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Theme From Alex – Thirsty Broken Magic & Part Ghost (Self Released)
Matthew Alexander Powell continues his reissue campaign with the two albums from his previous band Theme From Alex. Thirsty Broken Magic dropped in 2003 and and Part Ghost in 2016, both are similar but different in their own ways.

Thirsty Broken Magic is more of a solo album with Matt performing vocals/guitars/bass joined by Rob Reed (Magenta/Sanctuary/Chimpan A) on keys/programming and Ryan Ashton on drums.

Part Ghost is more of band project with Matt on vocals/guitar, Blare on drums and lead vocals on Comfort The Ride, Edd Sprague on guitars/vocals and Jamie Roberts on bass/vocals, who is now in Puzzle Tree with Powell.

Production wise Thirsty Broken Magic is handheld by Powell and Reed while Part Ghost is Powell and Lee Howells who also adds backing vocals alongside Beth-Anne Matthews and Dylan Thompson (ex-The Reasoning) whom Powell was in Shadow Of The Sun with.

Guests on Thirsty Broken Music are High Griffiths on lead guitar for Silver Lining and Edward Sprague on lead guitar for Refrain (who clearly made an impact as he joined the band for the next album).

So with all that preamble and who’s who out of the way we can actually get down to the music on these albums. Starting with Thirsty Broken Magic and Soul Tired kicks off with some early 2000’s alt rock riffs that were bang up to date then, Powell’s vocals perhaps not as refined as they are now but there’s a passion behind it for mixing grooving riffs with prog acumen.

She comes next and you can hear the Jeff Buckley influence strongly in the voice and acoustic guitar, the acoustics are very important to the whole album, creating the main rhythm of these songs as Light And Shade adds Creed/Staind style emotive balladry and the first of three Mantra’s splits the album up into chapters, the first two short interludes while the third is the outro of the record but features a hidden song (remember those) after some silence

Before I Know brings back the heavy, a slithering bass groove adding grunge to the alt metal as Breathe dreamily invokes some radio pop shifting to a short rockers Fra Diavalo. You can hear that Thirsty Broken Magic is very of it’s time but a lot of the styles visited here continue into Powell’s work after this and beyond.

I mentioned the vocals and they aren’t bad mind you, just still a bit raw which suits the style of the album as the woozy Silver Lining is followed by the soulful Sunburn, again highlighting the acoustic guitar. Carrying this through to Refrain which makes me think of Stone Temple Pilots and is the last ‘proper’ song here.

Thirsty Broken Magic is an album of potential, there’s a lot of things here that will be revisited over Powell’s career and on the follow up of course.

Part Ghost then is a record with a bit more time and experience behind it, the prog influences creeping in a bit more in terms of experimentation with styles, rhythms, and atmospheres. Big riffs swagger in on Broken Man the alt/grunge style still central to the music but as I said much more rounded.

Lyrically too things take a step up as they do vocally, the harmonies in particular work really well to make the album feel ‘big’. Brittlewing is spectral and dynamic, it sounds like a band playing these songs over a collection of musicians, we move into the riffy metallic world of Canute and it’s powerful Alice In Chains vibe.

Galaxy returns to acoustic balladry, ripe with emotion and some 90’s angst meeting a bit of prog rock scrubbing, Mad Season continuing the psychedelic/acoustic themes with repeating melodies, transitioning to Comfort The Ride, the albums longest song and it’s most affecting, hooked on a big bass line it’s got a flavour of Dream Theater’s balladry.

Into the back end of the record and the maturity is obvious with the brooding Play Dead and the propulsive Crashing Around You, the drumming here needs to be highlighted as it does on the on the Soundgarden-like Holy Water, a track which brings the woozy riffs of Cornell and co.

The influences are a lot broader on Part Ghost, more realised than on the debut. Bloodlines for instance is some introspective radio fodder segueing into album closer Torch which again features a big set of chorus riffs countered by stripped back verses.

So Part Ghost feels much more like a band project, the style of Thirsty Broken Magic doesn’t disappear it’s just reappraised with experience and performed by more musicians which adds to the definition of everything.

Revisiting these albums in preparation for his new solo album Matthew Alexander Powell is giving the audience gained through Puzzle Tree a look at how he got here. Theme From Alex is where volume met the singer/songwriter and both are worth exploring to chart the evolution. 9/10

The post SHANNON JAE RIDOUT: Northwestern US Folk Singer/Songwriter Issues Title Track From Two Busted Boots And A Broken Heart LP, Nearing June 12th Release On Anti-Corp Music appeared first on INFRARED MAGAZINE.

