1. Arriver - Azimuth (Chicago, Illinois)
Genre: Post-Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1VfgtJVfriV70dJuR67ZLs?si=Pq60oBFfQkaQXd5opo4PPw
ARRIVER was founded in Chicago in 2006 to create a metal epic from a found paragraph of nonsense. Their evolution has produced a body of work of great sonic diversity, linked by the narrative thread and the mightiness of the Riff. Explosive manifestations of heavy prog and post-doom are waiting to be discovered in ARRVIER's new album Azimuth. Following the release of their 2020 single "Holy Glow", Azimuth sees the Chicago based ARRIVER doubles down on an expansive, experimental approach. The music on this album and its story were largely created under pandemic conditions in states of chaos and dislocation. Azimuth reflects these circumstances. Opening with "Reenactor", the protagonist comes to terms with their actions and faces the corruption of their legacy. Immersive textures with a touch of dissonance bring to life the complex and contradictory moods that run through the track. Dominant bass, demonic harsh vocals and soaring melody deliver a dynamic soundscape. Wrestling with complex emotions, ARRIVER portrays the darker side to the human experience without the neat and tidy resolution. "None More Unknown" reveals that while in many respects the protagonist emerges victorious, their demons cannot be evaded, and the personal sacrifices are not worth the obtained gains. The vastness of sound and balance of light and dark results in a profound conclusion. ARRIVER fuse heavy tones with progressive composition and differing instrumental textures to produce a captivating experience. The quartet artfully depict their haunting tale with such deep feeling; in Azimuth they unveil the shadowy gloom. ARRIVER is:
Joe Kaplan - drums, percussion, Dan MacAdam - electric guitar, 12 string electric guitar, backing vocals, Dan Sullivan - vocals, electric guitar, baritone and acoustic guitars, Rob Sullivan - vocals, bass guitar, synthesizer.
2. Wholly Oracle - The Wretched Unification (Florida & Colorado)
Genre: Deathcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/11widcmzFOI3pNMHbFICJA?si=MRilzzNvTSeSy2E6Nlr5qQ 
3. Handsome Ghost - To the Place Where We Met Last (Boston, Massachusetts)
Genre: Indie / Alternative Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3IaqL9bsZtYJkqNLiovVho?si=V7023ZG-QUeyK46dTltMPg
When the noise of the world subsides and everything else goes quiet, emotions grow louder. With nothing to compete for attention and no distractions, the quietude enables honesty. Upheld by acoustic guitar, transmissions of ethereal production, and vocals that often barely register above a whisper, Handsome Ghost hover around this stillness. The Massachusetts duo—Tim Noyes and Eddie Byun —thread together songs steeped in longing and nostalgia, loss and love, and darkness and light, all at once.
4. Weight Of Emptiness - Withered Paradogma (Santiago, Chile)
Genre: Progressive Metal / Death Metal / Doom Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7n8FVerG2QVstroA507x0M?si=a37lB6N3R7e6CDz2GRk9nA
Metal band based in Buin, Chile, formed in 2015 that mixes styles such as death, doom, black metal with progressive elements. In 2021 they receive the Escuchar Award as the Best Extreme Metal Artist in Chile. His sound has been prominent within the Latin American metal scene.
5. Periphery - Periphery V: Djent is Not a Genre (Washington, D.C, )
Genre: Djent (lol) Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6d24kC5fxHFOSEAmjQPPhc?si=uMQZfpasT66xQhmPlCv-qw
With a sound that pushes at the boundaries of progressive metal, Periphery are at the forefront of the "djent" movement, utilizing detuned, extended-range instruments to create a sound that's as technically dizzying as it is heavy, joining in with the growing ranks of artists who are taking the framework laid down by bands like Meshuggah and running wild with it.
6. Suicide Silence - Remember... You Must Die (Riverside, California)
Genre: Deathcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6HZr7Fs2VfV1PYHIwo8Ylc?si=JAFUce1kQPSZjXajG2nxkA
An American deathcore group that draws on elements of black metal, grindcore, mathcore and groove metal, Suicide Silence emerged in 2007 with the punishing full-length debut, The Cleansing.
R.I.P. Mitch Lucker
7. Flogging Molly - ‘Til The Anarchy’s Restored (Los Angeles, California)
Genre: Celtic Punk-Rock Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5kQGFREO5FzMBMsAO3cEtj?si=e0d1bgGERR2tFpbjic9vHA
Flogging Molly are less of a band than they are a Transatlantic, Celtic-punk institution. Over the course of 25 years and thousands of shows around the world, Flogging Molly have transcended genres to become one of a very few bands that can literally share the stage with The Chieftains one day and Motörhead the next (this actually happened, by the way). For Flogging Molly’s seventh full-length 'Anthem', the band, which features married couple Dave King (vocals, guitar, bodhrán) and Bridget Regan (violin/fiddle, tin whistle, backing vocals), decided to get back to their roots and record 14 songs in 14 days with Steve Albini (Nirvana, Pixies) at Electrical Audio Studio in Chicago. Atom Greenspan (Idles, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds) mixed the tracks, and was also instrumental in both the sound and sequencing of Anthem. Ultimately, there really aren’t any other bands like Flogging Molly who can transverse scenes from punk to folk so easily and the fact that there are now multiple generations of fans at the band’s shows is a testament to their continued relevance. All of which brings us full circle back to Anthem. The band—and the world—have been through a lot over the past few years and Anthem is much about the collective spirit we all possess that allows us to push forward toward the future.
8. Meet Me @ The Altar - Past // Present // Future (Tampa, Florida)
Genre: Pop-punk Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4bzfsZhaLW6VWHLh1sqcrK?si=js5uGo8FQ5-9yCM0hC0-bw
Meet Me @ The Altar is here to dismantle rock music’s stereotypes riff by riff. The band–comprised of guitarist-bassist Téa Campbell, drummer Ada Juarez and lead vocalist Edith Victoria–has reignited the genre with their refreshing mix of earworm pop melodies, blazing guitar riffs, and punk attitude. Now, the band is ready to stake their claim in rock history with their debut album, Past // Present // Future, arriving via Fueled By Ramen. The record finds the bandmates experimenting more than ever as they solidify a signature sound while also ripping apart the “nostalgia act” box they didn’t ask to be placed in. Each word in the album title holds a significant meaning: “Past” pays respect to the iconic bands who’ve influenced them (including Paramore, Twenty One Pilots, P!NK, Demi Lovato, and Avril Lavigne). “Present” finds the band redefining what a modern-day rock band looks and sounds like, while “Future” looks ahead at how the band will impact the genre and where they might go from here.
9. Story Of The Year - Tear Me To Pieces (St. Louis, Missouri)
Genre: Emo / Pop-Punk / Post Hardcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0KDuKk6YdEu3hR56HtXmxt?si=uvAvbYvySdi4LA4mJT1cSQ
What’s the sound of Story Of The Year? Loud guitars, massive singalong choruses, and uplifting perseverance. Few records helped build the post-hardcore scene as swiftly as the band’s debut, Page Avenue, one of the first of its kind to sell a million copies. “Until the Day I Die” endures as both an anthem and mission statement. Tours with Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance, Deftones, and The Used cemented Story Of The Year’s reputation as a stunning and engaging live act. The connection between the band and audience transformed Story Of The Year from teenagers working in a St. Louis pizza chain franchise into hard rock headliners. Fans grew together with Dan Marsala, Ryan Philips, Josh Wills, and Adam Russell, from Page Avenue (2003), In the Wake of Determination (2005), The Black Swan (2008), The Constant (2010), Wolves (2017), to Tear Me to Pieces (2022). They specialize in intense, passionate, confessional compositions that inspire and empower. Songs like “The Antidote,” “Real Life,” “Miracle,” “The Ghost of You and I,” “Anthem of Our Dying Day,” and “Take Me Back” resonate with anyone determined to triumph over adversity. Until the day I die, indeed.
10. Judiciary - Flesh + Blood (Lubbock, Texas)
Genre: Thrash Metal / Hardcore / Crossover Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1llYaLn43cLcbWg9M4t0Y3?si=8kqobhtMQz-Qnuad3m_c3Q
West Texas Hardcore
11. Dirge - S/T (Mumbai, India)
Genre: Doom Metal / Sludge Metal / Post Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/14kv0d8vEoJu2uiqjJBBDl?si=9bSchCMrR-md8mNYw7M3Sw
Formed in 2014, DIRGE started out as a band in Pune, a city then brimming with several acts in the local metal scene. They were unique from their peers, marked by a sheer dark, moving intensity & gritty heaviness in their music. The band soon found itself a full lineup & trudged forward ever since. Using their time post-pandemic to write and record a follow-up to 2018’s Ah Puch, the band’s forthcoming self-titled album finds the quintet taking a sonic journey of discovery. The album is a compilation of crises, in different forms. It is an attempt to evoke emotions which lie at the core of discomfort. The four songs are representative of the causes of pain. The soundscapes have been designed to suit the ethos of each song & the lyrics are inspired from real life experiences of anger, guilt, sorrow, and fear. Taking the listener on a journey of self-actualisation through this album, it creates a sense of catharsis through the experience of the four songs. The album artwork – “The rings of crises” is a metaphor for this very listening experience.
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1. Webbed Wing - Right After I Smoke This… (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Genre: Rock/Alternative Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5WtT8OzAjn0fJ6tondvHrI?si=Rx7Y3fiYTE-9CXDs_ET4aQ
Following a decorated career with Philly rock group Superheaven, singer and guitarist Taylor Madison meanders into newly-refined songwriter territory with the inception of Webbed Wing in 2018. Joined by Jake Clarke (drums) and Mike Paulshock (bass), the band fully realizes their innate genre-blending musicality. Webbed Wing’s somewhat simplistic approach to songwriting explores what it means to birth a sad song without fully killing a mood, paired with a soundscape laden with nostalgia and a tasteful pop-rock resurgence. Taking notes from the likes of The Lemonheads and Teenage Fanclub, Webbed Wing encapsulates everything lyrically gripping about indie and everything vibrant about modern pop. While also expertly intertwining the heaviness of metal and the earnesty of country, the band blends all these different aspects of their craft into something highly palatable and new. Between early Webbed Wing releases, like 2019’s Bike Ride Across the Moon (Disposition Collective) and forthcoming recordings on 2021’s What’s So Fucking Funny? with Grammy-nominated producer Will Yip (Code Orange, The Menzingers, Mannequin Pussy, Circa Survive) via Memory Music Label (Bartees Strange, Anthony Green), there’s an obvious level up in production, honing in on Webbed Wing’s natural maturity as both an artist and a creative.
