Posted on May 9th 2026, 5:30p.m.

(Because Islander is goofing off at the NCS-sponsored Northwest Terror Fest this weekend, we won’t have his usual weekend columns, but we will have some reviews by DGR, including this one devoted to a new album by Houston-based Architectural Genocide.) It took way too long to achieve this monk-like state of enlightenment but listening to […]

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Longevity, effort, dedication, relevance, consistency, performance, influence, and perseverance. Words that come to mind describing the tenacity of any musician, artist, or band. The people that make up the punk rock world encompass this and much more. A shining example is Ontario, Canada’s The Flatliners.

The quartet, based out of Richmond Hill, Ontario, has been rocking live shows and cranking out some of the best music everyone loves since 2002. Between the time and hard work this band has put in, it’s safe to say they’ve earned the recognition and loyalty among punk rock fans across the world.

The Flatliners have released seven studio albums and a plethora of EPs during their twenty-four years as a band. Starting with their debut Destroy to Create in 2005, followed by The Great Awake in 2007, Cavalcade in 2010, Dead Language in 2013, Inviting Light in 2017, New Ruin in 2022, and now Cold World, their seventh album releases today.

The excitement for the release of Cold World has been building over the last few months. The hype is very real, fans have been anticipating new music from The Flatliners and they did not disappoint. The band released “Good, You?” as a single on February 17. “Good, You?” seems to ask how we are doing while acknowledging the struggles and feelings we have as people. “So tragic, so blind to the ever-open wound, good, you?” The song has the slow-paced guitar buildup we all have grown to love about this band. Melodic, emotional and with purpose, this is why we love The Flatliners. An excellent peek at what is to come for the album.

“Inner Peace” is somewhat of an ironic name for this song if the listener is to go by the pace of the music itself. An aggressive, in-your-face, loud, and hard-hitting song, the chorus slows down to form a melody that is familiar. Features the signature raw vocals from frontman Chris Cresswell (Yes, THE Chris Cresswell, the same dude who moonlights as a member of Hot Water Music) and is very much complemented by the drumming of Paul Ramirez. “So deflated, turn it on, breathe your air into me or I’m gone,” a search for something uplifting, perhaps enlightenment.

Big guitars, big drums, and some ohhs and whoas showcase the intro song for Cold World, “Stolen Valour.” Once Creswell chimes in, we know where this is going. “Together in disintegration we fall first. Completely it will come apart, it just gets worse,” these lyrics will be stuck repeating in your head while contemplating your sense of belonging. This is The Flatliners we want to hear, a song that will get the crowd moving when played live.

Perhaps the most poignant song on Cold World is “And They’re Off.” This is the song that we will be singing together in dive bars while drinking cheap beer and lamenting the past. “Catastrophe, sitting on the shoulders of what used, what used to be. The horse we’re betting on is already dead, so what’s the use?” This is a statement to keep going. “Set foot in the past, keep planning now for the future.” Let this song soak in and enjoy.

“Pulpit” is very ambitious, heavy, and sounds like it should be played in a stadium. “There’s beauty in the way we have decayed,” finding the good when things are going bad. Another example of a chorus that’s going to be stuck in your head. “Burn” might be the best pound for pound song on the entire album. It’s the classic sound of The Flatliners and is a reminder of how far this band has come. Play this one at full blast and get those fists pumping. “Burn, don’t let it burn away, Burn, what’s lost cannot be saved.”

Overall, Cold World, is an absolutely fantastic offering from The Flatliners. Much like their previous albums, it has charm, melody, ingenuity and compassion. It breathes. It speaks. It feels. There’s so much there and it easily is going to be the best album of the year to most of us. It is such a big album, from the guitars to the impact of the songs. A lot of reflection but also a lot of enthusiasm. The Flatliners have been through it and they’re still going through it.

The Flatliners are currently on The Cold World World Tour. Visit their website for tour dates here. The album Cold World is released through Equal Vision Records, and can be ordered here.

