Out today: KANGA - You and I Will Never Die

You and I Will Never Die, the second album by KANGA, is out today on Artoffact Records.

Listen, here:

https://www.revolvermag.com/music/hear-kanga-new-album-you-and-i-will-never-die

Buy, here:

https://kanga.bandcamp.com/album/you-and-i-will-never-die

More info: 

http://thechainworld.blogspot.com/2020/12/kanga-godless.html

"Gary Numan-approved, NIN-inspired dark pop chanteuse aims for dance floor catharsis... KANGA exists between worlds and across universes, making dark pop spiked with industrial clangor that both haunts and soothes."

–Revolver

"[KANGA] is a unique fixture on the scene, fusing post-apocalyptic pop sensibilities with body-shaking rhythms and sinuous melodies... Her dynamic mix of production, songwriting, vocal melodies, and synth create a lush, highly-danceable tapestry."
–Post-Punk.com

"Hard industrial, future pop, neo-electronica, moments of technical stillness, then club ecstasy, the album is many things and one thing as well: a singular vision, KANGA's voice the equilibrium balancing each aesthetic."
–New Noise

"LA dark-pop artist KANGA, whose nocturnal-industrial sound lands somewhere between Ladytron and Nine Inch Nails..."
–Flood

"Dark-tinged yet highly catchy pop... balances contemporary electronic sounds with traces of ’80s pop and more than a little darkwave and industrial influence."
–Treble

"You and I Will Never Die, the forthcoming album by KANGA... is shaping up to be one of the defining releases of 2021. Another pulsating industrial-pop banger from the Los Angeles artist."
–Vanyaland

 "This is a fantastic album. Its cinematic presentation, cohesive neon-charged mood, and catchy pop-meets-NIN sensibilities make it a thrilling ride."

–Sputnik Music

KANGA + Revolver

KANGA: Revolver Magazine premieres industrial-pop powerhouse's new album "You and I Will Never Die" in its entirety

"Gary Numan-approved, NIN-inspired dark pop chanteuse aims for dance floor catharsis... KANGA exists between worlds and across universes, making dark pop spiked with industrial clangor that both haunts and soothes."

–Revolver

With KANGA's second full-length, You and I Will Never Die, out March 26th on Artoffact Records, Revolver Magazine presents a premiere of the entire album.

A feast of dark pop, ethereal vocals, and industrial elements, You and I Will Never Die shows the multi-faceted artist/producer at her best. The album was mixed by Justin McGrath (Nine Inch Nails) and Brett Romnes (Brand New), and mastered by Nick Townsend (Dr. Dre, Garbage).

Stream it, here: https://www.revolvermag.com/music/hear-kanga-new-album-you-and-i-will-never-die

"After such an insane year I can't think of a more cathartic release than being able to share with you my new album," says KANGA. "I wrote it with the intention to take the listener on an emotional journey that spans all the stages of a love lost. Anticipation, hope, love, anger, loss, wanting, and acceptance... Since we've all been denied the emotional release of a dance floor this year, I hope this album can take you to where you need to be. I know it's done that for me."

In addition to writing and performing all her own music, KANGA is a producer and remixer whose credits include 3TEETH, clipping., and film scores.

KANGA was handpicked by Gary Numan to tour the UK as main support for his 40th anniversary tour; she has also toured with The Black Queen (Greg Puciato of The Dillinger Escape Plan) and more.

KANGA on Bandcamp: https://kanga.bandcamp.com/album/you-and-i-will-never-die

KANGA on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2OIJ0ZRxCM4JXBjf7dHV8A

More info: http://thechainworld.blogspot.com/2020/12/kanga-godless.html

Photo by Michael Mendoza

KANGA - "Ritual City"

KANGA: industrial-pop phenom drops fourth single from upcoming new Artoffact Records album

"Ritual City," the fourth single from KANGA's upcoming new album, You and I Will Never Die, is now streaming.

