Blog

Witch Ripper – Through The Hourglass (Magentic Eye Records) [Rich Piva]

Telling a cohesive story across an album is hard. Doing it over two records is even harder. But when you are storytellers like the guys in Witch Ripper are, you make it look (and sound) easy. It started on their amazing record The Flight After The Fall back in 2023 and continues, and possibly concludes, with the band’s new record, Through The Hourglass, which somehow tops what was one of the best records from that year. The story continues, but so does the awesome heavy, proggy melodic goodness that these guys from Seattle have come to be known for.

Part two of the epic journey begins as the last one ended, which is super cool, and which also leads to the absolutely crushing track, The Portal. The drumming on this record is insane and you hear that right off the bat. This is what metal should sound like in 2026, as Witch Ripper is the new standard bearer. The harsh and clean vocals work perfectly together and the way this record sounds is perfect. The unique thing about Witch Ripper is how a band that brings the heavy and brings it in this proggy, complex way, in songs usually over six minutes, is how catchy and melodic they can be. I mean, that bridge with the clean vocals? Awesome.

Not many bands can do heavy, complex, and melodic so well. The opening to Symmetry Of The Hourglass is the most metal thing you will hear this year in the most glorious fashion. These guys are compared to Mastodon a lot, and this song is one of the reasons why. The call and response between the harsh and clean voices rules here, but while you can hear Mastondon, this song is uniquely Witch Ripper all the way. I love the solo on this one too. Echoes And Dust continues the vibe with its chunky riff, insane drumming and proggy changes. My favourite track on the record is The Clock Queen.

From their last record, The Obsidian Forge was not only my favourite track on the album but one of my songs of the year. This is the same way I feel about The Clock Queen. The heavy, the melodic, the complexity, the skill level, the vocals, it is all just so great. Proxima Centauri slows the pace down a bit, perfectly sequenced as part of the story, but the build to when the quiet gets loud shows how much these guys get the prog side of things in the best ways.

The end of the journey is The Spiral Eye and it all makes so much sense. There are such amazing little details on this record of how it pushes the story forward and keeps the consistency across the two records. Things you may not notice the first time or even the tenth time you listen, but there is something new to discover every time and when you figure it all out, the genius of Witch Ripper is revealed.

The Flight After The Fall and now Through The Hourglass are stand alone amazing proggy metal records that hang with all of the big names out there who you may hear Witch Ripper compared to. Putting these two records together creates something that is so epic, so unique, and so perfectly executed that only a small handful of bands could pull it off. Witch Ripper is one of the bands who can, as they move into the upper echelon of heavy music out there today. 10/10

Masheena – Let The Spiders In (Majestic Mountain Record/Ripple Music) [Matt Bladen]

A Scandinavian band calling their debut album West Coast Hard Rock, is a bold claim but when it’s the perfect descriptor for their musical style then it’s hard to argue. The Bergen band featuring Luis Salomon (guitar/vocals), Tarjei A. Heggernes (bass) and Bård Heavy Nordvik (drums) on the album line up but they have expanded to a foursome live with Martin Holmes on drums and Heine A. Heggernes on guitar. This line up shift coming as their ‘West Coast Hard Rock’ is a bit more complex and layered on sophomore record Let The Spiders In.

The compositions are bolder and stadium reaching, ten tracks to highlight how this Norwegian act can deliver a sound that is so entrenched in the American rock scene. Let The Spiders In then refines what Masheena are about, it’s slick and shimmering but has heavy bones, moving between party grooves on ­­­­­You Owe Me, which is all dual harmonies to grunting, the Southern slide of Been Waiting, stoner slabs such as A Game You Don’t Wanna Lose and Riffy. The trio of Life Is But A Sin, Sarah Lost Her Way and In Her Eyes all have that reverb drenched approach of Chris Cornell’s solo stuff with nods to the Black Crowes as well, showing that behind the groovy rocking, Masheena can also give a more laidback atmosphere.

Leaning on Black Spiders, Spiritual Beggars, Tom Petty, and if you’re Welsh then the woozy haze of Super Furry Animals on Don’t Tell Her What To Do and One Eye, all via a lot of KISS harmonies, it’s a record that will get you grooving from the off with Southern blues rocking meeting arena filling melodies Scandi stoner fuzz. Let The Spiders In evolves Masheena’s ‘West Coast Hard Rock’ with a larger scale than before. 8/10

Neptune Power Federation – Mondo Tomorrow (Cruz Del Sur) [Rich Piva]

Is it possible to know what to expect from a band going in, but it still sounds different and is surprising and exciting every time? Records by the Australian band Neptune Power Federation are going to sound like NPF albums; big, bombastic, energetic, arena-worthy rock and roll. Even with that the band always goes just enough in another direction to make things interesting. From Heart, to Meatloaf, to doomy stuff, to power pop, to hair band leaning, to heavy metal, to proto, to glam, to just downright awesome, Neptune Power Federation rules no matter what they do. This hypothesis is confirmed with their latest record, Mondo Tomorrow.

You cannot talk about NPF without mentioning the amazing frontwoman, Screaming Loz Sutch. That voice, the energy, the costumes. She is all you want in a lead singer and so much more. Her vocals are amazing on Mondo Tomorrow (of course) with The Grip Of Death being a great example of her crazy range. Adding the organ to this track takes it to an even higher level of cool.

The opening track is power pop awesomeness from a band who is super tight and really knows what they are doing and what they are trying to achieve, and then making it even better. Loz harmonizing with herself at multiple crazy different ranges makes And The Bones Decay so great; the song lies just between power pop and 80s hard rock and just kicks ass. I love when the pace slows on this one too. Speaking of 80s hard rock, Living In The Gutter is one of the best songs in that style since 1989. So wonderfully sleezy.

Handclaps! If you like the Go Gos (I do) you will certainly dig Mind Controller. Cybernetic Times also has this 80s rock bop to it and is more killer energetic rock and roll, but has some layers and complexity to it; there is a ton happening on this song, all of it very cool. Rhapsody In Blue has this almost punk and psych weirdness going on but still the super catchy NPF you know and love. NPF are so good at ending albums with big, epic tracks. Mondo Tomorrow is no different with the six-plus minute killer The Barbarian Dominion.

I am sure I have said this in the two (or more) reviews I have done for Neptune Power Federation records, but this band just rules and Mondo Tomorrow is no different. The band is firing on all cylinders again, and continues to create amazing rock, leveraging bits and pieces of a dozen or so genres but always making it their own. NPF makes me happy and should do the same for you. 9/10

Waste A Saint – …And It’s Evergreen (All Good Clean Records) [Matt Bladen]

Coming from Trondheim Norway, Waste A Saint return with their third album …And It’s Evergreen. It’s one that come from a bit of adversity as just as they were starting to write the record their drummer left, meaning they not only had an album to write but a new drummer to find, which if anyone who has been near a band will know is no easy task.

Thankfully Bogey Stefansdottir (vocals), Alexander Skomakerstuen (guitar), Ole Nogva (bass/synth) recruited Trym Solan Renolen as their new drummer and he has injected something into the band that possibly wasn’t there before, there’s a bristling energy and renewed focus on album three, as if the band are reborn. …And It’s All Evergreen goes through a number of different musical phases to keep you guessing. Still the base layer is stoner rock but they bring a lot of 60’s psych or even some 70’s post punk while they also draw heavily from 90’s alt rock oddness, with the obtuse riffs and vocals definitely.

A positive change in line up then for Waste A Saint, as they focus down on going further than their influences may have allowed before, refreshed with a wider percussive prowess and a more comprehensive instrumentation, …And It’s Evergreen will leave a long lasting impression. 7/10

Witch Ripper – Through The Hourglass (Magentic Eye Records) [Rich Piva]

Telling a cohesive story across an album is hard. Doing it over two records is even harder. But when you are storytellers like the guys in Witch Ripper are, you make it look (and sound) easy. It started on their amazing record The Flight After The Fall back in 2023 and continues, and possibly concludes, with the band’s new record, Through The Hourglass, which somehow tops what was one of the best records from that year. The story continues, but so does the awesome heavy, proggy melodic goodness that these guys from Seattle have come to be known for.

Part two of the epic journey begins as the last one ended, which is super cool, and which also leads to the absolutely crushing track, The Portal. The drumming on this record is insane and you hear that right off the bat. This is what metal should sound like in 2026, as Witch Ripper is the new standard bearer. The harsh and clean vocals work perfectly together and the way this record sounds is perfect. The unique thing about Witch Ripper is how a band that brings the heavy and brings it in this proggy, complex way, in songs usually over six minutes, is how catchy and melodic they can be. I mean, that bridge with the clean vocals? Awesome.

Not many bands can do heavy, complex, and melodic so well. The opening to Symmetry Of The Hourglass is the most metal thing you will hear this year in the most glorious fashion. These guys are compared to Mastodon a lot, and this song is one of the reasons why. The call and response between the harsh and clean voices rules here, but while you can hear Mastondon, this song is uniquely Witch Ripper all the way. I love the solo on this one too. Echoes And Dust continues the vibe with its chunky riff, insane drumming and proggy changes. My favourite track on the record is The Clock Queen.

From their last record, The Obsidian Forge was not only my favourite track on the album but one of my songs of the year. This is the same way I feel about The Clock Queen. The heavy, the melodic, the complexity, the skill level, the vocals, it is all just so great. Proxima Centauri slows the pace down a bit, perfectly sequenced as part of the story, but the build to when the quiet gets loud shows how much these guys get the prog side of things in the best ways.

