Curran's Top 10 of 2025

My 10 favorite albums of 2025 (excluding artists I worked with this year):

1. Pixel Grip – Percepticide: The Death of Reality

Album of the year. Banger after banger. Perfect pop songs with industrial bones. Rita Lukea is the baddest singer there is. She dominates, she captivates.

2. Today Is the Day – Never Give In

Each one of Today Is The Day’s albums sounds different from the last. Together they add up to one beautiful portrait of their maker, Steve Austin, a man brave enough to show you his weakness, his strength, his love, his hate, and everything in between. A true artist. Forever out on a limb, forever hanging by a thread.

3. Escape-ism – Charge of the Love Brigade

I put Ian Svenonius on the same pedestal as Steve Austin. A true artist, doing his thing, decade after decade. No compromise. Wildly entertaining.

4. Ramleh – Hyper Vigilance

A totally engrossing sonic journey, likely to excite Swans fans.

5. Dax Riggs – 7 Songs for Spiders

Dax’s voice is devastating. This is the blues, transmitting from a coffin at the bottom of the swamp.

6. Årabrot – Rite of Dionysus

Dark and haunted like Dax Riggs, but instead of the blues in the swamp, it’s a theatrical, Scandinavian rock n’ roll thing.

7. Kontusion – Insatiable Lust for Death

Kontusion stands out from the old school death metal pack. For me, it’s the excessively cavernous production and the supremely satisfying mid-tempo parts.

8. Barren Path – Grieving

Pure exhilaration. It’s not just the blazing fast tempos and laser precision, it’s the sweet, sweet riffs. A new standard in grindcore.

9. Gagbags – Hypnotic Desire

Some of you know Chuck as the owner of the best store in NYC, The Cast. In Gagbags he sings muscular punk rock anthems that cruise along in a late ‘70s kinda way.

10. Broncho – Natural Pleasure

Cryptic and blissful. Ryan Lindsey sings in a language all his own. Broncho’s album Double Vanity was my AOTY a few years back. This one is altogether mellower and that’s OK.

Honorable mention: 1-800-BAND – 20th Century Masters

A posthumous EP from a wonderful band.

Check out this list and many other good ones, here: https://thebadpennyblog.com/2025/12/15/friends-of-the-bad-penny-share-their-top-10-lists-of-2025-best-albums/

HEAVY HALO x My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult

HEAVY HALO announces spring US tour with My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult

NYC alt-industrial dream team Heavy Halo will join the legendary My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult for the band's "Delicate Terror Tour, Part Two," tearing across the western half of the US in Spring 2026.

Also featured on the tour is darkwave powerhouse Light Asylum (with whom Heavy Halo toured this summer and collaborated on the track, "Die Cast Down"), Die Sexual, and Devora.

Founded in Chicago in the 1980s, My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult began amidst the Wax Trax! Records industrial scene, alongside labelmates Ministry and KMFDM, then evolved toward its own signature sound incorporating house, funk, psych, and B-movie obsessions. Always provocative, always fun, the band has toured with the likes of Marilyn Manson and Siousxie and the Banshees and its songs have been featured in iconic films such as The Crow and Showgirls.

Operating out of Spellsound Studios in Brooklyn, NY, located inside a historic 19th-century building that formerly housed a hospital, Heavy Halo members McKeever and Gosteffects are purveyors of their own unique vision of industrialized alt-rock, a mix of human vulnerability and electronic power, hailed by CVLT Nation as "thundering, soaring industrial metal" and by Revolver Magazine as "chunky riffs and EBM-panicked beatwork... nihilistic yet melodic vocals." Heavy Halo's latest album Damaged Dream is out now on Silent Pendulum Records, and their official remix of Erasure frontman Andy Bell's song "Godspell" was released last week as part of Bell's new album The Crown Jewels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP7g8Y6eHQY

Heavy Halo's McKeever states: "We are beyond ecstatic to join the upcoming leg of My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult’s Delicate Terror Tour. The legendary band has been a source of endless inspiration for us and seeing them was one of the first shows Gosteffects ever attended so this will be a full circle moment. The rest of the lineup features the unreal Light Asylum, Die Sexual, and Devora who are keeping the dark energy of the underground alive. It will also be our first time playing on the West Coast, Southwest, and Midwest and we are grateful for the opportunity to take this impractical art experiment we started in our bedrooms, further out into the world. See you on the road."

My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult
"Delicate Terror Tour, Part Two"
w/ Light Asylum, Die Sexual, Devora, Heavy Halo

3/25 San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
3/27 Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
3/28 Tacoma, WA @ Spanish Ballroom
3/31 Boise, ID @ Shrine Social Club
4/01 Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Music Hall
4/03 Denver, CO @ Oriental Theatre
4/04 Colorado Springs, CO @ The Black Sheep
4/07 Oklahoma City, OK @ Beer City Music Hall
4/09 Austin, TX @ Mohawk
4/10 Dallas, TX @ Echo Lounge & Music Hall
4/11 Houston, TX @ Numbers
4/12 San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger
4/14 El Paso, TX @ Lowbrow Palace
4/17 San Diego, CA @ The Music Box
4/18 Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom

Tickets are available here: https://mylifewiththethrillkillkult.com/

Photo by Michelle Lobianco

PILGRIMS - Gemini

PILGRIMS: South American post-punks transcend borders on new album Gemini; "Glow" music video streaming now

Post-punk trio PILGRIMS announce the February 13, 2026 release of new album Gemini.

Pre-order the album, here: https://pilgrimsofyearning.bandcamp.com/album/gemini

Stream the official music video for the album's first single, "Glow," here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TWqD46F44Q

Operating out of Boston, Massachusetts, PILGRIMS was initially known as Pilgrims of Yearning. The band was founded in 2018 by Chilean vocalist Juls Garat and Colombian musician Claudio Marcio, who met in Chile and emigrated together to the US. 

"We met in Chile, before moving to Boston a decade ago," recalls Marcio. "We just celebrated our tenth anniversary in the US. We moved here for a job opportunity and started the band a few years after. The band helped us a lot, to sort out those first years navigating a different culture, and to meet great people and build a solid network in this country."

Garat and Marcio put Pilgrims of Yearning on the map by way of a series of releases, most notably 2022's Hadal EP and its dreamy lead single, "La Mar." Defined by a duality of cold and warm elements, the sound was built on rigid beats and stark basslines interlacing with ethereal guitars and synths, as Garat held court with her impassioned, Spanish-accented vocals. The songs paid homage to the early works of Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Cure, yet throbbed with their own heartbeat, unique to their makers.

Returning now with their first new music since Hadal, Garat, Marcio, and bassist Sean Woodbury have rechristened themselves, simply, PILGRIMS. Upcoming new full-length album Gemini is the first release under the new name.

Marcio gives this statement about the new, concise moniker: "With the name PILGRIMS, we reflect not only our spiritual journey, but our living experience as immigrants, our pilgrimage. The new album is touched by our experience as immigrants existing in this moment and place in history. We feel a lot of people can relate to the archetype of the traveler, the wanderer."

Gemini's spirited first single, "Glow," drives forward with scraping guitars and shimmering synths, swirling atop rhythms evoking Miami Vice's heyday. Garat's lush, awestruck vocals feel timeless and eternal, expressing universal feelings. "I paint landscapes with words instead of brush strokes," she states. "With this particular song I wanted to paint a picture of what happens in your brain and your body when you’re in love."

