MOSH PITHY:
A curated selection of cool shit for you to listen to.
Zetra – “Starfall” (feat. Serena Cherry)
Enigmatic UK outfit Zetra have announced the release of their forthcoming debut LP for Nuclear Blast records. The duo’s highly anticipated self-titled album will drop on September 13th and includes features from Icelandic artist Sólveig Matthildur and Gabriel Franco of gothic trad-metallers Unto Others. And speaking of features, their latest single, “Starfall,” loops in Serena Cherry of Svalbard to add some guttural grit to their dreamy gothic alternative universe. Watch the monochrome video below:
CANDY – It’s Inside You
Hardcore futurists CANDY are returning with a new full-length. It’s Inside You will be out on June 7th through Relapse Records and is billed as “a brazen take on hardcore, metal, and disparate electronics and experimental soundscapes… It's Inside You sees CANDY take another step forward with a compelling, extreme, and one-of-a-kind take on the genre.” This is likely to be an incendiary follow-up to 2022’s Heaven Is Here LP, and if you’re into glitchy electronic rhythms, gargantuan riffage, and pained frenetic vocals, you should definitely hit this up. Stream the LP’s pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Jools – “97%”
I have a bunch of new bands on my radar this week. First off the rank are a group called Jools, who recently signed with Hassle Records in the UK. The sextet’s latest single is titled “97%”, and it’s a catchy, socially-charged blend of post-hardcore and alternative sounds. Here’s a band statement on the track:
“It’s both terrifying and empowering to be able to share such a deeply personal song. Our only hope is that it empowers anyone who identifies it. Check on yourself, check on your friends, check on the women in your life. It’s up to us to change the narrative.”
I’ve seen other social posts alluding to some personal and professional struggles within the group, and it appears that they’ve gone through a period of reflection that has allowed them to “regenerate, re-centre and grow as a band.” You love to see it. Listen to “97%” here.
Persecutor – Global Prison Experiment
Australia’s most uncompromising flagbearers for aggressive, outwardly hostile, politically salient powerviolence are back. Naarm/Melbourne outfit (and F.O.T.S.) Persecutor will release their new five-track Global Prison Experiment EP on April 19th through To Live A Lie Records (US) & Bad Habits Records (Aus). The quintet had a huge 2023 following the release of their acclaimed Babylon’s Ashes EP, and these latest tracks represent an intensification of their radical form of political protest: a sonic worldview that is fundamentally and proudly anti-racist, anti-fascist, and anti-colonial. As the band states:
“Solidarity to all oppressed peoples worldwide. Destroy the racist hegemony imprisoning us all.”
Stream the EP’s pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Giant Walker – “Make Me”
The next new band on my radar comes courtesy of Sammy from the good folks over at Church Road Records. Heavy prog rockers Giant Walker hail from Newcastle in the UK and are bound together by their shared love for bands such as Karnivool, Soundgarden, Radiohead and Deftones. Their debut LP, All In Good Time, dropped back in 2022, and they’ve been honing their songwriting skills ever since. For their latest single, “Make Me,” vocalist Steff Fish states:
“The song is about witnessing someone that you care about making terrible decisions and the reality of your own helplessness knowing that nothing you say will influence their judgement as they can’t or won’t acknowledge that their own actions are perpetuating the problem. So, it becomes an endless cycle of delusion and bitterness.”
The explosive single is the band’s first glimpse into their as-yet-unannounced second album, so watch this space, etc. Listen here.
Circe – Blue Love
Keeping the new finds rolling, I came across Circe through a piece written by
for his publication , a great music newsletter you should definitely be reading. Circe (not to be confused with the Game of Thrones villain) is a London-based multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer, and their latest single, “Blue Love,” a glorious slice of synth-pop with a silky veneer of darkwave and dream-pop aspirations—it’s a total bop. Stream the single release in full here (Bandcamp/Spotify).Better Lovers – “The Flowering”
Better Lovers are still working towards the release of their highly anticipated debut album. To satiate and hold over fans, the hardcore supergroup have released another full-throttle teaser following the release of 2023’s “Two Alive Amongst the Dead”. The band’s latest single, “The Flowering,” is another explosive three-minute rager packed full of barn-burner riffs and throat-shredding screams. As frontman (and F.O.T.S.) Greg Puciato explains:
“It’s a perfect example of how Jordan, Mitch, Goose, and Will playing together sounds like an absolute freight train. Being able to play this live so many times before recording it really amplified that even more, really deepened the groove of it; the music swings so fucking hard. Not to mention, the video is one of my favourite videos I’ve ever been a part of. The title and lyrics are an obvious metaphor for realising that we are all more than what we’re conditioned to believe and acknowledging the collective ‘waking up’ moment that we all seem to be going through right now.”
Watch the clip for “The Flowering” below:
DOOL – The Shape of Fluidity
The last new band on my radar this week comes courtesy of Jon Garcia from Knotfest. Dutch avant-garde rockers DOOL are set to release their third full-length album through Prophecy Productions on April 19th; it’s titled The Shape of Fluidity and embodies an eclectic mix of progressive and post-rock sounds with metal tendencies. Lyrically and thematically, the record hinges on questions of identity, with singer and guitarist Raven van Dorst (who was born intersex and has recently decided to reclaim their hermaphroditic nature) asking:
“How do we keep being ourselves in a world that is so incredibly demanding and aggressive towards the individual?”
Stream the LP’s pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Listen to all these tracks and more on the TPD 2024-7 HITS playlist, updated weekly.
HEAVY METTLE:
A closer, more in-depth look at a new record that ticks all my boxes.
ERRA – Cure
Cure, the crushing new album from prolific metalcore progressives ERRA is finally out now via UNFD. The band’s sixth studio album is their most accomplished yet, and, according to frontman J.T. Cavey (another illustrious F.O.T.S.), it embraces “the right hand over the left.” This approach translates into a seamless blend of labyrinthian grooves and the group’s signature technicality while also leaning on off-kilter melodies and newfound industrial sounds.
Tracks like “Blue Reverie” and “Idle Wild” showcase ERRA’s penchant for crafting metalcore earworms that can still surprise even the most seasoned subgenre obsessive. Elsewhere, darker shades of aggression and intensity surface on cuts like “Crawl Backwards Out of Heaven” and “Slow Sour Bleed,” where the quintet take notes from neo-noir film soundtracks and sleek synth textures. If a John Wick double-tap supercut needed jackhammer breakdowns as a soundtrack, ERRA have answered the call.
Stream here: Spotify | YouTube
ERRONEOUS BOTCH:
In our latest Wordsmiths episode of The Pitch pod,
of discusses his connection to music and community through time spent in groups like Shelter, Texas Is The Reason, New End Original, and now Thursday. Our conversation seeks answers to longevity in creative pursuits, dealing with failure and resetting one’s identity, the importance of subjectivity, our desire for intimacy, and the unrealised potential of a hardcore future. It’s a great chat. Check it out below: