BRONSON ARM - Casket Schwagg

BRONSON ARM: minimalist noise rock powerhouse returns with sophomore masterpiece "Casket Schwagg"; title track's music video streaming now

Learning Curve Records announces the May 9th release of Casket Schwagg, the stunning sophomore album by Bronson Arm.

A macabre, hallucinatory fantasy, evoking the late David Lynch, the official music video for the song's title track is now streaming, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP6Uk0EPx1I

Pre-order the album, here: https://bronsonarm.bandcamp.com/album/casket-schwagg

Just one year ago, Bronson Arm – the duo of Blake Bickel and Garrett Yates – rattled the underground with the release of their self-titled debut album on Learning Curve. Using only baritone guitar, drums, and voice, the Kalamazoo, Michigan pair boldly introduced its singular style. The attack was as hard-hitting as hammers on anvils, with Yates' austere bludgeoning locked in unison with the thrumming of Bickel's dark, moody, baritone strings, yet the two understood that the spaces in between the notes can be as powerful as the assault. They honored emptiness as a haunting force all its own, resulting in minimalist anthems that swelled with tension before bursting open into cathartic hooks. Ominous like Sonic Youth, explosive like Fugazi, Bronson Arm's songs penetrated deep and ultimately sounded like no one else's.

UK outlet Louder Than War reported: "The self-titled full-length from Bronson Arm is an unstoppable flex of muscles we never knew existed."

Poland's Idioteq declared: "Anthemic noise-punk songs that are a study in controlled chaos... Bickel’s heavy, haunting baritone guitar intertwines with Yates’ powerful drumming, creating a soundscape that is simultaneously minimalist and monumental."

Recorded by Addison Eilers at Analog Time Machine in White Hall, Michigan, mixed by Brandon Eggleston (Swans, Helmet, Pelican), and mastered by Bickel himself, whose mastering credits include Soft Kill and King Dude, Casket Schwagg is a glorious follow-up that sees this unique band come into full bloom. Across nine hard-rocking songs, Bickel and Yates fully mesmerize with a mix of martial rhythms, doomy tones, and euphoric melodies. "I feel this record accurately captures our sound," says Bickel. "Raw and noisy with a huge bottom end that you can feel just as much as hear."

First single "Casket Schwagg" is a driving, bare-bones, noise rock banger that sets the tone. Baritone guitar and drums barrel forward in machine-like harmony as Bickel's tuneful shout soars above. Bickel gives this statement about the song: "For the title track of the album, I wanted to write a relatively straightforward, anthemic 'curse' of a song, that demands a narcissistic bigot to do what they will never do on their own – take responsibility for their actions. For a long time I have felt that a band using music as a means for calling out corrupt political powers was kind of 'low hanging fruit' and it seemed like a cheap gimmick. But frankly, someone has to do it. There needs to be a sea change. We are not a politically charged band, but this is a politically charged album."

Situated in the small city of Kalamazoo, Bronson Arm is part of a thriving Michigan scene that includes bands such as Cloud Rat and Tonguecutter. In addition to their roles in Bronson Arm, both Bickel and Yates are central members of the scene in other capacities – Bickel as a mastering engineer and Yates as the owner of DIY venue The Run Off.

Tracklist:
1) Permitted to be Omitted
2) Casket Schwagg
3) Wrong Energy
4) To Live Deliciously
5) Supine Twist
6) Flaming Pram
7) Drain the Coffer
8) Vestigial Tail
9) Obscenity in the Milk

Lineup:
Blake Bickel - vocals, baritone guitar
Garrett Yates - drums

Discography:
Casket Schwagg (2025, Learning Curve Records)
Bronson Arm (2024, Learning Curve Records)

Live:

March 06 - Chicago, IL - The Burlington Bar 

March 13 - Kalamazoo, MI - Shakespeares Lower Level 

March 15 - Battle Creek, MI - The Music Factory 

April 04 - Grand Rapids, MI - Pux Cider 

April 05 - Kalamazoo, MI - Papa Petes 

May 15 - Kalamazoo, MI - Bell’s Back Room 

May 16 - Minneapolis, MN - Cloudland Theatre 

May 17 - Milwaukee, WI - MKE Ultra 

June 07 - Michigan City, IN - Burn ’Em Brewing

Photo by J. Ludeker

SPIRITWORLD - "Oblivion"

SPIRITWORLD: members of Rise Against and Blackbraid join cowboy thrashers on anthemic new single "Oblivion"
 
With its new album, Helldorado, coming March 21st on Century Media Records, SpiritWorld reveals the album's third single, "Oblivion."

Featuring guest appearances by Zach Blair (Rise Against) and Sgah'gahsowáh (Blackbraid), "Oblivion" is another anthemic slab of the Las Vegas band's signature sound: thrashing hardcore, laced with Wild West stylings and a supernatural horror storyline.

Stream the official "Oblivion" visualizer, here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URZmb6DhJ2g

Pre-order Helldorado, here:
https://spiritworld.lnk.to/Helldorado-AlbumPR

Visit the band's official merch store with exclusive vinyl and Helldorado merch, here:
https://spiritworldprophet.com/

SpiritWorld founder/frontman Stu Folsom gives this statement about the song: "'Oblivion' is one of my favorite songs off Helldorado! It was the song that took the most work to finish, but I am so glad that I kept pulling it back out of the dumpster to chip away at. It has a great mid-tempo headbanger groove that reminds me of growing up listening to early Obituary/Six Feet Under records full of Alan West riffage in my headphones, walking home from my graveyard shift selling booze and tampons at a 24/7 SAV-ON in East Las Vegas. We also got some help from our friends to polish it off. Zach Blair (Rise Against) tracked a blistering guitar solo and Sgah'gahsowáh (Blackbraid) put down vocals that really lift the song to a whole different level. It is an honor and very flattering to have people from bands I love, willing to collaborate and add their style to this project."

The iconoclastic Folsom has been building the SpiritWorld universe since 2020, beginning with the band's debut, Pagan Rhythms, and blossoming on sophomore album Deathwestern, both released on Century Media. More than a musician, Folsom is an author too, and SpiritWorld's music goes hand in hand with Folsom's writings. The first two albums were soundtracks to his book, Godlessness, a series of Lovecraftian horror tales set in a fictional Old West.

Third album Helldorado cements the band's brand, while making new moves that show the breadth of the potential in store. Across the album's ten tracks, SpiritWorld indulges in metallic hardcore blitzes, world-weary country-punk stomps, and even a wistful, finger-picked lament. Folsom acknowledges the diversity of the music: "This record, more so than the last two, I think you hear way more fearlessness and confidence in the choices... If that makes me an outcast or even more fringe than your average underground music act, then that's okay. The stench of being genuine is beautiful."

Assessing the anomaly that is SpiritWorld, Stereogum has hailed it as "a gory symphony that owes as much to Slayer as Cormac McCarthy" and as "a whole fleshed-out universe of pulpy sonic violence inspired by Westerns, horror, outlaw country, the occult, and the heavy metal classics of the late 20th century." Revolver Magazine has stated: "Their cinematic cowboy outfits, the Wild West lore in their songs, their off-the-wall music videos — all of it feels more like a multi-disciplinary art project than a mere metal band."

Clad in matching Western suits, Folsom and his boys have traveled the world, on tours with the likes of Municipal Waste, Sepultura, and Stick To Your Guns. Coming up this spring, the band will tour North America with Obituary, celebrating the 35th anniversary of the death metal legends' Cause of Death album.

Obituary, Nails, Terror, SpiritWorld, Pest Control:

Apr 18 - San Antonio, TX @ Aztec Theatre
Apr 19 - Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater
Apr 21 - Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater
Apr 22 - Mesa, AZ @ The Nile Theater
Apr 24 - San Diego, CA @ House of Blues
Apr 25 - Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues
Apr 26 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Bellwether
Apr 27 - Berkeley, CA @ The UC Theatre
Apr 29 - Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
Apr 30 - Seattle, WA @ The Showbox
May 02 - Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot
May 03 - Denver, CO @ The Oriental Theater
May 05 - Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater
May 06 - Chicago, IL @ House of Blues
May 07 - Detroit, MI @ The Majestic Theatre
May 09 - Montreal, QC @ Club Soda
May 10 - Toronto, ON @ The Concert Hall
May 11 - New Kensington, PA @ Preserving Underground
May 14 - Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl
May 14 - Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
May 19 - Louisville, KY @ Mercury Ballroom
May 20 - Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel
May 22 - Maspeth, NY @ Knockdown Center
May 24 - Worcester, MA @ The Palladium
May 25 - Reading, PA @ Reverb

Photo by Jasmine Garcia

MERCY TIES - "Survivor's Guilt"

MERCY TIES: reunited Pacific Northwest hardcore unit reveals new single "Survivor's Guilt" and music video; West Coast tour with Throes announced

Mercy Ties reveals new single "Survivor's Guilt," from the forthcoming new album, Reflections and Criticisms. The band's first new album in 10 years, Reflections and Criticisms will be released March 28th on The Ghost Is Clear Records.

