It’s all one track. On any streaming service, Invasion Body Camera, the new collaborative EP from experimental rap titans Fatboi Sharif and ELUCID, shows up as a single 12-minute track, even though it’s actually six individual songs. When I first his play, I didn’t know what was going on. This is just a wonderfully unfriendly gesture. It’s what Prince wanted to do with CD copies of The Black Album back in the day. I love it.
Tasmania—outside of their famous adorable screaming murder marsupials, I know basically nothing about the island. Recently, though, Tasmania’s The Absolution Sequence seized and held my attention with everything surrounding their debut record, Dread Cycle.1 Sublime cover art by Tasmanian artist Shaun Hyatt. Technical death metal that, according to promo, “balances high-velocity musical prowess with a deeply immersive, atmospheric undertone.” But what’s this? Three guitarists? Two drummers?!2 Is there any hope of hearing a bass guitar on this thing? How big is Dread Cycle really, and are The Absolution Sequence bad enough dudes to hold it all down? I had to know.
To address The Absolution Sequence’s qualifying trait as a tech-death band, I’ll start by stating that Dread Cycle is quite the technical feat. TAS’ three-pronged guitar attack of Stephen Cusato and Steven Mason on rhythm and Luke Tucker on lead deliver all the pressure-cooked heck you’d expect of the sub-genre, spinning busy, knotted riffs that strike and pop at odd times and angles. Hear the gnarly riffage on “This Sordid Miasma” and “Promethean Pilferage” and just soak it in. Rhythmically, drummers Nick Machin and Luke Sanderson deliver mechanically precise blasts and occasional Meshuggah kick-jank (“Ghost Mantra”) while—yes—Alastair Boon’s bass features prominently in arpeggiated leads [“Despotic Ruin (Diet of Worms)”] and popping and plucking beneath the riffs (“Diary of the Emaciated”). These dudes have chops for days, but somehow Dread Cycle is surprisingly reserved. Don’t expect Archspire-scaled showy excess with The Absolution Sequence, as Dread Cycle is the kind of layered technical showcase that’s more than happy to sneak up on you at times.
What sticks out foremost about Dread Cycle is how atmospheric and big it sounds. The Absolution Sequence regularly build these tidal waves of dissonant, discordant chords that make for eerie, cataclysmic atmospheres. Tracks like “The Nightlight Sigil” and “A Mire Caked Nativity,” even amidst it’s deeply frenetic playing, absolutely ooze dense, dreary mood. These movements of cavernous density stand in nice contrast to the typical tech-death chops heard elsewhere, offering cuts like “Despotic Ruin (Diet of Worms)” greater dynamism and balancing out “Idols of Confraternity”‘s wicked fast runs and bludgeoning chugs with simpler, harmonically rich parts. It keeps the audience from growing desensitized to the chaos, as is oft to happen in tech-death. The Absolution Sequence simply sound more focused than a lot of their peers, and with that focus comes weight. Dread Cycle doesn’t blow your mind through exceptional virtuosity but clobbers you with the enormity of its compositions.
But never does The Absolution Sequence’s technical ambitions or atmospheric inclinations ever detract from Dread Cycle’s serious bite. Delivering a varied and hostile vox attack, lead vocalist Shawn Wells drives TAS onto a warpath. Through confrontational and nasty growls on “Grinding the Sphere,” pissed-off Archspire speed spitting on “Diary of the Emaciated,” and downright (Tasmanian) devilish rasps on “Idols of Confraternity,” Wells spells out Dread Cycle’s ill-will in explicit terms. The rest of TAS match that vitriol. Their three guitarists are a restless unit, constantly finding new ways to layer airy leads over feverish riff-craft while the drumming on Dread Cycle never sacrifices punch for flair. This is tech-death of a distinctly modern bent, for sure, but there’s a timeless, plain deathly meanness to Dread Cycle that makes it cathartically heavy as well as dazzingly impressive to behold.
Dread Cycle is a true cyclone of aggression, but far more cogent and less slobbery than the one Tasmania is better known for. The Absolution Sequence found a distinct and deeply enjoyable brand of tech-death that stands out even in a crowdedyear for the sub-genre. It’s the kind of record that’s just hard to find negative things to say about, and one that has steadily grown on me over the time I’ve spent with it. Check out Dread Cycle if you like your shadowed treks through miasmatic realms of death thoroughly buckwild as well. You know I do.
Asia has confirmed Indigo as the title of its next studio album, due out Nov. 6, 2026 via Frontiers Music Srl. The record marks the first full-length outing from the band’s current lineup of Geoff Downes (keyboards), Virgil Donati(drums), John Mitchell (guitar) and Harry Whitley (bass, vocals).
