Horror Pain Gore Death Productions are set to release the new EP from Västmanland Sweden’s Black Metal beasts Gast. Förbannelser is up now for pre-order and will be released July 31st on CD and Digital formats along with merch.
Horror Pain Gore Death Productions welcome Gast to the roster with the new EP Förbannelser! Gast channel the dark and cold essence of the northern landscapes through intense Black Metal. Their music combines raw intensity with haunting melodies, while their lyrics explore themes of evil, madness and folklore.
Förbannelser (which translates to Curses) explores death, decay, greed, nightmares and the end of humanity. Curses lie at the core, driving the downfall of both individuals and the world itself, taking shape as despair, insatiable greed, spreading plague and the final collapse. Gast deliver a wave of northern darkness, crafted for those who crave intensity, atmosphere and the presence of something ancient and malevolent rising beneath the surface.
For fans of Marduk, Grá, Necrophobic, Hate, Black Curse, Profanatica, Stormruler and Cloak.
The pop singer Bonnie Tyler, known for her ’80s hits like “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and “Holding Out for a Hero,” died in a hospital in Portugal from an illness on Wednesday, according to her official Facebook account.
Dead Astronauts‘ music belongs to empty roads, dim apartments, old televisions glowing in otherwise dark rooms, and those uneasy moments when memory begins editing the past without permission. Get Lost, the first single from the duo’s forthcoming fifth album, Shallow Grave, catches Jared Kyle and Slade Templeton at their most immediate, turning emotional depletion into forward movement.
A steady electronic rhythm carries the song through layers of synthesizer, guitar, and distant atmosphere, creating the sensation of traveling quickly without knowing whether the destination offers rescue or ruin. Kyle’s voice remains cool at the surface, though the performance contains the fatigue of someone who has surrendered so often that submission has started to resemble identity. The melody rises with enough grace to feel liberating, even as the words describe a relationship built upon consumption, control, and gradual erasure.
The speaker recognizes the damage and still offers everything, wandering into some final expanse for the person responsible. Love becomes a life-support machine, preserving the body while stripping away the self. Each repetition deepens the central anxiety: once the beloved has taken, shaken, broken, and rearranged every available part, what could possibly remain?
The drums supply restless momentum, while the surrounding textures stretch outward with the scale of a lost science-fiction transmission. There is romance in the distance, though it comes with the cold knowledge that devotion may be another word for disappearance. The result feels suited to a crowded club where everyone dances privately, carrying some absent face through the room.
The accompanying video pushes the song further into strange ceremonial territory. Masked figures gather around Kyle as disembodied hands reach toward him, eager to touch his clothing as though proximity might transfer meaning, status, or salvation. The imagery raises an uncomfortable question about identity and approval: are we shaped by our own desires, or assembled from the validation offered by strangers? Presented through degraded retro footage, the clip resembles a VHS tape discovered in an attic. Its grain, distortion, and occult pageantry make the performance feel preserved from another era, yet the hunger at its center is painfully current.
Watch the video for Get Lost below:
Get Lost finds Dead Astronauts entering Shallow Grave with clarity and confidence. It is a song about offering yourself to someone who may leave nothing behind, then following them anyway…sometimes the final dance begins before either person admits the room is empty.
Listen to Get Lost below and order the single here.
This song dives in immediately with a striking guitar riff that hints at strong and exciting vibes. The energy is palpable as the song starts to push forward with a driving groove. The vocals carry tones reminiscent of punk rock, yet there are subtle influences of country music. This eclectic mixture is evident primarily in the timbre of the singing.
During the verse, the intensity dips, allowing space for emotional resonance to build. This strategic emptiness then explodes in the chorus, unleashing a surge of energy. Background vocals support the lead singer, creating a communal feel that encourages listeners to sing along. The infectious nature of this section adds to the overall experience.
A brief but intense guitar solo connects back to another engaging verse, maintaining the momentum of the song. After the third minute, the bridge offers a moment of calm. The song empties momentarily, creating anticipation for what comes next. This pause enhances the eventual climax of the track, allowing for a powerful finish.
