1. Darko - Oni
Genre: Deathcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7C6FTHcdowgX4dzKUd678K?si=vLBPCGAQSvimDg5HXw8sow
Darko, a deathcore/metalcore duo from the minds of vocalist Tom Barber (Chelsea Grin, ex-Lorna Shore) and drummer Josh “Baby J” Miller (Emmure, ex-Glass Cloud). - Mike Reitemeier at The New Fury
2. Dropkick Murphys - This Machine Still Kills Fascists (Quincy, Massachusetts)
Genre: Celtic Punk Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7w9jdhcgHNdiPeNPUoFSlx?si=ub4siM1zRj2TCcfA2o1kFg
After 26 years, Boston’s Dropkick Murphys put down their pencils, picked up their acoustic guitars, and wrote an album of songs around some previously unseen Woody Guthrie lyrics. The power of Woody’s words meets the urgency of Dropkick Murphys' music on This Machine Still Kills Fascists.
3. Coldworld - Isolation (Leipzig, Germany)
Genre: Black Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0y9T7O1q6PyYt8fOSJfRm5?si=-l03Ilb-Q6m0ZEvV1iZZkQ
Creating soundscapes of isolation since 2005.
4. Within Destruction - Lotus (Slovenia)
Genre: Deathcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1kAX4yFdmR0hJe2tPu1785?si=VvEcpPJuS-y7Qer2GmIVNQ
Within Destruction are the masters of keeping their listeners guessing. Following hot on the heels of their acclaimed 2020 album Yokai, it was hard to guess what the Slovenian outfit would do next, but latest singles ’Nightmare’ ‘Survival’ and ‘Dying World’ have shown a whole new dimension to the bands sound, gaining the band many new fans whilst cementing their already impressive fanbase.‘Toxic’ continues Within Destructions new release cycle and is out on the 23rd September 2022. The album ‘Lotus’ then drops on 30th September 2022. Over the campaign, the band have already had support from Lambgoat, Triple J, Idobi Howl, Invicta Magazine, Metal Trenches, Riot Vision and more. The band have already surpassed 24 million streams on Spotify alone across their previous releases, and have no intention of slowing down. Fresh from touring Asia, Australia, and USA, the band head out on an extensive UK/EU tour to promote the album with Space Of Variations, Bound In Fear and Earth Caller.
5. Mamalarky - Pocket Fantasy (Atlanta, Georgia)
Genre: Indie Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2AWfnWrfFVhRPVX4JN9a6g?si=-lovppzRR4W5XClW3YeeaA
“Mamalarky’s tenderly tangled indie rock has the internal logic of ridiculous jokes shared between band members after spending weeks on the road together. In 2020, the young Atlanta-based quartet had more than enough time in each other’s company to develop an idiosyncratic musical language. The sum of friendships and collaborations dating back to their teenage years, the band’s debut album (Fire Talk 2020) melds flashy instrumental moves with head-sticking hooks and lovesick lyrics welcoming anyone into their private world. While Mamalarky are ostensibly an indie-pop group, they stand out from the laid-back melancholy moods of contemporaries with complex instrumental interplay that inspires lean-forward listening.” - Jesse Locke for Pitchfork
6. Aviana - Corporation (Norrköping, Sweden)
Genre: Metalcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1AvLltBsz1HdAtZeucm9zy?si=PjxaitL4TgWRHy2EhubxWg
Swedish Alternative Metal act AVIANA are back in 2021 with frontman Joel Holmqvist introducing a new era of the band since the release of 'Epicenter' in 2019. Recent releases via German label Arising Empire in have all the elements you look for in a modern Metal band. The new album 'Corporation' which is described rather as a collection of singles will be out via Arising Empire on 30th of September 2022.