Stream the song's official music video, consisting of footage shot on tour in 2017 during the band's European tour with French powerhouse Birds in Row, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwT89jAbZIM

Pre-order Reflections and Criticisms, here: https://theghostisclearrecords.limitedrun.com/products/863124

Founded in Seattle, Washington in 2010, Mercy Ties emerged as a standout of a new wave of West Coast hardcore, citing bands like Breather Resist, Converge, Pageninetynine, and hometown heroes Botch as reference points. Mercy Ties' intense brand initially bore trademarks of screamo, then quickly spiraled into something darker and more lethal, indulging freely in elements of noise rock, math, sludge, and grind. A review from Invisible Oranges in that early period described the sound as "contorted, noise rock-indebted metalcore"; Decibel Magazine called it "unsettling, unpredictable and distinctive."

With a bright future ahead, Mercy Ties then promptly faded from view. "We needed to take a break," says vocalist Andre Sanabria. "We were all facing tensions for various reasons and needed some space. Other aspects of life were pulling us away." In the latter part of the decade, some band members migrated away from Seattle and away from music. Guitarist Trevor Bebee immersed himself in the world of competitive powerlifting; drummer Chris Pereira relocated to Europe.

With the spark reignited now and the band members regrouped, Mercy Ties returns. Engineered by Scott Evans (Kowloon Walled City, Sumac) and Chris Common (These Arms Are Snakes, The Mars Volta), and mastered by Brad Boatright (The Armed, Necrot), Reflections and Criticisms is not only a comeback, it is the band's strongest work yet. Revolver Magazine had these words for the album's first single: "A quick, glumly swung crush that speaks to a particular kind of Pacific Northwest-made heaviness (think a more brooding, less mathematically groove-driven Botch). Our overall reflection and criticism for Mercy Ties... The album couldn’t come soon enough."

Along with the release of the "Survivor's Guilt" single and music video, the band announces its "Reflections and Criticisms Tour," hitting the West Coast in April with Boise crushers Throes.

April 18 - Boise, ID @ Realms
April 19 - San Francisco, CA @ Neck of the Woods
April 20 - Fresno, CA @ Destructive Warehouse
April 21 - Los Angeles, CA @ Genghis Cohen

April 22 - Bakersfield, CA @ 415 BKFD
April 23 - Sacramento, CA @ Cafe Colonial
April 24 - Eugene, OR @ Wandering Goat
April 25 - Portland, OR @ Commonwealth
April 26 - Seattle, WA @ The Black Lodge

Photo by Kayla Tarkalson Bebee

CATERWAUL update

CATERWAUL: Buildings, Deaf Club, FACS and more revealed for 2025 festival lineup

With the fourth installment of Caterwaul scheduled for May 23-26th in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the festival's organizers issue their second major lineup announcement.

Representing the noisy, iconoclastic fringes of rock, punk and hardcore, the new batch of artists to be revealed includes: 

Chicago veterans Big'n; a reunion set by Minneapolis bruisers Buildings; Southern California supergroup Deaf Club, featuring members of The Locust and ACxDC; Chicago's FACS, who have the distinction of being the final band recorded by the late Steve Albini; Louisville unit Fotocrime, led by Ryan Patterson of Coliseum; Boston howlers Miracle Blood; San Antonio's Pinko, Chicago eccentrics The Cell Phones; and Unstable Shapes and Upright Forms, both hailing from Minneapolis.

The complete list of artists announced for the 2025 festival, thus far, is as follows:

Big'n
Buildings
Deaf Club
Elephant Rifle
Eye Flys
FACS
Fotocrime
In Lieu
Kowloon Walled City
Lung
Miracle Blood
Mr Phylzzz
Open Head
Pinko
Pissed Jeans
Suckling
The Cell Phones
Unstable Shapes
Upright Forms
Young Widows

Tickets can be purchased now at this location: https://www.ticketstripe.com/caterwaul2025

BrooklynVegan has described Caterwaul as a "unique mix of noise rock, punk, metal, post-punk and beyond." New Noise Magazine has called it "a gathering of some of the best underground bands existing today."

