HEAVY HALO - "Erase Yr Fate"

HEAVY HALO: NYC alt-industrial dream team drops new single "Erase Yr Fate"

Heavy Halo has released new single "Erase Yr Fate." The track is the second single to be revealed from the band's upcoming new album, Damaged Dream.

Stream "Erase Yr Fate," by way of an official visualizer, here: https://youtu.be/CVqIUsyAJfw

Stream the track on all digital platforms, here: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/heavyhalo/erase-yr-fate

Pre-order Damaged Dream, here: https://silentpendulumrecords.com/collections/heavy-halo

From New York City, Heavy Halo is the duo of vocalist McKeever and producer Gosteffects. Together, the two conjure an industrialized strain of alt-rock that unites human and machine in highly compelling ways. "A raw human core encased in an exoskeleton of dense layers of futuristic electronics," is McKeever's description of Heavy Halo's approach. "This contrast is what excites us," he declares.

In the words of an October 2024 article from Revolver Magazine, the sound is a glorious mix of "chunky riffs and EBM-panicked beatwork" and "nihilistic yet melodic vocals about diving headfirst into the chaos that surrounds us every day."

A perfectly odd couple, the native New Yorker McKeever is a Columbia University-educated composer and vocalist who spent a decade entrenched in Brooklyn's indie rock scene, while Gosteffects cut his teeth DJ'ing and promoting illegal raves in Oklahoma. The unlikely pair met at a goth party in Brooklyn and instantly put their chemistry to action.

With one debut album under their studded belts, McKeever and Gosteffects will release Heavy Halo's sophomore album, Damaged Dream, in 2025 via Silent Pendulum Records. The album was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Gosteffects, whose production credits also include official remixes for the likes of Duran Duran.

While jagged guitars and raw electronics reference the likes of Nine Inch Nails, KMFDM, and The Prodigy, yearning melodic vocals reflect childhoods spent wallowing in the angst of Smashing Pumpkins and The Cure. With that said, Heavy Halo is of the future, not the past. The band lands amidst today's most forward-thinking artists blurring lines between industrial, metal, and pop –– HEALTH, Poppy, and 3TEETH, to name three. Its songs have been remixed by members of 3TEETH, as well as Atari Teenage Riot, Kontravoid, Pictureplane, and more.

Vocalist McKeever gives this statement about the new single, "Erase Yr Fate": "The vast emptiness of mental isolation. The weightlessness of drifting through shades of melancholy, endlessly cycling like phases of the moon. When the two sides of the cursed coin of depression and anxiety have you in their icy grip, you’re a cosmonaut falling away from the warmth of home, air supply running low, locked in the unknown. 'Erase Yr Fate' was inspired by these alienated feelings and by binge watching every space movie possible: 2001, Solaris, Interstellar… However, while out first album was 'hell' and fixated on descending into the dark murk, Damaged Dream is 'purgatory.' The burning spirit of resilience and revenge glows deep within 'Erase Yr Fate.' Neck craned towards the sun, bloodshot eyes gazing upwards. Despite seemingly hopeless circumstances you rage against the dying of the light and push to alter the course of the inevitable."

Photo by Wrekluse

Out today: YELLFIRE - Dear Gods

Dear Gods, the new album by Yellfire, is out today on The Ghost Is Clear Records.

Stream the album, here: https://yellfire.bandcamp.com/album/dear-gods

Buy the LP, here: https://theghostisclearrecords.limitedrun.com/products/835336

Mixed by Matt Bayles (Minus the Bear, Mastodon) and mastered by Magnus Lindberg (Cult of Luna, Birds in Row), Dear Gods is a towering, thunderous piece of work that carries forth the spirit of the Pacific Northwest's greatest earth-shakers. Operating at the nexus of noise rock and hardcore, Yellfire's sound is the fusion of rain-soaked despair and snapped-wire urgency.

“Seattle-based, Botch-loving, post-metallic noise rockers.”
–Decibel

"Yellfire, from Seattle, Washington. The track was 'Into Fire." It's the urgent new single, it's the lead-off track from their upcoming The Ghost Is Clear Records debut... If 'Into Fire' is any indication, and I think it is, of the quality of music that Yellfire will lay before us with 'Dear Gods,' I think there's reason for optimism and excitement. Though that might not be the emotion the music brings, it's the one that I feel."
–Getting It Out Podcast

"Seattle’s relentless rain and shadowy winters might seem bleak, but they’re the perfect backdrop for 'Dear Gods,' the debut full-length from Yellfire. This hardcore/noise-rock quartet channels the city’s storied legacy of cathartic heaviness—think early grunge meeting its angrier, sludgier descendants—into a record that crushes with weight yet demands repeat spins."