7. Regulate - S/T (New York, NY)
Genre: Hardcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/64O5oavSEHRyQBGxOU0ewd?si=syYPInVcTXGGkqvA7_dSmg
Breaking onto the hardcore scene in 2013, New York’s Regulate have shown a resillent and earnest approach in everything they do. This rings true on the band’s upcoming self-titled LP that will drop September 30th on their new label home, Flatspot Records. The ten tracks on the album developed organically throughout the brunt of the pandemic, inspiring vocalist Sebastian Paba’s most personal lyrics to the date. Regulate has always been an outlet for vulnerability - the band’s latest album In the Promise of Another Tomorrow (2018) shined with commentary on identity and power structure complimented by explosive musicianship. Regulate takes the band to another level, teetering between a traditional hardcore sound and something more striking, pulling additional inspiration from Latin music and R&B. Paba effortlessly handles both screams and what might be the catchiest clean vocal delivery in the entire genre while pushing forth thoughts on serious topics like genocide against indigenous peoples and more light-hearted notes of just loving making music.Having already shared the stage with a heavy list of bands like Terror, Backtrack, Glassjaw, Madball, and Burn, the band is prepped to get back to touring steadily in 2022. They’ll hit the road with Vein.fm and Candy this summer and are also slated for numerous festival appearances.Heading into a new album cycle, ambitions are high for Regulate, but they don’t mind leaving a few things up to interpretation.
8. Tactosa - DIY Autopsy (Single) (Tampa, Florida) WATCH THE LYRIC VIDEO HERE:
Genre: Deathcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1maC5DWQKBAQqmjfp3qCpI?si=FhtL3n3aTXOROkh0dIPzCA
Central Florida based Tactosa takes the raw, crushing sound of early Deathcore into the modern day. Piercing high vocals, groovy drums and 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. TRPP - Here To Stay (Seoul, South Korea)
Genre: Shoegaze/Indie/Rock Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1aBpZ0N9BHa5pVM8oKhT0D?si=m7dcHSe0TwunTeO6rsqK3w
Furukawa Yukio: who had just left the line of succession to a lucrative Ramen bar business. Chi-Chi Cliché: who was starting to find the nomadic lifestyle no longer exciting but tedious and wearisome. Elephant 999: who has a virtuously uninterrupted belief that everything is made up of virtual reality.
2. Mr Jukes & Barney Artist - Eternal (London, United Kingdom)
Genre: Hip-Hop Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1y71H4hNtnHG7LeU1Y47FO?si=bEKrYDJ4T-qKD213uUVRkw
The music speaks for itself
3. Band-Maid - Unleash (Tokyo, Japan)
Genre: J-Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5Wh3G01Xfxn2zzEZNpuYHH?si=EPAOKVdnRweSOcNzcnpS1Q
Band-Maid are an impossibly hard rocking, 5 piece, all-female rock band formed in 2013. Don't let their aesthetics fool you, these five “maids" are highly skilled musicians and songwriters, and their hard hitting sound, shredding guitars, pounding drums and catchy hooks have been praised by fans and media around the world. A burgeoning fan base both domestic and international has seen Band-Maid sell out multiple dates in the US, UK and Europe, and scores of YouTube reaction videos from fans around the world blown away by the group’s level of virtuosity and musical chops. The total number of views on Youtube is over 150 million, and the total number of views on reaction videos is over 40 million.
