Gothenburg psych rock trio Graveyard hoist their seventh album, Fever.
What do we know about Graveyard? There are three of them. They’re from Sweden. They play psychedelic rock, the kind that works for stoners, too. Before the latest record, they put out six others, all of them unforgettable. The band is reported to be Joakim Nilsson (guitar, vocals), Truls Mörck (bass, vocals), and Oskar Bergenheim (drums).
Talking about the new album, the band reflects, “Here it is — album number 7. Fever. Haven’t we always had it? The itch, the burn and the restlessness. The urge to push forward into the fog. Even with the teeth of hopelessness snapping at our asses and all the smoke and mirrors of our time telling us we got no future. Come what may. Let’s go! This time around, we decided to waste no time. No outside producer. No detours. Just Graveyard, straight to the point, doing what we do best. This just might be our greatest album so far! Hope you like it, too.”
There are nine tracks on the latest platter. “Back From The Grave” is a good mood-setter, heavy and bluesy. The gritty vocals plant a layer that settles the music on its path, one that is filled with menace. It is a portent. “Tongue Tied” crackles in on the wings of distortion then lands in a fuzzy groove while ultimately tending toward a battering. “A Better Cut (Note To Self)” is a bit slower, although the narrative continues with dark notions. “Year Of The Horse” whips us back into action, and “A Means To An End” finishes the side with a grinding puncher.
The music on the record is generally heavier than we are used to hearing from Graveyard, and I am here for it. It is down in the dirt and fervent. The proceedings continue similarly in the second half. “Time To Tell” and “Don’t Shoot!” are somewhat modulated, and “Room Tempered” blows your hair back. The final track is the nearly seven-minute “Dead Note.” The composition presents a sinister posture and makes brings on the mystery. Fever is just what they said it was going to be, and you don’t want to miss it. Highly recommended.
Fever is out on Friday, October 9th through Nuclear Blast Records. Listen and buy at the links below.
A name is often the first thing we learn to answer to. Much of life follows the same script: someone calls, we respond, and, over time, the response takes on the shape of a personality. Family, work, lovers, and paperwork each add their own directions, until the name begins to read like a job description. There’s a peculiar freedom in slipping free of a word burdened with everyone else’s expectations. Who would remain once the introductions fell silent?
German darkwave artist fremder and Greek producer coldblood pursue that question on namenlos, their new collaborative single and the title track of fremder’s forthcoming album. Written and produced together in Thessaloniki, Greece, the song considers the distance between the person we are and the person everybody has agreed we ought to be, setting that discomfort against an exceptionally catchy arrangement of synthesizers, drum machines, and forceful German vocals.
Buzzy synth figures bounce back and forth through generous reverb, answering each other in short, insistent exchanges. A metallic knocking interrupts the conversation before a sharp vocal grunt sets off the full synthpunk attack. The drumbeat lands thick and heavy beneath a voice that oozes dark theatricality, the German lyrics delivered with an almost percussive force. Warbling electronics keep the atmosphere uneasy even as the rhythm makes an excellent case for surrendering to the dancefloor.
There is a pagan charge to the beat’s repetition and the voice’s near-incantatory delivery, a suggestion of bodies gathering around something considerably older than a synthesizer. The hooks come quickly, while the vocal makes its existential agitation impossible to mistake for idle contemplation. You can dance to the prospect of disappearing here, though the question at the song’s center keeps pulling you back into yourself:
“Wie werde ich meinen Namen los?”
“How do I lose my name?”
The song’s stark black-and-white video by Fogg sets fremder’s restless performance against monumental concrete cylinders, hard-edged walls, and the repeating balconies of modernist buildings. In a dark coat and black lipstick, he gestures toward the camera, flings his head back, then moves in until his face floods the frame. A blur of motion keeps unsettling his features, while the brutalist architecture remains rigid and severe. The contrast gives the song’s anxiety a striking form: a person trying to slip beyond recognition in a world made of straight lines and repeating shapes.
At one point, a concrete aperture becomes a frame within the frame, reducing the performer to a face glimpsed through its geometry. Elsewhere, grass and trees soften the hard surfaces, opening up space around his movements. His performance brings all the agitation these otherwise impassive places require.
Watch the video for namenlos below:
A producer, songwriter, videographer, and tattoo artist, fremder directs the musical and visual aspects of his project under the description black romanticism. His emphasis on existential lyrics and freedom from external expectations carries through a practice spanning coldwave, post-punk, and darkwave. coldblood, whose recent debut is titled So Lonely in My Tower, brings his own experimental post-punk and darkwave approach to their collaboration.
