captures the musician’s imagination with Ne pas trop rester bleue, a poignant musical journey inspired by the rich history of Western legends and the role they play in shaping our collective consciousness.

In Voyage Mental, Laure Briard draws upon an inner energy unearthed during a new stage in her life, where the thrill of spontaneous adventure is not accessible in quite the same way. The result is a collection of sophisticated, introspective songs, narrating a young mother’s quest for balance in the face of routine. The album, nostalgic but always tethered to the present moment, is also the fruit of her collaboration with Gaëtan Nonchalant, a talented musician known for coaxing poetry out of the mundane. The two of them co-wrote and recorded five tracks at Studio Nocturne, accompanied by her long-time sidekick Pieuvre, aka Vincent Guyot, Léo Blomov, Pierre-Louis Vizioz, and Hedi Bensalem. The gentle pop opener “Rocking Chair” sways steadily to the rhythm of dynamic drums, followed by “Train,” a ballad that extends an invitation to set sail and daydream alone. The folk escapade continues with “Golden Sun,” a duet featuring the 1960s cult American musician F.J. McMahon, who Laure contacted via the internet on a whim. “Golden Sun” is an unlikely encounter between two generations and two cultures, giving new life to an old forgotten demo on the other side of the Atlantic. And while Laure sings of wide open spaces, cowboys, and sunsets sinking into the sea, we feel the city surrounding her in “Miroir,” a song composed by Hedi Bensalem that laments the suffocation of living in a crowded metropolis where the sky is a distant gray smudge. This pressing need for air, this search for rest and total disconnection, is one of the album's central themes. It may also explain the ever-present sense of nostalgia that pervades the songs, a welcome respite in our current era of doomscrolling and darkness. Along the way, Laure soothes us with melancholy guitar, delivers poetry set to scattered piano notes, and takes us by the hand during lively, uptempo passages. We climb onto her wings, never straying too far from the ground, soaring joyfully above her moods.

Erstauflage als "Sparkle Starlight Vinyl" 2LP mit Etching auf der vierten Seite. Im technischen Sinne war jedes bisherige Album des französischen Trios SLIFT eine Fantasie - ein Mix aus Genres und Formen, der es der Band ermöglichte, zu improvisieren und so lange zu jammen, bis sie sich scheinbar gemeinsam ins All zu winden schienen. Ihr gefeiertes drittes Album, "Ilion" aus dem Jahr 2024, war eine Science-Fiction-Geschichte, aufgebaut aus 10- bis 13-minütigen explorativen Eskapaden, die oft mit Doom Metal oder Stoner Rock begannen, bevor sie sich frei in glorreiche instrumentale Vergessenheit drehten. Doch mit einer gewissen absichtlichen Ironie heißt SLIFTs viertes Album tatsächlich "Fantasia". Es ist ihr bisher schlankstes und direktestes Album. Es ist auch ihr bisher fesselndstes Album, eine pointierte Saga über die Überwindung internationaler Umbrüche, vorgetragen von einer Band, die mit voller Kraft vorangeht und dabei keine einzige Sekunde verschwendet. Obwohl nur Jean und Bassist Rémi Fossat verwandt sind, ist SLIFT im Grunde eine Band von Brüdern. Mit Schlagzeuger Canek Flores sind sie schon seit der Highschool befreundet, und 2026 markiert ein Jahrzehnt zusammen in diesem Trio. Sie proben mit religiöser Regelmäßigkeit in einem Keller auf dem Land in der Nähe von Toulouse, in dem Jam-Raum, in dem sie schon lange ihrer Vorliebe für langatmige Wunder frönen. Für die Albumaufnahmen zu "Fantasia" überquerten sie die französische Nordgrenze nach Belgien, um in dem riesigen Live-Raum der Daft Studios ein kompaktes Set aus schlanken, agilen und druckvollen Songs aufzunehmen. Die vielfältigen Einflüsse der Band sind offensichtlich: Das Album erinnert an Clutch in voller Wildheit, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, den sowjetischen Schriftsteller Michail Bulgakow, Pink Floyd und Black Sabbath aus der "Master of Reality"-Ära. Und das klangliche Gewebe wird durch das gekonnte Mixing von Kurt Ballou (Converge, Cave In, High on Fire) unterstützt. Den Songs fehlt es nicht an der Komplexität oder Intensität, die SLIFT zu einem aufstrebenden Star der Heavy-Musik gemacht haben; sie haben einfach neue Wege gefunden, die Komplexität ihrer Vergangenheit in jedes Stück einzuflechten, wie ein Wandteppich, der jedes Mal, wenn man hinschaut, eine neue Ebene offenbart. Damit vermitteln sie eine bestätigende und dringliche Botschaft: Gemeinsam können wir die Zeiten, in denen wir leben, noch immer verändern. Heutzutage ist es furchtbar leicht, sich machtlos zu fühlen. SLIFT setzt sich auf "Fantasia" direkt mit dem modernen Ansturm von Grausamkeit und Absurdität auseinander, sei es die Gleichgültigkeit gegenüber unserem Heimatplaneten oder zueinander. Aber in diesen acht Songs geht es darum, auf eine verborgene Kraft zu vertrauen, um zurückzuschlagen, um an eine Welt zu glauben, in der etwas, das wir noch nicht in Worte fassen oder definieren können, nicht nur einen Weg bietet, den Status quo zu durchbrechen, sondern ihn vielleicht sogar vollständig zu zerstören. SLIFT sind laut, heavy und aggressiv in diesen Hymnen. Sie bereiten sich auf einen Kampf vor, von dem sie glauben, dass wir ihn noch gewinnen können.

A founding member and keyboardist of acclaimed jazz
groupBADBADNOTGOOD,Tavares has gone from being an in-demand
producer with some of the biggest names in music to a songwriter and
artist in his own right, having touched corners of the globe and cemented
twoGRAMMY Awardsand five nominations
Between collaborations with Kendrick Lamar , Ghostface Killah , MF DOOM , Tyler
the Creator , Kali Uchis , Tavares has also played with Frank Ocean ,
soundtracked Virgil Alboh 's landmark S/ S 2019 runway show for Louis Vuitton,
and penned songs for Post Malone , Rosalia , Travis Scott , Kodak Black , Justin
Beiber,Camilla Cabello,Jack Harlow amongst others.
With a sound that fuses his nostalgia for the golden era of blogs with the
eclecticism of the late 2000s, the combination of the internet crossed with an
isolated suburban upbringing has laid the groundwork for Matty's genre-bending
artistry. Embracing a raw creative output with an aversion to following the norms
of the industry reverberates across his discography,Matty has found success in
previous releases including 'Clear' and 'I'll Gladly Place Myself Below', which push
the boundaries of sonic creativity and knowledge.
Now with his upcoming album POPS , Matty relinquishes his lowkey and
understated style for something larger than life, while maintaining a level of
honesty and openness that has defined his past work to make for a dynamic
release that constellates around music's greatest subject - love.

A follow-up to The Still Brothers’ 2023 self-titled debut EP on Lewis Recordings and Vermin the Villain’s Power of Two EP, the project expands their textured, genre-bending sound with sharp, reflective lyricism. The trio first connected in London through fellow Lewis Recordings artist Shoshy, bonding over a mutual love of alternative hip-hop icons like MF DOOM and J Dilla. Recorded over the course of a year, Radiovision took shape across four cities — from NYC and Texas to Florida and London. The album blends soulful production on tape, wild solos on guitar and synth, scratching, gritty bars, and a standout guest appearance from Slug of Atmosphere.

