Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Silent "Self"/Planet B Remix + Self-titled Magazine

“...as extreme and experimental as anything the San Diego natives have ever been in. Case in point: the couple singles we shared below, right alongside a shock-treated remix of another recent Three One G standout, the bleak post-punk band Silent.”
--Self-titled Magazine

Listen to Silent's track, "Self", as remixed by Planet B, via Self-titled Magazine, here.

Mexicali-based band Silent’s post-punk goth aura meets Planet B’s electronic twilight zone in this remix of “Self.” A track originally found on Silent’s debut LP, “A Century of Abuse” (released by Three One G), this collaboration has left the original instrumentation stripped, instead melding vocalist Jung Sing’s (All Leather, Maniqui Lazer) dark vibrato tones with Luke Henshaw’s (Sonida de la Frontera) robotic assaults and Justin Pearson’s (The Locust, Dead Cross, Retox) unhinged backup screams. As Sing encourages us “to rise,” the sample behind it falls, a glitchy MPC crumble punctuated by an ominous beat throughout. This remix keeps the emotive, stylistic mood of the original, while introducing a distinctly “Planet B” multilayered, hip hop approach. The result is sci-fi inspired heaviness.
This Silent remix feat. Planet B will be available as an exclusive free download via Three One G’s Soundcloud profile.
Silent’s LP, A Century of Abuse (featuring the original version of “Self”), is available via Three One G’s webstore. Order here.

Upcoming Shows (Silent):
February 3 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Smell w/ Qui


Friday, January 26, 2018

RITUALZ - Doom


Artoffact Records presents the March 9th release of Doom, the first full-length album by Ritualz.

Stream new track "To Black," from Doom, and preorder digital, vinyl, CD:

https://ritualz.bandcamp.com/album/doom

Ritualz is the one-man army of producer/vocalist JC Lobo. Born, raised, and based in Mexico City, Lobo launched Ritualz in 2010 and ascended quickly – by 2012, iconic streetwear brand Mishka had released his third EP, Hypermotion X, and heavy world touring followed, including shows with the likes of HEALTH and Prayers. 

A long break in 2014 set the stage for the next chapter. Lobo began developing a new sound, breaking with the past to create the new incarnation of Ritualz. Now, six years after Hypermotion X, Lobo returns with an album that overshadows all previous work: the debut Ritualz full-length, Doom.


Doom was recorded and mixed entirely by Lobo at apartments in Mexico City and Paris, and mastered by Martin Bowes (Nine Inch Nails, Psychic TV, Front Line Assembly).


Murky and unsettling, Doom is an album of cryptic pop songs – emotional and anthemic songs under a blanket of fog. Lobo defines the music only in the broadest terms: "dark electronic" is as specific as he chooses to get. He references only the biggest, most legendary figureheads of industrial-influenced pop and rock when naming inspirations behind this new work: Nine Inch Nails and Depeche Mode. But in fact, Doom is a vivid representation of Lobo's own, specific, personal vision. The album's eleven songs are a portal to Lobo's world: a dream-state, shrouded in gloom, marked by minimal beats, synth hooks in conflict with dissonant layers, and soulful vocals buried in the mix. 

Lobo claims Doom is quite literally an album about "meeting your doom." He elaborates: "Some of the songs are about the feeling of hopelessness from being alive in this time. Some songs are a bit more fantastical – they're like short stories." "To Black" is a song about "dying and going to hell and enjoying it." Other songs tell tales of a prisoner of war giving in to a ritual sacrifice, and a mental patient tormented by ghosts.


Already acclaimed in underground circles, Ritualz will jump to the next level with Doom, a moving and memorable album that blurs lines between pop and the darkest forms of electronic music. 


