Category: news

Greg Dulli’s men in black are back

When three acquaintances decided to make a joke song about a bizarre topic just for the hell of it, they can’t have foreseen what’d happen next

Neurosis have returned without warning. The Oakland post-metal institution has surprise-dropped An Undying Love For A Burning World today via Neurot Recordings — their first new album in ten years, and by all accounts a statement of survival rather than a simple comeback.

The band wasted no words explaining why now. “We need this, perhaps more than ever, and we suspect we are not alone,” they write. “The trials and tribulations in our personal lives and as a band, combined with simply trying to navigate the insanity of our society, with the stress, anxiety, and isolation that come with it, can be excruciating. Add to that the existential confusion and sorrow of the climate crisis and the sixth mass extinction. It is enough to cause you to completely lose your mind if you can’t find release or catharsis.

“This strange, emotionally charged music has always been our method of trying to survive this, and this is what we’ve always been singing about. When you have spent a lifetime engaged with these energies and utilizing this form of expression to purge and purify, it feels detrimental to our well-being to let it sit idle and neglected. This was now or never.”

Joining the band on vocals and guitar is Aaron Turner — the man behind Sumac and ISIS, and a figure whose own artistic history has long run parallel to Neurosis‘s. The band describes his arrival as a natural fit. “He came straight out of the gate, contributing, writing, and presenting ideas. His energy matches ours perfectly. It’s as if he was always meant to be there.”

Turner himself is equally direct about the significance of the pairing. “From the moment I first heard Neurosis over 30 years ago, I felt this was the music my heart and mind had been seeking but not yet heard,” he says. “Now, after many years travelling along various musical paths of my own, the singular sound and spirit embodied by Neurosis continues to speak to the depths of my being. It is an honor and a true pleasure to have been welcomed so warmly into a band that not only shaped my perspective on the limitless possibilities of music but has lived and exemplified the necessity of upholding creative integrity and camaraderie above all else.”

On the question of whether this constitutes a reunion, the band is firm: this is not a reunion. They never broke up.

An Undying Love For A Burning World was recorded by Scott Evans (of Kowloon Walled City, Sumac, and And Great Falls) at Studio Litho in Seattle across three weekends this winter, then mixed in three days at Evans’s Antisleep Audio in Oakland — just six weeks before release.

Neurosis will also make their live return after a seven-year absence, playing Fire In The Mountains festival on the traditional lands of the Blackfeet Nation in Montana. The event is organised with the support of Firekeeper Alliance, a non-profit focused on reducing youth suicide in Indian Country. Guitarist Steve Von Till, who serves on the board of Firekeeper Alliance, described last year’s edition as the most profound music event of his life.

“I cannot think of a more appropriate environment for us to return to the stage,” he says. “Last year’s Fire In The Mountains festival was the most profound music event I have ever been a part of. The weekend took on a healing, cathartic, ceremonial nature that is difficult to put into words. Using emotionally heavy music to build community and collectively stare darkness in the eye is something we have always believed in, but using it to directly address the heartbreaking reality of suicide, grief, loss, and trauma is taking it to another level.”

The post NEUROSIS Surprise Release First New Album In A Decade, “An Undying Love For A Burning World” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Hawthorne Heights expands ‘If Only You Were Lonely’ 20th anniversary tour was originally published on HM Magazine by Nao Glover.

Rock band Hawthorne Heights is excited to continue celebrating 20 years of their acclaimed album If Only You Were Lonely. The band has today announced an additional U.S. leg to their worldwide 20th Anniversary Tour, kicking off on October 21st in Buffalo. They’ll again be joined by special guests letlive. and Creeper, as they bring the show to Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Charlotte, Nashville, Atlanta, New […]

Hawthorne Heights expands ‘If Only You Were Lonely’ 20th anniversary tour was originally published on HM Magazine by Nao Glover.

The new Hugh Jackman/Kate Hudson movie Song Sung Blue tells the true story of a humble Neil Diamond tribute band that hit it big in the ’90s, even performing with Eddie Vedder at a Pearl Jam concert at the height of their fame. So I guess the timing is right for another Neil Diamond/Gen X convergence from the archives.

The post Neil Diamond Releasing New Album He Made With Rick Rubin 19 Years Ago appeared first on Stereogum.

Their first album since 2009 is finally here.

The post Poison The Well Launch “Weeping Tones” Music Video Alongside Their Comeback Album “Peace In Place” appeared first on Theprp.com.

It’s been a fair old while since we last heard from Annihilus Mundi, but the progressive extreme metal project is officially back in the game. After nearly seven years of tinkering away in the shadows, mastermind Daniel Saillant has finally unleashed a brand-new single and music video titled “Absolute Terror”. If you’re a fan of … Continue reading Annihilus Mundi returns with “Absolute Terror”, first new music in seven years

A little more than a week after unveiling her solo band’s name was Blue Medusa, ex-Arch Enemy vocalist Alissa White-Gluz and company released the band’s new single, “Checkmate”. Written by White-Gluz and guitarists Alyssa Day and Dani Sophia, the track apparently marks a “powerful evolution in both sound and creative vision.”

White-Gluz spoke directly about the new track, sharing how it had just seemingly fallen into place.

“This is a song where everything just clicked. ‘Checkmate’ is an extremely cathartic song for me. It was created in one of those flow states where the lyrics and melodies and rhythms just write themselves and you get the feeling that you’re onto something powerful. It’s probably the heaviest thing I’ve written in terms of lyrics, and probably the lightest of what we have cooking in terms of sound. I wanted to share the intensity of these feelings with fans and give them something to hold onto. I’m so happy to see so much support for Blue Medusa already; fans can look forward to more dark, heavy, brutal and haunting music very soon.”