4. The Wonder Years - The Hum Goes On Forever (Lansdale, Pennsylvania)
Genre: Pop-punk Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0nq64XZMWV1s7XHXIkdH7K?si=YHXflcETS8uawW_YtEilzw
The Wonder Years are a band & they are a band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania & they came to life in 2005 & they write songs & those songs are sometimes about people they love & those songs are sometimes about people you might have loved & those songs are sometimes about a city that could be the city you live in or a neighborhood that feels like it could be your neighborhood & they put those songs on albums & they put those songs on The Upsides in 2010 & they put those songs on Suburbia I've Given You All and Now I'm Nothing in 2011 & on The Greatest Generation in 2013 on No Closer to Heaven in 2015 & those albums were loved by critics & even more loved by fans & their shows are awash with a genuine emotional energy that only they can pull out of a room & The Wonder Years are a band made up of old friends & they play rock & roll music & they play it like they mean it & they have played it in a lot of places & in front of a lot of people & they have played it in dive bars & arenas & outside with the whole sky bowing & they have played it on five continents & they have played it in thirty countries & they are still counting & Sister Cities is their new album & it is an album about how all of our distance might not be so wide after all & it was written with the world on fire & all of the songs sound like they are trying to build you a bridge from somewhere bad to somewhere better & The Wonder Years are a band & they are also bridge builders. - Hanif Aburraqib
5. Lande Hekt - House Without A View (Bristol, United Kingdom)
Genre: Indie/Rock Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3RU6wsoh0bm0gZFHJiYRmq?si=TX3V-Lo1T_-b3L3gidweRQ
Lande Hekt’s natural state of being is in the writing of a song. Having crafted politically aware, heart-on-sleeve, punchy yet tender, punk-flecked songs with her band Muncie Girls, Lande turned her hand to an even more personal songwriting approach as she embarked on writing a solo record - 2021’s ‘Going to Hell’. The debut full-length documented her experience coming out as gay. It set out her stall as a solo artist with supreme storytelling abilities and a knack for understatedly luminous melodies. With her debut album barely a year old, 2022 sees Lande armed with a whole new collection of song-form vignettes and musings on her life and experiences. Her second solo album ‘House Without a View’ will be released 23 September via Get Better Records in North America and her new venture Prize Sunflower Records.
6. Gaerea - Mirage (Porto, Portugal)
Genre: Black Metal/ Death Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1wXoI3Ajpv4WwQ3LmcrSBw?si=aGliNoTDRCKfg5ejQcj1vg
Behind black shrouds of obscurity and desolation, GAEREA deliver their odes in cascading maelstroms of aggression and beauty. Emerging from the age of pandemic to whatever awaits humanity next, the Portuguese horde remains on the frontlines of the next generation of extreme metal. Time. Immortality. Endless Life. Endless death.
7. Novelists FR - Déjà Vu (Première Partie) (Paris, France)
Genre: Metalcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6o8sDniHcZPM1SixvjKiYS?si=znDZb6CdRkqAnrsWomiuPA
Novelists is a modern rock&metal quartet from Paris, Berlin and Herne formed in 2013. Souvenirs (2015, Arising Empire) Noir (2017, Sharptone records, Arising Empire) C'est la vie (2020, Sharptone records, Arising Empire). The band signed to new label Out of Line music in 2020 and is set to release their 4th album "DEJA-VU" with new singer Tobias Rische ( Ex- Alazka)
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1. As Hell Retreats - Dissent (Single) (Hendersonville, Tennessee)
Genre: Spirit-Filled Metalcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1OWaeCcjWbm6abVyu4Q7cp?si=h4NDGUMuQGaUSLopqFxszA
As Hell Retreats is an American Christian metal band from Hendersonville, Tennessee. The band started making music in 2005, and their membership was lead vocalist, Jackson Greene, lead guitarists, Clint Clayton, Blake Hardman, and Tyler Riley, bass guitarists, Nate Landreth, Seth Steele, and Taylor Jones, and drummer, Trent Davenport. The band commenced as a musical entity in 2005, with their first release, Demo, an extended play, that was released independently in 2007. They release another extended play, Acknowledgement, in 2008, also independently. Their first studio album, Revival, was released by Strike First Records on May 25, 2010. The subsequent studio album, Volition, was released by Ain't No Grave Records on July 26, 2011. This was their final release, as they disbanded in 2012. But now they are back with a new release!