Stream "To Black" via Apple Music:
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/doom/1331936281
Stream "To Black" via Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/track/6GcI63F1IXvdIxZk8dyqhz
Preorder Doom via iTunes: 
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/doom/1331936281

Tracklist:

1) Trash Mental
2) To Black
3) Journey
4) Rats
5) Spazz
6) Agony
7) Echoes
8) Lust Eternal
9) Doom
10) Pig
11) The Last of Us

Lineup: 

JC Lobo - all vocals, instruments, production

Discography:

Doom (2018, Artoffact Records)
Outworld compilation (2014, Maligna Records)
Hypermotion X EP (2012, Mishka)
Split w/ Fostercare (2011, Robot Elephant Records)
Ghetto Ass Witch EP (2011, self-released)
Ritualz EP (2010, Disaro Records)

Live:

Mar 9 - Mexico City, MX @ Foro Bizarro
Mar 22 - San Diego, CA @ Space Bar
Mar 23 - Los Angeles, CA @ Das Bunker
Mar 29 - San Francisco, CA @ Elbo Room
April 1 - Vancouver, BC @ Astoria

Artoffact Records 2018 label sampler:


Photo by Daniela Quant

ACTORS - It Will Come to You


Artoffact Records presents the March 9th release of It Will Come to You, the debut full-length album by ACTORS.


Stream new track "Slaves," from It Will Come to You, here, and p
re-order digital, vinyl, CD:
https://actors.bandcamp.com/album/it-will-come-to-you

From Vancouver, Canada, ACTORS electrify with a modern take on post-punk. On debut full-length It Will Come to You, anthemic songs evoke the urgency of early-'80s U2 (Boy, October, War) as well as the driving, synth-drenched scores that emanated from that era's movie screens. As scene authority Post-Punk.com put it, the band conjures "cinematic new-wave... that belongs on a Michael Mann soundtrack."


Frontman Jason Corbett's rich vocals command with all the passion of a young Bono and the coolness of Peter Murphy. Songs like "L'appel du Vide," "Slaves," "Face Meets Glass," and "Bury Me" are bangers that glisten via Corbett's production job: slamming beats propel warm layers of synth, guitar, and vocals. Corbett writes, produces, mixes, and masters all ACTORS music at his own Vancouver studio, Jacknife Sound. 


Corbett names David Bowie as a fundamental influence – Bowie's sense of confidence and creativity are in full effect on It Will Come to You. But much more than a "retro" act, this is music that stands all on its own, full of life and unforgettable hooks. Perhaps best described as a "post-post-punk" band, ACTORS belongs in the discussion alongside bands of today like The Soft Moon and Cold Cave who are pushing music forward via a deep knowledge of the past.


Corbett has also been quoted saying he was raised on the classic era of Roadrunner and Earache death metal – while these bands are nowhere to be found in ACTORS' sound, the intensity and perfection displayed on It Will Come to You befits a former metalhead. Bassist Jahmeel Russell is an ex-member of metallic noise-rockers KEN mode and their predecessors in the Winnipeg scene, Kittens.

Stream "Slaves" via Apple Music: 
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/it-will-come-to-you/1336842157
Stream "Slaves" via Spotify: 
https://open.spotify.com/track/0TPMk7utgqmayyNqZlinys
Pre-order It Will Come to You via iTunes: 
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/it-will-come-to-you/1336842157

ACTORS will be touring the US, Canada, and Europe, throughout 2018. 

Mar 10 - Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw (It Will Come to You album release show)

Mar 22 - Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
Mar 23 - Boise, ID @ Vista Bar
Mar 24 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Club X (Batcave SLC)
Mar 28 - Sacramento, CA @ LowBrau
Mar 29 - Oakland, CA @ Golden Bull
Mar 30 - Los Angeles, CA @ La Cita (Part Time Punks)
Apr 3 - Olympia, WA @ Crytatropa
Apr 4 - Everett, WA @ Obscurus
Apr 5 - Eugene, OR @ Old Nicks
Apr 6 - Portland, OR @ Tonic Lounge (Out from the Shadows Festival)
Apr 12 - Vancouver, BC @ Astoria (Verboden Festival)
May 10 - Paris, FR @ Le Supersonic
May 11 - Lille, FR @ Le Bobble Cafe
May 18 - Copenhagen, DK @ Stengade
May 19 - Hamburg, DE @ Gruner Jager
May 20 - Leipzig, DE @ Wave Gotik Treffen Festival
Aug 25 - West Yorkshire, UK @ Infest Festival

