Two fresh D//E favorites, Philadelphia shoegazers, Doused, and Boston post punks, True Faith, join forces for a live split release, with each band contributing five songs. Ultimately, the album comes through as a very hefty and imposing release which presents the two bands executing to perfection what they do best, and it couldn't be more highly recommended.

Doused's side displays the rising trio at its fuzziest and loudest, realizing the enchanting discordance of their heavy shoegaze with ardor and soul, giving real meaning and substance to the term 'shoegaze.'

True Faith's five-song set comes next with a more precise and stricter approach, introducing the grittier aspect of the band's gothic and post punk character which doesn't seem to be deviating much from the true fineness of True Faith's studio recordings.

Presenting two different sides of today's best of underground alternative rock, Doused and True Faith complement each other's sound in a very natural and unprocessed manner, and their live split release flows easily, all congruent from end to end.

Physically, the album is being released as an exclusive cassette sold on Doused and True Faith's 2022 East Coast tour. Note the dates below.

DOUSED & TRUE FAITH

EAST COAST TOUR 2022

New shoegaze five-piece, moodlighting, from Denver, emerge with their debut single, Friends like these, a rather tuneful and energetic fusion of dreampop and power pop elements, all densely put together into a three-minute winner.

Between the indie garage pop frankness of the early Cults releases and the timeless dreampop elegance of Lush, the new band's first offering hits as something traditional-bent, yet, quirky, immediate and distinct.

On the heels of their very good second album, Ultraviolet, Pink Milk surprise release new single, I Lose My Mind, which they describe as "a hazy dreamy descent into madness."

Once again, the Swedish duo maintains the goth pop charm which can be found in both their full lengths thus far, and deliver a standalone piece true to its title. I Lose My Mind depicts that mental decline in the most intellective and beguiling of ways.

Pink Milk Facebook | Twitter | Instagram




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The frantic industrial hardcore of Luvencie, the solo project of Shaun Ringsmuth (Street Sects, Glassing), gets a second example which delineates its beautiful discordance, following the recent single Cuffed. New piece, Body Debt, features Glassing's Dustin Coffman on vocals.

"Body Debt is about evading personal responsibility through bodily harm, a type of escapism often rooted in substance abuse, as well as the transferred addictions that come with sobriety," the artist describes.

The Austin-based multi-instrumentalist keeps turning personal struggle into multi-dimensional, involved art by way of a group of different genre, and collaborations with vocalists whose voices are being resampled and used as an instrument.

Marked by the self-proclaimed label 'future goth,' Melbourne, Australia-based act, Hackitt, emerge with their second full length, Departures, a vibrant and imaginative blend of dark post punk and synthpop sounds which harks back to the eighties, and parallels to the genre's darker current approach.

Back of Love is a heavy, energetic synth-based darkwave number typified by its notable propulsion, its focused production and the expressive vocals which range from detached to overawed and vivified. 

Departures was written and performed by Jack Pogson, with production by Jack Pogson and Julian Cue and mastering by Joe Carra.

Hackitt Facebook 


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From Trondheim, Norway, mystifying new act, Tenebral Rift, brings forward a rather heavy and atmospheric fusion of black and doom metal, with clear experimental tendencies, yet, keen on the genre's traditional means.

With themes which tackle despair and deep darkness, Tenebral Rift's new album, Umbra, comes all desolate and uncanny, composed of six lengthy and elaborate compositions.

The ten-minute extreme dark epic, Shrouded by the Mist, represents the album's encompassing gloominess, and it comes with an eerie clip of almost abstract visuals by Simona Noreik.

Montréal experimental producer Kee Avil joins the eclectic roster of Constellation Records, and unveils new song and video See, My Shadow, ahead of her next full length expected early 2022.

A tough to pinpoint track with a dark and enigmatic predisposition, See, My Shadow combines elements from post punk, experimental electronica and art pop, and it comes with an ultra moody accompanying video.

The artist comments on the new track: "A shadow’s moment, distorted. Warped piano samples, chipped ceramic cups, swirling metal, feedback assembled. I used to think this was a love song.