2. Lorna Shore - Pain Remains I: Dancing Like Flames (Single) (Warren County, New Jersey.)
Genre: Deathcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6vXYoy8ouRVib302zxaxFF?si=ECkxiccmS5yEMQl64MbEtQ
"Deathcore mainstays Lorna Shore premiere their new single and music video named “Pain Remains I: Dancing Like Flames“. The clip was directed by David Brodsky (Revocation, Killswitch Engage).The song and clip is part of a trilogy that will be featured on the group’s upcoming new studio full-length titled “Pain Remains“. That trilogy itself furthermore consists of the tracks, “Pain Remains II: After All I’ve Done, I’ll Disappear” and “Pain Remains III: Sea Of Fire“. Explain Lorna Shore: “The Pain Trilogy is a three-part tale focusing on the stages of grief and vulnerability and exemplifying it through a love story. The first song, ‘Pain Remains I: Dancing Like Flames‘ begins with the main character becoming enamored by the person within his dreams. He decides to turn to this reality as a sense of purpose despite knowing that the closer he gets to his goal, the further it seems to drift away.” - LugalKiEn from metalunderground.com
3. Death Cab For Cutie - Asphalt Meadows (Bellingham, Washington)
Genre: Indie/Rock Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0YrtvWJMgSdVrk3SfNjTbx?si=jErta2WHSx-TfjgYiVT5Jg
Death Cab for Cutie is an American rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington, in 1997.The band is currently composed of Ben Gibbard (vocals, guitar, piano), Nick Harmer (bass), Dave Depper (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), Zac Rae (keyboards, guitar), and Jason McGerr (drums). The band returned to in-person live performances after 18 months in September 2021, playing shows with Perfume Genius and Deep Sea Diver. On October 29, 2021, the band shared a commemorative 20-year anniversary reissue of The Photo Album which featured studio outtakes, demos and rare recordings. On May 5, 2022, the band confirmed that they had finished work on their tenth studio album, which was announced the following week on May 11 as being titled Asphalt Meadows, which was released on September 16. The album's lead single, "Roman Candles", was released on the same day, alongside the announcement of a North American tour with Low and Yo La Tengo.
4. The Beths - Expert In A Dying Field (Auckland, New Zealand)
Genre: Indie/Rock/Pop Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7DjwIxbe8kpw4pqnzAMoin?si=I1m7S_kkS8WDljib7bwTAQ
On The Beths’ new album Expert In A Dying Field, Elizabeth Stokes’ songwriting positions her somewhere between being a novelist and a documentarian. The songs collected here are autobiographical, but they’re also character sketches of relationships and more importantly, their aftermaths. The question that hangs in the air: what do you do with how intimately versed you’ve become in a person, once they’re gone from your life?The third LP from the New Zealand quartet houses 12 jewels of tight, guitar-heavy songs that worm their way into your head, an incandescent collision of power-pop and skuzz. The album’s title track “Expert In A Dying Field” introduces the thesis for the record: “How does it feel to be an expert in a dying field? How do you know it’s over when you can’t let go?” Stokes asks. “Love is learned over time ‘til you’re an expert in a dying field.” 'Expert In A Dying Field' is out September 16 via Carpark Records and Ivy League Records.
5. The Devil Wears Prada - Color Decay (Dayton, Ohio)
Genre: Metalcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0NbQe5CNgh4YApOCDuHSjb?si=0MIpVgHDTJuc7bQmgGLyBg
The Devil Wears Prada rely on contrast as they nimbly balance metallic turbulence, hardcore spirit, provocatively eloquent lyricism, and melodic exorcism. In between these opposing extremes, the band—Mike Hranica [vocals], Jeremy DePoyster [guitar, vocals], Kyle Sipress [guitar], Jonathan Gering [keys, synths, programming, production], Giuseppe Capolupo [drums], and Mason Nagy [bass]—have fashioned an ever-evolving signature style buttressed by layers of sonic hues. They’ve harbored this space since forming in 2005. Speaking to the band’s growing influence, fans voted 2009’s With Roots Above and Branches Below one of the “5 Greatest Metalcore Albums” in a Revolver poll as the outlet christened it “a true metalcore landmark.” The group have notched six consecutive Top 5 debuts on the Billboard Top Hard Rock Albums Chart, including Dead Throne [2011], 8:18 [2013], Space EP [2015], Transit Blues [2016], The Act [2019], and ZII EP [2021]. The latter served as a sequel to one of their most beloved projects 2010’s Zombie EP. Upon arrival, mxdwn applauded ZII as “phenomenal,” and Metal Injection went as far as to claim, “This mini-concept has outlived the zombie revival.” In the wake of the EP, the group exceeded a-quarter-of-a-billion cumulative streams and views. Now, The Devil Wears Prada’s signature dynamic divergence defines the group’s eighth full-length offering, Color Decay [Solid State].