The end of the journey is The Spiral Eye and it all makes so much sense. There are such amazing little details on this record of how it pushes the story forward and keeps the consistency across the two records. Things you may not notice the first time or even the tenth time you listen, but there is something new to discover every time and when you figure it all out, the genius of Witch Ripper is revealed.

The Flight After The Fall and now Through The Hourglass are stand alone amazing proggy metal records that hang with all of the big names out there who you may hear Witch Ripper compared to. Putting these two records together creates something that is so epic, so unique, and so perfectly executed that only a small handful of bands could pull it off. Witch Ripper is one of the bands who can, as they move into the upper echelon of heavy music out there today. 10/10

Masheena – Let The Spiders In (Majestic Mountain Record/Ripple Music) [Matt Bladen]

A Scandinavian band calling their debut album West Coast Hard Rock, is a bold claim but when it’s the perfect descriptor for their musical style then it’s hard to argue. The Bergen band featuring Luis Salomon (guitar/vocals), Tarjei A. Heggernes (bass) and Bård Heavy Nordvik (drums) on the album line up but they have expanded to a foursome live with Martin Holmes on drums and Heine A. Heggernes on guitar. This line up shift coming as their ‘West Coast Hard Rock’ is a bit more complex and layered on sophomore record Let The Spiders In.

The compositions are bolder and stadium reaching, ten tracks to highlight how this Norwegian act can deliver a sound that is so entrenched in the American rock scene. Let The Spiders In then refines what Masheena are about, it’s slick and shimmering but has heavy bones, moving between party grooves on ­­­­­You Owe Me, which is all dual harmonies to grunting, the Southern slide of Been Waiting, stoner slabs such as A Game You Don’t Wanna Lose and Riffy. The trio of Life Is But A Sin, Sarah Lost Her Way and In Her Eyes all have that reverb drenched approach of Chris Cornell’s solo stuff with nods to the Black Crowes as well, showing that behind the groovy rocking, Masheena can also give a more laidback atmosphere.

Leaning on Black Spiders, Spiritual Beggars, Tom Petty, and if you’re Welsh then the woozy haze of Super Furry Animals on Don’t Tell Her What To Do and One Eye, all via a lot of KISS harmonies, it’s a record that will get you grooving from the off with Southern blues rocking meeting arena filling melodies Scandi stoner fuzz. Let The Spiders In evolves Masheena’s ‘West Coast Hard Rock’ with a larger scale than before. 8/10

Neptune Power Federation – Mondo Tomorrow (Cruz Del Sur) [Rich Piva]

Is it possible to know what to expect from a band going in, but it still sounds different and is surprising and exciting every time? Records by the Australian band Neptune Power Federation are going to sound like NPF albums; big, bombastic, energetic, arena-worthy rock and roll. Even with that the band always goes just enough in another direction to make things interesting. From Heart, to Meatloaf, to doomy stuff, to power pop, to hair band leaning, to heavy metal, to proto, to glam, to just downright awesome, Neptune Power Federation rules no matter what they do. This hypothesis is confirmed with their latest record, Mondo Tomorrow.

You cannot talk about NPF without mentioning the amazing frontwoman, Screaming Loz Sutch. That voice, the energy, the costumes. She is all you want in a lead singer and so much more. Her vocals are amazing on Mondo Tomorrow (of course) with The Grip Of Death being a great example of her crazy range. Adding the organ to this track takes it to an even higher level of cool.

The opening track is power pop awesomeness from a band who is super tight and really knows what they are doing and what they are trying to achieve, and then making it even better. Loz harmonizing with herself at multiple crazy different ranges makes And The Bones Decay so great; the song lies just between power pop and 80s hard rock and just kicks ass. I love when the pace slows on this one too. Speaking of 80s hard rock, Living In The Gutter is one of the best songs in that style since 1989. So wonderfully sleezy.

Handclaps! If you like the Go Gos (I do) you will certainly dig Mind Controller. Cybernetic Times also has this 80s rock bop to it and is more killer energetic rock and roll, but has some layers and complexity to it; there is a ton happening on this song, all of it very cool. Rhapsody In Blue has this almost punk and psych weirdness going on but still the super catchy NPF you know and love. NPF are so good at ending albums with big, epic tracks. Mondo Tomorrow is no different with the six-plus minute killer The Barbarian Dominion.