KANGA states: "Ritual City is a (tainted) love letter to the City of Angels. In the depths of the city’s underground exists a sinister world that centers around an ethereal dance floor where anything is possible. A beautifully toxic relationship that pulls you in with pleasure but keeps you coming back for the pain. An ode to Los Angeles."

Stream the track, here:
https://open.spotify.com/album/2HdMsSvrW1zAOt2TxSXNdp

Pre-order the album (out March 26th on Artoffact Records), here:
https://kanga.bandcamp.com/album/you-and-i-will-never-die

You and I Will Never Die is a feast of dark pop, ethereal vocals, and industrial elements. The LA-based artist/producer states: "Nine Inch Nails and Skinny Puppy are probably my biggest influences... I like to exist somewhere between a dance floor and a brooding cityscape." She reveals that the new album's lyrics illustrate "the emotional journey through a toxic relationship."

You and I Will Never Die was mixed by Justin McGrath (Nine Inch Nails) and Brett Romnes (Brand New), and mastered by Nick Townsend (Dr. Dre, Garbage).

In addition to writing and performing all her own music, KANGA is a producer and remixer whose credits include 3TEETH, Dalmation (Kristina Esfandiari of King Woman), clipping., and film scores.

KANGA was handpicked by Gary Numan in 2018 to tour the UK as main support for his 40th anniversary tour; she has also toured with The Black Queen (Greg Puciato of The Dillinger Escape Plan) and more. 

"[KANGA] is a unique fixture on the scene, fusing post-apocalyptic pop sensibilities with body-shaking rhythms and sinuous melodies... Her dynamic mix of production, songwriting, vocal melodies, and synth create a lush, highly-danceable tapestry."
–Post-Punk.com

"Hard industrial, future pop, neo-electronica, moments of technical stillness, then club ecstasy, the album is many things and one thing as well: a singular vision, KANGA's voice the equilibrium balancing each aesthetic."
–New Noise

"LA dark-pop artist KANGA, whose nocturnal-industrial sound lands somewhere between Ladytron and Nine Inch Nails..."
–Flood

"Dark-tinged yet highly catchy pop... balances contemporary electronic sounds with traces of ’80s pop and more than a little darkwave and industrial influence."
–Treble

"You and I Will Never Die, the forthcoming album by KANGA... is shaping up to be one of the defining releases of 2021. Another pulsating industrial-pop banger from the Los Angeles artist."

–Vanyaland

More info: http://thechainworld.blogspot.com/2020/12/kanga-godless.html

Photo by Kevin Martin

SILENT + New Noise

 

Listen to the second single, "A New Slave," off of Silent's upcoming LP, "Modern Hate," via New Noise Magazine:
https://newnoisemagazine.com/track-premiere-silent-a-new-slave/

Silent was founded in Mexicali, Baja California in 2015 by Jung Sing and Alex Lara. The band released their first LP, “A Century of Abuse,” on Three One G Records the following year.  Since, they have only released a cover of The Cure’s “Prayers for Rain,” making this long-awaited upcoming sophomore LP their first full-length in five years. Silent has toured both the USA and Mexico, alongside bands like Dead Cross, Retox, Algiers, He Whose Ox is Gored, Author & Punisher, and The Locust. Silent’s music takes on various aural approaches, flowing between hypnotic, gothic and darkwave influence, as well as more fast-paced punk and post-punk, at times even crossing into the realm of catchy, surf-like riffs. Though Rocio Chevez’s drumming, Rodo Ibarra’s (Maniqui Lazer) bass, and Alex Lara’s guitar lines vary depending on the track, Jung Sing’s (Maniqui Lazer, All Leather) vocals are a common thread throughout, consistently emitting honeyed grief: soothing but woeful, desperate and yet in no rush, perhaps calling to mind something in the spirit of a Mexicali-reincarnated Nick Cave.

Modern Hate will be released April 23rd through Three One G Records. Preorder, here.