Listen to namenlos via streaming here. Vinyl, merchandise, and album pre-orders are available through the official fremder shop.
Put on Pink Floyd’s “Time” and listen to those clocks ringing at the beginning. Each one occupies its own position in the recording, followed by percussion that gradually builds until the whole band comes crashing in. A decent audio system lets you hear the space between the instruments, the decay of the cymbals, and small details in the background.
Now play the same song on vinyl, CD, and a lossless streaming service. You might hear some changes, particularly if the versions come from separate masters. But which format actually preserves more of the music?
The answer depends on more than the recording format itself. CDs and lossless streaming can reproduce digital recordings without losing information, while vinyl introduces some noise and distortion during playback.
Your listening environment matters, too: appropriate acoustic treatment can reduce unwanted reflections and improve clarity, helping you hear the differences between recordings more accurately. High-resolution streaming can store more audio data than a CD, but those extra numbers do not automatically reveal sounds that listeners can hear.
The recording itself, the mastering, and your playback equipment have a substantial influence on the final result. A $30 record is not guaranteed to sound better than a CD, and a 24-bit streaming file is not necessarily an improvement over the album you already own.
Vinyl Records And The Sound People Keep Coming Back To
Vinyl has survived the arrival of CDs, downloads, and streaming because people still enjoy listening to records. Some prefer the sound, others enjoy collecting physical albums, and plenty appreciate the whole experience of placing a record on a turntable.
From an audio perspective, vinyl works through a surprisingly delicate mechanical process. A stylus follows the tiny variations cut into a record groove. The cartridge converts its movement into an electrical signal, which is amplified and sent to your speakers.
Every part of that process influences the sound. A poorly aligned cartridge can introduce distortion, a worn stylus may struggle to follow the groove, and dust can produce the clicks and crackles associated with older records.
Even a perfectly clean record has limitations. Vinyl cannot reproduce a recording with the same consistency as a properly functioning digital system because the mechanical playback process introduces its own noise and distortion.
A standard 12-inch LP typically spins at 33⅓ RPM, allowing roughly 20 to 25 minutes of music per side.
Why Vinyl Can Sound Warmer Than Digital Music
Vinyl enthusiasts regularly describe records as warmer, fuller, or more natural. Those descriptions make sense as personal listening impressions, but warmth is not evidence that a record contains more musical information.
A cartridge can change the frequency balance of a recording. Certain kinds of distortion can also give instruments a richer character, particularly when compared with a very clean digital reproduction.
Mastering is another explanation. A vinyl pressing may have been prepared from a separate master with less aggressive compression or a different tonal balance. Consequently, the record might sound more open than the CD or streaming edition.
Take Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours. The layered vocals, acoustic instruments, and carefully arranged percussion make it particularly enjoyable on a capable turntable. A clean digital release can reproduce those musical elements just as accurately, however, and potentially with less background noise.
Vinyl Has Trouble Near The Center Of A Record
One problem that vinyl listeners may notice is inner-groove distortion. As the needle approaches the center of an LP, the groove passes beneath it at a lower linear speed.
The stylus must reproduce high-frequency information from increasingly compact groove variations. Depending on the cartridge, alignment, and recording, cymbals or vocals can begin to sound harsher toward the end of an album side.
Record cutting engineers account for physical limitations when preparing a release. Excessive bass, demanding high frequencies, or aggressive volume levels can make a record harder to track cleanly.
Consequently, mastering a vinyl release sometimes involves adjustments that would not be necessary for a CD. The process can produce a particularly enjoyable version of an album, but it does not mean the analog format preserves everything more accurately.
The Room Can Change The Sound More Than The Record
A carefully maintained turntable will still sound disappointing if the speakers are poorly positioned. Put a pair of speakers too close to certain walls, and some bass frequencies may become exaggerated. In a room filled with hard, reflective surfaces, vocals and instruments can lose their precise positions in the stereo image.
Listen to the opening of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” from Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here. The slow introduction gives each sustained note room to develop. Excessive room reflections can make those sounds overlap in ways that were not present in the original recording.
Speaker placement and furnishings can help, but persistent problems with reflections or reverberation may benefit from dedicated acoustic treatment. Properly positioned absorbers and bass traps can improve clarity and reduce unwanted room effects, allowing instruments to sound more balanced at the listening position.