Pressed on sunburst orange/yellow vinyl This long-awaited 2LP repress restores the album's immense sonic scope on vinyl, allowing its dense layers of distortion, atmosphere and emotional weight to unfold with full analogue depth. A landmark of atmospheric doom and experimental metal, Weighing Souls With Sand remains one of the most haunting and emotionally overwhelming heavy records of the 2000s. Originally released in 2007, the album captures The Angelic Process at their most immersive and devastating. The duo of Kris Angylus and Monica Dragynfly forged a sound where crushing doom metal weight collides with vast shoegaze textures and towering walls of distorted ambience. Massive low-end drones, blurred melodies and suffocating distortion drift between moments of fragile calm, creating an experience that is both devastatingly heavy and strangely beautiful. The result is a deeply cathartic record that pushes doom, drone and shoegaze into a singular and transcendent form.

35th ANNIVERSARY EDITION OF THE GENRE-DEFINING OPUS OF ATMOSPHERIC DEATH/DOOM
FROM THE UK METAL LEGENDS. ON LIMITED CORONA VINYL WITH
ADDITIONAL 4 PAGE BOOKLET & REMASTERED AUDIO

Paradise Lost formed in 1988 in West Yorkshire, UK, when vocalist Nick Holmes & guitarist Gregor Mackintosh came together with the idea of taking metal beyond the conventional styles of the time. They were influenced by acts such as Candlemass, Celtic Frost & Morbid Angel, & concocted a unique atmosphere of their own as a result. This was already apparent when their debut album ‘Lost Paradise’ appeared on Peaceville Records in 1990, & blended death metal with doom & some melodic elements, but it wasn’t until their follow-up album, ‘Gothic’, that the band truly made its mark.

Recorded in late 1990/early 1991 at the renowned Academy Studios in Yorkshire (responsible for classic albums from bands such as My Dying Bride, Anathema, Cradle of Filth, among many others), ‘Gothic’ was the album responsible for a whole sub-genre: Gothic Doom Metal, upon its release in 1991. Creating a more sombre & atmospheric form of dark extremity, with the introduction of Gregor Mackintosh’s highly distinctive & unmistakable lead guitar melodies, Paradise Lost established themselves as among the pioneering UK bands of the early nineties, becoming highly influential to a generation of subsequent greats.

This new edition of ‘Gothic’, marking the album’s 35th anniversary, is presented on limited corona vinyl, with remastered audio courtesy of Jaime Gomez Arellano at Orgone Studios. The release also includes a four page booklet containing recollections from the band on the period & the shaping of the album, as originally featured in 2021’s ‘The Lost & The Painless’.

STINGRAY returns three years after Fortress Britain. Back with a new line up and an ever more savage sound, massive sounding on a 5 track 12” EP.
ENEMY is London on a plate. Stench-tinged hardcore punk born of the ever reaching infinity of Britain’s complex and confusing capital. Nihilistic acid burns in the style of NEUROOT, DEATH SIDE and DOOM, under a few minutes per piece, peppered with prosciutto-dipped VAN HALEN style solos Ala later WRETCHED or SHOTGUN SOLUTION. Vocal visitations by Ciara Savage bring frightening melodic elements into the occasional foray into truly irresistible mosh, not far from the barbed wire trailblazing of GASTUNK, SOD, and SACRILEGE before flying back into fast paced passages of “Scandinavian Jawbreaker” worthy velocity.
Recorded at Fuzzbrain by Jonah Falco. Mixed and mastered by Chris Corry at the Paincave. Draped in a Tin Savage sleeve, and released on the ever eternal home of musical suffering, La Vida Es Un Mus Discos.

2026 Repress
A notoriously jaw-dropping folk-funk classic, long treasured by the Balearic fraternity, the self-titled LP from the brothers Batteau nevertheless remains a criminally underheard gem. Appealing to fans stuck on Ned Doheny's scorching blue-eyed soul as well as Gene Clark's rich country-rock, it's an honour to present the first officially licensed vinyl reissue of this undoubted masterpiece of proto-Yacht-Rock.

Like a forgotten piece of baroque folk caught in 1973, Batteaux's eponymous album somehow sounds magically timeless. A full 45 years after the fact, it remains a mystery as to why they weren't better known. The lush production and virtuoso playing conforms with the ruling aesthetic of the time - well-crafted, melodic songs performed with precision and balance - whilst the shimmering AOR atmosphere and sun-dappled vocal washes align neatly with the best Crosby, Stills & Nash records.

Throughout, the beautifully penned tracks hold traces of Jimmie Spheeris, America and Seals & Crofts. The immaculately orchestrated percussion and additional instrumentation (electric piano and fiddle to name a few) are performed by perennially celebrated West-Coast cats including Tom Scott, John Guerin and Andy Newmark.

It's no surprise that the heavenly "High Tide" is such a Balearic touchstone. A free soul aqua-space groover, its sophisticated rhythms predict the swing of CSN's canonical "Dark Star" by a full four years. An alternative measure of its enduring magnificence can be gauged by MF Doom sampling Paul Horn's wonderful version, subsequently used by Ghostface Killah.

The highlights are many and memorable. Gorgeous opener "Tell Her She's Lovely" is the perfect example of the addictive, melody-driven songwriting which really should have earned them stardom. Moody ballad "Living's Worth Loving" is nothing short of heartbreaking whilst the chugging elegance of "Wake Me In The Morning" showcases their bewitching harmonies. The hypnotic yearning of "Lady Of The Lake" is an exquisitely string-drenched, piano-laced favourite that achieves a peculiar strutting-funk. It's that good.

This lovingly curated reissue enables a long overdue reappraisal of the hitherto buried genius of Batteaux. The serene aqua artwork which adorned the original jacket - their father worked on a dolphin-human communication project in Hawaii, hence the infamous design - and sumptuous inner sleeve have been faithfully restored. Whilst, with access to the original tapes, Simon Francis' sensitive mastering elevates the sound throughout and, as ever, it has been pressed at a reassuringly weighty 180g.

Chins For Lefty is the debut album and first recording by Gichard, a new duo chronicling the absurdities of end-stage capitalism and mouldering social rituals from their vantage point in Glasgow, Scotland. Recorded primarily in the band’s home studio straight to tape, Chins For Lefty combines gorgeous, ramshackle melody, DIY kosmische punk, drum machine + synth and, in vocalist/lyricist Lisa Jones, an absurdist commentator on the human condition as it navigates the anxieties of the modern world. Instrumentalist Chas Lalli’s swirling music accompaniment stitches an evocative mix of musical styles, the ragged wind beneath the lyrics’ wings.

Although the duo first collaborated in their previous group Dragged Up, their disparate musical and artistic backgrounds make for an alluring mix in Gichard. Lalli has spent the last 20 years in the Glasgow underground, most notably in the noise rock group VOM, while Lisa Jones’s practice was in poetry and spoken word. Beginning as co vocalist in her previous band, in Gichard her lyrics are centre stage; the vision concocted alongside Lalli amounts to a total world-build.

Chins For Lefty scans almost like a novel, with each track elucidating a skewed universe that bears only some resemblance to the one you and I partake in. Like all works of fiction Gichard’s songs are rooted in reality and the lived experiences of its authors, but here characters are exaggerated, social mores and habits are pulled apart to reveal their inherent alienness. Universal emotions are laid bare, the bright light of anxious examination searching out every hairline fracture in our relationships. Distorted and cracked, the mirror that Gichard hold up to our world is also pretty damn funny.