Beyond the curation, Caterwaul has come to represent a cooperative, familial spirit within the underground. Through their decades of work in the trenches of independent music, serving in the roles of musician, label owner, show booker, podcaster, and more, founders Conan Neutron, Rainer Fronz, and Melanie Thomas are deeply tied to the artists and fans whom Caterwaul pulls together. With its fourth installment approaching, Caterwaul is the epicenter of its own scene – not limited to any one specific genre, but dedicated to uniting all people on the loud and eccentric side of the fence.

Asked to deliver a statement about the fest, Neutron, Fronz, and Thomas recently offered these nine words: “In a world full of Coachellas, be a Caterwaul.”

Look out for more lineup announcements in the upcoming weeks.

Caterwaul 2025 logo, by Whitney Does
Photo of Buildings, courtesy of the band

Photo of Deaf Club, by Becky DiGiglio

Photo of FACS, courtesy of the band

HEAVY HALO - "Justified"

HEAVY HALO: alt-industrial hitmakers target religious hypocrisy on new single "Justified"

Heavy Halo has revealed new single "Justified."

"Justified" is the fourth track to be released from the NYC duo's new album Damaged Dream, slated for a summer 2025 release on Silent Pendulum Records.

An official visualizer is streaming now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSBppB3iNrQ

Based out of their studio, located inside a historic 19th-century hospital building in Brooklyn, Heavy Halo mixes elements of alt-rock and industrial, creating memorable songs that are full of yearning vocals and propulsive electronics. The authority on all things dark and dramatic, Post-Punk.com says this about the new single: "New York City’s Heavy Halo delve deep into the fire of personal reckoning with 'Justified,' a track that thrashes, aches, and demands release. Built on a backbone of industrial-techno rhythms, its serrated guitars slash through raw electronics, a collision of sweat and circuitry. The track surges forward, a machine with a beating heart, nodding to Nine Inch Nails and KMFDM with the raw urgency of Smashing Pumpkins and the aching howl of The Cure. The ghosts of ‘90s rebellion flicker in its DNA, yet its spirit is welded to the digital age, where raw emotion fuses with cold machinery. In this, Heavy Halo also finds kinship with HEALTH and Poppy, reveling in that chaotic crossroads where flesh meets electric power."

Heavy Halo vocalist McKeever gives this statement about the song: "My therapist kept telling me I had Catholic guilt and I kept denying it. But after spending time thinking, I found something there and wrote "Justified." I had gone to Catholic middle school and it was a nightmare. There was a hypocritical priest making little kids confess their 'sins' while stealing money from the congregation to fund a secret lavish lifestyle. Kids in my grade were deplorable meatheads scrawling Nazi symbols in the bathroom. The vibe was the furthest possible thing from the doctrine preached. Beyond this, I had larger problems with the institution of religion as a whole, the self-righteousness, the fear-mongering, the centuries of violence... I wanted no part of any of this. So I ran as far away as I could into the embrace of dark music and art where I found magic and solace. This song is a justification for anyone who turns away from these institutions to carve their own path. Your truth is within you and you can find your own transcendence and raise up your flag."

Pre-order the new album, here: https://silentpendulumrecords.bandcamp.com/album/damaged-dream

Heavy Halo plays February 15th at Elsewhere Zone 1 in Brooklyn, with Louisahhh. Tickets are available here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/louisahhh-debasement-heavy-halo-tickets-1207855962699

Photo by Wrekluse

CATERWAUL 2025

CATERWAUL: annual festival of the noisy and iconoclastic reveals Pissed Jeans, Suckling (member of Scratch Acid), Young Widows and more for 2025 lineup; tickets on sale now

“In a world full of Coachellas, be a Caterwaul.”

With the fourth installment of Caterwaul scheduled for May 23-26th in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the festival's organizers have revealed ten of this year's confirmed artists. In alphabetical order:

Elephant Rifle
Eye Flys
In Lieu
Kowloon Walled City
Lung
Mr Phylzzz
Open Head
Pissed Jeans
Suckling
Young Widows

The full lineup will be revealed in the upcoming weeks.