Tracklist:

1) L'Appel du Vide
2) Slaves
3) Face Meets Glass
4) Hit to the Head
5) Crosses
6) Bury Me
7) Crystal
8) We Don't Have to Dance
9) Let It Grow
10) Bird in Hand

Lineup: 

Jason Corbett - vocals, guitar
Shannon Hemmett - synth, vocals
Jahmeel Russell - bass, vocals
Adam Fink - drums

Discography:

It Will Come to You (2018, Artoffact Records)
Reanimated EP (2017, Northern Light Records)
"It Goes Away" single (2016, Northern Light Records)
"Let It Grow" single (2015, Northern Light Records)
"Post Traumatic Love/Nightlife" 7" (2012, Northern Light Records)


Artoffact Records 2018 label sampler:

Photo by Kira Clavell

THE SWORD - Used Future


THE SWORD ANNOUNCE MARCH 23rd RELEASE DATE FOR “USED FUTURE”; PREORDER STARTS TODAY

LEAD TRACK “DEADLY NIGHTSHADE” PREMIERES

FIRST TOUR LEG REVEALED


The Sword will release their sixth studio album, Used Future, on March 23rd. Recorded in Portland, Oregon with producer Tucker Martine (My Morning Jacket, The Decemberists), the album features 12 new Sword compositions. The album preorder begins today with multiple bundles available from both the band's webstore and the label's store. This includes an exclusive "8-Track" version featuring a USB drive containing the full album and visualizer, housed in an authentic 8-Track cassette shell, and a vinyl version with bonus 12" "Serpent Weather" single featuring art by Thomas Hooper.


Preorder from label: http://geni.us/swordmerch

Also premiering today is a video stream of the first single, "Deadly Nightshade":
The track is available as an instant grat track for anyone preordering the album from iTunes:

The band will do extensive touring throughout 2018. The dates for the first leg of the tour are below. Support on leg one will be provided by King Buffalo. VIP experiences will be available on all tour dates. Info on the VIPs can be found here:

The Sword – on tour:
Mar 21 - Austin, TX @ Mohawk
Mar 23 - El Paso, TX @ Tricky Falls
Mar 24 - Phoenix, AZ @ Rebel Lounge
Mar 25 - Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey
Mar 26 - San Francisco, CA @ Fillmore
Mar 27 - Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades
Mar 29 - Seattle, WA @ Neumos
Mar 30 - Spokane, WA @ The Pin
Mar 31 - Boise, ID @ Neurolux
Apr 2 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Music Hall
Apr 3 - Grand Junction, CO @ The Mesa Theater
Apr 4 - Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre
Apr 6 - Lincoln, NE @ The Bourbon Theatre
Apr 7 - Minneapolis, MN @ Skyway Theatre
Apr 8 - Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave II
Apr 9 - Louisville, KY @ Mercury Ballroom
Apr 10 - Memphis, TN @ Minglewood Hall/Lounge 1884
Apr 11 - Baton Rouge, LA @ Varsity Theatre
Apr 12 - Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall

Apple Music ("Deadly Nightshade"): http://geni.us/swordusedfutuream
Spotify ("Deadly Nightshade"): http://geni.us/swordusedfuturespotify

Photo by Dean Dickinson



Thursday, January 25, 2018

Adam Gnade & Demetrius Francisco Antuña - Voicemails From The Great Satan

"America’s most troubled troubadour Adam Gnade is at it again, prepping another slab of post apocalyptic talking-blues via the venerable Three.One.G with the help of musician Demetrius Antuña."
–Tabs Out Cassette Podcast

Stream and read a review of Adam Gnade's latest release, "Voicemails From The Great Satan," via Tabs Out Cassette Podcast, here.