Across Gemini's ten tracks, Garat sings in both English and Spanish. She explains: "Spanish is my first language, so when it comes to writing I feel inspired mostly by great lyricists and poets who write in Spanish – Cerati and García Lorca, to name two. Given the themes of this album, addressing our existence as immigrants, it made sense to combine the two languages in my lyrics."

Transcending nations and borders, PILGRIMS' music seems to tap into the humanity connecting all people. Accordingly, Garat and Marcio speak of a global post-punk community where they have found a home: from Chilean artists such as Amöniacö, Binzatina and Diavol Strâin, to Iceland's Kælan Mikla and Türkiye's She Past Away. PILGRIMS have played shows with all of these bands, as well as with great North American artists, from Vision Video, to Xeno & Oaklander, to ACTORS. In an age of division, PILGRIMS are reminding us that there is an alternative.

Gemini was recorded and mixed by Cooper Leardi at Radio 100 Studios in Boston and mastered by Martin Bowes at The Cage Studios in London, UK.

Tracklist:
1) Glow
2) Alien
3) Blissing Hour
4) Datura
5) Storms
6) Amethyst
7) Glass Cages
8) Elegia
9) La Mar
10) Liminal Travel

Lineup:
Juls Garat - vocals
Claudio Marcio - guitar, synth, drum programming, vocals
Sean Woodbury - bass

Photos by Rachael Shorr
Cover art by Cristian Lizama

HEAVY HALO x Andy Bell

HEAVY HALO: alt-industrial dream team remixes Erasure's Andy Bell

With their new album, Damaged Dream, released this summer, followed by US touring with Light Asylum, New York City alt-industrial dream team Heavy Halo have unleashed their official remix for "Godspell," a new song by Erasure frontman Andy Bell.

The remix appears on The Crown Jewels, a special expanded edition of Bell's acclaimed 2025 solo album, Ten Crowns.

Produced by Dave Audé (U2, Lady Gaga, Rihanna), Ten Crowns includes a collab with Debbie Harry and has been called "a majestic moment in Andy Bell’s forty year career” by The New York Times.

Released today, The Crown Jewels is a 4-disc boxset featuring expanded versions of the album's ten songs, live tracks, and remixes by a short list of artists including Heavy Halo and Bell's Erasure bandmate Vince Clarke.

Stream Heavy Halo's remix of "Godspell," here:

https://open.spotify.com/track/0mYw3qpDR0G8QfeqMEyGrB

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP7g8Y6eHQY

Operating out of Spellsound Studios in Brooklyn, NY, located inside a historic 19th-century building that formerly housed a hospital, Heavy Halo members McKeever and Gosteffects are purveyors of their own unique vision of industrialized alt-rock, a mix of human vulnerability and electronic power, hailed by CVLT Nation as "thundering, soaring industrial metal" and by Revolver Magazine as "chunky riffs and EBM-panicked beatwork... nihilistic yet melodic vocals."

McKeever states: "It was an honor to be asked to remix 'Godspell' from Andy Bell’s new album Ten Crowns. As lifelong fans of Andy's otherworldly vocals and futuristic synth pop sound palette, we were absolutely psyched. We had to finish the remix within three days after getting home from our summer tour with Light Asylum. After sleeping for a solid 24 hours in our own beds, we got right to work. The song was already unique, melodically and lyrically, so it was hugely inspiring to dig into. The verses are laced with castigating vitriol and disdain for grifters and selfish hangers-on. We tried to echo this venom in the instrumental we created and up the aggression quotient. Heavy kicks, biting bass, and serrated synthetic guitars were the order of the day, with a layer of spectral haunting chords hovering over the whole affair."

Photo by Michelle Lobianco

Out today: SIRE LANGUISH - Pull to God

Pull to God, the debut EP by Sire Languish, is out today on Spring Effete.

Sire Languish is the new solo project of NYC guitarist/vocalist Garett Bussanick. Known throughout the avant-metal scene for his exploratory guitar work and emotive death metal vocals, Bussanick is most widely known for his band Aeviterne, whose latest release on Profound Lore Records was described by Stereogum as “ominous and malevolent... also hooky as hell.”

Followers of Bussanick's work will instantly recognize his fingerprints all over Sire Languish. Broadly speaking, the core musical elements of Sire Languish are similar to those of Aeviterne and Aeviterne's predecessor, Flourishing: brooding atmosphere, propulsive beats, the juxtaposition of dissonant and melodic guitars, and impassioned roars. A line can even be drawn to an early, key band of his: Cardiovascular Sub-Hypothermia, an industrial-tinged death-grind unit he joined in the mid-90s.

Sire Languish is sure to thrill any fan of Bussanick's other music, and is a chance to hear the man behind the drum kit for the first time. Beyond that, Pull to God stands as a stellar slab of avant-metal for any newcomers to feast their ears upon. Like everything Bussanick has delivered thus far in his 30-plus years of making music, it is the sound of an artist refining and deepening his commitment to his work.

Stream the EP and buy it, here: https://sirelanguish.bandcamp.com/album/pull-to-god

"Sometimes a solo project lands sounding exactly like the person who made it—every contour, every impulse, every shadow unmistakably theirs. Sire Languish, the new project from avant-metal lifer Garett Bussanick, is one of those rare cases... If you’re familiar with Bussanick’s body of work—Aeviterne’s eruptive dissonance, Flourishing’s cerebral churn, even the long-buried mutations of Cardiovascular Sub-Hypothermia—you’ll recognize the DNA. But Sire Languish is its own creature. The architecture is leaner, the melodic angles sharper, the rhythmic pulse more direct. The rep nailed it: imagine a convergence of Immolation’s tectonic lurch and Killing Joke’s apocalyptic propulsion, rendered with the nervous-system precision Bussanick’s become known for."
–Decibel

"A familiar name in the avant-metal world, Bussanick has spent decades shaping his voice across a number of forward-thinking bands since the nineties. He’s best recognized recently for his work in Aeviterne, where his adventurous guitar style and powerful, emotionally charged growls have become defining traits. Sire Languish pushes those instincts into new territory... like a meeting point between black metal’s bleakest side and the pulse of experimental industrial music."
–Destroy//Exist

"A caustic, rather horrifying EP, full of dissonant dread and tortured, charismatic death yowl-growls... Pull to God is also heavily influenced by Killing Joke and other post punk and industrial sounds, helping to give it that feeling of urban decay... A thoroughly engrossing debut."
–Last Rites

"Ominous and venomous... Sire Languish creates a more than compelling debut EP which is at first identifiably an “industrial metal”-adjacent deal yet convinces of much broader intent via its total spread."
–Mystification

SADNESS - West Coast tour

SADNESS: blackgaze enigma announces West Coast tour, releases new EP "Shimmer"

Blackgaze enigma Sadness, the creative vision of multi-instrumentalist Damián Antón Ojeda, will kick off 2026 with a West Coast tour, with Ojeda's screamo unit Life and blackened prog-metallers Dawn of Ouroboros (Prosthetic Records) as support.