For this record, an ever-evolving work in progress on and off over the last five years, the focus culminates in what is happening around the world right now. “MODERN HATE” represents “all the racist, supremacist bullshit” that has come to the surface again as a new form of rage and hate, not only in America, but across the world. The band also considered all of the mass shootings and killings that have happened across the US over the years. These are some of the heavy influences that brought the band to the idea of the album’s title. Most of the lyrics focus on the disturbing flaws of people and religion, love and dreams. The record was meant to be released in 2018, but was put on hold while they went on short hiatus to address some of their differences. At the same time, Silent’s former drummer, Andrea Varela, quit, leading the band to Rocio Chavez. This felt like a new start that called for relearning, reshaping and retouching some of the tracks. Finally, the band was prepared to release MODERN HATE in 2020, but were once again put on hold due to the pandemic. 2021 is now the definitive time for “MODERN HATE” to see the light of day via Three One G Records, and the band could not be happier.

SILENT Website

IG: @silentbandmx

Facebook

A RUINED 28 + New Noise

“In my experience, recording music and playing in various bands over the years means accumulating an impressive array of wayward, broken keyboards that end up cluttering your studio space like some sort of weird invasive plant species. I decided to use the video for “Years” as a sort of Viking funeral send-off for a good number of them. Normally I’d never condone destroying instruments, but these old fellows needed help leaving their mortal coils behind."

- Chris Cunningham (A Ruined 28)

Watch the video for "Years," via New Noise Magazine, here:

https://newnoisemagazine.com/video-premiere-a-ruined-28-years/

Chris Cunningham, the singer/songwriter/instrumentalist behind A Ruined 28, has made a career out of crafting art that’s as accessible as it is cathartic. As the frontman, guitarist, and percussionist for Seattle-based rock band Ravenna Woods, the band inverted the acoustic instruments, bracing harmonies, and emotionally contemplative lyrics of roots and folk, combining those elements with the fiery anger of punk rock and a wall of immersive percussiveness. Around 2016, Chris began exploring visual as well as sonic art, honing his skills as a filmmaker in the form of his alter ego, Dark Details. In the last four+ years, Chris/Dark Details has made music videos for Kool Keith, Lemolo, Lotte Kestner, and Planet B, among others. He attributes his visual style to myriad cinematic influences (John Carpenter, Michel Gondry), while he acknowledges his late uncle, internationally renowned dancer/choreographer Merce Cunningham, as the inspiration for the sense of action, movement, and choreography present in Dark Details’ body of work.

For the first time, Chris is in full charge for A Ruined 28, writing all of the songs and playing nearly all of the instruments, solo. At first blush, this project sounds light-years removed from most of Chris’s previous musical output. Concise, synth-based melodies replace washes of powerfully-strummed acoustic guitars, and that patented Ravenna Woods tsunami of thundering drums takes a back seat to electric drums and percussion. But what Chris has crafted with A Ruined 28 is a logical progression, and this new project puts a welcome spotlight on two of Chris’s greatest strengths as a musician—his rich baritone voice, and a gift for writing strong, catchy songs. It’s the best of all of Chris Cunningham’s worlds, with anger honed to an elegant razor-sharpness, Chris’s Elvis Costello-tinged vocals resonating moodily, a cinematic sense of stripped-down atmosphere, and plenty of compulsive melodies to seal the deal.

Video directed by Dylan Priest. Edited by Dark Details. Lighting by HTY.Studio.

 

"Years" is the first single off of an upcoming release, with more details to be announced shortly.