–Idioteq

"There’s a touch of early Mastodon... It’s an album that doesn’t lose any intensity at all, whilst avoiding any hint of repetition. Absolutely monstrous."

–Metal Epidemic

"Seattle-based post-hardcore crew Yellfire are just getting warmed up, with their debut album slated for release on November 15 via The Ghost Is Clear. But they’ve already surrounded themselves with plenty of good company, as evidenced by the impressive array of guest stars who appear on the LP, named 'Dear Gods.'"
–New Noise

"Rounding out the top slots is Yellfire with their brand of noise meets hardcore... In all seriousness this thing would give Today Is The Day a run for the money."
–Nine Circles

"With a crushing sound that evokes the doomsday-like crush of Today Is the Day and the ominous riff orgies of Deadguy, the Seattle band packs punch."
–No Echo

"Heavy, brash and noisy."
–Scene Point Blank

Photo by Taylor Jones

CKRAFT - "Pageantrivia"

CKRAFT: French jazz-metal pathfinders perform in monastery in "Pageantrivia" music video, streaming now 

From Paris, France, CKRAFT unveils new single "Pageantrivia."

Stream the official "Pageantrivia" music video, here: https://everythingisnoise.net/premieres/ckraft-ponder-oppression-and-tradition-on-pageantrivia/

Pre-order the band's new album, Uncommon Grounds, here: https://ckraft.bigcartel.com/product/album-pre-order

Wielding synth-accordion, saxophone, guitar, bass, and drums, CKRAFT melds metal, jazz, and medieval music into fiery new shapes. Repurposing melodies from Gregorian chants of the Middle Ages, the quintet blazes through instrumentals that evoke a magical new space between Gojira and John Coltrane.

Everything Is Noise reports: "Progressive in all senses of the word, CKRAFT are pushing boundaries both in- and outward by borrowing from the past and pushing those elements into the future."

A recent review from Fecking Bahamas describes the sound as "a cross between early Don Caballero, T.R.A.M., Mahavishnu Orchestra, and… Pantera."

New single "Pageantrivia" features a melody from the Gregorian chant "Salve Regina (tonus solemnis)." Accordionist Charles Kieny describes the track as a meditation on the ways in which governments and religions have oppressed people throughout history. He states: "I was in London in September 2022 and attended the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, along with hundreds of thousands of people. I was truly amazed at the ‘pageantry’ of these ceremonies. It can really make you feel that your life is quite ‘trivial’ compared to those of monarchs... If you look at human history, it seems that religions and kings are worthy enough reasons to kill zillions of us. So there I was linking these ideas together: What’s valuable? What’s trivial? Us? Religion? Royalty? The pageantry of ceremonies?" Fittingly, the "Pageantrivia" music video was shot at a monastery in Metz, France.

New album Uncommon Grounds drops January 17th. It was mixed by Marc Karapetian and mastered by Thibault Chaumont (Igorrr, Mass Hysteria).

CKRAFT has played live with the likes of Shining (Norway) and Hypno5e. Stand by for news of the next live actions.

More info: https://thechainworld.blogspot.com/2024/10/ckraft-uncommon-grounds.html

Photo by Manuel Braun

SPANAWAY - "Twenty Seven"

SPANAWAY: post-hardcore crew (member of Fuming Mouth) reveals haunting new single "Twenty Seven"

Spanaway has revealed "Twenty Seven," the second single from its upcoming debut album, Songs of Yesteryear.

Stream the track, here: https://floodmagazine.com/180421/spanaway-twenty-seven-first-listen/

Pre-order the cassette, here: https://burialwhisper.bigcartel.com/

From Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, Spanaway makes lush, heartbroken songs that will click with fans of Failure, Hum, DIIV, and Nothing. The stellar vocals of frontman Zack Van Why meld with swirling layers of guitars and the rock solid pounding of drummer Keith Goldoni, also a member of death metal/hardcore favorites Fuming Mouth. Formerly known as Blush, the band's upcoming album Songs of Yesteryear is the first release under the Spanaway name. Recorded and engineered by Zach Weeks at God City and mastered by Cult of Luna's Magnus Lindberg, it will be released December 6th on Burial Whisper Records.