Tickets can be purchased now at this location: https://www.ticketstripe.com/caterwaul2025

With such greats as Brainiac, Chat Pile, Flipper, and Oxbow having graced Caterwaul's stages in years past, the fest has come to serve as a beacon for the heavy, experimental fringes of rock. The 2025 lineup promises to cement Caterwaul's reputation as an annual destination for the noisy and iconoclastic, with the initial announcement including the following: psychedelic punkers Elephant Rifle; noise rock beast Eye Flys; neo-grungers In Lieu; doom rock stalwarts Kowloon Walled City; cello rockers Lung; the new wave of Amphetamine Reptile, Mr Phylzzz; angular punk innovators Open Head; hardcore punk kings Pissed Jeans; Suckling, led by Brett Bradford of the legendary Scratch Acid; and post-hardcore transcenders Young Widows.

BrooklynVegan has described Caterwaul as a "unique mix of noise rock, punk, metal, post-punk and beyond." New Noise Magazine has called it "a gathering of some of the best underground bands existing today."

Beyond the curation, Caterwaul has come to represent a cooperative, familial spirit within the underground. Through their decades of work in the trenches of independent music, serving in the roles of musician, label owner, show booker, podcaster, and more, founders Conan Neutron, Rainer Fronz, and Melanie Thomas are deeply tied to the artists and fans whom Caterwaul pulls together. With its fourth installment approaching, Caterwaul is the epicenter of its own scene – not limited to any one specific genre, but dedicated to uniting all people on the loud and eccentric side of the fence.

Asked to deliver a statement about the fest, Neutron, Fronz, and Thomas offer these nine words: “In a world full of Coachellas, be a Caterwaul.”

Caterwaul 2025 logo, by Whitney Does

Photo of Pissed Jeans, by Ebru Yildiz

Out today: CKRAFT - Uncommon Grounds

Uncommon Grounds, the new album by CKRAFT, is out today. 

From Paris, France, CKRAFT melds metal, jazz, and medieval music into new shapes. Decibel Magazine describes the band’s compositions as “expansive and otherworldly” and as “bridging the gap between djent’s chugging thunder and the scattershot melodic freedom of jazz.” Founder/accordionist Charles Kieny freely name drops Gojira, Meshuggah, John Coltrane and Allan Holdsworth, while using Gregorian chants of the Middle Ages as the basis of CKRAFT's melodies. Uncommon Grounds is the quintet's sophomore album, following 2022's Epic Discordant Vision.

"With members hailing from various outposts of the musical universe, having a synth-accordion and saxophone as featured instruments, and the members’ declared bond over polyrhythmic metal, Middle Age Gregorian chants and ancient architecture, CKRAFT... blew convention out the window with their 2022 debut, the appropriately titled 'Epic Discordant Vision.' Bridging the gap between djent’s chugging thunder and the scattershot melodic freedom of jazz, the band have returned with album number two, 'Uncommon Grounds'..."
–Decibel

"French instrumental progressive metal act CKRAFT, whose jazz-informed take on heavy riffage feels right at home when mentioned alongside the likes of Ex Eye or Yakuza, with a bit of a more Gojira/Car Bomb-inspired modern metal twist on that established niche... Progressive in all senses of the word, CKRAFT are pushing boundaries both in- and outward by borrowing from the past and pushing those elements into the future through their combined efforts."
–Everything Is Noise

"Ripping through the headphones like a cross between early Don Caballero, T.R.A.M., Mahavishnu Orchestra, and… Pantera... We’re willing to believe Charles Kieny might be a reincarnated medieval magician of some kind."
–Fecking Bahamas

"Medieval sounds meld with bone snappin’ metal and unorthodox jazz culminating into of the most unique and refreshing things I’ve heard in a mighty long time."
–Nine Circles

" I got flashes of Meshuggah, King Crimson, Gojira, and Miles/Coltrane... This group deploys synth-accordion, saxophone, guitar, bass, and drums as their tools, and they display both impressive virtuosity and considerable eccentricity in doing so. "
–No Clean Singing

"The Paris band brings a diverse mix of influences, melding metal, jazz, and medieval music with instrumentation that includes synth-accordion, saxophone, guitar, bass, and drums."
–Scene Point Blank

Stream and buy the album, here: https://linktr.ee/ckraft.music

Stream the new music video, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n-b2p6px9g

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

SPIRITWORLD - Helldorado

SPIRITWORLD announces third album, Helldorado; new single "Abilene Grime" and official music video streaming now

From Las Vegas, Nevada, SpiritWorld announces the upcoming release of its third album: Helldorado.

