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Castle Rat’s Riley Pinkerton and Franco Vittore join James Wilson-Taylor to go over their Summer spent on the road, including playing on the same stage as Judas Priest at the Bloodstock Festival. They also comment on their incredible growth and what the future holds in terms of new music. Plus, they take on their own 7of30 questions to reveal what they will do when they retire, on-stage mishaps and who their biggest influences in life are.

The post Castle Rat On Their Incredible Growth & Judas Priest appeared first on Rock Sound.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DARREN MICHAEL BOYD Unveils Dreamy Instrumental Surf Rock Journey With “The Day Beneath Yesterday”
From the album Perpetual Night | Released January 25, 2026
Listen: https://open.spotify.com/track/2GxaQiUs8lg9GlAeyy0t5M
Website: https://darrenboyd.com/
Press Kit / EPK: https://darrenboyd.com/dmb-press-kit
Instrumental guitarist and composer DARREN MICHAEL BOYD takes listeners on a haunting, atmospheric journey with “The Day Beneath Yesterday,” a standout track from his album Perpetual Night . Released January 25, 2026, the track blends dreamy, exotic textures with Boyd’s hard rock roots, creating an instrumental experience that is equal parts mysterious, melodic, and cinematic.
Described as Instrumental Spooky Surf , “The Day Beneath Yesterday” showcases Boyd’s approach to guitar-driven composition, where melody takes center stage and every note has a purpose.


“The Day Beneath Yesterday has a bit of a dreamy, exotic sound going on, while staying true to my Hard Rock roots. Melody is always my main focus – no wasted notes.”


The accompanying music video adds another layer of personality to the track, featuring Boyd putting a guitar through a particularly brutal visual experience. Eagle-eyed viewers may also spot a very special guest appearance from Bo the dog , who apparently had a great time watching a tornado of bubbles unfold during the shoot.
And as Boyd explains, the guitar had already reached the end of its useful life before filming, so no perfectly good instrument was harmed in the making of the video. Probably.
“The Day Beneath Yesterday” has also earned a notable distinction in Nashville, Tennessee, becoming the only instrumental Rock song currently in regular rotation on the JMA Network Music TV Channel .
Boyd’s momentum throughout 2025 and 2026 has been impressive. In 2026, he was nominated for three Josie Music Awards , including Instrumental Album of the Year for Perpetual Night , Instrumental Song of the Year for “The Day Beneath Yesterday,” and Musician of the Year – Guitarist .
His recent accomplishments also include having the Perpetual Night music video selected for the Tokyo Lift-Off Film Festival in 2026. In 2025, Perpetual Night won Best Music Video at The Alternative Film Festival in Toronto (ALTFF) , while Boyd became a three-time finalist with an honourable mention at the Guitarist Festival in Bosnia and Herzegovina . In 2024, he was named Composer of the Year at the Red Carpet Awards Show in Europe .
With Perpetual Night , Darren Michael Boyd continues to carve out a distinctive space where instrumental hard rock, atmospheric soundscapes, exotic melodies, and cinematic visual storytelling collide.

“The Day Beneath Yesterday” is out now.
CONNECT WITH DARREN MICHAEL BOYD

Official Website:
https://darrenboyd.com/
Linktree:
https://darrenboyd.com/links-of-lunacy
Listen to “The Day Beneath Yesterday”:
https://open.spotify.com/track/2GxaQiUs8lg9GlAeyy0t5M
Press Kit / EPK:
https://darrenboyd.com/dmb-press-kit

Album Review: Bocc – Demolarium

Reviewed by Sam Jones

It’s been a minute since I experienced some new, crushing death metal and out of Catalonian Spain, from Barcelona, we have Bocc with their second full length album Demolarium, due for release September 11th. Formed in 2019 Bocc have been strongly active, releasing a wave of EPs, Singles, Splits and that’s even before they unleashed their 2022 debut album: Dolça Mort En Els Ilims Del Rec Comtal. Peppering the following years will more, smaller releases Bocc now return in style with that aforementioned second album, Demolarium, via Night Terror Records this time. Listening to snippets I knew this was a record I wanted to check out firsthand and come its release date, I’m confident already many more will want to do just the same.

