Pop & Rock Vinyl New Releases - News

Maryland Death/Sludge reapers, YATRA, were born in 2018. The trio of Dana Helmuth on guitar and vocals, Maria Geisbert on bass, and Sean Lafferty on drums came out incredibly heavy with their first full length Death Ritual (grimoire rec) in 2019. With much critical acclaim, and followed with extensive touring of America and Europe, including many festivals, they proved themselves to be a relentless live touring band. In 2020 YATRA followed with their second full length, the more aggressive and heavier sounding, Blood Of The Night, also greeted overwhelming positive press and touring to follow until covid restrictions began. Not ones to remain idle or take a pause, in spite of touring restrictions, YATRA used their time to write and record another 2020 album, All Is Lost, bringing in more elements of their death metal roots and drenched in blackened intensity. YATRA have signed with Prosthetic Records, and will release a new full length in summer 2022, to be followed with extensive touring of America and Europe, crushing as many stages and festivals as possible. YATRA’s intense live performance is not to be missed.

Nashville underground trio YAUTJA make their Relapse Records debut with their highly anticipated new album, "The Lurch". YAUTJA's new album amalgamates metal, punk and noise rock into a ferocious hybrid that has propelled them from the obscurity of the American South onto the international stage. Recorded by Scott Evans at the legendary Steve Albini's Electrical Audio studio in Chicago, "The Lurch" marks another step forward for the innovative band. From the opening roar of “A Killing Joke” and the ominous noise waves of “Undesirables” to the churning cannonade of “Before the Foal,” "The Lurch" conveys the personal frustrations and sociopolitical observations of its creators. “We’ve got our bubble of friends and artists and businesses, but you drive 30 minutes out of town and you see rebel flags or people wearing t-shirts that say, ‘Redneck Lives Matter,’” bassist/vocalist Kayhan Vaziri explains. “So there’s a lot of frustration there, and the lyrics pertain to that.” Elsewhere on the album, tracks such as "Tethered" and "Wired Depths," discuss the various technologies and systems in place befalling the great populace. Rampant displacement of local communities fuels Vaziri's opening screams in the track aptly titled “Catastrophic” - “Forced under society!” Featuring members of several other musical projects including Thou, Coliseum, Mutilation Rites and more, YAUTJA's collective experiences across the underground and experimental subgenres drive their unique sound. The band's palpable malaise, malcontent, and sharpened edges are matched by the album's production - the attack of noisy, whirring guitars constantly veering on dissonance are met with a destructive, mangled low end, as they march on to some of the most creative drumming in the genre. "The Lurch" showcases a band that is daring, experimental, and unrelenting.

Gitarren? Wer braucht schon Gitarren im Heavy Metal? YEAR OF THE COBRA können locker darauf verzichten - zumindest auf die mit den dünnen Saiten, die vor allem zum Herumfummeln taugen. Frontfrau Amy Tung Barrysmith holt aus ihrem Bass einen derartig fetten Groove und satte Heaviness heraus, die als Raketentreibstoff mehr als ausreichen, um den dröhnenden Zwillingsmotor aus Doom Metal und psychedelischem Sludge ihres selbstbetitelten dritten Albums anzutreiben. "Year of the Cobra" ist eindeutig aus der Saat seiner beiden Vorgänger, "...in the Shadows Below" (2016) und "Ash and Dust" (2019), erwachsen - und übertrifft sie noch. YEAR OF THE COBRA konnten ihr Songwriting verfeinern, kommen noch mehr auf den Punkt und punkten mit eingängigen, aber dennoch superschweren Melodien, die exakt auf die stärksten Aspekte der Band zugeschnitten sind. Amy Tung Barrysmiths mal samtene, mal raue Altstimme und das nahtlose rhythmische Zusammenwirken von ihrem Bass und Jon Barrysmiths gefühlvollem Schlagzeugspiel gelangen dadurch in den Vordergrund. YEAR OF THE COBRA wurden im Jahr 2015 in der US-Regenstadt Seattle gegründet. Als Duo mussten sich YEAR OF THE COBRA zunächst eine eigene Nische suchen, was ihnen mit scheinbarer Leichtigkeit gelang. Sie kreierten einen Sound, der mühelos von klassischer Doom-Melancholie bis zu beklemmend schweren Riff-Architekturen reichte. YEAR OF THE COBRA gelang es zudem, eingängige, fast beschwingte Rock-Momente in wirbelnde Psychedelik zu verwandeln. YEAR OF THE COBRA sind bereit für den nächsten Schritt, wie ihr selbstbetiteltes drittes Album unwiderlegbar beweist. Die Wüstenschlange bohrt ihre Fangzähne mit "Year of the Cobra" gnadenlos in eure Ohren und lässt nie wieder los!