6. Mindforce - New Lords (Poughkeepsie, New York)
Genre: Thrash/Crossover Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2Tl7uZui4u9a3nXUM9VMei?si=uoONlsOdRUqTybwTnatezA
"Mindforce is back, baby! The great Hudson Valley hardcore band never went anywhere. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Mindforce has released the EP Swingin Swords, Choppin Lords and the one-off banger “Reign Of Terror.” They’ve played amazing live shows. They’ve spawned a whole universe of kickass side projects. But they haven’t made another album. Mindforce released their one full-length, the full-on shit-ripper Excalibur, back in 2018. They’ve since made statements about how they never want to make another one, but I guess they changed their minds. In a few months, Mindforce will return with their second LP New Lords, and it is almost certainly going to rip.Mindforce are going into this album as conquering heroes, as one of the most universally beloved bands on the present-day hardcore landscape. But you can’t necessarily hear that swagger on “Survival Is Vengeance,” our first taste of New Lords. Instead, the song is all breathless urgency. “Survival Is Vengeance” goes for full-on thrash speed, and it’s over in less than two minutes. In that time, it does a whole lot of damage. Below, check out “Survival Is Vengeance” and the New Lords tracklist."- TOM BREIHAN from stereogum.com
7. Confessions of a Traitor - Punishing Myself Before God Does (London, United Kingdom)
Genre: Spirit-Filled Metalcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3XxTiLhFGMsWvVfpZ7KlF9?si=5OUimRdQRUOFbNW7PacV2g
Confessions Of A Traitor offer raw emotion through the medium of an energized and confronting sound. Honest and passionate, the band wear their hearts on their sleeves. COAT share this through emotive lyrics that venture to some of the darkest places the band have endured. “We want to provide an escape for people, to embrace their belief when all else is lost. Aggressive music, to build positive people." Heavy melodic music from London, England.
8. Weeping Wound - idontbelonghere. (EP) (Tampa, FL)
Genre: Metalcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6YXj8wWQGAopBQLxF1zjRn?si=wrmhT_gfSdGKxFf-zKcnXQ
Welcome to the Cold Culture ₩//₩
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1. Ozzy Osbourne - Patient Number 9 (Birmingham, United Kingdom)
Genre: Rock Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6ZLTlhejhndI4Rh53vYhrY?si=4bA9nLAcRB2K1JvWuYihcQ
If you need to read a bio to learn about who Ozzy Osbourne is, what rock have you been living under?
2. Parkway Drive - Darker Still (New South Wales, Australia)
Genre: Metalcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/159qqlGwzE04xyqpfAwRLo?si=8zO6ge84R62p5QlBWIqqhw
Darker Still, McCall says, is the vision he and his bandmates – guitarists Jeff Ling and Luke Kilpatrick, bassist Jia O’Connor and drummer Ben Gordon – have held in their mind’s eye since a misfit group of friends first convened in their parents’ basements and backyards in 2003. The journey to reach this moment has seen Parkway evolve from metal underdogs to festival-headlining behemoth, off the back of close to 20 gruelling years, six critically and commercially acclaimed studio albums (all of which achieving Gold status in their home nation), three documentaries, one live album, and many, many thousands of shows.To understand that growth is to understand Darker Still, both musically and thematically. Those who thought they had Parkway Drive figured out – the unrivalled energy, the high-octane breakdowns, McCall’s trademark bark – need reconsider everything they know about Australia’s masters of heavy. Darker Still stands as the culmination of a transformative time that has seen Parkway reach new heights of creativity and success by eschewing the restrictive, safe conventions of genre and abandoning their own self-imposed rules in favour of a wide-eyed appreciation of bold new horizons. This is the Parkway Drive the band have been striving to be for two decades. Emerging from the darkness of the past few years, this is the true face of Parkway: redefined and resolute, focused in mind and defiant in spirit.