If you’re after something possessing a crushing sound then Demolarium is instantly a record you’ll want to check out. Whether you’re looking for a heinous guitar tone or basslines thick enough to rupture the universe, Bocc bring that in drives and then some. Before a single note even begins you can feel the weight the hanging resonance and atmosphere provides, which becomes only stronger when the songwriting does kick in. I will say though that for all its heaving mass, Demorium isn’t so heavy that it’s difficult to follow the songwriting. I was always aware of Bocc’s presence and the presence their riffs had but I always managed to see where the band were taking me. It never got so hard on my senses that I couldn’t discern what was next nor what had just transpired.

Since the band liken themselves towards death/doom metal their tempo isn’t some dramatically racing affair, rather Bocc apply a far steadier, trudging momentum akin to wading through some miasmic swamp where one feels the air clinging to them, and all the odious detritus beneath weighing them down. Granted, a rapid tempo wouldn’t have worked for Bocc’s songwriting since speed would have seen the impact of their riffs and crushing sound completely dissipate and lose impact. However it’s worth noting their songwriting changes up more than most doom acts would, with succeeding sequences of different riffs, new routes taken etc. Bocc therefore allow themselves far more leeway in writing longer tracks with a steadier tempo because the audience isn’t going to feel bogged down in songwriting that would otherwise leave them wanting for something new.

Death/doom is typically associated with great swathes of horror, of unending bouts of inescapable dread. Bocc’s stance of songwriting however dials it down a touch so the horror inherent isn’t so complete, rather you can see it round the corner. Bocc’s brand of death/doom utilises the macabre much more than outright horror; the record doesn’t portray desolation and madness so much as it does encroaching futility; you can fight as long and as much as you’d please but your fate was determined long ago. It’s why the riffs have this piercing, slicing aesthetic, separate from the band’s otherwise crushing demeanour, and shows sections where the guitar attack drops entirely to make way for hideous basslines and vocals wretched from the netherworlds.

Arguably the most standout feature on this record are the vocals. Though the instrumentation is great and does what it should on a death/doom record, the vocals are the driving force. I appreciate that they’re removed from the instrumentation because, had they been on the same wavelength and crushing style, the record would be at risk of merging every component into some homogenised, corporeal mass where little could be identified and respected for what they bring. The vocals are these monstrous, boisterous and bellowing howls that take the band’s macabre doom into more vicious territories. Much of the songwriting stays on the level you’re first introduced to it as whereas the vocals move this way and that and on steeper inclines pending on what the songwriting requires.

In conclusion, Demolarium is a ruthless and heavy record that showcases Spain’s extreme metal scene, one that many often glance over when considering the greater European scene. Instrumentally it’s something you’d heard before a few times now but when you throw those vocals into the fray, Bocc summon a death/doom attack that champions the macabre, that penultimate step before you’re thrown into free fall nightmare. It is a crushing album, the kind you’ll instantly be on board with should that cavernous style be something you’re affiliated with, thankfully it’s not so crushing that folk unaccustomed to this style won’t be turned away; in fact they may be welcomed into its grasp. Demolarium has some longer tracks too but the band use enough changes in songwriting to keep things fresh and alive, though I do think it’s overall length is just right before your attention may start slipping. In all, a fine addition to Spain’s extreme metal catalogue.

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: Bocc – Demolarium appeared first on The Razor's Edge.

It was just last year when Tonstartssbandht dude Andy Boay (aka Andy White) released his album You Took That Walk For The Two Of Us, and he’s already gone and made another one. Ominously, it’s called Doomed. White tracked it on a Tascam 688 cassette recorder in two locations: the New York Center for Creativity and Dance in Manhattan’s East Village and the Amelia Street House in the Orlando neighborhood Lake Eola Heights.

The post Andy Boay Announces New Album <em>Doomed</em>: Hear “Child” appeared first on Stereogum.

