SEIZURES + No Echo

"In the press release for the new album, Reverie of the Revolving Diamond was explained like this: 'In essence, this record is a musical narrative of a fictitious place created by band member Albert Navarro.' When No Echo saw that, we figured it would be interesting to ask the guitarist what books helped inspire the new Seizures album." -No Echo
Read the five books that inspired the new album, according to guitarist Albert Navarro, via No Echo, here.
From the beach town of Dana Point, California, Seizures embodies the sounds behind the Orange County curtain with their own brand of surf, psychedelic, and shoegaze influenced Mathcore. Made up of members Albert Navarro and Nathan Najera (Guitar), Buddy Porter (bass), Cameron Miller (vocals), and Cory Blaine (drums), the band blends their adventurous and complex style to tell stories of old and new personal experiences and realizations with sci-fi fantasy undertones. Friends and listeners have coined their new sound as “Surf Core” or “Beach Math”, they call it Seizures.
The album will be released October 4th digitally, on limited vinyl (100 transparent indigo/opaque aqua blue variant, 200 neon orange variant) on the band's own Sun Terrace Records, as well as a limited edition of 100 tapes via Portrayal of Guilt.

Order tapes, here. | Order vinyl, here.

Catch Seizures live at one of their upcoming Southern California shows, below:

Nov 8 - Santa Ana, CA @ FTG Productions w/ Ridgeway, No Sun, Mai, Wolves Nov 9 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Offbeat w/ No Sun, Machinekit, Split Moon

Out today: CAR BOMB - Mordial

Mordial, the fourth album by Car Bomb, is out today.

Listen and buy, here:

https://carbomb.bandcamp.com/

Punishing, baffling, and beautiful – Mordial sees Car Bomb expand its supra-Meshuggah math-metal with moody hooks, shoegaze textures, Satriani-shred, and much more. Guitarist Greg Kubacki has stated, "With this particular record it really feels like the gloves came off, and that we were free to experiment with whatever we wanted to.”

Mordial was recorded by the band in Brooklyn, New York, at Silver Cord Studio (Gojira), mixed by Nolly Getgood (Periphery, Animals As Leaders), and mastered by Ermin Hamidovic.

Live:
Sept 29 - Cologne, Germany @ Euroblast Festival - EU record release show
Oct 25 - Brooklyn, NY @ Kingsland - US record release show

––––––––––

"Liquid T-1000 metal."
–NPR Music

"The new Car Bomb song digs its verses straight out of the 'The Great Southern Trendkill'’s apocalyptic sludge and launches its chorus directly into White Pony’s airspace. Shit is sick."
–Stereogum

"'Mordial' represents progression and innovation for a group already more innovative than the vast majority of their peers, stepping into the truly avant-garde by actually aiming to redefine avant-garde altogether... Ultimately, Car Bomb represents the blurring line between man and machine, between the authentic and the artificial, between simulacrum and truth."

–Invisible Oranges

"'Mordial' is a testament to [Car Bomb's] ever-evolving nature as well as their preposterous weight, imploding in on itself while both scrambling your mind and kicking your teeth in. The Dillinger Escape Plan may be no more, but this music is the future!"
–MetalSucks

"An experimental chunk of riffs and noises that's sure to completely and utterly blow your mind."

–Metal Injection 

"A devastating show of death metal-leaning mathcore. Few bands have quite as violent a sound as Car Bomb, and 'Mordial' is another finely crafted album to tack on their discography."

–Exclaim!

"On their latest album 'Mordial,' the long-running Brooklyn-area extreme mathcore band Car Bomb amp up their music’s already punishing sound... They also liberally infuse sweeps of heavy atmosphere to deliver captivating, dynamic builds and meltdowns."
–Hard Noise

"The mathematical wildness of this album is bound by a greater, more epic and almost orchestral sense of being... It’s the vicious metal record we all wanted, and a mile more beyond that... All hail 'Mordial'! It’s the one."
–Everything Is Noise

"The progressive New York hardcore unit have carved a career out of one of the most spastic sounds in metal, and Mordial brings that approach to its most honest and compelling fruition yet, shifting through time signatures like gears and juxtaposing closed-fist riffage against pops of irresistible melody. In our dystopian Dillinger Escape Plan-less future, Mordial is a ray of hope, especially for those of us who enjoy counting polyrhythms in the pit."
–Free Williamsburg

"It further cements their place as one of the most creative, eccentric, and valuable active bands in the modern extreme metal scene."
–Heavy Blog Is Heavy

"Where else are you going to find these heavy, technical sounds combined with the detached mescaline trip of 90's alternative and shoegaze? It's like Meshuggah collided with Sonic Youth."