3. Holy Fawn - Dimensional Bleed (Phoenix, Arizona)
Genre: Post-Rock / Doomgaze Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/13rS3lCWshTVt6HsCNjvBI?si=0pbYwP4OQ7-Q9smZbhyszA
Four creatures making loud, heavy, pretty noises.
4. The Midnight - Heroes (Los Angeles, California)
Genre: Electronic / Synthwave Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2NFrAuh8RQdQoS7iYFbckw?si=lVfZE3mpQlGH32Te_Hz2Rg
The Midnight consists of Tyler Lyle (a songwriter from the Deep South) and Tim McEwan (a producer from Denmark).
5. END & Cult Leader - Gather & Mourn (Split EP) (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Genre: Hardcore/Punk Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4MnX5gyPiIWEjQzvX54I8p?si=Ytf3iWFEQp6DT68FYeAzCw
END is a collection of musicians from various corners of extreme music, including current and former members of Counterparts, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Fit For An Autopsy, Misery Signals, Shai Hulud, and Reign Supreme. Initially conceived as a passion project by producer/engineer Will Putney, END has quickly built a reputation for their violent and destructive brand of hardcore/grind.
Cult Leader specialize in sludgy but tech-forward metalcore that invokes names like Trap Them, Converge, and Pig Destroyer. Featuring three-quarters of the original Gaza lineup (Casey Hansen, Anthony Lucero, Michael Mason, and Sam Richards)
6. Flogging Molly - Anthem (Los Angeles, California)
Genre: Celtic Punk Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5kQGFREO5FzMBMsAO3cEtj?si=Quh07L7ZSQa_JSEWfRLddg
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.
7. Stray from the Path - Euthanasia (Long Island, New York)
Genre: Metalcore / Hardcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5tGG1slV9pkcydU5eQSIvm?si=TMwsXE5ESKypLS2Mo9rWeA
Stray From The Path have been unleashing their furious blend of hardcore aggression and outspoken socio-political lyricism for over a decade, striving to be the kind of band that can offer an entry point to both heavy music and radical ideas, and achieving an impressive level of longevity in the process. Now their latest album, Euthanasia, finds the NY/UK-based group in significantly darker territory.Rarely offering the listener a chance to catch their breath, Euthanasia rips through track after track of sinister riffs, gut - shaking bass, and powerhouse drumming that defies both reality and the seriousness of Reynold’s injury. Dijorio manages to sound unhinged throughout, while still providing genuine hooks amongst all of the aggression and no-punches-pulled lyrics. Many of the songs seek to shine a spotlight on elements of modern life that have become disturbingly normalized, like the insidiousness of copaganda, the predatory tactics of military recruiters in the United States (Chest Candy), or the unmitigated greed of major corporations. But Euthanasia doesn’t deal exclusively in vitriol. On mid-album standout Bread & Roses, the band teams with vocalist to stretch their creativity in a different direction. "This song was inspired by people, like Jesse, who do mutual aid work and make sacrifices in their own lives for the betterment of their communities," explains Williams.