Founded by Ojeda in his bedroom in the suburbs of Chicago in 2014, Sadness has captivated a global cult following over the past decade. What began as an intimate solo endeavor quickly grew into one of the most prolific forces in the underground, with over 70 releases. Celebrated for its hypnotic melodies, cathartic crescendos, and emotionally immersive songwriting, the project connects atmospheric black metal, shoegaze, and post-rock.

A 2022 article from Bandcamp Daily states: "Think of rock-adjacent music’s most emotionally stirring sounds—climaxes of post-rock epics, plaintive piano melodies, life-affirming gang vocals, ambient swells, sweeping shoegaze guitars, throat-shredding wails, massive synths—and now combine them. That’s what Sadness sounds like."

A new Sadness EP, Shimmer, is out today and can be streamed here: https://sadnessmusic.bandcamp.com/

Despite the vast body of work and the widespread acclaim, Sadness did not make its live debut until 2024. In 2025, Ojeda relocated to Baltimore, where he joined forces with Billy Jarboe of Third House Label. Together, they formed a live band, furthering Sadness’ evolution from a solitary studio project into a powerful live act.

Ojeda gives this statement about the upcoming West Coast tour:"This tour is a huge and exciting opportunity for me, a genuine dream come true to be able to play these projects live, and it's especially thrilling to be able to travel to places I've never been. I’m more than excited to see new faces and meet new people."

Sadness, Life, Dawn of Ouroboros:

Jan 02 - Los Angeles, CA - Post-Everything Fest (no Dawn of Ouroboros)
Jan 03 - San Diego, CA - Brick by Brick
Jan 04 - Phoenix, AZ - Rosetta Room
Jan 06 - Las Vegas, NV - The Griffin
Jan 07 - San Francisco, CA - Thee Parkside
Jan 08 - Roseburg, OR - Rosebud Theatre
Jan 09 - Seattle, WA - Substation
Jan 10 - Portland, OR - Twilight Cafe and Bar
Jan 11 - Vancouver, BC - Cobalt

Tickets: https://linktr.ee/sadnessblackgaze

SIRE LANGUISH - "Heaven's Night"

SIRE LANGUISH: avant-metal lifer Garett Bussanick channels Immolation and Killing Joke through new solo project; Decibel Magazine premieres "Heaven's Night" single

From New York City, veteran guitarist/vocalist Garett Bussanick reveals "Heaven's Night," the second single from Pull to God, the upcoming debut EP from his new solo project, Sire Languish.

Stream "Heaven's Night," here: https://www.decibelmagazine.com/2025/11/19/track-premiere-sire-languish-heavens-night/

Pre-order the EP, here: https://sirelanguish.bandcamp.com/album/pull-to-god

Known throughout the avant-metal scene for his exploratory guitar work and emotive death metal vocals, Garett Bussanick has been honing his craft in several distinct bands since the 1990s. Bussanick is most widely known for his current band, Aeviterne, whose latest release on Profound Lore Records has been described by Stereogum as "ominous and malevolent... also hooky as hell."

Sire Languish reveals Bussanick as a solo artist and multi-instrumentalist, with the Pull to God release being his drumming debut.

Decibel Magazine's Tim Mudd reports: "Sometimes a solo project lands sounding exactly like the person who made it—every contour, every impulse, every shadow unmistakably theirs. Sire Languish, the new project from avant-metal lifer Garett Bussanick, is one of those rare cases. “Solo project” isn’t even the right phrase. This is Bussanick unfiltered: vocals, guitars, synths, bass, and—for the first time in three decades of recorded work—drums. If you’re familiar with Bussanick’s body of work—Aeviterne’s eruptive dissonance, Flourishing’s cerebral churn, even the long-buried mutations of Cardiovascular Sub-Hypothermia—you’ll recognize the DNA. But Sire Languish is its own creature. The architecture is leaner, the melodic angles sharper, the rhythmic pulse more direct. The rep nailed it: imagine a convergence of Immolation’s tectonic lurch and Killing Joke’s apocalyptic propulsion, rendered with the nervous-system precision Bussanick’s become known for."

Pull to God was recorded and mixed by Ryan Jones (Mutilation Rites, Body Stuff), and mastered by Colin Marston (Krallice, Gorguts).

Photo by Matt Ahearn

Out today: TRACE AMOUNT - FLAGRANT

FLAGRANT, the new album by NYC industrial extremist Trace Amount, is out today on Bleakhouse, the label founded by King Yosef.

Tracked at Corpus Studios with Harlan Steed of Show Me The Body, FLAGRANT is the ultimate realization of the Trace Amount project, thus far. Founded six years ago by vocalist, drummer, producer, and visual artist Brandon Gallagher, Trace Amount explores the deepest, darkest recesses of human misery, working within its own unique palette of industrial, noise, metal, dub and hip hop influences.

On FLAGRANT, drums pound coldly and sparsely; ambient tones surge like choirs of evil angels; Gallagher’s groans and screams drip with contempt; techno-apocalyptic imagery abounds. It is perhaps not "music," but a beating, a purge, a guided tour of pure torment, likely to excite fans of Scorn, HIDE, and Dreamcrusher.

Against all odds, Gallagher has made big things happen for this highly inaccessible project, including tours of the US, Mexico, the UK, Australia, and Japan, and collabs with members of Frontline Assembly, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Pig Destroyer, Uniform, and more. Unapologetically, Gallagher continues to grind forward and burrow deeper into the world he has been building, playing by his own rules. The title of the new album says it all. "In basketball, the most aggressive foul you can get is a flagrant foul," he explains. "Like, you're literally swinging at another player with intent. That's me. I am intentional. I am flagrant."

Buy FLAGRANT, here: 

https://bleakhouse.co/collections/all/trace-amount

Stream the official "Seeing God on the L Train" (ft. Fatboi Sharif) music video, here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5EegT-c_Rc

Stream the offical "Clinical" (ft. Lana del Rabies) music video, here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5gQVRRsyBc

"Absolute experimental-industrial-noise... Despite Gallagher’s commitment to open-ended song structure, there is a variable that refuses to die down on each release and that is general dread and ominous tidings."

–Brutal Resonance

"When I need a dose of harsh industrial noise, Trace Amount never disappoints... Like popping in a new wave cassette from the 1980s only to find out it’s been possessed by poltergeists. It’s a whirlwind of caustic sonics that sucks my brain into a place of pure blissful audio torment!"
–CVLT Nation

"'Clinical' seethes like an open wound. Gallagher’s voice tears through the track with the gravity of self-destruction, delivered like a clenched fist. The production is suffocating, arriving with industrial grit and precision, including Lana Del Rabies’ ghostly vocal which lingers like a spectral presence."
–Destroy//Exist

"Trace Amount’s new album, FLAGRANT, is a massive amplification of the tensions that makes industrial music so entrancing, but it’s not necessarily designed to make you dance. It almost borders on sound design as Trace Amount is more of an enveloping, evolving takeover of the senses."
–Fecking Bahamas

"NYC noise merchant Trace Amount doesn’t make it easy for you. The one man act’s latest release, FLAGRANT, trades in the power electronics adjacent sound of preceding records, boiled down to its most caustic form, with undiluted antipathy that cuts through the clatter and cacophony by way of sheer meanness... Even at a digestible 7 songs, its not a record you’ll want to throw on lightly, but there’s no shortage of perversely enjoyable hostility for your inner sicko to cling to when the mood strikes."