Opener Cholesterol Test launches an expansive, cosmic guitar and synth intro that belies the Tascam-tape recorder it was recorded onto, like a Chromatics cut substituting anxiety for overt sexuality. Here Jones intones an apology to a non-responsive recipient, in the medium of a long voice note forensically deconstructing an interaction from the night before. Over punk guitars and shuffling, lo-fi drum machine splutters, the narrator in Asking The Apes “prefers things to people” before being taken hostage in the city zoo to confess an obsession which consumes the protagonist, ending with the immortal two liner “I sleep in a cocoon of old newspapers at the end of your street / And I think I have been fired from my job,” On album standout Posthumous Hologram, the narrator is faced with a human simulacra, in this case an undead pop star; the face of the encroaching technological singularity. Yes, it does requests, it can do My Way in 200 different language options. But what are the implications? While you’re left pondering, the alternating deadpan verse delivery and undeniably catchy chorus keep you company.

By the time Break Up With Johnny Dogbirth rattles into view, the band are satirising a suburban inanity blown up to cartoon proportions, soundtracked with a drawled musicality that recalls Rowland S. Howard’s post-Birthday Party balladeering. This approach is furthered on Human Resources: over an angular guitar+bass track, Jones’s short story recalls Dry Cleaning’s erudite lyrical post punk. On Soft Face, Lalli’s guitar and drum machine are swathed in echo and delay, as Jones dissects dating rituals with a west of Scotland drollness. Hamming It Up brings a porcine perspective in a short story that begins with the line “I was breastfeeding discreetly in the service station. She didn’t mind.” What follows is a passage punctured with canned laughter and a narrative involving tribute acts, modern farming techniques.

Brilliant first single Your Private Hell closes the album, the closest the group get to earnest perhaps, filtered through a surreal central Scottishness. While Your Private Hell might seem like a sardonic take down of romance, perhaps it’s the very distillation of love in all its awkwardness, selflessness and weirdness. Here there’s a distinctive Glasgow-ness to this doomed romance: the protagonist falls for an outsider, offers them cheap jarred hot dogs and carbolic soap (the infamous, excoriating soap dished out in schools and government buildings throughout Scotland), offers to cover up a murder, stalks them in the all-night Spar. It’s a short story of intrigue, murder and the irresistible pull of self-sacrifice to share in someone else’s suffering. If that’s not love, what is it? You can see this vision mapped out in black and white on their video for 'Your Private Hell'.

Repress on Cherry Red Vinyl, limited to 2000 copies. Skull smashing drugged Doom from beyond the grave - a true masterpiece!

Back in 2023, Bruce was approached by a band of young and ambitious lads, who wanted him to mix their debut album 'Nacre'. Being fans of his music, they hoped to utilise his renowned, club-informed and emotive sound design to add a shade of hypnotism and psychedelia to their singular strand of post-rock. The band of course were Quade, and the union proved to make perfect sense: Bruce excelled in gracefully fulfilling the band's vision, sealing their relationship for projects to come.

A couple years on, both Quade and Bruce had really proved the scope of their abilities: the sophomore album 'The Foel Tower' won the hearts of fans and critics across the board, who celebrated its "gorgeous" and "tender" sound to great acclaim. The world they had built clearly stood defined and dignified, though at the same time, Bruce couldn't help but wonder if there was more to be said. Besides, the sheer abundance of emotion and rich textures therein, suggested a great deal of potential for further exploring. So with the band’s blessing, he embarked on versioning the album.

Bruce was off the leash: total freedom leant him the ability to dub in wild style, weaving and wrestling with drum, bass et al, connecting to the arrangements' true feelings and expanding them to full frame. The "doomer sad boy, ambient-dub, folk, experimental post-rock" of the original, was blown into a whole new, hypnotic realm: through rattling analogue distortion and huge spaced out effects, Bruce's efforts stand as an exploding supernova of dub and noise, refracted through the band's themes of grief, beauty and the great British countryside.

To be released on his label Poorly Knit, this remix album once again proves Bruce's deft of touch and skill in reworking material. Maximising the sonic potential of such a promising and talented band he marks his personal contribution towards what will surely continue to be a fulfilling and illustrious musical journey for Quade.

Available digitally and on super limited cassette (50 copies)

Castle Rat ist eine mittelalterliche Fantasy-Heavy-Metal-Band aus New York, angeführt von „The Rat
Queen“ Riley Pinkerton an der Rhythmusgitarre und als Leadsängerin. Auf ihrer Mission, „The Realm“
zu vergrößern und vor denen zu verteidigen, die es zerstören wollen, wird The Rat Queen unterstützt von
„The Count“ (Franco Vittore) an der Leadgitarre und als Backgroundsänger, „The Plague Doctor“ (Charley
Ruddell) am Bass und „The All-Seeing Druid“ (Josh Strmic) am Schlagzeug. Gemeinsam stellen sie sich
dem unerbittlichen Zorn ihrer Erzfeindin: dem Tod selbst – „The Rat Reaperess“.
Seit ihrer Gründung im Jahr 2019 haben Castle Rat 2024 ihr Debütalbum „Into The Realm“ veröffentlicht
und sind unter anderem bei Festivals wie dem RPM Fest, Hopsmoker, Desertfest, Hellfest und Copenhell
aufgetreten. Über die Jahre hat sich die Band eine treue Fangemeinde aufgebaut, indem sie fesselnde,
interaktive und traditionsreiche Live-Auftritte mit choreografierten Kampfszenen kuratiert und Fans rekrutiert, die sich nach Schwertern und Zauberei, Stoner und Doom, Kampfbabes und Bestien, Frazetta und
Sabbath sehnen.
Ihr zweites Studioalbum, „The Bestiary“, erschien Ende 2025 und wurde von Kritikern und Fans hoch
gelobt, wodurch die Band in bisher unbekannte Bereiche der Heavy-Musik vorstieß.

Während einer Europa-Tournee von HADES zeichnete sich ab, dass sich die Band sehr bald auflösen würde. Gitarrist Dan Lorenzo gründete mit Dan Nastasi (MUCKY PUP, DOG EAT DOG) Non-Fiction, die in Folge eine EP aufnahmen.
Das Besetzungskarussell sollte sich aber nochmal drehen und HADES- und WATCHTOWER- Sänger Alan Tecchio, sowie Bassist Kevin Bolembach (später u.a. SEVEN WITCHES, JACK FROST) kamen an Bord. 1991 erschien auf Grand Slamm Records, in Europa auf Steamhammer/SPV, das Debüt „Preface“. Die Stilrichtung in Richtung Doom Metal dürfte damals viele Fans von HADES und WATCHTOWER verwundert haben, während Fans von diesem Stil, damals noch ohne das Internet, unwissend blieben. Erstaunlich ist, dass gewisse Trademarks von HADES trotzdem in der Musik von NONFICTION zu finden sind (siehe auch das 1995er ReunionAlbum von HADES). Das an die Glanztaten der Grafikfirma Hipgnosis erinnernde Coverartwork gibt dem Album eine perfekte Aura und gibt einen Hinweis auf den Groove alter LED ZEPPELIN.

Das zweite Album „In The Know“ ist die perfekte Fortsetzung und wird von vielen Fans als Highlight der Band bezeichnet. Bei „It´s A Wonderful Lie“ spürte man die Bereitschaft zum Experimentieren und man kann bei einigen Tracks die Neunziger und ihre Strömungen nicht überhören.

Sowohl HADES, als auch WATCHTOWER (mit Alan Tecchio), sind heute –sporadisch- wieder aktiv und nicht wenige Fans hoffen, dass auch Non-Fiction nochmal in Erscheinung treten. Die musikalische Fortsetzung, wenn auch ein Stück moderner, ist aktuell Dan Lorenzos erfolgreiche Band PATRIARCHS IN BLACK, die er zusammen mit TYPE O NEGATIVE Drummer John Kelly 2021 gegründet hat.