Mud Butt – Sound and Atmosphere
The production of “Mud Butt” employs innovative tools that still manage to sound authentic and heartfelt. It’s a well-crafted song that highlights the band’s versatility. The combination of distinctive riffs, dynamic vocal delivery, and thoughtful arrangement showcases their artistic vision.
The blend of punk and country influences enriches the musical experience. The layered instrumentation and backing vocals deepen the connection created in each section.
For those who appreciate a mix of raw energy and melodic hooks, “Mud Butt” delivers on both fronts. The thoughtful dynamics keep the listener engaged, providing intensity and moments of reflection. The choice of production techniques highlights the band’s desire to maintain a genuine sound.
Mud Butt – Performance and Production
The instrumental sections, particularly the guitar riffs, capture attention instantly. They create a powerful foundation that supports the vocal lines throughout. Each component of the song enhances the overall impact, creating an enjoyable listening experience.
“Mud Butt” is an exciting single that showcases the band’s unique approach to songwriting. It demonstrates their ability to blend genres while retaining a fresh sound. This single serves as a strong addition to their discography and ensures that fans will be eager for more.
The conclusion of “Mud Butt” proves to be as electrifying as its beginning. The song, through its innovative use of instruments and vocal arrangements, ultimately stands as a strong representation of the band’s capabilities.
In May 1965, at the end of a two-month solo tour of the UK, Bob Dylan was considering giving up performing. “I was drained,” he said afterwards. “I was playing a lot of songs I didn’t want to play. I was singing words I really didn’t want to sing.”
On his flight home, Dylan wrote something that would change his mind. It was a 20-page stream-of-consciousness poem, which he jokingly called “a long piece of vomit.” A few days later, in his Greenwich Village apartment, while looking it over, he hit on what he called the “slow motion phrase” of “How does it feel?” and that brought the song into focus.
He edited the verses, setting them to a simple three-chord progression nicked from La Bamba by Ritchie Valens. While Dylan’s interviews of the time are notoriously unreliable sources of information, one thing that he couldn’t camouflage was his delight with Like A Rolling Stone, calling it the “best song he’d ever written.”
On June 15, 1965, he brought it into Columbia Studio A in New York, running through it with producer Tom Wilson and a band led by prodigal blues guitarist Mike Bloomfield. Dylan had handpicked Bloomfield for the session, though strangely insisted he not play “any of that B.B. King shit.”
Early takes of the song were in waltz time, moody and a bit unfocused. Then the next day, a catalyst arrived in the form of Al Kooper. Bloomfield’s presence denied the guitarist his usual spot, so Kooper played the Hammond B-3 organ instead. In one of rock’s happiest accidents, he ignited the band to a once-in-a-lifetime groove.
But Like A Rolling Stone is first and foremost about words. Rhymes dovetail with rhymes, lines bend meter, images startle (‘Napoleon in rags’). It’s like proto-rap. And it’s all delivered with a sneering attitude.
Even the six-minute length was a middle finger to the three-minute rule of the day, with Columbia initially hesitant to release the single until an acetate was leaked to Arthur, a newly opened, high-profile discotheque in Midtown Manhattan, by the label’s new-releases coordinator, Shaun Considine.
It all fell into place. The club DJs played the song on repeat, the crowd loved it, and several watching DJs called Columbia the following morning to request their own copies. Like A Rolling Stone was then released as a single on July 20, reaching No. 2 in the US Billboard charts (No. 1 in Cashbox) and becoming a worldwide hit.
The song was the pivot point where he stopped being a folkie and started being a rocker, and he rubber-stamped the deal five days later at the Newport Folk Festival, when Dylan famously played the first “plugged-in” set of his career. After kicking off with a fiery version of Maggie’s Farm, he followed it with the new song, much to the apparent chagrin of festival organiser and folk legend Pete Seeger, who told the sound crew, “If I had an axe, I’d cut the cable.”
Decades later, Seeger wrote a postcard to Dylan clarifying his stance, claiming that his fury was not directed at Dylan’s choice to go electric, but at the “distorted sound” of the PA system he was obliged to play through.