–I Die: You Die

"A cold, hostile fusion of noise, metal, dub, and hip hop tracked at Corpus Studios with Show Me The Body’s Harlan Steed. Built on sparse, punishing drums and night-terror ambience, the record pushes Brandon Gallagher’s project deeper into its own abyss, with features from Fatboi Sharif and Lana del Rabies... FLAGRANT lands as Trace Amount’s most merciless vision yet."

–Idioteq

"Brandon Gallagher has unleashed a new auditory onslaught with 'Seeing God on the L Train,' offering the latest taste of the forthcoming FLAGRANT album from Trace Amount. The track sees the New York City-based industrial artist collaborating with New Jersey rapper Fatboi Sharif, whose deadpan wordplay contrasts with the metallic percussive minimalism of the instrumental, both eventually erupting into a noisy coda of maniacal wailing."
–ReGen

Photo by Jackson Green

Out today: THE GRASSHOPPER LIES HEAVY - HEAVY

HEAVY, the aptly titled new album by San Antonio, Texas crushers The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, is out today on Learning Curve Records. 

Sludgy and fiery, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy (a name inspired by a Philip K. Dick novel) rocks like an intense reimagining of Mastodon at their prime. But a journey through TGLH's back catalog reveals an adventurous project, operating on two fronts. Entirely instrumental albums such as 2014's All Sadness, Grinning Into Flow and 2017's Cavern (the soundtrack to a short film, created with the help of Bob Catlin of Pigface and Psychic TV) saw the band exploring meditative, ambient realms. 

“TGLH has always been a band with two sides; one side, this super heavy thing and the other side, more cinematic or post-rock,” states founder James Woodard. On HEAVY, Woodard – backed by the ace musicianship of guitarist James Cameron Taylor, bassist Oscar Moreno, and drummers Steven Barrera and Luke Zachary Mitchell – has chosen to commit fully to his most metallic tendencies and the result is a totally gripping experience. "I really wanted to challenge myself on this album," he says. "Some of the songs are the most difficult songs to perform, I’ve ever written in this band. They’re also a love letter to my inspirations. You’ll hear Sepultura and Napalm Death homages on this record, if you listen closely."

For those missing the band's more introspective work, Woodard hints that there is more to come: "You'll just have to wait for the next album."

Stream HEAVY and buy it, here: https://thegrasshopperliesheavy.bandcamp.com/album/heavy-2

Stream the official "Lyrics are Hard" music video, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDy8U8Wtw8Y

Stream the official "We Are All the Antichrist" music video (featuring vocals by Capra's Crow Lotus), here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKfr2DHn-q0

"Post-metal/doom/sludge chaos agents The Grasshopper Lies Heavy... Their upcoming record, HEAVY, both purports to be and actually is."
–The Bad Penny

"Sludgy and all the way ignited... an unrelenting heaviness that sounds ferocious from start to finish."
–Destroy//Exist

"What The Grasshopper Lies Heavy steamroll out with HEAVY is some good ol’ fashioned riff-forward, chunky-waves-smashin’-into-your-eardrums brand of AmRep-appropriate noise rock... In yet another year packed with exceptional noise rock releases, where finding your flavor of choice is every bit as paralyzing as choosing a fucking ice cream flavor, HEAVY stands out."
–Heavy Blog Is Heavy

"There’s a groove in the wrath displayed by this group that’s undeniable. It’s definitely trying to grasp you by the ear lobes and force you to pay attention — and that’s a good thing."

–MetalSucks

"This album is as catchy as Torche on their best day and as thick as Crowbar on their worst… seriously, that GOOD. These eight tracks are an ingenious class on how to write a fistful of earworms and keep the metalheads coming back for more while simultaneously slaying all the mathcore kids at the blackjack table."
–Nine Circles

"HEAVY specializes in mid-tempo assaults, lethal grooves, and cathartic explosions... It’s the sort of riff-writing acumen that made Mastodon’s Remission so infectious, but here it is filtered through the pummeling power of early Coalesce."
–No Clean Singing

"Abrasive and confrontational, yet strangely hypnotic in its repetition and raw energy. It thrives on dissonance and volume, pushing noise into catharsis."

–The Sludgelord

THE GRASSHOPPER LIES HEAVY - "Lyrics are Hard"

THE GRASSHOPPER LIES HEAVY: San Antonio crushers reveal "Lyrics are Hard" single and Gummo-esque music video

San Antonio crushers The Grasshopper Lies Heavy have released "Lyrics are Hard," the second single from their upcoming new album, HEAVY.

Sludgy and fiery, the song rocks like Neurosis and Mastodon at their hardest and heaviest. The unnerving, Gummo-esque video was directed by Will Mecca, who has also made videos for Chat Pile and Full of Hell. In his unmistakable, VHS style, Mecca follows a day in the life of a portly, snot-eating, young man, strutting around town and stealing ice cream.

Stream the video, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDy8U8Wtw8Y

Pre-order the new album (out November 14th on Learning Curve Records), here: https://thegrasshopperliesheavy.bandcamp.com/album/heavy-2

"TGLH has always been a band with two sides; one side, this super heavy thing and the other side, more cinematic or post-rock," states guitarist/vocalist James Woodard, TGLH's sole constant member, who began making work under the TGLH banner in 2009 and has since enlisted an extensive cast of musicians to help him execute his visions – including a slew of music released and shows played with the likes of Chat Pile, Metz, and Yob.

Entirely instrumental albums such as 2014's All Sadness, Grinning Into Flow and 2017's Cavern – the soundtrack to a short film, created with the help of Bob Catlin (Pigface, Psychic TV) – saw Woodard exploring meditative, ambient realms. ("Movies, and their soundtracks, are a huge inspiration for me," says Woodard. "I collect them and have easily over 1,000 movies. It’s a sickness.") Simultaneously, a crushing, metallic sound was being honed and Woodard eventually introduced his vocals into the mix, a direction exemplified by 2021's A Cult That Worships a God of Death.

Now, with HEAVY, Woodard – backed by the ace musicianship of guitarist James Cameron Taylor, bassist Oscar Moreno, and drummers Steven Barrera and Luke Zachary Mitchell – has chosen to commit fully to his metallic tendencies. With power and finesse, Woodard and his cronies rock relentlessly and keep the adrenaline in the red. Woodard refers to the new album as "a love letter to my inspirations," including Sepultura and Napalm Death.

Cheekily referencing the band's bygone instrumental days, "Lyrics are Hard" consists of anti-lyrical placeholders such as "This is where the first line goes / Make the second line longer for contrast." The song is an oasis of levity in an otherwise pitch-black account of existential horror. "A recurring theme throughout our stuff is the decline of America," says Woodard. "The cruelty of the system and the apathy that it breeds." Fittingly, the band's name comes from the pages of the Philip K. Dick classic, The Man in the High Castle, a work of alternative history wherein the Axis Powers win the Second World War.

Photo by Oscar Moreno

SIRE LANGUISH - Pull to God

SIRE LANGUISH: Aeviterne frontman launches new solo project via Pull to God EP; title track streaming now

From New York City, veteran guitarist/vocalist Garett Bussanick announces his new solo endeavor, Sire Languish.

The debut EP, Pull to God, will be released December 5th via Spring Effete.

The EP was recorded and mixed by Ryan Jones at Growlhouse Studios and mastered by Colin Marston.

