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Every artist needs their muse. For Avery Dart, that would be the eel, the main subject of Lurkers of Languid Waters, a record from his experimental ambient/black metal project, Escaping Aghartha. Dart uses his music to bring awareness to various environmental issues, such as the plight of frogs, birds, owls, the ocean, and pollution. The problem facing the eel, in particular the freshwater anguillid eels of Japan, Europe, and America, stems from overfishing. Dart seeks to raise awareness and money for the cause of protecting them. A portion of the record’s profits go towards Nature’s Anguillid Eel Specialist Group, a group that studies the population of these mysterious fish. Escaping Aghartha hopes you can spare some room in your heart for a moray.

A little-known fact about eels is their ability to shapeshift throughout the various cycles of their life, and Lurkers of Languid Waters similarly shifts genre across its 74-minute runtime. There’s progressive black metal, doom, drone, noise, industrial, ambient, dungeon synth, and more. The album is as slippery as its subject, though lacking in its bite. Opener “Eel Black Market” serves as a microcosm for the whole. The shifting guitar tones struggle to grasp for purpose from the start, and a repellent combination of “dirty” vocals and grating riffs starts things off on the wrong fin. Across 16 minutes, the song’s hooks fail to catch hold—a good outcome for the fish, but bad for the music. Escaping Aghartha utilizes synths that sound like a video game soundtrack, droning riffs, chanting, and bubble noises that make you feel trapped in a fish tank. Sure, the initial shock of the strangeness on display may grab one’s attention, but the intolerable nature of the music won’t hold it for long.

The choices that Avery Dart makes give the impression that he purposely set out to make the listener uncomfortable. To start, there are the vocals, mostly from Dart, that range from tolerable to unlistenable. By the end of “Eel Black Market,” his snarls are incomprehensible and grating. On the blackened doom of “The Phantoms that Haunt and Linger,” they are weak and muffled, contributing to a lethargic malaise. On “Eaten to Obliteration,” they are raw and hoarse. A few experimental choices bring to mind John Cage, such as bell chimes (“Eaten to Obliteration”) and a nightmarish buzzing segment that sounds like a mosquito in your ear (“Altered Currents”). These sections feel added without musical purpose, just random noise. This mammoth record will put you in the shoes of the eel in their final journey, when they travel thousands of miles to the Sargasso Sea on nothing but their stored fat reserves, spurt out millions of eggs, and then sink to their deaths from exhaustion.

Remarkably, Lurkers of the Languid Waters undergoes a transformation once it crosses the hour mark. Hooks catch hold and stick. Buzzy guitars make way for hooky synths and blackened trems. Though “Transformations” is pretty good, it’s “Journey to the Sargasso Sea” where things really take a turn for the best. The album suddenly sounds musical and purposeful rather than meandering and dense. The synths and trems team up to conjure an uplifting, triumphant mood, serving as the soundtrack for the eel’s final journey. At 12 minutes, it’s a tad long, but its progressive structure keeps it engaging. This goes to show that a little bit of hooks can go a long way. If only Escaping Aghartha had applied this approach to the rest of the album.

I’ll give Dart this: I’ve learned a lot about eels and their plight thanks to my time with his record. The purpose of Lurkers of the Languid Waters is to spark interest, conversation, and perhaps even action to protect these misunderstood fish. Yet the mere existence of this album can only go so far if it’s a chore to listen to. I spent time with it because I took on the duty of reviewing it, but others likely won’t be so willing. I’d be more tempted to plunk down some money on a CD, which does feature some terrific artwork, if the music were just a little more tolerable. I’d love to help defend a cause like this, but my ears are important too.

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Rating: 1.5/5.0
DR: 10 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Hypnotic Dirge Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: May 22nd, 2026

The post Escaping Aghartha – Lurkers of Languid Waters Review appeared first on Angry Metal Guy.

Nothing But Thieves are kicking off a new chapter in invigorating style with a new track brimming with vibrant energy.

Titled ‘Evolution’, it finds the band stepping back into the raw and rallying guitar-driven sound that allowed them to find their footing a decade ago, with the wisdom of the years past allowing them to reach new, headier heights. Beautifully considered, wonderfully euphoric and sensationally human in sound and scope, it’s a song that speaks as much to what it means to allow yourself to grow, not just in the art you make but in the life that you live. It’s open, honest and now there for you when you need a reminder of how special this existence is every now and then.

The band had this to say about what the track represents for them:

“It’s a song that’s not too concerned about finality. I think imperfection and authenticity is becoming ever more valuable and it’s definitely something we’re drawn to.”

“We’ve spent some time trying to work out what’s real and tangible about who we are and how we use our time. The people we travel the world with, the human moments on stage, the connection we make with those who come to our shows. That’s real.”

“It’s a bit of a love letter to the people in our world in that way.”

Here it is:

It’s the band’s first music since their 2023 album ‘Dead Club City’. Here is the sensational ‘Overcome’ from that very record.

The post Nothing But Thieves Share Spirited New Track ‘Evolution’ appeared first on Rock Sound.

The vocal dynamo looks back at her three decades on Italian metal’s frontlines

All good things must come to an end, as they say, and sadly, an era for Vomitory is now coming to a close. The band’s founding member and guitarist, Urban Gustafsson, has decided to leave the ranks.
Read more…

Posted on May 21st 2026, 12:01p.m.