“My mistake was not challenging from the stage the foolish few who booed,” Seeger wrote. “I shoulda said, Howling Wolf goes electric, why can’t Bob?”
“I’d never written anything like …Rolling Stone before,” Dylan later said. “And it suddenly came to me that that was what I should do. After writing that, I wasn’t interested in writing a novel or a play. I wanted to just write songs.”
Def Leppard’s journey to becoming one of the most influential rock bands of all time began in Sheffield, England, in 1977, amidst the city’s industrial backdrop. The band was formed by Joe Elliott, who envisioned a group that combined hard rock’s energy with a melodic sensibility. He joined forces with Rick Savage (bass), Tony Kenning (drums), and Pete Willis (guitar), with their first rehearsals taking place in a local spoon factory. Early in their career, the addition of guitarist Steve Clark elevated the group’s sound, cementing a lineup that would go on to define 1980s rock. The band released their
The call of New Orleans set the stage for the name and the eclectic versatility and musical catalogue of one of the hottest Canadian bands touring today.
Bywater Call is set to head out on an extensive tour to support the release of their new album, Broken Souvenirs and lead singer/co-writer Meghan Parnell sat down with Blue Rock Review (BRR) to talk about those milestones amidst their exploding popularity.
The seven-piece band is based in Toronto, Canada, but Parnell explained their name comes from her experiences, along with partner Dave Barnes, after spending a lot of time in New Orleans.
“Bywater is a neighbourhood in New Orleans, right next to the French Quarter. And we needed a name. Dave and I’ve spent a lot of time in New Orleans. We really, really love that city. We kind of fell in love with it, the first time we were there and heard how music just permeates everything that’s going on there. So yeah, we thought “Bywater” was just a cool name that meant something to us. And then the “Call” is just the call to go back and visit, but also to incorporate kind of the feeling that we get from that city into the music that we’re making.”
With their rising popularity, BRR asked Parnell how they’re handling the new fame and hectic schedule that goes with it.
She admitted, “It’s hard to get perspective when you’re in the middle of it, but, you know, we’ve certainly seen some really nice growth since our inception. We just got back from a European tour where we’re seeing the turnouts increase every time we’re there and we’re working on the same thing in Canada and the U.S. as well.”
The band includes Parnell; Dave Barnes (guitarist, writer, producer); Bruce McCarthy (drums), Mike Meusel (bass), Andrew Moljgun (keys), Stephen Dyte (trumpet) and Julian Nalli (tenor sax). And Parnell said the growth from the core of herself and Barnes grew organically.
“Dave and I started putting this band together; we never really imagined what that would be. We were just trying to, you know, get into the small local clubs in Toronto and work on writing,” she said. “But touring all over Europe and Canada and the U.S., we just knew the kind of the sound that we wanted, and part of that sound was going to be a horn section.”
The size of the band is rare these days and Parnell remarked, “It’s definitely a challenge, but we’ve established what the sound is for the band and the dynamics on stage and we can’t change it now.”
Bywater Call just finished 25 European dates. And after a brief 10-day break they’re doing 23 more dates in the U.S. and Canada, which presents its own problems in terms of allowing time to rest, record and write.
“Yeah, absolutely. Finding a balance is always a struggle,” she said. “We’re doing our best to kind of carve out some space so everybody can have some personal time. You know, we have to consider mental health.”
Parnell is often compared to Susan Tedeschi and she says that’s just fine with her.
“She’s fantastic. Dave hearing what Derek (Trucks) was doing with the slide guitar and me hearing Susan and really feeling connected with that. Here’s a singer who has a beautiful tone and is, in my opinion, a simple, but gorgeous and incredibly talented singer. While I don’t think what we’re putting out there is the same as the Tedeschi-Trucks Band, I definitely welcome and understand the comparisons with the slide guitar and the raspy female vocal. I mean, it’s an honor to have those names in the same sentence as ours.”
But Bywater Call incorporates a very wide variety of influences, and Parnell says that it’s intentional and has something to do with the size of the band and the contributions from each member.