Blue Medusa, the new band fronted by former Arch Enemy and The Agonist vocalist Alissa White-Gluz, has dropped its third single, “Crocodile.”

Dark, tense and quietly menacing, “Crocodile.” digs into the sensation that danger is lurking close by, even when you can’t see it coming.

“‘Crocodile” is about that feeling that you’re being watched… that instinctive dread when you know something dangerous is nearby, even though you can’t see it,” explains White-Gluz.

“It’s the feeling that something is lurking just beneath the surface of what appears to be safe or familiar. That tension between what you perceive and what you sense; that is where the song lives.”

The single continues White-Gluz‘s ongoing visual partnership with Vicente Cordero of Industrialism Films, who once again co-directed the accompanying music video alongside her.

The clip marks Blue Medusa‘s first-ever full-band performance, with White-Gluz wielding a one-of-a-kind custom guitar built by Nik Huber Guitars as part of a three-way collaboration between Sea Shepherd, Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein, and Blue Medusa. Signed by both White-Gluz and Von Frankenstein, the guitar carries Von Frankenstein‘s signature Von Frankenstein Monster Gear pickups and strings and will be auctioned off to fund Sea Shepherd’s marine conservation work. The video also features Beatriz Mariano of Okkultist, who lends chilling visuals and harsh vocals to the track.

“Crocodile” caps off a wild year for White-Gluz, who has spent the last several months bouncing between stages, guest slots and surprise cameos across the festival circuit.

At this year’s Wacken Open Air, White-Gluz spent her birthday weekend hopping between three different stages, including joining Bear McCreary to perform their collaboration “Our Kingdom,” the official Wacken anthem. She also linked up with Von Frankenstein for a signing session at Summer Breeze.

At Sonic Temple and Welcome To Rockville, White-Gluz stepped in to front Dragonforce for two shows. She also popped up unannounced with Ice Nine Kills across Europe and North America, hitting Rock Am Ring, Rock Im Park, Stuttgart, Heavy Week-End, Inkcarceration and Rock The Park along the way. At Hellfest, she performed an acoustic set with Savage Lands before joining Sepultura onstage for “Kaiowas.”

“Crocodile” is out now on all digital streaming platforms.

White-Gluz is joined in Blue Medusa by guitarists Alyssa Day (Mindscar, Absentia) and Dani Sophia (ex-Till Lindemann), alongside bassist Alicia Vigil (Dragonforce, Vigil Of War) and drummer Delaney Jaster (Stitched Up Heart), who round out the band’s live lineup.

White-Gluz, formerly of Canadian extreme metal outfit The Agonist, joined Arch Enemy in 2014, taking over vocal duties from Angela Gossow.

Now 41, White-Gluz has consistently used her music as a platform for social causes, championing environmental conservation, veganism and animal rights throughout her career.

The post ALISSA WHITE-GLUZ’s BLUE MEDUSA Drops New Video For “Crocodile.” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Album Review: RØRY – Bloodletting

Reviewed by Beatriz Pereira

Some albums you listen to. Some albums you feel.

There’s something about RØRY’s music that has always felt incredibly real, and BLOODLETTING carries that feeling from beginning to end.  It’s an album full of anger, heartbreak, frustration and vulnerability, but there’s also a real sense of hope running underneath it all. There is hope for a change, that things will be alright

Musically, the album feels bigger and heavier, with plenty of punch from the guitars and production, but thankfully the emotion never gets lost. RØRY’s voice and songwriting remain at the heart of the record. Tracks such as “DEGRADATION,” “DEAD GIRL WALKING,” “STRANGE” and “KIDS THESE DAYS” really stand out. Each brings something different, but they all have that honesty that makes RØRY’s music so easy to connect with.

My personal favourite is “STRANGE” she always makes me feel less alone. I felt seen.

There are also moments that genuinely catch you off guard. A few of the songs brought tears to my eyes, not simply because they’re sad, but because some of the lyrics describe feelings that people often struggle to put into words.  That ability to make something so personal feel relatable is one of RØRY’s biggest strengths.

