Mind Prisoner was formed in the bitterly cold and humid Pacific Northwest during the global pandemic of 2020. The duo developed a distinctive tone which evokes anguish and hopelessness, influenced mainly by the edgiest kinds of extreme metal.

In January 2023, Mind Prisoner released their five-track, self-titled debut EP, all drenched in utter darkness. Black metal, death metal, and doom metal elements are all interconnected into Mind Prisoner's sound, which is best described as a combination of heaviness and lyricism, an aberrant sludge metal approach, with all aforementioned styles vying for the spotlight, while lurking in the background of the project's compositional atmosphere.

Ritual and 11:11, the EP's first two songs, establish the EP's gloomy mood, and by the time Garden of Bones, a blackened death metal track, arrives, the listener is completely engrossed, with the band demonstrating their songwriting strengths. Before Angels Leave can claim the title of the album's most fully realized track, 2:22 dethrones it with an outstanding eight and a half-minute piece whose gothic atmosphere blends seamlessly with the extreme brutality, creating an overarchingly damnable atmosphere.

Even if the dialogue samplings occasionally become a little too intense or overplayed, Mind Prisoner still go to show how capable they can be in bringing their own brand of weightiness, and to call their self-titled EP a promising endeavor is a restrained statement. 

Formed in 2017, Austrian experimental extreme metal act, Black Yen, is the project helmed by Sebastian Lackner, created with the aim to produce music influenced by different directions and genres. Following the 2021 full length, SATORI, Black Yen return with new material as part of their split EP with Austrian post black metal band, ♄​♄​♄​♄​♄.

The bands each recorded three songs to be included on their collaborative process without any coordination.

Cobalt Dreams, an eight-minute journey which moves through passages of post metal, atmospheric black metal, and offbeat psychedelia in a very original and unpredictable way, is a prime example of Black Yen's restless approach.

The songs were recorded by the bands and fellow musician Karl Steinpatz (Noise Transmission). Julian Jauk (Ultima Radio, Tonstudio Grelle Musik) mixed the music, and Bernd Heinrauch handled the mastering. The album is released on tape via grazil Records.

LA-based shoegaze/dreampop duo, The Know, reveal ME, the second single off their upcoming sophomore EP. Hazy and dreamy as expected, the new song is a nostalgic cut which draws its concept from the idea of a new relationship, and the joyful times that come with it.

The Know's Jennifer Farmer describes the song as "a recollection of the start of a relationship and events between two people during lockdown but this one mostly covers the good stuff. It's a love song about the thrill you feel when you connect with another person."

ME enchants by way of its lush instrumentation, the reverberating guitar layers, glistening synths, and intimate surroundings, loaded with soothing vocals. Once again, the band's elegant musicianship and ethereal sound settings are on prominent display.

The Winnipeg, Manitoba-based trio, Tunic, have released their new single, Dull Ache, following the release of their full length, Quitter in 2021, and the standalone song, Rituals from last year.

The band implements their familiar rage and forcefulness on the new track, which really is a force of noise rock, post hardcore, and post punk properties, and finds Tunic sounding enflamed and vibrant throughout. Dull Ache enthralls with its strong build up and the trio's more than remarkable performance, with strong lyricism that delineates both the band's fury and sophistication.

Being a little lengthier in time and having a cleaner tone, Dull Ache feels a bit diverse from the band's songwriting and sound standards, and makes a strong impression.

Funeral Date is a new band which brings a dark, moody, and melodic post punk and darkwave sound. Their debut album, Coastgoth, has a similar sound to early New Order and cites inspiration from The Cure's The Head on the Door period, while also being nearly equivalent to contemporary bands like Soft Kill, Twin Tribes, and Black Marble.

Funeral Date focuses on a darkwave sound from the eighties, which is smoothly and clearly accomplished on the jangly and gloomy track, Saturday Night. The song makes the most of its conspicuous influences, and easily comes off as a well made and oddly exciting dark rocker.

Funeral Date · Saturday Night

JUVENILE are a fresh punk rock band from Denmark which draws its inspiration from the forerunners of punk and garage rock. Five vibrant songs make up the band's debut, self-titled EP, which was just released.

