Weekly Roundup: February 10th
Featuring Staticlone, Idle Heirs, Spiritbox, and more.
ERRONEOUS BOTCH:
Last week, none other than Brendan Murphy–infamous tweet sender, feline aficionado, stage yeller, and esteemed metalcore scholar–of Counterparts & END dropped by the show ahead of their return Down Under with Dying Wish.
Brendan gets real about how touring takes him away from his beloved animal companions, his enlightened journey with sobriety, writing with newfound creative focus, forging a cohesive narrative of pain and loss on Heaven Let Them Die, the joys of Reddit AMAs, and why he’ll miss Misery Signals (RIP) the most. Check it out below:
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Now, on with the words…
SIDE A:
A curated selection of cool shit for you to listen to.
Spiritbox – “No Loss, No Love”
Despite their second Grammy snub (and unintentional identity crisis), 2025 is shaping up to be ‘The Year of SPIRITBOX.’ Tsunami Sea, their highly anticipated sophomore album, arrives on March 7th via Pale Chord/Rise, and the quartet’s latest single is their most concussive yet: crushing rhythms, curious breakbeat interludes, and serpentine spoken word verses from vocal powerhouse Courtney LaPlante.
Match that with a sold-out European tour beginning on February 13th at London’s iconic Alexandra Palace (marking their largest headline show with 10,000 tickets sold), followed by a massive North American tour with Loathe, Dying Wish, and GEL. Get on board now, or get swept away. Watch the monochrome video for “No Loss, No Love” below:
Sleepazoid – running with the dogs
Here’s a new group on my radar for the week. Naarm/Melbourne outfit SLEEPAZOID are keeping Australia’s post-punk freak flag flying with the forthcoming release of their upcoming debut EP, running with the dogs, out March 6th through Surreal Sound.
The band describes its latest single, the hypnotically forlorn “Alice,” as “a sexy, gritty ballad of sapphic longing and desire” and “quintessential Sleepazoid.” The quintet is set to support Armlock next month in celebration of the EP’s release, and I’m confident that I’ll put them on a whole bunch of other (likely more critical) radars. Stream the EP’s pre-release single/s here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Earth Caller – “Venom”
I’ve been following “Melbourne’s Metalcore Mafia” EARTH CALLER for what feels like a decade at this point. With their new single, the quintet are proudly entering a new era by introducing Mikayla Robassa on vocals and keys, following the departure of previous member Misstiq last year.
“Venom” is a heavy, melancholic jam with lots of religious imagery, most notably in the impeccable video from director extraordinaire Colin Jeffs. As one user on r/metalcore succinctly put it: “This absolutely bangs.” Listen to “Venom” here.
King Parrot – A Young Person’s Guide to King Parrot
Can you believe it’s been five years since extreme metal maniacs KING PARROT released new music? That’s a veritable eternity in our current cultural cycle, but better late than never. The group’s new single is cheekily titled “Fuck You And The Horse You Rode In On” and acts as a preview of A Young Person’s Guide To King Parrot—their first LP since 2017—due out on May 6th through Dead Set.
The band is on tour supporting Pantera and Power Trip throughout Europe and the UK before hitting the road again with Czech death metallers Master for 24 dates around Europe in March. Stream the LP’s pre-release single/s here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Stray From The Path – “Kubrick Stare”
According to film writer Aimee Ferrier, the “Kubrick Stare” is a cinematic technique that establishes a psychological connection between the fictional world and the audience:
“We become invested when the character gazes back at us. We feel as though we’ve broken through the celluloid barrier and become a part of their world, no matter how scary. Therefore, the Kubrick stare is never short of being unnerving and unforgettable, forming an unbreakable bond—no matter how terrifying—between the character and the viewer.”
On their ferocious new single of the same name, STRAY FROM THE PATH highlight the psychological toll inflicted on us by our daily deluge of technologically mediated atrocities. As guitarist Tom Williams states: “You’re so numb to it that you’re just staring blankly. It’s unfortunately become normal, and it’s driving us crazy… We’re locked into our phones, and we probably look like Jack looking out of the window in The Shining.” Listen to “Kubrick Stare” here.
SIDE B:
More tracks for you. Deep cuts for the real heads. Still cool.
Idle Heirs – Life Is Violence
If you know me (which, by now, reader, I’d hope you have some idea), then you know I’m a massive ISIS head. No, not that one. The other (read: good) one. So, when a particular project landed in my inbox this week featuring a post-metal collaboration between Sean Ingram (Coalesce) and Josh Barber (producer, Norma Jean), recorded at Ocean Sound studio in Norway—the famed stomping ground of Cult of Luna—my interest went into overdrive.
Taking the moniker IDLE HEIRS, the duo’s debut LP is Life Is Violence and drops on April 11th through Relapse Records. According to the record’s press bio, “The isolation of [Ocean Sound] and the absence of external pressures allowed for an unparalleled clarity and exacting level of attention to detail.” Stream the LP’s pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Revocation – “Confines of Infinity” (feat. Travis Ryan)
Speaking of protracted gaps between releases, we’ve finally been gifted our first taste of new music from tech-death metallers REVOCATION since 2022. The quartet have had a slight member reshuffle in that downtime, with singer-guitarist Dave Davidson and longtime drummer Ash Pearson now bolstered by bassist Alex Weber and guitarist Harry Lannon.
Their new single is an absolute belter, chock full of thrashy tempo changes, crawling death-doom sections, and striking chord progressions. Oh, it also features guest vocals from the indomitable Travis Ryan of Cattle Decapitation, so you can expect mind-bending, depraved, inhuman sounds herein. Watch the video for “Confines of Infinity” below:
Staticlone – Better Living Through Static Vision
One of my favourite hidden gems is 2009’s No One Deserves To Be Here More Than Me, the maligned black sheep LP in Blacklisted’s flawless discography. The band’s vision of hardcore was always something more profound than mosh music, and that record takes depression and makes it palpable in ways I’ve never heard or felt since.
STATICLONE—featuring three former members of Blacklisted in vocalist George Hirsch, bassist Dave Walling, and drummer Jeff Ziga—feels like a spiritual successor to that vision. On Better Living Through Static Vision (out March 7th through Relapse), the group blend hardcore, metal, crust, and other aggressive tendencies into visceral and raw glimpses of alienation and loss. Stream the LP’s pre-release single/s here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
FEATURE ALBUM:
A closer, more in-depth look at a new record that ticks my boxes.
Jinjer – Duél
Perhaps, like me, you weren’t overly familiar with JINJER. If that’s you (hey, hi!), go here, watch the video, scroll through the comments, clean up after yourself, and then come right back. Are you all good? Great. Grand. Wonderful.
On Duél, their highly anticipated fifth album, the Ukrainian prog-metal outfit and frequent collaborator/producer Max Morton elevates the band’s sound beyond familiar subgenre trappings. Tracks like “Rogue” and “Dark Bile” are punchy and loaded with off-kilter chug sections, while groovy numbers like “Hedonist” and “Kafka” emphasise vocalist Tatiana Shmayluk’s stunning vocal range and knack for lyrical theatricality.
As bassist Eugene Abdukhanov notes, Duél “pulverizes the boundaries of the modern progressive metal genre but still remains sophisticated, exciting and extreme all at the same time.”
Stream here: Bandcamp | Spotify