The follow-up to 2022's acclaimed Deathwestern, Helldorado will be released March 21, 2025 on Century Media Records.

Pre-order Helldorado and stream the album's opening track, "Abilene Grime," here: 

https://spiritworld.lnk.to/Helldorado-AlbumPR

Stream the official "Abilene Grime" music video, here: 

https://youtube.com/watch?v=vbuFWWmfoOc

Visit the band's official merch store with exclusive vinyl and Helldorado merch, here:

https://spiritworldprophet.com/

SpiritWorld founder/frontman Stu Folsom offers these words: "I am thrilled to share that our new album, Helldorado, will be available everywhere, March 21st. We took most of last year off from playing shows, to hunker down and make this record with Sam Pura at the infamous Panda Studios."

Helldorado is the third chapter in SpiritWorld's infernal saga. The iconoclastic Folsom has been building the SpiritWorld universe since 2020, beginning with the band's debut, Pagan Rhythms, and blossoming on sophomore album Deathwestern, both released on Century Media. Distinct from any other band in the scene, SpiritWorld thrives in its own aesthetic realm, a place where thrashing hardcore, Wild West stylings, and supernatural horror dwell in macabre harmony. Clad in matching Western suits, Folsom and his boys have traveled the world with the likes of tours with Obituary, Municipal Waste, Kreator, Sepultura, Stick To Your Guns, and Agnostic Front. More than a musician, Folsom is an author too, and SpiritWorld's music goes hand in hand with Folsom's writings. The first two albums were soundtracks to his book, Godlessness, a series of Lovecraftian horror tales set in a fictional Old West. 

Assessing the anomaly that is SpiritWorld, Stereogum has hailed it as "a gory symphony that owes as much to Slayer as Cormac McCarthy" and as "a whole fleshed-out universe of pulpy sonic violence inspired by Westerns, horror, outlaw country, the occult, and the heavy metal classics of the late 20th century." Revolver Magazine has stated: "Their cinematic cowboy outfits, the Wild West lore in their songs, their off-the-wall music videos — all of it feels more like a multi-disciplinary art project than a mere metal band."

Now, with Helldorado, Folsom will demonstrate that everything thus far was merely the prelude. SpiritWorld is just getting started. Helldorado cements the band's brand, while making new moves that show the breadth of the potential in store.

A 3-minute hellride, opening track "Abilene Grime" begins as a feisty honky-tonk shuffle then transforms into a Slayer-strength fist-pumper that thrashes straight into the abyss. The official "Abilene Grime" music video brings the song to life with cinematic grandeur, depicting a doomed preacher's descent into the underworld.

"When I wrote the demo for 'Abilene Grime,' it felt like the album really found its identity and materialized out of the ether," says Folsom. "It twangs, it bangs and it has a sick video, directed by our dear friend Todd Hailstone, which we filmed in Las Vegas a few weeks ago. Enjoy, everybody!"

Across Helldorado's ten tracks, SpiritWorld indulges in metallic hardcore blitzes, world-weary country-punk stomps, and even a wistful, finger-picked lament. Folsom explains the diversity of the music: "This record, more so than the last two, I think you hear way more fearlessness and confidence in the choices. Things that were showing up as interludes have manifested into fully fleshed out pieces. At its heart, Helldorado is a punishing, unrelenting masterclass in crossover and hardcore thrash. But in a scene where every riff has been played before and every great band has thirty contemporary acolytes mining their catalog and doing worship albums, there is something in the strangeness of Helldorado that makes it endearing." Guests on the album include Sgah’gahsowáh (Black Braid), Zach Blair (Rise Against), and Frederic Leclercq (Kreator). 

Folsom continues: "Maybe it is a risk to incorporate things that will be pretty far out there for the casual punk or metalhead, but having the opportunity to make a record comes with a responsibility to me. I dreamed of making records for so long. Way before I could play guitar or do any of the practical things you need to be able to do. I take it very seriously to follow my gut and let my style hang out on these records. I only want to do things in life that I am all in on. If that makes me an outcast or even more fringe than your average underground music act then that's okay. The stench of being genuine is beautiful."