Stream the title track, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEbodml42_s

Pre-order the EP, here: https://sirelanguish.bandcamp.com/album/pull-to-god

Known throughout the avant-metal scene for his exploratory guitar work and emotive death metal vocals, Garett Bussanick has been honing his craft in several distinct bands since the 1990s. Bussanick is most widely known for his current band, Aeviterne, whose latest release on Profound Lore has been described by Stereogum as "ominous and malevolent... also hooky as hell." 

Sire Languish reveals Bussanick as a solo artist and multi-instrumentalist, with the Pull to God release being his drumming debut. 

Followers of Bussanick's work will instantly recognize his fingerprints all over Sire Languish. Broadly speaking, the core musical elements of Sire Languish are similar to those of Aeviterne and Aeviterne's predecessor, Flourishing: brooding atmosphere, propulsive beats, the juxtaposition of dissonant and melodic guitars, and impassioned roars. A line can even be drawn to an early, key band of his: Cardiovascular Sub-Hypothermia, an industrial-tinged death-grind unit he joined in the mid-90s.

Bussanick states: "There is an ongoing musical continuity that informs much of my work that goes back to Cardiovascular Sub-Hypothermia. This is the band that has served as the blueprint and main inspiration for Aeviterne and Flourishing, and now Sire Languish. I created Sire Languish as a home for what I consider to be my more melodic, accessible ideas that are still rooted in the original inspirations for CS-H." 

While these connections are evident, Sire Languish occupies its own lane, related yet separate from his other projects. The EP's title track, "Pull to God," charges forward like some other-dimensional union of Immolation and Killing Joke. Bussanick's spirited drumming and trademark guitars intertwine thoughtfully, while the entire recording contains what Bussanick considers his best vocal performance to date.

Sire Languish is sure to thrill any fan of Bussanick's other music, and is a chance to hear the man behind the drum kit for the first time. Beyond that, Pull to God stands as a stellar slab of avant-metal for any newcomers to feast their ears upon. Like everything Bussanick has delivered thus far in his 30-plus years of making music, it is the sound of an artist refining and deepening his commitment to his work.

Tracklist:
1) Pull to God
2) Consuming the Mother
3) Sow of Nerves
4) Heaven's Night

Lineup:
Garett Bussanick - vocals, guitar, synth, bass, drums

Photo by Matthew Ahearn

Cover art by Phineas Roy

Out today: IN LIEU - Hooligan

Hooligan, the new album by In Lieu, is out today on Learning Curve Records. 

From Minneapolis, Minnesota, In Lieu deals in bite-sized anthems, mixing the austerity and belligerence of noise rock with the soaring tunefulness of grunge. Fronted by vocalist/guitarist Nikii Post, the quartet crafts brief bangers out of sludgy and discordant guitars, pummeling drums, and spellbinding vocals. Post is a phenomenal talent who transmits a metric ton of attitude and power through each of her songs (most of which make their point in under two minutes). Fans of Black Flag, Melvins, Cows, and newer powerhouses like Rid of Me, will find some bliss here.

Stream the album and download it, here: https://inlieuminneapolis.bandcamp.com/album/hooligan

Stream the "Godfucker" video, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jglo4te40ms

Stream the "Hooligan" video, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIbGk2ILzmk

Stream the "Bully" video, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6viB6NidSfQ

"It's killer... Noisy, sludgy, aggressive... Very passionate."

–Bandcamp Radio, "The Metal Show"

"There are few things better than a band in Minnesota loud enough to be heard on both coasts. But that’s the energy drawing us back to the center via In Lieu, the Minneapolis noise-rock dynamo... A feral seance swirl of belligerence and control that positions the likes of Melvins and Jesus Lizard as the Beatles and Stones of our day."
–Vanyaland

"The band hits with weight and urgency, rooted in punk and grunge but driven into heavier, sludgier noise rock territory which feels both volatile and magnetic."
–Destroy//Exist

"Nikii Post is screaming her head off again, and why not? She’s damn good at it."
–Racket

"I was immediately compelled when I heard it. It's a really great record."
–Vinyl & Vision

Photo by Sam Bramble

Out today: SOMETHING IS WAITING - Livelick

Livelick, the new live album by Something Is Waiting, is out today on Learning Curve Records. 

Recorded at a headlining show at the famed Empty Bottle in Chicago, Livelick captures one entire Something Is Waiting set, start to finish, with no edits or overdubs. Skating a line between Guns N' Roses, Pantera, and Unsane, Something Is Waiting has been described by The Chicago Reader as "Sunset Strip swagger forged with a sonic sledgehammer of ‘90s metal" and by Kerrang! as "the shrieky, sleazy crust-glam you crave." Frontman Eddie Gobbo is a wildly creative lyricist who conjures surreal scenarios with the euphoric wordplay of a Beat poet. Rarely does a band so strange, rock so hard.

Stream the album and buy it, here: https://somethingiswaiting.bandcamp.com/album/livelick

Stream the "Poster Boys (Live)" video, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkSrzvfFtp4

Stream the "Unholy Alliance (Live)" video, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auhmPOLkfSk

Stream the "Get Yr Gimmicks (Live) video, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbFjGOa2S8g

"Something Is Waiting don’t play it safe. The Chicago trio’s idea of a 2025 statement isn’t another studio single or flashy short-form clip — it’s a full-on live album, recorded without overdubs at the Empty Bottle and dropped like a brick through the windshield of our content-saturated world. Livelick documents the band as they are: raw, nasty, and locked in."
–Decibel

"[Livelick] features the band at their rawest and heaviest, dishing out one sledgehammer tune after another. It showcases SIW kicking out the jams to a hometown crowd, at a headlining gig, at the Empty Bottle in Chicago in 2023... One beautiful racket that mixes in their disparate influences of noise rock and sleaze rock. (Other publications have come up with pretty creative ways to describe their sound. I’m throwing my hat in that ring. I’m calling it 'Noise Rock & Roll,' NR&R.)" 

–New Noise

"Glam metal swagger... run through a noise rock Killdozer filter."
–Clean Sheets

"Hard, nasty, and weird, Something Is Waiting carves its own strange path."
–Getting It Out

TRACE AMOUNT x Fatboi Sharif

TRACE AMOUNT: NYC industrial extremist teams with rapper Fatboi Sharif on "Seeing God on the L Train" single; "video game" music video streaming now

NYC industrial extremist Trace Amount has released "Seeing God on the L Train," the new single from the upcoming album, FLAGRANT.

Stream the official "Seeing God on the L Train" music video, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5EegT-c_Rc

Recorded at Corpus Studios with Harlan Steed of Show Me The Body, produced and mixed by Trace Amount, and mastered by Kris Lapke (Cold Cave, Prurient), FLAGRANT will be released November 14th on Bleakhouse, the label founded by industrial-hardcore powerhouse King Yosef.

Pre-order FLAGRANT, here: https://bleakhouse.co/collections/all/trace-amount

Inspired in part by the ominous soundscapes and beat experimentations of Mick Harris' post-Napalm Death project Scorn, "Seeing God on the L Train" features vocals by New Jersey rapper Fatboi Sharif, whose work Rolling Stone has described as "punctilious, every-word-counts lyricism... like GZA’s Liquid Swords, Ghostface Killah’s Supreme Clientele, and RZA’s Gravediggaz work all congealed in a thrilling sonic stew." On "Seeing God on the L Train," Sharif starts with cool, deadpan wordplay, then shifts into maniacal wailing.