In “Voicemails from the Great Satan,” author Adam Gnade and musician Demetrius Antuña forge a soundscape for all of our fears and frustrations in Trump’s America, as well as a voice for our ghosts. From its outset, the sense of heaviness and hopelessness is staggering. America has been thrown into darkness, and with it has been swept Agnes, a character first met in Gnade’s novella, Locust House. Adam speaks in a tone that feels anguished, desperate, even bereaved, as if reciting a eulogy at the funeral of a country (“America, you broke our heart”). This is surrounded by the piercing wails of bowed guitars- suffering mourners moved to hysterics, and jarring drums/gongs- the rifle shots of a 21 gun salute. Antuña’s use of sound represents electricity, which he noted was “heavily influenced by Dean Hurley’s sound design in Twin Peaks: The Return”. Here, instrumentation and field recordings create a sense of “post-technology-” the incessant, indefinite buzzing of a world left in constant disarray and permanent malfunction. Towards the end of the piece, this ambience shifts towards the organic. Sounds of nature take over, Adam’s voice settles into a drowsy tone of calmness, even surrender, and we are left to feel a possible sense of moving forward– though to what end has not yet been written.
Voicemails From The Great Satan will be made available through Three One G Records on cassette February 16th, 2018 as well as digitally on iTunes. Preorder here.

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

DEAD EMPIRES - The Form


Dead Empires' new song "The Form" is a total crusher – a hulking, mid-tempo number, layered with noise and effects courtesy of new vocalist/noisemaker Jason Sherman. Premiering the song today, Invisible Oranges places Dead Empires in the same category as Code Orange and Full of Hell, and proclaims: "The band treat noise not as set dressing or background filigree, but as its own instrument... The song moves from a sound indebted to skronky Northeast hardcore to a climax that shares melodic DNA with an Ariana Grande hit." 

Check it out, here:
http://www.invisibleoranges.com/dead-empires/

"The Form" appears on upcoming new album Designed to Disappear, out February 23rd on Silent Pendulum Records. The album was recorded and mixed by Scot Moriarty at Backroom Studios in Rockaway, New Jersey, and mastered by Alan Douches (Mastodon, Every Time I Die). 

Sherman, who also fronts of prog-death freaks Torrential Downpour, makes his Dead Empires debut on Designed to Disappear, adding a whole new layer of darkness and danger to the band's sound. Bassist DJ Scully is a member of The Number Twelve Looks Like You and Black Table.

Founded in the Hudson Valley of New York in 2009, Dead Empires began with 2010's Monuments EP and followed it up with Waiting in Waves (2012) and Secret Snakes/Silent Serpent (2015). Third full-length Designed to Disappear sees the band reinvented with the arrival of new frontman Sherman, and is a must for fans of Mastodon's rock majesty as well as The Dillinger Escape Plan's radical gear-shifting.


Photo by Joseph Pelosi

Friday, January 19, 2018

NETHERLANDS - Deathless


Netherlands presents new track "Deathless," from upcoming EP Hope Porn.

From Brooklyn, Netherlands is known for its barbaric psych-metal riddled with infectious hooks – like the hyperactive stepchild of the Melvins-Torche school of rock, the trio spews euphoric choruses and brain-rattling freakouts atop a violently grooving rhythm section.

But new track "Deathless," premiered today on Metal Injection, is a soaring doom anthem that absolutely mesmerizes. Metal Injection says it will "captivate you in an eerie, but sincere, way that I haven't really heard since Type O Negative." 

Also of note: the new episode of Shame Party – Netherlands frontman Timo Ellis' completely cracked talk show – featuring guest Andee Blacksugar of KMFDM. Past episodes feature members of TV On The Radio, Mutilation Rites, and more. 

