MERCY TIES - "A New Hell Every Day"

MERCY TIES: reunited Pacific Northwest crew evokes 90s mathcore, demands class consciousness, on seething new single "A New Hell Every Day"

Mercy Ties has revealed "A New Hell Every Day," the third single from its upcoming new album, Reflections and Criticisms.

Stream the track, here: https://www.decibelmagazine.com/2025/03/06/track-premiere-mercy-ties-are-bringing-a-new-hell-every-day

Pre-order the new album, Reflections and Criticisms, out March 28th on The Ghost Is Clear Records, here: https://theghostisclearrecords.limitedrun.com/products/863124

Decibel's Kevin Stewart-Panko describes "A New Hell Every Day" as a mix of "original wave screamo ragers Pageninetynine, evil math rockers Botch and French noiseniks Birds in Row."

Mercy Ties vocalist Andre Sanabria, also frontman for Neurot Recordings rippers Ex Everything, delivers devastatingly blunt lyrics: "Trapped in a world legislated by zealots that believe in mystic realms and fables / Thousands of children slaughtered / Now say to us that any god worth serving would condone such atrocities / We’re condemned to watch it all unfold."

Sanabria discusses the motivation behind the seething track: "The moment we wake up we learn of a new hell every day. We're complicit, like digital serfs toiling and sharing atrocities, catastrophes, scandals with one another, gathered throughout the various fields of social media — while those living in Gaza, Sudan, Yemen, Ukraine, even here in the US, experience it in real time as their daily existence. It’s easier for others to just tune it out, focus on themselves, their loved ones, an empty pursuit of wealth. That's exactly what the ruling class wants: supplication, division and overall anti-intellectualism. The essential message in this song is that class consciousness is the only weapon we have, and if we as a collective will not rise up against the parasitic billionaire class and death driven crypto-fascist evangelicalism, we’re doomed; not as a nation, or a culture, but as a species."

Reflections and Criticisms is Mercy Ties' first new music in 10 years. After a strong start in the 2010s, the Seattle-born band went on hiatus, with some band members migrating away from the Pacific Northwest 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.

Mercy Ties will hit the road in April for a West Coast tour with 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

Guitarist Trevor Bebee gives this statement about the tour: "When the band began talking about potential shows this year, our good friend Rich Hall — always a strong supporter of our band — stepped in to help us book a tour. We’re grateful for everything he did, not just for us but for the entire live music industry and scene; in honor of his memory the band will be donating a portion of our proceeds from this tour to his family. On this trek we will be joined by some of our oldest buds Throes and we can’t wait to get in the van with them. We hope to see many friends, old and new."

HEAVY HALO - "New Blood"

HEAVY HALO: NYC alt-industrial hitmakers drop "New Blood" single and vampiric music video

Heavy Halo presents "New Blood," the fifth single to be released from the band's forthcoming new album, Damaged Dream.

Stream the official "New Blood" music video, here: https://www.revolvermag.com/premiere/heavy-halos-new-blood/

Pre-order Damaged Dream, set to be released on July 25th via Silent Pendulum Records,
here: https://silentpendulumrecords.com/collections/heavy-halo

Heavy Halo is the Brooklyn-based duo of vocalist/guitarist McKeever and producer Gosteffects. Based out of their studio, located inside a historic 19th-century hospital building, the pair mixes elements of alt-rock and industrial, creating memorable songs that are full of yearning vocals and layered electronics. Reference points include The Cure, Nine Inch Nails, Smashing Pumpkins, and HEALTH. 

Revolver Magazine describes the new single, "New Blood," as a blend of "chorus-effect-watery guitar lines, nervously propulsive drum-machine hits, and darkly romantic lyrics."

The official "New Blood" music video was directed by Brendan McGowan, director of videos for Lamb of God, Mastodon, Imperial Triumphant, and more. It is an homage to vampire films of the silent film era.

Heavy Halo's McKeever states: "The simplest and most direct song on the record, 'New Blood' is about live-wire desire, the belief that intoxicating romance can strike like a bolt from the blue and pull you out of the doldrums of stagnancy. The music video, directed by Brendan McGowan, draws on vampire silent film classics as inspiration. We filmed it in the basement of our favorite goth haunt Talon Bar, casting musicians, artists, and fashion designer friends from across the New York underground."

Director McGowan adds: "Of all the iterations of cinema vampires, it's hard to beat the aesthetic of the 1930s Universal Monsters era. That, juxtaposed against the thoroughly modern Heavy Halo sound, makes for a fun video about the perils of eternal life. Thanks to all the NYC goths who showed up and donned fangs for our shoot."

Photo by Michelle LoBianco

PLQ MRX - Cumgitsum

PLQ MRX: acid-fried noise rockers (Unsane, Ecstatic Vision members) announce Cumgitsum EP; first single streaming now

From Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the masked collective known as PLQ MRX announces the April 25th release of its debut EP, Cumgitsum.

Cumgitsum will be released via three labels: Reptilian Records (US), Totem Cat (EU), and Fuzzed and Buzzed (Canada).

Stream the visualizer for EP's first single, "Laugh to Death," here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqMXvlyqOmU

The track is streaming now on all platforms: https://found.ee/plaquemarks_laughtodeath

Boasting stage names such as Cleetus Alreetus Alrightus and Midnight Moses, the five mysterious members of PLQ MRX are a motley crew of self-proclaimed "acid freaks, sex addicts, dealers, pimps, and clowns." Somewhere between Flipper and Funkadelic, the quintet's grimy wall of rock churns forward with an air of lysergic jubilance.