Brandon Gallagher, the New Jersey-born, NYC-based vocalist, drummer, producer, and visual artist behind Trace Amount, states: "I had been really into Fatboi Sharif's album Decay, and in late 2024 I booked a show with Dreamcrusher and asked him to round out the line up. I had always wanted to cross over into more hip hop and dub elements with Trace Amount, so it felt like a slam dunk doing this track with fellow New Jerseyan Fatboi Sharif."

Designed, animated, and edited by Gallagher, the "Seeing God on the L Train" music video is a "video game" that fully embodies the techno-apocalypse vibe that runs through all of Trace Amount's work. Set in locations that will be familiar to many New Yorkers, including music venues such as TV Eye, House of Yes, and the late, great Saint Vitus Bar, the video is described by Gallagher as "a nice tour of north Brooklyn, hitting some iconic landmarks and defending them from robo-dogs trying to data farm inside our cultural hubs."

First conceived by Gallagher in 2019, Trace Amount took shape during the early stages of the COVID pandemic, inspired by the grim realities of life in New York City at that time, and has evolved at a lightning pace ever since. Revolver Magazine has described it in these words: “Trace Amount is the one-man project of Brooklyn's Brandon Gallagher, a prolific musician and visual artist… In just a few years, he's already unloaded a wealth of harsh, confrontational industrial material under the Trace Amount moniker... Glitchy vocals, pounding drums, screechy noise soundscapes and a pummeling atmosphere." BrooklynVegan meanwhile has labelled it as "the exact middle ground between The Downward Spiral and the death industrial/power electronics scene."

Trace Amount's portal-to-hell-in-the-basement aesthetic has been in place from the very start and, as Gallagher hones his craft on each successive release, the sound seems to grow only more suffocating. On sophomore album FLAGRANT, drums pound coldly and sparsely. Ambient tones surge like choirs of evil angels. Gallagher's groans and screams drip with contempt. FLAGRANT is not so much music to be appraised, but a beating, a purge, a guided tour of pure torment.

Part of what defines Trace Amount and makes the story so exceptional, is Gallagher's sheer willpower. To achieve what he has achieved in six years – the collabs, the tours, the media acclaim – is remarkable for any DIY solo project, but especially for one as utterly personal and abrasive as this. Some of the highlights of the journey thus far include: collabs with artists such as the late Blake Harrison of Pig Destroyer, Uniform vocalist Michael Berdan, Integrity mastermind Dwid Hellion, Rhys Fulber of Front Line Assembly, Kontravoid; releases on labels such as Greg Puciato's Federal Prisoner and now, King Yosef's Bleakhouse; tours of Japan, Australia, the UK, Mexico, and the US; and bills shared not only with the best of the industrial and noise scenes, but with titans of other genres too, from shoegazers A Place to Bury Strangers to fairy-trap icon Zheani.

Unapologetically, Gallagher continues to grind forward and burrow deeper into the world he has been building, playing by his own rules. The title of the new album says it all. "In basketball, the most aggressive foul you can get is a flagrant foul," he explains. "Like, you're literally swinging at another player with intent. That's me. I am intentional. I am flagrant."

Photo by Quinten Koroshetz

IN LIEU - "Bully"

IN LIEU: Minneapolis noise rockers fight back on "Bully," third single from new album Hooligan

With the release of new album Hooligan set for next Friday, October 24th on Learning Curve Records, Minneapolis rockers In Lieu reveal the album's final single, "Bully."

From Minneapolis, Minnesota, In Lieu deals in bite-sized anthems, mixing the austerity and belligerence of noise rock with the soaring tunefulness of grunge. Fronted by vocalist/guitarist Nikii Post, the quartet crafts brief bangers out of sludgy and discordant guitars, pummeling drums, and spellbinding vocals. Post fully captivates with her desperate, throaty screams, occasionally revealing the radiant singing voice that lies behind it.

New single "Bully" sees Post taunting an oppressor: "You wanna fight, read me my rights / On record I'm not the silent type / I bite, I might find delight / In letting you put me in line / Then watching as I do just fine / You can't buy this kind of high." The song's official music video shows Post and her bandmates enjoying a slow-mo bout of fisticuffs.

Stream the "Bully" video, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6viB6NidSfQ

Pre-order the album, here: https://inlieuminneapolis.bandcamp.com/album/hooligan

Post is a rare talent and In Lieu is one of Minneapolis' most exciting prospects. Post describes the long road that has led here: "I started the band nine years ago and wrote all the material but was never happy with a release until this new one. Hooligan is the first album I've been proud of and it took nine years of trying. I played acoustic at first but I always knew that quiet music wasn't going to cut it for me. Eventually, Houdini made me want to play the way I do now. Our main influences are Melvins, Soundgarden, and a lot of the Amphetamine Reptile bands like Cows, Jawbox, Unsane, and The Jesus Lizard."

It took nine years of searching and reinvention for Post to find her sound and, now that she has found it, In Lieu is thriving. Twin Cities music authority Racket named the quartet as one of its "Poised to Pop" bands for 2025 and the band has become a regular name on significant shows around town – in addition to Caterwaul, the festival co-founded by Learning Curve Records boss Rainer Fronz, recent bills include legends such as Scream, Soulside, and God Bullies. The official Hooligan release show is set for November 1st at Mortimer's.

Photo by Sam Bramble

SOMETHING IS WAITING - "Poster Boys"

SOMETHING IS WAITING: Chicago nu-rollers drop ripping live version of "Poster Boys" from new album Livelick

Head over to Decibel Magazine now for the premiere of “Poster Boys (Live),” the new live track and accompanying video from Chicago nu-roll unit Something Is Waiting, plus an interview with frontman Eddie Gobbo.

Stream it, here: https://www.decibelmagazine.com/2025/10/08/track-premiere-something-is-waiting-poster-boys-live/

Decibel reports: “Something Is Waiting don’t play it safe. The Chicago trio’s idea of a 2025 statement isn’t another studio single or flashy short-form clip — it’s a full-on live album, recorded without overdubs at The Empty Bottle and dropped like a brick through the windshield of our content-saturated world. Livelick (out October 24 on Learning Curve Records) documents the band as they are: raw, nasty, and locked in.”

Pre-order Livelick, here: https://somethingiswaiting.bandcamp.com/album/livelick

Skating a line between Guns N’ Roses, Pantera, and Unsane, Something Is Waiting has been described by The Chicago Reader as “Sunset Strip swagger forged with a sonic sledgehammer of ‘90s metal” and by Kerrang! as the shrieky, sleazy crust-glam you crave.” To complicate matters further, Gobbo is a wildly creative lyricist who conjures surreal scenarios with the euphoric wordplay of a Beat poet. “Poster Boys,” he explains, is a song about posters that talk:

"‘Poster Boys’ was me in my bedroom back when I was 14 years old. The Rock posters. The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) posters. Everyone in music had their version of that same bedroom. They could look at the same poster and draw inspo for years. The attitude that oozed off of them was heavy. The main theme of that song, pretty surreal, is, one day you’re ‘talking’ to the poster, giving it your power and energy, then one day that shifts and the poster kinda starts talking back.”

