It’s been a tumultuous winter for Ekko Astral. Soon, they’ll be stepping back to “recalibrate.”

The post Ekko Astral Postpone New Album, Withdraw From Liberation Weekend II appeared first on Stereogum.

His departure leaves Mike Love as the last remaining classic era member touring with the band. Continue reading…

Godflesh is about to be over. Justin K. Broadrick, the visionary auteur who has fronted the industrial metal band since founding it with bandmate B.C. Green in Birmingham, UK in 1988, revealed in a detailed Instagram message that recent health issues have precipitated the end of the project.

The post Justin K. Broadrick Outlines End Of Godflesh Following Recent Surgery appeared first on Stereogum.

Good Day Noir Family,
A crunchy guitar riff tears open “Hourglass” by The SKBs, and the adrenaline spikes right away.

Hourglass is The SKBs’ Single Out Now

The tone is thick yet defined, setting a fierce pace before the vocals even arrive.

Then the female lead steps in and commands the space with remarkable solidity and tone. Her voice is flawless, energetic, and intense, anchoring the track with confidence.

The song pushes hard almost immediately. The drums strike with relentless force, and the snare hits land like rounded thunderclaps that dominate the rhythmic frame. The bass locks tightly into that pulse, reinforcing the foundation and adding depth to the groove. The track moves forward with unstoppable momentum.

The chorus expands the sonic spectrum in exciting ways. Background vocals and subtle synth layers join the arrangement, widening the texture and adding lift. The hook feels big without losing clarity. That balance between power and precision strengthens the emotional impact. The singer’s vocal variations deserve real attention. Her higher notes soar confidently, reaching skyward without strain, and they inject an almost epic dimension into the song.

The intensity never spirals out of control. The structure remains tight, and each section connects smoothly to the next. The melody stands at the center of everything, guiding the instrumental force rather than being overshadowed by it. In addition, the production shines with polish and purpose. Every instrument occupies its own space, and nothing feels accidental.

There’s a cinematic edge to “Hourglass,” especially during its most expansive moments. The energy surges, then settles just enough to create contrast before climbing again. That dynamic flow keeps the listener engaged from start to finish.

The SKBs deliver a powerful and assured single with “Hourglass.” It blends raw rock energy with refined execution, highlighting technical strength and melodic instinct. This is an impressive release that I would strongly recommend to any fan of energetic alternative rock.

Hourglass is The SKBs’ Single Out Now!

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Explosive!

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Hourglass is The SKBs’ Single Out Now

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Find The SKBs Here:

Spotify
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The post Hourglass is The SKBs’ Single Out Now appeared first on Edgar Allan Poets – Noir Rock Band.

The Hara found a whole new heavy side for their second album

Portland, Oregon’s post-punk band Combobox is back with their latest EP, Here We Go Again! While it hasn’t been too long since their last EP, Oh No!, was released in July of last year, Combobox has cooked up an inventive batch of songs that help boost their sound while still sticking to their roots. Here We Go Again! has a much more urgent and darker tone, but still retains the humor that shone through on their first EP.

While lyrically these songs have the same snark as their previous EP, Combobox comes out much more aggressive and biting here. The music is faster on the first half, but also heavier and darker on the second half. “The Party” is a great start to the EP. It’s fast and catchy. The fun riffs from the first album are there, too. The breakdown of this song seems to pivot into Pixies territory with its clean surf-like guitars before speeding back up for an abrupt ending. The song structure stuck with me on this album.

The second track, “The Sermon,” is even faster and riffier than “The Party,” and works just as well. Musically, there is enough DNA from the last EP that it doesn’t sound too different, but it definitely moves their sound forward. Lyrically, these first two songs remind me of Jello Biafra and their way of making the narrator’s thoughts ridiculous until they’re poignant. On the surface, these lyrics are a little silly, but a closer look reveals much more to them.

“Meanwhile” and “The Road” are slower and heavier, but great nonetheless. “Meanwhile” is probably my favorite song off the album, starting off with a humorous exchange during a bank robbery gone awry because of an argument about face masks. Whether or not these songs follow the same narrator, each track feels like its own short story, a self-contained misadventure with its own stakes.

Combobox has done it again; they manage to squeeze in four fantastic songs into about ten minutes, leaving you clamoring for more. This EP is proof that Combobox isn’t just refining their sound; they’re expanding it. Their talent for writing music and biting lyrics shines through even more this time around. Their use of humor, commentary, and satire to point out the stupidities of the world is becoming a signature, not just a quirk. Pick up Combobox’s Here We Go Again! It is available digitally and on cassette from their Bandcamp.

