Canadian/American metallers Smoulder return with their long-awaited third studio album, Witch Wife in an Alien World, a bold, daring collection of eight songs that continue to push boundaries and shatter conventions. The opening track “Water Wars” has been premiered here with a lyric video: https://youtu.be/ZMJmxvxqfWs?si=Ds2UqGvttKsWe9pL Witch Wife in an Alien World is scheduled for October 9th… Continue Reading →
MariaeCassandra has shared a new track titled ‘Splinters’ that showcases why she is such an exciting new voice in pop as well as rock.
Pulling on the sort of melodies that get lodged in your head with the sort of revealing and earnest lyricism that lingers with you long after the music has faded, it’s a perfect, pretty, and poignant offering that feels like it will resonate with all who hear it in a unique way.
It’s a raw, real and relatable piece from an artist that, even this early in their journey, has placed their fork firmly in the road.
Mariae had this to say about it:
“By the time I was 16, I was carrying unresolved wounds that made it difficult to move forward,” says Mariae. “After writing the first demo, I disliked it because it felt too real. Two years later, I returned to it with a different perspective. I rewrote parts of the song to reflect who I had become during that time, shaping it into what it is now.”
It’s the first music from Mariae since she released her EP ‘Everything In My Backpocket’ last year.
Glenn Richards announces new single, Pest, and tour dates along with details of his new solo album The Great Behind with the Venus Lakes (available October 9th) on Johnny Depp’s IN.2 Records. Over the years Australia has produced a number of celebrated musicians and singer songwriters who occupy only a ‘cult’ status in the United […]
Two of the biggest names in the international metal scene are joining forces once again in April 2027: In Flames and Trivium will embark on a co-headlining tour of Europe, playing eight shows in Germany. Trivium and In Flames share a long history. For two decades now, the touring paths of both bands have crossed… Continue Reading →
Taylor Acorn and Knox have joined forces on a track called ‘Isn’t It Strange’ that pulls on both of their musical strengths.
A thoughtful, emotional, vibrant pop-rock crossover, it feels timelessly nostalgic and as fresh as a daisy. Bouncing off each other beautifully and giving the sort of earnest performances that make the realisations that heartbreak doesn’t always have to lead to hurt, but instead can show you exactly where you need to go, it’s a match made in Heaven.
Taylor had this to say about the creation of the song, stating, “I’m so excited for the world to finally hear ‘Isn’t It Strange!’ We wrote this song back while writing my album Poster Child early last year – we had already written a song that day and started messing around on the guitar and it just fell out so seamlessly. When we were cutting vocals, Knox had the idea of throwing his on too just to see what would happen and it was truly like magic. We were all so stoked and have been praying it would eventually see the light of day. I love this song so much, we are so proud of it, and I hope everyone loves it as much as we do.”
The track is set to appear on the deluxe version of ‘Poster Child’, which will be released on October 23 via Fearless Records.
We chatted to Taylor earlier this year for an episode of 7of30, which you can check out below:
For a band you’ve most likely not heard of before, Shabti sports a remarkably intriguing pedigree (at least for my tastes). You see, Shabti is comprised of members from Falls of Rauros, Obsidian Tongue, Fires in the Distance, and even live Panopticon performers. These aforementioned names will likely ignite the interest of fellow atmo-black lovers as they did to me. Instead, annihilate those puny expectations, for Shabti is actually an amalgamation of proggy, techy, blackened death, much to my surprise. Surprise, but not chagrin – the pre-release single “Rise of the Shabti” got me sufficiently excited, and I trust the weathered musicians of Shabti to deliver something great on the enigmatically titled Haze, Cacophony, and White Light.
Shabti wastes no time playing their hand, coming out the gates of “Ambrosia and Lambs Blood” sprinting at full speed. It’s immediately clear that Haze, Cacophony, and White Light leans eagerly into its prog aspects, often reminding me of Neuraxis in a way I genuinely struggle to justify. Riffs barrel on by, connected by endless, labyrinthine little guitar and drum fills. Shabti likes to teeter their music right on the edge of weird, with slippery compositions and a flirtatious attitude towards dissonance, though I’d say it never quite takes the full plunge. Furthermore, the album just sounds excellent; the performances are snappy all across the board, and the sound mixing is crisp and clear. I particularly enjoy the sound of the guitars; they have a swinging weight heard especially well in the riffs of “Rise of the Shabti.” By all measures, the sonic ingredients of a good album are here.
Sadly, it never quite comes together into a memorable, exciting album. The song structure is loose in a way that there’s never really a satisfying build or climax, and few riffs ever stand out in my memory for longer than a song’s duration. Outside of the noteworthy, pleasant gallop in the latter half of “Blood for a Blessing,” if you threw me anywhere between the opening “Ambrosia and Lambs Blood” and “Haze, Cacophony, and White Light,” I don’t think I could identify which song it was. The funny thing is that very little stands out as actually bad; it’s just that nothing ever quite coalesces. In a vacuum, I can appreciate the guitar work in “Ambrosia and Lambs Blood,” and I appreciate the harmonic play that closes the title track, but there ever remains little identifiable direction or momentum. Well, in that regard it’s worth mentioning the nearly 10-minute “A Weary Creation”; it’s notably more structured and loops back into its earlier ideas, but there’s not enough strong material to justify the runtime, and the song approaches being unpleasant.
