Buscar:sun of the dying

Musik ist im Grunde eine Waffe, um die Mauern, die wir um uns herum aufgebaut haben, zu zerstören - und die finnischen Metal-Melancholiker INSOMNIUM gehören zu den stärksten Waffenbesitzern. Ihr letztes Studioalbum "Anno 1696" (veröffentlicht An-fang 2023) eroberte die internationalen Albumcharts, darunter Platz 1 in Finnland und Platz 5 in Deutschland. Darauf folgte die addendumartige EP "Songs of the Dusk", die den Hörer auf eine weitere Reise in eine dunkle und neblige Vergangenheit mit-nahm.Aus dem Land der tausend Seen, das mit tausend Melodien aufwartet und tausend Emotionen hervorbringt, kam 2014 "Shadows of the Dying Sun", das sechste Studioalbum von INSOMNIUM. Ein Album, geboren aus der Melancholie, der Trauer und der Tristesse langer Winternächte, so unerbittlich und überwältigend wie ein Herbststurm und doch so erfrischend wie die ersten Sonnenstrahlen eines Frühlingsmorgens und so friedlich wie ein lauer Sommerabend. Century Media Records veröffentlicht diesen Klassiker, der Fan-Favoriten wie "While We Sleep", "Ephemeral" und "The Primeval Dark" enthält, erneut auf limitiertem, farbigem Vinyl und mit Liner Notes von Gitarrist Ville Friman für die anstehende "Beyond the Shadows of the Dying Sun"-10th Anniversary European Tour mit ihren (Label-)Kollegen OMNIUM GATHERUM.

Das erste Live-Album von Dead Can Dance erschien im Oktober 1994 unter dem Titel "Toward The Within". Und damit zu einem Zeitpunkt, als die Band nach den gefeierten Alben "Aion" (1990) und "Into The Labyrinth" (1993) sowie der Retrospektive "A Passage In Time (Best Of)" (1991) auf dem - vermeintlichen - Höhepunkt ihres Erfolgs stand. Um so erstaunlicher, dass "Toward The Within" überwiegend bislang unveröffentlichte Titel enthielt! Das Album wurde 1993 während der ausverkauften Welttour im Mayfair Theater in Santa Monica, Kalifornien, mitgeschnitten. Auch heute noch lösen die Songs Gänsehaut aus. Beim Vortrag von Perry und Gerrard herrscht wie bei einem Klassikkonzert gebannte, geradezu andächtige Stille, nach den Songs bricht frenetischer Jubel los. Mit der vom DCD-Stammlabel 4AD verantworteten Nachpressung von "Toward The Within" ist die LP erstmals seit ihrem Ersterscheinen wieder auf Vinyl erhältlich.

An official reissue of “Shadows of The Dying Sun”, the 2014 album by Insomnium, one of “melodic death metal’s most unique and instantly recognisable modern voices” (Metal Hammer”). With enclosed band commentary on all songs, the Svart reissue of this modern metal epic comes with the Ephemeral EP as bonus tracks on side D and is wrapped in a heavy gatefold jacket.

DJ DIE SOON is the apocalyptic alter-ego Daisuke Imamura, whose performances of masked malice have been a fixture in the Berlin underground for the past decade. His latest record My Brothel The Wind takes inspiration from Sun Ra at his most grotesque, conjuring a distorted phantasmagoria with an eclectic crew of compatriots like Rully Shabara, Sara Persico, and longtime collaborator Kiki Hitomi. Film director Hiroo Tanaka’s visual contributions in the album art, poster, and music video complete the album’s narrative, telling a story not of villainy but of phantom caprice in a dying world.
My Brothel The Wind shows DJ DIE SOON as an alchemist of distortion, transmuting the club-forward beats of his 2020 debut Kappa Slap and the seething horrorscapes of DIEMAJIN, his 2022 collaboration with Tokyo vocalist MA. Imamura’s obsession with noise stems from his upbringing in Tokyo, where he grew up hearing the deafening roar of trains every day. “The buildings were really tall, so the sounds reflected so much and it was so loud that you couldn’t even have a conversation on the phone. Hearing this noise every minute when living in this flat, it became a normal thing,” he says. While most would content themselves with avoiding loudness, DJ DIE SOON seeks to unpack its visceral potential.
DJ DIE SOON’s subterranean productions form a monstrous gestalt with the eclectic contributions of his network of co-conspirators. “Unfinished” and “Directions” are pulsating chimeras that highlight animalistic vocalizations from Hitomi and Shabara; Italian MC Franco Franco’s verses snake underneath the noisy onslaught. The tectonic textures of “Dandelion Crackers” are courtesy of multi-instrumentalist Laure Boer’s handmade stone synth. Sara Persico’s mangled vocables hang as fleshy reminders of human fragility on “SAQ4IME”; in the Hiroo Tanaka-directed music video, the track’s sonic uncanniness is made cinematic, with an ambient dread that references Hiroshi Teshigahara’s 1964 psychological thriller Woman in the Dunes.
While Sun Ra’s intergalactic Moog reached for the stars, DJ DIE SOON plunges into the depths of hell. “Everybody, Shake Your Body, We Chill At Party” feels like the sonic equivalent of a wax museum burning to the ground, rigid smiles melting into the fire. Rather than a vision of the future, My Brothel The Wind is a laugh-cry of despair in the face of a Hadean present. DJ DIE SOON confronts the world with a new hand-made mask, reborn in the ashes.

You know the pattern: someone calls their album "Balearic," and you immediately expect chill-out terraces, pan-flute samples, and the umpteenth return of the Café del Mar sunset. Devi G. refuses this reflex almost maliciously. The title is a trick—an invitation to disappointment for those hoping for postcard exoticism. What is actually being negotiated here is erosion, but that of the body itself: the abrasion one inflicts upon oneself in the excess of the night, when partying turns into wear and tear, and a rush becomes a graze that only becomes visible in the morning. No backdrop, then, but a wound one has voluntarily acquired.

Instead of the usual Ibiza xylophones, Devi G. digs into the rift between idyll and wear. The result reads like a séance—less José Padilla, more as if Kevin Martin had re-recorded a Manuel Göttsching record on a dying four-track deck. The target area lies somewhere between the waterlogged ambient sketches of Huerco S. and the faded dub-afterglow of Actress, but Devi G. remains consistently on his own, grainier frequency.

Balearic Abrasions (title track) opens without haste, demanding almost without impatience: no motif, no rhythmic handhold, just a slowly tilting balance between warm texture and rough surface. The grain never feels forced—it is not a lo-fi costume, but an integral part of the statics themselves. Where other ambient producers strive for perfection, Devi G. consciously seeks the breaking point. Rhythm remains a tool, never an ambition. Those expecting quick resolution will be disappointed; those willing to listen will receive a depth effect that is rarely this vivid.