Experience the premiere of "Deathless" and episode 8 of Shame Party, here:
http://www.metalinjection.net/av/song-premiere/netherlands-premiere-an-eerie-new-jam-deathless-and-release-new-episode-of-wacky-talk-showshame-party-featuring-kmfdm-guitarist

Hope Porn will be released February 9th on Records and Tapes Records. The EP was recorded by Ellis at Shame Party Studio in Brooklyn, NY, and mixed and mastered by Tom Tierney (A Place to Bury Strangers, Candiria) at Spaceman Sound in Brooklyn, NY.

Ellis' decades in the New York scene have featured collaborations with Yoko Ono, Cibo Matto, and many more. 

"Dio-inflected yowling over Drive Like Jehu overridden-in-the-red propulsion... Glammed out Highway Star vocals running wild and free over distorted bass chaos."
–Noisey

"Gritty, high energy punk/metal, anchored by a huge distorted synth bass tone; the effect is something like Future of the Left banging out one of Torche's more rambunctious tunes."
–BrooklynVegan

"Totally whacked out."
–PunkNews

Friday, January 5, 2018

NETHERLANDS - Hope Porn




Brooklyn band Netherlands reveals details of its upcoming, fourth release: new EP Hope Porn, out February 9th on Records and Tapes Records.

Stream new track "Negative Likes," from Hope Porn, here:
https://open.spotify.com/album/5RiHk7csYAILFfiecD2AyX

Led by prolific musician Timo Ellis, whose decades in the New York scene have featured collaborations with Yoko Ono, Cibo Matto, and many more, Netherlands is a singular force. New EP Hope Porn cements the style that has been in the works since the band's 2011 debut: euphoric choruses and brain-rattling psychedelic freakouts soar above a violently grooving rhythm section. 

Comically over-the-top, Netherlands sets its knobs to 11 and lets fly; the energy on Hope Porn is palpable and, as anyone who has witnessed its live shows with the likes of Mutoid Man, Retox, and Melt-Banana can attest, the band puts on an absolute onslaught of a performance. Pounding drums, overwhelming synth bass, and Ellis' guitar wizardry meld into a wall of crushing noise-rock-by-way-of-prog-metal. Yet Netherlands' real magic lies in the contrasts it sets up: falsetto vocals, odd time signatures, and haunting hooks transform the raw power into weirdly delicious and dynamic songs. The overall effect is not unlike that of Swans and Dio playing simultaneously, atop an actual mountain of MDMA.

Ellis' lyrics oscillate between acidic rants and earnest, world-weary observations – alternately hopeless and hopeful. "It's way past 11th hour and it's do or die," he sings in the EP's final moments. "So be a light unto yourself cuz there ain't no god above / Be a deserter in the war on life and be a medic in the war on love!"

Hope Porn was recorded by Ellis at Shame Party Studio in Brooklyn, NY, and mixed and mastered by Tom Tierney (A Place to Bury Strangers, Candiria) at Spaceman Sound in Brooklyn, NY.

"Dio-inflected yowling over Drive Like Jehu overridden-in-the-red propulsion... Glammed out Highway Star vocals running wild and free over distorted bass chaos."
–Noisey

"Gritty, high energy punk/metal, anchored by a huge distorted synth bass tone; the effect is something like Future of the Left banging out one of Torche's more rambunctious tunes."
–BrooklynVegan


"Totally whacked out."
–PunkNews

Tracklist:

1) Fakir Mintas
2) The Moon Boy Swing
3) Negative Likes
4) A New Hope
5) Deathless
6) Rewild!

Lineup:

Timo Ellis - guitar, vocals
Ava Farber - synth bass
Joel "Moon Boy" Willis - drums

Discography:

Hope Porn (2018, Records and Tapes Records)
Audubon (2016, Prosthetic Records)
Silicon Vapor (2013, self-released)
Fantasmatic (2011, self-released)

Photo by Mick Cantarella