CHAINLINKS 066: Stress Positions

Chainlinks is a series we started back in 2017 to give our friends a space to share the stuff currently inspiring them — music, film, books, or anything else they wanted to recommend to the world.

For Chainlinks 066, we have Stephanie Brooks, vocalist of Stress Positions. With releases on Three One G Records, the band has been described by Post-Trash as "a band as brutal and raw as it is sociopolitically conscious and steadfast in unrelenting conviction" and by Chicago Reader as "cuttingly precise despite its blistering speed and colossal sound."

Stress Positions are among the many great bands descending upon Minneapolis for the weekend of June 5-7, 2026 to play the fifth installment of Caterwaul, the annual festival celebrating all the noisiest, most iconoclastic fringes of rock. Blast Stress Positions here, get your Caterwaul tickets here, and enjoy Chainlinks 066...

1) Call Her Ganda

This documentary is important, painful, and moving. Jennifer Laude’s story is unfortunately just one of so many cases of abuses of women in the Philippines perpetrated by overseas military personnel.

2) Minnie Riperton

I’ve just been listening to her on repeat. Her voice is so insanely impressive. “Perfect Angel” is a perfect album for warm weather.

3) Free Roku Live TV Channels

I’m really obsessed with channel flipping. Something about starting a movie halfway through and trying to discern the plot tickles my brain in a way few nostalgia chasing activities do. There’s this channel called “Stingray Cityscapes” that just shows aerial views of cities from around the world with downtempo jazz playing behind it. It rules.

CHAINLINKS 065: Dazzling Killmen

Chainlinks is a series we started back in 2017 to give our friends a space to share the stuff currently inspiring them — music, film, books, or anything else they wanted to recommend to the world.

For Chainlinks 065, we have Nick Sakes, founder, vocalist, and guitarist of Dazzling Killmen. Decibel Magazine reports: "Dazzling Killmen are among the most fearless and inventive bands of the early ’90s. The once-overlooked group is a major inspiration for a raft of bands that built on their combination of emotion and melodicism, among them Dillinger Escape Plan, Coalesce, Converge, and many more."

Dazzling Killmen are among the many great bands descending upon Minneapolis for the weekend of June 5-7, 2026, to play the fifth installment of Caterwaul, the annual festival celebrating all the noisiest, most iconoclastic fringes of rock. Blast Dazzling Killmen here, get your Caterwaul tickets here, and enjoy Chainlinks 065...

1. Joshua Tree / Mojave Desert

Having never been to the Mojave Desert, seeing this otherworldly landscape absolutely blew my mind. Photos and videos cannot convey the alien feel of this place.

2. Redwood Trees / Massive Mountainous Landscapes

Being in a state of total awe for the hours we drove in Northern California on our day off on the recent West Coast tour was unforgettable. Being dwarfed by nature is one of my all-time favorite states of mind. Highlight: Drive-Through Tree Park in Leggett, CA.

3. Semi-retirement from TradWork Office Space

I turned 62 years old last December right after triple bypass heart surgery and a couple of months later got laid off from my office job as an architectural designer. I decided to start drawing my social security money, taking unemployment and scheduling as many Dazzling Killmen shows as possible and just entering a new lifestyle, albeit a little leaner moneywise. Semi-retired semi-pro musician now.

4. Mississippi Studios, Portland, Oregon

Hands-down, the best venue I’ve ever played... the people running the place, the look of a small Vaudeville theater, that separate restaurant and bar next door, just WOW. A+++

KILTER - "Awakening & Living"

KILTER: Paris/NYC jazz-metal explorers drop second single from "Ten Billion Years" album

 

"Awakening & Living," the new single by Kilter, is out today. The track is the second single from Ten Billion Years, the Paris/NYC trio's upcoming new album, coming June 19th on Excursus Production.

Stream the official music video, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5RNSIPkwkE

Pre-order the album, here: https://kiltertrio.bandcamp.com/album/ten-billion-years-ten

Kilter’s highly experimental jazz-metal exists in a space between John Coltrane, Sunn O))), and Meshuggah. Drummer Kenny Grohowksi is known for his work with John Zorn, Secret Chiefs 3, and Imperial Triumphant.

