Category: news

Album Review: Shy, Low – Purity Spiral

Reviewed by Oli Gonzalez

The conveyor belt of talent that is Pelagic Records seems to be showing no signs of slowing down! Playgrounded, Hippotraktor, and label flagship band The Ocean have all released new material in the last few weeks. Now it’s Shy, Low’s latest effort “Purity Spiral”.

Inviting delicate melodies from ‘Grace’ open up the album, like those you’d hear in a soothing dream. Though those melodies suddenly become nightmare fuel with an unexpected dark and crushing twist! ‘The Bloat’ Continues with that darkened crushing vibe, though the pace is much quicker. Before venturing down a more intricate psychedelic spiced avenue. The texture is always dense with multiple layers building an impenetrably complex sound. These foundations are built upon whilst teasing more melodic passages in ‘Palmistry’ without straying too far away from these pillars. ‘Burning Fields’ feels like much welcome respite, with the tone more relaxed and minimalist, with the crushing distortion stripped away. All before making a roaring comeback during the early segments of ‘The Charging Brazen Bull’ . Though we’re introduced to some of the more calmer and tranquil segments of the album so far. Moments were the dynamics drop, offering a semblance of calm and time for reflection. All acting as a ruse and a vehicle to build tension before things ramp up once again towards the song’s satisfying crescendo.

So far, the record has ebb and flowed gracefully, with each song seamlessly transitioning into the next and all forming a sum greater than the whole of its parts!

Remember the nightmare analogy at the beginning? Well the album’s title track ‘Purity Spiral’ ensures this continues! Dark, austere, terror-inducing, this wouldn’t look out of place on an Opeth album. All that’s missing are Mike Akerfeldt’s trademark growls and cleans to complete this illusion! Though it has to be said, a 9 minute number feels like a commitment at this stage.  30 minutes of instrumental moving through segments at this speed can be challenging to digest, especially as it feels like these movements haven’t really had time to be fully processed, leading to a bit of listener fatigue. The idea of an 8 minute song on top of that feels like an ordeal initially. Though we’re treated to a much slower introspective piece with much less friction and complexity. Something to reset the senses with something much easier to digest. Perhaps this could have come earlier? 

So, a roaring start but throwing perhaps a few too many ideas into the melting pot has resulted in something that feels too much like a test of mental endurance. Shaving just one song would have made a huge difference! As a result, “Purity Spiral” is going to challenge you and test your patience. But for post-metal fans with the time and patience to invest will love Shy,Low.

For all the latest news, reviews, interviews across the heavy metal spectrum follow THE RAZORS’S EDGE on facebook, twitter and instagram.

The post Album Review: Shy, Low – Purity Spiral appeared first on The Razor's Edge.

Album Review: Sidus – Lotus

Reviewed by Oli Gonzales

Let’s face it. The world of post metal has been shaken pretty hard this year! Neurosis came out of nowhere and released “An Undying Love for a Burning World” in March, and whilst the dust was still settling, Russian Circles joined in on the action with their crushing effort “Nine”! Not to be upstaged, The Ocean showcased the strength of their new lineup on “Solaris”. Yet we still have new material from Cult Of Luna and Rosetta to go! As such, you can feel a bit of sympathy for the likes of Sidus, newcomers in the world of post metal with their debut full length “Lotus”. Hopefully this doesn’t get lost in the shuffle, and hopefully after reading this, post metal fans like yourself will give this a spin on October 16th!

The Berlin based band opened things off with ‘Origins Beneath’. The mood is sombre, introspective. You feel as though they’re building up to something. They slowly but surely increase the intensity as the song progresses, with more layers of melody but also with some thick slabs of distorted guitar slamming into your senses. Still, it feels like they’re holding back, resisting the urge to hit you with the full blown slobber-knocker. No, that comes next in ‘Chasmal’. For anybody enamoured by Russian Circles and craving another fix will be more than satiated by not just the complex tapestry of sound laid down here, but also the sheer mastery of tone and production! That’s what happens when you hire Joe Clayton for mixing and mastering, who lists Conjurer, Pijn, and Bossk as happy customers.

Now, the band operates as (mostly) an instrumental act. Though they enlisted the vocals of Sarp Keski from rising post-metal act Bipolar Architecture for ‘Embrace The Void’. The resemblance to Cult Of Luna’s Johannes Persson is uncanny, given his range of fierce growls dominating the mid range, acting almost like an additional instrument given how they compliment and blend into the music so effectively! No complex vocal passages, just elongated roars dripping in raw human sentiment, matching the urgency and abrasion of the music! This isn’t the only song featuring the vocals, with the album’s title track using a similar vocal approach to add extra depth to their already cavernous sound. 