Still, there are some exceptions. The penultimate “Sojourner” is pretty solid, with some stronger melodic focus, and the closer “Rise of the Shabti” is easily the album’s best. It employs refreshingly chunky riff-work without sacrificing the structural weirdness, and is always the song I’m most excited for. I’ll remind you that “Rise of the Shabti” is what got me so excited for the album in the first place, and I do wish Shabti leaned just a little more in that direction for their next album. The strong final stretch ensures the album never ends on a truly sour note, and to the album’s credit, Haze, Cacophony, and White Light clocks in at just around a clean 40 minutes.
Haze, Cacophony, and White Light is complex, undeniably so. But even as the winding path the album takes became clear across my usual slew of endless replays, the album refused to click. It’s eccentric enough to avoid actual boredom, but too aimless to inspire excitement. It’s clear that there’s a ton of solid ideas behind Shabti that work well enough in a vacuum, but just never quite seem to congeal together in the right way. Nevertheless, Shabti are no hacks, and if my words have made you curious, then I do encourage you to check it out at least.
Consistency. A word that is synonymous with many bands, but none more so than the US trio Russian Circles. Over a 22-year career, their output has been carved on a reputation for consistency and quality.
Having spent much of 2022-24 touring in support of their Gnosis release, one might be forgiven ifguitarist Mike Sullivan, drummer Dave Turncrantz, and bassist/keyboardist Brian Cook had taken an extended rest.
Instead, they return with their ninth album, Nine, and have once again hit everything you would expect. Having seen the band headline the first day at dunk!festival in May, I already know how evocative and powerful they are in the live setting.
Nine demonstrates everything that is great about Russian Circles.
Nine demonstrates everything that is great about Russian Circles. Swirling progressive passages intermix with crushingly heavy segments, drawing in their massive range of inspirations, muses, influences and complexities into a diverse yet naturally organic collection.
As one of the notoriously press-shy members anonymously mentioned, “the music we make is a collective process of reconciliation, navigation, and reflection upon ageing both as individuals and as a creative entity.
“Life has created very real distances between us, but the band continues to be at the centre, and this creative collaboration is a way of charting the passage of time while also giving us a reason to look to the future.”
Russian Circles have again teamed up with engineer Kurt Ballou, who worked with them on Blood Year and Gnosis. His work is again of stellar quality, from opener Borehole, which has tinges of Mastodon and Neurosis swishing around in the mix. It is as traditional a song as Russian Circles make, still complex in nature but with an addictive hook that draws you in.
Although each track retains its own level of epic stature, Borehole really is an early statement on the album. It is going to pull you in deep, emotionally and psychologically, and the payoff for the investment is guaranteed.
It is followed by the crunch of Empath, a blisteringly heavy and at times unrepentant Metal style. Think Thrash guitars, some Black Metal edges and an overbearing sense of malevolence. For a band who live in the generally melancholic post-rock world, this is visceral stuff.
Eluvial is the central pillar of Nine. An epic eight-minute track, it features delayed guitar patterns. Think The Edge around The Joshua Tree era, playing with a winding melody that evolves into a cinematic soundscape with electronics anddrummer Turncrantz’s mesmerising Latin-rhythm-inspired groove.
As with all great tracks in this genre, it is the tension that slowly builds which creates the atmosphere. This is one that really stirs the elements.
Not that they need it, but there is ample change of direction here. Maybe to prove a point, more likely because this is the direction the band can swap to at any time. E2, which opens the second part of the record, is an intoxicating blend of pulsing synths and tapping guitar patterns that segue into each other.
Momentum that is achieved on E2 continues on Meridian, which drops in tempo before the classic slow build commences again. Echoing guitar plays over propulsive drumming, the band are in complete unison as they push forward.
The finale has been compared to the Burton-era Metallica, with the contrast between Arletta, with its melancholic classical guitar, and the aggression of the closing Seventh Seal, a punchy, even Metallic aural assault which explodes and rampages into the final minutes.
Russian Circles have drawn photographs of Snowpile For Chicago for their cover, a sculpture by Tony Tasset, on display in the windows of Chicago Public Library’s West Town Branch since 2004, the year Russian Circles formed.
The inclusion of this image is partially a nod to the band’s hometown, but more importantly, serves as an analogy for Russian Circles’ music.
So, album Nine. And more proof, if it was ever needed, that when it comes to this imperious style, Russian Circles are often a step ahead of contemporaries.
An immense piece of work and a clear message that this band are still leaders in their art.
Russian Circles release Nine on 28 August 2026 via Sargent House. For pre-orders, visit found.ee/RC-Nine.
For a band you’ve most likely not heard of before, Shabti sports a remarkably intriguing pedigree (at least for my tastes). You see, Shabti is comprised of members from Falls of Rauros, Obsidian Tongue, Fires in the Distance, and even live Panopticon performers. These aforementioned names will likely ignite the interest of fellow atmo-black lovers as they did to me. Instead, annihilate those puny expectations, for Shabti is actually an amalgamation of proggy, techy, blackened death, much to my surprise. Surprise, but not chagrin – the pre-release single “Rise of the Shabti” got me sufficiently excited, and I trust the weathered musicians of Shabti to deliver something great on the enigmatically titled Haze, Cacophony, and White Light.
