Ambient/electronica artist Foam and Sand, the side project of the always prolific musician, Robot Koch, has released his anticipated second full length, and first for Nettwerk, simply titled Foam and Sand.
A standout track from the new album is Circle 33, a continuous burst of textures which brings itself together midway through, before Koch's synth layers activate again, and reach an elevated peak.
The entire album is a tour de force of ambient layers and beautiful instrumental work, erupting repeatedly with rich sounds and powerfully emotional peaks. Robot Koch has established a very exciting new path as Foam and Sand, one that's paralleled to his admirable main flag, but also significantly distinct.
Jackson grunge/shoegaze band, Kicking, return with the commanding new single, Cheeks. The new single is one of two bonus tracks on the new tape edition of their very well received EP, Goodbye Party, and arrives with a tape pre-order from EU label Summer Darling Tapes.
Cheeks is an solid track which overlaps musical styles, going through parts of heavy shoegaze, grunge, post hardcore, and post punk. Dark, evocative lyrics coupled with electrifying guitars create a fine listen which stands out for its superb interplay of captivating power and melancholy, while the band's delivery is really visceral, making it arguably the most memorable track of the band's catalog so far.
With the biggest tour of their journey scheduled for 2023, their debut album Monster Truck Mondays, confirmed festival appearances, and the possibility of touring Europe, The Empty Threats are in for an impressive year.
The band follow their notable single, Boys In The Gutter, with new track, ATACB, a piece of equal indie punk dynamism and an interesting concept.
They explain: "Anxiety, ADHD or scattered attention isn't a reason to discredit or dehumanize anyone, especially young people for having those traits a.k.a it is a survival response to current conditions experienced by members in the band as well as many of our peers in and outside of music."
Berlin is the home of the rising dark band, Elektrokohle. From their first EP-Tape comes the propulsive darkwave track, Vollmond. The three members of the group derive from different parts of the world; Italy, Germany, and Brazil, and came together with the common ambition to create original, menacing music. They refer to their music as 'cold punk,' and take cues from eighties punk, krautrock, noise rock, darkwave, and more experimental sounds.
Mona Manie and G. started the band in 2021 as a duo in an attempt to escape the winter lockdown. They released a DIY demo consisting of two songs which were recorded on an 8-track. Suzan Flag joined the group in the summer of 2022, and began recording their first songs as a trio in the studio in the Fall. Their first EP-Tape was released in February 2023.
The first single and video by Elektrokohle, Vollmond, is bilingual song in German and Italian, and a track which is very expressive of the band's dark ways.
Elektrokohle describe: "As everyone knows, the full moon causes high tides, but it also changes the nocturnal habits of many animals, which feel more exposed to danger. Here the song expresses in both sound and lyric all its malaise, like a tide, thoughts rise and submerge. In a gloomy atmosphere, the song meanders between a clattering guitar and bellsound-like synths, the monotonous rhythm and gloomy bass provide a hypnotic and anxiogenic effect."
Band photo courtesy of Elektrokohle
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Oceanlord are an Australian stoner rock trio formed in 2019 with a desire to take on the continent with a storm of riffs. 2340 is part of the band's upcoming debut album, Kingdom Cold, and a presentation of their very dark approach to heavy rock, taking on a very interesting narrative.
The band explain: "The song 2340 is our dirge of treachery named for the hour the Titanic hit the iceberg, written to capture the sense of unreal calm that comes before despair and darkness consumes all."
The track is a commanding six-minute number which overflows with gloom and moodiness, carrying a sound centered on fuzz, heavy bass, and wall of sound guitars. "We follow a captain in the throes of occult ecstasy who sinks his ship and abandons its passengers to the depths." The song is accompanied by a powerful music video that features stunning animation.
Kingdom Cold will be out on May 26th, 2023 via Magnetic Eye Records.
With a title which can be quite picturesque, Blood on the Skulls finds the band coming forth with an equally imposing sound of heavy rock grandness, desert rock warmth, and a lot of fuzz. Lords of Dust deliver a scorching performance which suggests their strong live presence as they combine their massive instrumentals with raspy vocals, and ample amounts of energy.
