"Light Creates Shadow goes full prog... Like a lighter version of Tool." -- Metal Injection

'LCS has developed a distinct style that bends genres and creates a reinterpretation of the loud-quiet-loud dynamic. Combined with ethereal vocal melodies and progressive arrangements, a psychical alchemy births resonance." -- Echoes & Dust

Portland, OR post-metal trio Light Creates Shadow share a new track from their forthcoming album today via Echoes & Dust. Hear and share "Post Truth" HERE. (Direct Bandcamp.)

Metal Injection previous hosted the first single "Sensed Presence" HERE. New Noise Magazine launched "Causal Horizon" HERE.

Artistic post-metal band Light Creates Shadow release their 3rd full length, Ghosts pass through, running from the body on 07/01/2022. Recorded at Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard’s Studio Litho in Seattle WA, it was produced, engineered, and mixed by Matt Bayles (Mastodon, Russian Circles, Deftones). Mastered by Ed Brooks (Mastodon, Caspian, Isis).

Ghosts… is an album borne from the organic and intuitive connection between guitarist/vocalist Marc Changnon, bassist Jered Johnson and drummer Adam Young. After releasing a lo-fi acoustic album, 2 Windows in 2011 and 2015’s post rock/shoegaze leaning Emerge From The Illusion, LCS reformed with a new lineup and progressed into an artistic and stylistic rebirth with Ghosts… Combining progressive dynamics, uniquely delivered vocals, channeled lyrics, intricately woven passages that power through unorthodox arrangements culminating into epic walls of sound. This leads to the construction of a profound emotional and psychological journey. The alchemy was enough to catch the attention of famed producer Matt Bayles. Completed in 10 intensely focused 12-hour days in May of 2021, the rigor pushed everyone involved to exhaustion, but the belief that they were creating something special was the intrinsic motivation needed to complete the record.

Light Creates Shadow utilize conceptual frameworks to take the listener on an interior journey into the creative process, psyche, and a confrontation with the Shadow, buried deep in the unconscious mind. This alchemical mixture offers the audience a blank canvas to paint their own rendering of interpretation upon. LCS have positioned themselves to have breakthrough potential with an innovative concept, genre defining sound, and enigmatic live performance that engages the audience in a new way. 

“We believe music that explores the depths of what is possible between audience and artist, should be transparent about its intentions,” explains Changnon. “To provide context, I’m inferring that if a band are conduits for channeled meaning, healing and collective synchronicity, then that same transference is innately present in the connection with the listener. We are going to explore this synchronistic relationship through a companion interactive web experience that will intrigue even the most hardened skeptics.”

Light Creates Shadow draw influences from artists such as; TOOL, Pink Floyd, Mastodon, Isis, Emma Ruth Rundle, The Smashing Pumpkins and Sunny Day Real Estate to name a few. But LCS believe they are establishing their own path and feel their sound is authentically their own. “We are looking to create a following predicated on re-introducing heavy music to the depths of intellect, emotion, and soul, as an experiential necessity. I believe that art is at its peak when you are forced to be an active participant in the exchange.”

Ghosts pass through, running from the body will be available on LP, CD and download on July 1st, 2022.

Artist: Light Creates Shadow

Album: Ghosts pass through, running from the body

Record Label:  self-released 

Release Date: July 1, 2022

01. Sensed Presence

02. Post Truth

03. Dark Triad

04. Causal Horizon

05. Outlier

On The Web:

lightcreatesshadow.com

lightcreatesshadow.bandcamp.com

"The wildest band in America." -- Spotify For Artists

"Makers of high octane, soulful garage punk." -- Brooklyn Vegan

San Diego trio The Schizophonics share the first single from their forthcoming fourth album today. Hear and share "Desert Girl" via YouTube, Spotify and all other DSPs.

The band is currently tearing it up live on tour in Europe, and will be very busy for the next year with extensive tour dates around the world. Please see current dates below. 