The Livelick tracklist consists of all eight songs from 2023's Absolutely album, plus one song from each of the two preceding albums – 2019's Songs from the Sally Beauty Pavilion and 2016's The Something Is Waiting Band. The live soundboard audio was mixed by engineer (and former SIW bandmate) Pete Grossmann at Bricktop Recording (Weekend Nachos, Frail Body). In addition to the audio, the entire set was immortalized on video, with video editing handled by mastering engineer Blake Bickel (Bronson Arm). 

Photo by Brian Santostefano

Out today: OvO - Gemma

Gemma, the new album by Italian duo OvO, is out today on Artoffact Records.

Recorded in the wake of vocalist Stefania Pedretti's successful battles with cancer and encephalitis, the album is a masterpiece of dance-doom. Stark beats, primitive synths, sludgy guitars, and Pedretti's otherworldly vocalizations combine in what Decibel Magazine has hailed as “a David Lynch dance party." Guests on the album include Kenyan techno-metal phenom Lord Spikeheart. 25 years into its career, OvO continues to march down its own strange path and deliver dazzling works of art along the way.

"Our previous albums were mostly focused on the dark side," states OvO's Bruno Dorella. "But after Stefania being on the edge of death in the last few years, we felt like focusing on birth, rebirth, nature."

Stream Gemma, and buy it, here: https://ovomusic.bandcamp.com/album/gemma

"It’s hard to describe OvO's sound, because they interweave so many genres seamlessly to create something that makes me feel like I’ve fallen into an abyss and landed in an earth witch’s lair. Whether it’s the thudding, buzzsaw sound of '90s industrial, or the scathing vocals, or the almost playful EBM beats and melodies that make me want to dance, these two musicians bring a weight of experience and talent to every track they record."
–CVLT Nation

"Their music is fluid and difficult to categorise – incorporating extreme metal, noise rock, no wave, free jazz – but always rooted in the duo's deeply felt trust, balanced input and artistic chemistry. Their latest album 'Gemma' is a significant leap forward, rich with electronic sound and an undeniable vibrancy, cutting through the doom like a glittering knife."
–The Wire

Oct 03 – Castiglione Delle Stiviere, IT @ Arci Dallò
Oct 04 – Milano, IT @ Arci Bellezza
Oct 11 – Firenze, IT @ CPA
Oct 24 – Modena, IT @ Kalinka Arci Dude
Oct 25 – Padova, IT @ Pedro
Nov 07 – Pesaro, IT @ Arci Artigiana
Nov 08 – Taranto, IT @ Mercato Nuovo
Nov 09 – Bologna, IT @ Improved Sequence Festival
Nov 14 – Asti, IT @ Diavolo Rosso
Nov 15 – Imperia, IT @ La Talpa E L’Orologio
Nov 27 – Paris, FR @ Les Instants Chavirès
Nov 28 – Clermont-Ferrand, FR @ Raymond
Nov 29 – Lyon, FR @ Grrrnd Zero
Nov 30 – Basel, CH @ Mental Load Agency
Dec 01 – Zurich, CH @ Boschbar
Dec 02 – Freiburg, DE @ Slow Club
Dec 03 – Kortrijk, BE @ The Pit’s
Dec 04 – Namur, BE @ Belvedere
Dec 05 – Utrecht, NL @ Moira
Dec 07 – Aalborg, DK @ 1000 Fryd
Dec 08 – Copnhagen, DK @ Rahuset
Dec 09 – Leipzig, DE @ Zxrx
Dec 10 – Berlin, DE @ Neue Zukunft
Dec 11 – Plzen, CZ @ Pod Lampou
Dec 12 – Maribor, SL @ Pekarna
Dec 13 – Wien, AT @ EKH
Dec 14 – Zagreb, HR @ Mocvara
Dec 15 – Ljubljana, SL @ Channel Zero
Dec 19 – Roma, IT @ Forte Prenestino

Photo by Annapaola Martin

THE GRASSHOPPER LIES HEAVY - HEAVY

THE GRASSHOPPER LIES HEAVY: Texas shapeshifters go HEAVY on aptly titled new album on Learning Curve Records

From San Antonio, Texas, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy announces the November 14th release of its new album, HEAVY, on Learning Curve Records.

The first single, "We Are All the Antichrist," featuring guest vocals by Crow Lotus of the band Capra, is out now. 

Stream the official "We Are All the Antichrist" music video, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKfr2DHn-q0

Pre-order the album, here: https://thegrasshopperliesheavy.bandcamp.com/album/heavy-2

"We Are All the Antichrist" blitzes forward with a serpentine riff, time signature transforming perpetually, before landing finally in a bed of euphoric chugging. Sludgy and fiery, the song rocks like Mastodon at its hardest and contains one of the best rhymes of the year: "Decompose with your bros." The song's second half is crowned by the unmistakable vocals of Capra's Crow Lotus. "Her performance pushes this song over the edge in the best way," says TGLH founder and frontman, James Woodard. "Raw, intense, and exactly what it needed."

All eight tracks on HEAVY rage forth with the same weight and momentum as the lead single. As the title suggests, HEAVY is heavy. A newcomer might assume that the brand of math-rock-meets-sludge-core on display here is the band's one and only trick, but the reality is more complex. TGLH is a shapeshifter and HEAVY is one specific milestone in a winding career.

A journey through the back catalog reveals an adventurous project, operating on two fronts. "TGLH has always been a band with two sides; one side, this super heavy thing and the other side, more cinematic or post-rock," states Woodard, TGLH's sole constant member, who began making work under the TGLH banner in 2009 and has since enlisted an extensive cast of musicians to help him execute his visions – including a slew of music released and shows played with the likes of Chat Pile, Metz, and Yob. 

Entirely instrumental albums such as 2014's All Sadness, Grinning Into Flow and 2017's Cavern – the soundtrack to a short film, created with the help of Bob Catlin (Pigface, Psychic TV) – saw Woodard exploring meditative, ambient realms. ("Movies, and their soundtracks, are a huge inspiration for me," says Woodard. "I collect them and have easily over 1,000 movies. It’s a sickness.") Simultaneously, a crushing, metallic sound was being honed and Woodard eventually introduced his vocals into the mix, a direction exemplified by 2021's A Cult That Worships a God of Death. 

Now, with HEAVY, Woodard – backed by the ace musicianship of guitarist James Cameron Taylor, bassist Oscar Moreno, and drummers Steven Barrera and Luke Zachary Mitchell – has chosen to commit fully to his metallic tendencies. With power and finesse, Woodard and his cronies rock relentlessly and keep the adrenaline in the red.

"TGLH has always presided between two worlds," states Woodard. "One, where we strive to be as heavy as possible, using the power of The Riff, destructively percussive rhythms, dissonance, aggression, and extreme levels of distortion and feedback, to create music that strives to overwhelm the senses. The other, a more somber and delicate approach, strives to create emotive music that lifts the listener and propels them on a journey inward. This album, HEAVY, as its title unsubtly suggests, is firmly rooted in the former... HEAVY is the most uniformly heavy record that we have created to date."

He elaborates: "I really wanted to challenge myself on this album. Some of the songs are the most difficult songs to perform, I’ve ever written in this band. They’re also a love letter to my inspirations. You’ll hear Sepultura and Napalm Death homages on this record, if you are familiar with their stuff and listen closely."

