CONTRACULT - "The Infirmary"

CONTRACULT: industrial-metal powerhouse drops "The Infirmary" music video for Halloween

The official music video for Contracult's new single, "The Infirmary" is streaming now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr6ycCKRdLs&t=4s

The video, inspired by silent films and '80s classics, was created by Slashtag Cinema, the horror production company founded by Contracult frontman Svart (a.k.a Travis Bacon), director Kyle Kouri, and acclaimed visual artist Dylan Garret Smith. Kouri states: "I wanted to create a three-and-a-half minute little horror movie that felt and looked like Metropolis meets Re-Animator meets Weekend at Bernie's. Travis and I both appreciated the comedy of the plot, and the low budget '80s vibe of the set and shots, but we also wanted there to be a real sense of grief in this video. 'The Infirmary' is about a man helping his partner in an assisted suicide and the long process of saying goodbye afterwards. I think we were able to create an authentic mix of camp and compassion."

Svart states: "We all pity the sick and injured but one talks about the tragedy of the nurse. The ones who work day and night, feeding, dressing and cleaning their patients, for no real reward. The hours are long, the salary is small and the work can be abusive. You always resent the ones you love, in 'The Infirmary.'"

Having parted ways with Roadrunner Records, LA-based industrial-metal band Contracult comes into its own on its first independent album, The New Torment, out November 4th on the band's own Hogwasche Music label. The New Torment is a monumental achievement – a dense mix of pedal-to-the-metal beats, thick-as-tar riffs, head-spinning electronic elements, and soaring vocal hooks, for fans of Nine Inch Nails, KMFDM, Fear Factory, and Ghostemane.

"The record was written and produced during probably the most precarious time for me, says Svart. "I was diagnosed as bipolar during the creation of it. It's a piece of work I am forever proud of, but it almost killed me."

The New Torment features guest appearances by legendary vocalist Attila Csihar (Mayhem) and drummer Jon Siren (IAMX, Front Line Assembly). Revolver Magazine calls it: "Ferociously heavy industrial-metal... It's electrifying as hell."

More info: https://thechainworld.blogspot.com/2022/09/contracult-new-torment.html

Photo by Steven Anthony Roe

TURBID NORTH - The Decline

TURBID NORTH: Texas trio transcends doom and death-grind on glorious third album "The Decline"; new music video now streaming

Turbid North announces the January 20th release of its third album, The Decline.

Pre-order the album, here: https://turbidnorth.bandcamp.com/album/the-decline

Stream the music video for first single, "The Old Ones," here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kln-o8rxtkE

On The Decline, layers of radiant space-rock, suffocating doom, and full-blast death-grind combine into a stunner of a comeback from this Alaska-born, Texas-based band. Owning the territory between Black Sabbath and Napalm Death, The Decline is one of the first crucial metal albums of 2023 and a must for music fans of all stripes.

Turbid North's first new release in seven years, The Decline unites extremes of metal and rock in glorious ways. First single "The Old Ones" melds mournful guitar flourishes into its metallic assault, resulting in a track as lustrous and ominous as it is brutal. As the song charges forward, guitarist/vocalist Nick Forkel's deeply soulful playing bears equally the melodicism and weight of his three earliest guitar heroes: David Gilmour, Tony Iommi, and James Hetfield. Monster bassist Chris O'Toole, a member of Unearth, locks into machine-like harmony with drummer Jono Garrett who flows with power and grace at all tempos. 

Recorded, mixed, and mastered entirely by Forkel, The Decline is a transcendent experience – its unique combination of aggressive and atmospheric elements strikes a balance of sheer speed, earthquaking intensity, and rapturous beauty.

Set within a sci-fi world, The Decline is nonetheless rooted in real life struggles. Forkel describes the concept: "It's all part of one story. It's a collection of songs that delves into the downfall and self-destruction of a person. I went through some personal things that spawned this idea. Real experiences influenced these songs, lyrically and musically. It's darker and more personal for me than any other Turbid North record."