Over the last few years, The Schizophonics have built up a formidable reputation around the world as an explosive live act. Tapping into the same unstoppable combination of rock 'n' roll energy and showmanship that fueled The MC5 in the heyday of the Grande Ballroom, their wild live show is heavily influenced by artists like James Brown, Iggy Pop, Jimi Hendrix, Little Richard, and The Sonics. 

Singer/guitarist Pat Beers and drummer Lety Beers formed the band in San Diego in 2009 and have worked tirelessly since then, playing hundreds of shows around the globe. In 2013 they were recruited as the backing/opening band for El Vez, which helped the band make a name for itself in Europe. Since then, they've played in numerous countries, and supported tours by like-minded acts like Rocket From The Crypt, Little Barrie, The Woggles and have opened for the Damned, DEVO, The Hives and Cage The Elephant. Shindig Magazine described their live show "Like watching some insane hybrid of WAYNE KRAMER, JAMES BROWN, and the Tasmanian Devil.” 

The band is more than just a live act; they're also committed to writing great memorable songs. Their new album Hoof It on Pig Baby Records due in Fall 2022 was recorded by Dean Reis at Singing Serpent studio (Plosivs, RFTC) and mixed by Steve Kaye at Sun King Studios. 

Hoof It will be available on LP, CD and download on September 2nd, 2022 via Pig Baby Records. Pre-orders are available HERE.

THE SCHIZOPHONICS LIVE 2022:

06/09 St Germain-en-Laye, FR - LaClef Stgermain

06/10 Vannes, FR - L'ECHONOVA

06/11 Tours Aucard, FR - De Tours

06/12 Saint-Quentin, FR - La Manufacture -02

06/15 Berlin, DE - Wild At Heart

06/17 Aalborg, DK - 1000Fryd

06/18 Gladsaxe Richter, DK - Gladsaxe

06/21 Nantes, FR - Le Chien Stupide

06/23 Paris, FR - La Maroquinerie

06/25 Haarlem, NL - Kliko Fest 2022 - Patronaat Haarlem

07/22 & 23 Saint Paul, Quebec, CA - Le Festif! De Baie Saint Paul

09/07 - Boise, ID - Neurolux

09/08 - Yakima, WA - Punks Bar

09/09 - Seattle, WA - Substation

09/10 - Portland, OR - Dante’s

09/11 - Eugene, OR - Old Nick’s

09/13 - Albany, CA - Ivy Room

09/14 - San Jose, CA - The Ritz

09/15 - Santa Cruz, CA - Moe’s Alley

09/17 - Los Angeles, CA - Zebulon

09/23 - San Diego, CA - The Casbah



November 2022 - extensive East Coast & Midwest tour

Artist: The Schizophonics

Album: Hoof It

Label: Pig Baby Records

Release date: September 2nd, 2022

01. Desert Girl

02. Creature

03. Hoof It

04. Won Your Love

05. Pendulum

06. The Alchemist Twist

07. Turns To Glass

08. Underneath The Moonlight

09. Rain Down

10. Ready

11. Dance at The End of Time

On the Web:

schizophonics.com

facebook.com/TheSchizophonics

instagram.com/theschizophonics

pigbabyrecords.com

“The Living Pins filter 60s psychedelic grooves through the more straightforward sensibilities of 90s alt-rock,

a combination that's both accessible and impossibly cool. Hearing Clark and Peltz harmonize over the garage-rock strut of opener ‘Raven,’ or the sweet pop-rock hooks of ‘Jaguar,’ you can see why Kim Deal of The Breeders counts herself as a fan.” — The Onion AV Club

"A lively union of post-grunge guitar psychedelia and Stonesy chug, as if the nation's Nineties soundtrack evolved out of seminal garage rock comp Nuggets instead of the Velvet Underground." -- Austin Chronicle

Austin, TX band The Living Pins release a new single today via Rock and Roll Globe. The song, "Chateau" is part of an upcoming EP of perfect summertime tunes. Hear and share "Chateau" HERE. (Direct Bandcamp.)