–Metal Trenches

"Dissonance, melody, brutality and groove... The constant changes make for an unpredictable album, but also a satisfying one."
–Heavy Music HQ

"The technicality which comprises 'Mordial' is jaw dropping even if you’re used to the unforgiving carnage which the Long Island outfit can provide... Car Bomb haven proven time and time again that they are in a class of their own and this release has only cemented that fact even further."
–Distorted Sound

"There are so many moving parts to what Car Bomb are doing that it is sometimes difficult to pin down exactly what is going on, but by the time you reach closing track ‘Naked Fuse’ your brain is so scrambled from the pure excellence of the album, the sounds just wash over you in a kind of heavy acceptance."
–Astral Noize

Full Album Stream: SEIZURES + Alternative Press

"The members of Seizures—vocalist Cameron Miller, guitarists Albert Navarro and Nathan Najera, bassist Buddy Porter and drummer Cory Blaine—approach their work more like movie directors. The musical atmospheres conjured are polarizing and jarring—sometimes in one song—but the emotional arc parallels the sonic extremity. The aural jump cuts heighten everything like a film plot, with sections given time to breathe easily and pummel mightily.”
- Alternative Press

Stream Reverie of the Revolving Diamond in its entirety, via Alternative Press, here.

From the beach town of Dana Point, California, Seizures embodies the sounds behind the Orange County curtain with their own brand of surf, psychedelic, and shoegaze influenced Mathcore. The band blends their adventurous and complex style to tell stories of old and new personal experiences and realizations with sci-fi fantasy undertones. Friends and listeners have coined their new sound as “Surf Core” or “Beach Math”, they call it Seizures.

The album will be released October 4th digitally, on limited vinyl (100 transparent indigo/opaque aqua blue variant, 200 neon orange variant) on the band's own Sun Terrace Records, as well as a limited edition of 100 tapes via  Portrayal of Guilt. Pre-order tapes, here. | Pre-order vinyl, here.

Reverie of the Revolving Diamond LP:

1. Mazarine

2. The Cycles Unnumbered

3. In a Valley of Twilit Meres

4. Toxophola

5. The Ponds Have Dried Yet Still You Stare

6. Atollian

7. Of Indigo and Seven Crows

8. Severnaya

9. Bedlam Blues

10. On Saturnine Shores

11. Eru

Out today: THE NUMBER TWELVE LOOKS LIKE YOU - Wild Gods

Wild Gods – the new album by The Number Twelve Looks Like You – is out today on Overlord Music.

Wild Gods is the New Jersey band's first new album in ten years.

Stream and buy the album, here:
https://noxii.ffm.to/wildgods

"Back from the dead since 2016, spazzy, soaring Jersey progcore veterans the Number Twelve Looks Like You dropped their first new album in a decade, Wild Gods, today and this standout cut ["Of Fear"], which features guest vocals by Rolo Tomassi's always electric singer Eva Spence, offers up the kitchen sink and more. A ferocious beatdown that culminates in beautiful swells and melodic coos, it leaves a serious mark."
–Revolver

"The New Jersey mathcore quartet spent the better part of the 2000s making a name for themselves with their bizarre and untameable mixture of death metal, hardcore, screamo, and triple-jointed prog, as well as with their cathartic live performances... Wild Gods takes its time, reveling in the theater of the band’s music and the open moments between the riffs. The result still has the same convulsing overkill of The Number Twelve Looks Like You’s previous work, but adds a Mike Pattonish grace to their sound."
–Kerrang!

"A fevered comeback rife with sudden stylistic changes from overbearing doom intro to frantic technicality cut with jaw-cracking breakdowns."
–Loudwire

"Refreshed and refocused... Wild Gods broadens their sound a bit without diluting any of their mathcore fury. It’s also their most consistent album."
–New Noise

"Dizzying twists, quick-change turns and inability to sit still... from noisecore to indie, metal to jazz, electronica to psychedelia, choral church music to new wave."
–Decibel

"The band's fifth full-length, Wild Gods, captures everything you could want from an experimental metalcore band, and although it's arriving long after anyone expected it, is well worth the wait."

–Exclaim!

"NJ mathcore vets The Number Twelve Looks Like You announced their first new album in a decade... as chaotic and genre-defying as you’d expect."
–BrooklynVegan

"It's been a decade since we've heard new music from mathcore legends The Number Twelve Looks Like You, but Jesse Korman and company are back to melt faces."
–Metal Injection

"Evil, creepy, jazzy, and wistful… This band may actually have more talent in any given member’s pinky toe than most groups do in their entire line-up."
–MetalSucks

"Wild Gods is the sequel we’ve all been waiting for, and easily the band’s finest work to date."
–Everything Is Noise

"Wild Gods is phenomenal, bombastic, overflowing with aggression and urgency and energy. It’s exactly what anyone wanting another The Number Twelve Looks Like You record could ask for."
–Heavy Blog Is Heavy

"Wild Gods is an adventure, plain and simple. Brilliantly produced, brutal-but-beautiful throughout and eerie in all the right ways."

–New Transcendence

"Between brute technical force and immersive atmosphere."
–Captured Howls

"One of the finest (and most underrated) mathcore groups of all time."

–Metal Trenches

WINGTIPS - "Here and Now"

"Sweet, dreamy, synth pop tinged with melancholy... That kind of dream pop post-punk that I listen to on repeat on grey days."
–Cvlt Nation

With Wingtips' debut full-length, Exposure Therapy, out now on Artoffact Revords, Cvlt Nation has premiered the new music video for the band's song, "Here and Now."