Founded in Alaska in the early '00s, Turbid North relocated to Fort Worth, Texas in 2007 and finally delivered its debut album, Orogeny, in 2011 via Unearth frontman Trevor Phipps' Ironclad Recordings. The current lineup of Nick Forkel, Chris O'Toole, and Jono Garrett was solidified in 2012. Sophomore album Eyes Alive was released in 2015, receiving these words from Metal Hammer: "A devastating piece of work; from moments of full-throttle, sludgy thrash to lolloping, red-eyed stoner riffs... Turbid North swoop and attack like some monstrous, three-headed bird of prey." The trio toured with Entombed A.D. and Full of Hell in support of the album.

Stand by for news of Turbid North's next live shows.

RIYL: Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Neurosis, Crowbar, Mastodon, Napalm Death, Pig Destroyer, Full of Hell.

Tracklist:

1) Eternal Dying

2) The Oppressor

3) Slaves

4) Life Over Death

5) Patients

6) Drown in Agony

7) The Old Ones

8) The Road

9) A Dying Earth

10) Time

Lineup:
Nick Forkel - guitar, vocals, synth
Chris O'Toole - bass, vocals
Jono Garrett - drums

Photo by Nick Forkel

Cover art by Nick Forkel

Out today: DR. ACULA

Dr. Acula's new self-titled album – the band's first release in 10 years – is out today on Silent Pendulum Records.

Stream the album, here: https://www.brooklynvegan.com/dr-acula-reinvent-themselves-on-their-first-album-in-10-years-stream-it/

Buy the album, here:
https://silentpendulumrecords.com/collections/dr-acula
https://silentpendulumrecords.bandcamp.com/album/dr-acula

More info: https://thechainworld.blogspot.com/2022/07/dr-acula.html

“Dr. Acula are back and they're all grown up. The once-self-proclaimed party-grinders have made a new self-titled album -- their first in 10 years -- and it's for when the party's over. It's a much darker, more serious beast than the albums Dr. Acula put out in the 2000s and early 2010s, but they still sound like Dr. Acula. It's still a batshit blend of metalcore, post-hardcore, grind, death metal, and more, with some cool electronics thrown in too, and it manages to sound refined without toning down the band's usual chaos. It also comes at a very good time for Dr. Acula, whose over-the-top style is echoed in many of today's heavy bands, like SeeYouSpaceCowboy and p.s.you'redead who they recently played shows with, and Bodysnatcher whose Kyle Medina guests on the new album's closing track.”
–BrooklynVegan

"Instead of rehashing the silliness of their early years, the band are now treating Dr. Acula like a serious project... A genuinely ripping metalcore banger in the vein of early Every Time I Die, but with deathcore breakdowns that call back to the Dr. Acula sound that longtime fans will remember."
–Revolver

“First things first: Dr. Acula sound a lot more modern… The songs themselves are closer to something like Every Time I Die playing deathcore, with a notably more serious outlook.”
–MetalSucks

"It's been a decade since these deathcore weirdos have descended on our eardrums. This is a noisy chaotic one, but... more mature."

–Metal Injection

"The legendary horrorcore heavyweights are still kings of the genre in every way with their new self-titled comeback record."

–Outburn

"This album is the original lineup's triumphant return after many years and it's a much-needed shake-up in a time where too many deathcore bands are starting to sound the same. Think if Every Time I Die made sweet kinky love to Job For A Cowboy. Heavy, highly technical and incredibly fun."
–Metal Trenches

"There is absolutely an atmosphere of angst, disorder, and fury in Dr. Acula’s sound in 2022... Their sound was always intense, amelodic, and angry. Right now, it’s all of those things, but with all that energy focused on a coherent topic, coming of age."
–Metal Epidemic

"In 2022, a year with the most densely packed complement of stellar records in some time, I’d venture to say that Dr. Acula’s self-titled release is among the top of them all. Feeling something like a lost entry in Every Time I Die’s catalogue at times—to something totally intangible and unique at others—Dr. Acula is an incredible experience."
–New Transcendence

CITY OF INDUSTRY - "Everybody's Cross These Days, Darling"

CITY OF INDUSTRY: hardcore punk outsiders drop new single "Everybody's Cross These Days, Darling"

City of Industry has revealed new single, "Everybody's Cross These Days, Darling" from its upcoming new album, Spiritual West.