She explained, “We definitely look to influences where you’re hearing the same kind of instrumentation to get inspiration. So we look at bigger bands like Sly and the Family Stone, and James Brown, or even Amy Winehouse, who had the Dap-Kings behind her, so that definitely plays a part in it. Knowing that we have this instrumentation to incorporate into a song, you know, what do we want the horns to sound like? Well, let’s check out some tunes that have a horn section that maybe reflects the style that we’re going for in a particular song.”
There’s no doubt that the sound of the band has a lot to do with the voice of Meghan Parnell, and she acknowledged the added pressure that brings.
“That (the pressure) is something Dave and I talk about a lot when we’re writing tunes, and how to utilize that. I want emotion to come through in the vocals, you know, emotion and quality and, not necessarily a perfect vocal line or executed perfectly, but something honest. Sometimes we’ll write stuff that we think sits in a place where it sounds really pretty. But other times we don’t want it to sound pretty. So just figuring out how to use my voice is a tool for what we’re trying to get across. And then on the road it’s important that I try to maintain my vocal chords and make sure that I’m performing to the best of my ability every night, because it is a big part of the sound, for sure.”
The new album Broken Souvenirs is due out on July 29th and Blues Rock Review readers are already well aware of it with the release of several singles from the 11-track offering. The latest single, “Is This Thing On?”, was released June 24 following the previous releases of “Only,”“How Long,” and “No One Else.”
She said that pre-releasing singles is an important strategy, noting, “I think it’s part of the music landscape these days, especially a band at our level where you struggle to stay relevant. It’s a scene where monsters like Bruno Mars will put out a tune on a digital platform that’ll eclipse everything. So we’re just trying to stay relevant and keep people interested, leading up to a release.”
She added, “We didn’t write and record it all in one go. We kind of wrote it and recorded it as we had ideas ready and time in our schedule to go into the studio and do it. So, we kind of wanted to release the album in the same way where we don’t want to create a bunch of silence from the band. We want to consistently put things out there.”
Bywater Call made the unusual choice to tour Europe instead of competing in the International Blues Challenge for which they had qualified.
And that gamble paid off as the band has now been nominated for three consecutive years as “International Act of The Year” by the UK Blues Awards.
Pernell recounted that decision. “That competition is pretty awesome, and we’ve seen how it’s helped a lot of people in the scene. But we were going to be going to the UK for the first time that year as a full band. Previously we had an opportunity to introduce ourselves to the UK market as a duo supporting Robert Jon and the Wreck, ahead of bringing the whole band out there. And we thought in terms of bang for our buck and how that would benefit us. We thought that was the right move.”
But now the band is headed out to tour the U.S. and Canada, and Blues Rock Review readers can experience the live show. Parnell says she understands the importance of presenting high-energy, visually-engaging performances to match their tremendous musical talent.
“I think there’s something very real in the music that we offer. Emotion in the music is really, really important to us – very important to me, as a singer, and I make a very big effort to connect with the audience while I’m on stage. And then afterwards I’m always out there talking to people after the show. And I think a lot of that helps create steadfast relationships between you and your fans.”
Bywater Call’s new album Broken Souvenirs is released July 29th. They tour the UK from January 27 – February 7, 2027.
It’s been longer than a decade since the world last heard fresh cuts from Mike D’Abo, and while the songs he wrote – such as “Handbags & Gladrags” and “Build Me Up Buttercup” – or performed alongside – including “Fox … Continue reading →
EVA UNDER FIRE‘s music is, quite literally, hard rock therapy. As a licensed therapist and powerhouse vocalist/songwriter, Amanda Lyberg blends emotional insight with powerful songwriting and undeniable hooks, delivering lyrics and performances that connect deeply and hit listeners right in the feels. The Detroit quintet is thrilled to unleash its new album VILLAINOUS via Better […]
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EVA UNDER FIRE‘s music is, quite literally, hard rock therapy. As a licensed therapist and powerhouse vocalist/songwriter, Amanda Lyberg blends emotional insight with powerful songwriting and undeniable hooks, delivering lyrics and performances that connect deeply and hit listeners right in the feels. The Detroit quintet is thrilled to unleash its new album VILLAINOUS via Better […]