8. I Am - Eternal Steel (Dallas, Texas)
Genre: Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7dQNPdkq99QGiUIMmRjqur?si=FM--xe_RRSGxP7OrMIbCsw
Texas death unit I AM will release their Eternal Steel full-length September 9th via MNRK Heavy, today unveiling the record’s artwork, track listing, and first single! Brandishing a unique blend of furious thrash and death metal like a weapon of mass destruction, I AM is purely no-nonsense in their patented “Texas Death” assault. Armed with riffs, speed, and overwhelming power, “I AM writes songs that make you want to move” (Decibel Magazine). Across three full-length slabs of bludgeoning intensity and snarling rage, I AM put a Southern stamp and revitalized swagger into deathcore, a subgenre rarely as raw, energized, and diverse as this band. In the spirit of fellow Southern icons Pantera and newer Texan heroes Power Trip, I AM channels discontent and anger into empowering anthems, as likely to inspire a grueling workout as to incite the pit. Reminiscent of the combination of death metal heaviness and thrash metal speed found in the early catalog of Sepultura, I AM mines the heaviness of Morbid Angel and the dexterity of the Big 4 to create something groundbreaking of their own. Vocalist Andrew Hileman — who started the band in 2011– guitarists Tom Reyes and Chris Burgess, bassist Erik Rodriguez, and drummer Brandon Busa deliver their Texas Death in clubs, theaters, and festivals, with bands like The Acacia Strain and Kublai Khan. Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Randy Leboeuf & EQ
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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. Prairie Pavement - Red Flags Last Forever (Buffalo, New York)
Genre: Indie Rock Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7KGjlZ72pkBXig9toJFqF6?si=y_jPlIE5T9aAdkNsv2vATQ
Prairie Pavement is an indie group from Buffalo New York formed by 4 high school friends in early 2021. Starting out as an act for their school’s art festival, Prairie Pavement quickly became the main artistic focus for guitarists, vocalists, and songwriters Sal Constantin (of ) and Jack Chadwick (of ), as well as bass player and writer Eli Gebera, and drummer Dylan (Sticky) Lumb. The band now presents their second full length LP titled “Red Flags Last Forever”. Recorded, mixed, and mastered by close friend Brandon Schmitt, and produced by everyone involved. Most notable for its intense switches in genre, brutal honesty, and topics consisting of unpopular opinions on the lifestyles of young people that surround all of the writers in the group.
2. Oceans Ate Alaska - Disparity (Birmingham, United Kingdom)
Genre: Metalcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/48zUWAXpgEXfpttz23pCNQ?si=JFqvvqcNS9CpP2YPOj8dmQ
Oceans Ate Alaska are a British metalcore band hailing from Birmingham formed in 2010. The band are currently signed to Fearless Records and are known for "uniting boundaries between multiple genres in modern metal" and for "fusing unpredictable polyrhythms and sporadic partnering of melodic and dissonant passages". Original vocalist, James Harrison came up with the band name; naming it after the 1950 Lituya Bay tsunami that swallowed one of Alaska’s gulfs.
3. YUNGBLUD - S/T (Doncaster, United Kingdom)
Genre: Pop/Rock Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6Ad91Jof8Niiw0lGLLi3NW?si=6ttLtOvATgCwBpf7JPfAfQ
Emerging from the gritty north of England, YUNGBLUD brings an explosion of raw energy and thought-provoking lyrics. He has created his own blend of alternative rock: poetry, guitar-hooks and break-beats with a fierce determination to make a dent in pop-culture. Dangerously sexy, startlingly bold yet emotionally grounded YUNGBLUD drops a grenade on his audience members imprinting himself in their minds.
4. The Front Bottoms - Theresa (Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey)
Genre: Indie Rock Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5ictveRyhWRs8Gt8Dvt1hS?si=BrzXy0NaSoOm8iypDV8Vsg
The Front Bottoms are an indie rock duo from New Jersey whose music is a wildly eclectic blend of pop, rock, and punk influences accompanied by witty lyrics that offer a rapid-fire, slightly surreal perspective on the world around them.
