Only last week Liturgy and Hunter Hunt-Hendrix announced the releases of new album H.A.Q.Q. and the soundtrack to Origin of the Alimonies respectively, and before the news even got to sink in, Liturgy's fourth full length was surprisingly unleashed to the world. The new album was recorded in August 2019 and mixed by Seth Manchester, and its physical releases will be out February 21st, 2020 through Hunt-Hendrix's label, YLYLCYN.

H.A.Q.Q. stands for Haelegen Above Quality and Quantity, and conceptually illustrates Hunter’s "uniquely marxist and psychoanalytic vision of God." Like everything else in Liturgy's catalog the album is overly intricate, heavily produced, artful and challenging to follow, as it draws from both the trancsedental Black Metal of 2011's Aesthetica, and the glitchy complexity of 2015's The Ark Work.

Hunt-Hendrix worked on H.A.Q.Q. during 2018 while he was also creating his Origin of the Alimonies opera, in addition to still being heavily motivated from his work as Kel Valhaal, as the new record's cover art clearly indicates. All those influences become progressively clear over the album's spine-tingling nine-song course, from the orchestral and operatic elements to the rich instrumentation, while the emboldened tendencies toward experimentation couldn't have been any clearer.

H.A.Q.Q. grapples with complex issues like mental health, sexuality, and religion, therefore its musical sophistication and knottiness which come through forthright and illustrative of the confrontational and provoking entanglement in Hunter Hunt-Hendrix's spiritual metal mastery.





Liturgy Facebook | Twitter | Instagram



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Four whole years after their great album, Self Portrait, Loma Prieta return with a new track, part of their upcoming two-song EP, Continuum b/w Fate, scheduled to arrive January 10th, 2020 via Deathwish Inc.

Side A is a riveting piece which dexterously balances between contemplation and frenzy, demonstrating the most composed facet of the Bay Area band's artistry up to this moment. Unsurprisingly sharp and acute, both songs were once again recorded by Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Oathbreaker, Bosse-de-Nage), and constitute a strong comeback for the band which has only greatness notched up thus far.









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Loma Prieta Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram



deathwishinc.com



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Named after Jools Holland, and inspired by a performance by fellow perturbed Brit post punks, Shame, on the popular TV show, Leicester’s Jools emerge rigorously with a downright impressive, full of vigor piece that makes a fantastic and certainly promising debut single.

Hysterical Starving Naked was recorded with Bob Cooper and presents the six-piece band potentiality to the fullest, sounding all aggressive, fiery and tumultuous, like a hardened and amped up version of The Fall, as the song messes with its own structure and arrangement, leaving no room for dull moments in its three minute density.

Jools  are vocalist Mitchell Gordon, guitarists Ellis Crowson, Chris Johnston and Sam Shooter, bassist Tom Selby and drummer Pete Mcleod.

With only a demo and a debut single under the belt, Jools have been rightfully started building a strong reputation, and paving the way for what's about to follow.











Artist photo by Corrine Rowell



Jools Spotify | Facebook




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Hailing from Sioux Falls, SD, post punk four-piece, Lot Lizard, bring together a well realized and sharply produced blend of shoegaze, dark punk, noise rock and psychedelic rock features into an earnest composite.

The band is comprised of experienced musicians from the South Dakota scene who got together in 2017 and gained traction due to their powerful live presence. Their self-titled debut full length is scheduled to come out December 6th, 2019 through Different Folk Records.

Dark and emphatic, new single, Ice, is a solid indicator of the coming album and the band's effectiveness, all revolving around a compelling and sturdy lead vocal delivery, an unwavering rhythm section and howling guitar lines that account for an imposing result whose gloom is reflective of the prime of grim post punk, and acts like Bauhaus and Christian Death.

Lot Lizard are Brogan Costa (drums,) Lindy Wise (vocals,) Pat Nelson (bass) and Benjamin Swank (guitar).








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Lot Lizard Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram


differentfolkrecords.com





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Nola has been the home to some of the heaviest and sludgiest metal the world has ever known, and southern doom rocking five piece, Cikada, come across as noteworthy successors to the extreme heaviness of Eyehategod, Crowbar, Down and the like, through their dense and solid debut LP, Lamplighter, out on Strange Daisy Records.

Making the most out of their intense sound, Cikada arise all relentless and filthy on both the speedier and the more sluggishly slow moments which deftly interchange on the new album. With an ear-splitting vocal delivery, and the thick and well-realized instrumentals which make up something absolutely uproarious and incredibly weighty, the heavy rock quintet is responsible for some of the finest ultra-extreme, riff-laden southern rock we've come across in a while.

Cikada are Trey Burch (guitar), Jonathan Crawford (guitar), Ian Hennessey (drums), Rob Dillweed (vocals) and Brenner Moate (bass). Lamplighter was recorded and mixed by James Whitten at HighTower Recording in New Orleans.








Cikada Spotify | Facebook


strangedaisy.com




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Norway’s Oberst will be releasing their anticipated debut full length on January 17th, 2020 through Indie Recordings, the reputable Norwegian label which has been prominently issuing music from local heavy acts such as 1349, Satyricon, Enslaved. Kvelertak, Audrey Horne and many more, together with foreign bands, like the Swedes Cult of Luna. Goddess is the newest single Oberst have unleashed, and it comes attached to a fantastic video directed by Lars Rolland Andersen.

The band state: "The song Goddess deals with the idea of escaping reality by way of intoxication. It touches on the very human reaction that is trying to forget while the world is burning around you, and how hard it can be to open your eyes and face the music once you have gotten the taste of something more than the «real world»."

Oberst's sound is grounded on post hardcore, and it fuses components from technical progressive metal and metalcore, all super heavy and extremely well constructed, including everything from the track's production and the band's red hot performance to the video's aesthetics.





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Video by Lars Rolland Andersen

Artist photo by Fabian Framdal Fjeldvik




Oberst Facebook | Instagram




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