2. Aortes - Devouring Gloom (Lithuania)
Genre: Doom/Ambient/Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1zxU64Z5fKgqGrsTdMwz0M?si=k0J43hRnQD6vRvMBrDLfmw
AORTES (previously, AUTISM) started out in 2012 as an instrumental solo project of guitarist Tomhetas. The Crawling Chaos (2013) proved to be the start of a string of releases that showed a heavier sound, a consistent concern for storylines, and an ambitious conceptual vision. In 2016 they became a full line-up live band and recorded Film Noir (2017), a dark and invasive opus dealing with alcoholism, drugs, and physical and psychological abuse. In Have you found peace? (2019), a conceptual album, the band teamed up with Krzysztof from the post-metal act ROSK who became the first vocal performer in the history of the band. In 2021 Andrius has joined the band to take full-time vocal duties after appearing on the band’s single Immersion (2021). Now available is Their latest release: Devouring Gloom.
3. Principius - Peace Through Afflication (Montreal, Canada)
Genre: Melodic Death Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4ySnQCqyIPtuKDaHd1Gy1c?si=1iTOg0IJTf2Xoxm7ivv4fw
Principius is a female fronted melodic death metal band from Montreal Canada. It was formed in 2019 and now consists of Axelle Doyon (vocals and lyrics), Hugues Berger-Pelletier (guitar, music and lyrics), Jeremie Henneuse (bass) and Michel Gagne-Bouchard (Drum). Their music showcases strong guitar harmonies, fast drums and complex vocal performances. Higher pitch screams, to deeper growls, to sometimes classical clean vocals and belting, it is overwhelming to think this is coming from the same person. Hugues founded the band that originally started as a basement hobby. Attending different metal shows in the Montreal area provided the motivation to make the band an official project. Recruitment began and Axelle was eventually the first of the new members.
4. Can't Swim - Thanks but No Thanks (Keansburg, New Jersey)
Genre: Rock/Alternative Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/62elZbH5Iop8UPcChp7OrU?si=IxPJD8JKSCCrZTSHyUxfAA
One of New Jersey’s prodigal sons once mused “who says you can’t go home?” – but CAN’T SWIM have never really left their Garden State surroundings. Sure, they’ve certainly logged tens of thousands of miles over the past seven years, bringing their cathartic blend of rock, punk, and emo to audiences around the world on bills with A Day To Remember and Senses Fail and at festivals like 2000trees. But at their core, Can’t Swim are innately Jersey through and through: from the ghosts of Tri-State hardcore giants that oscillate through their high-octane sound to the very garages and studios where those songs take shape. Now, the band plant their Garden State flag even deeper on their fourth LP, Thanks But No Thanks, an album that quite literally finds them going back to their roots. After wrapping another slate of hard touring for 2021’s Change Of Plans, the group – vocalist Chris LoPorto, bassist Greg McDevitt, guitarist Danny Rico and drummer (and honorary Jersian) Blake Gamel – decamped to the Shore, insulating themselves in the comforts of home while working to hone in on the most elemental components of the Can’t Swim sound. “This was honestly the most fun we’ve ever had making an album,” LoPorto muses. “We’ve reached a point as a band where we’re able to stop overthinking and instead just do what feels right. I think it’s brought a lot of joy back into our music.” Joy has rarely been a word associated with Can’t Swim – awash in tempestuous lyricism and muscular energy since breaking into the underground with 2016’s Death Deserves A Name EP – but there’s a self-referential wryness to LoPorto’s lyrics on Thanks But No Thanks that winks its way through the album’s 10 songs, along with a finely tuned melodic edge that balances out the band’s more brooding nature. With guitarist Rico overseeing production, mixing, and mastering (a position he held on 2017’s debut LP Fail You Again and 2018’s This Too Won’t Pass), first single “me vs. me vs. all y’all” is Can’t Swim’s most fully realized pop song to date, name-checking The Cure, The Lemonheads and Eddie Vedder, while the album-opening “Nowhere, Ohio” offers a playful tribute to the Alkaline Trio classic “Radio” in between stabs of downtuned guitars. “It’s much easier to write songs from a mental standpoint these days,” LoPorto says. “It was a warzone in my mind there for a while, but present-day Chris is at peace and having fun.” But don’t conflate fun with frivolity. The same emotional heft that’s made Can’t Swim a cult favorite in the scene – and earned them musical co-signs from the likes of Taking Back Sunday’s Adam Lazzara and Beartooth’s Caleb Shomo – is front and center on Thanks But No Thanks, from the sorrowful summer 2022 single “I heard they found you face down inside your living room,” mourning the death a close friend, to the classic punk rallying cry “ELIMINATE,” which tackles the gun violence epidemic with a strength-in-numbers call to arms. In this way, the evolution of Can’t Swim as a band is really evident: What once were presented as insurmountable obstacles on previous albums are now framed as hard-but-necessary lessons that need confronting in to move forward and grow, calling upon new levels of resolve and strength to dull down life’s demons. Through it all, the band have been able to truly block out the noise and let their conscience resonate loudest of all. “We’ve had so much advice from people throughout the years,” LoPorto says, referencing the album’s title. “There’s been a lot of people in this revolving door now, and a lot of advice that knocked us off the track a little bit. Ultimately, we realized no one knows us better than us, so let’s just trust ourselves to do our thing.” Four records in, it feels like Can’t Swim are just now hitting their stride. They’ve stretched their wings over nearly a decade, dabbling in everything from frantic hardcore (2019’s Foreign Language EP) to ethereal indie (2020’s Someone Who Isn’t Me EP), yet have once again found their way back to their musical home. “As a writer, we’ve always wanted to experience different sounds and explore different vibes, but I think that sort of exploration is pretty much done,” LoPorto says. “I feel perfectly confident in being ourselves at this point.” The next few years will take them far away from their own beds as these songs reach audiences around the world – but that’s a sacrifice the band is willing to make because of how much these connections truly mean. “My dad once told me, ‘Even if I won the lottery, nothing I could ever buy would mean as much as what you have with this band,” LoPorto says. “To look out in the crowd and see people with Can’t Swim tattoos blows my mind; that’s why I never understand when bands get so wrapped up in numbers and how they can get bigger. I was a garbage man in Jersey City when I was 23, and now I’m supposed to be bummed we only hit 200,000 monthly listeners? Come on. To have anyone care is enough.” - Via Purenoise
5. Acres - Burning Throne (Portsmouth, United Kingdom)
Genre: Melodic Post-Hardcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3y43zXffnLmhyQD1K4QCmD?si=HhMJmPFdTrqudoOcpsdicA
Following the incredible success and adoration received from 2019’s stunning debut ‘Lonely World’, a record that harnessed melody and melancholy to devastatingly gorgeous effect, Acres found themselves playing the biggest shows of their career so far and achieving things they had only previously dreamt about. But when the world around them suddenly felt so uncertain, they had a choice to make of what they should do next. Instead of rushing out with something that they didn’t fully believe, they locked themselves away and painstakingly created something that not only represented where they had been but also where they wanted to end up. Acres return with crushing, cathartic and perfectly crafted accounts of what it means to stare into your own oblivion and learn about who you really are from it. First single 'Burning Throne' showcases the band’s heaviest material to date whereas the second, 'Hold On' sees them at their most melodic, poignant and honest. Acres have injected every ounce of their soul into their next chapter, something that they are immensely proud to have as a vital part of their story.
6. Necropanther - Betrayal (Denver, Colorado)
Genre: Thrash Metal / Death Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2Fe3uMYgjeDjg9JIIV3yxa?si=loqJ6FKaTZiujkfqLol9iA
We are NECROPANTHER. Short, thrashy death metal songs from a dystopian future. Denver, Colorado. Paul Anop: Guitar, Vocals. Marcus Corich: Bass, Vocals. Joe Johnson: Guitar. Haakon Sjogren: Drums
7. Ocean Of Grief - Pale Existence (Athens, Greece)
Genre: Melodic Doom Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0FyJgGUsFZlg1M2WS1ckwr?si=vf0AzQR8Ra-zB9aDy2M7lw
Ocean of Grief's melodic doom/death dates back in 2016 in Athens, Greece, with their first musical endeavor, the "Fortress Of My Dark Self" EP, released by GS Productions, deeply influenced by the sound of Slumber, Enshine, Draconian and Saturnus. The gloomy but melancholic feeling of the EP, was followed by the self-released single "After a Long Time" and eventually the band's first full length album "Nightfall's Lament", released by Rain Without End records, diving even deeper into darkness and despair. The band is now releasing their sophomore album, Pale Existence, with an even darker and more melodic tone, allowing the listener to get lost in somber but immersive soundscapes.
8. I Call Fives - Not For Everyone (Washington Township, New Jersey)
Genre: Pop-Punk Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3vsi8vM5Xs8p1NEQuZWP70?si=b9uczxFlRlW5FteE8hZGrw 
9. Full of Hell & Primitive Man - Suffocating Hallucination (Ocean city, Maryland, Denver, Colorado)
Genre: Grindcore / Doom Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/album/7uAidSfsq30KuUAu2UeQO6?si=5u_67bE2R-SMCng54-JHUw 
10. Rath & The Wise Guys - Paradise (Tampa, Florida)
Genre: Beach Punk / Skate Rock Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0dY4LJN4YX1UFlWgluk30Q?si=f2Ir3RD2S4StVbc41OnoqQ
We're a beach punk skate rock band from Tampa Bay, FL ready to party with you!