Exit Through Thee Gift Shop tips into harder territory: dub-techno reduction meets industrial edge, carried by a stoic kick drum that knows no mercy. Metallic textures slice through the sub-bass, while repetitive chords hypnotize like a defective loop. Central to this is a rare Terence McKenna recording, which functions less as spoken-word ornamentation and more as a disruptive spirit between memory and media archaeology. The title—Banksy reference included—turns this into a biting punchline: radical electronic abstraction positioned against the hyper-commercialized art world.

Morning Depth pushes the claustrophobia further, somewhere between post-industrial and deep-sea dub. The track refuses any peak-time logic, preferring to disintegrate into itself, subcutaneously, methodically. At the end, a casual, almost banal vocal sample (“i defiantly prefer chocolate”) breaks into the cool machinery—a small, profane fissure that makes the coldness of the rest of the piece all the more apparent.

Desiré Algorithmic is the album's most calculated moment: a stoic, repetitive bassline as a foundation, topped with fragile melody fragments that flash like glitches in faulty code. The title reads like a promise from nightlife—a figure that suggests much and delivers nothing, because behind the façade there is simply nothing, only simulation. The track carries exactly this principle: promise without substance, desire without body, just rendering. Only in the final third does a melancholic saxophone break into the sterile structure—organic, imperfect, and for that very reason more credible than everything before it. It is the moment in which the real briefly flashes through the surface of the dummy before it closes again.

All-inclusive Residue concludes the album as sedimentation rather than dramaturgy: dub-techno remnants, industrial patina, salty ambient surfaces that settle rather than compose. The refusal of consumption as a sonic principle—brittle, stubborn, with a gravity that lingers long after.

Verdict: Balearic Abrasions is not easy listening with a sea view, but an exercise in patience and friction. The restraint with which Devi G. avoids climaxes will frustrate some—for everyone else, that is exactly where the record's strength lies. No sunset. Rather, what remains on the rocks afterward.

As WARNING prepares to release Rituals of Shame - their first new music in twenty years,vocalist/guitarist Patrick Walker is self-effacing about what led to this moment. Over the last two decades he continued to write and release music, satisfied that he had achieved what he set out to do with WARNING. In those intervening years, interest in WARNING swelled, organically gathering an ardent fanbase. In particular, the 2006 album, Watching from a Distance, has gained a cult following. In response to a transformative period in his life, Walker turned towards writing new songs, and it soon became apparent that these belonged to WARNING. In early January 2025, he started with a completely blank canvas, and piece by piece, he started to fill it with ideas that evolved to become the songs that make up Rituals of Shame.

His immersion in the project became a full-time pursuit. After successfully demoing the five songs, Walker retreated to a remote house on a hill outside Florence, Italy, to refine the lyrics. Recording took place at The Arch Studio, a 140-year-old former church in Southport, UK. Chris Fullard (Idles, Sunn O))), Ulver) handled the recording and mixing. Walker's lifelong musical inspirations can be traced through Rituals of Shame. The ambitious structural arrangements harken to Marillion’s complex but soaring episodic songs. They retain a sparsity that is reminiscent of June Tabor’s economic arrangements; thick with melody but with a diaphanous air to them. Citing John Brenner of Revelation as an enduring inspiration, Patrick credits him with introducing the idea of how to infuse heavy music with significant emotional depth. Often reluctant to discuss the minutiae of his lyrics, Walker does acknowledge that making this album was a direct response to the immediate concerns of his current life period. Rituals of Shame also echoes the enduring themes and fixations that have marked most of his work: guilt, shame, personal failure, obsession, longing, and separation, but, most of all, he says, love. Short: WARNING return with Rituals of Shame - the pioneering Doom band's first new music in 20 years! FFO: My Dying Bride, Candlemass, YOB, Black Sabbath, 40 Watt Sun, Pallbearer, Pagan Altar

2025 marks the 50th anniversary of Led Zeppelin’s iconic sixth album, and their first double LP, Physical Graffiti.

To celebrate this landmark, Led Zeppelin will release an updated 50th Anniversary edition of 2015’s Physical Graffiti Deluxe Edition 3LP vinyl set, on 180g black vinyl, still featuring the Companion Audio disc, and now including a new bonus replica Physical Graffiti promotional poster (sized 443mm x 610mm).

Released on February 24, 1975 in the US (and four days later in the UK), Physical Graffiti immediately achieved platinum sales status and has recently been certified 17x platinum in the United States.

For Fans Of: Laibach, Trepaneringsritualen, Ulver, Skinny Puppy, industrialized Dead Can Dance, Celtic Frost. FORGOTTEN SUNRISE is a band both legendary and current; inventors in one era, and innovators in the present day. Celebrating their 30th anniversary this year, the group has evolved and morphed over time into its current formation of Anders Melts, Kadri Sammel, and Jaan Pullerits. A huge part of the Estonian cultural landscape that comprises dark music, Forgotten Sunrise began life as a death metal band in the early 90s, part of the movement that spawned groups such as Amorphis, Beherit, Anathema, My Dying Bride, and Katatonia. As styles converged, and electronics entered the picture, the group incorporated newer techniques and a more industrial approach over time, consolidating their methods into a unique strain they call “OUTDUSTRIAL” – outsider industrial. elu is the first album in the “HALL-ELU-JAH” trilogy. Starting in the middle, the band has an expansive story arc set across 3 albums. In this first presentation of the trilogy, elu synchronizes the classic Death Metal style vocal with ethereal female voice, horror atmosphere, and pounding EBM rhythyms to create 8 memorable and visceral tracks. From high-energy dancefloor-fillers like “Orthotoxic Waste” and “Deep Emoceans” to heavy industrial grinders like “Near Bye” and “iSaid” to the emotional close of “Meating 8:08” into “Elukas”, the album provides a serene metamorphosis, guiding the listener through the many-worlds-as-one experience of Forgotten Sunrise. – Forgotten Sunrise are: Anders Melts – Vocals, bass, guitars, cymbals, djembe, thunder tube, knife and fork. Kadri Sammel – Vocals, bass, keyboards, shaman drum Jaan “Suva” Pullerits – Controlling the arrangements of chaos Ants “Ank” Lill – B(l)ack vocals on “Elukas” Recorded, mixed, and mastered at In Dreams 2020-2022 Artwork by Rene 13 Cover Picture by hellish.cav Executive Producer for Ohm Resistance – Alexandra Portaluppi

In a world increasingly shaped by disposable content, Chat Pile answer with something defiantly real and organic, a mentality that permeates Who Loves The Sun, their third full-length record. Since the band’s formation just over six years ago, the Oklahoma City-based quartet Chat Pile has grown from a scrappy passion project into one of the defining heavy acts to emerge from the 2020s underground. Ray B. (vocals), L. Manhole (guitar), Stin (bass), and Cap’n Ron (drums) create a crushing, crass, and cathartic take on noise rock that captures a raw, undeniably human essence in an age marked by technological overreach and the cold state of society. Nothing about Who Loves The Sun feels synthetic.