The legendary bassist shares some early memories and tells us about his latest band, Close Enemies. Continue reading…

In December last year, Björk revealed that she was working on the followup to 2022’s Fossora. Earlier this week, the Icelandic avant-pop artist performed a surprise DJ set at the Venice Biennale.

The post Björk Plays Surprise DJ Set At Venice Biennale, Promises New Album Next Year appeared first on Stereogum.

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U.K. thrash metal veterans Acid Reign will release their new album, Daze Of The Week, on May 15 via Back On Black. The record marks the band’s first studio effort since 2019’s The Age Of Entitlement, and comes with a newly assembled lineup built around vocalist and sole remaining original member Howard “H” Smith. The music video for the second single, “Sorrowsworn,” is out now.

Smith said: “In all my 41 years in this band — yes, 41! — I have never been more excited by the prospect of anything than releasing Daze Of The Week on the unsuspecting thrash metal public. It’s been two years in the making and at times I thought it might never even see the light of day. Every note of every performance in every song has been lovingly captured by our sixth member, producer Jayce Lewis, and we couldn’t be happier with the results.” He added: “This one is for every single thrasher around the world who thought that albums like this couldn’t be made anymore. They can, we have, you’re welcome.”

On navigating significant lineup changes in the years since The Age Of Entitlement, Smith said: “There were times, specifically when Marc [Jackson] and Cooky left at the same time, I really did wonder if it was time to call it quits. That was quickly followed by, ‘No way. No way am I letting circumstance dictate when this band’s career ends. We will decide.’ Being in a legacy band is a privilege. If a 15-year-old me was told we’d still be putting albums out all these years later it would have blown his tiny mind!”

Daze Of The Week introduces what Smith calls Acid Reign 3.0: lead guitarist Matt Smith, rhythm guitarist Darren McGillivray (whose own band Wrath Of Man had supported Acid Reign before he joined), and drummer Johnny Grimley, a touring veteran previously with Shrapnel who had briefly stepped away from drumming for health reasons. Pete Dee remains on bass alongside H. Producer Jayce Lewis flew in from New York and described the band as sounding “reborn.”

On his new bandmates, Smith was effusive: “Matt has been here for four years already. I can honestly say he is the best guitarist I have ever worked with. No offense intended to any I’ve played with in the past, but he is in a different league, as well as being a beautiful human being.”

Formed in 1985 in Harrogate, Yorkshire, Acid Reign are considered part of the “Big Four” of British thrash alongside Onslaught, Sabbat, and Xentrix. The original band released two full-length albums — The Fear (1989) and Obnoxious (1990) — following their 1988 mini-album debut Moshkinstein, and split in 1991 after a final show at the London Marquee. They returned from a 24-year absence and headlined the Sophie Stage at Bloodstock 2016 in a record-breaking appearance before releasing The Age Of Entitlement in 2019.

The post ACID REIGN Returns After Seven Years With “Daze Of The Week” — Music Video For New Single “Sorrowsworn” Out Now appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Written By: Aleken’s Gunstrosity

Every year has one magical moment that I look forward to with great anticipation: the first metal release that wows me enough to think it’ll be my AotY. It’s an electric sensation, and it just so happens that Alekhines Gun brought first lightning to my world this year, in the form of atmospheric post-black metal band Silaera’s debut record, An Aberration of the Void. The Chicagoan triplet, established in 2019 as a one-man project, rounded out their lineup with a bassist and a second guitarist last year as they recorded their striking debut. Complete with a stunning Burke piece adorning its cover, An Aberration of the Void left Gun and I with our jaws on the floor, so much so that we had no choice but to write this review together. Two different voices, one unified piece.