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1. Shores Of Acheron - The Existing One (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)
Genre: Progressive Deathcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4wqKuXULSHKpeghwscfPRD?si=JUJ8S9r5Q3yWroLwUkLUfg
Shores Of Acheron is a fully independent progressive deathcore outfit from Baton Rouge, LA. Forming in 2012, the band released its first debut EP titled “End Of Reign” with themes of governmental tyranny coupled with heavy riffing, blistering fast drums, and distinguished guttural vocals. In the following year, Shores Of Acheron played on the Sumerian Records Stage at Mayhem Festival, supporting headliner acts, Rob Zombie, Five Finger Death Punch, Mastodon, and Amon Amarth. Throughout the rest of this year and 2014 the band focused strongly on gigging regionally and seeking any opportunity for tours. During the summer of 2015 Shores Of Acheron would release its second record “Ira”, a Latin translation of the English word “Anger” or “Wrath”. This record would encompass a heavier and more dissonant tone, including more tyrannical undertones as well as themes of emotional anger. After the release of their final single “Mind’s Eye” in 2016, Shores Of Acheron would break for what seemed like an indefinite hiatus. However, the band would inevitably return to the metal community in 2021 with a full length album announcement, which has now become The Existing One.
2. The Design Abstract - Transhuman Ascendant (Ontario, Canada)
Genre: Melodic Death Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4iXzRbXiR3TmHsV9OabNil?si=0tS2tWIqR2KmYiSWDBDFpg
The Design Abstract is a Melodic Death Metal band using electronic and symphonic elements in their music to emphasize the science-fiction narratives told each album, often creating a cinematic listening experience.
3. Cherry Slide - I Had a Green Light (New York, New York)
Genre: Post-Rock Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3QdT3mpuEhpQskwPOHXQ9o?si=nUSRDDdtRyaKjyIPbp4Fcg
Cherry Slide is the solo music project of British born Dale Humphries, now living and recording in New York City. Having previously released ambient and heavier post-rock albums between 2007 and 2017, it was time for a change of pace, and so in 2018, Cherry Slide was born.
4. Crowning & Eyelet - Split (Chicago/ Baltimore, Illinois/ Maryland)
Genre: emoviolence Music: https://open.spotify.com/album/6TxIgPonMtGFC4yjhmmhqE?si=_5180mzpRhWXebai5Sl3Tw
"The raw, expressionist DIY screamo scene continues to thrive, and two of its most promising bands have just come together for a new split 7″. Chicago trio Crowning, whose membership includes Frail Body frontman Lowell Shaffer, released their debut album Survival/Sickness in 2020. Last year, they dropped a split with Singapore’s NAEDR. Baltimore’s Eyelet released their own full-length debut The Devil Shining Out Your Eyes at the very end of 2021. Today, those two bands join forces. The new Crowning/Eyelet split has two songs apiece from both bands. Crowning’s tracks “Mu” and “Hy Brasil” are short and brutally disorienting, while Eyelet’s “Gross Abandon” and “Argus Of Concrete” are fierce and metallic and at least a little bit epic. For me, the big winner here is “Gross Abandon,” which sounds like the kind of thing that might echo over dusty rubble in the post-apocalypse, but feel free to make your own choices when you stream the split below." - Tom Breihan @ Stereogum
5. An Empty City - To Whom or Whither Should My Darkness Flee (Guangzhou, China)
Genre: Metalcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1gUVoo3Puie3aEse7eKn7T?si=eC--UWJ-QNiNZFR8ZxiS-Q
We are An Empty City from China
6. Across The Divide - Eternal (Paris, France)
Genre: Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0nSiDv4EGEzX8Gozbw5Qxe?si=OGtpmOURSt-Vt7yK9qGimA
ACROSS THE DIVIDE is a metal band from Paris, France.
7. BrokenTeeth - 추락은 천천히 (How to Sink Slowly) (Seoul, South Korea)
Genre: Indie Rock / Shoegaze Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5kNGExA70Z5twMjo7mFYrW?si=NqI6wg1ITbuqX6LSsbhXGQ
Seoul Noise
8. Gorillaz - Cracker Island (London, United Kingdom)
Genre: Rock/Hip-hop/Pop/Alternative/Experimental Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3AA28KZvwAUcZuOKwyblJQ?si=Tkgb7zsaQJq634lds-80Jg
Created by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, Gorillaz is singer 2D, bassist Murdoc Niccals, drummer Russel Hobbs and guitarist Noodle. The BRIT and Grammy-winning virtual band formed following a collision of mishaps, meetings and pure luck to blow up a pre-digital world with their colourful backstory and ground-breaking virtual ways. Based at Kong Studios in West London, Gorillaz settled into a life of musical innovation with an eye-wateringly exciting roster of collaborators, a list that includes musical legends, geniuses and future stars from Elton John to Little Simz, MF Doom to Jean-Michel Jarre, Grace Jones to slowthai, Kali Uchis to Sidiki Diabaté, plus so many more. With seven albums to their name, Gorillaz (2001), Demon Days (2005), Plastic Beach (2010), The Fall (2011), Humanz (2017), The Now Now (2018) and Song Machine: Season One – Strange Timez (2020), Gorillaz is a truly global phenomenon, achieving success in entirely new and unique ways, touring the world from San Diego to Syria, Montevideo to Manchester and winning numerous awards including the coveted Jim Henson Creativity Honor. The band are recognized by The Guinness Book Of World Records as the planet’s Most Successful Virtual Act.
9. Shame - Food for Worms (South London, United Kingdom)
Genre: Post-Punk Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4IeWU3NYBI9mISFVhzXG8f?si=b-IivMWoS2eDgMoo4MUxzA
If Songs of Praise was fuelled by teenage vitriol and Drunk Tank Pink delved into a different kind of psychological intensity, then Food for Worms sees shame enter a new, surreal landscape, and becomes, what frontman Steen describes as: “the Lamborghini of shame records.” The band’s third studio album sees shame enter a new, surreal landscape, as reflected in the cover art designed by acclaimed artist Marcel Dzama. It’s suggestive of what is left unsaid, what lies beneath the surface, the farcical and fantastical everyday that we are living in, in a society where both everything and nothing is possible. Recording each track live meant a kind of surrender: here, the rough edges give the album its texture; the mistakes are more interesting than perfection. In a way, it harkens back to the title itself and the way that with this record, the band are embracing frailty and, by doing so, are tapping into a new source of bravery. For the first time, the band are not delving inwards, but seeking to capture the world around them. “I don’t think you can be in your own head forever,” says Steen. A conversation after one of their gigs with a friend prompted a stray thought that he held onto: “It’s weird, isn’t it? Popular music is always about love, heartbreak, or yourself. There isn’t much about your mates.” In many ways, the album is an ode to friendship, a documentation of the dynamic that only five people who have grown up together and grown so close, against all odds can share.
10. Real Friends - There's Nothing Worse Than Too Late (Tinley Park, Illinois)
Genre: Pop-Punk Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6dEtLwgmSI0hmfwTSjy8cw?si=n148iF-GQ4OG2uFp1tzNRw
there's nothing worse than too late.
11. 7 H. Target - Yantra Creating (Нижний Новгород, Russia)
Genre: Brutal Death Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1u9WmQesE5Av9Biq1681ON?si=7SgwuO3vQmSygYxY7YPeOA
7 H.Target is a band that breaks the standard BDM formula, creating something unique, all-out aggression combined with abstract and atmospheric forms. The "Yantra Creating" album is a conceptually new stage in the development of the band, both musically and lyrically, performing a mixture of Brutal/Slam/Tech DM with Indian influences.
12. To The Grave - Director’s Cuts (Sydney, Australia)
Genre: Deathcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3jr9qsKWQjf3iMNQ3rWVDQ?si=Qz3uqmCiTnW_noGRVb-oHA
The sophomore album from Australia's biggest hype beast. At the forefront of Australia's Deathcore scene, TO THE GRAVE are an essential prospect for fans of Chelsea Grin, Brand of Sacrifice, Thy Art is Murder and Vulvodynia.
13. They Grieve - To Which I Bore Witness (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada)
Genre: Drone Metal / Doom Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1SozAdibU9gFdkeBW3vtMN?si=APuwwKQHSTKl1VfYwYX2CA
They Grieve is a two-piece doom, drone, and post-metal band based in Ottawa, Canada. Drawing influence from both minimalist ambient music and down-tempo metal, they blend warm synthesizers, electronics, and lofty guitar drones into mournful hymns and monolithic dirges with urgency, tension, and weight. Members Gary Thibert (guitars, bass, vocals) and Deniz Güvenç (percussion, synthesizers, electronics, vocals) formed They Grieve in 2015 with the intent to experiment with new forms and processes for songwriting, collaboration, and improvisation. Their first EP, I Made My Sacrifice Accordingly, was self-recorded and self-released in late 2016. In 2018, the EP was re-released with an added bonus track and accompanying music video through Transcending Records. They Grieve are set to release their first full-length album entitled To Which I Bore Witness in February 2023 through Silent Pendulum Records. Recorded at Apartment 2 with Topon Das of Fuck the Facts, this album presents a marked change in the band’s sound. Moving away from the harsh-noise influence on their first album, To Which I Bore Witness unveils a much more refined approach to texture and atmosphere while simultaneously shifting to a slower, heavier pace. Employing a nuanced sense of harmony, the result is an emotional, dynamic, and doom-laden take on post-metal.
14. Heavensgate - And All I Loved, I Loved Alone (Melbourne, Australia)
Genre: Deathcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5xxpBuljNlb95kr6fcf6hj?si=8q6vaqrUSrWSpE6mt4LLtg
AND ALL I LOVED, I LOVED ALONE'
15. Going Off - What Makes You Tick? (Manchester, United Kingdom)
Genre: Hardcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2xCCFcGLx1oUlS1AMtfBo9?si=gNXZwEdnRvmZyi4MSXT1fg
Hardcore Punk from Manchester, UK
16. Bottomfeeders - Fear & Self Loathing (Venice, Florida)
Genre: Deathcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5m5wxWSEtKwbUfvayiEL9a?si=2r5IRoJZTfa3FJVtUhQf8w
Bottomfeeders is a four piece Metal band hailing from Venice Florida that infuses the soul crushing blast beats and breakdowns of 'Deathcore' with the groove and atmosphere of 'Nu Metal' FFO: Bodysnatcher, Spite, Alpha Wolf
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As part of our mission to inspire the local art community, we created the Artist Endorsement Project. With this project, we work closely with artists of all types to create a customized endorsement package that meets the needs of our most valued clients.