Combobox has some shows coming up. Go and see them if you can:

3/6 – Portland, OR – Kenton Club (EP Release Party)

3/7 – Eugene, OR – Ghost Town Outfitters

4/18 – Roseburg, OR – Rosebud Theater

4/19 – Kaizer, OR – Radness Ensues

Posted on March 5th 2026, 1:00p.m.

Posted on March 5th 2026, 12:23p.m.

For nearly two decades, Desert Storm has stood at the cornerstone of England’s fuzz-drenched underground. One can imagine my surprise, then, to find that I claim the first review of their catalog here. The group’s maturation has been a process of trial and error, evolving from smoky, blues-soaked stoner and southern rock roots into a heftier, sludgy, doom-infused form. Despite the unevenness of the Oxford outfit’s earlier efforts—Forked Tongues and Horizontal Life—Desert Storm’s more recent output (specifically Sentinels and Omens) found that sweet spot where sludge, doom, and stoner rock collide. While 2023’s Death Rattle saw these lads largely revisiting their old psychedelic ways, their seventh record, Buried Under the Weight of Reason, reverses course with a Saharan surge of down-tuned, resonant grooves and explosive riff drops poised to shatter many a bong.

As the opening notes of “Newfound Respect” hit, Buried Under the Weight of Reason reveals itself as a blunter, more dynamic beast than its predecessors. The guitars have thickened into a sludge/doom/stoner hybrid of epic proportions, blending Boss Keloid-like phrasing (“Rot to Ruin,” “Newfound Respect”) with Baronessian textures (“Twelve Seasons,” “Law Unto Myself”) and even the occasional djenty chug (“Cut Your Teeth,” “Rot to Ruin”). Huge, low-slung riffs drive Desert Storm’s definitive songwriting pattern. Songs lurch between stampeding verses and clean, crestfallen bridges, often featuring playful bass flourishes and blues refrains. Elliot Cole’s drums hit with massive, tom-forward authority. Each booming strike fuses with new bassist Andrew Keyzor (ex-Beard of Zeuss), carving deep pockets on tracks like “Woodsman” and “Shamanic Echoes.” By the time the first few tracks roll by, it’s obvious that Buried Under the Weight of Reason finds Desert Storm operating squarely in their wheelhouse.

Desert Storm commits to a single mission on Buried Under the Weight of Reason: delivering crushing, irresistible grooves from start to finish. Though lesser bands often bail on a great hook too early, Desert Storm has the confidence to lock in and let a sequence breathe like a fine wine, avoiding the common pitfall of over-complicating a riff before it reaches its zenith. Their controlled songwriting approach shines on the “Woodsman” and “Shamanic Echoes,” where the group adds nuance through minimalist, hook-heavy phrasing that feels both exciting and fresh. “Rot to Ruin” and “Cut Your Teeth” utilize spacious, bluesy transitions to reset the listener’s palate before building toward massive payoffs. The latter succeeds because the quartet holds back, patiently waiting for the precise moment to strike with a mammoth closing riff. The album closes with “Twelve Seasons,” a standout track that balances technical complexity and eccentricity with Desert Storm’s conviction to mine every ounce of a groove’s energy until it runs bone-dry.

Matthew Ryan’s vocals have historically been Desert Storm’s hollow point, but on Buried Under the Weight of Reason, they arrive with a newfound polish and reliability. Hitting with a grizzled, Crowbar-like growl, Ryan provides a solid—albeit largely safe—foundation that underpins Desert Storm’s low-frequency bulk. While Ryan’s vocals struggle to elevate the plethora of high-caliber riffs, they sit comfortably in the mix, serving their purpose without overreaching. Inconsistencies surface, however, on “Woodsman,” where mechanical chanting feels like a unique angle tripped up by its own peculiarity. More jarring is “Dripback,” where Ryan’s barking cadence feels a bit too unhinged, overshadowing an otherwise great groove. Beyond the vocal performance, the compressed mix masks the finer nuances—like the cowbell on “Twelve Seasons”—and the quartet’s commitment to the almighty riff sometimes results in songs feeling overextended. While Desert Storm’s “groove-first” philosophy is surely their strength, it leads to some bloat on the record’s longer cuts (“Rot to Ruin,” “Shamanic Echoes”). Additionally, the inclusion of the interlude “Carry the Weight” feels pointless in the context of the album’s flow.