The upcoming new album, Ten Billion Years, is a musical rendering of nothing less than the birth and death of our solar system. Inspired in part by John Cage’s explorations in time-stretching, the trio’s process was to record 10 minutes of music, slow it down to 25% of its original speed, then recreate the pieces from scratch at the new, glacial tempo – a process of reinterpretation and rediscovery they liken to the way in which entire new worlds are revealed when looking through a microscope.

A recent Decibel Magazine article states: “It’s an ambitious premise, but Kilter approaches it with precision rather than spectacle, building tension through repetition, instability, and gradual transformation.” Decibel describes Kilter's sound as “lurching low-end grooves and explosive, blast-driven peaks… vast, disorienting and strangely physical.”

New single "Awakening & Living" depicts the stage in the Earth's evolution where life moves from ocean to land. The track is a moody waltz laced with beautiful sax work and ending in cinematic vocals courtesy of Grohowski.

Stream "Inside Kilter's Ten Billion Years," a 15-minute documentary about the making of the album, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reM6AEwJrx0

Photo by Malena Marquez

CHAINLINKS 064: Muscle

Chainlinks is a series we started back in 2017 to give our friends a space to share the stuff currently inspiring them — music, film, books, or anything else they wanted to recommend to the world.

With the fifth edition of the glorious Caterwaul festival coming up on June 5-7 in Minneapolis, we'll be passing the mic to Caterwaul artists over the next couple weeks. Kicking things off, we have none other than Baltimore noise-punks Muscle. A recent No Echo article describes the band as "a jagged, unpredictable listen—hardcore-adjacent but constantly veering into stranger, more unstable territory."

Crank Muscle's latest album, get your tickets to Caterwaul, and enjoy Chainlinks 064...

Road House (1989) 

The concept of being the best bouncer in the world alone is reason to watch. “Pain don’t hurt.” 

Human Highway (1982) 

Neil Young is a gas station attendant at the end of the world and DEVO works at the local nuclear power plant. It’s sort of a narrative until it switches to them all covering "Hey Hey My My" and then shows footage of DEVO playing "Come Back Johnny" and Neil gettin' in the pit.

“Immaterial” by Sophie 

It’s our pre-show pump up song. Sophie forever <3

Isamu Noguchi 

Big crazy stone sculptures you can touch. We all got in one at Storm King recently. Sculpting a butt at the height of his fine art career.

KILTER - Inside Kilter's Ten Billion Years

KILTER: jazz-metal mavericks release "Inside Kilter's Ten Billion Years" mini-doc

With the new Kilter album, Ten Billion Years, coming June 19th, the Paris/NYC trio has released "Inside Kilter's Ten Billion Years," a 15-minute mini-doc revealing behind-the-scenes footage from the album's recording process as well as interviews with all three band members – bassist Laurent David, saxophonist Ed Rosenberg III, and drummer Kenny Grohowksi, known for his work with John Zorn, Secret Chiefs 3, and Imperial Triumphant.

Kilter's highly experimental jazz-metal exists in a space between John Coltrane, Sunn O))), and Meshuggah. The new album, Ten Billion Years, is a musical rendering of nothing less than the birth and death of our solar system; it traces the journey of one water droplet as it travels and transforms through space and time. 

A recent Decibel Magazine article states: "It’s an ambitious premise, but Kilter approaches it with precision rather than spectacle, building tension through repetition, instability, and gradual transformation."

"Inside Kilter's Ten Billion Years" highlights the chemistry between David, Rosenberg, and Grohowski as they work together in the studio to realize this extremely challenging project. Inspired in part by John Cage's explorations in time-stretching, the trio's process was to record 10 minutes of music, slow it down to 25% of its original speed, then recreate the pieces from scratch at the new, glacial tempo – a process of reinterpretation and rediscovery which Rosenberg likens to the way in which entire new worlds are revealed when looking through a microscope.

In Decibel's words: "The Franco-American trio bend jazz elasticity and metal force into something far stranger... music that doesn’t just describe transformation, but enacts it in real time."