The Living Pins recently released their debut EP Freaky Little Monster Children in April 2021 to much critical fanfare, just 25 years since their first single in 1996. Hear and share Freaky Little Monster Children EP via Bandcamp.

The Living Pins are guitarists/vocalists Pam Peltz and Carrie Clark, joined by a rotating cast of players.

Carrie is an inductee into the Austin Music Hall of Fame as the frontwoman for Sixteen Deluxe (Trance Syndicate, Warner Bros. Records). Pam is a published photographer and the producer of two Daniel Johnston songs, “Ain’t No Woman Gonna Make a George Jones Outta Me” and “Casper” on Daniel’s Continued Story album.

The Living Pins originally formed in 1996 during the heyday of iconic Austin clubs such as Liberty Lunch, Electric Lounge, and The Hole In The Wall. Pam and Carrie met as co-workers at Wheatsville Food Co-op and continued in the tradition of employee bands including the likes of Ed Hall, Cherubs, Sixteen Deluxe, Pong, Palaxy Tracks, and Cotton Mather. The original Living Pins line-up included Kathy Ziegler (Morningwood) and Leslie Petit (Bunny Stockhausen) and this incarnation of the Pins appeared on the 1998 Wheatsville band compilation The Wheat Album, with their cover of the T. Rex song, “Spaceball Ricochet”, produced by John Croslin (Spoon, Guided by Voices).

The new single was recorded at The Bubble Studios in Austin, TX. Bubble Master Chris “Frenchie” Smith is Sixteen Deluxe-bandmate-forever with Carrie and it was a natural next step to enlist his skills. As The Living Pins were aiming to embody something like the dreamy crispness of 1970s FM radio, there is definitely the overlap that Pam and Carrie and Frenchie understand. It’s the aesthetic of being a little kid with a portable Realistic cassette recorder. You could sit next to the radio and then hit record and get your favorite ELO song or Badfinger song and just feel the vibe. 

The ROCK factor of the Bubble recordings is enhanced by Carrie and Pam’s most excellent company, the impeccable rhythm section of Claire Hamilton on bass and Rich Malley on drums. They are just two Austin legends. Austin has so many legends. Claire and Rich are two of them.   

Much was made of the fact that the FLMC was their first release in 25 years. So, Carrie and Pam figured, “Let’s have another release within a year. Keep the momentum going this time.” So, in the spirit of momentum and all that is fun, The Living Pins present two new singles, “Chateau” and “Oh Yeah’, to rock you on through the Summer of 2022. 

Album: "Chateau" b/w "Oh Yeah"

Record Label: self-released

Release Date: June 2022

01. Chateau

02. Oh Yeah

On The Web:

livingpins.com

thelivingpins.bandcamp.com

instagram.com/livingpins

facebook.com/livingpins

"Light Creates Shadow goes full prog... Like a lighter version of Tool." -- Metal Injection

Portland, OR post-metal trio Light Creates Shadow share a new track from their forthcoming album today via New Noise Magazine. Hear and share "Causal Horizon" HERE. (Direct Bandcamp.)

Metal Injection previous hosted the first single "Sensed Presence" HERE.

Artistic post-metal band Light Creates Shadow release their 3rd full length, Ghosts pass through, running from the body on 07/01/2022. Recorded at Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard’s Studio Litho in Seattle WA, it was produced, engineered, and mixed by Matt Bayles (Mastodon, Russian Circles, Deftones). Mastered by Ed Brooks (Mastodon, Caspian, Isis).