1. Lost Trees - Luminescent (EP) (Orlando, Florida)
Genre: Post-hardcore / metalcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3FiojLhf8IBZPXUT3j1SRx?si=bUmyWU-jQwSq2BG9ixfWzQ
FFO: Dance Gavin Dance, We Came as Romans
2. Vampire Squid - Plasmic (Corona, California)
Genre: Progressive Death Metal/Mathcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4M6OZIq2yFruBLe3F0o8a3?si=yNN_fiLKQKKeWXsi_AnkrQ
Vampire Squid is a Southern California-based Death Metal/Mathcore outfit started by members Andrew Virrueta and Jake Sprinkle. The idea stemmed from creating a nautical-themed joke band when the two were in high school. As the creation of the first record progressed at that time, they realized that they wanted to make more serious music while maintaining the light-hearted and ironic edge that they had created. The lyrical and musical content of the first record proceeds its concepts throughout the following three records in the form of motif. At ages 18 and 19, they created and released their 2nd record, "Sea's Control" six months after their debut record. This album was much closer to the vision that was attempting to be achieved from their self-titled debut. Still in an explorative phase, the two continued to the drawing board. In 2014, Vampire Squid released their 3rd record, which they feel is their best, most fluent record thus far. Its use of lyrical callbacks as well as many musical callbacks fully tie the entire trilogy of records together. "Nautilus World" is the record that put the band more on the radar within the Death Metal community and helped get the band much more known. Now in 2023, their new EP Plasmic is here to cause quite a stir.
3. Dadcap - tvanas (Vilnius, Lithuania)
Genre: Emo / Alternative indie Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7d7KKWiRBU3K8JoMBM4Mqz?si=tIGutpkYQvOlogrjEU-F_A
dadcap is a female fronted alternative rock band based in Vilnius, Lithuania. By using introspective lyrics and heavy rhythms that often delve into themes of self-discovery, growth, love, and heartbreak dadcap's aim is to capture the emotions of the coming-of-age crisis in their songs.
“We provide a general amount of positive emotion
4. Woe Bather - Oh Achlys Please Love Me Once More (Houston, Texas)
Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/48wS7RqcbPGbCAZZMI9tkA?si=tZzKN9wVSWmlMlrzExcEcw
One person black metal please love me once more..
5. Theophonos - Nightmare Visions (Detroit, Michigan)
Genre: Black Metal / Hardcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4c4MbW4TFGyKMhbRWmra8c?si=JP0VwffqTxGrZiKYLqrcTg 
6. Girl Scout - Real Life Human Garbage (Stockholm, Sweden)
Genre: Indie Rock Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4CbghtwTo6bvxk5QacvRrE?si=xXmFScrCRCakZ96P1aUc2Q
It's a tale as old as time: four young people meet while studying. In this tale our protagonists are Swedish and became acquainted at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm not too long ago. They studied Jazz, they played together. First two of our friends "formed a duo in an attempt to earn money, playing mostly evergreens and covering anything from the Beatles to Burt Bacharach at cocktail events and openings", but soon enough, after they started performing original songs, their enthusiasm got contagious and they became a four piece. The grapevine is buzzing already, Girl Scout have been making a name of themselves in the last months playing live shows around the UK and Scandinavia, supporting Holly Humberstone and securing first festival spots. "Where can I find your music!?!?" is the most asked question underneath their social posts, alas they didn't have any songs out – until now. The wait is finally over. Emma Jansson (guitar, vocals), Evelina Arvidsson Eklind (bass, vocals), Per Lindberg (drums) and Viktor Spasov (guitar) are ready to release their Debut album "Real Life Human Garbage"
7. Aglo - Into The Maze (Melbourne, Australia)
Genre: Doom Metal / Sludge Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/68WnceB5GYYHmwvsUot9wf?si=xMB8kS0iQTatXyju3fZ-1w
Aaron Osborne - Total Assimilation
8. Child - Meditations In Filth (Gothenburg/Stockholm, Sweden)
Genre: Deathgrind Punk Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1U8rqyuzM93pfSQ1eoxzEE?si=0ncqc31xSs63XrohJuLTRg
Back in 2015, Alex (Grand Cadaver) and Albin had an idea to play some sonic, extreme music and the foundations to CHILD was set. In 2018 they recruited Jocke (ex. Mr. Death) on vocals and performed their first show. Spontaneous rehearsals and writing sessions followed. And in 2021 they completed the line-up with Per (Division of Laura Lee) on guitar and Staffan (Let Them Hang) on bass. Later that winter they entered Welfare Sounds and recorded their debut album which will be released February 16 2023 via EAT Heavy Records.
9. New Pagans - Making Circles Of Our Own (Belfast, Ireland)
Genre: Indie Rock / Alternative Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6T3ilEGTNIHzq1x92GDkaK?si=H68oemRGTDyrY1dv-j89XA
New Pagans are a rock band based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. They have released their critically acclaimed debut album The Seed, The Vessel, The Roots and All, via Big Scary Monsters. Throughout their debut album, New Pagans use their creative influence to challenge past and present issues surrounding relationships, equality, history, and gender, all wrapped up in their alternative, post-punk, indie rock style. Now they arrive with their latest Album "Making Circles Of Our Own".
10. Ulthar - Anthronomicon & Helionomicon (Oakland, California)
Genre: Blackened Death Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6s1hQzoXYdEjYdJiHbu1iZ?si=rf2LgN1ETROjPxktWAiEIw
Over the course of their first two albums, ‘Cosmovore’ and ‘Providence’, Ulthar carved out a unique niche on the spectrum of underground metal, forging a grotesquely elegant hybrid of Technical Death Metal alchemy and Black Metal’s stinging blizzard winds, all with the acerbic color of the absurdist’s brush. Nearly 3 years on from ‘Providence’, a burst of deadly creativity has resulted in TWO new albums, to be released simultaneously.' Anthronomicon’ embodies the continued progression of Ulthar’s mastery over its art - always evolving, refining and pushing forward. From the opening blasts and twisting mania of ‘Cephalopohre’ Ulthar baffle with angular warped riffage, dipping in and out of various dimensional spheres. Off-kilter multi-directional turns veer swiftly and violently as though about to come apart at the seams only to reshape again and again into ever more monumental forms. Each of Anthronomicon’s 8 tracks represent a fractious piece of a larger puzzle, each a maze unto itself that when taken together allow one to traverse this inverted surrealist conundrum. Having reached albums three and four concurrently, and having many other bands and albums under their collective belts, the three seasoned players that comprise Ulthar have not been content to play things straightforward, to be just another Death Metal band among thousands. Rather the band continuously seeks and executes with more compulsive complexity, more nuance and in pursuit of a persistent ascension to a transcendent and incongruous world beyond the mundane; a place of euphoric exultation and bewildering awe.
11. Hellripper - Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags (Scotland, United Kingdom)
Genre: Black Metal / Speed Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6FfZaHz07OsknWNdtdan5R?si=RkCR_kYyT56algM_WcLuVw
Hellripper is a Scottish one-man black/speed metal band influenced by the likes of Venom, Sodom, Darkthrone, Metallica etc. With the release of the debut EP 'The Manifestation of Evil' at the start of 2015, the band have made their statement clear... Total mayhem! 2015 and 2016 saw the release of an EP and couple of splits to positive reviews in the underground as well as the assembly of a live line-up. The band's debut album 'Coagulating Darkness' was released in April 2017 to acclaim in the underground as well as positive reviews from the likes of Metal Hammer and Noisey with the former claiming Hellripper to be “Scotland's King of the arcane mosh”. 2018 saw the the band sign to US-based record label 'Reaper Metal Productions' - a division of 'Hells Headbangers Records' and, the release of a 4-track EP in April 2019 through the label followed along with their first European tour in support of the release. At the end of 2019, the band signed a deal with Peaceville Records and released their second album 'The Affair of the Poisons' in October 2020 to critical acclaim and led to the band's first appearance on the US Billboard Chart. 2023 will mark the release of Hellripper's 3rd full-length album, 'Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags' - a record inspired by the darker side of Scottish history and folklore, with the title itself is taken from a line in the Robert Burns poem, ‘Address to the Deil’.
12. See You Next Tuesday - Distractions (Michigan)
Genre: Grind / Chaotic Hardcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2j5thxS6vaOqDNEAh0SFEx?si=S9rRpflcTtW7gieG0Hlcbw
Formed in 2004, See You Next Tuesday made their mark in the world of extreme metal with the release of their albums Parasite and Intervals, both on Ferret Music. Pushing forth on controlled chaos, the band has been able to evolve since their initial output and Distractions finds them delving into a modern grindcore sound. The 13 songs on the record are full of fast and heavy guitars and an invigorating vocal performance from Fox. The true standout is in the drum work, provided by Slavik, displaying a maniacally bold use of blast beats that perfectly intertwine with his home-made samples. Distractions was recorded at Slavik’s home studio where he also handled production and mixing, and was mastered by Josh Schroeder. Much of the material on Distractions focuses on struggles with mental health, while a few songs explore more sensual themes. Leaning into the euphemism of the band name, the opening track “How Sensitive” reclaims what some might deem as offensive and makes it just a word. Lead single “Hey Look, No Crying” fixates on the feeling of slowly moving towards your death, encompassing the sonic energy of descending into the afterlife. Songs like “Glad To Be Unhappy” and “Call Me Irresponsible” use synthesizers for more frantic moments, while “Day In The Life Of A Fool” feeds into that more structured mayhem. Following suit of closing with a slower song on the band’s previous releases, the record ends with “Strange Music”, a nearly eight-minute long track fueled by doom.
13. Graphic Nature - A Mind Waiting to Die (London, United Kingdom)
Genre: Metalcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0QUcDHMfwBsMAufKXbzhkH?si=iQ7JWySoQ1mpXR8K9qO3eQ 
14. Enisum - Forgotten Mountains (Italy)
Genre: Black Metal / Ambient Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0NnzRoaRPWmhsKWgo5AN9l?si=-5jfVy9YTE6iHr3oizSgmw
Almost four years after Moth's Illusion, Arpitanian black metal veterans Enisum, from northern Italy, are back with a brand new studio album, the fifth in their career.