Polish black metal band Cisza unveil Jaki Piękny Świat, their latest single off their new album, She Yearns for Other Worlds. The full length is expected to be available on Spotify next month, while the vinyl is already available on Bandcamp.
Part of the lyrics come from a poem by renowned Polish poet Maria Konopnicka from the 19th century, while the song as a unit carries the black metal darkness and severity which Cisza provided with the previous singles. The album's lengthiest track, clocking in at seven minutes, Jaki Piękny Świat is characteristic of the band's strong emotiveness, and the/ rare kind of sophistication which comes with their edgy musicianship.
Santa Barbara’s Rival Cults has joined forces with the exciting LA record label Dune Altar, through which they will be releasing their debut album Indoctrination on April 21st, 2023. The band's sound is undeniably forceful, based on a dark rock foundation, and arcane, expressive lyricism which deal with personal demons, addiction and recovery.
Rival Cults' Cole Barrington comments on Heraldry, the new track which comes ahead of the album's release: "Heraldry is about creating-through sacrifice-the ideal self one wishes to become and owning the future through awareness and love. No better motif than the morning star could I find to write a cool rock ‘n’ roll song with."
Guitar driven gothic rock which is reminiscent of the blackness of Christian Death and the enforcing atmosphere of Sisters of Mercy, as well as more contemporary acts like Grave Pleasures, the fresh material of Rival Cults packs a punch with high levels of gloom and obscurity, and a lot of intimacy.
Manchester's Maruja continue with their strong emergence with the release of their debut EP, Knocknarea, which contains all of the recent tracks that have turned heads the band's way, together with the new single, Kakistocracy.
The song's title, Kakistocracy, which translates to "rule of the villains," from Greek, encapsulates the vicious potency of Maruja's musicianship. Following the ferocity of the band's singles Thunder, Blind Spot, and The Tinker, the new track is a natural progression of their drastic mindset.
In this remarkably fascinating new release by Maruja, emotive post rock backdrops interact with searing fury, all charged with a sense of imminent demise, and an intimidating, ecstatic discharge.
London industrial/post punk trio, Bo Gritz, release new song Stored in The Sky, the follow up to the recent Observes and Selects. The new single is a frenzied battle of wild instrumentals and glitching samples which shows the band's forward looking attitude.
Stored in The Sky, which channels the group's ingrained love of sound destruction, appears reminiscent of contemporary acts like LICE, Gilla Band, or Snapped Ankles at their most grotesquely industrial.
Bassist Benjamin Salt comments: “Another song that came quite early in the writing of Chroma; written under the Railway Tavern pub in Tulse Hill, recorded and mixed between Max's home studio and Hermitage Works. I really enjoy how the first 30 seconds is a quite jarring and abrasive sample track, before the song completely transforms into something far more accessible and groovy. The bassline in particular is a conscious attempt to bring a hip-hop aesthetic into the sound. Lyrically the song follows the same pattern to the rest of the album, using the cut up technique drawn from various sources and then rearranged to form a coherent structure. An oral collage if you will.”
The single's release coincides with the announcement of the band's debut album, Chroma, which will be released on June 9th, 2023 by Glasshouse Records.
Hamburg-based band, Take Effect, is a recently founded endeavor whose music draws from alternative rock, post punk and punk, fusing melodic passages with distortion, as well as Sprechgesang with conventional singing. The group's clever and exciting debut single, Fall out the Loop, finds them bringing forth their fine lyricism and energizing guitar riffs, together with a solid instrumental base.
"Fall Out The Loop is about encouraging people to discover new music and not rely too heavily on music from the past." the band explain. "The lyrics contain references to changes to routine, being too comfortable, daringness to try something new, finding new favourite bands and discovering music via playlists."
Take Effect are Ryan Howitt (vocals, guitar) and Alex Kater-Fink (bass).
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