Style is everything. Bowie constantly reinvented himself, Creeper burned their stage costumes after their album tour, and The Black Parade is as much about the uniforms as the music. When creating theatrical music you can embody it, you can live it and you can make it an experience. The Howling know this. They’re a new band launching themselves with an EP appropriately titled ‘Salvo’, a word that means a powerful, opening shot.

Three things define the music on ‘Salvo’; alt rock, a flair for the dramatic and a love for the gothic, so you can’t help but compare it to My Chemical Romance. Notably, the opening song ‘Little Promises’ switches between verse and chorus in a way that shares the same vibe as My Chemical Romance’s biggest hits. Meanwhile, the opening moments of ‘The Murder Capital‘ could almost be an extract from ‘Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge’. This isn’t simple copying though. There’s more to the sound. It’s ambitious and very much trying to be its own thing.

After setting the tone on two fairly distinctive rock songs, they deploy ‘Unholy’ as the central showpiece. With a big opening riff, a nod to 80’s hard-rock histrionics and a theatrical outro, it’s the band saying this is what we can do. It’s the highlight, make no mistake. That’s in part because, while the energetic ‘Incantation’ and the punchy ‘Little Promises’ are also strong songs too, the EP overall plays it safe. Given the type of music, the type of band and the EP’s title, you’d expect The Howling to try and blow your socks off, but it’s not like that. It’s cautious. There’s no short, snappy single or anything truly gonzo to catch your attention.

Luckily, however, the vocals are quite distinctive with a delicious and slightly creepy tone, especially when they’re leaning into a more emotional register. This is notable on ‘Incantation’, which is the definition of an earworm as you can feel the phrase ‘join me’ slowly burying into your brain and lodging itself there. Despite working well, it might not hook you the first time and this is true of the EP as a whole. The reason for this is the band’s other big influence, The Smashing Pumpkins, as well as the way they lean toward an alt-rock sense of richness and scope rather than punky accessibility. This extends to the production choices, meaning the sound is thick and layered with quite sharp edges. It’s an interesting and unusual choice that makes the EP feel like a distinct piece of work. However, it does cause problems on ‘The Murder Capital’, where the song winds down after less than two minutes and its aggressive outro solo gets lost somewhere in the watery layering. Similarly, the closing ballad ‘New Religion’ builds from a simple vocal into a style that’s fitting but not exactly gripping, meaning the EP’s closing act holds together like a damp tissue.

The Howling have style but ‘Salvo’ proves they have substance. It’s a solid if uneven debut from a promising new band.

IAN KENWORTHY

Aussie extreme metal cohort King Parrot are excited to announce their return with a 9-date run of headline shows all over the United Kingdom in September. Recently the band have enlisted the services of veteran bass player Derek Engemann (Scour, Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals, ex-Cattle Decapitation) and he will be joining the band again on this trek as he did on the recently completed US tour.
Read more…

Your guide to the finest emo records shared with the world between 1985 and 2000

Bury Tomorrow have revealed they will be playing some big headline shows in 2027, including one set to be an all-timer.

The band will make their way around the UK for three dates, with one of them being at London’s iconic Brixton Academy. A venue that has always been a target for the band, and now is being realised at the height of their powers.

Basically, it’s going to be an emotional run.

And to make things even sweeter, they will be joined by Stick To Your Guns, Windwaker and Elwood Stray, so expect an energetic night.

That means a bit of this:

Before a bit of this:

And this:

Rounded off with loads of this:

Vocalist Dani Winter-Bates had this to say about the tour, explaining, “The new chapter live…We are unbelievably proud to announce our latest headline tour. For a long time we have looked up to bands playing Brixton as a future ambition, supporting Parkway and Architects in the past, we can’t wait to bring our biggest production ever to London this time around. We are, of course, stoked to be able to play Glasgow and Nottingham again at two venues we love dearly, with amazing support with us, friends old and new, in Stick to Your Guns, Windwaker and Elwood Stray. We will never get used to venues this size and certainly won’t take it for granted, let’s pack these out… as a new era of BT begins soon… see you soon.”

SO, here are those dates:

FEBRUARY

18 – NOTTINGHAM Rock City
19 – GLASGOW SWG3
20 – LONDON Brixton Academy

Tickets will be on pre-sale from May 26, with general sale taking place on May 28. You can get pre-sale access by signing up HERE

The post Bury Tomorrow Announce 2027 UK Headline Shows appeared first on Rock Sound.

Stand Atlantic are back with their first new music of 2026, and they are shifting the vibes in a big way.

Titled ‘Velcro’, it’s a song that feels like it’s channelling the band’s roots, but with a big change in intent and mood. Sitting on the bright and breezy side of the pop-punk that they have always conjured so perfectly over the years, it’s stuffed with so many more heart flutters than it is references to heartache. It’s as romantic as it is sensationally catchy, and a sign that this new era is set to be incredibly cute.

Vocalist Bonnie Fraser had this to say about it, stating, “I’ve spent 10 years avoiding love songs and writing only about what ended in heartbreak. On ‘Velcro’, that curse is finally broken. It’s the most honest thing I’ve written in a long time – after a really intense period of writer’s block, so recording it live, raw and unfiltered felt like the only way to do it. The curse is officially broken, the gates are open, our lovergirl era is on, and ‘Velcro’ says you’re welcome.”

It’s the band’s first music since the release of the deluxe edition of their album ‘WAS HERE’ in 2025.

Here is ‘I’M THE MAN’ featuring Lauren Sanderson from that very record:

The post Stand Atlantic Share Cutesy New Track ‘Velcro’ appeared first on Rock Sound.