Forgotten Mountains is a journey through mountains and life, a path that leads Man to the highest peak, to face his own existence and its meaning. Enisum’s new album consists of eight atmospheric gems for fans of Wolves In The Throne Room, Earth And Pillars and the most intimate and naturalistic side of black metal.
15. Winds Of Tragedy - Hating Life (Santiago, Chile)
Genre: Black Metal / Doom Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3FfL6hHqIKOzqoPLFBj5e5?si=Jw6n7X8DRIWXxa3TQGIm3w
Black / Doom Metal from the bottom of the world.
16. Half Me - Soma (Hamburg, Germany)
Genre: Metalcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4LNvQot1CDYC3kWGW144XC?si=X-d-MPh9TxS9c4ZC6dvt6Q
A depraved mind; seeking forgiveness; shifting from delusion to purpose; finding solace in acceptance. Hailing from Hamburg, Germany, Half Me are one of the newest additions to the Arising Empire roster. The band alternates from gut wrenching breakdowns to brutal riffs and merciless, yet elegant vocals all while blending in 90's nu-metal highlights and audio samples. Half Me has their sights set on releasing the highly anticipated debut album 'Soma' and are sure to make it worth the wait. With their dedication to crafting a fresh sound and their determined work ethic, they are a band to keep an eye out for.
17. Oceans End (Holiday, Florida)
Genre: Whatever-Core Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1nYyd6CziMdSEGEiXMqj37?si=DhW6gvOEQN2nIxxaGKJ1jA
With a sound that reminisces from Tooth & Nail favorites to modern heavyweights The Ghost Inside, Florida’s Oceans End spent 2022 demonstrating a relentless work ethic for playing shows and launching debut single "Try Not To Die" Between crushing breakdowns and uptempo, pop punk style hooks, Oceans End brings a refreshing blend of “core” that spends less time genre defining and more time delivering undeniably catchy singalong style hooks. With a passion-driven message behind each lyric and bouncy rhythms, the band harkens to modern classics like Senses Fail and Stick To Your Guns while leaving listeners invigorated by the genre bending originality not often found within the scene. Steamrolling into 2023 with extensive touring as well as February’s forthcoming release of debut EP “So Tell Me About Yourself”, Oceans End shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Runs of shows down both East and West Coasts, a music video for the EP’s single Diverge Collide, and festival slots within coming months solidify the year as a monumental one for the Tampa natives, promising even more in the works.
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As part of our mission to inspire the local art community, we created the Artist Endorsement Project. With this project, we work closely with artists of all types to create a customized endorsement package that meets the needs of our most valued clients.
1. UNITY TX - World of Malice (Dallas, Texas)
Genre: Hardcore / Hip-Hop Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3uPce3TKw7cjheMNhuhNs9?si=lLXIIzeeTsaGdyIm-qimdw
THIS IS ROC MUSIC! UNITYTXROC.COM
2. Paramore - This Is Why (Franklin, Tennessee)
Genre: Pop/Rock Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/74XFHRwlV6OrjEM0A2NCMF?si=Msu_PurGQva0PUOcp_-gAg
Paramore is a band that formed in 2003 in a quiet town that is now known as Nashville, TN. Still in junior high, music made up 100% of their extracurricular time. Until eventually, they all left for tour in the middle of a school year and thank heaven music would eventually work out for them. No one understood how a band so un-country could be from this strange little town called Nashville, nor how a bunch of kids so small could play their angst-filled songs so proudly. Much time has passed since those innocent days. Life has worn its grooves into the record that is Paramore's collective life. If you look closely, you can see that the members of Paramore all have very sexy dark circles under their eyes now... and surprisingly, haven't all quit music after years of sexism in the media, soap opera-worthy drama, and nearly 15 years inside the brutal beast that is the music industry. Paramore still reside in their beloved home of Nashville, TN, which these days looks a lot more like a construction site than a well-kept secret. They spend most their days and nights sitting on the porch together laughing or crying... reminiscing, daydreaming, or trying desperately to just stay present.
3. In Flames - Foregone (Gothenburg, Sweden)
Genre: Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/57ylwQTnFnIhJh4nu4rxCs?si=1nfhDnrvQSWfChIILkgApg
In Flames represent the best of metal’s past, present, and future. In Flames are as vital and even more energized today than when they unleashed classics like Come Clarity and Clayman in decades past. The band built a stunning reputation with devastating, crowd-moving, inspired performances around the world at every major rock and metal festival imaginable, headlining multiple treks, and touring with the likes of Slipknot, Megadeth, Judas Priest, Killswitch Engage, Within Temptation, and Lamb Of God. They regularly headline some of the biggest stages and festivals in the world. Foregone, the furious fourteenth studio album, combines the greatest aggressive, metallic, and melodic strengths of their landmark records with the seasoned songwriting of their postmodern era. A sense of pride, accomplishment, and continued vitality are evident every time the band takes the stage, and all over Foregone. Melodic death metal pioneers and innovative purveyors of groove, the artistry, influence, stature, and future of In Flames loom as large as the heavy metal horizon itself.
4. Pierce The Veil - The Jaws of Life (San Diego, California)
Genre: Rock Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4iJLPqClelZOBCBifm8Fzv?si=nAAPpI5ITBidhcgCyZ9QkQ
Right now, Pierce the Veil are at their most raw, crackling with urgency and immediacy. Never predictable, always engaging, Pierce the Veil continue to soar on the strength of highly potent energy, rich musicality, and a scrappy sense of authentic exuberant ambition that's frankly unrivaled. Frontman Vic Fuentes, guitarist Tony Perry, and bassist Jaime Preciado put volatile, angsty, confessional emotions into the music, which is why their songs resonate with so many. "No matter where the band performs, fans will show up," wrote Loudwire. "When you see Pierce The Veil live, you'll understand why."PTV's evolution from album to album is nothing less than stunning. The early buzz generated by A Flair for the Dramatic (2007) made its follow-up one of the most anticipated albums of 2010. Selfish Machines shot to No.1 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart. The Chicago Tribune saluted Collide with the Sky for its "post-hardcore punk with more than a few nods to Queen." They became a true arena act on Misadventures, selling out huge venues without losing the intimate connection with their fans. Pierce the Veil have long cemented their status as one of the most exciting and relevant acts in their genre — by constantly evolving.
5. Narrow Head - Moments of Clarity (Dallas, Texas)
Genre: Grunge Rock Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4g6ODwOQYRZLsP89kEoBIu?si=bCShJcq9Q-ushgPeZCVi7w
"‘How good does it feel?’ asks Narrow Head frontman Jacob Duarte on The Real, the first track on Moments Of Clarity. It’s a fitting question for an album with a sensual sound that draws you inexorably into its warm cocoon. The Houston band’s dreamy sonics will be familiar to anyone who heard their last album, 2020’s 12th House Rock, as will their primary influences, chiefly the woozy grandeur of Siamese Dream-era Smashing Pumpkins and the shoegaze-adjacent post-hardcore of bands like Hum and Failure. This time, though, there’s a stronger sense of melody at play, along with a deeper well of emotion. The brooding lyrics of songs like the title-track and Trepanation reflect hard times in Jacob’s personal life, with the album offering a panoply of coping methods, from hiding away to howling with rage. Much of this is expressed via dream-grunge ennui, often sounding like a prettier counterpart to NOTHING, but there is variety here too. Sunday and Fine Day up the tempo, while the provenance of The Word’s wonky noises can be traced back to shoegaze pioneers My Bloody Valentine. Heaviness makes its presence felt elsewhere: the rumbling grooves of Gearhead evoke the likes of Deftones or Quicksand, while the relentless Flesh & Solitude boasts an almost industrial quality. Perhaps the biggest surprise arrives on closing track Soft To Touch, its shuffling breakbeats moving Narrow Head into unexpected trip hop turf, a stylistic curveball which is at least in keeping with the preponderance of ’90s references throughout. To answer Jacob’s question, how good does it feel? Like a hearty embrace from a band proving themselves capable of great things, mate. Thanks for asking." - Olly Thomas at Kerrang!
6. Distant - Heritage (Rotterdam, The Netherlands)
Genre: Downtempo Deathcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7dfpBi0QvO9FmlhBK6XHwJ?si=_TkgfHzNTwCa_CO9l7TFfQ
DISTANT is a 5-piece crushing DOWNTEMPO DEATHCORE band hailing from Rotterdam, The Netherlands and Bratislava, Slovakia. Few bands combine energy, intensity and extreme brutality the way that deathcore juggernauts Distant do. Even fewer bands are able to crush the listener in such an immersive, conceptual experience joined not only by thematic lyricism but a novel of written lore to accompany it. Distant, however, are one of those bands that are able to do both—and then some. Hailing in one part from Rotterdam, The Netherlands and the other from Bratislava, Slovakia, Distant combines elements of hyper-dissonant downtempo deathcore, slamming brutal death metal, and beatdown to create a vicious world of heaviness. Since their inception in 2014 the band has taken the heavy music world by storm, lashing out with their debut EP, Slither, in 2015, followed by their critically acclaimed breakout release, Tsukuyomi, in 2017. Over the next two years, the band would shift focus into a more diverse beast as heard on their Unique Leader Records debut full length, Tyrannotophia. Driven by continuing their legacy of riveting-yet-ravenously aggressive music, Distant would dominate 2020 and 2021 with two EPs which would ultimately become chapters one and two of their three-part, hour-plus, crushing deathcore epic Aeons Of Oblivion—an adventure that expands infinitely upon the world of Tyrannotophia. Aeons Of Oblivion would not enter into the world alone, however, as 2021’s novel “The Rise of Tyrannotophia” would be the first written plunge into Distant’s fictional universe, covering the lore behind both Tyrannotophia and Aeons Of Oblivion. Inspired by tales of the dark ages and the occult, Distant portrays themselves as “something more than just a brutal band, but a band with a story to tell and to leave behind”.
While Distant’s fictional universe of Tyrannotophia might be simple lore for now, it‘s only a matter of time before we’re all bound to be living in it.
