"Austin's genre-bending rock sensation... Blending elements of Rock, mid-aughts French touch, and early 1970’s R&B, their sound defies expectations.” -- Static Multimedia
Austin trio CLUB COMA share the third single from their forthcoming debut full length today via Static Multimedia. Hear and share "Immune" HERE. (Bandcamp) (Spotify) (YouTube)
Club Coma is a new Austin experimental rock group comprised of guitarist/vocalist Scott Martin, drummer Aaron Perez (both previously of Boyfrndz) and keyboardist/bassist Geoff Earle (Stiletto Feels). Pulls together an exciting, genre-bending sound that lives somewhere between Rock, mid-aughts French touch, and early 1970’s R&B. Martin and Perez’s former band’s hazy, psychedelic and powerful rock takes on new melodic shades with layers of synths and more danceable rhythms with Club Coma.
Club Coma formed in late 2022 after the indefinite hiatus of Boyfrndz, and after Geoff's solo endeavor Stiletto Feels slowed post-pandemic. Scott, seeking a new outlet as a vocalist after Boyfrndz hiatus, asked Aaron to keep an ear to the ground for groups -- realizing Geoff's group Aaron played drums for since 2017 may be interested. Scott and Geoff happened to run into each other a couple days later, quickly falling into weekly work sessions. Club Coma came out swinging, selling out their first headline show at Mohawk in April 2023 before any music had been released.
The band's self-titled debut album recorded with Jim Eno at Public Hi-Fi will be available on August 11th, 2023.
CLUB COMA LIVE:
07/22 San Antonio, TX - 502 Bar 07/23 Austin, TX - Hot Summer Nights at Mohawk Austin 07/28 Austin, TX - Hotel Vegas
“For Reclaim Chaos, Kaplan has relocated to Northern California, added vocalist David Kegg and guitarist Brian Horn and injected a heavier, more malevolent—perhaps, death metal-inspired—element to his music. ‘Shattered Generation’ embodies that transformation with its spacious, architectural guitar work juxtaposed next to deathly growled vocals.” — Decibel Magazine
Northern California band Sleep Maps return with the first single from their forthcoming 5th album, Reclaim Chaos today premiering via Decibel Magazine. Watch/share the video for the single "Shattered Generation" HERE(Direct YouTube.), hear/share the song HERE. (Direct Bandcamp.)
After a three year break, Northern California based post-metal band Sleep Maps is set to release their 5th LP, Reclaim Chaos, on August 18th, 2023. For the first time the band has a dedicated vocalist to bring a new intensity and rawness to the cinematic post-metal sound that has defined the band for a decade. Founder Ben Kaplan enlisted vocalist David Kegg to write and record lyrics and the result is a brand new direction that incorporates black and sludge metal with synth soundscapes to create something totally new in the genre, taking as much inspiration from Russian Circles as it does from Depeche Mode.
Reclaim Chaos has its themes rooted in the systems that have propped up a failing society for too long. Religion, politics and money rule everything around us and the systems put in place to make things ‘equal for all’ have broken down in disrepair. This set of songs is the soundtrack to a world trapped in a chaos of its own making. A reflection of these broken times and a way to cope with them.
Sleep Maps was conceived in Los Angeles by multi-instrumentalist and producer Ben Kaplan (founder of Lost Future Records). Over the course of 4 albums they have helped define post-metal and their own particular type of instrumental rock. Now based in Northern California the band includes singer David Kegg and guitarist Brian Horn.
Reclaim Chaos was recorded in Los Angeles and mixed by Matt Bayles at The Red Room in Seattle, WA. Reclaim Chaos will be available on LP, CD and download on on August 18th, 2023 via Lost Future Records.
“9 New Albums You Should Listen To Now: The first new Pines of Rome album in 2 decades.”– Pitchfork
“Pines of Rome quietly took the underground by storm in the '90s and early '00s with their signature brand of downtrodden, folk rock-inflected slow rock. Now back after two decades with what could very well be their best album… They've obviously matured over this lengthy period of time, become fiercer musicians, and even stronger songwriters in the band's absence.” — Brooklyn Vegan
Providence, RI band The Pines of Rome share a new video today for "Beavertail Spoils" from their first new album in over 20 years, newly released on Solid Brass Records. Watch/share via YouTube HERE.
The Pines of Rome play a special hometown album release show on July 22nd at the Columbus Theatre in Providence. Tickets are available HERE.