Whereas their debut album God’s Country depicted a particularly American flavor of dread, and the follow up Cool World showed a cruel planet defined by global systemic violence, Who Loves The Sun peels the skin back on how collective indifference defines this new century. Spanning imagery of coastlines devouring cities, dead-end jobs, and submission to data-driven inauthenticity, the album dissects the apathy-bloated state of 21st-century existence as a slow-motion apocalypse. As with much of Chat Pile’s work, Oklahoma City itself looms over the album like a character, its sprawling isolation, economic contradictions, and underlying sense of decay embedded in the fabric of the record. The perfect allegory for the thematic essence of Who Loves The Sun is the photo embossed on the record’s cover, where Devon Tower, a glassy, largely vacant monolith, looms high above the Oklahoma City skyline while a burnt-out home or storefront envelops the foreground. The album remains lyrically and sonically confrontational, but Chat Pile approached the songwriting with hooks in mind, drawing on melodic tones of pre-2000s indie rock, alt-rock, and new wave. From the blood-soaked vocal passages of “Christabel ’26” to the eerie trip-hop pulse of “Same Rules,” Who Loves The Sun is deeply human despite its allusions to a dying, divided .

In a world increasingly shaped by disposable content, Chat Pile answer with something defiantly real and organic, a mentality that permeates Who Loves The Sun, their third full-length record. Since the band’s formation just over six years ago, the Oklahoma City-based quartet Chat Pile has grown from a scrappy passion project into one of the defining heavy acts to emerge from the 2020s underground. Ray B. (vocals), L. Manhole (guitar), Stin (bass), and Cap’n Ron (drums) create a crushing, crass, and cathartic take on noise rock that captures a raw, undeniably human essence in an age marked by technological overreach and the cold state of society. Nothing about Who Loves The Sun feels synthetic.

Whereas their debut album God’s Country depicted a particularly American flavor of dread, and the follow up Cool World showed a cruel planet defined by global systemic violence, Who Loves The Sun peels the skin back on how collective indifference defines this new century. Spanning imagery of coastlines devouring cities, dead-end jobs, and submission to data-driven inauthenticity, the album dissects the apathy-bloated state of 21st-century existence as a slow-motion apocalypse. As with much of Chat Pile’s work, Oklahoma City itself looms over the album like a character, its sprawling isolation, economic contradictions, and underlying sense of decay embedded in the fabric of the record. The perfect allegory for the thematic essence of Who Loves The Sun is the photo embossed on the record’s cover, where Devon Tower, a glassy, largely vacant monolith, looms high above the Oklahoma City skyline while a burnt-out home or storefront envelops the foreground. The album remains lyrically and sonically confrontational, but Chat Pile approached the songwriting with hooks in mind, drawing on melodic tones of pre-2000s indie rock, alt-rock, and new wave. From the blood-soaked vocal passages of “Christabel ’26” to the eerie trip-hop pulse of “Same Rules,” Who Loves The Sun is deeply human despite its allusions to a dying, divided .

In a world increasingly shaped by disposable content, Chat Pile answer with something defiantly real and organic, a mentality that permeates Who Loves The Sun, their third full-length record. Since the band’s formation just over six years ago, the Oklahoma City-based quartet Chat Pile has grown from a scrappy passion project into one of the defining heavy acts to emerge from the 2020s underground. Ray B. (vocals), L. Manhole (guitar), Stin (bass), and Cap’n Ron (drums) create a crushing, crass, and cathartic take on noise rock that captures a raw, undeniably human essence in an age marked by technological overreach and the cold state of society. Nothing about Who Loves The Sun feels synthetic.

Whereas their debut album God’s Country depicted a particularly American flavor of dread, and the follow up Cool World showed a cruel planet defined by global systemic violence, Who Loves The Sun peels the skin back on how collective indifference defines this new century. Spanning imagery of coastlines devouring cities, dead-end jobs, and submission to data-driven inauthenticity, the album dissects the apathy-bloated state of 21st-century existence as a slow-motion apocalypse. As with much of Chat Pile’s work, Oklahoma City itself looms over the album like a character, its sprawling isolation, economic contradictions, and underlying sense of decay embedded in the fabric of the record. The perfect allegory for the thematic essence of Who Loves The Sun is the photo embossed on the record’s cover, where Devon Tower, a glassy, largely vacant monolith, looms high above the Oklahoma City skyline while a burnt-out home or storefront envelops the foreground. The album remains lyrically and sonically confrontational, but Chat Pile approached the songwriting with hooks in mind, drawing on melodic tones of pre-2000s indie rock, alt-rock, and new wave. From the blood-soaked vocal passages of “Christabel ’26” to the eerie trip-hop pulse of “Same Rules,” Who Loves The Sun is deeply human despite its allusions to a dying, divided .

In a world increasingly shaped by disposable content, Chat Pile answer with something defiantly real and organic, a mentality that permeates Who Loves The Sun, their third full-length record. Since the band’s formation just over six years ago, the Oklahoma City-based quartet Chat Pile has grown from a scrappy passion project into one of the defining heavy acts to emerge from the 2020s underground. Ray B. (vocals), L. Manhole (guitar), Stin (bass), and Cap’n Ron (drums) create a crushing, crass, and cathartic take on noise rock that captures a raw, undeniably human essence in an age marked by technological overreach and the cold state of society. Nothing about Who Loves The Sun feels synthetic.

Whereas their debut album God’s Country depicted a particularly American flavor of dread, and the follow up Cool World showed a cruel planet defined by global systemic violence, Who Loves The Sun peels the skin back on how collective indifference defines this new century. Spanning imagery of coastlines devouring cities, dead-end jobs, and submission to data-driven inauthenticity, the album dissects the apathy-bloated state of 21st-century existence as a slow-motion apocalypse. As with much of Chat Pile’s work, Oklahoma City itself looms over the album like a character, its sprawling isolation, economic contradictions, and underlying sense of decay embedded in the fabric of the record. The perfect allegory for the thematic essence of Who Loves The Sun is the photo embossed on the record’s cover, where Devon Tower, a glassy, largely vacant monolith, looms high above the Oklahoma City skyline while a burnt-out home or storefront envelops the foreground. The album remains lyrically and sonically confrontational, but Chat Pile approached the songwriting with hooks in mind, drawing on melodic tones of pre-2000s indie rock, alt-rock, and new wave. From the blood-soaked vocal passages of “Christabel ’26” to the eerie trip-hop pulse of “Same Rules,” Who Loves The Sun is deeply human despite its allusions to a dying, divided .