7. Frozen Dawn - The Decline of the Enlightened Gods (Spain)
Genre: Death Metal / Black Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1Nzhc8q6fxlcJyH1bGZhLv?si=EIloZPO8S5-uOUplkNz2YA
For a decade and a half, Frozen Dawn have been perfecting their sound which can be described as stirring, intense and scathing black metal tempered with melody and soaring leads. The members have used their experience in notable bands to create something that not only pays earnest tribute to the classic bands such as Dissection, Necrophobic, Sacramentum and Naglfar but also sounds contemporary in terms of structure and execution. They've bolstered the sound with death metal influences and even added slight thrash touches, ensuring that the music remains powerful, incisive and compelling. The momentum remains unabated as the band pummels its way through nine elaborate tracks and a fitting cover of Necrophobic. Many bands have attempted to recreate this sound with varying degrees of success but clearly Frozen Dawn have excelled at it which is mainly due to their knack for meticulous songwriting that straddles heaviness with emotion, allowing them to enhance the expression and maintain the much-needed diversity for the style. This album is easily Frozen Dawn's best one yet and is head and shoulders above the rest of them where this kind of music goes in recent memory.
8. Big Laugh - Consume Me (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
Genre: Hardcore/Punk Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5xvWaAraKZdkRbY2qBip5c?si=mduRhTqWTzSM-omyQFWQJA
For decades, the upper Midwest of the United States has been a hotspot for hardcore bands that bend genres and refuse to stick to tired formulas, producing acts like Husker Du and Die Kreuzen. Milwaukee, WI's Big Laugh is here to continue that tradition, with a sound that finds them as much at home playing DIY shows in dingy basements as playing large clubs alongside some of hardcore and punk's luminaries. With high ambitions, Big Laugh is centered on creating whatever they want however they want, and "Consume Me" is just the next step for this young band.
9. Actus Reus - Mens Rea, Pt.1 (Atlanta, Georgia)
Genre: Metalcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/album/4RHtqQfXFTGdM30Gba9uKe?si=l9hF_2MXS8mrVOPteuhOdw
We’re Actus Reus (AEP) from Atlanta, Georgia. We play metal.
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As part of our mission to inspire the local art community, we created the Artist Endorsement Project. With this project, we work closely with artists of all types to create a customized endorsement package that meets the needs of our most valued clients.
1. Sanguisugabogg - Homicidal Ecstasy (Ohio)
Genre: Brutal Death Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0n98EIfTSiyxUZHUojHykN?si=ZdtAynqsSO6QRXFmL0dTNQ
DOWN TUNED DRUG DEATH
2. Dream State - Untethered (Wales, United Kingdom)
Genre: Rock Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3PPxT6AXgPvvajfvP1LQtw?si=nSsj58NuSmaDuNRDUQtRtQ
"‘Untethered’ is confident, exciting and pushing the band’s sound in a new direction. Dream State aren’t just back, they’re essential."
Dream State are back with a new line up and a new EP. 'Untethered' is out this Friday. - Ian Kenworthy from Punktastic
3. Osiah - Chronos (Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom)
Genre: Death Metal / Black Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4zdj6e05Eh8uLVJ6V0V3Mu?si=4knXQpNqR3WaCf1rgQ-aIw
Hailing from the extreme music melting pot that is the North East of England, Osiah transcend the deathcore label with what could possibly be the most torturous barrage of filth the UK has produced in recent years. Crushingly intense breakdowns and deathly chops tread a familiar path, but jarringly detuned guitars, unpredictable tempo changes and vocals that range from wide-ranging pitched screams to commanding guttural bowel openers add an extra evil to the sound that cannot be put in words.
4. Not Scientists - Staring at the sun (Lyon, France)
Genre: Indie Rock Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0fHTYbsxk3Wo0P8NgWVGCW?si=MEemYc1uQ3Kw09l4fV3TpQ
Not Scientists was created ten years ago in the shadow of the French Alps. After releasing a first EP and first album, The split EP shared with the legendary Hard- Ons in 2017 hinted at the tone of their second album released the next year on the German labels Kidnap Music and Rookie Records. With slower tempos and New Wave influences, the broadened palette displayed on Golden Staples is surprising and captivating. The first lockdown linked to the global pandemic made their voluntary and temporary break from touring both mandatory and more lengthy than they had intended. They took full advantage of the enforced isolation and idleness to fully explore their creative process. Staring At the Sun is the gleaming result. Staring at the Sun is an ode to New Wave melodies - a tribute to The Cure and Killing Joke - and is the flagship of a band that is driving hard into uncharted seas. «Like Gods We Feast» or «Secrets» sum up the fantastic change of direction: the addition of loops and synthesizers, the persistence of an indestructible rhythm section, the intertwining counterpoint of sparkling guitar melodies...Backed by Kicking Records (France), Kidnap Records and Rookie Records (Germany) Not Scientists have left the beaten path and are careening headlong into the creative underbrush, blazing a new path and leaving shredded convention in their wake.
5. All Out War - Celestial Rot (Newburgh, New York)
Genre: Metalcore/Hardcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/34jZDyPFvvXhL4YeBICAiV?si=vT1mYw_iQOimTwmOKOwoqQ
ALL OUT WAR has assaulted the masses with their punishing brand of metallic crossover aggression, documented through a multitude of recordings, including piles of singles and EPs and seven subsequent LPs since 1991.To get a taste of All Out War's musical style, envision the savage raw intensity of hardcore colliding head on with the brutality of metal. From the very beginning the band has established themselves as one of the most devastating units in underground music. Constantly pushing the boundaries, All Out War has gotten more extreme with each release. Their arsenal of recorded misanthropy and waves of touring, has led the band to become a respected staple act for metal and hardcore fans worldwide. All Out War is comfortable in many circles. The five piece has not only crossed over and spit in the faces of the closed-minded, but has been a dominant force in both genres Time has only honed the band's killing capabilities. As savage as they come All Out War continues their malicious onslaught into another decade. With no sign of slowing down, All Out War embarks on another campaign of total destruction on the unsuspecting masses. Beware, you have been warned.
6. Somebody's Child - S/T (Dublin, Ireland)
Genre: Indie Rock Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5b84ozqhKiJG9LN1IjVac1?si=GN1UbIOETLaI4ZMS9MZCuw
Starting his musical journey aged five in Paris, Cian Godfrey (aka Somebody’s Child) took to playing the piano in the family apartment. Upon moving back to Ireland, he gained an interest in songwriting, enabling him to tell his own stories. These narratives often reflect upon difficult mental health experiences, as well as the endearing happenings of a youngster growing up in Dublin. A groundbreaking voice in the Dublin music scene, Somebody's Child has fast become one of the hottest prospects in Ireland, with early singles receiving enthusiastic support from national radio (RTE Rising Artist 2020). An appearance on The Late Late Show followed, as well as an opening slot for Kaiser Chiefs at Dublin’s Arena just before the Covid shutdown. The band’s snappy and energetic live show had already been creating a word-of-mouth buzz by the time of Somebody’s Child’s debut headline tour at the back end of 2021, which culminated in sold out shows in London (Colours), Dublin (Button Factory) and more. It wasn’t long before seminal NYC indie label Frenchkiss Records (The Drums, Local Natives) came knocking, signing the band and putting them into the studio with Mikko Gordon (The Smile, ISLAND) in London - the resulting album, "Somebody's Child", will be released on February 3rd, 2023.
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1. King 810 - K5: follow my tears (Flint, Michigan)
Genre: Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4LBpvfFaQzQKJU1GUVPniC?si=dyvMk2t5SlKydLmHsk442g
Your favorite band’s favorite band.
2. Conjureth - The Parasitic Chambers (San Diego, California)
Genre: Death Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0dy1LkyRZMuGXto5YE6Z77?si=GVn8GAmOS-W9wjHcyopX0A
Death Metal in the ways of old.
3. Still_bloom - euphoria_ (International)
Genre: Metalcore / Nu-Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6h4smhKMIjD0RN0F7dlIda?si=XYN6VkxMQECVVhMIgbcLOg
still_bloom is an international audio entity based out of the usa and the uk.
capturing the anathema of alienation and paranoia, still_bloom delivers a chaotic experience that is driven by sheer existential terror and emotional suffering.
you shall all become as gods.
downer_
4. Astral Moon - Into Solar Abyss (Rochester, New York)
Genre: Psychadelic / Doom Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5Fo8lmTXMihNCdWIH5NIPA?si=S5qSSr_BTsCyykp-bfRwzQ
Astral Moon is a one-man doom metal band formed in Rochester, NY in 2020. Fronted by Aidan Amy, he has since released one full-length album in 2021, Astral Necromancy, and has announced his second full-length, Into Solar Abyss, set to release 1/25/23.
Amy draws influence from bands like Electric Wizard, Black Sabbath, Sleep, Type O Negative, Woods of Ypres, and The Doors to create a psychedelic, fuzzy atmosphere - with a pinch of gothic doom. As an experienced saxophonist, he began incorporating sax solos into his songs with ‘Beneath the Coffin Grain’, adding a unique sound to doom. Prior to Astral Moon, Amy had a history of experimental electronic projects between 2017 - 2020. Some of these include the 90’s rave-inspired ‘Think’ and the gritty, industrial soundscape ‘Morte Pandemic’. He began making metal under the moniker of ‘Sister Constriction’ in mid 2020, producing a demo EP with an industrial thrash sound. He later abandoned the project and began putting his passion for doom metal into motion with the creation of Astral Moon by the end of the year.