Stream the song, here: https://idioteq.com/seattle-passionate-crusty-hardcore-punks-city-of-industry-share-new-passionate-track-everybodys-cross-these-days-darling/

Pre-order the LP via No Funeral Records: https://store.nofuneral.ca/product/city-of-industry-spiritual-west-vinyl

Pre-order the cassette and CD via Modern Grievance: https://cityofindustry.bandcamp.com/album/spiritual-west

Spiritual West, out November 11th, is a raw display of moody, metallic, hardcore punk, laced with morose melodies, drenched in Pacific Northwest rain, calling to mind the sheer urgency of Converge or Show Me the Body.

Church bells, glockenspiel, synths, and sampled voices add color and contrast that make the songs penetrate that much deeper. This band follows no one's rules.

The album was recorded by Nich Wilbur (Mt. Eerie, Sumac); mixed and mastered by Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Gouge Away).

Idioteq calls it “fierce and innovative... a record that defies categorization. An unrelenting, chaotic, yet eclectic work driven forward by ambitious instrumentation."

Speaking on the new single, frontman John Caraveo states: "Now, seemingly more than ever, everyone is cross about something, and a lot of the time, rightfully so, but I see a recurring theme today in the West where it almost seems as more of a sickness of anger and lack of compassion than something that can be healed politically or sociologically.”

THE WORLD IS QUIET HERE - Zon

THE WORLD IS QUIET HERE: progressive metal phenom raises the bar with new album "Zon"; new track "Aphelion" streaming now

"The World Is Quiet Here mixes operatic vocals, mind-bending rhythms, and spacey progressive metal... It's like Devin Townsend got into a fight with Between The Buried And Me..." –Metal Injection

Silent Pendulum Records announces the January 27, 2023 release of Zon, the sophomore album by The World Is Quiet Here.

Stream new track, "Aphelion," here: https://metalinjection.net/new-music/the-world-is-quiet-here-streams-proggy-new-single-aphelion

Pre-order the album (vinyl): https://silentpendulumrecords.com/products/the-world-is-quiet-here-zon

Pre-order the album (digital): https://silentpendulumrecords.bandcamp.com/album/zon

More than one hour in length, Zon is a dazzling new piece of work from this up-and-coming progressive metal phenom. Within this genre, monstrous musicianship is a given, and The World Is Quiet Here's lethal chops are on full display from Zon's first minute to its last. But what makes the album so compelling is not just the players' speed or dexterity, it is the sense of sheer freedom with which they operate. Zon is the sound of a band pushing the limits and triumphing – an ecstatic leap.

"On Zon, we wanted to see how far we could stretch ourselves creatively and still have it be a cohesive experience," states bassist Tyler Dworak. "We’re influenced by so many things outside of metal and progressive music, we took our time to explore every idea we could and see where we ended up."

New single "Aphelion" sets the tone. An astral intro gives way to an odd-time, double-bass-fueled groove that uplifts as much as it bruises. Dual guitars conjure vivid colors while vocalist Lou Kelly glides through a range of voices – from metallic screams, to an operatic baritone croon, to an impossibly high shriek that puts the entire Sunset Strip to shame. 

Kelly's formidable talent and adventurous spirit make him the perfect frontman for The World Is Quiet Here. A review from MetalSucks describes his style as "big-time Mike Patton vibes, in terms of versatility, timbre, and power." Dworak concurs: "Lou Kelly is probably the best thing that’s ever happened to us. We discovered Lou and were instantly fans. It’s so out there. It’s creepy, funky, heavy, silly, all at once. But what captured us was that he could do literally anything with his voice. It’s such a raw talent."

A must for fans of Between the Buried and Me and Opeth, Zon is an exhilarating ride that is best experienced in one sitting. "Zon is the next chapter of the story we started with our debut album, Prologue, picking up exactly where we left off," says Dworak. "The last album ended with our main character dying, so we wanted to explore what happens next. Where does that person go?"

Zon was mixed and mastered by Spencer Fox (Pangaea). Guest appearances on the album include guitarist Ivan Chopik (ex-Painted In Exile), guitarist Kee Poh Hock (ex-Native Construct), and vocalist Max Mobarry (Others By No One). 