Anathema formed in Liverpool in 1990, initially under the name of Pagan Angel & grew from a heavy doom/death metal style act into a more progressive & melodic group, blending rock elements with strong atmospherics inspired by classic acts such as Pink Floyd & Radiohead. The band signed with Peaceville Records after recording the 'All Faith Is Lost' demo in 1991, & is known for being part of the hallowed Peaceville doom metal trinity in the early 1990's (alongside fellow UK bands Paradise Lost & My Dying Bride), with some highly influential releases in the early part of their long, esteemed career. 'Pentecost III' was released in early 1995 & was recorded at the infamous Academy Studios in Yorkshire UK (My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost). 'Pentecost III' featured classic heavy & often hypnotic doom metal, as well as a reworking/rerecording of the 'Memento Mori' track from the 'Iliad of Woes' demo.

Irish drone-doom-folk act One Leg One Eye, the project of founding Lankum member Ian Lynch and veteran noise monger George Brennan, announce their new album, CRONE, out on 1 May on AD 93.

Today the group share the first track on the album, ‘Many are my Names Besides’, on which they are joined by the elemental force that is legendary actor, performer, writer and director Olwen Fouéré (Operating Theatre) contributing vocals.

Olwen Fouéré comments:

“When Ian and George first approached me to work with them, they were already creating the Crone album as a sonic invocation of the ‘sovereignty goddess’, who personifies the land and the legitimacy to rule it, in her darkest and most terrifying form. As we spoke, the triple goddess figure of the Morrigan entered my mind, reinforced by a marked presence of crows every time we met. The Morrigan is essentially a war goddess, frequently appearing as a crow in a battlefield, a death prophet, a guardian of sovereignty, and a very powerful figure in Irish Mythology.

So I invoked her energy as a starting point, using text extracts that Ian sent me from the Ulster Cycle and other sources. The voice recording was done in one day, improvising the source material while the already composed music occupied my psyche through headphones.

Listening back, at this time in our world, I can only wonder at how much blood and war the Crone/ Crow of sovereignty is preparing to unleash now. Watch out.”

CRONE is the second album from Lynch and Brennan, following on from 2022’s slowburn slab of ambient grit, …And Take The Black Worm With Me. Bewildering, psychedelic and ultimately transcendental, the four tracks of One Leg One Eye’s CRONE shapeshift and morph endlessly in a coarse miasma. Traditional song structures and vocal melody are eschewed, instead the trio directly channel energies from the rich seams of mythological significance submerged below the Irish psyche. The anger, rage and beauty of the sovereignty goddess burn a consistent and deliberate line through the album in the form of obscure incantations and dire pronouncements, the gnarled sinews that bind it all together.

Just as the subject matter of the tracks delve deeper into Irish myth and the remote past, the temporal reality of the album reaches back into the bands prehistory, with the majority of it the material being recorded by Lynch and Brennan in 2021 before One Leg One Eye was conceived of as an entity with Brennan working on the CRONE project while Lynch worked on …And Take The Black Worm With Me.

When they were there they saw a lone woman coming to the door of the Hostel, after sunset, and seeking to be let in. As long as a weaver’s beam was each of her two shins, and they were as dark as the back of a stag-beetle. A greyish, wooly mantle she wore. Her lower hair used to reach as far as her knee. Her lips were on one side of her head.

She came and put one of her shoulders against the door-post of the house, casting the evil eye on the king and the youths who surrounded him in the Hostel. He himself addressed her from within.

"Well, O woman," says Conaire, "if thou art a wizard, what seest thou for us?"

"Truly I see for thee," she answers, "that neither fell nor flesh of thine shall escape from the place into which thou hast come, save what birds will bear away in their claws."

"It was not an evil omen we foreboded, O woman," saith he: "it is not thou that always augurs for us. What is thy name, O woman?"

"Calib," she answers.

"That is not much of a name," says Conaire.

"Lo, many are my names besides."

"Which be they?" asks Conaire.

"Easy to say," quoth she. "Samon, Sinand, Seisclend, Sodb, Caill, Coll, Díchóem, Dichiúil, Díthím, Díchuimne, Dichruidne, Dairne, Dáríne, Déruaine, Egem, Agam, Ethamne, Gním, Cluiche, Cethardam, Níth, Némain, Nóennen, Badb, Blosc, Bloár, Huae, óe Aife la Sruth, Mache, Médé, Mod."

On one foot, and holding up one hand, and breathing one breath she sang all that to them from the door of the house.

Purple Skies is an underground rock band from Bergen, Norway, formed in 2017. With roots in the heavy rock of the late '60s and '70s and a dark veil of doom, Purple Skies delivers drenched, fuzz driven rock that moves seamlessly between crushing riffs and classic melodies. Their music draws inspiration from stoner rock, proto-doom, and vintage heavy rock. During the recording of A Million Years, the band set out to create a sound that feels timeless yet relevant to today's rock scene. The album was recorded at Polyfon Studio in Bergen with producer Leif Herland, and the process has been both uncompromising and inspiring. Not only did he shape the overall sound, but he also guided the band to deliver their very best performances. The album draws clear inspiration from Swedish Witchcraft and their ability to bridge the gap between retro and modern expression, with roots reaching all the way back to Black Sabbath's Vol. 4. A Million Years is an album that nods to the past while pointing toward the future, capturing the essence of heavy, melodic, and honest rock with both power and precision.

Me Saco Un Ojo proudly presents the debut offering from Canadian’s doomed death metal entity Funelore.
Bellowing eldritch atmospherics explode from crawling guitars and drums with monstrous vocals and ghostly synths to accompany them.
The funereal and sombre ambience is deathly, morbid and hypnotising – enveloping all with darkness from the onset.
The gritty production conveys the devastating mood of the release gloriously with the crushing weight of every instrument allowed to sit on your chest as you inhale smoky anguish into weakened lungs.
This is a profoundly unusual and unique sounding record that fans of death and doom metal alike will adore, but it is no mere run-of-the-mill death-doom, this cinematic duo of songs is a destructive and ethereal force of darkness like none you have heard before. In under 20 minutes your soul will have suffocated and been stripped bare as your consciousness dissolves in tides of agony…

On their fourth proper studio album Ruckus, Galactic wholeheartedly move not so much away from their past as a bad-ass New Orleans jazz & roll band, as they move toward another of its traditions: Voodoo funk.

Not merely content to stick to Mardi Gras or Dr. John esthetics, Galactic points firmly toward the technological present with their primordial groove machine music. Bass, bass, and more bass is the order of the day, and strange keyboard sounds come bubbling under like some lost Lee Perry session gone digital. Ruckus is a spooky ride to the other side of midnight. That moment in time when anything is possible.

This is musical rebirth of a band. Galactic was made all the better for its brave new direction. Ruckus is a album packed with ass-burning grooves and was produced by Dan The Automator.

Ruckus has not been available on vinyl more than 2 decades, and now it's finally out again as a limited edition of 750 individually numbered copies on yellow & green marble vinyl, and includes an insert.

Immolation was founded after the demise of Rigor Mortis (NY), a band formed in May 1986 by Andrew Sakowicz (bass guitar, vocals) Dave Wilkinson (drums), and Robert Vigna (guitar) After recording the Decomposed and Warriors of Doom demos, Sakowicz left the band in early 1988 and was replaced by Ross Dolan, and the band's name was changed to "Immolation". The new lineup put out two studio demos, in 1988 and 1989, and gained a worldwide following in the underground death metal scene. Immolation signed a record deal with Roadrunner Records and released their debut album 'Dawn of Possession' in 1991. After leaving Roadrunner, the band released "Stepping on Angels," a compilation of demo releases and live tracks. In 1995 the band was signed by Metal Blade Records and released three albums: 'Here in After' ,'Failures for Gods', and 'Close to a World Below'. After their second album, drummer Craig Smilowski left the band and was replaced by Alex Hernandez. Their next three albums, 'Unholy Cult', 'Harnessing Ruin', and 'Shadows in the Light' were released by Listenable Records.