What I enjoyed most about BLOODLETTING is that it doesn’t try to make healing sound perfect. It acknowledges that it can be messy and complicated. Sometimes you feel strong, sometimes you fall apart, and sometimes you’re somewhere in between. The album embraces all of those emotions.

Despite the heavier sound, there’s plenty of heart here. The quieter and more vulnerable moments balance the bigger tracks really well, and the album never feels like it’s trying too hard.

Most importantly, BLOODLETTING feels genuine. It’s the kind of record that stays with you after the final song, and I can easily see listeners returning to it on those days when they need music that understands how they’re feeling.

It made me smile, it made me think, and it definitely made me emotional at times which, for me, is always a good sign that an album has really this deep connection.

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: RØRY – Bloodletting appeared first on The Razor's Edge.

TV On The Radio’s Return To Cookie Mountain just turned 20, and when I revisited it, I was struck all over again by how much Katrina Ford’s backing vocals added to a bunch of those songs. Ford was a TVOTR associate from the very beginning. Before he produced the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Fever To Tell, Dave Sitek did his first-ever production job on Here Is Night, Brothers, Here The Birds Burn, the 2002 album from Ford’s Baltimore art-punk band Love Life.

The post Katrina Ford Announces New Album <em>To The Lighthouse</em>: Hear “Winter Sun” appeared first on Stereogum.

Last year, Detroit’s Day Residue released i love what you’ve done with the place, a ferocious EP that was diverse in its disgruntled punkiness. Since then, they shared the one-off “Lackey.” Today, they’ve returned with two new singles “Gag Order” and “Hypothetical” that continue their stellar streak.

The post Day Residue – “Gag Order” & “Hypothetical” appeared first on Stereogum.

I will be there in a vintage Mugler negligee

come and go, take your troubles away… Viva l’amore! 

Long live love, without pain. Everybody knows the bargain is impossible, which makes singing it feel deliciously reckless. What began as words for one lover has widened into a hymn for appetite, where pleasure becomes moral, beauty practically compulsory.

Sweet Love Under Tyranny has a name that sounds ready to be painted across the side of a limousine headed for a disco or a minor apocalypse, and Viva L’Amore, the second track from the project’s forthcoming self-titled EP, carries itself with the same expensive nerve. The Los Angeles producer and vocalist takes darkwave, gothic pop, and the synthetic romance of Italo disco, then stuffs them into a song concerned with the oldest bad idea in civilization: that love might be separated from pain.

The song lives on movement. A Synclavier bass strum enters the hook with enough physical authority to make stillness seem impolite, while Matia Simovich’s co-production keeps the arrangement spacious enough for every drum hit, synth accent, and vocal turn to register. Lilian Void’s solo adds a flash of virtuosity without turning the record into a showroom, and Josh Bonati’s mastering preserves the dynamics rather than crushing everything into one gleaming rectangle. There is luxury everywhere, although the luxury has teeth.

This quality suits the lyric, which imagines midnight desire as temporary exile from consequence: champagne, sea air, vintage Mugler, secret rooms outside ordinary time. Sweet Love Under Tyranny explains its origin with equal appetite:

“It’s about a quickening all of the truly good and beautiful things in life: love, food, sex… silk chiffon… the end of summer just before fall… the real reasons for living! The hook wafted into my consciousness after a family trip to Sicily when the salt was still fresh on my skin from the sea, and I was full of wine, and pasta, and life from the spirit of the place. Initially it was just “Viva l’amore” repeated on the hook, but my friend Mayumi suggested I alternate with senza dolore, which of course, was precisely the move.”

Listen to Viva L’Amore and pre-order the Sweet Love Under Tyranny EP here.

Viva L’Amore also sharpens the promise of Sweet Love Under Tyranny’s self-titled EP, due November 6 via à La Carte Records on digital formats and, for the first time, vinyl. Clear and two-tone black-in-clear editions suit music this obsessed with surfaces, sensation, and presentation. Beneath all that elegance sits a blunt proposition: life is brief, the bottle is open, desire is present, and somebody had better dance.