Stream the video, here:
https://cvltnation.com/dance-away-your-broken-heart-with-wingtips-here-and-now/

Stream the album and buy, here:
https://orcd.co/exposuretherapy

From Chicago, Wingtips is the duo of Vincent Segretario and Hannah Avalon. Their dark anthems fall somewhere between early darkwave and the textural, yearning sounds of The Cure's Disintegration. Scene authority Post-Punk.com has labelled it, "a hybrid of post-punk and dark synth pop – as if The Cure and Depeche Mode circa 1983 were to come together in a studio in Berlin."

Wingtips play the Cold Waves Festival tonight in their hometown of Chicago, and will embark soon after on a tour of the Eastern US and Canada.

Sep 20 – Chicago, IL @ Cold Waves Festival
Sep 26 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Spirit
Sep 27 – Philadelphia, PA @ Cousin Danny’s (w/ Korine)
Sep 28 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Bazaar (w/ Korine)
Sep 30 – Richmond, VA @ Banditos (w/ Korine)
Oct 02 – Raleigh, NC @ The Wicked Witch (w/ Korine)
Oct 05 – Tampa, FL @ Absolution Festival (w/ Korine)
Oct 09 – Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn (w/ ACTORS)
Oct 10 – Nashville, TN @ Drkmttr
Oct 11 – Louisville, KY @ Art Sanctuary
Oct 16 – Detroit, MI @ UFO Factory
Oct 17 – Toronto, ON @ The Boat
Oct 18 – Montréal, QC @ Casa Del Popolo
Oct 19 – Newark, NJ @ QXT’s
Oct 20 – Baltimore, MD @ Rituals

Photo by Alexus McShane

Out today: CLOUD RAT - Pollinator

Cloud Rat's new album Pollinator is out today on Artoffact Records.

Stream the album and buy, here:
https://orcd.co/cloudratpollinator

More details, here:
http://thechainworld.blogspot.com/2019/07/cloud-rat-pollinator.html

"In a couple of key ways, Cloud Rat are what every grindcore band should be. Their music is inexhaustible, spasming through elaborate rackets of heaving riffs, spit-flecked vocals, and berserk percussion without ever slowing down. At the same time, there’s an atmospheric creep to their music that gives it a hard menace, adding that pinch of heavy metal darkness to what could easily just be a lot of noise and sweat. In this way, the Michigan three-piece give listeners both sides of what they want from furious music: the tooth-grinding rancor and the hand-kneading darkness, indivisible."
–Kerrang!

"'Pollinator' ironically plays more like a 30-plus minute multi-movement piece of music than a collection of short tracks... Cerebral metallic punk."
–Consequence of Sound

"The Michigan band is particularly adept at pivoting between churning, math-y riffs, pummeling brutality, and moments of real beauty, wringing catharsis from Madison Marshall’s bloodied-yet-unbowed howl all the while..."
–Bandcamp Daily

"Cloud Rat have a genuinely fresh, unique take on the genre... Even on their grindiest songs you can tell that Cloud Rat are experimentalists at heart."
–BrooklynVegan

"In September, Michigan trio Cloud Rat dropped Pollinator, the group's kaleidoscopic fourth full-length in a prolific 10-year career that has seen them also release 11 EPs and splits and a live album, as well as make numerous compilation appearances. Fusing elements of punk, grindcore, black metal and more into their furious, emotive sound, the band were recently tapped by curator Emma Ruth Rundle to play the 2020 edition of Roadburn, an ideal showcase for their forward-thinking, boundary-pushing oeuvre."
–Revolver

"Vocalist Madison Marshall presides over the controlled chaos, giving an absolutely blistering vocal performance. Each shriek is ferocious but measured, striking the balance between brutality and intelligibility. As always, Cloud Rat remain one of the tightest bands in their genre, turning on a dime with each change."
–Decibel

"One of the best records to come out of the heavy music underground this year. Speed and sonic ferocity are certainly the key musical elements of Cloud Rat’s massive output. But after ten years of constant composition and gigging, they do a lot more than pummel and spew. They play great songs."
–Dusted

"Cloud Rat is on a war path with their killer new album, Pollinator, and I can't say enough great things about it. If you're into grind that explores new realms of possibility, you owe it to yourself to check it out!"
–Metal Injection

"Cloud Rat’s forward-thinking grind has never failed to impress. Pollinator is by-and-large their quintessential effort, bringing everything they’ve accomplished thus far to the fore and imbuing it with sophistication and grace."
–MetalSucks

"With their formation nearly a decade ago, the Michigan band used grindcore as the medium to spread a message espousing personal and sociopolitical issues important to them... With the release of their fourth full-length, Cloud Rat continues this pattern of resolutely clinging to their beliefs while employing completely unorthodox ways to express them."
–Invisible Oranges

"Their most intense and blistering recording to date... the entire album plays like one continuous song."