After recording the Decomposed and Warriors of Doom demos, Sakowicz left the band in early 1988 and was replaced by Ross Dolan, and the band's name was changed to "Immolation >>. The new lineup put out two studio demos, in 1988 and 1989, and gained a worldwide following in the underground death metal scene. Immolation signed a record deal with Roadrunner Records and released their debut album 'Dawn of Possession' in 1991. After leaving Roadrunner, the band released "Stepping on Angels," a compilation of demo releases and live tracks.

Three years after their debut, French Azken Auzi return with Infernua, a dark and powerful journey into the depths of occult doom and sludge. Forged through years of live activity and creative evolution, the album reveals a band that has fully embraced its identity, delivering heavier riffs, deeper atmospheres and a more mature songwriting approach. Crushing grooves meet haunting passages as Azken Auzi explore the darkest corners of the human soul, balancing oppressive heaviness with moments of eerie tension and hypnotic flow. From the album's thunderous opening to its more ethereal closing moments, Infernua unfolds as an uncompromising sonic ritual that pushes the band's sound into darker and more immersive territories.

For fans of Monolord, Electric Wizard, Darkthrone, Weedeater, Beherit, Celtic Frost, Crowbar, Mayhem, YOB.

"LA Punks Memo PST return with another modern punk classic Eternal Actors, their new album out this May on In The Red. These 12 tracks capture the fury of late '70s rough and raw punk rock, with Orville Neeley crafting hit after hit of god-tier punk bangers. Vocalist Chris Shaw is also at his most versatile to date, with his lyrical capabilities and patented punk sneers dripping across every song. "Simply put, Eternal Actors finds two lords of the punk genre at their very best. There are classic punk bashers like “Dog Groomer Stylist,” and “Doomed to Repeat” but also primitive, bare-bones rock rippers like “Chrome Bubble” and Worship Me.” The band also delivers some of their most hardcore songs to date with “Concrete Club” and “Blown Away.” "With the San Clemente wrecking crew of Jackson Todd (drums) and Emmanuel Koulouris (bass) back again to round out the four piece band, this is truly a powerhouse presentation of punk music in 2026. If the band proved they were a punk force with their long sold out, self titled album, Eternal Actors may solidify their place at the top of the punk pile. "Recorded in late 2025 by longtime collaborator Mike Kriebel at Tropico Beauty Supply in Los Angeles, Eternal Actors is Memo PST's second album for In The Red." – Johnny Dogface

Genre Is Death is an uncompromising noise duo made up of Ty V (guitar, vox) and Tayler Lee (bass, vox). Their sound is abrasive yet melodic, using heavy distortion, dissonant riffs, and reverberating vocals to create a wave of boldly hypnotic noise. The duo have been compared to the likes of Sonic Youth and Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, yet have managed to create a sound that is distinctly their own, avoiding mimicking the zeitgeist of decades before. Beyond the integrity of their music, Tayler’s intimidating glare, or Ty’s staggering gait, the duo share something truly inimitable— the overwhelming feeling that their music is a byproduct of the high esteem they hold of each other. The duo moved to NYC in August of 2023 looking for something more than their mundane suburban lifestyle of day drinking and playing doom metal in friends' basements…their move to NYC coupled with their desire to express something, anything, led to the inception of Genre is Death. The pair hit the ground running, playing anywhere and everywhere they could… however, it was only after a chance encounter with 80s noise forerunners Live Skull that the pair was introduced to the strange underbelly of NYC noise and began playing regular gigs with The Art Gray Noizz Quintet and Lydia Lunch. In 2025 the pair played New Colossus Festival, toured with Gogol Bordello, embarked on their first East Coast tour, and played gigs with Cherubs, Bush Tetras, and Jon Spencer. Their upcoming record was recorded with legendary sound engineer Martin Bisi (Sonic Youth, Swans).

Wieder da in neuer Vinylfarbe: Violet Cloudburst Acid King ist zurück, eine der ersten Bands des Stoner/Doom-Genres und Schöpfer einiger der monolithischsten Riffs und schwersten Klänge, die es je gab! Acid King sind Königinnen des Stoner Doom und Beyond Vision ist ihr erstes neues Album seit Middle Of Nowhere, Center of Everywhere von 2015. Aufgenommen mit dem langjährigen Produzenten Billy Anderson (The Melvins, Sleep, Neurosis), fließen die Songs des Albums ineinander, ohne Anfang oder Ende, angetrieben von einem wogenden, lysergischen Puls, der den gewundenen Pfad der interplanetarischen Existenz nachzeichnet und den Hörer dorthin bringt, wohin er gehen möchte. Beyond Vision" begann als Experiment und wurde zum Weg in eine silberne Zukunft, welche nicht mehr nur doomladen sondern auch psychedelic ist. Es markiert den Beginn einer neuen Ära für die Band, welche einst die Vorlage für donnernden, swingenden Doom geschaffen hat, als sie ihren Status mit bahnbrechenden Alben wie Zoroaster und Busse Woods zementierten. Digipack noch erhältlich! "Judging by the sound of expansive lead single 'Beyond Vision,' fans are in for a helluva trip with this collection... taps into the hazy, muffled churn that Acid King helped pioneer, but there's an added dose of trippiness in the way the specter-like vocals float in the mix, and the dual guitar/bass solo that closes out the tune 'Beyond Vision' is more bluesy than bashing." _ Revolver Mag, 2023

Neue 2026er-Auflage in neuer Farbe! Das neue Album der doom-meets-stoner-meets-metal Legenden! Solace entstand aus den Columbia-Künstlern Godspeed und ist eine der tragenden Säulen des Stoner Metal! Konstante musikalische Integrität und Live-Auftritte über mehr als zwei Jahrzehnte hinweg sorgen für eine treue Anhängerschaft und relvanten Szene-Status. South Jersey's SOLACE halfen mit ihrem zeitlosen Debüt "Further", die erste Welle des US Stoner Metal zu gründen, indem sie alle paar Jahre musikalisch 50 Tonnen-schwere Alben mit Next-Level-Riffage raushauten, bis hin zu ihrem gefeierten "A.D."-Album im Jahr 2010. Eine epische Rückkehr, "The Brink" ist ein glorreiches Doppelalbum - NWOBHM-zweifach-Gitarrenattacken, gewichtige Doom-Power und rifftrunkene Sea Shanties. Luxuriöses farbiges Vinyl plus wunderschönes Gatefold-Sleeve für Fans von Monolord, Haunt, War Cloud, The Obsessed, The Necromancers, The Atomic Bitchwax, Uncle Acid. Das letztes Album 'A.D.' wurde von iTunes (neben High on Fire, Monster Magnet, Unearthly Trance) zu einem der besten Metal-Alben des Jahres 2010 gekürt, "The Brink" auf Blues Funeral wird vielleicht eines der besten des Jahrzehnts.