The official video for “Echo of You,” the album’s second single, is streaming below.
Downes broke down the track’s evolution: “This song was part of the main writing sessions between Harry and I. It took on a whole different angle in the latter stages of development with more of a focus on electronica and a spacey production. It’s a happy, uplifting tune, despite the nostalgic overtones of the lyrics, a love song with a twist. It all ends in a chaotic mix of counter themes, chord changes, and features a good old-fashioned fadeout as a nod to nostalgia, and I believe is a very fitting conclusion to the album, Indigo, hopefully leaving the listener on a high.”
More than 40 years removed from helping define melodic progressive rock, Asia returns with an album that ties its past to its present without losing a step. With Downes now leading a refreshed lineup, the band is moving forward while still leaning on the legacy that built its name.
Downes traced the record’s long road to completion: “The initial writing period began in 2015, following the release of our previous album Gravitas in 2014. John Wetton and I started putting our ideas together, aiming to get into the studio once more. It was with great sadness that John became seriously ill, during this time, and we had put on hold our plans, and sadly John passed away before we could continue and complete it. So, it was always in my mind that at some point it would be a shame not to finish off some of these songs and finally release them as part of an Asia album.
“In 2023, when the tribute concert for John took place, I was so encouraged by the response to Asia‘s music that I viewed this as the perfect opportunity to re-establish not only the band, but also to reunite with our long-time supportive label, Frontiers, paving the way for us to get back in the studio.”
He continued, detailing how the current lineup fell into place: “So, Asia was back in the room, so to speak, and we were very fortunate to have recruited Virgil Donati and John Mitchell, both of whom had worked extensively with John before, as well as our new vocalist and bassist, Harry Whitley. The tours followed to great success throughout 2024 and 2025, and finally we sat down towards the end of last year to record the album. Working with these fine musicians was a great privilege and the music just seemed to flow.
“The album was really a joy to make. I forged a close writing relationship with Harry, and I felt how great was to be working with someone who had very similar musical influences and taste once again, just as I did with John. I feel that this is one of our best albums to date. The songs are deep in musicality, with a powerful and original performance, dynamics and strong lyrical undertones, it’s an album that hopefully our fans will widely appreciate, and support our cause to put Asia back on the map. Enjoy the ride!”
Recorded across 2025 and produced by Downes and the band, with Mitchell handling mixing and mastering, Indigo keeps the band’s signature sound intact while giving it a noticeably fresh charge.
The album carries real emotional weight tied to Asia‘s history. It includes two of the final compositions from the late John Wetton, “Tattoo Indigo (Parts 2 & 3)” and “Chesapeake Bay,” giving the record a direct link to the band’s past. Whitley‘s vocal performance adds to that connection, with a tone and phrasing that echo Wetton‘s in ways that feel far from coincidental.
Sonically, Indigo builds on Asia‘s modern-era catalog while pulling in touches of the band’s earliest records. Expect the same mix of big melodies and dense arrangements that made “Heat of the Moment” and “Only Time Will Tell” into staples. The tracklist also brings in some notable guests: Steve Howe adds acoustic guitar to “Chesapeake Bay,” while Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater appears on the bonus cut “Tattoo Indigo (Part 3).”
Downes also touched on lead single “The Traveller (Into the Light)”: “The first track off the album is a high-power-energy piece with a few elements of prog trickery but retaining the accessible-chorus block, which was always a signature of Asia‘s music from the very beginning.
“Harry and I started working on this as one of the early ideas that seemed to come together very organically. Virgil‘s dynamic and innovative drums parts drive the piece along, while John‘s soaring guitars keep the momentum. Harry‘s vocals are commanding and my keyboard parts hold the wall of sound together. It’s a song of great optimism, mainly about looking forward to the future and travelling ‘into the light.’ Play it loud!”
Off the back of a busy stretch of touring across the U.S., Japan and Europe, Asia is gearing up to hit the road again.
It seems that fans have finally abandoned their demand for a version of Pattern-Seeking Animals (P-SA) that is a replacement act for Spock’s Beard. The Beard are, of course, back and thriving with a new drummer and a new album, and this fact is satiating most fans. P-SA, if indeed they ever intended to be a Beard replacement (which now seems highly doubtful), simply never conformed to that expectation. They have always sounded intentionally different, and that is ok.