Lyrically, Helldorado explores new territory as well. While SpiritWorld's first two albums were companion pieces to Folsom's book, Godlessness, Helldorado moves beyond that book's pages, to tell the story of what happens next. "Godlessness leaves off in a cliffhanger where all the surviving characters have managed to arrive at a villa in Mexico near where a rumored gateway to hell is said to exist," says Folsom. "Helldorado is the first glimpse that fans will get into some of what is unfolding in the next novel that I am working on, that tells the story of what happens with these characters and the gates of hell."

Helldorado tracklist:
1) Abilene Grime
2) No Vacancy in Heaven
3) Western Stars & The Apocalypse
4) Bird Song of Death
5) Prayer Lips
6) Waiting on the Reaper
7) Oblivion
8) Cleansing
9) Stigmata Scars
10) Annihilism

Helldorado lineup:
Stu Folsom - vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, back ups, MIDI drums, sampling, synths, percussion
Preston Harper - drums

Nick Brundy - backing vocals
Matt Schrum - backing vocals

Randy Moore - lead guitar
RJ Demarco - saxophone, acoustic guitar
Jerico Horca - organ, keyboard
Sam Pura - bass, backing vocals
Theresa Brown - backing vocals
Sgah'gahsowáh - vocals on "Oblivion"

Zach Blair - electric guitar solo on "Oblivion"
Frederic Leclercq - electric guitar solo on "Stigmata Scars"

Helldorado credits:

All music and lyrics written by Stu Folsom

Engineered and mixed by Sam Pura
Mastered by Alberto de Icaza
Additional engineering by Stu Folsom and Theresa Brown
Cover art by James Bousema

Layout and design by Stu Folsom
Band photo by Jasmine Garcia

MERCY TIES - Reflections and Criticisms

MERCY TIES returns with first new album in 10 years, Reflections and Criticisms (The Ghost Is Clear Records); "Love All the People" visualizer streaming now

Returning with its first new music in 10 years, Mercy Ties announces the March 28th release of its new album, Reflections and Criticisms, on The Ghost Is Clear Records.

A new official visualizer for the album's first single, "Love All the People," is now streaming, here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fICPVhQ931s

Pre-order Reflections and Criticisms, here:

https://theghostisclearrecords.limitedrun.com/products/863124

Founded in Seattle, Washington in 2010, Mercy Ties' intense brand of hardcore initially bore trademarks of screamo, then quickly spiraled into something darker and more lethal. A review from Invisible Oranges in that early period described the sound as "contorted, noise rock-indebted metalcore"; Decibel Magazine called it "unsettling, unpredictable and distinctive." 

Citing bands like Breather Resist, Converge, Pageninetynine, and hometown heroes Botch as reference points, Mercy Ties quickly shaped itself into a standout of a new wave of West Coast hardcore that indulged freely in elements of noise rock, math, sludge, and grind. The band's initial run culminated in the 2015 release of the outstanding Proper Corruption album, followed by US and European tours with French powerhouse Birds In Row.

With a bright future ahead, Mercy Ties then promptly faded from view. "We needed to take a break," says vocalist Andre Sanabria. "We were all facing tensions for various reasons and needed some space. Other aspects of life were pulling us away." In the latter part of the decade, some band members migrated away from Seattle and away from music. Guitarist Trevor Bebee immersed himself in the world of competitive powerlifting; drummer Chris Pereira relocated to Europe.

Bebee recounts how a spark was reignited during the darkest days of the pandemic: "I started writing again. I really fell in love with a different process of writing, revising and layering parts on my laptop alone. I’d put songs to a click track and send them to Chris, our drummer. We ended up with a lot of material and made plans for him to fly out to the States to jam out the record. We got Mike Hanson, our old second guitarist, back on board, rehearsed for a few weeks and made a record. My main objective was to finally have a record I was proud of, but we inevitably talked about shows and here we are. I retired from competitive powerlifting last year, so the idea of playing shows and touring sounds much more fun than when lifting was my number one priority."

Engineered by Scott Evans (Kowloon Walled City, Sumac) and Chris Common (These Arms Are Snakes, The Mars Volta), and mastered by Brad Boatright (The Armed, Necrot), Reflections and Criticisms is not only a comeback, it is Mercy Ties' strongest work yet. Although the band members are spread between Washington, Oregon, California, and Spain, Mercy Ties bulldozes forth like one consolidated force.