5. Lil Yachty - Let's Start Here (Mableton, Georgia)
Genre: Hip-Hop Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6icQOAFXDZKsumw3YXyusw?si=E75sJ5O7R5ew6VZhtnHtXQ
Combining feel-good positivity, druggy weirdness, and wild ATLian flair into a style he termed "bubblegum trap," rapper Lil Yachty scored his first platinum single with "One Night" (2016). Within two years, he had a pair of Top Ten albums with Teenage Emotions (2017) and Lil Boat 2 (2018), and a Grammy nomination via DRAM's "Broccoli," on which he was featured. Between the release dates of those proper albums for the Quality Control label, Yachty's approach shifted from a reliance upon willfully off-key singing and lackadaisical rhyming to that of a comparatively traditional MC, albeit with his irreverent sense of humor still gamely displayed. His style continued to evolve with his following recordings, including 2020's Lil Boat 3 and 2021's Michigan Boy Boat. Born Miles McCollum in the metropolitan Atlanta city of Mableton, Yachty began to break in 2015, when Drake's OVO Sound Radio aired his bizarre and singsongy "Minnesota." He truly crossed over in 2016. During the year, he released Lil Boat and Summer Songs 2, his first two commercial mixtapes for the emergent Quality Control Music The former featured "Minnesota" along with "One Night," a woozy party cut that reached number 30 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart, cracked the Hot 100, and went platinum. Also during the year, he was featured on DRAM's "Broccoli" and Kyle's "iSpy," both of which went Top Ten pop, and was part of Chance The Rapper's Top Ten release Coloring Book. "Broccoli" was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. Coloring Book took the award for Best Rap Album. Yachty continually added to his secondary discography as a collaborator, most visibly beside Carly Rae Jepsen on a remake of Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock's "It Takes Two," but during 2017 and 2018, he directed most of his energy toward his first two proper albums. Teenage Emotions, issued in May 2017, peaked in the Top Ten of the Billboard 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts, highlighted with the charting single "Peek a Boo," featuring Migos, Yachty returned the following March with Lil Boat 2, on which he sounded more like a traditional rapper with greater emphasis on enunciated verses and a reduction in off-key vocalizations. Following 2022's "Humble," a collaboration with Diplo , he scored a minor hit with the solo track "Poland."
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1. Nedrugh - Depersonalize (St. Petersburg, Russia)
Genre: Black Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4is0Vr7z1L11KK3jPPVJ1b?si=PgdkYdWkQ6G-V_s4beg38w 
2. Sáasil - Ephemeral (Mexico)
Genre: Black Metal / Blackgaze Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4C8X7zBzTNxYwZUEhUaPsD?si=lApTKp94QS2bXfDm0UOaWw
Post Black Metal Ethereal and Melancholy.
3. Kota the Friend - Lyrics to GO, Vol. 4 (Brooklyn, New York)
Genre: Hip-Hop Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2AfU5LYBVCiCtuCCfM7uVX?si=cETeFXX1REyWQwdrNbR4Rw
Brooklyn rapper Kota the Friend bucked trends, favoring musically rich instrumentals and vivid, sometimes surreal wordplay over the interchangeable trap styles of many of his peers. His personal, often introspective lyrics and jazz-inflected beats met with well-groomed production on his 2020 album Everything. In 2021, he teamed up with producer Statik Selektah for the project To Kill a Sunrise. The third volume of his Lyrics to Go series appeared in 2022, as well as the album MEMO. Kota the Friend was born in Brooklyn in 1992. He started exploring music by playing trumpet at age eight, growing more and more interested in music production in his high school years. He performed in various bands and worked as a cinematographer for independent musicians' video projects before establishing himself as a solo artist with a trio of singles in 2017. Kota's style blended jazzy undercurrents with R&B touches over beats that took cues from multiple phases of hip-hop's evolution. His full-length debut album, Anything, was released in 2018 and included cameo appearances from Hello Oshay, Childish Major and Angel Haze. Positive reviews and press buzz came quickly, but Kota decided early on to stay independent. He would turn down offers from major labels multiple times over the next few years, opting for a D.I.Y. approach that offered him more creative control. In 2019, he released the FOTO mixtape, and the next year he followed it with the brief project Lyrics to Go, Vol. 1. His second studio album, Everything, was released in May 2020. Its summery production and unique arrangement choices gelled into one of Kota the Friend's most successful projects yet, in terms of both critical reception and the charts. A second volume of Lyrics to Go, which included the single "Pomegranate," followed in 2021, as did To Kill a Sunrise, his collaboration with producer and DJ Statik Selektah Lyrics to Go, Vol. 3, a 22-minute release that was still longer than either of the first two parts in the series, was released in 2022, followed by the full-length MEMO and single "Red Lights." Now we introduce Lyrics to GO, Vol. 4 ~ Fred Thomas
4. For I Am King - Crown (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Genre: Melodic Death Metal / Power Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2etNWORcmPZZBKxcyt6dF4?si=lZHQZEhiRYqLkLqZ7V5tWg
Dutch metal band FOR I AM KING are gearing up for the release of their brand new full-length studio album CROWN - the band's first release since the 2018 sophomore album ‘I’. The quintet offers modern, complex and furious but always catchy metal with hypnotic melodies, driven by the unique vocals of front-woman and eyecatcher Alma Alizadeh. The coming album is set to be released on the 19th of January 2023 serving as the proverbial crown to the quintets ten-year career. Since being formed in 2013, FOR I AM KING has released two albums ('Daemons' in 2016 and 'I' in 2018), which were internationally acclaimed by fans and critics alike. Furthermore the quintet has performed numerous shows worldwide, such as Japan, China and Europe (a.o. Jera On Air, Wacken Open Air, Metal Days, FortaRock, Full Force).
5. New Found Glory - Make the Most of It (Coral Springs, Florida)
Genre: Pop-Punk Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4ghjRm4M2vChDfTUycx0Ce?si=LQf2GZpxQnuvvvgexJ4yKQ
As New Found Glory can attest, life moves quickly. Just three years after forming in Coral Springs, Florida, in 1997, the group were fast-tracked from local upstarts to mainstream stars on the back of ebullient pop melodies and hardcore-tinged breakdowns, setting off a blast of pop-punk dynamite that still lights the torch for modern acts more than two decades later. They became the voice of an underground movement, spurring iconic gold and platinum records (2000’s New Found Glory, 2002’s Sticks & Stones, and 2004’s Catalyst), countless MTV appearances, an entire subgenre (easycore) and sold-out tours the world over. But, as the band have also learned, everything can get upended in the blink of an eye. In December 2021, fresh off the celebratory Pop Punk’s Still Not Dead Tour in support of their 10th album, Forever + Ever x Infinity, guitarist Chad Gilbert was found unresponsive in bed at home, rushed to a local hospital, and diagnosed with an 8-inch cancerous tumor, a rare pheochromocytoma. Hospital stays, surgery, and a long road to recovery followed – but, in typical New Found Glory fashion, so did the songs. The band’s new acoustic album, Make The Most Of It (Revelation Records), tackles the last year head-on with their most emotional and cathartic collection of songs to date. The album is a rumination on what it means to grieve, to live, to approach every day with appreciation and a sense of fulfillment.
6. Scalp - Black Tar (California)
Genre: Death Metal / Grindcore / Violence Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5CszF8X0mZXt8Tck93HJuv?si=KN8EqbCQQ8-BofV8ja9ZHQ
SCALP carved their way into the underground consciousness with Domestic Extremity (Creator Destructor) during 2020. CVLT NATION christened it “one of the most exciting and explosive heavy albums of the year,” while NO ECHO raved, “The Southern California outfit absolutely slays, spewing forth elements of power violence, death metal, hardcore, and sludge in a truly terrifying way.” During 2022, they hit the studio with producer Taylor Young [Deadbody, Twitching Tongues] of The Pit Recording Studio to cut Black Tar. The musicians only pushed harder than ever to match the intensity of the subject matter.
“Black Tar is a very negative outlook on my past life experiences: trauma, addiction, psychosis, losing family members to overdose, personal opinions with religion, and blasphemy,” notes guitarist Devan Fuentes. “I saw a side of humanity that was pretty disturbing to accept. It’s seeing people’s houses, seeing how they let themselves rot away, and seeing individuals who shouldn’t be alive kept alive just to live in suffering rather than die. The story isn’t about redemption or recovery. It’s very unfiltered judgement, and I wanted to replicate those experiences in the most disturbing way.”
7. SKÁLD - Huldufólk (France)
Genre: Nordic Folk Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3uliAYf4KyTkBpVf3BiWVv?si=wlOrYjZnQcibNMbyFxmGLA
In the last few years, SKÁLD has taken an unexpected path through the international musical landscape by breathing new life into the Viking spirit. The group was founded in 2018 when producer-composer Christophe Voisin-Boisvinet brought together some first-rate talents to form an immersive musical project; SKÁLD embraces the ancestral spirit of the ancient skalds who chanted of the legends surrounding the peoples of the North and their gods.
8. GLOM - Pebble (Brooklyn, New York)
Genre: Lo-fi / Indie Rock Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0OY528sf5HGsPB2xi8BJ4H?si=4zV17rzPQXORmoxlxje0jA
indie lofi slowcore shoegaze rock boyz GLOM’s forthcoming EP, "Pebble" manages the trick of making self-examination and dystopian thoughts feel and sound good. “A lot of the songs are derivative of how hellish our current world is,” explains Dunnevant. “But from a musical standpoint, a lot of this record is happy and upbeat. They’re heavy songs, but you don’t have to feel bad about it.
9. Turbid North - The Decline (Fort Worth, Texas)
Genre: Death Metal / Doom Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6006zYjiggH7b9BySvr1ps?si=4uX2mOMORT6gP6W_EKm4nQ
Turbid North is a three piece heavy doom band originating from Alaska and currently located in Fort Worth, Texas. After a hiatus, 2022 saw the band regroup to release their 3rd full length album "The Decline". Written during some of the bleaker periods in the band's lifespan, the album sees a darker and more aggressive sound added to the formula. Featuring themes of depression and mental illness, all set in the landscape of sci-fi lore that permeated their last album. "The Decline" is a collection of songs that delves into the downfall and self-destruction of a person.
10. Tactosa - Exit Wounds (Tampa, Florida)
Genre: Deathcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1maC5DWQKBAQqmjfp3qCpI?si=EcXYU-gkSu2nvWdjxjl7CQ
Central Florida based Tactosa takes the raw, crushing sound of early Deathcore into the modern day. Piercing high vocals, brutally heavy riffs, combined with modern hardcore and death metal influences, makes Tactosa feel like a fresh return to form for the genre.