For those who might not know, P-SA are Ted Leonard (vocals and guitars), Jimmy Keegan (drums and vocals), Dave Meros (bass and vocals) and John Boegehold (synths, mellotron, guitars, mandocello, vocals and main composer.) The Spock’s Beard connections, of course, are strong: Leonard and Meros remain members of The Beard, Keegan is a respected ex-member, and Boegehold was an erstwhile co-composer for the band, particularly during its post-Neal Morse phases.
It seems to me that today, P-SA is really Boegehold’s project, even though he eschews performing with the band live. As the main composer, his very particular sound is stamped all over P-SA’s recordings, and the band’s latest (and sixth) album, ‘Grimalkin’, is no exception.
Apparently a ‘grimalkin’ is a supernatural grey cat that becomes a witch’s familiar, as dramatized in Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth.’ The album has a suitably proggy title then, but the traditional prog stylings mostly end there, with the album featuring largely uncomplicated time-signatures, soulful vocal ballads and mid-tempo rock arrangements that are more cinematically elaborate than classically progressive. Of course, the legendary performance skills of Leonard, Keegan and Meros are not easily diluted into anything that could be described as uninteresting, and there are some recognisably proggy moments on the album to be sure, but you should not expect the composition or production to present anything like the next Close To The Edge.
Having said that, the album is a generally pleasing foray into the highly visual mind of John Boegehold. He seems to enjoy delivering image-laden compositions that consistently describe cinematic narratives and vivid filmic themes. This approach is bolstered by the consistent use of instruments that might well be used by the music supervisors or arrangers on such movies – such as trumpet/horns for Western themes, organs for supernatural moods and tympani and strings for dramatic effects. The result is that in many places, this album does not sound far removed from a film soundtrack, and the film in question happens to be a cross-genre one.
There are four longer tracks (of eight minutes or so) in ‘Maybe All a Dream’, ‘A Flower Yet to Grow’, ‘Break Away’ and ‘Slowly Falls the Flying Man’, with the latter two tracks being the undisputed high points of the album. The remaining four tracks are more concise and to the point, being ‘Jade Sky’, ‘Things I Don’t Do’, ‘Traveler on the Wrong Road Home’ and ‘I Dream the World.’
‘Maybe all a Dream ‘ starts with an extended cinematic soundscape introduction that thankfully soon gives way to a solid 7/4 rock groove from Keegan and full, warm performances from the band, including a jolly clap-along chorus. The harmonies are particularly polished and the instruments highly varied – a technique that has become synonymous with Boegehold’s work. At one point the track slows to half-time and an excellent, note-bending guitar solo is delivered by Leonard before the song fades away with some wistful flute.
‘A Flower Yet to Grow’ starts promisingly enough with a dainty piano melody, after which Meros takes over with his thunderous bass tone, showing that he remains one of the most recognisable bassists in modern music. Leonard’s vocal range is tested in this song, but as always, he somehow conquers the extreme registers demanded of him. As far as the arrangement goes, the slow mid-section takes the risk of sounding a little schmaltzy, and the Oriental stabs that follow it could certainly have been cut. But the track is rescued by Leonard’s consistent vocals, as well as his delivery of another fine electric solo, this time using a languid but very crisp guitar tone.
With ‘Jade Sky’, the cinematic instrumentals sound a little too much like a spaghetti western, and the track seems to have been written in a key that is slightly too high to be suited to Leonard’s fine voice. Meanwhile, ‘Things I Don’t Do’ is a short ballad about lost love. It has a very beautiful melody, and Leonard’s voice is very well harmonised with a female backing vocal, but the dramatically spoken phrase ‘It’s meant to be’ does slightly interrupt the melodic flow.
‘Break Away‘, on the other hand, is a lot more adventurous and features some very interesting sections, especially the chorus, which is quite intricate. There is an omniscient keyboard arpeggio that pops up with regularity during the song, and it is very pleasing and new -sounding. Leonard seems to be singing about the details of a murder scene, and one feels that ‘Break Away’ is therefore perhaps the one track that should have featured more cinematic soundscapes, yet ironically, it works well without them. The innovative mid-section gives way to another highly melodic Leonard lead solo and one realises that he really is an underrated guitarist. Meros’ always massive bass sound is featured on the track and he even gets the chance to solo for a few bars before the coda section. A varied and rounded production, ’Break Away’ is, all in all, a very good song indeed.
One cannot help but be curious if leaving off the Mexican/Western-sounding horns out of ‘Traveller on the Wrong Road Home’ would have benefited an otherwise great track featuring Leonard at his best. His delivery of the lyrics, paired with the strings solos, are more than enough to express the desert theme of the song, and this renders the horns somewhat redundant, to my ears at least.