New single "Twenty Seven" sees the band at its most subdued and haunting. Flood Magazine's Mike LeSuer writes: "Given the fact that they cite Converge and American Nightmare as influences, feature death-metallers Fuming Mouth’s Keith Goldoni on drums, and enlisted Cult of Luna’s Magnus Lindberg to master their debut album, you might be surprised at how unaggressive Pennsylvania post-hardcore collective Spanaway appears across Songs of Yesteryear... 'Twenty Seven' has more in common with Jacob Bannon’s post-metal side-project Wear Your Wounds than any era of Converge... The patient pacing and somber acoustic guitar of 'Twenty Seven' additionally emphasizes the influence of Elliott Smith in the band’s songwriting, while the lyrical content mines a similarly dark territory."

Guitarist Robby Vena says the new single is "an exploration of loneliness... It’s that burning in your stomach as the breeze meanders through the nothingness."

The band is joined on the track by various friends performing guest vocals, piano, and horns. Vena says: "We wanted to take that 'Converge on Axe To Fall' approach and put as many friends on as we could."

Revolver Magazine had these words for the album's first single, "Terrible," released last month: "It’s full of wall-leveling waves of Hum-styled guitar melancholy, while also showcasing an oddly gentle vocal performance about being choked to death by traumatically nostalgic memories. While the band’s lineup includes Fuming Mouth drummer Keith Goldoni, Spanaway seems to be trafficking in a more subversive and swirling kind of attack."

More info: https://thechainworld.blogspot.com/2024/10/spanaway-songs-of-yesteryear.html

Photo by Coffin Blossom

YELLFIRE - "Wabi Sabi"

YELLFIRE: "Wabi Sabi" music video captures “Seattle-based, Botch-loving, post-metallic noise rockers” live

“Seattle-based, Botch-loving, post-metallic noise rockers” Yellfire have revealed the official music video for their new track “Wabi Sabi."

Stream the video, here: https://www.decibelmagazine.com/2024/10/31/video-premiere-yellfire-find-peace-in-house-show-chaos-with-wabi-sabi/

Shot and edited by Clyde Petersen (whose credits include “Even Hell Has Its Heroes,” a documentary about the band Earth), the “Wabi Sabi” video captures Yellfire in their element, blazing through a live set at a house show in Bellingham, WA, earlier this fall.

The band’s new album Dear Gods drops November 15th via The Ghost Is Clear Records. Mixed by Matt Bayles (Minus the Bear, Mastodon) and mastered by Magnus Lindberg (Cult of Luna, Birds in Row), Dear Gods is a towering, thunderous piece of work that carries forth the spirit of the Pacific Northwest's greatest earth-shakers. Operating at the nexus of noise rock and hardcore, Yellfire's sound is the fusion of rain-soaked despair and snapped-wire urgency.

Pre-order the album, here: https://theghostisclearrecords.limitedrun.com/products/835336

More info: https://thechainworld.blogspot.com/2024/09/yellfire-dear-gods.html

Photo by Taylor Jones

FÓRN - "Dreams of the Blood"

FÓRN: metal transcendentalists reveal 11-minute "Dreams of the Blood" music video, directed by Bobby Cochran (Chelsea Wolfe)

Fórn has revealed its first-ever music video: “Dreams of the Blood.”

Stream the video, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2P6PjFechM

More than 11 minutes in length, the clip was created by director Bobby Cochran, known for his work with artists such as Chelsea Wolfe and Steve Von Till. it is a magnificent companion to the epic track which appears on the band’s new album, Repercussions of the Self. 

Cochran states: “The story being told is one of a struggle with – and submission to – a situation that’s ultimately beyond your control. But also looking that oppressive element in the eye and seeing it for what it is.”

Released last week on Persistent Vision Records, Repercussions of the Self is a transcendent piece of work, adding grand, cinematic layers of electronics and vocals to Fórn‘s funeral sludge base. CVLT Nation reports: "Fórn is another band that’s left us longing for a new release, since their 2018 record 'Rites of Despair.' But the ensuing years of conquest, war, pestilence, and death have only served to make this band’s sound more magical and brutal... With the addition of Lane Shi Otayonii, they’re produced an opus that’s layered and impactful."