But for Desert Storm, Buried Under the Weight of Reason is a cause for celebration. By knowing and staying largely within their established limits, the group has created not only a good record, but easily their best to date. While it occasionally oversteps its bounds or struggles to maintain its momentum, the songwriting and groove are infectious enough to have every head in the club bobbing in unison. Their sharpest effort to date, with enough weight to kill an elephant, Buried Under the Weight of Reason is a damn good time and a reminder that sometimes, that’s all a record needs to be.

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Rating: Very Good!
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Heavy Psych Sounds
Websites: desertstorm.bandcamp.com/music | desertstormband.com | facebook.com/desertstormuk
Releases Worldwide: March 6th, 2026

The post Desert Storm – Buried Under the Weight of Reason Review appeared first on Angry Metal Guy.

If you’ve followed my reviews over the years you’ll know this isn’t a casual fling. My relationship with Mike Trash’s music has been long, loud and gloriously sleazy fun. From the first time I locked into the sleazy stab of The Erotics’ early releases to the darker, more cinematic horror-tinged turns of their later catalogue, there’s been a through-line: conviction. Just What the Devil Ordered is an album that you can feel the dirt under its fingernails, and it kicks the door clean off its hinges and plants its boots on the table, spilling a few bottles as it does. This is The Erotics fully realised, full of fire, and absolutely certain of their own vaulted mythology. As I always say when a new record hits – these guys should be HUGE!

From the opening bars of the subtly titled ‘Necro City’ you know you’re in familiar, dangerous territory. That unmistakable Trash guitar tone is simply gutter-glam snarl:  part late-night noir, part dark graveyard delight. It’s a song on a record that sounds like it was recorded live right as you listen. Subtlety is clearly for suckers! There’s chaos in the guitar grind, but a shimmer too and it is all just so unapologetically loud! The rhythm section stalks, smashes and hits hard. There’s a real tightness here that only comes from years of shared stages and shared scars. Where earlier albums flirted with excess for the thrill of it, this one seems to channel that excess with precision. It’s wonderfully controlled yet gloriously reckless at heart.

What strikes hardest is the confidence of tracks like ‘Horns Hold My Halo’. This isn’t a band chasing relevance or retro cool; this is a band defining its own lane and daring anyone else to keep up. The hooks hit with more impact, the grooves just swing harder, and the arrangements show a maturity that sharpens everything. There’s a real cool 80’s groove that hints at depth and reverence behind the decadence, man so far Just What the Devil Ordered is so cool.

‘Nightmares of Lullabies’ has a slice of Sex Pistols attitude in the refrain. Trash just understands the cost of indulgence and sings about it without ever surrendering the thrill of it all. That balance has always been his secret weapon. I’ve said in earlier reviews that Trash writes sin like poetry; here he writes it like barroom scripture.

Lyrically, Trash remains the high priest of temptation and I love ‘Just Another Thing’ that has that swagger of early Dogs D’Amour and trashy New York Punk sound. It’s one of my absolute standouts (well one of the 8!). ‘Trapped in Nowhere’ that follows hot on the stacked heels is simply unstoppable sleazy fun and boasts the great line “The only way out of this Earth is in a rocket or a shiny hearse”… 

‘Sweet Beautiful Lies’ crawls in across the beer stained floor and swaggers and stumbles drunkenly to the bar. The production deserves credit for refusing to sand off the grit. There’s warmth in the mix, but it’s the kind that comes from analogue glow rather than digital polish. Guitars breathe, drums crack, basslines prowl. Nothing feels overcrowded, nothing feels remotely safe, it all just sounds wonderfully raw. It sounds like a band in a room, right next to you, sweat dripping, ears burning, just like it should be.

‘I See Enemies’ is full tilt punk attitude and a sure fire fast fix live. And closer ’11 Dead Roses’ leads us out with the strummed acoustic antithesis of all that’s come before. It’s those textures tat make The Erotics so unique and long may it continue.

I’ve championed Mike Trash for years because he’s never taken the obvious route. While trends rose and collapsed around him, he doubled down on storytelling, swagger and substance. This album reinforces that stubborn artistic streak. But Just What the Devil Ordered isn’t a reinvention and it isn’t a nostalgia trip. It’s more of the same quality you would expect from a band that refuses to grow up or grow old.

For those of us who’ve been riding shotgun with Mike Trash’s musical misadventures for years, it’s confirmation that the fire hasn’t dimmed — it’s burning cleaner, hotter and brighter than ever.

9/10

The post ALBUM REVIEW: The Erotics – Just What the Devil Ordered appeared first on The Rockpit.