melanculia returns with Sunboat Ascension, a haunting and deeply cinematic piece lifted from the newly released album post mortem. Blending gothic post-punk melancholy with dark folk and spectral psychedelia, the track unfolds through stark acoustic riffs, ghostly organs, and emotionally raw vocal delivery. Guided by Nino Sable’s immersive sense of atmosphere, Sunboat Ascension channels themes of displacement, transformation, and emotional resurrection with striking intensity.
Ritualistic, intimate, and beautifully wounded, the song captures the album’s unique balance of industrial gloom, fragile beauty, and dark romanticism.
The almighty Flatliners concludedCold World release week with a pair of shows at the iconic Middle East (downstairs) in Cambridge’s Central Square. The first night was a sold-out ripper that found the Flats sandwiched between Signals Midwest and local(ish) heroes A Wilhelm Scream. With Signals on their way to Australia for a ten-day run post-show, the second show featured iconic local support from Rebuilder. And because that show was also Mother’s Day, it was also an all-ages matinee show. But this was no acoustic mimosa brunch – it was an amped-up, circle-pit inspiring barn-burner of a holiday set.
Rebuilder kicked things off at the stroke of 1:00pm. The band – whom I’ve seen close to two-dozen times – wasted no time setting things off. Playing as a keyboardless four-piece and with familiar face Harley Cox (Choke Up, Sadlands) filling in for Brandon Phillips on drums for the occasion, Rebuilder ripped through a set that pulled from the last dozen years of their discography, from 2015’s Rock And Roll In America, through 2017’s Sounds From The Massachusetts Turnpike EP and 2023’s wonderful Local Support. Particularly when playing as a four-piece, the band have a fairly unique stage setup, with dueling vocalists/guitarists Sal Medrano and Craig Stanton at stage right and left respectively, leaving ample space for bassist Daniel Carswell to endlessly prowl the center of the stage with occasionally reckless abandon.
The Flatliners occupied the middle spot on the bill, the figurative home fries in the Mother’s Day brunch of a lineup. The Canadian quartet wasted no time blowing the proverbial roof off the dimly-lit basement confines that are downstairs at the Middle East. “Performative Hours” kicked things off, setting a frenetic bar that was quickly matched by “Eulogy” and “Good, You?,” the first single from Cold World. The Cold World tracks – which also included “And They’re Off,” “Pulpit” and “Inner Peace,” fit seamlessly into the set that pulled from all points in the band’s genre-bending career. It feels a bit lucky that the Flats circa 2026 are anchored in punk rock ethos, meaning that we still get the privilege of watching them in sweaty basement all-ages matinee settings, as their massive guitar hooks and fiery rhythms could easily scale up to much larger outdoor sheds this time of year.
And with that, the main course – the omelet station in the Mother’s Day brunch – none other than New Bedford’s A Wilhelm Scream. While The Flatliners and A Wilhlem Scream have been long-time buds and road dogs together, these two shows somehow marked the first occasion on which they’ve shared the same Boston-area stage. AWS matched the Flats’ energy level and ratcheted it into the stratosphere, setting the tone with “I Wipe My Ass With Showbiz” and “5 to 9,” the one-two punch that kicks off the band’s 2007 release Career Suicide. The quintet put out a new record of their own recently, and sprinkled a healthy dose of tracks from Cheap Heat across their headlining set. “Let It Ride” was a particular highlight. And while this show was obviously an early-afternoon Mother’s Day matinee, energetic A Wilhelm Scream frontman Nuno Pereira’s son Brixton was front and center for the band’s set and their frequent interplay was like watching a multi-generational mirror. The kids, it seems, are alright after all.
Check out more shots from the afternoon’s festivities below!
This is the debut album by US death metal band Horrific Visions. Featuring the drummer of Stabbing, (also ex-Whore of Bethlehem), Remnants of Atrophy deals out 25 minutes of brutal death metal punishment. Horrific Visions take a well-worn formula and put just enough of their own spin on it to make a destructive impression. The … Continue reading “Horrific Visions – Remnants of Atrophy (Review)”
Check out my autographed band photo of METAL CHURCH!! From left to right: Rick Van Zandt (lead guitar), Kurdt Vanderhoof (rhythm guitar), Mike Howe (vocals), Jeff Plate (drums) and Steve Unger (bass). They signed my photo after the show! The only autograph missing is Jeff Plate, due to him being with some friends chatting.
I went to see METAL CHURCH back on September 16, 2016, at Oddbody’s Music Lounge, In Dayton, Ohio. Was an incredible night! An all-time Metal memory I cherish!!