After a career spanning over thirty five years, from UK underground upstarts and outliers, to major success on the international stage - including tours with UK icons Iron Maiden and genre legends Dio - My Dying Bride have themselves become a firmly established pillar of metal history with a refined and influential brand of Death/Doom metal. With enduring popularity across subsequent decades, My Dying Bride remains a productive and captivating vessel for tragedy and despair, with their studio output spanning fourteen full-length albums to date.

As part of the “Peaceville Three”, along with fellow countrymen Paradise Lost and Anathema, My Dying Bride truly became a primary force in highlighting Britain as an epicentre of this Doom revolution of the time, creating a highly distinguishable sound assisted by the inclusion of violin & a more poetic approach to the delivery of morbid and salacious topics, lending an additional air of eccentricity and eloquence to the darkness.

Anthology of Sombre Reflections is an expansive and comprehensive collection of the early and much-celebrated works of the Doom Gods, from the formative deathly rawness of the revered Towards the Sinister demo, ‘God is Alone’ 7” tracks and subsequent debut album, As the Flower Withers, through to the gothic-tinged funereal seductive delights of 1996’s highlight, Like Gods of the Sun.

With the addition of all-time genre classic opuses Turn Loose the Swans, and The Angel and the Dark River also representing My Dying Bride’s much-loved early to 90’s period, the band’s three cult EPs are also featured in this deluxe eight-vinyl boxset, with each record presented on 180gm heavyweight black vinyl. The four studio albums themselves have also been treated to new half-speed masters courtesy of Air Studios.

Accompanying the audio is a 48-page book featuring photographs and artwork, plus new interviews with Andrew Craighan and Aaron Stainthorpe exploring some of the influences and thought-processes behind the creation of such cherished works of the 90s, as well as reflections of their output over this period.

Anthology of Sombre Reflections also contains 2 large posters depicting the Turn Loose the Swans CD artwork image, plus the original poster included in As the Flower Withers. A selection of photo prints of the band from this era are also included.

1998’s OPUS OF STELLAR DOOM ROCK FROM THE SWEDISH LEGENDS,
INCLUDING MICHAEL AMOTT OF ARCH ENEMY ON GUITARS.
FEATURES NEWLY REMASTERED AUDIO & PRESENTED ON LIMITED PEARL ARCTIC VINYL.

Candlemass was formed by bassist & songwriter Leif Edling in Stockholm, Sweden in 1984. Well known for their epic doom metal & continuing their legacy as genre leaders to this day, Candlemass has influenced a generation of the genre’s subsequent greats from My Dying Bride to Paradise Lost - Candlemass themselves taking a large influence from Black Sabbath.

‘Dactylis Glomerata’ was a come-back album of sorts, originally released in 1998, after the band had temporarily been laid to rest after the ‘Chapter VI’ album.

‘Dactylis…’ was an album of more stripped down dirty doom rock, with solid songwriting on display, evoking what some described as a strong stoner vibe, along with some hard rock elements. This was in contrast to the more epic heavy metal inspired compositions from previous albums, which the band were more known for. Having stood the test of time incredibly well, ’Dactylis Glomerata’ is a gem in the band’s rich history spanning four decades.

The album notably also features guitars by Michael Amott of Arch Enemy (ex-Carcass), & also a guest appearance by Ian Haugland from Europe.

This edition of ’Dactylis Glomerata’ is presented on limited pearl arctic vinyl, with newly band-approved remastered audio courtesy of Patrick Engel at Temple of Disharmony.

A MUCH SOUGHT AFTER SOUNDTRACK, THIS NEW VERSION FROM SILVA SCREEN CONTAINS MUCH NEVER BEFORE RELEASED MATERIAL!!

After a decade of creating pioneering puppet series made for children, Gerry & Sylvia Anderson took their first steps into live-action, with the 1969 feature film Doppelgänger (re-titled outside Britain as Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun). This science-fiction film approached its outer space subject matter with a gritty realism, and would set the tone for what was to be their first live-action television series: UFO. This new series took as a starting point the pioneering work of Dr Christiaan N. Barnard, the surgeon who performed the world’s first heart transplant operation. In UFO a dying race of aliens travel across vast distances of space to harvest organs from human beings to help ensure their own survival. To combat this threat the United Nations created SHADO, a top-secret organisation utilising the latest technology available to defend the Earth.

To complement the series, the Andersons frequent musical collaborator Barry Gray created a multifaceted score that gave the programme its own musical identity. Elegantly crafted and a firm favourite with Barry Gray fans, the sound of UFO, particularly its ethereal “World Music” closing credits is, quite simply, a joy. Includes a bonus track, Trampoline performed by The Spencer Davis Group from the episode Ordeal.

On Squirrel Flower's new album, Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Ella Williams, delivers her most transcendent and instantly classic record to date. It's an album full of hope and beauty, with themes of staying in constant motion, electric love, and knowing when to leave, but also when to stick around. After touring in support of 2023's Tomorrow's Fire, Williams remained on the road, following instinct over itinerary_passing through Gary, Indiana; Los Angeles; Putney, Vermont; Silver City, New Mexico; and Hudson, New York. Each stop became a site of creative renewal. She ended up recording the album at two locations: a makeshift studio in rural Wisconsin, and at Drop of Sun in Asheville, NC, featuring friends and collaborators such as Dimitri Giannpolous (Horse Jumper of Love), Sofia Jensen (Free Range), Clay Frankel (Twin Peaks, Hazel City), and many others along the way. Standouts like "Reelin" and "Highway Woman" showcase the push and pull of life as a musician; the constant need for embarking on a hero's journey in search of reflection and freedom. Others like "Not Me" and "Cleveland" are classic Squirrel Flower, but with a sharper and more concentrated writing style paired with some of Williams' strongest vocal delivery of her career. Mixed and co-produced by Alex Farrar (MJ Lenderman, Wednesday), Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going is the sound of cosmic rebirth, looking behind to illuminate what's ahead. "Pack your life and your guitar," Williams sings on "Highway Woman." "You can change it as you go. You do not plan on dying." In addition to her seemingly nonstop DISABLED touring across North America and Europe, Squirrel Flower has been featured in outlets such as Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, The NY Times, Paste, and many others, as well as performances at NPR's Tiny Desk & KEXP. Williams' music has been streamed millions of times around the globe, proving her to be an undeniable force as a songwriter. FOR FANS OF Indigo De Souza, Soccer Mommy, Katy Kirby, Julia Jacklin, Tomberlin, Hand Habits, Phoebe Bridgers, Waxahatchee, PJ Harvey, Grouper, Chelsea Wolfe, Moses Sumney, Cat Power, Liz Phair, Alex G, Mazzy Star, Julie Byrne, Big Thief.