Ghosts… is an album borne from the organic and intuitive connection between guitarist/vocalist Marc Changnon, bassist Jered Johnson and drummer Adam Young. After releasing a lo-fi acoustic album, 2 Windows in 2011 and 2015’s post rock/shoegaze leaning Emerge From The Illusion, LCS reformed with a new lineup and progressed into an artistic and stylistic rebirth with Ghosts… Combining progressive dynamics, uniquely delivered vocals, channeled lyrics, intricately woven passages that power through unorthodox arrangements culminating into epic walls of sound. This leads to the construction of a profound emotional and psychological journey. The alchemy was enough to catch the attention of famed producer Matt Bayles. Completed in 10 intensely focused 12-hour days in May of 2021, the rigor pushed everyone involved to exhaustion, but the belief that they were creating something special was the intrinsic motivation needed to complete the record.

Light Creates Shadow utilize conceptual frameworks to take the listener on an interior journey into the creative process, psyche, and a confrontation with the Shadow, buried deep in the unconscious mind. This alchemical mixture offers the audience a blank canvas to paint their own rendering of interpretation upon. LCS have positioned themselves to have breakthrough potential with an innovative concept, genre defining sound, and enigmatic live performance that engages the audience in a new way. 

“We believe music that explores the depths of what is possible between audience and artist, should be transparent about its intentions,” explains Changnon. “To provide context, I’m inferring that if a band are conduits for channeled meaning, healing and collective synchronicity, then that same transference is innately present in the connection with the listener. We are going to explore this synchronistic relationship through a companion interactive web experience that will intrigue even the most hardened skeptics.”

Light Creates Shadow draw influences from artists such as; TOOL, Pink Floyd, Mastodon, Isis, Emma Ruth Rundle, The Smashing Pumpkins and Sunny Day Real Estate to name a few. But LCS believe they are establishing their own path and feel their sound is authentically their own. “We are looking to create a following predicated on re-introducing heavy music to the depths of intellect, emotion, and soul, as an experiential necessity. I believe that art is at its peak when you are forced to be an active participant in the exchange.”

Ghosts pass through, running from the body will be available on LP, CD and download on July 1st, 2022.

Artist: Light Creates Shadow

Album: Ghosts pass through, running from the body

Record Label:  self-released 

Release Date: July 1, 2022

01. Sensed Presence

02. Post Truth

03. Dark Triad

04. Causal Horizon

05. Outlier

On The Web:

lightcreatesshadow.com

lightcreatesshadow.bandcamp.com

Boston quintet The Burning Paris announces their reunion with a handful of New England shows and new recordings on the way. The band premieres their new cover of the Starflyer 59 song "Softness Goodness" for an upcoming tribute album today via Brooklyn Vegan. Hear and share that track HERE. 

The band also releases a 14-song retrospective album on May 20th. Stream the full album now via Bandcamp.

In the summer of 2000 a bunch of friends were on a camping trip when some of them realized they played different instruments and had the desire to make music again after previous bands had disbanded. Josh, Nate, Jen, Ben and Mike all started working on music together with no real focus other than to play together. When Ben hurt his wrist and couldn’t play bass, he switched to keyboards. They reached out to Chris to have him come aboard. Without distorted guitars, they tried to do something different for themselves. 

On a freezing winter afternoon, Nate brought a half-written song to the practice room, and it fit. Named after a frigid day/night, “Colder” became the first song by the band known as The Burning Paris. 

The band wrote a collection of songs and enlisted the new-to-recording/producing Matt Squire to helm recording the debut release Coral City Ruin which was released on Nate and Josh’s label, Dopamine Records to regional acclaim. 

The band was praised for its live performances of cathartic nature and the unique approach for independent music using a cello. The band toured both east and west coasts in support of the record before signing on with Virginia’s Magic Bullet Records. 

The Burning Paris once again recorded with producer Matt Squire who helped refine the band’s sound. The end result was the mini-album and by December you will know where your heart truly lies. The record, a solemn affair rooted in depression (as previous efforts) launched the band further. Press and radio attention became more frequent as did the populated live shows.  