For fans of Vanilla Fudge, MC5, and Psychedelic Proto-Heavy Metal! Yesterday's Children were an American psychedelic rock band formed in Cheshire-Prospect, Connecticut, outside of New Haven, in 1966. The group's earliest release was the psychedelic rock-influenced single "To Be or Not to Be". Though, at first, Yesterday's Children were a standard garage band, they transitioned into a psychedelic proto-heavy metal outfit that released one cult classic album before disbanding in 1970. The band took an aggressive garage rock musical stance, while incorporating aspects of psychedelic nuance into their compositions. The group released their debut single, "To Be or Not to Be", on the London Records subsidiary label, Parrot Records, and became a regional success. It is also one of the rarest and sought after releases by avid record collectors. Over the following three years, Yesterday's Children released two additional singles. In 1970, the band recorded their only album, Yesterday's Children, which was released on Map City Records. Now this cult classic record has been remastered and repackaged and is being delivered on 180g vinyl in a Special Limited Edition (250 copies) multi-coloured vinyl.

Yo No Se return after a 5-year hiatus since their last album, Soma. Their
new album Terraform continues on from the dystopian world created in
Soma but this time taking the narrative to the stars. Terraform explores
the ideas of making a fresh start on another planet but the same
problems creep in…. Greed, corruption and hate. Exploring more of a
grunge feel along with some hard psych the band recorded with Dom
Mitchison (as well as Alex doing guitars and vocals at home), mixed with
Ali Chant and mastered again with grunge godfather, Jack Endino.
The band have toured across Europe in support of Soma in the last 5
years and gained a reputation for their loud and energetic shows. The
album has 3 drummers under its belt and countless breakdowns on the
road. With the pandemic kicking in just as the band started touring, they
had plenty of time to finally record (and find another drummer).
Terraform is a record 5 years in the making due to sheer bad luck.
Hopefully, their luck will change as the band are already working on their
follow up record.
The first single Black Door approaches the subject of corruption
amongst 'leaders'. The idea comes from Boris Johnson getting Brexit
'done' to forward his own career without thinking about the impact it will
have on peoples lives. We’ve had enough and we're ready to tear down
the establishment. The idea being that these problems we now face will
follow us wherever we go unless we stamp them out, here, on earth.
The artwork for the cover is by renowned sci-fi artist Bruce Pennington.

Northwestern doom titans Yob’s sophomore LP ‘Catharsis’ is finally available again with a deluxe vinyl treatment. ‘Catharsis’ is one of the most colossal American doom metal albums of the last decade from one of the most important bands in heavy music today. Relapse is proud to unveil the long-awaited vinyl reissue of YOB’s sought-after cult classic, ten years after its initial release. Remastered from the original tapes by legendary grunge godfather Tad Doyle, Catharsis sounds heavier and more monstrous than ever.

Yellow Vinyl

Mit Zakk Sabbath zollen Gitarrist und Sänger Zakk Wylde
(Black Label Society, Ozzy Osbourne), Bassist Blasko (Ozzy
Osbourne, Rob Zombie) und Schlagzeuger Joey Castillo
(Danzig, Queens of the Stone Age) Black Sabbath Tribut. Das
Trio tritt seit 2014 live auf und gibt seine Interpretation der
Songs der Legende aus Birmingham zum Besten.
Black Sabbaths unbetiteltes Debüt wurde bekanntermaßen im
Oktober 1969 an einem einzigen Tag aufgenommen und im
darauffolgenden Jahr an einem Freitag den 13. veröffentlicht,
woraufhin die Welt nie mehr dieselbe sein sollte.
"Vertigo" wird nicht digital erhältlich sein, "denn das
Ding soll authentisch an die Zeit erinnern, als Vinyl den Ton
angab. Die Songs wurden dementsprechend in Anklang an die
Originalaufnahmen eingespielt - live im Studio, während ein
Filmteam das Ganze mitschnitt. Heraus kam eine frische
Hommage an die größte Heavy-Metal-Band aller Zeiten und
das Album, mit dem alles anfing.