At under two minutes, the album's first single, "Love All the People," is a crusher of epic proportions – an earthquaking display of tension and release, bursting with authenticity. Vocalist Andre Sanabria, also currently the frontman for Neurot Recordings ragers Ex Everything, roars: "Life is cheap / Disgust grows / We're not divine, just a joke / The paradise that we call earth, destroyed by stupidity."

Sanabria gives this statement about the song: "During a lengthy anhedonic period I wrote 'Love All the People' as a conversation to myself. The big sad passed and the words remained in a book, expunged and forgotten. The first time I listened to what would become 'Love All The People,' those same words came back to me. I opened up the notebook and everything lined up, predetermined. The lyrics themselves are self-explanatory: we're all on borrowed time, so enjoy it while you can."

"Love All the People," was first released last year on The Ghost Is Clear's 2024 label sampler. Fast becoming recognized as a pillar of the scene, located at the crossroads of hardcore and noise rock, the label boasts recent releases by Chat Pile, Whores., Rid of Me, Intercourse, Missouri Executive Order 44, Yellfire, and more. Mercy Ties' connection to TGIC runs deep: back in 2007, drummer Chris Pereira formed the band Tigon with TGIC co-founder Brian Dooley.

Stand by for tourdates.

Tracklist:
1) Preamble
2) A New Hell Everyday
3) Normative Violence
4) Survivor's Guilt
5) No Longer Human
6) Requiem
7) The Spectacle of the Scaffold
8) Giving Witness to Extinction
9) Love All the People
10) A Body in Search of a Corpse
11) Acta est Fabula, Plaudite

Lineup:
Andre Sanabria - vocals
Trevor Bebee - guitar
Mike Hanson - guitar
Chris Pereira - drums
Millie Reda - live bass

Discography:
Reflections and Criticisms (2025, The Ghost Is Clear Records)
Proper Corruption (2015, Glory Kid Ltd.)
A Dim Lit Place (2013, Glory Kid Ltd.)
Split w/ Grenades (2011, Echolalic Records)
Under the Gold-Rimmed Sky (2011, demo)

Photo by Kayla Tarkalson Bebee

CKRAFT - "Misconstruction of the Universe"

CKRAFT: French crew melds metal, jazz, and Gregorian chants on new single "Misconstruction of the Universe"; official music video streaming now

From Paris, France, CKRAFT presents "Misconstruction of the Universe," the third single from its forthcoming sophomore album, Uncommon Grounds.

Stream the official "Misconstruction of the Universe" music video, here:

https://www.decibelmagazine.com/2025/01/09/video-premiere-ckrafts-misconstruction-of-the-universe-constructs-battlegrounds-and-deconstructs-jazz-metal/

Pre-order Uncommon Grounds, here: 

https://ckraft.bigcartel.com/product/album-pre-order

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

Decibel Magazine describes the band's compositions as "expansive and otherworldly" and gives this report: "With members hailing from various outposts of the musical universe, having a synth-accordion and saxophone as featured instruments, and the members’ declared bond over polyrhythmic metal, Middle Age Gregorian chants and ancient architecture, CKRAFT formed in France a decade ago and blew convention out the window with their 2022 debut... Bridging the gap between djent’s chugging thunder and the scattershot melodic freedom of jazz, the band have returned with album number two, Uncommon Grounds."

A meditation on the ways in which humans make sense of the universe, from the ancient and religious, to the modern and scientific, the new single, "Misconstruction of the Universe," uses the Gregorian chant "Universi Qui Te Expectant" as its lead melody.

The official music video is a grand, cinematic clip, showing the band in action amidst two battling figures. Founder and synth-accordion player Charles Kieny states: “The location in which the band was filmed is an old airship hangar in Normandy. Originally built by the French navy during WWI, it was meant to shelter airships used to spot German submarines. The other location is a gigantic Art Deco-styled carpark, built in the 1930s in the French Alps city of Grenoble. The director, Juliette Ulrich, symbolized this concept of old beliefs vs. modern beliefs, by two characters, one with a plague mask and one with a gas mask. They’re fighting, each with their own weapon –– medieval vs. modern, mystic vs. rational, religious vs. scientific –– and they’re chasing something, we don’t know why, maybe some sort of truth. But in the end, when they finally reach the light, nothing remains of them."