"Constructed from a demo, never finished, originally recorded for the Kee Avil EP. See, my shadow is one of my most produced songs - a large part of the work was to strip it down and find the right balance between chaos and density vs stability and drive. It will be the first song on a new album.

"Writing this I find myself trying to find a reason why I would ‘stand here blind, deaf and mute’ - ultimately the words are there for their rhythm, imagery and texture. The text for the ending was written in one moment, intense but fleeting, later adapted. The meaning of the song changes all the time - fittingly, it’s as though this moment has been passed on to my shadow."

On the video, Kee Avil remarks: "To reveal what I’ve hid, what is recognised, ignored, what is real. Blank, misdrawn, rebuilt, the creature as the i. With masks, I break and reconstruct these ideas, mix the familiar with the abstract."

Photo by Lawrence Fafard

 

Kee Avil Website | Facebook | Instagram





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Suppliers of a beyond the norm type of heavy rock which amalgamates noise rock, post metal, sludge and stoner rock among other styles, Youngstown, Ohio trio, Rebreather, have been an under-appreciated force for many years. The band come forth with their fifth full length, The Line, Its Width, and The War Drone, produced by themselves and mastered by Carl Saff (John Carpenter, Bongzilla, Elder), releasing on December 3rd, 2021 through Aqualamb Records, and streaming for the first time ever right below.

The album has been previously introduced by singles Choke on It, Drown - on which Rebreather collaborate with their lablemates Frayle, and their take on the Porno For Pyros track, Pets.

Vocalist and guitarist Barley Rantilla comments: "First off, we are super stoked to have The Line, Its Width, and the War Drone out for people to finally hear. Recording and organizing this LP definitely got slowed down due to the pandemic. But, it also gave us more time to listen, tweak, and add to the tracks. We’ve always been a band that rips through a recording session; it was rad to have the time to make these songs fit together the way they should.

"This was the first recording that we ever collaborated with any other musicians. Sean and Gwyn, of Frayle, were kind enough to put the work into adding vocals and extra guitars to the song Drown. And it was super cool for Shy Kennedy, of Horehound, to make her way into town to add the finale vocals to our song Silent H. No direction given…we just explained the vibe and basically said, 'do what You would do,' and they all killed it.

"The title The Line, Its Width, and the War Drone is an obvious play on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, with the gatefold album jacket setting the scene. The spine of the jacket being a fence that represents the 'line' that’s being crossed as we blindly attack each other with drones. Erik Palmerlee did an absolutely amazing job capturing the vibe with the cover artwork. The included book has additional drawings and photos of alternate versions of the cover art scene, dozens of live photographs, and an abridged account of what the band had going on over the last year or so. We’ve been fans of Aqualamb’s approach to putting out such rad artful packaging. It’s been great to work with them on doing the same thing with The Line, Its Width, and the War Drone."

Probe 6​-​8 is the latest addition to the vast discography of Tangerine Dream, a five-track EP composed of three new tracks and two remixes by Grand River and Barker. 

Continuum, one of the new release's originals, stays true to the group's ever-evolving exploratory nature, merging the krautrock, the new age and the heavy electronica characteristics which have made the band a leading name in contemporary music throughout its many years of formation and evolution. The seven-minute track, alongside the rest of Tangerine Dream's new material, pays respects to the musical intellect of Edgar Froese, and has the band moving forward in rather keen and immersing manner.

The most prolific alternative heavy rock act ever, returns with the announcement of a new album and a first example off it. Boris will be releasing their new album, W, on January 21st, 2022, their first for Sacred Bones, and Drowning by Numbers is the first single and video.

Boris comment on the clip which features dancer Yukiko Doi: “This video was filmed at a private showcase with limited invitation in April of 2021. It is a collaborative performance with a contemporary dance team.  The song was transformed from its original performance and visualized; a big hat dances symbolically at the beginning of the new album.”

After the self-release of previous full length NO of which the final track was named Interlude, as the band was planning its quick follow-up, W comes in contrast to the previous album's extremity. With the two records' titles, NO and W, forming NOW, Boris create a pair of individual works which react to one another. In true explorative and venturous spirit, Boris once again appear convoluted, tough to define, yet, strangely charming and inviting.

Photo by Yoshihiro Mori