The same room problems affect CD players and streaming systems. Before spending hundreds of dollars on another cartridge or an expensive digital converter, it is worth hearing how much improvement comes from adjusting the speakers and listening environment.
CDs Still Deliver Remarkably Accurate Sound
The standard CD holds up to 74 minutes of audio, a capacity famously associated with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony
The compact disc arrived as a major improvement in convenience and playback consistency. Instead of relying on a stylus following physical grooves, it stores digital audio that a player reads and converts back into sound.
Standard audio CDs use 16-bit audio at a sampling rate of 44.1 kHz. In simple terms, the recording contains 44,100 samples per second for each audio channel, with each sample represented using 16 bits.
The sampling rate allows a properly designed system to reproduce frequencies below 22.05 kHz. Human hearing is generally described as extending up to 20 kHz in young listeners with healthy hearing, although many adults hear considerably less at the upper end.
Bit depth determines how precisely the digital system can represent signal levels and influences the available dynamic range. For standard 16-bit audio, the theoretical signal-to-quantization-noise ratio for a full-scale sine wave is about 98 dB.
That is enough to reproduce very quiet musical passages alongside loud ones without the surface noise of a vinyl groove.
What Happens To The Detail On A CD?
A CD does not automatically remove quiet guitar sounds, subtle vocal harmonies, or the decay of a drum recording. Provided those elements exist in the digital master, the format can reproduce them.
Unlike vinyl, a correctly functioning CD player does not gradually wear away the recording every time it plays. Digital error correction also helps the player recover data when minor reading errors occur, although severe disc damage can still interrupt playback.
Another advantage is consistency. A properly read disc produces the same digital audio samples during repeated playback. The final analog sound can still be influenced by the player and connected equipment, but the stored recording remains unchanged.
For music collectors, that reliability has lasting appeal. You can keep the same CD edition for decades without depending on a streaming service to retain it in its catalog.
Why An Older CD Might Sound Better Than A New Remaster
Consider two releases of the same rock album. One is an early CD edition with substantial dynamic range. The other is a later remaster prepared to sound louder and more aggressive.
The newer edition may sound impressive during the first few seconds, particularly if its volume is higher. After several songs, however, the reduced contrast between quiet and loud passages can make the music feel crowded.
A drum hit should have an initial attack followed by a natural decay. Heavy compression can reduce that contrast, making individual hits less prominent in a dense arrangement.
An early CD is not automatically superior. Some older digital transfers used inferior source tapes or production choices that later engineers successfully improved. The point is to judge the specific release rather than assuming the newest edition contains more useful musical detail.
Lossless Streaming Can Match A CD Exactly
FLAC was first released in 2001 and later became a popular open-source format for storing lossless audio.
Lossless streaming gives listeners access to digital music without purchasing a physical disc. Services deliver audio files encoded in formats designed to preserve the original digital information.
FLAC and ALAC are two common examples. Both reduce the amount of storage required, but unlike MP3 compression, they allow the original digital samples to be reconstructed without losing data.
Imagine ripping a CD to FLAC using suitable software. When that file is decoded correctly, the digital audio samples can match the original disc exactly.
If a streaming service provides the same master at 16-bit and 44.1 kHz, a lossless stream can deliver identical digital audio. The internet connection does not make the music less accurate simply because it travels from a remote server.
Does 24-Bit Audio Reveal More Than CD Quality?
High-resolution streaming introduces another level of audio specifications. Instead of 16-bit, 44.1 kHz files, you may encounter recordings offered at 24-bit, 96 kHz or even 24-bit, 192 kHz.
Higher bit depth provides more numerical precision and a greater theoretical dynamic range. Increasing the sampling rate allows the digital system to represent frequencies above those covered by standard CDs.
During music production, those capabilities are valuable. Recording engineers benefit from the extra headroom and flexibility of 24-bit audio, and higher sampling rates can have uses in particular recording and processing workflows.
For someone listening to a finished album at home, the benefits are less obvious.
CD-quality audio already covers the conventional human hearing range and provides far more dynamic range than most home listening situations can use comfortably. Doubling or quadrupling the sampling rate does not make an ordinary vocal recording automatically sound clearer.
High-resolution files also need careful comparison because streaming services may supply a newer master than the original CD. A listener who prefers the 24-bit version might actually be hearing improvements made during mastering.
Bluetooth Can Change The Audio Before It Reaches Your Headphones
There is one detail many music listeners overlook. Selecting lossless quality in a streaming app does not guarantee that the original digital information reaches their headphones.