The group toured in January 2003 nationally to support the record. In the months after, the band drifted apart to have Nate, Jen and Josh depart to join On Fire (also recording on Magic Bullet Records.) Nate has since recorded for Magic Bullet and The Mylene Sheath labels in Ekso Ekso (I am Your Bastard Wings) and Lavinia. 

After a long pandemic lockdown, Jen and Nate started writing again and Chris joined them. They quickly realized they would be The Burning Paris again. They were able to find Brad (Herra Terra, Seneca) to fill the drum slot and they all got to work. Later finding Jon (Lavinia, Seneca) to come on board. This new 5-piece version of the original sextet ensemble simplifies and makes more clear the music they always wanted to convey. It’s now more mature, to the point, and cathartic as ever.  

In November 2021, the band entered the studio for the first time in 20 years to record a song for an upcoming tribute compilation for Starflyer 59. “Softness Goodness” encapsulates every emotion The Burning Paris exudes and seems like a fitting reintroduction. 

A retrospective CD titled Half-Truths & Indiscretions will be released May 20th, 2022 via The Charon Collective. The collection is available on streaming platforms via Pax Aeturnum Digital. 

THE BURNING PARIS LIVE 2022:

05/23 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Upstairs (w/ SOM)

06/23 Providence, RI @ Alchemy 

06/24 Worcester, MA @ Ralph's

06/25 Malden, MA @ Faces Brewing Co. 

Artist: The Burning Paris

Album: Half-Truths and Indiscretions: The Retrospective

Record Label:  Pax Aeternum (digital) / Charon Collective (CD) 

Release Date: May 20, 2022

01. In Ruins

02. Building My Own Coffin

03. Tonight I’ll Expire

04. Silver Trees

05. Colder

06. Winter Street In Winter

07. Hemlock

08. Olympia

09. Let’s Watch The World Collapse

10. Broken Days

11. The Sun Also Rises

12. Coral City Ruin

13. Asleep

14. Whitlock

"Has the short and sweet hookiness of the Ramones or the Descendents, the rigid minimalism of Suicide, the playful, gooey synths of chiptune and a splash of hip-hop delivery in the vocals, which are deceptively catchy and full of character." -- Revolver Magazine

"Imagine if Atari Teenage Riot, Wu-Tang Clan, Devo, and Joy Division decided to create a group together the outcome might sound like N8NOFACE.” — CvltNation

"Homicide finds him pulling equally from hip hop, Suicide, and shouty post-punk, and fusing it all together seamlessly." -- Brooklyn Vegan

"His abrasive melding of everything from synthpop to industrial to new wave to other points in between can probably best described as 'synthpunk,' but whatever you call it, it's catching on." -- No Echo

L.A. via Tucson singer N8NOFACE is streaming his forthcoming album Homicide ahead of release today via Brooklyn Vegan. Hear and share Homicide HERE. (Direct Linktree HERE.)

N8NOFACE is currently on tour throughout the US with L.A. punks Ho99o9. See remaining dates below. 

The singer also recently launched the gory video for love song "On My Side" via YouTube. Revolver Magazine recently launched the video for lead single "A Joy in Death" HERE. (Direct YouTube.) Watch a mini-documentary about Nate HERE. No Echo hosted "Hate Me When I'm High" alongside an interview HERE. 

The intense, hypercranked aggression of Homicide, the new full length by N8NOFACE is a stark contrast to the introspective and almost indie rock leanings of his 2021 album Bound To Let You Down. Although the two were written and recorded in close succession, the screaming hardcore synthpunk of album opener “Burn This MF” aptly sets the tone for this album’s about-face and brutal catharsis. 

“While my previous album Bound To Let You Down was mostly about me coming to grips with my addiction, Homicide is me in the ‘ready to face the fight’ mode,” N8 says. “Once I was getting clean and no longer in a state of regret (as Bound To Let You Down was really about) I was no longer feeling sorry for myself. So it’s like: homicide time, ready to kill it! I do feel this is part two to my last album being they were all songs I made during that time of my life.”