On Squirrel Flower's new album, Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Ella Williams, delivers her most transcendent and instantly classic record to date. It's an album full of hope and beauty, with themes of staying in constant motion, electric love, and knowing when to leave, but also when to stick around. After touring in support of 2023's Tomorrow's Fire, Williams remained on the road, following instinct over itinerary_passing through Gary, Indiana; Los Angeles; Putney, Vermont; Silver City, New Mexico; and Hudson, New York. Each stop became a site of creative renewal. She ended up recording the album at two locations: a makeshift studio in rural Wisconsin, and at Drop of Sun in Asheville, NC, featuring friends and collaborators such as Dimitri Giannpolous (Horse Jumper of Love), Sofia Jensen (Free Range), Clay Frankel (Twin Peaks, Hazel City), and many others along the way. Standouts like "Reelin" and "Highway Woman" showcase the push and pull of life as a musician; the constant need for embarking on a hero's journey in search of reflection and freedom. Others like "Not Me" and "Cleveland" are classic Squirrel Flower, but with a sharper and more concentrated writing style paired with some of Williams' strongest vocal delivery of her career. Mixed and co-produced by Alex Farrar (MJ Lenderman, Wednesday), Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going is the sound of cosmic rebirth, looking behind to illuminate what's ahead. "Pack your life and your guitar," Williams sings on "Highway Woman." "You can change it as you go. You do not plan on dying." In addition to her seemingly nonstop DISABLED touring across North America and Europe, Squirrel Flower has been featured in outlets such as Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, The NY Times, Paste, and many others, as well as performances at NPR's Tiny Desk & KEXP. Williams' music has been streamed millions of times around the globe, proving her to be an undeniable force as a songwriter. FOR FANS OF Indigo De Souza, Soccer Mommy, Katy Kirby, Julia Jacklin, Tomberlin, Hand Habits, Phoebe Bridgers, Waxahatchee, PJ Harvey, Grouper, Chelsea Wolfe, Moses Sumney, Cat Power, Liz Phair, Alex G, Mazzy Star, Julie Byrne, Big Thief.

Recorded April 17 and 18, 1993, at the Union Grove Baptist Church, Ozark, Alabama.

The Wiregrass Singers' Dewey Williams began learning the shape-note tradition in his childhood. He studied under Judge Jackson, who authored the landmark 1934 hymnbook The Colored Sacred Harp. In 1971, Williams formally organized The Wiregrass Sacred Harp Singers to preserve the music full-time. This unified troupe began touring nationally and leading workshops, which ultimately launched them onto stages at the Smithsonian and Newport folk festivals up until Williams' passing in 1995 when the group disbanded. The African-American Sacred Harp tradition in the Wiregrass region has steeply declined since the start of the 21st century, due to an aging generation of singers, and today it is largely sustained through archival preservation and occasional multi-book singing meetups.

This raw recording, made at the Union Grove Baptist Church, Ozark in mid-April 1993 finds the group singing from B. F. White’s The Sacred Harp (1844), which together with his brother-in-law William Walker’s Southern Harmony (1835) formed the musical backbone of generations of Southern music and Southern musical styles.

"On almost any Sunday between the months of March and October, the season most conducive to travel and outdoor dinner-on-the- grounds, Sacred Harp devotés join with fellow songsters at the County Line Church in Slocomb, or the Mount Sinai Church in Henry County, or the Union Grove Baptist Church in Dale County, or at any one of a dozen or so churches in the southeast Alabama counties of Barbour, Coffee, Dale, Geneva, Houston and Pike, to form the square and sing fa-sol-la. Approximately fifteen African-American Sacred Harp singings occur annually in the Wiregrass region of southeast Alabama. A singing tradition characteristically associated with white culture in the Deep South, southeast Alabama has enjoyed a vibrant African-American Sacred Harp tradition for well over a century.

On a day of a typical African-American Sacred Harp Singing, the participants arrive casually in the late morning, seat themselves in the square according to voice part, and begin to sing. A dinner break occurs in the early afternoon, and the singers enjoy a covered-dish "dinner-on-the-grounds" (or in the church basement) prepared by the women. The most intense and emotional singing typically occurs after the dinner break. Each singer takes a turn leading the song of his choice. He walks to the middle of the square, calls out the song's page number and waits for the designated tuner to key the song. Singers are discouraged by the other singers from repeating a song that has already been sung, or "used." This proscription is often dispensed with, however, if the singer is particularly young, particularly old, or if the song has special significance to the individual song leader (perhaps the favorite song of a recently deceased relative).

Every singer is given an opportunity to lead a song. Often, older or more infirm singers will request younger singers to lead their songs for them. The motions of the song leaders are highly stylistic and often emotional. Young children are taught in singing school to mark time with their right arm while holding the book in their left. Typically, a singer will stand in place at the center of the square while leading the singing of the notes. When he begins to lead the lyrics portion of the song, he will often begin to "walk time," rhythmically pacing from one side of the square to the other, being careful never to turn his back on the tenor section. This "walking time" is unique to the African-American tradition. As a singer grows more confident he develops his own distinctive leading style. During fuguing songs in particular, he may gesture to each section of the square as its part joins in. Skilled song leaders often elicit applause or other emotional responses from the group. Occasionally a singer may fall into a state of spiritual ecstasy and "get happy." The episode might include a personal testimonial followed by a repeat of the last verse or refrain from the previous song. The singings break up around 5 P.M."
—Henry Willett, 1997 credits

The world is ending, and rent is due. The empire is crumbling, and you’re late refilling your meds. War is ceaseless, pandemics go unchecked, billionaires poison the well water and cops abduct neighbors while wildfires burn… but here at the hot dog stand, relief and joy are yours for five buck ninety-nine.

This is PEASANTS REVOLT, the latest album from trans folksinger Creekbed Carter Hogan. Playing the part of court jester in the halls of a dying empire, Hogan croons, hollers, and grins in the face of despair as we feast together on one last humble supper before everything falls apart.

A rollicking medieval-Americana manuscript, Hogan’s new work anchors itself in transitions. PEASANTS REVOLT was written living and moving between the North and the South; sung by a body both pre- and post-trans affirming healthcare; and recorded during a time of genocide, federal occupation, and workers’ uprisings. Decorating its margins are influences spanning time and medium. Here, 14th century king-killer ballads sit next to Appalachian strike songs. Labor and union songs find kinship with Ethiopian jazz records. Hogan’s work echoes with historical struggle, too, from the Haitian Revolution to the struggle for trans rights to the surreal futurism of Rio Grande Valley writer Fernando A. Flores. This album takes the entwinement of the personal and the political seriously, a path often walked by everyone from Hazel Dickens and John Prine to ANOHNI. The 10 tracks of PEASANTS REVOLT are themselves endlessly transitioning, hinging on mid-song shifts and building into wildfires that crackle and sputter with the courage of momentum and catchy hooks. By centering this work so deeply in the tumult of change, Hogan illuminates all of capitalism’s attempts to isolate us — and the power that we regain when we refuse to face our lives and our selves alone.