–New Noise

"Running through snapped strings and sticks at a million miles a minute, Pollinator is beautiful and threatening in it’s most panic-inducing moments, while lavish and lurid in its more sickly sweet sections."
–Heavy Blog Is Heavy

"Michigan’s grindcore-slash-hardcore trio Cloud Rat harnesses their emotion with deadly precision, even emotions beyond the signature rage and aggression of their chosen subgenre. Melancholic post-metal melodies float wistfully alongside – and sometimes within – the pummeling grindcore blasting, adding a somber tone of reflection balanced against those lightning-tempo spurts of fury."
–Last Rites

"A constantly mutating blend of melodic hardcore, slowcore, post-black metal, and, of course, radioactive grind, Pollinator doesn’t use its blinker when changing lanes, and yet everything feels of a part, thanks to Madison Marshall’s desperate yalp and the band’s emphasis on dramatics at every turn in their exit-less interstate system."
–Free Williamsburg

"Cloud Rat seize the innovation of classic Discordance Axis and make it their own... This record is insanely brutal and unrelenting, yet within the limited framework of Grindcore, they are able to create music that is emotional, passionate."
–No Clean Singing

"Rather than a mere collection of chaotic songs, Pollinator is a true album – Cloud Rat have presented a curated journey that’s ambitious in scope and textured in such detail to put them more in spiritual league with artful black metal than the nihilist brutalism of your average grindcore band."
–Toilet ov Hell

"While Pollinator is certainly not meant to be an easy listen, either in terms of its abrasive sound or its reflections of a truly fucked-up society, it is a rewarding one... It’s a bracing and necessary listen, and a high-water mark for an already great year for hardcore."
–Treble

"The emotions dealt with include loss, depression, and more, and Pollinator provides an at times almost euphoric push through these torrents to another side."
–Captured Howls

PRISSY WHIP + Ghettoblaster Magazine

“Bathory was my main influence for the words of this song. She started the brain wheels turning, and along with her came the bewilderment of the consequences (or lack thereof) that rich people suffer for their criminal actions. Filth and fortune.” 
-Crow Jane, Prissy Whip

Listen to Prissy Whip's latest track, “Erzsébet”, via Ghettoblaster Magazine, here.

Los Angeles-based noisy art punks Prissy Whip's upcoming LP, Swallow, comes out swinging-- a wild carnival ride of distortion and dissonance, unhinged from its opening track. From there, it is unrelenting in its chaos, whether it be in the slow, trudging fashion of “Erzsébet” or moments of all-out mania such as those found in “Dr. Jessup.” Prissy Whip approaches music with all the gritty extravagance of an operatic sideshow, and this album bottles their frightening beauty in its most potent form.

 Swallow will be released September 21st digitally and on clear vinyl, limited to 250. | Pre-order vinyl, here.

Upcoming shows:

Sep. 21 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Factory Sep 26 – Long Beach, CA @ Alex’s Bar Sep. 28 – Oakland, CA @ Elbo Room (PRF) Oct. 1 – Denver, CO @ Rhinoceropolis Oct. 2 – Kansas City, MO @ miniBar Oct. 3 – St. Louis, MO @ FOAM Oct. 5 – Detroit, MI @ Trumbullplex Oct. 6 – Millvale, PA @ The Funhouse at Mr. Small’s Oct. 7 – Philadelphia, PA @ Ortlieb’s Oct. 8 – Pawtucket, RI @ Machines With Magnets Oct. 10 – Brooklyn, NY @ The Kingsland Oct. 11 – Baltimore, MD @ Rituals Oct. 14 – New Orleans, LA @ Poor Boys Bar Oct. 15 – San Antonio, TX @ Amp Room Oct. 16 – Austin, TX @ 523 Thompson Oct. 18 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Lunchbox

JUSTIN PEARSON + Psychology Today

"The rarity of developing such a nurturing and evolving community makes the accomplishment of Justin Pearson in building Three One G Records even more impressive and inspiring. Pearson formed Three One G twenty-five years ago, and with over 100 releases, it has supported eclectic and innovative artists across a range of genres, from the grindcore of The Locust, to the extreme metal of Cattle Decapitation, to the Hip Hop vibe of Planet B, to the spoken word of Adam Gnade to incendiary hardcore band Deaf Club."
-Psychology Today

Read the interview with Justin Pearson about his label, Three One G, and the ethics behind it, via Psychology Today, here.

Justin Pearson is a musician, actor, author, podcast host, label owner... the list goes on. The most well-known of his long resume is probably The Locust, but Dead Cross, Planet B, Head Wound City, Retox, Struggle, The Crimson Curse, Some Girls, Holy Molar, and Swing Kids are only some of the others. He is also the owner of Three One G Records, started in 1994. In 2010, Pearson further expanded his list of talents by becoming a published author with the release of “From the Graveyard of the Arousal Industry”. This was followed in 2011 by “How to Lose Friends and Irritate People”, and a comprehensive collection of his lyrics titled "The Race to Zero" in 2018. With the exception of your everyday reality show television stunts (now infamous), Justin found himself acting for the first time in 2013 under the direction of Asia Argento for the film “Incompresa”, of which he also contributed to the soundtrack. In 2016, he even ventured into the realm of cartoon voiceovers, taking on the role of a vegan snack elf on Cartoon Network's Uncle Grandpa.