The band previously shared a carefully hand-animated video for "White Ships" on YouTube HERE. The album, The Unstruck Bell is available to hear/share and purchase HERE. Brooklyn Vegan previously premiered the official video for "REDACTED" HERE. (YouTube)
The Pines of Rome (John Kolodij, Matthew Derby, and Rick Prior) have been exploring the frontiers of Cosmic American Music on and off for the past 25 years, dialing down the tempo and turning up the volume to create tidal walls of sound that surge and break like the turbulent Atlantic waves that batter the shores of the smallest state in the Union.
The band originally formed in 1997, when the small-but-mighty Providence music scene was reaching an eclectic creative peak, where fuzz pop, psych rock, and noise bands would share the same stage at hallowed venues such as Fort Thunder, AS220, and The Living Room, sanding off the hard genre distinctions that kept music scenes in other cities silo'd.
Over 20 years had passed since their final show, and then, while shuttered inside during the pandemic, Derby was inspired to contact his former Pines bandmate, Kolodij and start writing new music. In addition to new music, the band welcomed new member Steven Kimura on bass and the trio became a 4-piece.
Over the years The Pines Of Rome have shared the stage with great bands like Songs:Ohia/Magnolia Electric Co., Richard Buckner, Bonnie Prince Billy, June of '44, Shipping News, Lullaby for the Working Class, the Promise Ring, Jets To Brazil, Rainer Maria, Joan of Arc, Silkworm, Bright Eyes, and more.
The Unstruck Bell is available on LP and download, released on May 26th, 2023 via Solid Brass Records. Orders are available HERE.
"Primed to become your next favorite band." -- Metal Sucks
"An absolute joy to listen to and perhaps one of the most inventive albums to be released this year." -- Outlaws of the Sun
"Think the early days of Red Fang, when every chord and note was dripping with urgency, but with, one hand, a dash of progginess thrown in and, on the other, a dollop of sludgy sweetness that makes one think of Torche." -- Heavy Blog is Heavy
Auralayer, the visionary and captivating power trio out of Greenville, SC, share the official video for "You Walk" from their forthcoming raucous debut album, Thousand Petals, today via Heavy Blog is Heavy. Watch/share HERE. (Direct YouTube.)
Metal Sucks recently launched the single HERE. (Direct Bandcamp.)
Delivering a unique blend of powerful doom riffs, kinetic progressive rock drums, and electrifying pop-inspired melodies, Thousand Petals is impressively heavy and undeniably catchy.
The band’s signature brand of metal comes from its members’ diverse musical interests. “I’m really into doom, especially bands like High on Fire,” says guitarist Thomas Powell. “Vladimir, the drummer, is really into progressive rock, and his favorite drummer is Neil Peart. And Jake, our bassist, really likes pop music—The Beatles and Talking Heads.” Thanks to those disparate influences, the band is largely unencumbered by typical doom and stoner rock clichés during the writing phase—a fact that has helped them develop their own original metal sound.
To help them harness their energetic musical vision, the band recruited Philip Cope, the founder of the experimental metal band Kylesa, to engineer, mix, and master their debut at Jam Room Recording Studio in Columbia, SC. As with Kylesa, Cope helped to capture and channel the band’s diverse influences and experimentation into a cohesive sonic palette—on both the debut album and the band’s 2021 Solar Plexus EP.
“Phil has had a huge influence on me as an artist,” says Powell, “so it was great having him around. He’s just as passionate about our music as we are, so it almost feels like he’s part of the band. And since he’s worked on so many cool projects, like the first Baroness album, he has so many cool perspectives and great attention to detail, and that really helped us capture the sound we were going for.”
Despite the band’s collective encyclopedic knowledge of music, the trio has also pulled inspiration from a variety of artistic and philosophical sources—while still maintaining a unified final product. The album title, for example, comes from the Sahasrara padma, the crown chakra that translates to “the lotus of a thousand petals” and is symbolic of supreme consciousness and enlightenment.
Thousand Petals comes after the success of the band’s original demo EP, Solar Plexus (also inspired by Eastern cultures and the Chakra Manipura), which was released on August 13, 2021. All three songs from that demo—“Christ Antler,” “Faith to Reason,” and “All My Time” — have been sharpened and honed onto Thousand Petals.
Thousand Petals will be available on LP, CD and download on July 14th, 2023 via King Volume Records. Pre-orders are available HERE.