After Hellhammer ended, nobody expected Celtic Frost to amount to anything –let alone influence a generation of underground bands

For more than a decade, Maneating Orchid have been creating some of the most chaotic and unpredictable extreme music coming out of India’s underground. With Cold Logic, the band pushes even deeper into dissonance, cosmic dread, fractured structures and suffocating intensity – refining the strange and volatile identity they’ve been building since their earliest releases. We spoke with Vinay and Kaushal about exhaustion, instability, sci-fi horror, density, and why “risk is for pop stars to worry about”.

Hi! After finishing Cold Logic, what did it feel like this album had taken from you compared to previous records – mentally, creatively, or even structurally?
Vinay: We give as much of our time, effort and energy as possible to every release we ever put out, and “Cold Logic” was no different. We slogged our asses off, whether it was writing, recording, mixing/mastering, shooting videos, creating artwork, or currently even pushing the album out to attain the widest reach. All of this takes mental bandwidth, keeping our creative juices flowing and structuring it around our regular work days. It’s a continuous struggle trying to maintain the balance, but it is what it is, and we’re happy with how “Cold Logic” has shaped up.

At what point did you realize the record was becoming less about controlled complexity and more about a system that keeps destabilizing itself?
Vinay: If I understand the question correctly, I don’t think those two things are mutually exclusive. Our music is controlled and complex, but the result feels like it’s a constantly shifting system. It’s more of a cause-and-effect relationship than it is about picking one over the other. So yeah, I guess fuck shit up and then try to maintain balance.

With the shift away from socio-political themes toward cosmic dread and psychological fracture, what opened that door thematically for this album?
Kaushal: Our first EP actually heavily leaned into techno-surreal and sci-fi ideas. The two releases that followed became more socio-political and were rooted in reacting to things happening around us externally, whereas “Cold Logic” turned inward and outward at the same time. With “Cold Logic”, we found ourselves returning to that earlier fascination with cosmic dread, fractured perception, post-humanism, and existential uncertainty, just in a much deeper and more focused way. A lot of the themes came from thinking about existence on a larger scale, cosmic indifference, and the discomfort that comes from realising there may not be any inherent structure or meaning underneath everything.

How did Vishnu Reddy joining on drums change the way the band approaches tension and release inside a song?
Vinay: Vishnu understands tension and release perfectly well, considering he’s played in some fairly experimental projects before Maneating Orchid. His addition has solidified our form and songwriting even more. The tension is tight and uncomfortable, and the release is grand and satisfying.

Was there any point in the writing process where the material felt like it was resisting completion, almost refusing to settle into final form?
Vinay: Absolutely, that’s a part of writing. There were a few sections that probably didn’t feel right or whole, but you sit with it and let it brew and hope you find a way out. In one instance, I can recall the outro on “Malformed Horizon,” where the writing and arrangement took quite a toll on me and the mix engineer’s mental health. I’m joking, of course. Distancing yourself from the music helps a lot during these times because ear fatigue blurs sonic direction and gets in the way of making clear decisions.

Compared to Hive Mind and Miasma, what part of your writing identity has become more extreme over time – density, unpredictability, or emotional distance?
Vinay: I think we’ve always been a fairly unpredictable band, so that has remained the same, or it has probably become more prominent with this release. Some passages do have abrupt shifts. I also think “Cold Logic” is definitely our densest record. Some sections are claustrophobic and dissonant, which probably weren’t as much a part of our sound on the previous albums. Using the harmonium has definitely helped achieve that density.

When you think about bands like Voivod, Gorguts, or Discordance Axis in relation to your sound, what influences have become absorbed into instinct rather than consciously referenced?
Vinay: The sheer intensity of these bands, along with their clear and deliberate sense of songwriting, is what has become fairly internalised to us, especially during the writing process. With time, there is a growing conviction in our musical direction that the above influences have helped hone. You have to stand behind what you put out, and all our favourite artists do so, however absurd or simple the music may be.

The album moves through ideas of identity dissolution and post-human transformation – how do you translate something so abstract into something that still feels physically intense in music?
Kaushal: I’m really fascinated with the kinds of ideas explored in darker science fiction films and literature. Things like identity dissolution, post-human transformation, distorted perception, and cosmic insignificance are difficult to represent in a literal way, but they naturally carry a strong sense of tension and unease. Musically, we translate that through dissonance, abrupt shifts, dense layering, and sections that feel unstable or overwhelming. The goal was never to sound “technical” for the sake of it, but to create an atmosphere that feels immersive, unsettling, and physically intense in the same way those ideas feel psychologically overwhelming.

Do you see the suffocating 34-minute runtime as a constraint that sharpened the material, or as a natural endpoint of the ideas themselves?
Vinay: I think a 35 to 40-minute record is the perfect amount of time to listen to music of this intensity. It’s not a constraint by any means, but a conscious decision to keep it this way. Extra/newer ideas can always be carried into a future release.