Tracklist:

1) Argo Navis: Solar

2) White Sun

3) Ossuary

4) Heliacal Vessels I: The Mothers of No Kin

5) Heliacal Vessels II: In the Unity of the Lake

6) Aphelion

7) Moonlighter

8) Writhing Gate

9) Impetus I: Torrid Sands

Lineup:
Lou Kelly - vocals

Isaac Stolzer-Gary - guitar
Ethan Felhofer - guitar
Tyler Dworak - bass

David Lamb - drums

FOEHAMMER - "Oblivion of Sand"

FOEHAMMER: DC sludge-doom behemoth reveals new track "Oblivion of Sand"

"Downtuned anthems... Slow decaying riffs... Suffocating energy."

–CVLT Nation

Foehammer has debuted new track "Oblivion of Sand," from its forthcoming album, Monumentum.

Monumentum drops November 18th on Silent Pendulum Records.

Stream "Oblivion of Sand," here: https://cvltnation.com/experience-the-new-down-tuned-anthem-foehammers-oblivion-of-sand/

Pre-order the new album (physical): https://silentpendulumrecords.com/collections/foehammer

Pre-order the new album (digital): https://silentpendulumrecords.bandcamp.com/album/monumentum

Based in northern Virginia, Foehammer is the power-duo of guitarist/vocalist Jay Cardinell and drummer Ben Price. Founded in 2013 by Cardinell as a Black Sabbath cover band, Foehammer has evolved over the past decade into its current configuration – stripped of excess, Cardinell and Price operate as one, in harmony, conjuring underworldly sludge-doom that captivates and hypnotizes.

Progressing beyond the glacial pace of prior Foehammer releases, Monumentum is a thrilling album that rolls through a spectrum of tones and tempos. "We made an effort this time to branch away a bit from the strict, slow style we had previously adhered to, while trying to maintain the crushing and mesmerizing riffs that have become the band's trademarks," says Cardinell.

Indeed, Cardinell's sweet, sweet riffs still crush and mesmerize, and his deathly vocals still emanate as if from a subterranean crypt. But, propelled by Price's ace pounding, the band moves through blastbeats and headbangable grooves, smashing the limits of the funereal dirges for which it was known. The pair maneuvers deftly, carrying the listener along for the entire hour-long journey. Adding an additional new dimension to the music are elements of cosmic drone that appear throughout the album, like rays of light through cracks in the tomb.

Monumentum was engineered and mixed by Foehammer drummer Ben Price and mastered by James Plotkin (Sunn O))), Earth). It follows a self-titled demo (2014), a self-titled EP (2015, Australopithecus Records), and a double-album titled Second Sight (2018, Australopithecus Records).

Foehammer plays December 9th at Slash Run in Washington, DC with The Wayward.

More info: https://thechainworld.blogspot.com/2022/09/foehammer-monumentum.html

Photo by Ben Price

SE VENDE - "Yesterday"

 

Se Vende have premiered their newest music video, “Yesterday,” via Idioteq, here:

https://idioteq.com/san-diego-gritty-pop-punk-rockers-se-vende-premiere-new-video-share-top-local-acts-and-best-records-of-the-year/

Here, you can also check out a playlist of bassist Collin Smith's current favorite local bands and albums of the year.

Formed in 2010 by guitarists Jonny Cuz and Collin Smith, Se Vende released their first album, Pour Me… Some Coffee, in 2013. The intervening years were marked by drug use and jail time that prevented the band from exploring its full potential. Now focused and with the addition of Ono Senteno on drums, Se Vende delivers dirty, crusty pop punk in San Diego, CA-- a raw sound that is tight, without too much of the glossiness that can risk sterilizing emotions. In 2018, the band was approached by Tony Hawk to have one of their tracks, “Positivity 101,” featured on the soundtrack of his video game, Tony Hawk’s Skate Jam. Their live shows make fans out of even the most jaded observer with infectious energy and brutal honesty bleeding through. Se Vende draws influence from well-known legends such as Jawbreaker and The Breeders, is further informed by more obscure bands such as Fifteen, and spit out in a haze of alternately jangling and buzz saw guitars driven by the rhythm section. Lyrically, Se Vende covers the continuum of the human experience, from hopeless drug addiction to hope for the future, without romanticizing either. They simply state the facts and encapsulate both the desperation and optimism that make up their own stories. By day, founding members Jonny Cuz and Collin run their own print shop, which in the past year has also functioned as a DIY venue for the punk community in San Diego.