A hard-hitting song from the band's debut EP, Crack Cocaine sounds like a mix of The Stooges and The Dead Boys infused with a more contemporary twist. The song defines the emerging group's approach to punk, while the gritty quality is present throughout the entire release, as JUVENILE appear to have a very heavy and prominent new release to offer.

Pyramid Mass, formerly known as Doubtfire, reemerge and redefine their heavy songcraft with a sound that feels sludgy, dark, and possesses certain monolithic properties. The group's newest single, Wars, is a space rock beast of the heaviest and grattiest kind, with the loud guitar work and the growling vocal integrating to create something imposing and hair-raising.

Kevin Bernsten recorded Monolith at Developing Nations in Baltimore, Maryland, with technical assistance from Matt Redenbo. James Plotkin handled the mastering.

Post metal at its core, still with the extreme metal character traits at hand, and a sense of overall expansiveness, Wars is a flooring listen, and Pyramid Mass now seem a fully fleshed and compelling heavy act. 

For a long while, Chrome Waves have been more than competent at combining post metal and black metal into a very contemporary amalgam that's completely their own, bringing the best of both worlds together. Their latest single, Under The Weight Of A Billion Souls, is a fantastic new addition to that genre mixing path, finding the band's sound full of expression and atmosphere,

The new song is also the first track from the group's upcoming full-length, expected in 2023. Black metal aspects from the genre's classic and modern eras blend seamlessly, while key components of Chrome Waves' sound are well applied in combination.

“The first single has one particular theme and was written with it in mind – responsibility towards your fellow man,” says Chrome Waves singer and guitarist James Benson. “Humanity as a whole and its greed and ability to hyper focus on only our small 'tribe' and remain in echo chambers with social media while our neighbors suffer through turmoil in front of our blinded ways, and those with resources make no changes to help millions in poverty. It is a stark vision of our future collapse.”

Linter is the second single from Rememory, the upcoming sophomore album by instrumental post rock duo, It Was A Good Dream. Utilizing their influence from punk rock and more extreme sound, the band is in full forceful mode, mingling heavier elements with airier and more atmospheric production. 

The song maintains the post rock melodic hooks of the duo's typical sound, as they continue to push their artistry to its most daring edges.

“This is probably my favorite song on the new record,” says drummer Chris Anthony “We both grew up listening to punk and aggressive music, and it was a rewarding challenge to incorporate some of that influence into our songwriting.”

“This song is unlike anything we’ve ever done,” adds guitarist and producer Alex Glover. “The first half of the song is dark and tumultuous in a way we’ve never explored. Somewhere along the way I got really deep into sound design, and our typical dreamy melancholy guitars got replaced by these earthy sound manipulations that feel like unprocessed emotions scraping at the surface.”

The impending album was produced by It Was A Good Dream and James Bridges (Caspian, American Echoes, Mike Gordon), and will be released in April 2023 via Dunk!Records.

Way of the World is the first single from the forthcoming album by experimental alternative act, Sudden Voices, which is due out April 7th, 2023. Sudden Voices is a project helmed by Ben Morris, formerly a member of London-based post-kraut/drone rock group Union Wireless, whose lineup changed frequently throughout the nineties.

The music of Sudden Voices is mellow, well-rounded psychedelia, with choral arrangements in competition with repetitive rhythms and acoustic instruments, and improvisation playing a significant role in the songwriting. The music ultimately has an experimental impression, but it doesn't lose its overarching sense of unity. Morris cites The Velvet Underground, Suicide, and The Fall among the bands that have influenced the style of Sudden Voices, as well as the metronomic groove of krautrock and the space jazz of Miles Davis' Bitches Brew.

The lyrics of the new song express a sense of surrender and hostility toward the outside world as does the song's title, which pays homage to the Flipper song of the same name. The world is a harsh place, but that is just how it is.

Morris produced the accompanying video, which loops through a bank of analog television screens as it explores these themes. In spite of all the interference and glitching, a distinct storyline manages to arise in a visual interpretation of the work of video artists like Ira Schneider and Bruce Nauman. It refers to a place which initially seems to be pretty on the outside, but as time goes on, the underlying congestion and conflict become more obvious.