Matters become quite medieval and Tudor-sounding in ‘Slowly Falls the Flying Man’ which is far and away the best track on the album. At over eight minutes, this track achieves the true vision that one believes Boegehold must have held for this record. Built around Leonard’s always fine vocals, the song develops into a perfect exposition of taste, variety, balance, and emotion. After the Tudor intro that is accompanied by Leonard’s plaintive vocal, the band ushers in some fine slow Rock, and these two styles alternate like a pendulum for the rest of the song. The core of the song is a wonderful vocal progression section in 7/4 that will please any Melodic Prog aficionado out there. The track is full of tasteful surprises, including a recorder solo, an excellent Joe Deninzon violin solo, a Keegan marching snare section, a very competent Boegehold synth solo, straight-ahead rock parts, odd-time instrumental sections, harmony vocals and so much Prog. Mission more than accomplished with this excellent track – if you want a taster of the best of this album (and possibly of this band), ‘Slowly Falls the Flying Man’ is the one to listen to.
The album closes with ‘I Dream the World’, a more than acceptable pop song with a very catchy hook. It could have been recorded in the 1980’s, but it also features some innovative modern Boegehold keyboard tones.
The album was produced by John Boegehold and mixed and mastered by Frank Rosato, with artwork and design by Laura Nagel and Thomas Ewerhard. To my ears, the audio production is of a high quality (particularly Keegan’s drum mix), though some have commented that the album sounds somewhat generally too compressed for their tastes. I am not one of them. While this might not have the detail and power of say, a Rich Mouser production, I feel that it is a full, balanced, clear and well-mixed production.
After repeated listens, I have indeed come to enjoy ‘Grimalkin’ more and more. The regular cinematic references notwithstanding, it is a well-written album with predictably excellent performances from some of the most accomplished veteran performers around. It is clear that John Boegehold has a vision for P-SA, and that vision is to take the abounding talent in this band, utilise it in a dedicated, targeted way, compose good Rock songs for it, and employ cinematic soundscapes to set those songs apart. Whether you like the use of Mexican horns in Rock Music or not, the point is that this cinematic technique makes P-SA sound somewhat different to the rest of the bands out there, including Spock’s Beard. And that, as I said, is more than ok.
1. Maybe All a Dream
2. A Flower Yet to Grow
3. Jade Sky
4. Things I Don’t Do
5. Break Away
6. Traveler on the Wrong Road Home
7. Slowly Falls the Flying Man
8. I Dream the World
Pretty Girl returns with Body Step, a sleek and hypnotic house track built for movement. Warm synth textures, rolling grooves, and subtle progressive and trance influences create a fluid club atmosphere, while her own vocals add an intimate human touch to the production. The track carries a strong sense of freedom and physicality, balancing peak-time energy with a hazier, late-night mood. Rather than relying on excess, Body Step allows its groove to develop naturally, drawing together melodic details and understated vocal moments. Deep, immersive, and effortlessly danceable, it marks a confident return from Pretty Girl.
Way back in 1988, the former Napalm Death member Justin K. Broadrick got together with fellow young Birmingham musician B.C. Green to form Godflesh, a duo who combined slow, heavy music with psychedelic textures and electronic techniques like drum machines and sampling. Their 1989 debut Streetcleaner was hugely influential in the realms of extreme metal, industrial, and noise-rock, as well as all the places where those things overlap. Over the years, Broadrick and Green kept Godflesh intermittently active, building a vast and inspiring discography. Now, Godflesh’s days are numbered, but they have a couple of albums left to go before calling it quits entirely. One of them is called Decay, and it’ll come out next month.
When a dude covers a classic Robyn song, things can go very, very wrong. Yesterday, for instance, the deeply annoying but fast-rising pop artist Malcolm Todd sang “Dancing On My Own” in a Gap commercial that also features Obsession star Inde Navarrette. (She’s innocent in all this.) We thought about posting that ad just to make fun of it, but what would we even say? It fucking sucks. It’s depressing. It makes me wonder whether I even like “Dancing On My Own” as much as I thought I did. Here, look:
“The Joyful Stain” is the latest single from long-running Australian thrashers, HARLOTT. The track appears on the band’s upcoming Exsequiis full-length, set for release on September 11th via Metal Blade Records!
The band comments, “‘The Joyful Stain’ is an homage to ‘the lucky country’ that we call home. A second-rate first-world dystopia governed by corruption, stupidity, and indifference.”