First single "Laugh to Death" is a walloping dirge whose swirling squalls of guitar are peppered with detuned trombone, clown samples, and drunken howls. Across five and a half minutes of cacophony and swagger, the track evokes the chaotic rites of Butthole Surfers' early years. 

Gallows humor pervades the lyrics, as demonstrated in these lines: "You bring the mask / I’ll bring the knife / Johnny come lately / We’ll take his life / With laughing gas and a solid routine / We’ll make his ass laugh to death."

Connoisseurs of the dangerous and depraved might recall a Philadelphia band known as Plaque Marks which surfaced initially in 2017, releasing one EP, Anxiety Driven Nervous Worship, and touring the US with Unsane. Stereogum's review of that EP described it as "primitive and feral... smashed-to-shit vocal distortion, gravel-throated bass tone and a couple guitars that sound like they're being picked with glass shards." Decibel Magazine characterized the sound as "nasty in all the right ways" and Bandcamp Daily stated: "The whole thing feels like being hit in the chest with a medicine ball full of bacon fat."

Like a crazed phoenix rising from those ashes, PLQ MRX picks up where Plaque Marks left off. Consisting of one or two members of the original gang, the identities can only be guessed at, but rumors point to musicians who have played in bands such as Unsane, Swans, Foetus, Author & Punisher, and Ecstatic Vision, as well as to the owner of one of Philly's most notorious rock dives, Kung Fu Necktie.

Amidst a surge of noise rock, exemplified by the ongoing success of Chat Pile and festivals such as Caterwaul, PLQ MRX puts forth a spectacle that pushes the genre into a more theatrical and psychedelic realm. "Noise rock was the base when we started," states vocalist Alrightus, "but I feel more aligned with '70s funk and obscure European rock than anything else. Funkadelic is universal. If you can't dig that, you don't deserve to live. LOL. A sense of humor is very important."

Cumgitsum was engineered and mixed by the band and Joe Boldizar. It was mastered by Tim Green (Melvins, The Fucking Champs).

Tracklist:
1) The Drink Up Genie
2) Lead Poisoning
3) Elevator of Pain
4) Sugarsmack Jack
5) Laugh to Death

Lineup:

Cleetus Alreetus Alrightus - vocals
Midnight Moses - guitar, vocals
Lord Calvert - keyboards, samples
Bob Nohope - bass
Vinnihana - drums

Pre-order the EP, here: 

US: https://reptilianrecords.bandcamp.com/

EU: https://totemcatrecords.bigcartel.com/

Canada: https://fuzzedandbuzzed.com/

Cover art by Carlos Bonilla

Photos by Gene Smirnov

CATERWAUL schedule

CATERWAUL: Uniform confirmed for 2025 festival; full schedule revealed

With the fourth installment of Caterwaul scheduled for May 23-26th in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the festival's organizers have revealed the full schedule for the four-day event.

Newly revealed additions to the stellar lineup include NYC's industrial noise-metal powerhouse Uniform. 

Other highlights include Buildings, Deaf Club, Eye Flys, FACS, Kowloon Walled City, Pissed Jeans, and Young Widows.

Spread across three Minneapolis venues – 331, Mortimer's, and Zhora Darling, Caterwaul 2025 offers a full immersion into the noisy, iconoclastic fringes of rock, and promises to serve as a haven where all denizens of the underground can coalesce for a long, communal weekend.

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."

Festival founders Conan Neutron, Rainer Fronz, and Melanie Thomas state: “In a world full of Coachellas, be a Caterwaul.”

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

The full schedule is as follows:

Friday, May 23 @ Mortimer's

1:00 am - FACS
12:00 am - Eye Flys
11:15 pm - Pinko
10:30 pm - Wipes
9:45 pm - Violenteer
9:00 pm - Something Is Waiting
8:15 pm - Mugger
7:30 pm - Blacklighter

Saturday, May 24 @ Zhora Darling

1:15 am - Naw
12:15 pm - Open Head
11:30 pm - In Lieu
10:45 pm - Plot

Saturday, May 24 @ 331

9:15 pm - Young Widows
8:15 pm - Kowloon Walled City
7:25 pm - Fotocrime
6:30 pm - The Cell Phones
5:45 pm - Bridesmaid
5:00 pm - Upright Forms
4:15 pm - Vincas
3:30 pm - Fashion Week
2:45 pm - Moon Pussy
2:00 pm - Pillcutter

Sunday, May 25 @ 331

8:15 pm - Pissed Jeans
7:15 pm - Buildings
6:30 pm - Big'n
5:45 pm - Suckling
5:00 pm - Conan Neutron & the Secret Friends
4:15 pm - Lung
3:30 pm - Tonguecutter
2:45 pm - Unstable Shapes

Monday, May 26 @ 331

9:15 pm - Uniform
8:15 pm - Deaf Club
7:30 pm - Elephant Rifle
6:45 pm - Mr. Phylzzz
6:00 pm - Vile Bees
5:15 pm - Gaytheist
4:30 pm - powertakeOff
3:45 pm - Mr. Clit & the Pink Cigarettes
3:00 pm - Miracle Blood
2:15 pm - Spit Takes

Photo of Uniform, by Joshua Zucker-Pluda and Sean Stout
Caterwaul 2025 logo, by Withney Does

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