GoldFord’s soul music is rooted in truth. His raw, unvarnished songs are a balance of introspection and catharsis, grappling with heartbreak, healing, and the quiet revelations that come with growth. After spending a decade in corporate America, the St. Louis native (now based in Los Angeles) turned to music as a means of survival following a devastating personal loss. “I was more afraid of dying with regret than I was of failing,” he says of his decision to finally choose the path at 30, a choice that set his entire trajectory in motion.

That initial fearlessness has since fueled extraordinary momentum. With over 4 million monthly listeners on Spotify, GoldFord has rapidly become one of the most compelling emerging voices in contemporary music. His breakout EP, Orange Blossoms (Oct 2024), has surpassed 100M streams, and his latest project, Space of the Heart (Sept 2025), has already generated 90.8M streams, 2.7M saves, and over 153,000 pieces of user-generated content across TikTok and Instagram. The standout track “Easy Does It” has reached 43.5M streams and continues to accelerate with more than 250K new weekly discoveries on Spotify.

GoldFord is stepping into a more luminous and soulful era as he prepares to unveil his next body of work. Defined by the warmth and light of his latest single, Only You Do, the music remains a dedicated exploration of mental wellness, restoration, and the profound power of human connection. From its opening chords, this new project serves as both a continuation and an elevation of his journey toward healing.

Katatonia was formed in 1991 by Anders Nyström & Jonas Renkse. Their debut album, ‘Dance Of December Souls’, was released in 1993, gaining the band recognition for their eclectic brand of gothic doom/death metal & joining acts such as Paradise Lot & My Dying Bride as one of the genre's defining bands. Over the years, Katatonia evolved beyond their more extreme metal origins to become one of the pinnacles of the progressive metal genre.

‘Viva Emptiness’ was Katatonia’s sixth studio album & is considered among the band’s strongest works; a step up even over the seemingly insurmountable greatness of previous release, ‘Last Fair Deal Gone Down’. The album was recorded at the famous Soundtrade Studios (part of the 301 group) in Stockholm in October/November 2002 & released the following year; further refining Katatonia’s unique & poignant brand of melodic dark rock & metal.

This edition of 'Viva Emptiness' features the original 2003 audio mix, which received a recent half-speed master courtesy of Abbey Road Studios, London, & is presented on black vinyl. The release contains the original artwork from Travis Smith.

As WARNING prepares to release Rituals of Shame - their first new music in twenty years,vocalist/guitarist Patrick Walker is self-effacing about what led to this moment. Over the last two decades he continued to write and release music, satisfied that he had achieved what he set out to do with WARNING. In those intervening years, interest in WARNING swelled, organically gathering an ardent fanbase. In particular, the 2006 album, Watching from a Distance, has gained a cult following. In response to a transformative period in his life, Walker turned towards writing new songs, and it soon became apparent that these belonged to WARNING. In early January 2025, he started with a completely blank canvas, and piece by piece, he started to fill it with ideas that evolved to become the songs that make up Rituals of Shame.

His immersion in the project became a full-time pursuit. After successfully demoing the five songs, Walker retreated to a remote house on a hill outside Florence, Italy, to refine the lyrics. Recording took place at The Arch Studio, a 140-year-old former church in Southport, UK. Chris Fullard (Idles, Sunn O))), Ulver) handled the recording and mixing. Walker's lifelong musical inspirations can be traced through Rituals of Shame. The ambitious structural arrangements harken to Marillion’s complex but soaring episodic songs. They retain a sparsity that is reminiscent of June Tabor’s economic arrangements; thick with melody but with a diaphanous air to them. Citing John Brenner of Revelation as an enduring inspiration, Patrick credits him with introducing the idea of how to infuse heavy music with significant emotional depth. Often reluctant to discuss the minutiae of his lyrics, Walker does acknowledge that making this album was a direct response to the immediate concerns of his current life period. Rituals of Shame also echoes the enduring themes and fixations that have marked most of his work: guilt, shame, personal failure, obsession, longing, and separation, but, most of all, he says, love. Short: WARNING return with Rituals of Shame - the pioneering Doom band's first new music in 20 years! FFO: My Dying Bride, Candlemass, YOB, Black Sabbath, 40 Watt Sun, Pallbearer, Pagan Altar

Fust’s first record "Evil Joy" was a bitter domestic drama obsessed with the kitchen-sink passage of time measured by moments of leaving and returning. With "Genevieve", we find a different kind of leaving: leaving behind, leaving one’s old ways, starting anew, a small life together, in “Family Country.” Thus, Genevieve: an historical name for both the saintly and the ordinary, the peasantry and the family, the community and the wife, extreme devotion and absolute forbearance. While sonically and instrumentally louder than Evil Joy, Genevieve is thematically more quiet about its pains—more settled in its ways. It is a collection of pathetic love stories written in dedication to “small life,” moving from gentle exceptions (“I can take the late hours if you’re with me”) to pitiful admissions (“I’m never going to change when I leave…”). What comes with a quiet life? The highest forms of beauty, but we also find here songs of unspeaking companions, the sublime dread of having children, the balance of humility and humiliation, playing the fool for the greater good, and… budget birthday parties. With these stories of possible growth, "Genevieve" can’t help but also feature tried and true examples of crisis and repression: seeking a bygone lifestyle in an old friend who hasn’t changed much over the years, pissing contests, search parties as the form of community for melancholics with no clue what they’ve lost, old flames you won't let go and dying flames you won’t admit. "Genevieve" was recorded throughout 2021-2022 (mostly) at Drop of Sun studio in Asheville NC by Alex Farrar. The painting by Sasha Popovici is exactly right: a domestic scene yet unfinished. Many friends helped to make it much better than it was without them—Xandy Chelmis, Michael Cormier-O’Leary, Indigo De Souza, MJ Lenderman, Courtney Werner.

Whitelands' second album Sunlight Echoes builds on their elemental debut - that won them fans from Slowdive to David Jonsson - with a more expansive sound that takes them out of the shoegaze shadows to somewhere bigger, better and brighter. Produced by long-time collaborator Ian Flynn and mixed by double Grammy Award-winner Eduardo De La Paz (New Order, The Horrors, The Charlatans, The KVB, Drug Store Romeos), there are soaring string arrangements (by Iskra Strings) and Lush guest vocals from labelmate Emma Anderson. "We're coming back with a lot more maturity and realness," says singer and guitarist Etienne Quartey-Papafio of their step up. "It shows in how much more emotional our music has become." With maturity comes a newfound confidence, so not only are there stunning melodies everywhere, but Etienne's vocals are front and centre throughout. "It's been really cool to watch Etienne push through boundaries," adds bassist Vanessa Govinden. "I like the direction we've taken on this album. We're taking a risk. It's half and half." She's right - the first half of the album has an almost Britpop breeziness, that belies the serious subject matter that inspired the songs, while the second half gets heavier, in all senses, with added grit and gravitas."This album is one of enduring," says Etienne of the overarching theme. "We had family that were dying, I was broke, there was a shortage of my ADHD medication_ I was suffering, but not just me, everyone around me was too." "The last two years have been challenging," concludes Vanessa. "The universe really fucked with us. That's why there are themes of loss, disconnection, fragmentation and yearning, but on the other side there is also unity and hope." Sunlight Echoes is a poetic, melodic statement of intent from this formidable band. Whitelands have fought back and triumphed in the face of adversity.