Watch HARLOTT‘s video for “The Joyful Stain” HERE.
Watch HARLOTT‘s previously released video for “Trial By Liar” HERE.
After a six-year gap, Exsequiis marks the boldest leap forward in HARLOTT‘s career. Denser, harsher, and more confident than ever – a razor-sharp sound picture built on world-class guitar work, relentless momentum and lyrics that cast a jaundiced eye over our bitterly divided world. The death of the gods, delivered by thrash metal artisans in the prime of their lives.
“Detritus Of The Final Age (2020) was a great experience in digging out sounds and ideas that we would have been too trepidant to explore,” explains guitarist/vocalist Andrew Hudson. “For Exsequiis, we went further into that, but with the confidence that it would work as it had done before.”
When describing the band’s creative process on Detritus Of The Final Age, Hudson notes, “Whether it’s lyrics or riffs or breakdowns, I always make sure that every song has at least one bit that makes you go ‘fuck yeeeeah.’” With Exsequiis, Harlott tripled-down on this strategy, ensuring the “fuck yeeeeahs” are continuously overlapping for 46 minutes. Although undoubtedly a band with their own intrinsic identity, there is still much fun for the dedicated thrasher in spotting specific inspirational moments – a pinch of Arise-era Sepultura here, a ’90s Overkill groove there, the odd touch of Testament technicality or crossover gang chant. However, when asked what HARLOTT regards as thrash metal’s gold standard, the response is unequivocal: “Does anyone ever answer this question with something other than Reign In Blood?” Rick Rubin’s razor-sharp, in-your-face production on Slayer‘s 1986 benchmark release is a fair pointer to the sound of Exsequiis, the band’s fullest, harshest sound picture yet. Bassist/vocalist Tom Richard’s bass is especially well served, with an interesting tonal dominance in certain passages, but every layer is rammed upfront for maximum head-caving impact.
Lyrics remain in the depressingly real world, the band preferring not to embroider some supernatural phantasmagoria but instead casting a jaundiced eye over our bitterly divided current climate. “It’s been a pretty interesting time to live through politically and socially,” admits Hudson. “Disinformation appears to be the new normal and a population obsessed with content creation and online participation has really exposed some things that I think we were all probably happier being ignorant of.“
HARLOTT‘s Exsequiis will be released on CD and digital formats as well as vinyl in the following color variants:
Exsequiis Track Listing:
01. Incipiam
02. Void
03. Messiah Simplex
04. Trial by Liar
05. The God That Knows No Name
06. Kleptogenesis
07. A Still More Glorious Dawn Awaits
08. The Joyful Stain
09. Endling
10. Vice Borne
11. Exsequiis
HARLOTT Live:
9/11/2026 Juz – Burghausen, DE
9/12/2026 Nuclear Intervention Fest – Kadov u Blatné, CZ
9/13/2026 Garage Pub – Krakow, PL
9/15/2026 Music-House – Graz, AT
9/16/2026 Escape – Vienna, AT
9/18/2026 MK Bar – Esch-sur-Alzette, LU
9/19/2026 Namenlos – Bonn, DE
9/20/2026 Zentralcafe – Nuremberg, DE
9/23/2026 Bambi Galore – Hamburg, DE
9/24/2026 Mukkes – Leeuwarden, NL
9/25/2026 Musicon – The Hague,NL
9/26/2026 Hellfort – Bruges, BE
“Our mates keep pumping out some heavy fast riffs. Crushing grooves, some super tricky right hand speed picking, catchy melodies with ripping leads, and raw AF vocals. Thrash metal doesn’t get much better than this!” – Brian Hopp, Cephalic Carnage
HARLOTT:
Andrew Hudson – guitar, vocals
Tom Richards – bass, vocals
Leigh Bartley – guitar
Glen Trayhern – drums
Oaly blends synthwave influences with a modern club-oriented electronic sound on In my head, turning the emotional aftermath of being ghosted into a melancholic yet energetic dancefloor experience. A rolling bassline and relentless four-on-the-floor kick provide the track with constant forward momentum, while atmospheric synths add a nostalgic electronic edge. The contrast between vulnerable lyrics and driving production gives the song its appeal, transforming feelings of uncertainty and absence into something physical and immersive. Sleek, melodic, and rhythmically focused, In my head finds an effective balance between retro synth textures and contemporary club energy.
Tasmania—outside of their famous adorable screaming murder marsupials, I know basically nothing about the island. Recently, though, Tasmania’s The Absolution Sequence seized and held my attention with everything surrounding their debut record, Dread Cycle.