After having your skull pounded by the opening 3 tracks, a welcome breather and respite if offered in the shape of the rather mellow ‘Awaken’. This is achieved through deploying guitar tones built on more shoegazey style and ambient tones. A theme which continues into ‘Soul Gazer’, though the drums make a return and despite the more melodic nature of the composition, handle with caution as this still packs a punch. Likewise with ‘Divine Paradox’, which may well begin taking us down that more mellow avenue but drags us down a darker and scarier cul-de-sac of neck-snapping grooves!

Whilst the aforementioned post-metal heavyweights will likely get all the plaudits, don’t overlook Sidus nor ‘Lotus’. This is an effort that seriously punches above its weight class and points to a wildly successful future in the genre!

For all the latest news, reviews, interviews across the heavy metal spectrum follow THE RAZORS’S EDGE on facebook, twitter and instagram.

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Five bands whose debut recordings made an impression in 2026—and the songs that explain why their next chapters deserve attention….

Dreams are better than things you’re told, all these changes, keep me alone

Anyone who has ever wished they could hop into a time machine and go back to the post-punk clubs of 1981 to 1983 knows the frustration of discovering a brilliant band decades after their last gig. A handful of singles, a photograph, and some blurred footage can be enough to make such a long-gone history feel personally inconsiderate. Dutch coldwave trio Desinteresse offer a more agreeable arrangement. They have the look and sound of a lost band from that era, right down to the clothes, severe haircuts, and lean instrumental interplay, with the added advantage that you can see them live now.

Their new song Falling Faces is the first and only single from their forthcoming album A Picture, due at the end of 2026 through Fabrika Records. It also marks the band’s first released song in English, accompanied by a video filmed by their friend Romy Janssen.

Falling Faces sounds strikingly like The Cure during the Seventeen Seconds / Faith era, particularly the taut, restless movement of Play for Today and Primary. The prominent bassline and flanged guitar carry the song forward together, their phrases blending into a fluid melodic pattern, while its steady drumbeat maintains a measured insistence. That close interplay gives the repeating figures a hypnotic continuity, making the tension feel increasingly difficult to escape. The vocal gives that restraint an exposed emotional edge, bringing the ache of separation into an otherwise tightly controlled performance.

The lyrics drift between the intimacy of a dance and the distance left in its wake, trading tears, glances, and dreams across a relationship growing harder to reach. “Dreams are better than things you’re told, all these changes, keep me alone” sets imagined comfort against the ache of what has come to pass. Faces fill an empty space, only to vanish without a trace; even the promise of meeting again leaves open whether another encounter could mend what’s been lost. The refrain, “Push it away,” becomes a quiet plea against a feeling that returns no matter how hard it’s banished.

Janssen’s video extends the impression of an early post-punk performance preserved on an old tape. Blue stage lighting, grainy images, and occasional horizontal tracking lines frame close views of the musicians’ faces and instruments. The camera gives the band room to play, making their appearance and physical presence part of the song’s austere appeal. For anyone still considering that time machine, the footage makes a persuasive case for checking the forthcoming tour dates first.

Watch the video for Falling Faces below:

Desinteresse began in the Netherlands in late 2022 as the partnership of bassist Bart Vranken and vocalist, guitarist, and synth player Sem van den Munckhof. Their early releases, Voor Altijd and Ik Wil Dood Als Ik Het Vergeet, appeared on cassette through their own DECADENCE label in 2023. Drummer Joppe de Swart joined in 2024, with Grijze Dromen marking their first release as a trio.

Their commitment to vintage instruments, effects, amplifiers, and analogue recording has shaped the band since its earliest cassette releases. After moving to Fabrika Records, Desinteresse released Onschuld in September 2025, recorded entirely on analogue equipment at Amsterdam’s The Lullabye Factory. The album drew explicitly on The Cure’s Faith and Pornography, as well as Joy Division and French coldwave band Trop Tard. A Picture follows later this year, preceded by its sole advance single, Falling Faces.