How does your songwriting process handle repetition, given that repetition can either feel hypnotic or completely against the logic of your music?
Vinay: I think songwriting in general is a repetitive process. With time, you become more aware of ideas that are worth exploring and those that aren’t. When it comes to our music in general, repetition to the same degree is not really a thing. The sound, the parts, and our playing keep constantly changing and evolving. While we might have a signature sound, we aren’t really afraid to explore unknown territories as long as it keeps things interesting.

When you step back from Cold Logic, what part of it feels most “human” underneath all the fragmentation and dissonance?
Vinay: The very experience of the music is human underneath it all. While the album sets the scene in a distant, cold world, the feelings of discomfort, isolation and dread can very well be mapped onto the realities that we experience daily.

Looking across your discography, where does this album sit in terms of risk – was this a refinement of your language or a point where the language itself started to break? Thank you!
Vinay: This one is definitely a refinement in the sound of Maneating Orchid. Our previous releases were kind of headed in this direction, but “Cold Logic” has made it very specific and focused. Our music is generally a little bit out there and “risky,” if that’s what we want to call it. It’s not a thing we take into account at any point because we’re always going to write and play music that’s interesting to us, risky or not. Risk is for pop stars to worry about.

Pre-order/Bandcamp link: https://maneatingorchid.bandcamp.com/album/cold-logic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maneatingorchid
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/orchidtelevision
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/in/artist/maneating-orchid/1495730532
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6FExdyOzhM4KgbZIbT5N38
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maneatingorchid
Bandsintown:https://www.bandsintown.com/a/15641786-maneating-orchid

Dangerous .

The post Dangerous Curves launch video for new track “Mr. Right Tonight” first appeared on Sleaze Roxx.

Here are 10 facts about 'Foreign Tongues,' which arrives this summer. Continue reading…

Multi-platinum hard rock powerhouse Five Finger Death Punch announced today the release of their brand new single “Eye Of The Storm,” the first new song from their forthcoming 10th studio album, currently being recorded in Los Angeles.

Following last week’s announcement of their 2027 Europe dates —  the third leg of their 2026–2028 World Tour — the band posted various snippets of new music on social media, which detonated amongst fans and industry alike, sparking worldwide speculation and excitement. Twenty years in, the band shows no signs of slowing down — they are entering a new era, simultaneously embracing the best of their past while reinventing themselves. After an astonishing 30 Top 10 hit singles, “Eye Of The Storm” is poised to be the next, with even the pre-release snippets going viral and earning immediate embrace from fans and industry alike. The band’s forthcoming 10th studio album is expected to be released this year.

Zoltan Bathory states: “The new music has been turning out heavier than anything we’ve done in years, with a cinematic undertone running beneath it. We had three years to write this record and really live with it. We started with nearly 30 songs and carved it down to 14 or 15; we even considered a double album at one point. This is our 10th studio album and our 20th anniversary as a band, so we knew we had to hit it hard. What excites me most is that I’m hearing the early era again, that grit, that bite, that aggression, while simultaneously exploring completely new territories. I wrote the music for the entire first album, and most of the second, so that energy isn’t nostalgia for me, it’s where I come from. Those are my roots. It feels like coming home at full speed, while my brother Ivan is bringing some incredible lyrics and melodies, and his voice sounds absolutely huge on this record. I am really looking forward to the next decade.”

This summer, Five Finger Death Punch will embark on the first leg of the 20th Anniversary World Tour, which will take them all across North America with special guest Cody Jinks and Eva Under Fire before hitting arenas in the UK/EU with Lamb Of God and Bleed From Within in early 2027.

The 20th Anniversary World Tour is both a celebration and a statement, honoring the band’s journey from their 2005 formation and release of their debut album, The Way Of The Fist, in 2007 to global arena headliners. The tour will showcase material from the new album, alongside classic anthems and #1 hits that defined the past two decades. 

Produced by Live Nation, the 48-city North American tour kicks off on Monday, July 20, at Freedom Mortgage Pavilion in Camden, NJ, and wraps up in Bristow, VA, at Jiffy Lube Live on Friday, October 23. The North American tour lineup will be rounded out by Eva Under Fire, whose current single “Villainous”(featuring Maria Brink of In This Moment)from the forthcoming album of the same name, is currently climbing the Rock Charts, sitting at #15 this week.    