 

Happy Accidents will be released on limited vinyl via Paper Street Cuts on December 2nd, 2022. Preorder, here.

Upcoming shows:

Dec 6 - Fullerton, CA @ Programme skate and sound

Dec 7 - San Pedro , CA @ The Sardine

Dec 8 - Phoenix, AZ @ Yucca Tap Room

Dec 9 - Tucson, AZ @ Groundwork’s

Out today: VIRGIN MOTHER - Mourning Ritual

VIRGIN MOTHER: meth. frontman Seb Alvarez releases debut full-length today – "screaming grinding shoegaze with fits of post rock melody"

Mourning Ritual, the new album by Virgin Mother, is out today.

Stream the album, here: https://virginmother.bandcamp.com/album/mourning-ritual

Buy the LP (US): https://www.zbrusa.com/products/tt078 

Buy the LP (Canada/International): https://www.zegemabeachrecords.com/tomb-tree-tapes/tt078

Virgin Mother is the solo project of Seb Alvarez, known to many as the vocalist of Chicago band meth. Moody, murky, haunting, thunderous – Virgin Mother's astounding debut album is a fever-dream existing somewhere between Sonic Youth's blissful devastation, Xiu Xiu's cracked vulnerability, and Converge's metallic punk.

Alvarez speaks candidly about the origins of the Virgin Mother project: “I had been admitted to a mental hospital at the beginning of quarantine and diagnosed as bipolar. Before that I hadn't gone more than five days without drinking, since I was 20… It was a super dark time for me."

A US tour with Nerver kicks off next week.

10/19 Chicago, IL @ Subterranean
10/22 Iowa City, IA @ Hill Haus
10/23 Detroit, MI @ The Russell Industrial Center
10/24 Toronto, ON @ Handlebar
10/25 Potsdam, NY @ SLC Arts
10/26 Providence, RI @ Focal
10/27 Brooklyn, NY @ Kingsland
10/28 Philadelphia, PA @ The Meadow
10/29 Baltimore, MD @ House Show
10/30 Youngstown, OH @ Westside Bowl
10/31 Indianapolis, IN @ The New Lot

“Muscular noise rock that possesses a hypnotic swagger and seethes with intensity. This sounds like a monster with a thousand yard stare.”
–No Echo

"Cacophonous, intense and brutal noise rock... An overall sense of menace. It’s awesome and harsh all at once."
–Treble

"Sludgy, noisy ragers."
–BrooklynVegan

“Haunting... A heavily layered and brutally warped assault against the senses.”
–Flood

"A noise rock fever-dream."
–New Noise

"A catchy, discordant mess... Screaming grinding shoegaze with fits of post rock melody."
–Metal Epidemic

FLIEGE - "Man Is the Warmest Place to Hide"

FLIEGE: NYC cinephiles meld 1980s stylings and extreme metal on new John Carpenter-obsessed single "Man Is the Warmest Place to Hide"

Fliege's new single, "Man Is the Warmest Place to Hide," is streaming now via Decibel Magazine: https://www.decibelmagazine.com/2022/10/13/track-premiere-fliege-man-is-the-warmest-place-to-hide/

The NYC band's new album, One Day They’ll Wonder What Happened Here, drops November 4th: https://dasfliege.bandcamp.com/album/one-day-theyll-wonder-what-happened-here

A monumental project, musically and conceptually, One Day They'll Wonder What Happened Here is a scene-by-scene retelling of John Carpenter's 1982 film, The Thing, starring Kurt Russell, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. Prior Fliege releases have each focused on another film: David Cronenberg's The Fly, Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal, and Shinya Tsukamoto's Tetsuo: The Iron Man. 