Tour Dates:

• October 21 — Trier, Germany — Mergener Hof
• October 24 — Parma, Italy — Arcistella
• November 6 — Venlo, Netherlands — Grenswerk
• November 8 — Amsterdam, Netherlands — Paradiso
• November 26 — Vigo, Spain — La Fábrica de Chocolate
• November 27 — Porto, Portugal — Hard Club
• November 28 — Madrid, Spain — Hangar 48
• November 29 — Zaragoza, Spain — La Lata de Bombillas
• December 2 — Marseille, France — L’Intermédiaire
• December 3 — Lyon, France — Sonic
• December 4 — Kusel, Germany — Kinnet
• December 6 — Hamburg, Germany — MS Stubnitz
• December 8 — Berlin, Germany — Kantine am Berghain
• December 11 — Paris, France — Le Chinois
• December 19 — Utrecht, Netherlands — DB’s

Follow Desinteresse:

• Instagram
• Bandcamp
• Spotify

The post “A Distant Dream” — Dutch Coldwavers Desinteresse Share Video for “Falling Faces” Ahead of New Album “A Picture” appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

Tom Morello has revealed the unlikely inspiration a future hard rock guitar hero had on him years before he founded Rage Against The Machine.

Morello was a student at Harvard University in the mid-80s when he stumbled across a rising Boston band named Extreme and their guitarist Nuno Bettencourt.

“When I was at Harvard University, on Wednesday nights there was a metal night at a club in downtown Boston,” Morello tells Classic Rock in a new interview. “Our favourite band was called Extreme, which featured, at the time, a 16 or 17-year-old-guitar wunderkind, Nuno Bettencourt. I remember thinking: ‘This is one of the best guitar players in the world, and he’s a high-school kid.’ I couldn’t believe it. He was one of my guitar heroes. This would’ve been 1985, 1986.’”

Morello’s sense of impending greatness wasn’t off. Within a few years, Extreme had bagged a major label deal and would go on to release 1990’s multi-platinum Pornograffitti album and the single More Than Words, which reached No.1 in the US. Bettencourt himself would be hailed as one of the greatest guitarists of his generation – something Morello was fully aware of.

“Cut to 1999, and it’s the Rage Against The Machine Battle Of Los Angeles tour,” he tells Classic Rock. “We’re playing in Boston, and there’s a meet-and-greet thing. I’m looking at the names of who’s on the list, and the name Nuno Bettencourt is there. I’m like: ‘Make sure I see that guy.’ So Nuno comes up to me and says: ‘Great show.’ I was like: ‘Dude, you have no idea. I’ve been a fan of yours for fifteen years.’ And since that day we’ve been great friends.”

Morello also reveals that he’s one of only a handful of people to have held the guitar played by his hero Randy Rhoads.

“I was instrumental in getting Randy Rhoads into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame,” the RATM man says of the guitarist, who famously played with Ozzy Osbourne and died in 1982. His sister, who’s lovely, is very protective of all the stuff. It’s sealed away somewhere in a secret vault and no one knows where it is. I’d asked her if I could see it, and she said: “Nobody sees it.’ You gotta respect that.

“Cut to about a year later, and she texts me saying the guitar is at her house that afternoon, on its way back from the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, and now would I like to go see it? His mom didn’t want anyone else to ever play it again, but I got to hold it. That was pretty emotional for me. The crazy thing was that the leather guitar strap still smelled of cigarette smoke. He was performing up until the day he died, so that strap had smoke from 1982 left in it.”

Read the full interview with Tom Morello in the brand new issue of Classic Rock, on sale now. Order it online here.

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His bout with pneumonia highlighted some congenital heart issues.

The post Elder’s Jack Donovan Is On The Mend After Open-Heart Surgery Following Mid-Tour Hospitalization appeared first on Theprp.com.

Death metal veterans Memoriam have unleashed “Nothing More To Say”, the first single from their sixth and final studio album Endgame, due out January 29th, 2027 via Reaper Entertainment.
Read more…

Later this month, on October 30th, Austrian grindcore veterans Mastic Scum will put out their new studio record dubbed Void. The latter was recorded, mixed and mastered at Grindlab Studio. Two new songs can be listened in preview via Bandcamp widget below.
Read more…

“If you’ve ever wanted to dance in a safe environment, without the risk of getting an elbow to the face by some hardcore ninja, or being groped by some absolute f*cking Neanderthal… this is your chance to do in a safe environment…”

The post Watch Frank Carter Eject A Male Concertgoer Who Took Issue With A Female-Only Mosh Pit At Sex Pistols’ Denver Show appeared first on Theprp.com.