 

IG: @a_ruined_28

YouTube

Visual Art (Dark Details)

PAPER MICE + Post-Trash

 

"The band’s advanced blend of prog and punk is at times atonal and harsh, leaning toward noise rock tendencies, and at others closer toward the surreal art rock end of the spectrum. Which is to say the band are able to make music that’s endlessly interesting, with challenging compositions that never feel challenging to listen to."
— Post-Trash

Watch the video for "The Cynic Route," via Post-Trash, here:

http://post-trash.com/news/2021/3/17/paper-mice-the-cynic-route-post-trash-premiere

Paper Mice is a three-piece whirligig from Chicago that blends a freakish range of influences into miniature, prog-punk puzzles.  Started in 2008 by Dave Reminick, Adam McCormack, and John Carroll, Taylor Hales took over for Adam on bass duties in 2013, and the band has been writing and performing together since that time. The band is a fixture in Chicago’s tight-knit DIY community, performing their high-wire “stop-start mess of rhythmic tics and awkward face plants” for dance-soaked warehouse hounds throughout the Midwest and East Coast. Over the years, they’ve toured and/or performed with musical peers Pinback, NNAMDI, Meat Wave, Melkbelly, Oozing Wound, and The Spektral Quartet, amongst others. Influences include The Beach Boys, The Residents, Abba, The Talking Heads, Nomeansno, This Heat, and Susana Baca.

 

This single is off of Paper Mice’s upcoming LP, 1-800-Mondays, which will be released digitally as well as on vinyl through Three One G Records on May 7th, 2021. Preorder, here.

 

Video concept and direction by NNAMDÏ.

 

PAPER MICE Bandcamp

IG: @papermiceband

Facebook 

CHAIN GANG GRAVE - "Fever Dream"

CHAIN GANG GRAVE: Metal Injection premieres Eyehategod-approved band's new track "Fever Dream"

Chain Gang Grave has revealed new track "Fever Dream," from its upcoming debut full-length album, Cement Mind.

As Metal Injection warns: "Chain Gang Grave is about to completely f*ck your day up with their skronky, jagged version of noise rock... It's like someone got Black Flag all types of messed up and then explained death metal to them. It rules."

Stream "Fever Dream," here:
https://metalinjection.net/av/new-music/chain-gang-grave-tosses-filthy-riffs-your-way-with-new-song-fever-dream

Pre-order the album, here:

https://chainganggrave.bandcamp.com/album/cement-mind

Gloriously raw and creepy, never predictable, Chain Gang Grave draws from a wide range of influences. The band has been kicking around NYC for much of the past decade, releasing EPs and making a fan out of Mike IX Williams of Eyehategod, among others. Williams recently delivered this quote: "There's an unstable balance of lurching heaviness here, but far from typical or cliched... The band delivers dissonant rock structures with a jagged melody built underneath the smell of burning hair and thrift store perfume."

Consisting solely of guitarist/vocalist Andrew Lanza and drummer Jason Markowitz, CGG rips the gate right off its hinges with its first full-length, Cement Mind. Songs like "Fever Dream" are bursting with end-of-the-world urgency and melodies that subjugate the ears.

Lanza states: "The album is split between the political and the personal. Some songs address the failures of the government and how poisonous far-right politics and conspiracies are, from the ground up. Other songs are attempts at verbalizing thoughts and feelings about confronting and overcoming mental illness."

Cement Mind was recorded and mixed by Lanza and Markowitz at their home studio in Brooklyn, and mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege (Poison Idea, Dropdead, Ceremony).

More info:
https://thechainworld.blogspot.com/2021/02/chain-gang-grave-cement-mind.html

KANGA - "Home"

KANGA: industrial-pop dynamo reveals music video for new single "Home"

KANGA has teamed with Flood Magazine to premiere the music video for her latest single, "Home." With sumptuous lighting, a horde of mysterious masked figures, and KANGA herself playing two roles, the video is a feast for the eyes.

"Home" appears on KANGA's forthcoming sophomore album, You and I Will Never Die, out March 26th on Artoffact Records. Written and performed entirely by KANGA, it was mixed by Justin McGrath (Nine Inch Nails) and Brett Romnes (Brand New), and mastered by Nick Townsend (Dr. Dre, Garbage).