Justin has upcoming shows with The Locust, Planet B, Deaf Club, and Pigface. Keep up to date on all of these, as well as what's happening over at Three One G, via social media:

JUSTIN PEARSON Instagram
Facebook
Twitter
THREE ONE G Instagram
Facebook
Twitter

PLANET B + BrooklynVegan

Planet B have released a new video for track "The Beginning is Near" that "features performance footage and an eerie aura that works perfectly with the song."

Watch the video, shot/edited/directed by artist Displaced/Replaced, via BrooklynVegan, here.

Planet B is the collaboration between Justin Pearson (The Locust, Retox, Dead Cross) and producer Luke Henshaw (First Power Crew, Sonida de la Frontera). Pearson's electrifying, hardcore punk vocals combine with Henshaw's hip-hop, industrial, and film score influences – the result is a wildly new and successful example of unusual collabs, transcending genres.

The "The Beginning Is Near" track appears on Planet B's self-titled debut album, out now on Ipecac Recordings and Three One G. Guests on the album include hip-hop pioneer Kool Keith, Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Martin Atkins (ex-PiL, Killing Joke, Ministry, Pigface), Gabe Serbian (The Locust), Sonny Kay (The VSS, Angel Hair), and more.

Buy the album, here.

MARTIN BISI - Solstice

New York producer Martin Bisi announces Solstice, his first new solo album in five years.

Solstice will be released worldwide on November 8th via Bronson Recordings.

Pre-order: https://martin-bisi.bandcamp.com/album/solstice

Beloved as an engineer, producer, and central figure in New York City's avant-garde music scene, Bisi has recorded landmark works by Brian Eno, Bill Laswell, Sonic Youth, Swans, Helmet, Herbie Hancock, Fab Five Freddy, John Zorn and more. Operating out of his Brooklyn studio, BC Studio, for almost 40 years now, Bisi has brought his style to a disparate slew of crucial albums, from hip-hop to noise-rock and beyond.

A recent Noisey article states, "Bisi has presided over recordings that defined seminal scenes, counting downtown NYC's avant-garde jazz scene, '80s art-rock and '90s Bowery scum-rock. A glance at his stunning, across-the-genre-board discography results in minds blown."

An underground celeb behind the console, Bisi has also been recording and releasing music of his own since 1988. Solstice is his sixth full-length album and ninth release in all. Bisi proclaims how his role as producer has shaped him as a musician: "I draw influence in large measure from what comes through the studio. It's like a giant sieve of this NYC stuff. I don't advertise, so I record people who are drawn to me for various reasons. I think engineering/producing has been an essential part of my path as a musician."

On new album Solstice, dense layers of sound combine in cacophonous and electrifying ways. "Most of the music was born out of improvisation, then developed from there," says Bisi. Something like early Sonic Youth crossed with Bitches Brew, a stomping post-punk vibe churns beneath a wild array of tones and rhythms – operatic vocals, effects-driven guitars, keyboards, electric viola, drums, and more. Rapturous melodies and anthemic lyrics emerge from the din. From the out-there improv of "You're Sun" to the haunting, synth-driven rock of "Ode to Freddie Gray," Solstice covers vast musical ground yet feels united by Bisi's voice as musician and producer.

The album is split between "Summer Solstice" and "Winter Solstice" sides. "I started thinking about solstices, visiting Norway in the early summer, where the power of the summer solstice is more pronounced than in New York," Bisi explains. "The solstices seemed the most dichotomous of the big, captivating, celestial events. It seemed well suited to the LP format of two sides, including the shape of the disc which is like the Sun or Earth."

"The Summer Side is more about action," he says. "The opener 'Let It Fall' is set in an early society first developing its mythology. 'You're Sun' is about tribal rituals. From there we go to modern revolutions. 'Ode to Freddie Gray' is about the aftermath of a police killing in Baltimore. 'Waves on My Mind' is about bringing back traditional Anarchist values. The Winter Side is one contiguous piece, "Unbirth," that's more contemplative, populated by people and ghosts in the immediate surroundings."

To record Solstice, Bisi traveled far and wide – California, New Jersey, the UK – in order to track in person with his various collaborators. He then assembled and mixed the album back home at BC Studio in Brooklyn and handed it over to Fred Kevorkian (Iggy Pop, Debbie Harry, Peter Murphy) for mastering.