“Has a very cinematic feel to it, almost like the soundtrack to a spy movie. The Icelandic composer has a knack for electronic music.” — Metal Injection
"A startling solo debut... From dungeon to daylight, electronic instrumental therapy." -- Echoes & Dust
"Infantes steps away from the Icelandic progressive death metal style to take listeners on a synth-driven journey into his artistic psyche. The artist skillfully weaves 8-bit chiptune, Kitaro-inspired ambient pieces, and tension-filled horror movie soundtracks into a mesmerizing atmospheric record." -- Metal Insider
Iceland based artist Mario Infantes is streaming his forthcoming solo debut album Antidote to a Turbulent Mind early today via Echoes & Dust. Hear & share Antidote to a Turbulent Mind album HERE. (Direct Bandcamp)
Metal Injection recently premiered the single "Explore The Woods..." HERE. A video launched by Metal Insider shows Infantes hand carving and painting a fantasy diorama model, one of the singer's many areas of expertise in the visual arts, as the song "...And Find My Grotto" plays. Watch/share "...And Find My Grotto" HERE. (Direct YouTube.)
On Antidote to a Turbulent Mind, Mario Infantes, lead singer of Metal Blade signed band Cult of Lilith, has painstakingly crafted a record of synth soundscapes that brings the listener on a voyage deep into the mind of the artist. The album follows a man after he consumes a psychedelic tincture and descends into his own fears, desires and obsessions. The songs range from 8-bit chiptune to Kitaro influenced ambient pieces while also maintaining the tension of a horror movie soundtrack. Infantes weaves these together into a cohesive whole that allows the listener to apply their own interpretation to the journey.
Infantes, the Spanish born singer, is a visual and music artist based in Iceland. His "show stopping vocal power" has drawn the attention of metal fans and publications across the world. Recently he has begun experimenting with synths, drum machines and virtual instruments, the result is his first instrumental album. This is his first album for Lost Future Records.
Antidote to a Turbulent Mind will be available on LP and digital on July 7th, 2023 via Lost Future Records. Preorders are available HERE.
“Fuzzed-out, speaker-exploding groove that's both sonically excruciating and intoxicatingly alluring. They find a weird sweet spot of harshness and catchiness that goes down like a greasy, gut-busting bad decision.” — Invisible Oranges
“Very little pretense but a whole dollop of kick, conjuring the sounds of early Red Fang or Dead Quiet.” — Heavy Blog Is Heavy
“Oozes originality from their vocal delivery to their sleazy brand of stoner, doom and rock n roll and Doom Wop is no exception. You can put on this album and get absolutely crushed by fuzz, but all the while with a big smile on your face.”– Doom Charts
"Epically catchy... Imagine the ear-wormy fuzz-rock riffage of Dinosaur Jr. if it was played on an eight-string guitar with super heavy low-end." -- Revolver Magazine
Austin trio Rickshaw Billie's Burger Patrol launch pre-orders for the long-awaited vinyl version of their new album Doom Wop today via Bandcamp and Big Cartel. Fans can pre-order beginning today, with records shipped out by August 11th. RBBP has also added July shows around their dates with Crobot. And, the band will play LEVITATION 2023 in October. Please see all dates below. Ticket links HERE.
Try Hard Coffee Roasters have also partnered with the band to release their first two EPs on one limited edition vinyl LP, paired with their own Rickshaw Billie's Burger Patrol specialty coffee, The LP will be titled Beef Beast. More details to come soon.
RBBP released their new album Doom Wop in September 2022. Hear Doom Wop on your favorite streaming service HERE. Revolver Magazine recently premiered the official video for "Heel"HERE. (Direct YouTube.)
With their 5th studio release, Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol is putting a name to the style of fuzzed out, overdriven, melodic, groovy music they have been making since 2016. In 9 concise, no bullshit songs, RBBP demonstrates their ability to blend the merciless low end of Leo Lydon’s 8-String guitar, Aaron Metzdorf’s masterful chordwork on the bass, and Sean St.Germain’s driving drumwork. Lydon and Metzdorf’s vocal melodies cut through the high frequencies to deliver fresh layers to the hooks that RBBP fans have come to love.
As the name implies, Doom Wop is a heavy, melody-driven, party metal album. With riffs as big and dumb as ever, and lyrics that stab at the worst members of society and ourselves (while keeping tongue firmly in cheek), listeners will find all the elements that make up the soul of RBBP on this record.
Doom Wop is available on CD and download, released on September 23rd, 2022. Vinyl LP releases August 11th, 2023. Pre-orders are available via Bandcamp HERE and Big Cartel HERE.