Follow Sweet Love Under Tyranny:

• Bandcamp
• Spotify
• Instagram
• Facebook
• TikTok
• YouTube

 

The post “In a Vintage Mugler Negligee” — Sweet Love Under Tyranny Shares Seductive Synthpop Single “Viva L’Amore” appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

The time has finally arrived for the conclusion of Green Carnation’s epic A Dark Poem. If you’ve been following this journey, the band released the dark, brooding A Dark Poem Part I: The Shores of Melancholia last year to set the stage. Like The Matrix movies, this record works fine on its own, introducing a dark and chaotic side to the band. It was an exciting listen because, unlike previous Green Carnation records, The Shores of Melancholia was surprisingly one-sided instead of the band’s typical roundness. Which meant one of two things: either this trilogy would represent a much harsher version of the band, or we haven’t heard shit yet.

When A Dark Poem Part II: Sanguis dropped earlier this year, I was floored. Unlike The Matrix movies, Sanguis proved superior to its predecessor. But, as a pair, the experience is pure bliss. Out of the dark world of Melancholia came an album of hopelessness and severe depression. It’ll make you cry at one point, and scream at the skies at another. It also includes some of the best songwriting in Green Carnation’s thirty-six-year existence. So, how in the unholy hell can you fit in a finale? And even if you did, what would that sound like? I present to you the shocking A Dark Poem Part III: The Messiah Complex.

After all the ups-and-downs, intensity, emotion, and passion, The Messiah Complex arrives in a tight little package, consisting of a mere four songs with a thirty-eight-minute runtime. Which makes me realize how perfectly balanced these three records are because, when added up, they hover just below two hours of music. Of the three records, this new one feels the most progressive, and that progressiveness intensifies with each track. “Unconditional Artificial Chemistry” is an exceptional opener, delivering a pleasurable mid-paced groove, massive bass poppin’, and a classic Green Carnation chorus. It has Nordhus’ addictive melodic vocals, soothing guitar leads, and also some impressive key work.

The title track is the best on the record, but that’s silly to say when all four tracks are top-tier. But the combination of acoustic pluckings and hypnotic strummings puts us in the realm of Acoustic Verses. That’s before the head-bobbing chug takes over and gets this thing rockin’. At the midway point, we arrive at the calm before the storm. Then, the track really moves, climbing and roaring and soaring to its heavy conclusion. One of the cooler aspects of this song is the lead vocals by Green Carnation overload, Stein Sordal. “Broken Souls, Common Enemies” follows “The Messiah Complex” seamlessly, dropping some old-school progginess over a gorgeous chorus, nifty guitar leads, harpsichord action, and vicious rasps. After a gentle lull with acoustic guitars and flute, the song is flung up to a stratosphere over layered vocals, a sweeping atmosphere, and a stellar conclusion.

But the closing number, “A Dark Poem – Orchestral Suite,” is like nothing I’ve ever heard before. Executed by the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra and Opera Choir, this nearly seventeen-minute song sees no distortion, no rumbling bass, and no vocals. Outside of the songwriting, you actually won’t hear a single peep from the band. It might be the most ambitious thing I have ever heard. By no means an expert in classical music, I can clearly hear Vivaldi inspiration here, with waves of strings, horns, woodwinds, and percussion that collide at the end in a massive conclusion. There’s no way I can describe it. It’s something one must hear. And it somehow is the perfect ending to this Ophelia-inspired epic.

At the end of this mighty journey, Sanguis still captivates me the most. It’s pure sex to my ears. But A Dark Poem Part III: The Messiah Complex is truly special. While many will talk about the closer more than any other track, Green Carnation saved some of their best material for last. The heavier tracks flow so well that you come to realize that they are just as classical as the orchestral piece. Reviewing this trilogy has been one of the highlights of my AMG career, and I can’t wait for you all to hear it.

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Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Season of Mist
Websites: greencarnationsom.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/greencarnationnorway
Releases Worldwide: September 4th, 2026

The post Green Carnation – A Dark Poem Part III: The Messiah Complex Review appeared first on Angry Metal Guy.