How Do I Get That Star is Zannie Owens' debut record under their own
name, as well as the first release with Kill Rock Stars
Previously, they performed as Potted Plant and they co-helmed the band Really
Big Pinecone alongside Michael Buishas (0 Stars, .michael). This latest effort is
self- produced, and features contributions from friends in New York, as well as
zannie's brother Sam, who plays bass and also mixed the record. Made over the
course of four years, the record deals with feelings of pining for the unknown, the
mystical, and the mundane. To paraphrase zannie, the record was produced
mitotically from their mind. The resulting 11 songs (picked precisely because of
the number's magical, symmetrical qualities), are warm to the touch. To listen to
How Do I Get That Star is to immerse oneself in a sound bath or look up at the
stars on a summer night in the middle of nowhere.

Die Schweizer Doom/Sludge-Band ZATOKREV ist zurück mit einem kraftvollen und eindringlichen neuen Album namens ,Bring Mirrors To The Surface". Als erstes präsentierte das Quartett die Single ,Blood" mit den Vocals der Schweizer Band Inezona. Diese Zusammenarbeit ist nicht der einzige Gastauftritt auf dem neuen Album: Gesangsbeiträge von Schammasch, Zeal&Ardor, Minsk und Bölzer machen diese Veröffentlichung zu einem Meisterwerk. Die Band kommentiert das neue Album: "Unser neues Album, das bereits 2022 fertiggestellt wurde, spiegelt eine Zeit tiefgreifender Veränderungen und Widerstandsfähigkeit wider. Es ist ein Zeugnis dafür, wie Herausforderungen gemeistert und Neuanfänge angenommen wurden, sowohl persönlich als auch kreativ. Die Tatsache, dass das neue Album drei Jahre später veröffentlicht wird, ist nicht zuletzt auf die Bewältigung schwerer Lebensherausforderungen und tiefgreifender Veränderungen zurückzuführen. Das neue Album ist der Nachfolger des Vorgängeralbums ,Silk Spiders Underwater", mit dem die Geschichte begann. Jetzt bringt "Bring Mirrors To The Surface" die Geschichte zu ihrem Abschluss. Nachdem ZATOKREV all die Trümmer des Schmerzes, der Zeit und des Loslassens verarbeitet haben, kehren sie mit einem Werk zurück, das die Vergangenheit auslöscht und eine bisher ungeahnte Zukunft heraufbeschwört und die Menschheit dazu auffordert, sich an die Kraft des Willens und der Vorstellungskraft zu erinnern. Ein Album, in dem man sich wirklich verlieren kann. Diese Songs sind wie eine Kerze in der Dunkelheit, eine geheimnisvolle Landkarte, die den Weg zum Zerreißen und zur schmerzhaften Erkenntnis weist - als Weg zur metaphysischen Freiheit. In jedem Aspekt dieses Albums hat sich eine Schönheit eingenistet, wie sie in keinem anderen ZATOKREV-Werk zu finden ist. Momente der Behaglichkeit fließen ungehindert in die ohrenbetäubenden Klänge ein: ,Bring Mirrors To The Surface" ermutigt jeden, in die Abgründe des eigenen Ichs zu schauen. ZATOKREV haben uns ein musikalisches Zauberbuch hinterlassen. Verweise aus all ihren Schaffensphasen haben sich zu einem einzigartigen Moment zusammengefunden. Für Fans von Neurosis, Thou, Unsane, YOB, Ufomammut, Glassing, Schammasch

Swiss firebrand alchemists Zeal & Ardor are excited to announce their forthcoming, self-titled new album, set for release February 11th, 2022, via MVKA.