Many Bluetooth connections use lossy audio compression. The phone receives a lossless file, but the wireless connection converts the audio into another encoded format before sending it to the headphones.
Apple explains the supported connections and equipment in its guide to lossless audio playback. Wired headphones and compatible external digital-to-analog converters provide a more direct route for listening to lossless recordings.
Not every Bluetooth connection works identically, and some devices support specialized higher-quality wireless transmission. Compatibility between the source device and headphones determines what actually reaches the listener.
For a straightforward setup, wired headphones or a compatible network audio player connected to an amplifier avoid many of the additional conversions associated with ordinary Bluetooth playback.
Vinyl vs CD vs Lossless Streaming Compared
A standard uncompressed stereo CD recording requires approximately 1.41 megabits of data per second.
The main technical characteristics are easier to compare when separated from personal listening preferences.
Feature
Vinyl
CD
Lossless Streaming
Recording medium
Physical analog groove
Digital audio on an optical disc
Digital audio delivered as files or streams
Audio resolution
No digital bit depth or sampling rate
16-bit / 44.1 kHz
CD quality or higher, depending on the service
Background noise
Surface noise and mechanical noise are possible
No record surface noise
No record surface noise
Physical playback wear
Stylus and groove wear can occur
No contact wear during normal playback
None
Exact reproduction of digital samples
No
Yes, when read correctly
Yes, with an unaltered lossless playback path
Mastering affects sound
Yes
Yes
Yes
Internet required
No
No
Usually for streaming, not for downloaded files
Physical ownership
Yes
Yes
Generally no with subscription streaming
Main appeal
Analog playback and collecting records
Accurate digital playback and physical ownership
Large music libraries and convenient access
The comparison gives digital playback a clear technical advantage in noise and consistency. CD and lossless streaming are capable of reproducing the same digital master without losing information.
Vinyl remains appealing because people enjoy its presentation and sometimes prefer the sound of a particular pressing. Personal enjoyment is a perfectly valid reason to choose a record, even when another format offers more accurate signal reproduction.
Why Mastering Can Be More Important Than Audio Resolution
Imagine hearing two versions of Led Zeppelin’s “When the Levee Breaks.” One comes from an early digital release, and the other from a later remaster.
The massive drum sound is central to the recording. Its weight comes from the performance, microphone placement, recording environment, and production decisions. A mastering engineer can change how prominent those drums sound by adjusting equalization and compression.
If one version retains more dynamic contrast, you may find the drums more convincing even if that version has a lower digital resolution.
Mastering engineers work with the finished recordings, making adjustments that influence their tonal balance and loudness. Separate releases of the same album may therefore sound noticeably different before the listener even considers the playback format.
Bob Ludwig, one of rock’s most respected mastering engineers, has worked on albums by Led Zeppelin, Queen, and Nirvana.
The Loudness War Changed How Some Albums Sound
During the 1990s and 2000s, many commercial recordings became increasingly loud through the use of dynamic compression and limiting.
The intention was to make songs stand out on radio, in CD players, and alongside competing releases. The drawback was a reduction in the contrast between softer and louder moments.
Metallica’s Death Magnetic, released in 2008, became a widely discussed example. Listeners criticized the compressed sound of the commercial album and compared it with audio associated with Guitar Hero.
The controversy illustrated how production decisions can dominate the listening experience. A recording delivered through a technically accurate digital format can still sound harsh if its master has been pushed too far.
Streaming services now commonly apply loudness normalization, adjusting playback levels to reduce sudden jumps between recordings. Normalization cannot restore dynamics already removed from a master, but it can reduce the advantage of making every release excessively loud.
Four Rock Songs That Reveal How Well Your System Plays Music
You do not need specialized audio test recordings to hear problems with a music system. Songs with carefully arranged instruments and contrasting volumes provide plenty of opportunities to listen for distortion, unclear bass, or excessive room reflections.
1. Pink Floyd, Time
The clocks at the opening of “Time” are excellent for judging stereo placement. Each sound should occupy a recognizable position, with the following percussion remaining clear as the arrangement builds.
Listen to the cymbals when the drums enter. A bright or distorted playback system can make them sound unpleasantly sharp. Poor room acoustics may blur the separation between the individual sounds.
We have included “Time” and several equally interesting recordings in our selection of the best Pink Floyd songs.
2. Fleetwood Mac, Dreams
“Dreams” is a useful recording for listening to bass control and vocal clarity. Stevie Nicks sits prominently in the mix, supported by a relatively restrained arrangement.