It was the second time I saw METAL CHURCH play live. The first time I saw them was back in 1985, when they opened for METALLICA at the West Hartford Ballroom, in West Hartford, Connecticut! (The late) David Wayne was the lead singer for METAL CHURCH back in 1985.
On this night (the late) Mike Howe was the lead singer and he lit up the stage! I was chest against the front stage, living my best Metal life, that night, back in 2016! See the photo below of Mike Howe and myself, taken after the show.
Stone and (the late) Mike Howe.
METAL CHURCH on that night were so gracious and humble, signing their band photo for free, while chatting away and accepting photo requests by many jubilant fans! I couldn’t thank them enough, then and now.
Deco return with Dreamhouse, a euphoric indie-synth pop anthem overflowing with warmth, nostalgia, and serotonin-soaked escapism. Built around shimmering synth textures, infectious hooks, soaring falsetto vocals, and vibrant disco-pop energy, the track channels the spirit of acts like MGMT and Hot Chip while carving out Deco’s own feel-good universe. Beneath the glossy production lies a genuine emotional core, with the band framing Dreamhouse as both a creative sanctuary and an escape from modern chaos. Joyful, immersive, and irresistibly uplifting, this is indie-pop world-building done right.
Blanket Approval lock into an irresistible groove on Revolving Doors, a standout cut from their debut album Heartbreak City that captures the restless pulse of modern urban life. Blending tight rhythmic basslines, jangly indie-rock energy, and subtle funk influences, the track balances danceable momentum with themes of emotional repetition and isolation. The band’s chemistry shines through every section, channeling the swagger of classic indie acts while maintaining a fresh, contemporary edge.
Catchy, sharp, and effortlessly cool, Revolving Doors is the kind of indie groove anthem built for neon-lit nights and endless city motion.
L-R – Andres Martinez Torres (Drakar) – Voices, Lead Guitar, Bass – Michel Amyot – Rhythm Guitar / Photo Credit – Patrick Auger
Eternal Drak, the long‑running extreme metal force originally from Latin America and now based in Quebec City, Canada, known for its evolving blend of black, thrash, and death metal, announces the arrival of its sixth full‑length album, The Violence of Time, a work that reframes time itself as the enemy of human meaning and will be released on July 17th, 2026, on Canadian label FirstWave. Alongside the announcement, the band unveils the album’s first single, “We Force It To Speak.”
Born, as the band puts it, “in the middle of a drunk among friends,” Eternal Drak has spent years forging a sound defined by varied rhythm and catchy aggression, shaped by decades within the metal underground. With this new album, the band reaches its most cohesive and intense expression to date.
The Violence of Time is not a concept album in the traditional sense; it is a philosophical assault. Lyrically and musically, the record presents time as a hostile, eroding force that distorts memory, identity, and causality. The songs function as “violent theses,” each dismantling a human assumption about how time works.
The band explains:
“Time does not accompany human beings; it subdues them. It does not flow; it imposes. It does not advance; it erodes.”
Every track reflects fragments of a larger narrative inspired by a short story written for the album, an exploration of how attempts to understand time only warp it further.
Track Listing:
1. We Force It To Speak – 5:15 2. The Unborn Paths Rot – 3:51 3. Me Hice Simultaneo – 3:30 4. The Blasphemy of Time – 3:35 5. Chaos Is the Law – 3:34 6. Where Cause Is Buried – 3:55 7. Across the Watching Veils – 3:53 8. Breathing Once Again – 3:45 9. The Cosmos Rejects You – 4:09 10. No Direction Total War – 2:57 Album Length: 38:24
Serving as the album’s opening strike, “We Force It To Speak” captures the essence of Eternal Drak’s new era. Rooted in black metal yet enriched with acoustic textures and dense atmospheric layering, the track establishes the album’s emotional and conceptual tone.
Lyrically, it confronts the human obsession with explanation, how the act of observing or defining reality alters it beyond recognition. The band describes it as a reflection on “how the more we search for answers, the more certainty slips away.”
Eternal Drak’s evolution has been shaped by decades of experimentation, from analog distortion and classic pedals to modern digital textures. With The Violence of Time, the band believes it has finally crystallized its definitive sound: aggressive, cohesive, and uncompromising.
Listen to “We Force It To Speak” at the following links:
Influences such as Dimmu Borgir, Watain, Kreator, Motörhead, and Desaster echo throughout the record, yet the album stands firmly in its own identity, extreme metal sharpened by introspection and conceptual depth.
Album Band Line Up: Andres Martinez Torres (Drakar) – Voices, Lead Guitar, Bass Michel Amyot – Rhythm Guitar