Stream the "Inside Kilter's Ten Billion Years" mini-doc here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reM6AEwJrx0

Pre-order the Ten Billion Years album here: https://kiltertrio.bandcamp.com/album/ten-billion-years

More info: https://thechainworld.blogspot.com/2026/04/kilter-ten-billion-years.html

Photo by Malena Marquez

CHAINLINKS 063: Heavy Halo

The Chain was officially launched 10 years ago today: April 21, 2016. To celebrate our 10th anniversary, we recently revived Chainlinks, a series where we ask our friends and colleagues to tell us about the things currently inspiring them: music, books, film, anything they want to recommend to the world.

Today we pass the mic to McKeever, one-half of NYC industrial rock duo Heavy Halo. Described by CVLT Nation as "soaring industrial metal" and by Revolver Magazine as "nihilistic yet melodic," Heavy Halo just wrapped up a US tour supporting the legendary My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult and darkwave powerhouse Light Asylum.

Warlock Corpse

Warlock Corpse has dozens of epic albums on Bandcamp that range from dungeon synth to darkwave goth to black metal to even ravey happy hardcore. A lot of material to dig into here and I’m loving the shadowy medieval artwork + aesthetic.

Janet Jackson - Rhythm Nation

We have been bumping this in the van on our tour with Thrill Kill Kult and I’m surprised by how HEAVY and EBM the production is. The drums and bass programming on a song like Escapade shares so much DNA with 80’s industrial like Nitzer Ebb. Very adventurous.

Kurt Vonnegut - Cat’s Cradle / Slaughterhouse Five

With the current chaotic state of the world, these books have been at the forefront of my mind. Cat’s Cradle explores the consequences of unchecked scientific advancement that carelessly leads to a global apocalypse. Slaughterhouse Five deals with the absurdity of war and the lengths people go to process trauma. Sadly, more relevant than ever!

Photo by Tori McGraw

CATERWAUL 2026 Schedule

CATERWAUL: 2026 schedule revealed, featuring Rye Coalition, Dazzling Killmen, Coliseum, more

The full schedule for this year's Caterwaul, taking place June 5-7 at Minneapolis venue Zhora Darling and featuring such artists as Rye Coalition, Dazzling Killmen, and Coliseum, has been revealed.

The annual festival, now in its fifth year, has been hailed by BrooklynVegan as "a unique mix of noise rock, punk, metal, post-punk and beyond" and by New Noise Magazine as "a gathering of some of the best underground bands existing today."

Tickets are on sale now: https://ticketstripe.com/caterwaul2026

Friday, June 5:

01:15 am - The Crosses
12:15 am - Didjits
11:15 pm - Mike Watt + The Missingmen
10:30 pm - Season to Risk
09:45 pm - New Brutalism
09:00 pm - Resurrectionists
08:15 pm - Birdhands
07:30 pm - Mad Mojo Jett

Saturday, June 6:

After Party:
12:30 am - Muscle
11:45 pm - ¿Watches?
11:00 pm - The Thirsty Giants
10:15 pm - Art Star

09:00 pm - Rye Coalition
08:05 pm - P.O.S.
07:20 pm - Great Falls
06:35 pm - Whippets
05:50 pm - Heet Deth
05:05 pm - Panel
04:20 pm - Orlock
03:35 pm - The Hammer Party
02:50 pm - Burned or Buried
02:05 pm - Bone Bag
01:20 pm - H.E.A.T.

Sunday, June 7:

08:00 pm - Dazzling Killmen
07:05 pm - Coliseum
06:20 pm - Point Line Plane
05:35 pm - Body Stuff
04:50 pm - Bronson Arm
04:05 pm - Stress Positions
03:20 pm - We Are the Asteroid
02:35 pm - Cani Sciorri
01:50 pm - Baby Gurl
01:05 pm - Flesh Narc
12:20 pm - Buio Omega

CHAIN X

Scenes from The Chain’s 10th anniversary party, last night at Elsewhere in Brooklyn, featuring performances by Body Stuff, Venus Twins, Trace Amount, Fatboi Sharif, and Swing Kids, and an afterparty with DJ Nikki Sneakers. Viva La Chain!