2026 Repress

Un-American Activities is the 11th Studio album by Molly Nilsson. Written and recorded entirely on location in California at the former home of writer, poet and early opponent of the National Socialist regime in 1930s Germany, Lion Feuchtwanger and his wife Marta. An album of experimentation, genre-mashing and, above it all, Nilsson’s instantly recognisable melodic skill and empathy, it continues the songwriter’s explorations of power, freedom, oppression and its opposing force, a love unbound.
After accepting an artist residency as part of the Villa Aurora program, Nilsson began work crafting a new album from scratch in a new environment, afforded the freedom, space and time to challenge her practice and take her music into new territory. The resulting work, Un American Activities, is a love note not only to the artist who was among the very first to be declared an “enemy of the state” by the Nazi regime but also to both the eternal struggle he fought and the human spirit that pervades all of Nilsson’s best work. It is also a double-pointed poison pen letter: a critique of the new forms of oppression wielded by her temporary adopted country of the USA but also an acknowledgement of the promise it always offers but never fulfils.
Along with the novel use of colour and photography in the artwork for Un-American Activities, there are swathes of new techniques, genres and timbres new to Molly Nilsson’s music in evidence, 16 years into her music career. On Jackboots Return is an icicle-cold New Beat track that deals directly with the current situation in Germany and the resurgent Nazi-affiliated AfD. The question the song asks is, what’s the timeframe we’re talking about? Is this the 30s, or somewhere a lot closer to home? The beat is picked up on The Communist Party, Nilsson’s deepest bow to House music, evoking the early 90s Rave pioneers, Belgian 80s music and Vogue-era Madonna. Here the lyrics are direct quotes from the McCarthy-era, anti-Communist pamphlet 100 Things You Should Know About Communism in the U.S.A. The Beauty Of The Duty does to pounding Electro what Nilsson’s last album Extreme did to Metal: subsume it into the Molly Nilsson aesthetic. It goes hard.
While Un-American Activities finds Nilsson experimenting, creating instinctive music on a first-thought-bestthought basis there are still “classic” Molly moments liberally spread throughout. Excalibur feels like the Molly of old, an absolute star of a chorus refrain smudged with the vaseline of fuzz and hope, Red Telephone is wide-eyed, slathered in reverb and chorus effects, distorted with soaring melody, a heart-tugger that tugs the body upwards to the heavens with each evolving wave. Glistening digital tones wash through the album, providing a Y2K etherealness to Nilsson’s audacious Stars and Stripes reference to Wetcheeks. Perhaps the album’s standout, however, is Palestine (Somewhere Over The Rainbow), which is suffuse with empathy, solidarity and, in referencing the classic socialist-penned canon song from The Wizard Of Oz, speaks directly to the tradition of fighting oppression with full hearts of hope.

Songs for Satan ist ein ikonoklastischer Meilenstein, der die Erde zum Beben bringt und unsere bildlichen Fundamente erschüttert - ein fuzz-getränkter Knall verstärkter Ketzerei!Songs for Satan ist ein Moment der kritischen Masse für DOPELORD aus Warschau, Polen. Ein Hauch von Teufelsanbetung in den Riffing-Gefilden ist nichts Neues, und obwohl sie nicht die erste Band sind, die sich offen zu diesem Motiv bekennt, ist ihre verstärkte Ketzerei einzigartig triumphal, ihre von Fuzz durchtränkte Apostasie echt und glorreich. Songs for Satan zeigt, dass die Band die schwerfällige Schwerfälligkeit und die silbernen Hooks gleichermaßen beherrscht und die jahrzehntelange Unterdrückung des polnischen Katholizismus als lyrischen Treibstoff nutzt. Tracks wie "Satan's Call", "The Chosen One", "One Billion Skulls" und "Worms" widersetzen sich der kulturellen Vorherrschaft der Kirche und schaffen es gleichzeitig, ansteckend singbar zu sein. Songs for Satan, das an Electric Wizard, Windhand, Beelzebong und Acid King erinnert, ist DOPELORDs Höhepunkt, ein ikonoklastischer Meilenstein, der die Erde erschüttert und unsere bildlichen Grundlagen erschüttert. DOPELORD ist das Pendant zu ELECTRIC WIZARD und bietet massiven, mitreißenden Stoner Doom für Fans von ACID KING, MONOLORD und BONGZILLA. Limitierte dunkel-gelbe Vinyl-LP!

2026er Nachpressung ist Nebula Blue Vinyl! Ein krautrockiges Mini-Album ist THE GOLD & SILVER SESSIONS geworden - eingespielt während ihrer letztjährigen Europatour - welches den ELDER-Sound und seine Stoner/Doom-Wurzeln in neue Sphären schießt! Zwei experimentierfreudige Tracks zusammen mit einer langen, psychedelischen Jam formen dies EP von LP-Länge, welche ELDERs expressive Kreativität und nuancierte Entwicklung auf eine Art und Weise einfängt, wie es eine "normale" Studio-Veröffentlichung wohl nicht könnte. Metalischen Härte wird mit krautrockiger Improvisationskunst zusammengebracht, die Referenz zeigt sich u.a. auch in den Songtiteln "Im Morgengrauen" und "Weißensee". Sicherlich ein Experiment oder eine Art Übergang, aber dies ist immer noch die Band, die 2017 das unglaubliche "Reflections of a Floating World" herausgebracht hat und mit dieser Veröffentlichung auf neuen und unerforschten Pfaden zu wandern beginn. Oder sich selbst und seinen Fans nur mal das Hirn freibläst, bevor die nächste Ebene im Stoner/Psychrock-Kosmos aufgemacht wird.

In a year which marks the 40th anniversary since the initial formation - under the moniker of Black Death - of what would subsequently grow into influential genre legends, 2026 marks the return of the imperishable Norwegian duo of Fenriz & Nocturno Culto for their new opus of high calibre old metal, under the banner of ‘Pre-Historic Metal’. As Fenriz himself proclaims of the title’s symbolic origin, “Prehistoric is a loose term. I just figure it’s our VIBE, our take on things & it’s more a statement that we use old style to create something new”.

‘Pre-Historic Metal’ contains eight tracks of primal epics & gargantuan riffs with organic sound & the ever-present permeating spirit of the 70’s & 80’s, for a new continuation of the mastery witnessed on 2024’s ‘It Beckons Us All’. This next chapter in Darkthrone’s extensive & ongoing catalogue presents a vast odyssey through the sonic landscapes of Thrash, Black, Heavy & Doom Metal &, adorned with a punishing & “in your face” guitar presence, Darkthrone stirs the cauldron of savage creativity with a nod to the writing methods which were indicative of their earlier works of the late 80’s, but with a more refined craft.

'Pre-Historic Metal' was recorded at Chaka Khan Studios, Oslo, with production work conducted by Ole Øvstedal, Silje Høgevold & Mads Luis. Mastering was carried out by Jack Control at Enormous Door, & Maor Appelbaum Mastering.

This edition of 'Pre-Historic Metal' is presented on black vinyl.

First Word Records proudly present the second single from Above The Clouds (aka kidkanevil & Magic Manfred), taking on another underground hip hop classic, 'Change'.

'Change' was originally performed by Shadez of Brooklyn, produced by Da Beatminerz and most notably appeared on DJ Premier's legendary 'New York Reality Check 101' mix compilation back in 1997.

This 7" vinyl release follows on from last Summer's MF DOOM cover 'Arrow Root', which received strong support from the likes of Japan's DJ Koco and Philadelphia's DJ Jazzy Jeff.

This new instrumental reinterpretation also features cuts by Leicester-based turntablist, Jon1st - a DMC World Online Champion, as well as being a producer & musician in his own right, collaborating on music with a number of hip hop, D&B and electronic artists.

One of the original First Word roster, UK Producer/DJ and all-round laptop music geek kidkanevil has developed a distinctive and progressive sound over the years, gleefully exploring the beats and bleeps of the electronic music universe to international recognition. Leeds born, sound system bred and raised on a (un)healthy diet of video games and anime, his solo work inhabits the curious space between bass frequencies and otaku culture. But as a devoted teenage backpack rap nerd, somewhere in the back of kid's mind was a lingering desire to reconnect with his first love, hip hop.

Not long after moving to Berlin he joined a studio space in graffiti plastered Kreuzberg, where he met multi instrumentalist wizard Magic Manfred; a disciple of all things boogie, disco, funk and soul. Born and raised in Berlin, and currently a touring musician for many an act, Manfred's musical map joins the dots from piano lessons at four, to starting a band with his teenage friends, leading him to his true calling - the bass - via the club vibrations of his hometown, which introduced him to the world of DJing and production, and a stint studying in the explosive London jazz scene to finalise his Jedi training.