An Aberration of the Void is an apt moniker for Silaera’s first outing, as the band masterfully wields all of black metal’s forms as if they were intrinsic properties of their very being. At once gorgeous, frightening, triumphant, and evil, An Aberration of the Void recalls the sweeping flares of Mare Cognitum (“A Celestial Grave”), the gentle caress of Noltem (the first quarter of “Fall into Cosmic Sleep”), the fervent dissonance of Vimur (“From Entropic Dust”), and the devastating heft of the altogether more vicious Keres (“Abhorring the Lifting of Eyes, the middle third of “Fall into Cosmic Sleep”). Yet, Silaera’s talent for transitions and assembly manage to craft a vision like visiting an alien planet; you’ve seen planets before, but none like this, and trying to classify its place in the cosmos in relation to other stars is a waste of time. This planet simply is. An Aberration’s production conjures specters of the celestial in similar fashion, transversely aligning full, rich chords, cavernous reverb, and a deep low end against crystalline shimmers and bright midranges. The result is a magical composition of unknown and unknowable beauty churning with the destructive energy of a collapsing star.

If you need a quick peak into the nebula awaiting, point your telescopes to “Abhorring the Lifting of Eyes,” a masterstroke of composition, creativity, and unpredictability. Launching with a sparkling¹ trem-heavy intro, it glides into a long-form riff of cosmic mysticism before variating into a brutally heavy crush, which then spontaneously combusts into a jagged groove attack liable to snap your neck like a toothpick. Tellingly, vocals take a dumbfounding length of time to kick in, but aren’t noticed in their absence until they make their presence known—this serves only to enhance their impact. Moments of contrast like this abound on An Aberration, giving new meaning to the term “beauty and the beast,” but few hit harder than “From Entropic Dust” and epic closer “Fall into Cosmic Sleep” when they offset their impeccable atmospheric allure with deadly swings and terrifying dissonance. Imagine if Cosmic Putrification wrote an album about their feelings and had it produced by Blackbraid, and you’ll almost get it. Silaera takes their songwriting chiaroscuro even further, morphing and mutating phrases with each repetition so radically as to redefine, but never estrange, the tones and textures of the next measure.

That songwriting makes An Aberration of the Void engaging and stimulating from start to finish in spite of its uniformly long-form construction. You’d expect a record where no song falls below six minutes to feature some bloat, but not here. Not a moment wasted, An Aberration arranges compelling choices and elevating decorations around every corner, on both the songwriting and production front. The snare positively crackles and pops when devolving into ferocious blasts, but sibilates and snaps instead during gentler phrases to emphasize mood and atmosphere to great effect (“A Celestial Gaze”). A throaty rasp informs the more intense sections while guttural roars evoke a lurking monstrosity when the moment calls for something more ominous (“Fall into Cosmic Sleep”). Riffs pummel and pound with the terrible force of black holes, but delicate melodies ascend beyond the heavens in tandem to uplift the listener as the event horizon guarantees their final destination (“Abhorring the Lifting of Eyes,” “Fall into Cosmic Sleep”). This interplay of contrast and complement, paired with meticulous detailing, is the unfathomable core of An Aberration of the Void, and the main reason why it universally captivates my attention.

Criticisms are extremely difficult to commit to, not just for me, but also for Gun. Neither one of us felt any held water for longer than a few moments. We nonetheless noted that, for some, Silaera’s disparate references could feel disjointed in the moment,² with cohesion only coming after focused spins. An Aberration of the Void also does not escape common genre trappings: maximum reverb, more runtime dedicated to slower paces than outright aggression, arpeggios everywhere. But in execution, these small points of contention feel like inseparable parts of the cosmos Silaera created, and what a wondrous cosmos it is.

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Rating Consensus: Great!!³
DR: Lost to the Void | Format Reviewed: Bandcamp Stream
Label: Self Released
Websites: silaera.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/Silaera
Releases Worldwide: April 10th, 2026

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Mick Jagger was always a ZLut. Is that a sentence you expected to read today? Well, it’s the truth. Earlier this week, the Rolling Stones legend appeared on the Today show and raved about Zara Larsson, whose fans are referred to as ZLuts, obviously.

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The story of Def Leppard’s ‘lost’ Jim Steinman sessions