The band gives credit to the film scores of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, as well as the works of Massive Attack and Portishead, as inspiration. "We always intended for the band to progress beyond the 'sludge' name tag," says guitarist Joey Gonzalez. "We feel that this album accomplishes that mission while still keeping with our classic sound to please the headbangers."

Buy the LP, here: https://persistentvisionrecords.com/collections/forn

More info: https://thechainworld.blogspot.com/2024/08/forn-repercussions-of-self.html

Out today: FÓRN - Repercussions of the Self

Repercussions of the Self, the new album by Fórn, is out today on Persistent Vision Records.

Pioneers of "funeral sludge," Fórn have wowed the metal underground since their formation over ten years ago. Returning now with the first new album since 2018, Fórn is reborn, thanks in part to new member Lane Shi Otayonii. Repercussions of the Self is a masterpiece that adds new layers of electronics and ethereal vocals to the band's beloved down-tuned style.

The band gives credit to the film scores of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, as well as the works of Massive Attack and Portishead, as inspiration. "We always intended for the band to progress beyond the 'sludge' name tag," says guitarist Joey Gonzalez. "We feel that this album accomplishes that mission while still keeping with our classic sound to please the headbangers."

"Music for bad trips sometimes conjures in people’s heads stuff like bad Black Sabbath clones; for me, it’s stuff like [Fórn]... It’s like taking a fistful of pills and staring in a darkened bathroom into the swirling murk of muddy water in the bathtub and not knowing how it got that way. Psychedelic color as the mad final synapses of a dying brain. Sometimes metal is for feeling good. Sometimes it’s for feeling very fucking bad."

–Consequence

"Fórn is another band that’s left us longing for a new release, since their 2018 record 'Rites of Despair.' But the ensuing years of conquest, war, pestilence, and death have only served to make this band’s sound more magical and brutal... With the addition of Lane Shi Otayonii, they’re produced an opus that’s layered and impactful."

–CVLT Nation

"8/10. A shadow-casting monolith of pitch-black doom rife with unexpected influences."

–Decibel

"Heaviness mixed with wonderfully implemented euphoric tones. Highlighted by the haunting, siren-like vocals of their newest member, Lane Shi Otayonii, the band appears to have adopted a fresh approach to their work, and the outcome is striking and unmissable."
–Destroy//Exist

"[Otayonii] provides 'Repercussions of the Self' with an unpredictable vocal presence that breaks up their dour and unrelenting doom metal."

–Invisible Oranges

"Their sludge foundation remains, but built on top of it are more electronic influences (Gonzalez cites Massive Attack, Portishead, Nine Inch Nails, Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross as further inspiration), as well as Otayonii’s added touches that make this band a more formidable and varied creature. This record is much different from what you’ve heard of them from the past, but it’s a natural, thrilling progression that proves this band always was capable of so much more."
–Meat Mead Metal

"If you’re a fan of the dark and murky sounds that come from the thick molasses mixture of sludge and funeral doom, you’re going to enjoy the fuck out of this."
–MetalSucks

"Atmospheric sludge/doom metal sextet Fórn simultaneously reinvent and reclaim ownership of their own take on extreme and surreal gloom for this third full-length album. ‘Repercussions of the Self‘ manages grime-streaked cinematic loft and deadly slow-humming verve at its best, trading off between various dread-bound states of mind as they begin to break loose of expectations set by past releases."
–Mystification

"Funeral sludge titans Fórn and their latest effort which is, yes, amazeballs..."
–Nine Circles

"Prepare for titanic stomping riffs, jagged like barren crags, and gunshot drums coupled with gruesome roars and cauterizing screams; but also soft meandering guitar harmonies that ring and wail, lonely and musing."
–No Clean Singing

"While sludge and doom are still the bones of the band’s skeleton, many other styles and timbres have become the new flesh. There’s the mechanized crunch of industrial’s interlocking gears, the shimmering quiet/loud swells of the post-everything’s heart-sleeved reveries, and even the crepuscular ambiance of trip-hop’s darker side."
–Stereogum

"The sound is duly massive, tectonic and three-dimensional; the work of a band following a linear progression toward new ideas and balancing that against the devastation laid forth in their songs."

–The Obelisk

"There’s music that breaks the mold, that changes and evolves, and that defies the music genre canon - and that is exactly what Fórn’s Repercussions of the Self gives the listener."

–Veil of Sound

More info: https://thechainworld.blogspot.com/2024/08/forn-repercussions-of-self.html

Buy the album, here: https://persistentvisionrecords.com/collections/forn