Summer Solstice Side:
1) Let It Fall
2) You're Sun
3) Ode to Freddie Gray
4) Waves on My Mind

Winter Solstice Side:
5) Unbirth

Summer Solstice lineup:
Martin Bisi - vocals, guitar
Amanda White - soprano vocals
Diego Ferri - baritone guitar
Oliver Rivera-Drew - drums
Genevieve Fernworthy - keys, electric viola, vocals
Billy Atwell - drums, percussion

Winter Solstice lineup:
Martin Bisi - vocals, guitar, synth
Amanda White - vocals
Joan Hacker - flute
Sheila Bosco - drums
Mark E. Miller - drums

Tour:
Sep 12 - Washington, DC @ The Dew Drop Inn w/ Luna Honey
Sep 13 - Asheville, NC @ Static Age Records
Sep 14 - Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn w/ Moloq
Sep 15 - Raleigh, NC @ Slims w/ Wailin Storms, The Paul Swest
Oct 4 - Montreal, QC @ L'Escogriffe w/ Red Mass
Oct 5 - Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern w/ Mike Watt
Oct 6 - Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle w/ Mako Sica, Mark Shippy (US Maple)
Oct 7 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Collision
Oct 31 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Redwood Bar
Nov 1 - San Fransisco, CA @ Little Box Theater w/ Scot Jenerik
Nov 3 - Portland, OR @ Black Water w/ Scot Jenerik
Nov 5 - Seattle, WA @ LoFi w/ 2 Libras
Nov 13 - Prague, CZ @ Underdogs
Nov 14 - Zurich, CH @ Kontiki
Nov 15 - Busto Arsizio, IT @ Circolo Gagarin w/ White Hills
Nov 16 - Geneva, CH @ Lex Madone
Nov 17 - Ancona, IT @ Circolo Reasonanz w/ White Hills
Nov 21-22 - Ravenna, IT - Transmissions Festival (curated by Bisi)
Nov 26 - Berlin, DE @ Urban Spree w/ White Hills, Live Skull
Nov 28 - Hamburg, DE @ Schute
Nov 29 - Leipzig, DE @ Zoro
Nov 30 - Rotterdam NL @ Roodkapje
Dec 2 - Brussels, BE @ Magasin 4 w/ White Hills

Discography:
Creole Mass (New Alliance/SST, 1988)
All Will Be Won (New Alliance/SST, 1993)
See Ya In Tiajuana EP (New Alliance, 1994)
Dear Papi, I'm In Jail EP (New Alliance, 1996)
Milkyway Of Love (Stripmine, 1999)
Sirens Of The Apocalypse (Black Freighter, Labelship, 2008)
Son Of A Gun EP (Black Freighter, 2009)
Ex Nihilo (Black Freighter, Labelship, 2014)
Solstice (Bronson Recordings, 2019)

Photo by Joan Hacker

CLOUD RAT + Kerrang!

CLOUD RAT: Kerrang! premieres new album "Pollinator" in full

Pollinator, the new album by Cloud Rat, is now streaming in its entirety via Kerrang!, ahead of its September 13th release on Artoffact Records.

Stream the album, here:
https://www.kerrang.com/the-news/cloud-rats-new-album-is-a-gem-of-pure-spleen/

Pre-order, pre-add, and pre-save the album, here:
https://orcd.co/cloudratpollinator

"In a couple of key ways, Cloud Rat are what every grindcore band should be. Their music is inexhaustible, spasming through elaborate rackets of heaving riffs, spit-flecked vocals, and berserk percussion without ever slowing down. At the same time, there’s an atmospheric creep to their music that gives it a hard menace, adding that pinch of heavy metal darkness to what could easily just be a lot of noise and sweat. In this way, the Michigan three-piece give listeners both sides of what they want from furious music: the tooth-grinding rancor and the hand-kneading darkness, indivisible."
–Kerrang!

Over the past ten years, Cloud Rat has established itself as one of the most compelling bands in the underground. Over a staggering number of releases – four full-length albums, eleven EPs and splits, a live album, and various other comps, in one decade – the Michigan band has made a name for itself via sheer emotion and musical freedom.

Emerging from the space where hardcore punk spirals into grindcore, Cloud Rat is that and so much more. The band knows no limits and incorporates influences from across the map – black metal, noise, doom, goth, folk, and beyond – all while retaining its realness and urgency.

Cloud Rat guitarist Rorik Brooks has stated, "Pollinator is our most complete and accomplished work yet."

As a companion piece to Pollinator, Cloud Rat has devoted an entire EP to its more experimental leanings: Artoffact will release Do Not Let Me Off the Cliff as the second disc in a 2-CD digipak version of Pollinator.

Pollinator was recorded and mixed by JC Griffin and Rorik Brooks at Lakebottom Recording House in Toledo, Ohio, and mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege (Full of Hell, Torche).

Cloud Rat is on tour now.

Sep 11 - Memphis, TN @ B Side
Sep 12 - Raleigh, NC @ Maywood
Sep 13 - Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery w/ Pig Destroyer
Sep 14 - Hudson, NY @ Basilica Soundscape
Sep 15 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr Roboto Project
May 2020 - Baltimore, MD @ Maryland Deathfest

Photo by Jason Tipton

CLOUD RAT - Do Not Let Me Off the Cliff

CLOUD RAT: Invisible Oranges premieres grindpunks' "Do Not Let Me Off the Cliff" EP – experimental companion to upcoming "Pollinator" album

With Cloud Rat's new album Pollinator coming out this Friday, September 13th, on Artoffact Records, Invisible Oranges has launched a premiere of Do Not Let Me Off the Cliff, a new EP devoted to the band's more experimental side. 