Photos by Jackie Roman

CHAINLINKS 062: Fatboi Sharif

With the 10th anniversary of The Chain happening this month, we've relaunched Chainlinks, a series we started back in 2017 to give our friends a space to share the stuff currently inspiring them — music, film, books, or anything else they wanted to recommend to the world.

For Chainlinks 062, we have rapper Fatboi Sharif, whose work Rolling Stone has described as "punctilious, every-word-counts lyricism... like GZA’s Liquid Swords, Ghostface Killah’s Supreme Clientele, and RZA’s Gravediggaz work all congealed in a thrilling sonic stew." Sharif will be performing at The Chain’s official 10th anniversary celebration, April 19th at Elsewhere in Brooklyn, NY (presented by Saint Vitus Bar), along with Swing Kids, Trace Amount, Venus Twins, and Body Stuff. Get your tickets!

Begotten (1989)

A one-of-one film that, every time I watch it, and it's been a ton, LOL, the feeling it gives my body and the energy and inspiration I'm left with on a creative end is unmatched. It's something that I constantly recommend to people and when they ask me to explain it I always say you just gotta watch it on your own and let it have its way with you. I'll say, it's something that will stick with you after you watch it and you'll wanna return to it and every time you do you'll get something new out of it.

Pig (1998)

The feeling and emotions I always get from this one carry extreme weight. Just 23 minutes long, it punches deep like a two hour epic and it leaves you wanting more. Directed by Nico B. and Rozz Williams, this twisted tale starts in the land of the unknown and as time ticks it leaves you on the edge of your seat where, when it reaches its final frame you'll feel exhausted like you just ran down a two mile street at top speed on the hottest California day ever but in the most extreme way possible but you'll wanna continue that race and won't wanna see an end in sight.

Haxan (1922)

Visually stunning, a film that has stuck with me for years and remains to inspire on the aspect of how it makes me feel and it constantly getting me in a zone to create whenever I watch it. A silent film that speaks volumes across the board.

Trash Humpers (2009)

Harmony Korine's perhaps wildest work. I actually saw it for the first time like 5 years ago after years of being a fan of Korine's work and it instantly reminded me why he's one of my favorites. The film is odd, extreme, and honestly I didn't fully know how to feel about what I saw after first viewing, but it had me in a trance that stayed with me after and for me that's what true art is all about.

Photos by Jackie Roman

CHAINLINKS 061: Venus Twins

With the 10th anniversary of The Chain happening this month, we've relaunched Chainlinks, a series we started back in 2017 to give our friends a space to share the stuff currently inspiring them — music, film, books, or anything else they wanted to recommend to the world.

For Chainlinks 061, we have noise punks and identical twins Matt and Jake Derting, a.k.a. Venus Twins. The NYC (by way of Texas) duo will be performing at The Chain’s official 10th anniversary celebration, April 19th at Elsewhere in Brooklyn, NY (presented by Saint Vitus Bar), along with Swing Kids, Fatboi Sharif, Trace Amount, and Body Stuff. Get your tickets!

Veganism

We have been vegan for 8+ years now and will never look back. Not only is it important for the environment and health, but the main reason we are vegan is for the animals. Once you make the connection that what you’re eating/purchasing caused the intense suffering of a living creature, you may not want to go back.

Ease into it, go full tofurkey, whatever- As long as you’re learning how to cook vegan and stay healthy you’ll do great.

Songwriting

We’ve been writing songs for a long time, but in the last two years or so, we started writing a song nearly every day, and trying different genres and techniques for fun. It’s a beautiful artform and craft that has become the central focus in our life. We’ve picked up books like the war on art and the creative act, that helped further along the process.

Making time for family/friends

Everybody’s busy as hell, got somewhere to be all the time – yada yada yada. But once every couple months we’ll set aside time to go upstate to see family, it resets us from the busy city. We’re lucky to have family we get along with well. Every visit with them or to go work with our twin friends Disaster Artist in Philly becomes a memorable and amazing time.