RBBP LIVE 2023:
07/15 Austin, TX - Sagebrush
07/18 Detroit, MI - The Lager House
07/19 Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop
07/22 Lititz, PA - Micket’s Black Box *
07/23 Richmond,VA - Fuzzy Cactus
07/25 Greensboro, NC - Hangar 1819 *
07/26 Greenville, SC - Radio Room *
07/27 Summerville, SC - Trolly Pub *
07/28 Ft Myers, FL - Buddha Live *
07/29 Orlando, FL - Conduit *
07/30 Tampa, FL - Orpheum *
08/01 Atlanta, GA - Masquerade *
08/02 Lafayette, LA - The Freetown Boom Boom Room
08/03 Corpus Christi, TX - Mesquite Street South *
"An in-depth look at the heartbreak of shuttering the beloved store amid the Mission District's wave of gentrification and traces its long history of influencing music and culture in the city." -- CBS News SF
"An affectionate cinematic tribute." -- The Wire Magazine
"It Came From Aquarius Records" the feature length documentary about the beloved, esoteric San Francisco record store announces its streaming debut via Amazon Prime begins in July. The film is also screening in the Pacific Northwest on July 19th at the Northwest Film Forum in Seattle, WA.
The film's director Kenneth Thomas will hold a Q&A after the film, followed by an afterparty at The Runaway with music by DJ Veins. For more information, please see below.
Watch/share the "Bittersweet Sex Pistols extravaganza" clip on YouTube. Watch the film trailer on YouTube.
"It Came From Aquarius Records" is an award-winning feature-length documentary about the SF-based independent record store, Aquarius Records. Having closed in 2016 after 47 years, this small apartment-sized store championed local, underground, independent, and challenging music to the masses - most memorably with their infamous bi-weekly, college essay-length, new-release lists.
This doc has interviews with the aQ owners dating back to 1970, other record store owners from around the world, musicians, label heads, music journalists, and INTENSE music collectors. Interviewees include Matt Groening (The Simpsons), Wayne Coyne (Flaming Lips), Bruce Ackley, John Darnielle (The Mountain Goats), Ty Segall, and Liz Harris (Grouper). About 65 (!!) total!
Aquarius Records influenced and enriched countless peoples’ musical tastes with their curated selections - but this film also shows the realities of an indie record store trying to survive in an increasingly difficult market of brick-and-mortar music shops, especially in the ever-changing and price-gouging Mission District of SF.
Six years in the making, the film has a very personal angle, with lots of behind-the-scenes footage (and drama) that shows both the joy and excruciating stress that comes with running — and closing — a store like this.
Seattle, WA premiere:
Location of film: NWFF. 1515 12th Ave., Seattle
Location of afterparty: The Runaway, 1425 10th Ave., Seattle
Date and Time of film: Wednesday, July 19th, 7pm
Date and Time of afterparty: Wednesday, July 19th, 9:00pm
Iconoclast Berlin trio Maggot Heart announce their forthcoming third album today, sharing the official lyric video of lead single "Looking Back At You" via YouTube HERE. The song hits all streaming platforms on Friday, June 30th.
About the single, singer/guitarist Linnéa Olsson says, "one of the more aggressive songs on the album and definitely some of the angriest lyrics I’ve ever written; Looking Back at You is about reclaiming power. The video plays on the concept of being observed, something like ’Schrödinger’s Woman’! One of my faves on the album.”
Maggot Heart, crossover rock band based in Berlin, channels emotional alchemy through music. Consisting of guitarist and singer Linnéa Olsson, bassist Olivia Airey and drummer Uno Bruniusson, Maggot Heart refuse to be categorized. Originally from Sweden, Olsson formed Maggot Heart as a solo project in 2016, after carving a name for herself in bands like The Oath, Beastmilk/Grave Pleasures.
From detonating their initial underground break-out City Girls EP, Maggot Heart had the underground by the throat, palpitating the grapevine. With two critically acclaimed albums under their belt, the 2017 debut Dusk To Dusk to 2020’s Mercy Machine, Maggot Heart are not here to coast, they’re here to make waves. Musically compared to such diverse acts as L7, Patti Smith, Sonic Youth, The Stooges, Killing Joke and Voivod, playing live with Earthless in the US, High on Fire and Amyl & The Sniffers in the EU along with several invitations to tread the hallowed stages of Roadburn Festival, Maggot Heart have been foaming-at-the-mouth road dogs.
Now on their third album Hunger, recorded in Berlin and mixed by the acclaimed American producer and engineer Ben Greenberg (METZ, Portrayal Of Guilt), Maggot Heart’s game is about to change. If Dusk to Dusk was the mind, and Mercy Machine the body, then Hunger is the spirit. Whip-tight choruses, guided by a grunge-aged sensibility, where Punk and Noise Rock grime are layered beneath Swedish 70’s proto-metallic ooze, lurch you back for more.