In addition to celebrating two decades of music, the band is once again using its platform to give back. Long recognized as one of the most charitable bands in rock, Five Finger Death Punch has spent decades giving back to various causes, including U.S. military veterans and first responders and their families. In 2026, the band is continuing that tradition by supporting Team USA and aligning with the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games being held on American soil in Los Angeles in 2028. As part of the tour’s commitment to championing America’s next generation of athletes, a portion of the ticket sales from the 2026 North American Tour will benefit high-performance programs for U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athletes as they prepare for international competition  

5FDP‘s 2027 UK/EUROPEAN tour leg with Lamb Of God and Bleed From Within will kick off in the UK in Manchester on Saturday, January 16, 2027, and will see the band perform in 21 cities across the continent, ending in Helsinki on February 22.

For more information on Five Finger Death Punch, all 2026 North America and 2027 European tour dates, and VIP offerings, visit here.

The post FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH Stream New Song “Eye Of The Storm” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Sooner or later you have to grow up. No avoiding it. No other option. The only choice is how. Daisy Grenade have released an impressive number of singles since 2022. Fittingly their third EP is called ‘So Much To Say’ and, for them, it’s time to make that choice.

Dani Nigro and Keaton Whittaker are two creatives. They’re not tethered to a band structure. That means changing their sound is easier. Indeed, their press releases talk breathlessly of the producers they have worked with. This isn’t unusual, but you can’t really predict the results. Thankfully, the EP turns out to be a complete flex, designed to show off exactly what they can do.

Daisy Grenade’s sound is best described as teenage punk rock, like We Are The In Crowd, Yours Truly or Avril Lavigne’s mischievous era. The duo fill that same youthful alt-pop niche but this EP is the sound of them growing up. It can be divided into three acts which track that evolution; ACT I feels young and boisterous. ACT III feels older and more mature. Sandwiched between them, of course, is ACT II – an enormous nervous breakdown.

The first two songs making up ACT I are a mix of the same scrappy punk rock attitude and hook-filled choruses that defined their 2024 EP ‘Cult Classic’. Opener  ‘A Beautiful Woman Is A Weapon, I Guess That’s Why They Call Her A Bombshell’ is built around a huge push and pull vocal, designed to catch you by both ears. It’s a rowdy and exciting slice of pop-punk that feels totally unchained. On ‘Emily’, this sound is pared back in favour of a sly piece of verbal assassination aimed at the titular character.

‘Girls Are So Lucky’ sits at the record’s centre. Produced and co-written by Grammy Award-winning producer Pom Pom, it’s completely different to all the other songs here and actively feels like a single. It features a repeating hook and a processed vocal at odds with the duo’s singing styles, similar to last year’s single ‘Don’t Sweat It’. Beginning with a looped, detuned guitar riff it, uses the phrase ‘so lucky’ as a soft hook only to collapse into a dubstep-style breakdown. It’s miles from the other songs, and yet it oozes the quality you’d expect from a Grammy Award-winning co-writer.

During ACT III they reach a more mature alt-rock sound, but with that same pleasingly barbed lyrical tone. The simple guitar part underpinning ‘Rent To Own’ is bathed in chorus, making it soft and quite lovely, and then expands into something bigger and bolder for its finale. Similarly, ‘It Must Be Me’ soars back for an epic, closing chorus, but sadly the singer’s voice isn’t powerful enough for it to work as intended, creating this frankly bizarre denouement where the vocal sits at odds with the music. It’s a slightly odd ending, but again shows that maturity.

Daisy Grenade truly have ‘So Much To Say’ on their new EP. It neatly mirrors growing up; boisterous, keen to experiment and a little bit messy.

IAN KENWORTHY

Eight years after he joined MARILLION, Steve Hogarth had been so properly embedded into the band and so loved by their fans as to finally strike out on his own and start a parallel career as a separate entity, h. … Continue reading →

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After teasing it through this week around Columbus, Ohio, Twenty One Pilots have now announced the details of their biggest ever headline show.

Scheduled to take place at Ohio Stadium, “the horseshoe”, on October 17, the band will be joined by Death Cab For Cutie. It will serve as the final headline show of the ‘Clancy’ and ‘Breach’ era.

You can sign up for pre-sale, which starts on May 19 at 10am EST, at twentyonepilots.com/ohiostadium.

And there is no better time than now to give this classic an airing.

If you’re in the UK and feeling a bit jealous, don’t fret. The band will be playing at All Points East on August 30 at London’s Victoria Park.

They will be joined by a HUGE line-up featuring Wunderhorse, REN, BBNO$, PVRIS, Nova Twins, Dead Pony, Kid Kapachi, LEAP, NOAHFINNCE, Honey Revenge, Royal & The Serpent, Mouth Culture, Half Alive, Red Leather, Teen Jesus And The Jean Teasers, Artio, Emi Grace, Reece Young, Gang of Youths and Jessie Murph.

Tickets are available right now from www.allpointseastfestival.com  

The post Twenty One Pilots Announce Huge Hometown Show appeared first on Rock Sound.