N8NOFACE has been described as a Chicano Flannery O’Connor playing chiptune Ministry, the Sleaford Mods of the American Southwest, Suicide for the 21st Century and Ghostmane meets darkwave synthpunk dashed with early Ween’s glue-huffing pop. Lyrically, his sometimes romantic, oftentimes violent storytelling tunes lean toward Narcocorrido, the bloody ballads of Mexican drug cartels. It sounds dark on the surface, but really N8NOFACE’s music is a lot of fun, and as exciting as the birth of punk rock and hiphop. 

He’s been making and posting glitchy synthpunk since the days of MySpace, when he first gained attention in chiptune duo Crimekillz. Even before the demise of that band, however, N8NOFACE was disseminating his dadaist lo-fi rants online, recording them on the cheap on his home computer setup. “Even to this day, everything I do is recorded in my closet,” he says. “I’ve never recorded at a studio.”

N8NOFACE has to date released 4 proper albums (available on vinyl) — Bound To Let You Down (2021), Just Here To Die (2020), Synth Up The Punks (2019) and True Story (2018) — and a slew of singles, mixtapes and collaborations, many of them with sprawling double-digit track listings. Before relocating to Long Beach, CA around a decade ago, he owned a graffiti & record store in his hometown of Tucson, AZ. It was here that he developed his vast musical taste from grimy hiphop beats to seminal aggressive synth punks The Screamers. 

“I grew up around some guys living outside the lines of the law,” N8 explains. “When I first started doing this I called it Narco Punk. I’m not glorifying it, I’m giving both sides of the story. Telling the heartbreaking side of the dark side.” Coming from a hiphop and border town culture, he found it difficult to share his esoteric tastes with friends. “How do I make my friends enjoy this music?” he wondered. “I’ll take some Suicide music and twist it to get my friends to listen to this.” 

Throughout, Homicide is guided by greasy synths pushed all the way to the max, lo-fi drum machine beats and N8’s charismatic vocal delivery that draws the listener in and elevates his dark lyrical themes. The claustrophobic mix and stripped down instrumentation really drives home the singer’s isolation and anger. “Fala” is a breakneck electro-hardcore love song. “F U N U N U” (say each of the letters slowly) is a chirping hook-filled mantra, “fuck anyone who ain’t ever believe in you.” Elsewhere, “Hate Me When I’m High” revolves around a bass synth line pushed to the brink of clipping while N8 remorsefully sings, “baby I'm a lost cause, this is true/ A real rock’n’roller this is true/ Hate me when I’m high.” Album closer “On My Side” is the most unabashedly synthpop tune, with an infectious, repetitive bass hook as N8 intones, “I’d kill anyone you asked me to/ Yeah, I”m here to ride/ As long as you’re on my side/ It’s a homicide, homicide, homicide.” 

Homicide will be available on LP, CD, cassette and download on April 29th, 2022 via Blackhouse Records. Pre-order physical HERE, digital HERE. 

Album: Homicide

Record Label: Blackhouse Records

Release Date: April 29th, 2022

01. Burn This MF

02. Fala

03. Kill The Killer

04. F U N U N U

05. Doesn’t Count Here

06. Down One

07. A Joy in Death

08. Pushing The Line

09. Poor Dom

10. No Dead Found

11. Yea

12. Hate Me When I’m High

13. I Was Aye Aye Aye

14. lfflugcvj (Ain’t No In Between)

15. Lost That Found This

16. On My Side

On The Web:

linktr.ee/n8noface

n8noface.bandcamp.com

"Population II is considered one of the world's first doom albums of all time." -- Metal Injection

"The distorted riffs and post-Hendrix solos he cranks through his monster amp system were doom before that term existed, and heavier than almost anything being produced at the time... A landmark in heavy rock that has long deserved more attention." -- The WIRE

Los Angeles based unsung guitar hero Randy Holden announces the sequel to his legendary 1970 album Population II, set to arrive 52 years later, titled Population III via RidingEasy Records. The ex-Blue Cheer guitarist's new album was recorded as a trio with members of Cactus and Black Sabbath. Hear and share the first single "Swamp Stomp" via Brooklyn Vegan HERE. (And direct via Bandcamp and YouTube.)