On their sophomore full- length, "Cult of a Dying Sun", Uada expand their scope and range of hypnotic craft. Balancing sharp riffs with spectral melodies in a manifold of haunting yet distinctive black metal dirges. A sharp spear in the heart of the brightest star. Epic, atmospheric, deadly

Anathema has spent the vast majority of their career making music that defies
description. As part of the Peaceville 3, along with Paradise Lost & My Dying Bride,
Anathema have carved a strong legacy since their inception at the turn of the 1990s,
to become a widely revered & respected band within both the metal world & beyond,
as their sound & compositions progressed from doom/death metal into more rock &
progressive territory with each subsequent release, becoming one of the UK's most
cherished & critically acclaimed rock bands.
'The Silent Enigma', Anathema's second studio album, was originally released in the
summer of '95 & was the first release on which guitarist Vincent Cavanagh took over
the vocal duties of the departed Darren White. Where Darren's vocals were guttural,
Vincent's style pushed the possibilities for Anathema onwards & upwards, with a
scope & breadth beyond his years, complimenting an ethereal roller- coaster of
thoughtful atmospherics & crushing Celtic Frost style riffs - the Swiss legends being a
notable inspiration. What emerged was a fine example of highly-atmospheric & often
emotional gothic doom, spawning classic Anathema songs such as "Restless
Oblivion", "Sunset Of Age", "The Silent Enigma" & "A Dying Wish". Lauded by the metal
press & fans alike as a doom metal classic, the album's popularity has remained a
favourite within the metal scene.
This special 30th anniversary edition of 'The Silent Enigma' is presented on limited
marble vinyl, with the vinyl mastering work carried out by Abbey Road Studios,
London.

Legendary postmodern, post punk, post human, past caring collective Mekons return with a brand-new album for 2025. Their first release on Fire Records, ‘Horror’ a collection of songs written in late 2022 but providing a horribly prescient reflection of the world in its current miasma and how we got here. ‘Horror’ looks at history and the legacies of British imperialism with mashed up lyrics set against a typically eclectic sound that amalgamates everything from dub, country, noise, rock & roll, electronica, punk, music hall, polka and you can even take your partner for a nice waltz on ‘Sad And Sad And Sad’. The roots of their global sound reflect their nomadic journey through time and space from Leeds to California in the West and Siberia in the East and is woven into the fabric and intricacies of their song creation… Sounding like The Chills and R.E.M circa the I.R.S Records years, ‘Mudcrawlers’ sees just about the whole band joining Jon Langford on vocals speaking of Irish famine and refugees journeying to Wales. ‘War Economy’ shivers in the cold of such Boroughs spiked one-liners: “Clinical coercion will not achieve dominance!” Sounding like its straight off a Jenny Holzer neon sign (she of Abuse Of Power Comes As No Surprise), it’s held together by a disgruntled swaggering riff that underpins an explosion of disquiet. Meanwhile, Rico takes the lead on the maliciously luscious ‘Fallen Leaves’ an appalled and appalling Hammer Horror take on climate breakdown reminiscent of Rolling Thunder Dylan, that recalls The Pogues at their most introspective, its Celtic twilightism augmented by Susie Honeyman’s keening violin as the dying sun sinks down and the river Styx flows on in the pitch black night. Almost 50 years in the making, these Mekons continue to astound, their sound, sentiment and method of delivery blended to perfection by bass player and studio wizard, Dave Trumfio. The Mekons are Jon Langford, Sally Timms, Tom Greenhalgh, Dave Trumfio, Susie Honeyman, Rico Bell, Steve Goulding, and Lu Edmonds. "Effortlessly eloquent post-punks" Pitchfork // “The Mekons are still vital” Rolling Stone // “The most revolutionary group in the history of rock ‘n’ roll,” Lester Bangs // UK Tour 8-15 May 2025 (including London, Manchester, Glasgow, and more).

late night drive home have never known a world without Wifi - without access to the endless stream of joy, sorrow, heartbreak, and hope that we all tune in and tune out to on the daily. In many ways, the guys can"t really extricate themselves from that reality - even their band name comes from a random Wikipedia page - but they"re trying to at least grapple with it. "Most of us grew up on the internet with unsupervised access at a very young age," says singer Andre Portillo. "As we started foreseeing all the outcomes - both good and bad - of this kind of access and advancement, we started writing... forming a sound and message that would become our next record." The culmination of that, then, is the buoyant yet ominous as I watch my life online, the band"s debut album. late night drive home was born in El Paso, Texas, and Chaparral, New Mexico, hardworking communities where folks built their houses by hand and collars were mostly blue. Comprising guitarist Juan "Ockz" Vargas, singer Andre Portillo, drummer Brian Dolan, and bassist Freddy Baca, the entirely self-taught quartet released their first digital EP as a full band, 2021"s Am I sinking or Am I swimming?, and blew up with the single "Stress Relief," a blast of early-Aughts indie that racked in tens of millions of streams. After they signed with Epitaph Records in 2023 - and releasing 2024"s grunge-inspired 3 song EP i"ll remember you for the same feeling you gave me as i slept - they found themselves playing stages their indie idols previously shredded: Coachella, Shaky Knees, Austin City Limits, and Kilby Block Party. Since the end of the pandemic, though, the band had been dreaming up as i watch my life online. "I started thinking about the time after the pandemic and how much things were changing," says Vargas. "So the whole album is a critique of social media and the way we use the internet to distance ourselves from each other." The resulting suite of tracks is a series of online vignettes that hammers home the band"s message: the photos on your phone shouldn"t be your identity; your posts aren"t your inner monologue. A bigger life is lived where there"s no service - in your hometown on a late night road with your friends, and on stage, where the band finally found their destination after that long drive.

A rework and rerecording of Anthony's break out and most beloved record, Avalon.