Artoffact will release Do Not Let Me Off the Cliff as the second disc in a 2-CD digipak version of Pollinator.

Stream the EP, here:
http://www.invisibleoranges.com/cloud-rat-ep-premiere-interview/

Fans of Cloud Rat know that the Michigan band has never been tied to one genre. Over the past ten years, Cloud Rat has established itself as one of the most compelling bands in the underground – releasing four full-length albums, eleven EPs and splits, a live album, and various other comps, the prolific Michigan trio has made a name for itself via sheer emotion and musical freedom. Emerging from the space where hardcore punk spirals into grindcore, Cloud Rat incorporates musical influences from across the map – black metal, death metal, noise, folk, and beyond – all while retaining its realness and urgency.

Do Not Let Me Off the Cliff sees the trio indulging in "shoegazing guitars, lush Gothic synthesizers, and atmospheric pop," in the words of Invisible Oranges. Vocalist Madison Marshall sings in a haunting voice, miles from the blackened screams she employs for most of Cloud Rat's material. Ethereal and dark, Do Not Let Me Off the Cliff is yet another piece of the Cloud Rat puzzle, and further proof that this band knows no limits.

The EP was recorded and mixed by Cloud Rat guitarist Rorik Brooks at his home studio, The Overlook. The music was mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege (Full of Hell, Torche).

Cloud Rat is on tour now.

Sep 10 - Little Rock, AR @ Whitewater
Sep 11 - Memphis, TN @ B Side
Sep 12 - Raleigh, NC @ Maywood
Sep 13 - Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery w/ Pig Destroyer
Sep 14 - Hudson, NY @ Basilica Soundscape
Sep 15 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr Roboto Project
May 2020 - Baltimore, MD @ Maryland Deathfest

LIVE SKULL - Saturday Night Massacre

"Live Skull's music – a high-wire act played for keeps, without a net – is as challenging, as spiritually corrosive, and ultimately as transcendent as Albert Ayler's mid-60's free jazz or the implacable drone-dance of the early Velvet Underground. It's one of the essential sounds of our time." 
–The New York Times

Icon of 1980s New York, Live Skull has reformed and completed work on its first new album in 30 years. Titled Saturday Night Massacre, the new album is set for release on November 8th on Bronson Recordings.

Pre-order: https://liveskull.bandcamp.com/album/saturday-night-massacre

Together with Sonic Youth and Swans, Live Skull defined the term "noise rock" in the '80s, spearheading the post-No Wave underground music scene in NYC with a series of legendary live performances and eight groundbreaking records (recorded mostly by Martin Bisi) released over the course of that decade.

Live Skull's sound was influenced by British post-punk -- Joy Division and Public Image Limited, in particular -- but was located squarely in the depths of Downtown Manhattan. The band's '80s recordings buzz with the danger, depravity, and creative freedom that defined NYC in those years.

On songs with titles like "Mr. Evil," "The Corpse Also Rises," and "I'll Break You," Live Skull chiseled out its style and its worldview. Dual guitars chimed and slashed; basslines drove; drums pounded and hypnotized; male and female vocals intertwined to conjure serial-killer imagery to match the intensity of real life in '80s Gotham.

Live Skull put its stamp on the NYC scene, playing venues like CBGB and Danceteria, but also toured the country with the likes of Jane's Addiction. Its 1989 album, Positraction, would be its last until the reformation in 2019 and the upcoming Saturday Night Massacre.

Saturday Night Massacre is an astounding comeback. Three decades have passed, yet here is a band sounding as fresh and real as ever. The tension and dread of Live Skull's '80s output is intact, balanced by something strangely seductive. Founder/frontman Mark C's unmistakable vocals are as urgent now as in 1989, but they have warmed with age – gentle and ominous, all at once. Songs like the title track, "Up Against the Wall," "Details of the Madness," and "Identical Skies" are passionate rock songs, among the most memorable songs Live Skull has ever laid down.

The Saturday Night Massacre lineup consists of Mark C, drummer Rich Hutchins (a member from 1987-1989), and new bassist Kent Heine (a bandmate of Mark C's in the electronic-based project, o13). The album also features guest appearances by former members Thalia Zedek and Marnie Greenholz.

Saturday Night Massacre was recorded and mixed by Mark C and Live Skull at Deepsea in Hoboken, NJ, and mastered by Fred Kevorkian (Iggy Pop, Debbie Harry, Peter Murphy).

The cover artwork was created by acclaimed artist and cartoonist (and Emmy Award-winning set designer for Pee Wee's Playhouse) Gary Panter.

Mark C gives this statement about the band's return:

"Live Skull formed during the Reagan administration, whose right wing, anti-progressive agenda ushered in what Mark E. Smith dubbed 'the new dark ages.' It’s only fitting that we reunite thirty years later in the midst of a new era of burgeoning anti-enlightenment forces; motivated more than ever to amplify our concerns for the preservation of social and artistic freedoms. Back in the day, Live Skull exploited the imagery of gore movies to express our disillusion with society’s turn toward darkness; now the facts are gory enough on their own. 