How do you follow up one of the most legendary, yet rarest albums said to signal the birth of doom metal? 

If you’re Randy Holden, you give everyone about 50 years to catch up, then casually drop a tastefully modernized reinterpretation of that sound. Population III picks up where Holden’s 1969 solo debut left off, updated with several decades worth of technological advances and personal hindsight. 

Following his tenure in proto-metal pioneers Blue Cheer in 1969, the guitarist aimed for more control over his next project. Thus, Randy Holden - Population II was born, the duo naming itself after the astronomical term for a particular star cluster with heavy metals present. Along with drummer/keyboardist Chris Lockheed, Holden created what many say is one of the earliest forms of doom metal. 

“Godzilla just walked into the room. People just stood there with their eyes and mouths wide open,” Holden says of the audience’s reaction to their live debut performing with a teeth-rattling phalanx of 16 (sixteen!) 200 watt Sunn amps. 

Likewise, their 6-song debut album Population II delves into leaden sludge, lumbering doom and epic soaring riffs that sound free from all constraints of the era. It’s incredibly heavy, but infused with a melodic, albeit mechanistic sensibility. However, troubles with the album’s original 1970 release bankrupted Holden, who subsequently left music for over two decades. For good reason, it’s widely hailed as a masterpiece, and until finally getting a proper formal release in 2020 on RidingEasy Records, was a longtime Holy Grail for record collectors. 

Flash forward 40 years to 2010, we find the guitarist/vocalist quietly coaxed into recording a followup album by Holden superfan and Cactus member Randy Pratt. Joined by drummer Bobby Rondinelli (who has played with Black Sabbath, Blue Öyster Cult, Rainbow), the trio cut the 6-song collection of leaden future blues, Population III. “Randy Pratt had written the basic song structures, he understood my music and where I come from quite well,” Holden says. “He nailed it.” 

But the recording was ultimately shelved for over a decade. “A year ago, in 2021 I listened to the songs and was delightfully surprised,” Holden says. “I think it’s the best album I’ve ever done.” 

Throughout Population III, Holden effortlessly dishes out squealing, soaring leads and skull-thwacking riffs with his signature low end grit and penchant for Middle Eastern scales. Coupled with Pratt’s pocket-locked bass, the slight flanging effect on Rondinelli’s drums and his pugilistic beats, the album occasionally brings to mind Presence-era Led Zeppelin, particularly on the 22-minute epic “Land of The Sun.” Elsewhere, “Swamp Stomp” echoes more the troglodyte blues of Holden’s older work, with his evermore searing solos showing hints of early Clapton/Hendrix era guitar prowess to drive home the stomp of the song’s namesake. At times, Holden sounds reminiscent of Neil Young leading Crazy Horse’s ruptured grunge as his lilting falsetto vocals push and pull his guitar’s siren’s call. Taken as a whole, there’s a very distinct difference between the way these veterans of hard rock’s formative years carry the songs compared to the more lugubrious riffing of today’s young doom purveyors. Population III is the real deal — a powerful continuation of a sound forged 50 years ago, that almost didn’t happen. Somehow, Randy Holden’s music always finds a way to stand the tests of time. 

Population III will be available on LP, CD and download on July 1st, 2022 via RidingEasy Records. Pre-orders are available at ridingeasyrecs.com

Artist: Randy Holden

Album: Population III

Label: RidingEasy Records

Release Date: July 1st, 2022

01. Living End

02. Sands Of Time

03. Land Of The Sun

04. Swamp Stomp

05. Money’s Talkin’

06. Outside Looking In