NIGHTBEARER melden sich mit ihrem dritten Albumkracher "Defiance" zurück. Die deutschen Death-Dealer aus der ostwestfälischen Stadt Paderborn bleiben dabei dem typischen HM-2 Kettensägen-Gitarrensound ebenso treu wie auch ihrer unverhohlene Liebe zum melodischen Death Metal schwedischer Prägung. Dabei markiert "Defiance" dennoch einen weiteren Schritt in der ebenso stetigen wie umsichtigen Evolution ihres Sounds, indem sie ihrem Old-School-Stil beispielsweise angeschwärzte Passagen und doomige Momente hinzufügen. Das Ergebnis dieser Horizonterweiterung ist ein enorm atmosphärisches Werk, das perfekt zu seinem lyrischen Konzept passt. Denn dieses Album wurde direkt von der berühmten "His Dark Materials"-Trilogie des englischen Autors Sir Philip Pullman inspiriert. Auf einer tieferen Bedeutungsebene drehen sich die Texte um die Emanzipation der Menschheit von ihrer Unterdrückung durch Religion. Als NIGHTBEARER im Jahr 2017 von Sänger Michael Torka und Gitarrist Dominik Hellmuth gegründet wurden, bestand ihre Motivation an erster Stelle aus der brennenden Leidenschaft zum Old School Death Metal - und besonders dessen goldenen Zeiten in den glorreichen 1990er Jahren. Im Gefolge der 5-Track-EP "Stories from Beyond" (2018) erreichte ihr Debütalbum "Tales of Sorcery and Death" (2019) auf Anhieb eine Top Ten Position (#8) im Soundcheck des deutschen Rock Hard Magazins; neben reichlich weiterem Lob von Fans und Kritikern. Auf ihrem zweiten Studioalbum "Ghosts of a Darkness to Come" (2022) erweiterten NIGHTBEARER den Rahmen ihrer lyrischen Themen auf konzeptionelle Größe, indem sie den Hörer auf eine Reise in die dunklen Ereignisse von Robert Jordans epischer Saga "Das Rad der Zeit" mitnahmen. Mit ihrem dritten und bisher komplettesten Album beweisen NIGHTBEARER ein perfektes Gespür für das richtige Timing, indem sie der Welt mit "Defiance" einen ebenso wörtlichen wie metaphorischen Death Metal Akt des Widerstands auf Grundlage der "His Dark Materials" Trilogie präsentieren!

Panos Alexiadis is a sound artist based in Athens, Greece, active in the field of contemporary electro-acoustic music. He founded and co-curated the tape label Thalamos, a home for exploratory sounds, where some of his own works also found their place. Marking a return after a period of (sonic) reflection, Cestrum Nocturnum is an album of remembrance and renewal. Through a lattice of self-sampled piano, fragmented voices, field recordings, and transient digital traces, Alexiadis composes a space of warmth—an electronic tapestry woven from the ephemeral. Across six pieces, sound unfolds like memory: layered, textured, dissolving at the edges yet leaving an imprint. A meditation on the cyclical nature of being and the often unnoticed beauty that quietly persists, even in the darkest hours. Cestrum Nocturnum is both a shelter and a signal.

--

The night has a thousand eyes,
And the day but one;
Yet the light of the bright world dies
With the dying sun.

The mind has a thousand eyes,
And the heart but one:
Yet the light of a whole life dies
When love is done.

Francis William Bourdillon, 1899

--

All music composed, recorded & mixed by Panos Alexiadis
Spoken word on 'But One' & ‘Follower' by Fotini Stamatelopoulou
'The Night Has a Thousand Eyes' poem by Francis William Bourdillon
Mastered by Christophe Albertijn

Legendary postmodern, post punk, post human, past caring collective Mekons return with a brand-new album for 2025. Their first release on Fire Records, ‘Horror’ a collection of songs written in late 2022 but providing a horribly prescient reflection of the world in its current miasma and how we got here. ‘Horror’ looks at history and the legacies of British imperialism with mashed up lyrics set against a typically eclectic sound that amalgamates everything from dub, country, noise, rock & roll, electronica, punk, music hall, polka and you can even take your partner for a nice waltz on ‘Sad And Sad And Sad’. The roots of their global sound reflect their nomadic journey through time and space from Leeds to California in the West and Siberia in the East and is woven into the fabric and intricacies of their song creation… Sounding like The Chills and R.E.M circa the I.R.S Records years, ‘Mudcrawlers’ sees just about the whole band joining Jon Langford on vocals speaking of Irish famine and refugees journeying to Wales. ‘War Economy’ shivers in the cold of such Boroughs spiked one-liners: “Clinical coercion will not achieve dominance!” Sounding like its straight off a Jenny Holzer neon sign (she of Abuse Of Power Comes As No Surprise), it’s held together by a disgruntled swaggering riff that underpins an explosion of disquiet. Meanwhile, Rico takes the lead on the maliciously luscious ‘Fallen Leaves’ an appalled and appalling Hammer Horror take on climate breakdown reminiscent of Rolling Thunder Dylan, that recalls The Pogues at their most introspective, its Celtic twilightism augmented by Susie Honeyman’s keening violin as the dying sun sinks down and the river Styx flows on in the pitch black night. Almost 50 years in the making, these Mekons continue to astound, their sound, sentiment and method of delivery blended to perfection by bass player and studio wizard, Dave Trumfio. The Mekons are Jon Langford, Sally Timms, Tom Greenhalgh, Dave Trumfio, Susie Honeyman, Rico Bell, Steve Goulding, and Lu Edmonds. "Effortlessly eloquent post-punks" Pitchfork // “The Mekons are still vital” Rolling Stone // “The most revolutionary group in the history of rock ‘n’ roll,” Lester Bangs // UK Tour 8-15 May 2025 (including London, Manchester, Glasgow, and more).

Obliteration is imminent: As The World Dies return with their triumphant second offering. “Nebula” is a colossal lesson in crushing death metal and cosmic mysticism. “‘Nebula’ is the quintessence of what As The World Dies is all about,” band leader and scene veteran Scott Fairfax says. “We pushed our musical boundaries and wanted to create an album that was both brutal and thought-provoking. It’s heavier, darker and more profound than anything we’ve done before.”

While we go about our petty business, leading our small and insignificant live under the sun, death is hurtling towards us at breakneck speed: An asteroid names Apophis will come in very close contact with planet Earth in 2029. Aptly named after the Egyptian god of dissolution, darkness and chaos, it has the power to obliterate life as we know it. Seriously: it doesn’t get any more death metal than this.

Scott Fairfax is well aware of that. The death metal veteran of Memoriam fame is back with his other vehicle of death and destruction, As The World Dies. Three years after their earthshattering and star-studded debut “Agonist”, he’s taking things into space with “Nebula”, a cosmic death metal requiem of colossal proportions. Brought to life and recorded mostly by Scott Fairfax alone in his home studio, this isn’t so much of a band effort and rather the work of a dedicated individual pissed off by pretty much everything going on around him.

Angry, haunting and miserable songs are, though. “Nebula” is full of them. An album like an uncompromising alien threat to our planet, as unrelenting and indifferent as an asteroid. The end is coming, folks. Let’s all enjoy it while we can