Hissing and seeping justifiable rage from every pore - yet not an unrelenting musical battering - the 14-track opus was recorded by Marc Obrist and Manuel Gagneux at Hutch Sounds and mixed/mastered by Will Putney at Graphic Nature Audio. All songs were written by the softly spoken, multi-lingual frontman Gagneux, with some German lyrics intermixed with the English.

Gagneux declares, "With the self-titled record, we have arrived at where I imagined this project should sound like. It’s the longest we’ve worked on a single record and I believe it shows. The most important thing for an album of ours to do, is transport you instantly into our mood, our world. Even though this might not be the one you might expect from us, this record certainly delivers on that front. We had time to hone in to what we think makes us interesting and what sounds we would like to explore through this we have found our home. Home is burning. Welcome home.

Zebulon's debut album "Come Day of Reckoning" delivers slow-burning doom with crushing riffs, dramatic vocals, and haunting melodies. The material explores themes of judgement and faith. Recorded in the winter of 2025. Zebula hails from Jæren, Norway.

Zeke Sky is an American guitarist, pianist, vocalist and composer who has made continuous impact since videos of his playing and songs emerged on the internet in 2018. Combining influences of psychedelic rock, progressive metal, heavy metal and world music, Zeke goes against the grain in writing and performing bold and visionary songs without limitation, dealing with complex lyric issues ranging from toxic love to kingly conquests.

In the same year, Zeke played his first live event opening for KING'S X as part of a home recorded album effort. Despite the total infancy of his name, an impressive number of copies were sold of this obscure album on the web. Zeke followed up with a pair of singles in 2019 and 2020 with updated production ethics and of course more aggressive playing, and those saw favorable reviews all over the world, including in Rolling Stone Magazine (“ZEKE SKY is an incendiary of heavy metal.”).

In 2021, Zeke completed a debut label effort, »Intergalactic Demon King,« for release in late 2022. For this young composer, the future is as bold as it is long, for only the brave who accept the challenge will taste the fruits of the golden mountain. --- ---

Spectres have been stirring in the shadows for years now. Dark eyes watching from pallid faces. Siren songs calling to lost souls. In the blackest corners of the UK underground, a name whispered relentlessly amongst the faithful, first with curiosity, then soul-shuddering awe: Zetra.

Zetra is also the title of their striking debut LP. Ten tracks whose indefinable blend of shimmering shoegaze and pulsating goth-metal work deep beneath the skin, it is a masterclass in intimate dark romanticism and sweeping elemental beauty. It could be seen as a reaction to the geography of a strange new world, but also to the jagged topography of the human psyche itself. Is it a manifesto? A roadmap? A riddle waiting to be solved? Profound pleasure lies in peeling back its many layers.

Travelling alone, armed only with synths, guitar and drum-machine to compose, The Wanderers’ music could sound skeletal. Instead its early metallic bones have been fleshed-out with the electronic new-wave of Gary Numan and Pet Shop Boys and dreamy, droning guitars that hark to heroes like Slowdive and Sonic Youth as well as dark contemporaries Deafheaven and Alcest. As harsh as the truths with which they deal may be, these songs deliver beguiling brilliance.

Acolytes to spread the word of Zetra aren’t hard to find. British ‘contemporaries’ like Burner and Wallowing, Celestial Sanctuary and Employed To Serve have been dementedly singing their praises as far back as they can remember. Tours with the heavyweight likes of Creeper and Godflesh, VV and SKYND have taken their once-subterranean sounds into the spotlight. Unto Others’ Gabriel Franco (‘Moonfall’), Svalbard’s Serena Cherry (‘Starfall’) and Sólveig Matthildur Kristjánsdóttir from Iceland’s Kælan Mikla (‘Shatter The Mountain’) even crop up amongst these recordings, dissolving into the cult of Zetra themselves. But none are as important as the legions of fans Zetra are yet to reach with a dark gospel still unpicking all manner of psychological knots and existential truths.