Fliege mastermind Coleman Bentley states: "John Carpenter is probably my favorite director and at some point I really wanted to explore one of his films through the Fliege prism."

One one level, One Day They'll Wonder What Happened Here is a couple of film buffs' meticulous tribute to one of their idols. On a deeper level, Bentley and his co-conspirator, vocalist Peter Rittweger, are using the format to explore their own existential questions. Bentley explains: "When COVID hit I revisited 'The Thing' and was immediately grabbed by the themes of infection, isolation, and paranoia that were swirling all around us in real life at the time. I saw an opportunity to write about an awesome sci-fi movie from one of my favorite directors and also about the brand new world taking shape around us."

Concepts aside, One Day They'll Wonder What Happened Here is a musical tour-de-force, authoritatively bringing an array of '80s flavors into a modern, extreme metal context. Decibel states: "Fliege’s new album is a genre-defying thing, skipping easy categorization in favor of extreme metal takes on ’80s glam, new wave and shred.” Stated influences run the gamut from The Police and Def Leppard to Blood Incantation.

More info: https://thechainworld.blogspot.com/2022/09/fliege-one-day-theyll-wonder-what.html

Photo of Fliege, by Chris Palermo 

Out today: CLOUD RAT - Threshold

CLOUD RAT: progressive grinders mix beauty and violence on career-defining new album "Threshold," out today on Artoffact Records – "our best work so far"

Threshold, the new album by Cloud Rat, is out today on Artoffact Records.

Stream the album and buy it, here: https://cloudrat.bandcamp.com/album/threshold

On Threshold, the Michigan trio blasts out a mix of beauty and violence, unlike any other band. Vocalist Madison Marshall's gut-purging screams and drummer Brandon Hill's hyperactive hammering meld with guitarist Rorik Brooks' epic riffs into songs that are equally bone-crushing, heartbreaking, and uplifting. Fans of Discordance Axis, His Hero Is Gone, and My Bloody Valentine will all find some salvation here.

Cloud Rat has put out more than 20 releases so far in its decade-long career. Cloud Rat's Madison Marshall calls Threshold, "the most intense record we have made." Cloud Rat's Rorik Brooks says the album is "our best work so far."

More info: https://thechainworld.blogspot.com/2022/06/cloud-rat-threshold.html

"A caustic metalpunk rager with a truly vicious delivery from vocalist Madison Marshall... Threshold finds time for both celestial post-metal and avant-grind."

–BrooklynVegan

"Threshold is a killer album and destined for year-end lists."

–Consequence

"Grindcore trio Cloud Rat have been one of the genre’s most-prolific and willing-to-experiment entities over the last 12 years... Their latest album, Threshold, shows many sides of Cloud Rat, from the hyper-aggression to the more 'melodic' grindcore leanings..."
–Decibel

"The pace and ferocity of grind have always principally informed Cloud Rat’s inimitable music, and they can rage with the best of them. But like their northern peers Fuck the Facts, the Michigan-based band has a strong ability to invest grind’s fuming, fulminating jackhammer sensibility with melody and affective range."

–Dusted

"Emotional and passionate, Threshold represents a personal interpretation of grindcore that thirsts to merge experimental music, thrash metal and melodic punk elements."

–Heavy Music HQ

"Threshold captures the band's constantly evolving sound and expands on their heavy, fast assault. Definitely recommended for fans of the band and of creative, experimental grind."
–Invisible Oranges

"36 minutes of grind bursting with color... 2022 is the year of grindcore and Cloud Rat is firmly planting its flag as one of the leaders among the crowded pack."

–Last Rites

"It’s madness, agony, and catharsis laid out over 15 venomous tracks that will put you to the test but also leave you more battle tested and calloused for your next bout with hell."
–Meat Mead Metal

"If you want some gritty chaos, but you're on a time crunch then the latest from Cloud Rat is the one for you... These songs are explosive, brief, intense, and dense."

–Metal Injection

"Threshold is a raging, aggressive slab of fast music that defies easy convention."

–MetalSucks

"Cloud Rat, the Michigan masters of proggy grind..."
–New Noise

"Breakneck riffing, furious d-beat crust meets blast-beat grindcore rhythms and vocalist Madison Marshall’s genuinely terrifying soul-cleansing vocal delivery. It’s punchy, heavy as hell, and full of really good melody."