For a man whose past musical output has been largely instrumental, Woodard has a lot to say on HEAVY. Songs such as "We Are All the Antichrist" paint pictures of existential horror, applicable to both the personal and political realms. "A recurring theme throughout our stuff is the decline of America," he says. "The cruelty of the system and the apathy that it breeds." Fittingly, the band's name comes from the pages of the Philip K. Dick classic, The Man in the High Castle, a work of alternative history wherein the Axis Powers won the Second World War.

While HEAVY represents a new pinnacle of heaviness in this project's long unfolding story, Woodard lets it be known that TGLH is still a multi-faceted beast with at least two sides to its personality: "If you miss the introspective, cinematic side of things, well, you'll just have to wait for the next album," he says.

Tracklist:
1) Human Claymore
2) Lyrics are Hard
3) We Are All the Antichrist
4) Tallow Man
5) Cure 1997
6) Cubicle Man
7) Labyrinth
8) Maze

Lineup:
James Woodard - guitar, vocals
James Cameron Taylor - guitar
Oscar Moreno - bass
Steven Barrera - drums
Luke Zachary Mitchell - drums

Live:
Sep 20 - San Antonio, TX @ The Lonesome Rose (w/ Cherubs)

Nov 23 - San Antonio, TX @ The Lonesome Rose (HEAVY album release show)

Photo by Oscar Moreno

Cover art by Linda Arredondo

TRACE AMOUNT - FLAGRANT

 

TRACE AMOUNT: industrial dynamo reveals details of sophomore album FLAGRANT; new single "Clinical" (ft. Lana Del Rabies) streaming now with live video

From Brooklyn, New York, one-man industrial dynamo Trace Amount announces the November 14th release of sophomore album FLAGRANT.

FLAGRANT was tracked at Corpus Studios in Queens, New York with Harlan Steed of Show Me The Body, produced and mixed by Trace Amount, and mastered by Kris Lapke (Cold Cave, Prurient).

The album will be released on Bleakhouse, the label founded by industrial-hardcore powerhouse King Yosef.

New single "Clinical," featuring guest vocals by Lana Del Rabies, is streaming now. The official "Clinical" music video consists of live Trace Amount footage shot on tour in Mexico City this month, as well as actual live soundboard audio from that show. Stream the video, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5gQVRRsyBc

Pre-order FLAGRANT, here: https://bleakhouse.co/collections/all/trace-amount

First conceived in 2019, Trace Amount is the creative outlet of vocalist, drummer, producer, and visual artist Brandon Gallagher. The project took shape during the early stages of the COVID pandemic, inspired by the grim realities of life in New York City at that time, and has evolved at a lightning pace ever since. Revolver Magazine has described it in these words: “Trace Amount is the one-man project of Brooklyn's Brandon Gallagher, a prolific musician and visual artist… In just a few years, he's already unloaded a wealth of harsh, confrontational industrial material under the Trace Amount moniker... Glitchy vocals, pounding drums, screechy noise soundscapes and a pummeling atmosphere." BrooklynVegan meanwhile has labelled it as "the exact middle ground between The Downward Spiral and the death industrial/power electronics scene."

Developing Trace Amount at a relentless pace over the past six years, by way of singles, EPs, remixes, and one full-length album (2022's Anti Body Language), Gallagher has grabbed influence from anywhere he pleases, and collaborated with whomever he chooses. Ungoverned by typical rules of style or methodology, answering to no one, Gallagher has used Trace Amount as a free space in which to express himself. He states: "Through the nature of collaboration with various artists, the overall sound has dipped into different sub genres – whether that's EBM, darkwave, post-punk, drone, or power electronics. There is definitely a dub influence, inspired in part by Mick Harris' work in Scorn, and I am always subconsciously influenced by hip-hop production because that's 80% of what I actually listen to on a daily basis."

Furthermore, Gallagher happily admits the influence of sports and gym culture on Trace Amount. Live photos of Gallagher reveal a man often clad in hockey, soccer, and basketball jerseys. "With the threat of civil war or another global virus," he says, "yeah, you should probably be able to run a mile and then lift yourself up over a fence, because who knows what the fuck is going to happen. My music is designed to be your gym soundtrack."

Despite the wide-open artistic mindset at its core, the Trace Amount sound seems to grow only more suffocating with each release. Trace Amount's portal-to-hell-in-the-basement aesthetic has been in place from the very start and, as Gallagher hones his craft on each successive release, the airless room turns a shade darker. On sophomore album FLAGRANT, drums pound coldly and sparsely. Ambient tones surge like choirs of evil angels. Gallagher's groans and screams drip with contempt. FLAGRANT is not so much music to be appraised, but a beating, a purge, a guided tour of pure torment. 

Describing the lyrics, Gallagher says, "It all spawns from pain, whether it's personal or political. Lyrically, I've been able to create a vocabulary for Trace Amount that's based around dystopian or cyber-horror scenarios." 

"Dream of deletion / lust for erasure / anything to ease the pain," he rages on "Clinical." Lana Del Rabies' guest vocal, buried in the mix, provides that track's only glimpse of light. 

Part of what defines Trace Amount and makes the story so exceptional, is Gallagher's sheer willpower. To achieve what he has achieved in six years – the collabs, the tours, the media acclaim – is remarkable for any DIY solo project, but especially for one as utterly personal and abrasive as this. Some of the highlights of the journey thus far include: collabs with artists such as the late Blake Harrison of Pig Destroyer, Uniform vocalist Michael Berdan, Integrity mastermind Dwid Hellion, Rhys Fulber of Front Line Assembly, and Kontravoid; releases on labels such as Greg Puciato's Federal Prisoner and now King Yosef's Bleakhouse; tours of Japan, Australia, the UK, Mexico, and the US; and bills shared not only with the best of the industrial and noise scenes (Youth Code, Hide, and Dreamcrusher, to name three), but with titans of other genres too. Case in point, the Mexico City show immortalized in the "Clinical" music video was part of a tour with shoegazers A Place to Bury Strangers.

Unapologetically, Gallagher continues to grind forward and burrow deeper into the world he has been building, playing by his own rules. The title of the new album says it all. "In basketball, the most aggressive foul you can get is a flagrant foul," he explains. "Like, you're literally swinging at another player with intent. That's me. I am intentional. I am flagrant."

Tracklisting:
1) Restricted Area
2) Off Leash
3) Seeing God on the L Train (ft. Fatboi Sharif)
4) Clinical (ft. Lana Del Rabies)
5) Flagrant2
6) Conflict of Interest
7) Boomer Terrorism (ft. The Buttress)

Discography:
Fake Figures in the Sacred Scriptures - EP (2019, self-released)
"Obsessive Diagnosis" - single (2020, self-released)
"The Hanging Garden" (The Cure) - single (2020, self-released)
Endless Render - EP (2020, self-released)
"Concrete Catacomb" - single (2021, self-released)
Under the Skin - EP (2021, Deathbed Tapes)
Alien Dust - EP (2021, Faktor Music)
Endless Render 2.0 - EP (2021, self-released)
Anti Body Language - LP (2022, Federal Prisoner)
Simulation Fetish - EP (2024, self-released)
Simulation Fetish 2.0 - remix EP (2025, Bleakhouse)
FLAGRANT - LP (2025, Bleakhouse)

Photo by The Tinfoil Biter

Cover art by Brandon Gallagher