Stream the video, here:

https://floodmagazine.com/85545/kanga-home-video-premiere/

Pre-order the album, here:
https://kanga.bandcamp.com/album/you-and-i-will-never-die

KANGA offers this statement about the video: "Many of us turn to self medication to cope with our feelings of hopelessness and loss, and when faced with the pressures of social situations we feel an obligation to paint on a different face in order to get through the night. The video for 'Home' centers around this duality between the anxiety and the actor in the room: the split that happens when one’s internal monologue gains independence and creates a whole new character that is maybe braver than one’s inner self, but also lacks the boundaries and foresight our daylight selves hold onto. The video weaves the two selves in and out throughout the night. The masked figures that appear are projections of faceless anxieties that the uninhibited self is able to observe and immerse itself with, which may be exciting in the moment but will inevitably lead to a painful morning."

Based in Los Angeles, KANGA's dark, danceable pop is marked by her commanding, ethereal vocals, and an undercurrent of industrial elements. Post-Punk.com describes her as "a unique fixture on the scene, fusing post-apocalyptic pop sensibilities with body-shaking rhythms and sinuous melodies. A little Kylie Minogue here, a little Skinny Puppy there, her dynamic mix of production, songwriting, vocal melodies, and synth create a lush, highly-danceable tapestry."

You and I Will Never Die follows KANGA's much acclaimed, self-titled, debut album, released in 2016. KANGA has toured the US, UK and Europe with Gary Numan, The Black Queen (Greg Puciato of The Dillinger Escape Plan) and more. In addition to making her own music, KANGA is a producer and remixer whose credits include Dalmation (Kristina Esfandiari of King Woman), 3TEETH, clipping., Danny Blu and more. She also composes for film, notably assisting horror composer Joseph Bishara on scores for the Insidious and Conjuring films.

Photo by Kevin Martin

KONINGSOR + BrooklynVegan

 

“Silent Pendulum has released music by The Number Twelve Looks Like You, Heavy Heavy Low Low, meth., and others, and if you dig those bands (or The Dillinger Escape Plan, Botch, Converge, etc, etc), you're probably gonna like the chaotic mathcore of Koningsor's new song "The Venerable Mr. Locust." It's a killer track that'll bring you right back to this genre's early/mid 2000s heyday but sounds fresh today too.”

— BrooklynVegan

Watch the official music video for Koningsor's "The Venerable Mr. Locust" off of their self-titled EP, via BrooklynVegan, here:

https://www.brooklynvegan.com/koningsor-deliver-chaotic-mathcore-on-new-ep-for-silent-pendulum-watch-a-new-video/

Koningsor was formed in Austin, Texas in 2016. As the band describes it, the members were all great friends that would hang out every weekend, but were busy playing in other bands. Eventually, they began setting aside time to play music together. As new songs were being written, everyone became increasingly excited about Koningsor, and one by one, they stepped away from their other projects. By combining crushing melodies with intricate dynamic shifts, Koningsor maturely guides the listener on a journey exploring experience, influence, and experimentation. Influenced by high energy acts such as The Red Chord, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Rolo Tomassi, The No. 12 Looks Like You, Every Time I Die, Botch, and Converge, the band sets out to capture ears immediately and command attention with start-to-finish high energy performances that strengthen the bond between band and crowd. Koningsor’s goal has always been to challenge themselves to write the best music they can, supporting the metal community in Texas and across the nation while doing so.

 

Koningsor's "The Venerable Mr. Locust" is off of their upcoming self-titled EP, out April 16th, 2021 via Silent Pendulum Records.  Pre-order the vinyl and merchandise, here.

KONINGSOR Website

Facebook

Bandcamp

YouTube

KAUAN - "Maanpako"

KAUAN: Russian post-metal visionaries reveal "Maanpako" from upcoming new album "Ice Fleet"

Russian post-metal visionaries Kauan have revealed new song "Maanpako" from their upcoming album Ice Fleet (out April 9th on Artoffact Records).