"We are not simply continuing where we left off; the world has changed and so have we. But our core values and interest in the enlightening possibilities of raw self-expression have remained intact. Live Skull is still committed to breaking down sonic and social barriers, to seek release and aesthetic bliss in the darkened corners of the music underworld.

"The reanimated crypt of Live Skull spawns a new brood of cheerful tunes sure to make your blood boil! The latest in Live Skull’s continuing saga of depravity and redemption: Saturday Night Massacre."

Stay tuned for song premieres and news of US and European touring.

Tracklist:
1) Saturday Night Massacre
2) Nova Police
3) Up Against the Wall
4) Memory Time-Slip
5) Identical Skies
6) Details of the Madness 
7) Shadow War
8) Never Kill a Client
9) Midnight Zone
10) The Date

Lineup:
Mark C - vocals, guitar, synth
Rich Hutchins - drums 
Kent Heine - bass
Thalia Zedek - guest vocals on "Nova Police," guest vocals and harmonica on "Midnight Zone"
Marnie Greenholz - guest vocals on "Up Against the Wall"

Discography:
Live Skull EP (1984, Massive Records)
Bringing Home the Bait (1985, Homestead Records)
Pusherman EP (1986, Homestead Records)
Cloud One (1986, Homestead Records)
Don't Get Any On You (live) (1987, Homestead Records)
Dusted (1987, Homestead Records)
Snuffer EP (1988, Caroline Records)
Positraction (1989, Caroline Records)
Saturday Night Massacre (2019, Bronson Recordings)

SEIZURES + Exclaim!

"Taking an experimental approach to hardcore has led to some of the genre's best acts over the years, and California crew Seizures are no exception. Much like the legendary and influential Dillinger Escape Plan, the band introduce a dizzying sense of genre-jumping, often landing themselves in psychedelic and surf territory without losing any heaviness."
- Exclaim!

Listen to Seizures 'mix metal and dancy psych grooves" with their latest track, "Bedlam Blues", via Exclaim!, here.

From the beach town of Dana Point, California, Seizures embodies the sounds behind the Orange County curtain with their own brand of surf, psychedelic, and shoegaze influenced mathcore. Made up of members Albert Navarro and Nathan Najera (Guitar), Buddy Porter (bass), Cameron Miller (vocals), and Cory Blaine (drums), the band blends their adventurous and complex style to tell stories of old and new personal experiences and realizations with sci-fi fantasy undertones. Friends and listeners have coined their new sound as “Surf Core” or “Beach Math”, they call it Seizures.

Reverie of the Revolving Diamond was recorded and mixed by Erol “Rollie” Ulug (Teeth, Graf Orlock) at Bright Lights Studios in Santa Ana, CA. Reverie features guest appearances from Keith Barney (Eighteen Visions, Throwdown) and Vernon Porter (Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald). 

Reverie of the Revolving Diamond arrives October 4 via the band's own Sun Terrace Records with pre-orders available here.

CAR BOMB - "HeLa"

Car Bomb has revealed new song "HeLa," the third single off upcoming album Mordial.

Stream, here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0b5mMNMMWis

Mordial, the band's fourth album, will be self-released by the band on September 27th (with Holy Roar Records handling the European release).

Based in and around New York City, Car Bomb has made its name over the past two decades as master craftsmen of metal that is as heavy as it is progressive. Stereogum described the quartet's third album (2016's Meta) as "a rhythmically abstruse variety of extreme metal... hallucinatory time-stretching noises... unpredictable detours into melodic territory." Guitar World stated, "the eclectic album bursts with complex arrangements, brutal, off-kilter riffs, and deep grooves." Kerrang! reviewed a live performance with these words: "Their psychotic turbo-thrash is disgustingly disorienting... one relentless onslaught of time-chopping violence."

Punishing, baffling, and beautiful – for music designed to subvert expectations and deny easy resolutions, Mordial is an extremely satisfying piece of work. Surrender to the nonstop motion, the calculated confusion, and one may find bliss – the aural illusions the band painstakingly sets up have a visceral effect. There is endless inspiration to be found here for musicians who can crack the codes, but Mordial is an album that can potentially rock anyone with ears.

Mordial sees Car Bomb embrace musical vibes from all across the map, more than ever before: moody hooks, shoegaze textures, Satriani-shred, and much more. Guitarist Greg Kubacki has stated, "With this particular record it really feels like the gloves came off, and that we were free to experiment with whatever we wanted to.”

Mordial was recorded by the band in Brooklyn at Silver Cord Studio (Gojira), mixed by Nolly Getgood (Periphery, Animals As Leaders), and mastered by Ermin Hamidovic. 

Sept 13 - Brooklyn, NY @ Saint Vitus - Mordial listening party

Sept 29 - Cologne, Germany @ Euroblast Festival - EU record release show
Oct 25 - Brooklyn, NY @ Kingsland - US record release show

Photo by Randy Edwards