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1. Nicole Dollanganger - Married in Mount Airy (Whitchurch-Stouffville, Canada)
Genre: Gothic Dream Singer-Songwriter Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0MfC3pip8rY8OFLJVVNvBO?si=GliPs7uDRwCV1jCZy__yEQ
Southern Ontario singer/songwriter Nicole Dollanganger first began posting her gothic dream pop songs on her blog in 2012. With her childlike voice and dark lyrical content, Dollanganger soon developed a devoted base, self-releasing four full-length records written, recorded and produced alone in her bedroom. In 2015 she was the first artist featured on Grimes Eerie Organization, a collective created solely for the purpose of releasing Dollanganger’s fifth album Natural Born Losers. In the following year, Dollanganger’s song “Chapel" featured in episode 16 of The Walking Dead and Run For Cover Records reissued 2013’s “Ode to Dawn Wiener: Embarrassing Love Songs" and 2014's "Observatory Mansions".
2. True Faith - Go to Ground (Boston, Massachusetts)
Genre: Goth/ Post-Punk / Shoegaze Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6pFgoptrzxRnASd8o4weON?si=JrVe6sbkRXqZfTPVuHyZxw
Boston can be a cold and desolate place, but there’s a warmth hidden under its shadows and deep within its edges. The True Faith embody that spirit, twirling along the margins of post-punk and coldwave to create a magnetic sound that’s rooted in the quintet’s adopted home city. Acclaimed debut EP "As Much Nothing As Possible" was released January 2021 via emerging imprint à La Carte Records, the first recorded doctrine of a band on the brink of its own internal evolution. With the release of their debut full-length album, "They Can Always Hurt You More," are songs about love and loss, pain and euphoria, the gray in between the black and white. Now released is Go To Ground!
3. HolyName - S/T
Genre: Holy Drone Violent Worship Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/70dru8oehK8CwnNzANx6CJ?si=nCBs7n36S1uR0oKzx2Bd0g
HolyName’s watchword is preachcore, and their self-described sound of “holy drone violent worship” makes a lot of sense when you hear their songs. The new album is essentially a love letter to Christ and a tribute to the history of eastern orthodoxy. A season of death and profound brokenness caused Tommy Green to dive deeply into the very beginnings of the church, seeking for the connection between holy orthodoxy and liturgical practices, and today’s modern Pentecostal charismatic church. He found beauty in a hidden treasure that he didn’t fully understand, his pain driving him to a place he never intended to go. Orthodox imagery is extremely influential to the graphics and lyrics of HolyName’s work. The holy orthodox church and the historical origin of Christianity became very important to Tommy personally and that’s why the imagery seems so saturated with traditional ancient orthodox Christianity.The genesis of the idea of HolyName sprang from a lockdown project when Joe and Tommy recruited friends from their church community nationwide to participate in a worship “mix tape.” Tommy’s initial contributions were an acoustic song he wrote in 2014 called “Meet Me Somewhere Quiet” and a cover of a song by his brother-in-law Aaron Craner called “Fall On Your Knees”. He sent the songs to Joe who turned them from acoustics to fully instrumental heavy tracks. When the duo heard the first finished products they were excited to keep going. Tommy felt like he was using the songs and the choruses and the sounds of HolyName to try to keep his faith alive when he felt like it was dying.“Some of the answers that I have been given by the modern charismatic Christian culture weren’t adequate. There were gaps that I couldn’t seem to fill in the face of death. I knew the faith that brought me brought me through Sleeping Giant and nurtured that ministry was beautiful, but I was losing such faith that I needed to find the eyes of Christ somewhere and I couldn’t seem to get my feet under me with the answers that I had. I was really in danger of walking away from quite a lot.” The search into the origin of his faith opened the door for Tommy to fall in love with orthodoxy. He has been able to use the experience of this project to process his grief and work through broken-heartedness. In addition to Tommy Green and Joe Holt, the HolyName project features mixing and mastering by Ryan Leitru, additional vocals from The REV Gang choir, Brook Reeves of Impending Doom, Eric Gregson of xDeathstarx, Joe Advent, Danon Saylor of Nothing Left, Ryan Clark of Demon Hunter, and Mike Felker of Convictions, with beats produced by Hunter Babcock of Wolf Skin.
4. The Wise Man's Fear - Atlas Ruinica (Indiana)
Genre: Fantasycore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0Ir2YUbOtgP5GeOzQicQ44?si=YvCtOfPSTS2tstkHveSOtA
SPINNING UNFORGETTABLE LORE THROUGH SWEEPING CLEAN VOCALS, CRUSHING HARDCORE BLUDGEONING, AND DYNAMIC METALLIC PROFICIENCY, THE INDIANA “FANTASYCORE” SEXTET—PAUL LIERMAN [DRUMS, LYRICS], JOSEPH SAMMUEL [VOCALS], CODI CHAMBERS [GUITAR], TYLER EADS [VOCALS], NATHAN KANE [GUITAR, VOCALS], AND THOMAS BARHAM [BASS]—BUILT TOWARDS THIS MOMENT ON THEIR 2015 INDEPENDENT DEBUT CASTLE IN THE CLOUDS AND ITS 2017 FOLLOW-UP LOST CITY. INTEGRATING IMMERSIVE FANTASY INTO A HYBRID OF METAL, DEATHCORE, AND ALTERNATIVE, THEY CARVED OUT A SINGULAR NICHE.
5. Obituary - Dying of Everything (Tampa, Florida)
Genre: Death Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0SbGI4sb8dAKFZnK7RFyhz?si=xGsAKldPTwmkvUjSrYQPhQ
Tampa, Florida's Obituary are a veteran death metal band whose origins date back to the style's first wave. Though they've endured lineup changes, three of its original members -- drummer Don Hardy, vocalist Tom Hardy, and guitarist Trevor Peres -- have been aboard since 1986. Their early sound juxtaposed lo-fi death metal and hardcore, while Hardy's vocals, though screamed, were readily decipherable -- this is no longer true and lyric sheets are necessary. Early albums including 1989's Slowly We Rot and 1990's Cause of Death embodied the chug and burn aesthetic. Following the release of 1997's Back from the Dead, they split for several years. In 2004, a reunited quintet recorded Frozen in Time. Xecutioner's Return followed in 2007 to glowing reviews internationally. Darkest Day appeared in 2009. The band issued Inked in Blood in 2014 and Obituary in 2017. Three live albums and the single "A Dying World" were released between 2020 and 2022. In January 2023 the full-length Dying of Everything was released by Relapse
6. Wiltwither - The House I Lived In (SINGLE) (Columbia, South Carolina)
Genre: Metalcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/track/3zbKRN4120rxB4qLjkbNes?si=ceb4ab58b495408c
Wiltwither is a collection from the Carolinas that focuses on the tough realities people face. They weave together topics like loneliness, abuse, loss and depression while blending grim, noisy, unstable elements of metalcore, nu-metal, thall and hardcore. These songs...these lyrics are ours, but they belong to you. We are all in pain. Reminiscent of Loathe, Silent Planet and Spiritbox.
7. Cold Steel - Deeper Into Greater Pain (Tampa, Florida)
Genre: Metallic-Hardcore / Crossover Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2inu89bjNrWjp92nEqloP2?si=7iU4yHqGRcmBDAmbHsB9qA
The Homies
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1. Remorseful - Our Law, Grace (Massachusetts)
Genre: Black Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/67Fk8fSrUacXjVI6AYYBRU?si=275kB0ZuQZKIXhOuhHs18g
Remorseful is antifascist and intersectional feminist.
2. Fireworks - Higher Lonely Power (Detroit, Michigan)
Genre: Pop-Punk Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2FcxTTXQKgTdJzTeACMlVU?si=nutXkQ9PREWvdoVCV47jhg
A band as colorful and explosive as their name implies, Fireworks is a band who create a sound with enough pop quality to keep your little sisters attention and enough edge to rid them of the "guilty pleasure" status. Hailing from stereotypically suburban Metro Detroit, Fireworks is comprised of five electric personalities with endless influences. Together they create a unique blend of "infectious, well-written punk with an undeniable sense of melody.
3. Beautiful Death - Finis (Melbourne, Australia)
Genre: Acoustic Black Metal / Indie Folk Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3Rqjq9sDEbaEiVPg0eqy8p?si=wuGNkVCGRB-uO0eyr3U2SQ
Australian based neo-folk and black metal one man project.
4. Anti-Flag - Lies They Tell Our Children (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
Genre: Punk Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/30sqtiTKIb1oDve0SdYayT?si=LI5CXIVMQeyEvx8dwrV69A
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania’s Anti-Flag have made it abundantly clear for nearly thirty years that their message and presence will always feel relevant at any given time. Never afraid to offer raw and unfiltered critiques on the failings of the modern political landscape, or position themselves across multiple genres, Anti-Flag are committed to constant evolution. While their early material was rooted in fast, anthemic, and visceral punk rock with classic albums such as Die for the Government and For Blood and Empire, Anti-Flag has brought the rock back into punk rock with later records including American Fall and 20/20 Vision. Now 13 records in with Lies They Tell Our Children produced by Jon Lundin (Good Charlotte, Senses Fail, Sleeping With Sirens) the band offers it’s boldest collection of songs to date in the form of a compelling concept album. Working with Lundin was the perfect union, as Chris #2 declares, “I think you can hear that in the songs, there is an urgency to it and that’s how we recorded them. We wanted to stay on task and knew what we wanted both sonically and politically. I don’t think we’ve worked this meticulously on songs since 2006 with For Blood And Empire.” With the release of Lies They Tell Our Children, and ANTIfest 2022, the Pittsburgh punks in Anti-Flag are set to continue their artistic evolution and mission for revolution.
5. Wisdom And War - Superior Design (Worcester, Massachusetts)
Genre: Metallic Hardcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2bMNVNhVzqmjB05W7dNeXx?si=bFD6JIvxT_ynWtlqdr8Gkw
"Central/Western Massachusetts metallic hardcore band Wisdom & War are releasing a new eight-song EP, Superior Design, on Unbeaten Records this Friday. The EP was produced by Charlie Abend, and Aaron Knuckles of Death Threat lends his voice to opening track "Can't Stop Me" (and his guest vocals were produced by NYHC veteran Don Fury). The EP owes as much to nu metal as it does to classic hardcore, and as you'd probably hope and expect, it's bone-crushingly heavy." - Andrew Sacher @ Brooklyn Vegan
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As part of our mission to inspire the local art community, we created the Artist Endorsement Project. With this project, we work closely with artists of all types to create a customized endorsement package that meets the needs of our most valued clients.
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