Hunger goes for the gut but with panache, boldly exploring the dichotomy of desire and desperation through powerful refrains and a brave sense of rhythm. Songs like "This Shadow" and "Archer" with abrasive pop hooks and Bowie-esque Jazz brass, showcase Maggot Heart's ability to blend simplicity with deft musical awareness. Bassist Olivia Airey and drummer Uno Bruniusson (whose former work includes the enigmatic In Solitude) are musicians at the very peak of their powers, and the backbone of Maggot Heart. As Olsson says it best when she states, “a band is a family, a pact in blood, a strange and unique and incredible relationship. I think playing music together with someone is probably the most intimate you can get outside of romance. All that sweat, the trust you have to have in one another, the exchange of energy."
Hunger is the album where Maggot Heart’s finesse of their own fervor finds them standing on their own feral hind legs. Existing on a diet of her own determination, Olsson knows well what hunger means for the survivor. Olsson isn’t hungry, she embodies Hunger. The album cover, a vulnerable portrait of strength. No other band out there sounds like Maggot Heart.
On Hunger their bones are exposed, a hole where the rib used to be, the void staring back. Sink your teeth into Hunger. Starvation has never sounded this vital.
Hunger will be available on LP, CD and digital on September 29th, 2023 via Svart Records and Rapid Eye Records. Pre-orders are available via Svart Records (LP, CD) HEREand digital/blue vinyl via Bandcamp HERE.
“Has a very cinematic feel to it, almost like the soundtrack to a spy movie. The Icelandic composer has a knack for electronic music.” — Metal Injection
"Infantes steps away from the Icelandic progressive death metal style to take listeners on a synth-driven journey into his artistic psyche. The artist skillfully weaves 8-bit chiptune, Kitaro-inspired ambient pieces, and tension-filled horror movie soundtracks into a mesmerizing atmospheric record." -- Metal Insider
Iceland based artist Mario Infantes shares a new single from his forthcoming solo debut album Antidote to a Turbulent Mind today via ToxicMetal. Hear & share "Inexplicably Long Winter" HERE. (Direct Bandcamp and Spotify.)
Metal Injection recently premiered the single "Explore The Woods..." HERE. A video launched by Metal Insider shows Infantes hand carving and painting a fantasy diorama model, one of the singer's many areas of expertise in the visual arts, as the song "...And Find My Grotto" plays. Watch/share "...And Find My Grotto" HERE. (Direct YouTube.)
On Antidote to a Turbulent Mind, Mario Infantes, lead singer of Metal Blade signed band Cult of Lilith, has painstakingly crafted a record of synth soundscapes that brings the listener on a voyage deep into the mind of the artist. The album follows a man after he consumes a psychedelic tincture and descends into his own fears, desires and obsessions. The songs range from 8-bit chiptune to Kitaro influenced ambient pieces while also maintaining the tension of a horror movie soundtrack. Infantes weaves these together into a cohesive whole that allows the listener to apply their own interpretation to the journey.
Infantes, the Spanish born singer, is a visual and music artist based in Iceland. His "show stopping vocal power" has drawn the attention of metal fans and publications across the world. Recently he has begun experimenting with synths, drum machines and virtual instruments, the result is his first instrumental album. This is his first album for Lost Future Records.
Antidote to a Turbulent Mind will be available on LP and digital on July 7th, 2023 via Lost Future Records. Preorders are available HERE.
Beverly, Massachusetts quintet The Burning Paris shares a new single today from their forthcoming album Everything is Broken & I Don't Feel a Thing via It's Psychedelic Baby Magazine. The track, "Two Hearts" is available to hear & share HERE. (Direct Bandcamp and Spotify.)
Everything is Broken & I Don't Feel a Thing is the band's first studio album in over 2 decades and proves well worth the wait.
Known in the early-mid 2000's for a unique sound marked by glacially-paced arrangements, somnambulic, shoegaze-ish vocal treatments, and classical instruments woven tastefully between otherwise-traditional rock instruments, the 2023 incarnation of The Burning Paris picks up precisely where it all left off, nary missing a beat.
From the delicate establishing notes and the very first line ("Wake me when it's done") of "Merganser," the album's opener, it should be clear to prior fans of the band that this is but a continuation. For those encountering the band for the first time, the sound remains prescient and distinctive when held up against all that has come before and what will come after Everything is Broken & I Don't Feel a Thing.
Sometimes it takes the absolute bleakest, most existential albums possible to be the proverbial silver lining in whatever we go through in this life. The Burning Paris has once again delivered the goods.
Everything is Broken & I Don't Feel a Thing will be available July 12th, 2023 via Dark Operative & Pax Aeternum. Pre-orders are availableHERE.
Artist: The Burning Paris
Album: Everything is Broken & I Don't Feel a Thing