Stream the song, here:
https://www.metalsucks.net/2021/03/04/exclusive-track-premiere-kauans-maanpako/

"Maanpako" begins in a state of gentle nostalgia, erupts into a post-rock storm punctuated by blackened screams, then settles back into the calm where it began. The song, like all of Kauan's work, paints vivid pictures that range from the melancholy to the rapturous. As a recent Stereogum review puts it, “Serene guitars give way to crashing devastation and back again... Kauan seems to exist just out of reach on the edge of a dream, where equal parts hope, wonder, and despair are all possible.” MetalSucks describes the new track as a mix of "sparse Max Richter-style aural depression to louder-but-no-less melancholic This Will Destroy You-esque post-metal to Supermodified-era Amon Tobin-ish jazzy electronica to black metal as desolate and frost-bitten as any you will ever hear."

Ice Fleet, Kauan’s eighth full-length, is based on the true story of an unidentified fleet of ships discovered in 1930 in northernmost Russia, completely frozen under the permafrost with crew and passengers' bodies grotesquely preserved.

To accompany the music and enhance the experience, the band has created a 40-page tabletop role-playing game, available now for pre-order along with the LP, CD, and other merch.

Pre-order, here:

https://kauan.bandcamp.com/album/ice-fleet

Founded by Anton Belov in Chelyabinsk, Russia in the mid '00s (and since relocated to Tallinn, Estonia), Kauan have carved a special path through the underground, making album after album of deeply moving art. By all accounts, Ice Fleet is Belov's most ambitious endeavor to date.

More info:
https://thechainworld.blogspot.com/2021/02/kauan-ice-fleet.html

Photo by Alina Belova

SILENT - "MODERN HATE" LP & "End" music video

"The song is a gothy, heavy rock song led by the expressive vocals of Jung Sing (who also plays in All Leather with Three One G founder Justin Pearson), who says, 'I wrote this song at a really strange time in my life. I was in a weird process of changing things, which is why this song is called 'END.' I talk of 'ending' things, which is not easy.'"

— BrooklynVegan

Watch the video for the first single, "End," off of the upcoming LP, Modern Hate, via Brooklynvegan:

https://www.brooklynvegan.com/silent-releasing-new-album-modern-hate-watch-the-end-video/

Silent was founded in Mexicali, Baja California in 2015 by Jung Sing and Alex Lara. The band released their first LP, “A Century of Abuse”, on Three One G Records the following year.  Since, they have only released a cover of The Cure’s “Prayers for Rain”, making this long-awaited upcoming sophomore LP their first full-length in five years. Silent has toured both the USA and Mexico, alongside bands like Dead Cross, Retox, Algiers, He Whose Ox is Gored, Author & Punisher, and The Locust. Silent’s music takes on various aural approaches, flowing between hypnotic, gothic and darkwave influence, as well as more fast-paced punk and post-punk, at times even crossing into the realm of catchy, surf-like riffs. Though Rocio chevez’s drumming, Rodo Ibarra’s (Maniqui Lazer) bass, and Alex Lara’s guitar lines vary depending on the track, Jung Sing’s (Maniqui Lazer, All Leather) vocals are a common thread throughout, consistently emitting honeyed grief: soothing but woeful, desperate and yet in no rush, perhaps calling to mind something in the spirit of a Mexicali-reincarnated Nick Cave.

 

MODERN HATE will be released April 23rd through Three One G Records. Preorder, here.

Modern Hate LP:

1. END

2. A NEW SLAVE

3. IT FOLLOWS

4. HANDS ON THE WALL

5. DEATH IS NOT AN OPTION

6. ERASED

7. TRUST NO GOD

8. THE WITNESS

9. EMPTY SPACES

10. NO HEAVEN

SILENT Website

IG: @silentbandmx

Facebook