The bass should sound full without obscuring the vocal. Cymbals and percussion should remain audible without drawing excessive attention away from the song.
Small changes in speaker placement can be particularly noticeable with a recording where the instruments have enough space to be heard individually.
3. Dire Straits, Private Investigations
“Private Investigations” moves from very quiet passages to sudden instrumental accents. The recording is useful for hearing background noise and assessing how comfortably a system handles changes in volume.
On vinyl, surface noise may become noticeable during the quieter sections. A clean CD or lossless digital release can reproduce the same moments without adding groove noise.
The abrupt changes in volume also expose recordings that have been heavily compressed. A suitable master preserves the impact of the louder sections without forcing the quiet passages toward the same level.
4. Steely Dan, Aja
The title track from Aja contains carefully arranged drums, keyboards, bass, and saxophone. The recording offers a useful way to hear how clearly your system separates instruments.
Pay attention to the bass and cymbals during the instrumental sections. The bass should remain controlled, and the cymbals should have a natural decay rather than a brittle edge.
A capable playback system allows the individual instruments to remain recognizable without making the recording sound artificially separated.
Which Format Preserves The Most Musical Detail?
For a digital master released at CD quality, a correctly played CD and an identical lossless stream preserve the same musical information. Neither format has an inherent advantage when the digital samples and playback conditions are equivalent.
High-resolution lossless files can contain additional numerical information through higher bit depth and sampling rates. Their technical specifications exceed those of standard CDs, but the extra information does not guarantee an audible improvement in finished music.
Vinyl has greater physical playback limitations. Surface noise, tracking distortion, cartridge response, and record condition can alter the sound. Even so, a carefully mastered pressing may be more enjoyable than a poorly mastered digital edition.
For collectors who enjoy physical albums, CDs offer accurate reproduction without the maintenance associated with a turntable. Vinyl provides the pleasure of handling records, exploring pressings, and experiencing music through an analog playback system.
Lossless streaming offers easy access to large music collections, including recordings that would be expensive or difficult to find on physical media. With compatible equipment, it can reproduce the same digital information stored on a CD.
If musical detail is your priority, spend some time finding the right edition of your favorite album. A carefully mastered recording, played through capable equipment in a suitable room, will do far more for your listening experience than choosing a format based on its reputation alone.
Clarify the main verdict earlierTrim repeated mastering explanations
After more than three decades of pushing the boundaries of progressive rock, The Flower Kings return with the new album, HOPE, due out on the 23rd October, 2026 on InsideOutMusic. The follow-up to 2025’s LOVE, stands as both a celebration of their legacy and a bold artistic statement. The album also finds the band returning to the side-long epic, with tracks clocking in at 18 and 28 minutes.
You can now watch the official video for the recently released single ‘The Gods of Rome, Pt. 2’ here: https://youtu.be/6le-r3RlmF0
Roine Stolt comments: “This is one of several parts of an epic piece of music that has been swirling around for some years. I reworked bits and wrote some new lyrics that now have the backdrop of ancient Rome – but act more as a metaphor for modern day powerplay. Every nation and every leader/president want to shine and be remembered as the greatest – expansive dreams often tend to implode however.”
Rather than chasing trends or revisiting past glories, the band has crafted a work that comfortably exists between refined musicianship and fearless ambition.
Founding member Roine Stolt explains, “At a certain point in life – you arrive at a place where outside opinions matter less – and the process gravitates towards making an album that YOU yourself would LOVE but would perhaps normally not be viewed as a commercial attempt at all. We, the band – trust YOU, the audience – to be curious and to trust us that we want to bring you a grand glowing adventure.”
HOPE serves as a timely meditation on a turbulent time in the modern world. Without venturing into overt political commentary, its songs reflect on an era often marked by division and diminishing empathy while ultimately offering a message rooted in hope, acting as a roadmap, how to get there and re-ignite love in our hearts and our society.
The album’s compositions come from Stolt and keyboardist Lalle Larsson, with its centerpiece being the nearly 30-minute epic “The Gods of Rome.” Originally conceived from orchestral ideas developed more than a decade ago, the piece took an unexpected creative journey, at one point nearly becoming the musical foundation for another Anderson & Stolt project before ultimately finding its true home with The Flower Kings. Reimagined for the full band, it has evolved into a powerful reflection on contemporary life, using the imagery of ancient Rome to explore enduring themes of power, conflict, and the human cost of ambition.