–Nine Circles

"Incinerating vocals, slashing riffs, and full-throttle drumming... Bleak as well as unhinged."
–No Clean Singing

"Threshold finds Cloud Rat at a moment of evolution. Their identity is set, yet elements of their past are augmented. The technical prowess is expanded, the live feeling is established and slight alterations find their place in the grand scheme. Excellent work indeed."
–PopMatters

"Cloud Rat understand that grindcore ought to feel like an ordeal: a barrage of detail and velocity that comes at you faster than you have time to process it... It takes a seriously skilled band to make disorientation feel this exhilarating."

–Spin

"This band constantly delivers on full throttle aggression; while the band does present moody and droning atmospheres throughout their material, Cloud Rat is a band that has you gripped from the start."

–The Pit

"Balancing both a keen acumen for writing memorable riffs and melodies with an instinct for total annihilation."
–Treble

CONTRACULT - "Drown"

CONTRACULT: LA industrial-metal powerhouse drops new single "Drown" from new album "The New Torment"

“Drown,” the new single by LA industrial-metal band Contracult, is now streaming.

Stream the track, here: https://metalinjection.net/new-music/contracult-collective-streams-new-single-drown

Contracult comes into its own on its upcoming new album, The New Torment, out November 4th – its first release since parting ways with Roadrunner Records and going independent. The album is a dense mix of pedal-to-the-metal beats, thick-as-tar riffs, head-spinning electronic elements, and soaring vocal hooks, with guest appearances by Attila Csihar (Mayhem) and Jon Siren (IAMX, Front Line Assembly).

"The record was written and produced during probably the most precarious time for me,” says Contracult’s Svart. “I was diagnosed as bipolar during the creation of it. It's a piece of work I am forever proud of, but it almost killed me."

Reference points include Nine Inch Nails, 3TEETH, Fear Factory, KMFDM, and Ghostemane.

More info: https://thechainworld.blogspot.com/2022/09/contracult-new-torment.html

Photo by Steven Anthony Roe

CITY OF INDUSTRY - "Spiritual West"

CITY OF INDUSTRY: Seattle hardcore punk outsiders drop experimental, Stan Brakhage-inspired video for title track from new album Spiritual West

Flood Magazine has premiered the video for “Spiritual West,” the title track off the new album by Seattle’s City of Industry.

Stream the song, here: https://floodmagazine.com/118912/city-of-industry-spiritual-west-first-listen/

Pre-order the LP via No Funeral Records: https://store.nofuneral.ca/product/city-of-industry-spiritual-west-vinyl

Pre-order the cassette and CD via Modern Grievance: https://cityofindustry.bandcamp.com/album/spiritual-west

The song showcases the band’s experimental side, departing from its impassioned, encrusted hardcore (think Converge, His Hero Is Gone, Dystopia) in favor of “ambient unease,” as Flood describes it.

Video director Adam Walker names Stan Brakhage (Dog Star Man) as an influence on his work: “I used a variety of implements to achieve the texture and shapes on the film, using exacto knives, wire scrubbers, sand paper, and even a power drill.”

The new album was recorded by Nich Wilbur (Mt. Eerie, Sumac); mixed and mastered by Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Gouge Away).

A West Coast tour starts in November.

More info: https://thechainworld.blogspot.com/2022/09/city-of-industry-spiritual-west.html

Photo by John Caraveo

VIRGIN MOTHER - "Parasite"

VIRGIN MOTHER: meth. frontman Seb Alvarez reveals new track "Parasite" from upcoming debut solo album

Virgin Mother's new single "Parasite" is now streaming. The song appears on the debut full-length, Mourning Ritual, out October 14th on Tomb Tree Records.

Stream "Parasite," here: https://noecho.net/features/virgin-mother-seb-alvarez

Pre-order the LP (US): https://zbrusa.com/products/tt078

Pre-order the LP (Canada/international): https://www.zegemabeachrecords.com/tomb-tree-tapes/tt078

Virgin Mother's songwriter, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist, Seb Alvarez, is known to many as the frontman of Chicago-based noisecore band meth. The Virgin Mother project was born during Alvarez’s hospitalization while struggling with addiction.