The accompanying music video was co-directed by White-Gluz and Vicente Cordero, of Industrialism Films. With a direct hand on the video’s final product, White-Gluz said she had a pretty good idea of what she wanted the video to be when working on it.

“I know what every frame is for. I’ll share that someday, but for now, I welcome fans to dive deeper into the meaning and develop their own interpretations. That’s what makes videos and movies fun and interesting, in my opinion.”

As of this moment, we don’t know of any album plans for Blue Medusa, nor do we know of any tour plans other than their planned appearances on Louder Than Life and Aftershock. All we can do now is wait for more details.

The post Alissa White-Gluz’s Blue Medusa Drop Their New Single “Checkmate” appeared first on MetalSucks.

Welcome to the Neurisis era.

The post Neurosis Enlist Aaron Turner (SUMAC, Etc.) For Surprise New Album “An Undying Love For A Burning World” appeared first on Theprp.com.

Way back in the year before the Great Plague, I took a chance and reviewed an unheralded, self-released album by a one-man band from Belgium called Ethereal Darkness. We received the promo from the AMG contact forms without fanfare or fluff, but what I heard on Smoke and Shadows really impressed me. Project mastermind Lars created a monumental slab of melancholic, melodic doom in the vein of Insomnium, Rapture, and Before the Dawn, and the material had depth, power, and gravitas. It seemed like the work of a seasoned and polished group of musicians despite some rough edges. The years have drifted by since that review, and I’d all but given up Ethereal Darkness for dead. Imagine my surprise when Lars reached out recently to alert me to the pending release of his second album, Echoes. 6 years on, the solo project is now a full-fledged band ready to tour in support of their latest release. And what a large release it is! At 60 minutes, Echoes takes the style from the debut and goes way bigger, with much longer compositions and greater ambition in the writing. If that’s not big enough, it also features cover art from Adam Burke and a production from Dan “The Fücking Man” Swanö!¹ Is bigger better in this case? Can more really be MOAR? And how are these guys still unsigned?? These are the questions of our time.

It takes ample ballsack to open with a nearly 11-minute song, but Ethereal Darkness do just that with “Gone With the Tide.” If the atmosphere on Smoke and Shadows impressed you, this will knock you into the next multiverse. It’s an epic, sweeping tableau of massive melodoom that holds nothing back as it transports you to majestic forests and towering mountains of snow and ice. It recalls the best works of Be’lakor and Black Sun Aeon, but there’s plenty of Insomnium in the DNA too. The guitarwork is phenomenal, full of sadboi trilling and doomy weight. The death vocals by Lars are very effective, the clean singing by acoustic guitarist Brecht hits the right way, and the lapses into blastbeating blackness are well-timed adrenaline spikes. This is a stupendous song and one of the best so far this year, and it goes by in a flash despite its girth. “The Cycle” continues to maintain the sky-high quality. It’s like a crazy mash-up of Eneferens and modern Amorphis, and you should pay big money for such a potent potable. It’s the kind of song you get lost in and lose track of time, and when you write songs in the 8-10 minute window, this is essential.

Elsewhere, “Winter” moves toward more blackened environs, channeling Saor and Nechochwen as epic soundscapes are raised and explored. The guitars here are beautifully rendered, and it’s another triumph for this unheralded project. Equally monolithic is “On the Edge of the Cliff,” where the music turns more aggressive and urgent, merging black and melodeath idioms adroitly for maximum impact. There’s an epic Viking metal energy here that makes you want to conquer and rule the weak, and it feels dangerously powerful. Despite so much magnificent opulence and aural decadence, there are some weaker moments. “IV” is very, very good and hints at my beloved Rapture, but it ends up feeling too long at 9:45, and trimming it by a few minutes would have helped. Ginormous closer “Realization” runs over 13 minutes, and despite good to great moments throughout, it’s undone by its sheer width and breadth. In its final minutes, I find it increasingly difficult to stay locked in and attentive. At just over 60 minutes, Echoes can be a daunting listen due to its density and length, but the reward is well worth the effort. I can’t find fault with the Swanö-ified production, as everything sounds lush, gorgeous, and heavy without being loud or oppressive.

Lars handles guitar, bass, keyboards, and harsh vocals, and to say he did an amazing job across the board doesn’t begin to cover it. There are some big, emotional moments here courtesy of his 6-string heroics, referencing the works of Tuomas Saukkonen without imitating. His deep death roars punctuate the music with force, and his blackened cackles and screams pierce through like lasers. His restrained use of keyboards should be a case study for other acts in the genre. They add atmosphere but rarely rise out of the distant background. Becht provides soothing acoustic guitar passages and clean vocals that deliver pathos and emotion. Peter’s drumming is a vast improvement over the programmed percussion from the debut, imbuing the material with vibrancy and weight. Applause all around for this crew!

Echoes is a bigger, better album than Smoke and Shadows in every way, with several tracks worthy of Song o’ the Year consideration. The album length and the bloat on a few tracks hold it back from even greater heights, but just barely. This is a sumptuous feast for the ears and mind, and I get the feeling I’ll be spending a lot of time with this over the next few months. Ethereal Darkness are about to get a lot more attention in the metalverse, and they deserve it. Hear this massive monster or be a lesser mortal. Somebody better sign these guys toot-sweet!

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Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: NA | Format Reviewed: WAV
Label: Self-Release
Websites: etherealdarkness.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/etherealplace | instagram.com/etherealdarknessband
Releases Worldwide: March 20th, 2026

The post Ethereal Darkness – Echoes Review appeared first on Angry Metal Guy.