Joining Stolt and Larsson once again are Hans Fröberg on vocals, Michael Stolt on bass, and Mirko DeMaio on drums. Supported by heartfelt performances from every member of the band, along with a number of special guests, the resulting album unfolds as a rewarding listening experience that reveals new details with each return. Stolt explains, “Like I said 37 years ago – ‘This is the band I will be in for the rest of my days’ – but I wouldn’t dream of us making one of our finest albums ever in 2026!”
HOPE will be available as Ltd.CD + Blu-Ray Digipak, featuring Dolby Atmos & 5.1 Surround Sound mixes by Rich Mouser, a first for the band. The album will also be available as Standard CD Jewelcase, Gatefold 2LP & Digitally.
My Chemical Romance have shared one of the lovely bonus features of their upcoming anniversary edition of ‘The Black Parade’.
That comes in the form of ‘Someone Out There Loves You’, a song that, up until now, has not been officially available to the public. But now, it is out there for everyone to enjoy and relive a vital period in their storied history.
The song itself is delivered live from Hoboken, a show that was part of the original album tour back in 2007 and took place at Maxwell’s in New Jersey. Musically, it feels like a bridge between chaos of the ‘Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge’ era and the drama of the ‘Black Parade’ era, as well as almost also pointing towards what was coming with ‘Conventional Weapons’ and ‘Danger Days’. Basically a quintessential MCR track, brimming with energy, earnestness and exuberance.
Here it is:
The expanded edition of ‘The Black Parade’ is due for release on October 23. It can be pre-ordered from here.
The band had this message for fans about the release, stating:
“Twenty years ago, we wrote what would become ‘The Black Parade,’ our third record and the follow up to ‘Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge.’ At the time, we could never have imagined what the record would mean for the band. All we knew is that we had made something crazy, and something we couldn’t wait to get it out into the world.
Today, twenty years on, we celebrate its release. For the first time, we have included everything we finished during those sessions in a single collection.
The tracklisting for the release looks like this:
Original Album
1. The End. 2. Dead!” 3. This Is How I Disappear 4. The Sharpest Lives 5. Welcome To The Black Parade 6. I Don’t Love You 7. House of Wolves 8. Cancer 9. Mama (feat. Liza Minnelli) 10. Sleep 11. Teenagers 12. Disenchanted 13. Famous Last Words 14. Blood (A Brief Intermission)
Bonus Tracks
Heaven Help Us * Kill All Your Friends * My Way Home Is Through You * Dead! (Live) * The Sharpest Lives (Live) * Someone Out There Loves You (Live) **
*Available on Deluxe Editions of “The Black Parade (20th Anniversary)”
**Available on all Deluxe Editions & One Step 2LP
As an extra treat, here is ‘Dead!’ performed during that very same show:
Northamptonshire Heavy Rock and Metal band Stormbringer have released the video for their new single “Grow”, taken from their fifth album, Transcendence, which is out now via Attic Records.
The record follows four previous albums and appearances at festivals including Download and the main stage at Bloodstock. Stormbringer bring together classic rock, Heavy Metal riffs and powerful melodies, pushing their sound into more expansive territory.
Transcendence: Growth Through Adversity
Transcendence addresses resilience, self-acceptance and the relationship between personal struggles and the wider world. Its themes draw together the introspection of the band’s debut MMXIII and the outward-looking perspective of their fourth album, AIIV.
“Every album captures a moment in time,” Vocalist Mike Stockley says. “Transcendence is about growth through adversity. It’s about recognising and accepting the darkness without allowing it to define you. The album confronts life’s struggles on both a personal and societal level, exploring the challenges we face as individuals while also reflecting on the world around us. These songs aren’t about offering easy answers – they’re about questioning, understanding and ultimately finding the strength to move forward.”
The album was produced by Russ Russell, whose credits include Napalm Death, Dimmu Borgir, At The Gates and The Wildhearts, and recorded at Parlour Studios in Kettering, Northamptonshire.
The band describe the record as a meeting point between looking inward and looking outward, confronting the darker aspects of the self without letting them become a defining force.
Next February, folk metal operatives Svartsot will embark on headlining tour over the European lands. Fellow countrymen Trold and Switzerland’s Morgarten will be joining them on the road as support. Read more…
Danish melodic death metal force Vanir return with “Marskens Dom”, the newly released single via Mighty Music. Mixed and mastered by Miguel Tereso in Portugal’s Demigod Recordings Studio, the track takes the listener back to the Battle of Hemmingstedt in 1500, one of the most devastating defeats in Danish military history. Read more…