Bonding over their mutual love of '90s hip hop, a friendship and musical kinship developed, coupled with a desire to honour past eras but push things forward, Above The Clouds was born; named after their joint favourite DJ Premier beat, with a touch of irony regarding their basement based studio of a windowless variety.

kidkanevil explains further "We started the project with a few covers, just as a way to get warmed up and in a certain creative headspace, of which 'Change' by Shadez Of Brooklyn was one. We both loved DJ Premier's 'New York Reality Check 101' mix when we were teenagers and this track was a favourite. The elements really lent themselves to live interpretation, and as an instrumental there was space to bring some nice movement with the bass and stuff. Hopefully we found the balance between paying tribute and finding our own pocket. For the final seasoning we hit up the homie and turntable wizard Jon1st to recreate the cuts, of which he did an immaculate job of course.

The b-side 'Urgh' is one of our favourite beats we've made so far; the title is just how it makes us feel! We actually recorded the piano with two iphones as left and right and it sounded kinda cool so we went with it..."

'Change / Urgh' is released on limited 7" vinyl & digital platforms, April 24th 2026.

Oceanine, Jolanda Moletta’s third album and her first for Beacon Sound, is a powerful and ethereal statement of artistic community. Expanding on her previous work, each track represents a collaboration with a different female vocalist, with the foundational elements being generated entirely by her own voice. By turns haunting, enchanting, and inspiring, you won’t want to come up for air once you’ve been pulled under. Representing a
musical practice that is distinctly feminist, this is an album with a longer view in mind, to an age when the altars were to goddesses and women were centered as powerful beings representing the earth’s cycles of regeneration and renewal. Oceanine then, in all its beauty, can be viewed as an album of survival. It is deeply transportive, accessing something that lies within all of us. As the late, great Lithuanian folklorist and archaeologist Marija Gimbutas noted, “We must refocus our collective memory. The necessity for this has never been greater as we discover that the path of 'progress' is extinguishing the very conditions for life on earth.”

Jolanda Moletta is a multimedia artist and one-woman electronic choir. She creates wordless compositions through extended vocal techniques, integrating wearable-controlled live processing, alongside symbolic visuals. Moletta considers her performances to be a collective ritual and creates her Sonic & Visual Spells following the cycles of nature and the moon. Jolanda's 2022 critically acclaimed album Nine Spells was released on the Ambientologist label, followed by Night Caves on Whitelabrecs in 2025. Moletta’s artistic practice is a radical and spiritual journey through sound art, ritual, and the symbolic archaeology of the feminine.

Oceanine is inspired by sirens, water nymphs, and the timeless call of the sea. At its core lies Jolanda’s deep, lifelong connection to the Mediterranean Sea and to the ancient and modern myths and folklore that have emerged from its waters. Growing up by the Mar Ligure, Jolanda was surrounded by stories carried by salt, wind, and waves: legends of sirens, echoes of ancient voices, and the sea as both origin and oracle. This intimate relationship with the Mediterranean is not merely a backdrop, but a living source that shapes Oceanine’s emotional, symbolic, and sonic world.

Each track features a different female vocalist, creating a rich tapestry of voices, styles, and perspectives. This artistic choice not only broadens the album’s sonic palette, but also deepens its narrative core: celebrating the power, beauty, and mystique of feminine energy through myth, history, and sound.

The entire album is built exclusively from the human voice, processed and layered, yet always remaining voice, and nothing else. For each piece, Jolanda invited every vocalist involved to contribute a raw stem: a short, unedited melodic fragment of just a few seconds, inspired by the album’s themes. These intimate vocal seeds became the foundation of each track: the guest artists’ voices appear as brief, melodic stems, while the entire surrounding “orchestral” fabric is created solely from Jolanda’s own layered and processed voice. In this way, Jolanda’s voice becomes the Ocean itself, embracing, absorbing, and carrying the sirens’ calls within a vast, immersive soundscape. Every song is a unique expression of the feminine experience, revealing its depth, complexity, and emotional range, echoing the call of the sea and the many faces of the siren archetype.

The figure of the siren has transformed across centuries. In myths of Ancient Greece and Rome, sirens were hybrid beings, part woman, part bird, whose irresistible songs lured sailors to their doom. During the Middle Ages, the image shifted toward the half-woman, half-fish figure, often associated with temptation and danger. Historically, the voice of women has often been feared. Sirens were considered harbingers of misfortune not simply because they seduced or destroyed, but because they were powerful liminal beings.

In Ancient Greek, sirens functioned as psychopomps: figures who existed between worlds and guided souls, especially between life and death. Their songs were believed to carry forbidden knowledge, including prophetic insight and the ability to reveal truths about fate and the future. The danger of the sirens lay in what they revealed: knowledge that humans were not meant, or ready, to hear.

Oceanine confronts this legacy head-on. The voices heard throughout the album are not merely beautiful: they are dark and luminous, wild and enchanting, magical, soothing, dreamy, and at times fractured or distorted. They whisper, lament, beckon, and enchant. Like sirens, they skim the surface of the water and sink into its depths, hovering on the edge between tenderness and danger, vulnerability and power. They rise toward the sky, dissolve into mist, and return as echoes charged with raw, elemental emotion: voices that seduce, warn, mourn, and remember. They refuse to be reduced to decoration.

Alongside the album’s release in May, Oceanine will also unfold as a visual and performative work through a short art film. The film includes a live session recorded inside a sea cave facing the Mar Ligure, the very coastline where Jolanda spent her childhood, dreaming of sirens and listening to the sea as if it were speaking directly to her. This site-specific performance reconnects the music to its place of origin, allowing the voice to resonate within stone, water, and air, and transforming the cave into both a sanctuary and a threshold between myth and reality.

What if the sirens’ songs were considered dangerous because they carried another truth, an ancient truth long forgotten?

Oceanine embraces the idea that we are still deeply woven into myth. Though we may see ourselves as rational and modern beings, our world is saturated with ancient symbols and archetypes, often distorted, simplified, or stripped of their original meaning. And if those symbols are allowed to shift, if the mirror once held by the siren becomes an invitation to look beyond appearances and into what has been obscured, then we may finally uncover a deeper truth and reclaim the voice that was always ours.

Oceanine is not just an album. It is a reclamation, a spell, and a call from the depths.

SILENCER's merciless emotional firestorm "Death – Pierce Me" is one of the few albums truly deserving the designation ‘cult’. From humble beginnings in the extreme underground, it rose to become a widely acclaimed masterpiece with a massive following.

To celebrate the album’s 20th anniversary, Lupus Lounge reissues this pioneering depressive metal milestone in lavish editions worthy of its legacy. "Death – Pierce Me" will be available as a 48-page hardcover CD book edition including a bonus track, and as part of a complete box set featuring a gatefold vinyl edition, a 12" version of SILENCER’s 1998 demo, and additional bonus materials.

When SILENCER released their sole full-length album under the same title as their 1998 demo, the time seemed ripe for an emotionally devastating strain of black metal incorporating doom elements and expressing bleak emotions of bereavement, loneliness, and despair. This emerging subgenre became known as ‘depressive black metal’, sometimes more extremely labeled ‘depressive suicidal black metal’.

Around 1998, this movement coalesced around Swedish acts SILENCER and SHINING, alongside Quebec’s MALVERY and US band XASTHUR, drawing influence from earlier pioneers such as Norway’s STRID and Germany’s BETHLEHEM.

While SHINING gained notoriety, SILENCER faded into obscurity, surrounded by rumor and legend. With only one historical interview, no live performances, and no follow-up album, the band became mythic. Through word of mouth alone, "Death – Pierce Me" continued to grow in stature, culminating in an IMPALA Silver Award in 2021 for 20,000 verified European sales.