In Virgin Mother, Alvarez summons moody, murky, thunderous rock. Shades of Sonic Youth, Xiu Xiu, and Converge overlap into music that is equally vulnerable and sinister. No Echo describes it as: “Muscular noise rock that possesses a hypnotic swagger and seethes with intensity. This sounds like a monster with a thousand yard stare.”

"'Parasite' is one of my favorite songs on the record," he says. "It’s one of the darker songs I’ve written, about sexualizing your addiction and letting it consume you."

A US tour with Nerver begins this month.

10/19 Chicago, IL @ Subterranean (Virgin Mother only)
10/22 Iowa City, IA @ Hill Haus 
10/23 Detroit, MI @ The Russell Industrial Center 
10/24 Toronto, ON @ Handlebar 
10/25 Potsdam, NY @ SLC Arts 
10/26 Providence, RI @ Focal 
10/27 Brooklyn, NY @ Kingsland 
10/28 Philadelphia, PA @ The Meadow 
10/29 Baltimore, MD @ House Show 
10/30 Youngstown, OH @ Westside Bowl 
10/31 Indianapolis, IN @ The New Lot 

More info: https://thechainworld.blogspot.com/2022/08/virgin-mother-mourning-ritual.html

Photo by Elysia Vertiz

NO COAST FEST 2022 x Cherubs

NO COAST FEST 2022: noise rock royalty Cherubs join lineup, debut new bassist Pete Shore (Unsane)

With this year's edition of No Coast Fest just weeks away, festival founder Jeff Helland announces the addition of noise rock legends Cherubs to the stacked lineup.

Scheduled for October 27-30th, at Rubber Gloves in Denton, Texas, a college town nestled 40 miles northwest of downtown Dallas, No Coast Fest 2022 is quickly earning a name as the must-see, go-to, noise rock destination of the year. As a recent BrooklynVegan article states: "Noise rock is having a moment right now, thanks to fast-rising bands like Chat Pile and stacked noise rock festivals like No Coast Fest."

Confirmed to play this year's four-day extravaganza are Cherubs, Metz, Young Widows, KEN mode, Chat Pile, Protomartyr, Tropical Fuck Storm, USA Nails, Bummer, and many more – an international mix of crucial up-and-coming bands, as well as elder statesmen of the genre, representing three continents and as many generations.

Fest founder Jeff Helland has stated that No Coast Fest 2022, the third installment of the festival, is the biggest and best one yet: "Not only do we have more bands in more days, but we’ve gone global... Then there are bands in the mix that will be new for most folks and I love that too, having a platform to turn people on to some new blood." 

Founded in Austin, Texas in the early '90s, Cherubs has been described by Pitchfork as "the noisiest pop music on the planet"; that same outlet hailed the band's defining 1994 album, Heroin Man, as "exponentially more dense and intense than the majority of what came out of the original noise rock era... a stone cold classic." A VICE article describes Cherubs' songs as "ugly, down tuned, blown the fuck out, and ready to die, American rock and roll classics." 

The trio's early works were released on Butthole Surfers drummer King Coffey's label, Trance Syndicate. Since reuniting in 2015 after a 20-year hiatus, the band has released music via Brutal Panda, Amphetamine Reptile, and Relapse Records. Cherubs' appearance at No Coast will serve as the debut of new bassist Pete Shore, known throughout the scene as an original member of Unsane and a member of Boss Hog and Action Swingers. Shore joins Cherubs founders Kevin Whitley and Brent Prager in this new incarnation of the band.

Find more info about No Coast, here: https://thechainworld.blogspot.com/2022/07/no-coast-fest-2022_21.html

Buy No Coast tickets, here: https://nocoastfest.com/

Stream Cherubs' latest album, here: https://cherubs.bandcamp.com/

Read an interview with No Coast's Jeff Helland, here: https://www.brooklynvegan.com/chat-pile-and-no-coast-fest-founder-interview-each-other-about-noise-rocks-current-moment-dream-reunions-more/

Photo of Cherubs, by Mike White