I am sure I have said this in the two (or more) reviews I have done for Neptune Power Federation records, but this band just rules and Mondo Tomorrow is no different. The band is firing on all cylinders again, and continues to create amazing rock, leveraging bits and pieces of a dozen or so genres but always making it their own. NPF makes me happy and should do the same for you. 9/10

Waste A Saint – …And It’s Evergreen (All Good Clean Records) [Matt Bladen]

Coming from Trondheim Norway, Waste A Saint return with their third album …And It’s Evergreen. It’s one that come from a bit of adversity as just as they were starting to write the record their drummer left, meaning they not only had an album to write but a new drummer to find, which if anyone who has been near a band will know is no easy task.

Thankfully Bogey Stefansdottir (vocals), Alexander Skomakerstuen (guitar), Ole Nogva (bass/synth) recruited Trym Solan Renolen as their new drummer and he has injected something into the band that possibly wasn’t there before, there’s a bristling energy and renewed focus on album three, as if the band are reborn. …And It’s All Evergreen goes through a number of different musical phases to keep you guessing. Still the base layer is stoner rock but they bring a lot of 60’s psych or even some 70’s post punk while they also draw heavily from 90’s alt rock oddness, with the obtuse riffs and vocals definitely.

A positive change in line up then for Waste A Saint, as they focus down on going further than their influences may have allowed before, refreshed with a wider percussive prowess and a more comprehensive instrumentation, …And It’s Evergreen will leave a long lasting impression. 7/10

The post appeared first on INFRARED MAGAZINE.

The new song arrives in advance of their upcoming Southern Hospitality tour. Continue reading…

I’m on record declaring Sunny Day Real Estate’s How It Feels To Be Something On as the best album of 1998. Does that statement stand up to scrutiny? Probably not, but it feels right whenever I’m listening. SDRE LP3 is a stone-cold classic, a record everyone who loves ambitious, arena-scale, artsy-but-accessible rock music should be…

The post Coma Regalia – “Guitar And Video Games” (Sunny Day Real Estate Cover) appeared first on Stereogum.

(On March 13th FDA Records released Eulogy to Blasphemy, the fourth album by the Swedish death metal band Gluttony, and that motivated Zoltar to arrange the following interview with founding member and guitarist Anders Härén.) Considering the rather ‘modern’ (for lack of better terms, as this had probably more to do with the average age […]

The post AN NCS INTERVIEW: GLUTTONY appeared first on NO CLEAN SINGING.

Einar Solberg of Leprous is set to release his upcoming second solo album ‘Vox Occulta’, on April, 24th, 2026. A bold, heavy and symphonic statement, the album was recorded in collaboration with the much-sought-after Norwegian Radio Orchestra.

On this new podcast Einar talks about his new album Vox Occulta, writing for an orchestra, the surprise cover of Take On Me & more.

Check out the podcast on these services:
Apple • Spotify • Amazon • PodBean • YouTube

The album sees Solberg taking a deeply personal approach, having been an avid fan of classical music and soundtracks for more than 20 years. The lyrics are personal as well, and they make ‘Vox Occulta’ something of a thematic follow-up to ‘16’. Where Solberg’s solo debut revisited the death of his father and his past struggles with anxiety, this set is a warts’n’all portrait of himself and how he views the world in 2026.

Einar is pleased to present a new track titled ‘Vita Fragilis’, a song created a alongside the aforementioned orchestra. The video gives a glimpse behind the scenes at the orchestra recording the parts, and you can watch it now here:

As well as the beautiful orchestration, Einar is joined by drummer Keli Guðjónsson (Agent Fresco), violinist Chris Baum (Bent Knee), guitarist Pierre Danel (Novelists) & bassist Jed Lingat, as well as guitarists Ben Levin (ex-Bent Knee) & John Browne (Monuments). The album was mixed by Adam Noble (Nothing But Thieves, Biffy Clyro) & co-produced with David Castillo.

‘Vox Occulta’ will be released as a Limited CD Digipak, Gatefold white/black 2LP & a very limited Gatefold transparent red 2LP, as well as digitally.

Pre-order now here: https://einarsolberg-artist.lnk.to/VoxOcculta-Album

The post Einar Solberg (Interview) – Vox Occulta appeared first on The Prog Report.

It's the second single from the band's upcoming album, 'Your Favorite Toy.' Continue reading…

Sufjan Stevens is a man of mystery, and little bits of his lore seem to surface in the most unpredictable ways. In 2016, for instance, the Dallas actor and musician named Marc Rebillet posted about finding an unreleased 1998 album called Stalker in Stevens’ dumpster. (We interviewed Rebillet, naturally.) Now, a Penn State undergrad has posted on TikTok about the apparent discovery of a Stevens poetry chapbook called Piss Poems.

The post Sufjan Stevens’ <em>Piss Poems</em> Unearthed After More Than 25 Years appeared first on Stereogum.

It's from Frampton's upcoming album, 'Carry the Light,' his first of all-new music in over 15 years. Continue reading…