Necropalace ist eine düstere, doomlastige Reise ins Schreckliche und Romantische, heraufbeschworen vom sich ständig weiterentwickelnden vampirischen Wesen WORM. WORM schrieb sein erstes Kapitel mit Veröffentlichungen wie "Foreverglade" aus dem Jahr 2021 und dem Split-Album "Starpath" mit Dream Unending aus dem Jahr 2023 (beide erschienen bei 20 Buck Spin). Diese Vision erweckte WORM zusammen mit Hulder, Devil Master, Gatecreeper und Frozen Soul auf der Decibel Tour 2023 auf der Bühne zum Leben. Dabei verkörperte WORM den Sound der Dunkelheit mit einem außergewöhnlichen Sinn für Ambition.
Gemischt von Arthur Rizk (Blood Incantation, Power Trip) und mit dem gefeierten Gitarrenvirtuosen Marty Friedman auf dem letzten Track des Albums "Witchmoon" ist "Necropalace" die bisher reinste Destillation von WORMs selbsternanntem "Nekromantic Black Doom", dargestellt in blutbeflecktem Technicolor. Ein cineastisches, unvergessliches Meisterwerk des modernen Metal.

RIPIT is back with a new LP after 3 years spent mostly on the mesmerizing collaboration between THE ÅNGSTRÖMERS- his duo with FRÉDÉRIC ALSTADT -and the Haitian voodoo ensemble CHOUK BWA.

While Ripit is better known for his radical noisy breakbeat work, "A Church or a Factory" explores a more industrial, power electronic and noise ambient side of his synthesizer lust. The instruments abused on this record are: Serge modular, Knifonium and various eurorack modular. The A-side comes with 5 powerful synthetic industrial songs which feature each one a different guest vocalist. The B-side is a long ambient noise piece that will plunge the listener in an anxious meditation.

Ripit is the project of the French NICOLAS ESTERLE for almost 25 years. He explores electronic instruments thru distortion , ranging from industrial hardcore to breakcore, from doom hiphop to dusty dub. Beside his solo project, he's involved in various bands like SOLAR SKELETONS (with TZII), FUJAKO (with HHY) and more recently The Ångströmers.

On the guest side, there's a wild bunch of Nicolas' friends:
- PAUL-TERGEIST is the galactic moniker of PAUL BEAUCHAMP in his band SPACE ALIENS FROM OUTER SPACE;
- ANDREA EV is the lead member of 1997EV;
- ROBERT IMHUMAN and DIVTECH are members of the REALICIDE COLLECTIVE;
- TZII is a long-time road comrade of Nicolas and a touring freak spreading his music all over the world;
- ANDRÉ COELHO is known as METADEVICE and is the founder of the now-defunct SEKTOR 304.

The title "A Church or A Factory" refers to the Belgian countryside, wherever you are, you are at least surrounded by a church or a factory. As he just left the urban life of Brussels to escape to the French countryside, he is now lost enough not to have neither a factory nor a church in sight.

Vienna sludge doom masters TARLUNG return with their most focused and destructive statement to date. Axis Mundi is a massive slab of low tuned heaviness forged in the darkest corners of sludge and doom.
Built on suffocating riffs, dragging tempos, chugging grooves and feral vocal delivery, TARLUNG create a sound that feels both crushing and hypnotic. The band move between oppressive sludge weight, bleak doom atmospheres and abrasive noise soaked tension, shaping long, immersive compositions that pull the listener into a collapsing sonic landscape.
While rooted in nasty, direct sludge doom, TARLUNG also explore experimental textures, subtle dynamic shifts and rare moments of contemplation within the chaos, only to be swallowed again by waves of uncompromising brutality. This is an album made for listeners who want weight, tension and depth, not just volume.

For Fans Of: YOB, Crowbar, Weedeater, Iron Monkey, Dopethrone, Thou, SUMA

DYING VICTIMS PRODUCTIONS is proud to present DEMON SPELL’s highly anticipated debut album, Blessed Be the Dark, on CD and vinyl LP formats. After the cursed EP Evil Nights in 2024, the coven of DEMON SPELL returns, unleashing a vision of dark, occult heavy metal born from dust, bone, and shadow. Appropriately titled Blessed Be the Dark, the Italians’ debut album is a descent into ritual fire and ancient doom, where the echoes of the grave sing once more. This is music for disciples of the timeless art of darkness.

With Blessed Be the Dark, DEMON SPELL deepen their devotion to a shadowed form of heavy metal rooted in the classic tradition yet veiled in occult and arcane tones, all performance with a provocative theatrical presence. Wholly untouched by modernity, their sound draws from the primordial essence of early heavy metal; one can imagine the cutoff year at 1985, or perhaps earlier. The record presents a more mature and refined vision of the band’s sound as first displayed on the quick-hitting Evil Nights, here exploring darker, more occult atmospheres while also offering raw, energetic passages that bring moments of levity and drive. Listening to DEMON SPELL in full-length form feels like entering an endless Sabbath, where past and present dissolve and the flame never dies. Blessed Be the Dark stands as a testament to heavy metal as ceremony—timeless, solemn, and possessed by the Spirit of the Night.

DYING VICTIMS PRODUCTIONS is proud to present WHIRLWIND’s highly anticipated second album, 1640, on CD and vinyl LP formats. WHIRLWIND was originally conceived as a studio-project by Mark Wild, from Körgull The Exterminator among other extreme metal bands, to satisfy his will to make a classic heavy metal album, a style that changed his life during his childhood – influenced mostly by ‘80s German metal bands like early Running Wild, early Helloween, Accept, Heaven’s Gate, Gravestone, Tyrant, Grave Digger, Steeler, and Stormwitch among others, but also all kinds of classic heavy metal like Mercyful Fate, Manowar, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest. In 2022, WHIRLWIND released their debut album, 1714, marking the band’s beginning. WHIRLWIND also established a live lineup to bring their songs to life onstage, with musicians from other known bands, like Redshark, joining as permanent members of the band. The album immediately generated a big buzz in the underground scene and led them to perform at some of the best-known festivals in Spain like Pounding Metal Fest and Skulls of Metal, alongside such bands as Visigoth, Attic, Omen, Tentation, Mindless Sinner, Witchtower, IRON CURTAIN, and Phantom Spell. Now arrives WHIRLWIND’s second album, 1640. Like its predecessor, the album is focused on historical and epic episodes of their homeland; specifically, this album revolves around the Thirty Years War that took place around Europe and the inner conflicts within Spain.

Musically, WHIRLWIND deliver a masterclass in cruising, classy Teutonic metal, running from more traditional-minded mid-tempo stompers to surging, up-tempo gallops of glory. Riff and lead form a lethal tandem, balancing both energy and color, while the rhythm section stays locked in no matter the dynamic. The production, too, of 1640 honors the mid ‘80s with authenticity – underground in spirit, Big League in execution. All told, the album is true heavy metal for true heavy metal people: no more, but definitely no less. By the blood in their veins, WHIRLWIND are marching to victory, ready to explode!

Your favorite weed sludgers are ready to come back with their fourth studio album, the aptly titled "Stoned Villains," out in April on your beloved Heavy Psych Sounds Records. The band's distinctive sound emerges immediately after the first listen: seven tracks of heavy, sulfurous doom-sludge, with influences ranging from the '90s to Turin-inspired hardcore punk, the scene in which our "villains" were formed and raised. Heavy and cutting guitars, a seismic rhythm section, and Gingerzilla's voice barking out ungraceful tales of weed abuse and uncontrolled eating. The song titles perfectly describe Tons: a band that doesn't take itself too seriously and uses irony as its strong point.