Los Angeles-based bonehead savants Zig Zags are no-nonsense '80s style thrash with a magpie eye for deep-fried pop culture detritus. These guys give so few fucks while they are out ripping faces that it's tough to say much about them that hasn't been said before—they shred so that we may raise beers in non-ironic salute to their Voivod worship, to a world in which young heshers subscribe to Heavy Metal and practice early Slayer solos while watching daytime TV, to waking and baking as you watch the world burn.

Running Out of Red is the soundtrack to getting high and driving around in your shitty car in your small town, occasionally getting laid...occasionally getting laid out at the local liquor store by an older dude. Gang vocals: check. 1-2 pit beat: on lock. Shredder solid state guitar heroics: ripping, and so should you, the bong is packed and I think there's still pizza in the fridge. I can smell your pants from here, dude.

Cat.no.: CF 072 CD
Format: CD/LP

Tracklisting:

Symphonische Extrem-Heavy-Metal-Band aus Stockholm - gegründet und geleitet von Multiinstrumentalist und Songwriter Zorn. Nachdem er sich von Dark Funeral trennte, war er entschlossen, mit seiner neuen Band Zornheym den traditionellen "Metal-meets-Symphony"-Ansatz aufzurütteln. Zornheym entwickelte sich schnell von einer ambitionierten Idee zu einem dramatischen musikalischen und narrativen Konzept, das sich um die Schrecken einer psychiatrischen Anstalt und ihrer Häftlinge drehte. Vier Jahre, nachdem die Tore der Anstalt erstmals erdacht wurden, wurden sie mit der Veröffentlichung des Debütalbums endlich geöffnet. Wo Hass wohnt und Dunkelheit herrscht. " Dieses Album stellte das erschreckende Konzept des Asyls und die darin enthaltenen schrecklichen Charaktere vor. Zornheym's Sound wurde als kraftvoll und filmisch beschrieben und das zweite Album lädt dazu ein, diese Erfahrung in "The Zornheim Sleep Experiment" fortzusetzen, das tief im Inneren der Anstalt stattfindet. Mit einem echten Chor und einem Streichquartett kreieren sie erneut ihre Klangwand und lassen die Geschichte in einer Graphic Novel zum Leben erwecken, die die Geschichten des Albums begleitet und erweitert.

Zornheym debütierte auf dem französischen Motocultor-Festival und sie haben ihre energiegeladenen, bombastischen Erfahrungen auf vielen weiteren Festivals und Veranstaltungsorten in ganz Europa weitergegeben.

Symphonische Extrem-Heavy-Metal-Band aus Stockholm - gegründet und geleitet von Multiinstrumentalist und Songwriter Zorn. Nachdem er sich von Dark Funeral trennte, war er entschlossen, mit seiner neuen Band Zornheym den traditionellen "Metal-meets-Symphony"-Ansatz aufzurütteln. Zornheym entwickelte sich schnell von einer ambitionierten Idee zu einem dramatischen musikalischen und narrativen Konzept, das sich um die Schrecken einer psychiatrischen Anstalt und ihrer Häftlinge drehte. Vier Jahre, nachdem die Tore der Anstalt erstmals erdacht wurden, wurden sie mit der Veröffentlichung des Debütalbums endlich geöffnet. Wo Hass wohnt und Dunkelheit herrscht. " Dieses Album stellte das erschreckende Konzept des Asyls und die darin enthaltenen schrecklichen Charaktere vor. Zornheym's Sound wurde als kraftvoll und filmisch beschrieben und das zweite Album lädt dazu ein, diese Erfahrung in "The Zornheim Sleep Experiment" fortzusetzen, das tief im Inneren der Anstalt stattfindet. Mit einem echten Chor und einem Streichquartett kreieren sie erneut ihre Klangwand und lassen die Geschichte in einer Graphic Novel zum Leben erwecken, die die Geschichten des Albums begleitet und erweitert.

Zornheym debütierte auf dem französischen Motocultor-Festival und sie haben ihre energiegeladenen, bombastischen Erfahrungen auf vielen weiteren Festivals und Veranstaltungsorten in ganz Europa weitergegeben.