5. The Callous Daoboys - Celebrity Therapist (Atlanta, Georgia)
Genre: Chaotic Hardcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4ZWRLOs7c4drt9mKGc0Ds0?si=cmE5hFhzTSS-koxvDPaSqQ
The recklessly free-spirited collective from Atlanta, Georgia, revels in high-strung extremity, music that’s somehow dense, impenetrable, and chaotic yet confusingly inviting. An undeniable life-affirming glee is palpable as each song deliriously swerves across stylistic lines. The Callous Daoboys come from the school of The Dillinger Escape Plan, Every Time I Die, and The Chariot, with a heightened degree of theatricality as one of the methods to their madness. Think Panic! At The Disco and Fall Out Boy getting slapped around good-naturedly by Glassjaw. Celebrity Therapist even indulges in a bit of drone and avant-garde post-rock a la Sigor Rós and Radiohead.
6. Miss May I - Curse of Existence (Troy, Ohio)
Genre: Metalcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2OTuoIi28WybVbVcykc237?si=teezeLInRxC9fujGyd9reQ
The sound and fury of MISS MAY I is deeply embedded in the hearts and minds of a legion of fans. These are people from different backgrounds, of different ages, with diverse life experience, who all come together and connect with MISS MAY I’s combination of brutal proficiency and impassioned delivery. The five-piece powerhouse, from the fertile metalcore grounds of America’s heartland, have become an integral part of the worldwide heavy music community, transcending boundaries and limitations, galvanizing crowds, and energizing each person they encounter.
Miss May I celebrates a decade of savage metalcore and soaring melodic refrains, newly revitalized, and poised for an insurgent career renaissance; armed with unmistakable power, road hardened experience, a steadily building catalog, and unrelenting spirit, supported by a diehard community.
7. 156/Silence - Narrative (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
Genre: Hardcore/Metalcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2qXHYRTtZytxMMfO9pW1V9?si=_Y916dGNQNanhD80JNvgWQ
A soundtrack for those whose story and struggles are seldom reflected in the glossy pages of life’s shining field guide for success, 156/Silence’s impassioned soliloquy stands apart, skirting the shallow pool of false pleasantries and descending deeper into the ominous yet hauntingly beautiful ruminations of a frustrated conscience.
8. State of You - S/T (EP) (United Kingdom)
Genre: Rock N Roll Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/18YRYVKCQ6myVzKnTZIjXE?si=SnSF2PffTk6ofTbHVKTNig
State of You began to come together at the tail end of 2019. The band is comprised of ex-members of Polar, Hildamay, Outcry Collective and Seasonal. Ollie Jeffs and Max O'Neil on guitars, Nick Jones on drums, Rick Keenan on bass and Steve Sitkowski on vocals. With a shared desire to write straight up rock 'n' roll songs to expel personal demons and take aim at world problems, they found an instant chemistry. After a handful of practices together, the pandemic hit. Instead of grinding to a halt, the band kept their momentum going by sending ideas to each other online and discussing them whilst simultaneously playing Call of Duty. Being crowned the winning team of a Warzone match was a highlight that shall never be forgotten. Picking through over 40 song ideas, the band settled on recording one (Run) with Oz Craggs (Feed the Rhino) at Hidden Track Studios in Folkestone. Proper Covid-19 rules were adhered to at all times. The recording attracted the attention of investor Andy Hillier which then allowed a full EP to be recorded and a video shot by Aaran McKensie from While She Sleeps in Birmingham. Aaran then recommended the band to the record label Silent Cult who signed them instantly. Currently honing their live game as often as they can, State of You are looking forward to smashing the shit out of every stage they get on. Welcoming people from all walks of life to join them on this adventure.
9. Illuminate Me - Dying on a Hill That Nobody Remembers (EP) (Tampa, Florida)
Genre: Chaotic Hardcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6RDYMULyM7hhso4NEjExJ5?si=sCDC63kkQsKPgjH5ZeE0sw
“If you lived in the Southeast (especially Florida) in the last 10 years or so, you may be familiar with a chaotic hardcore/metalcore band known as Illuminate Me. Signed to Tragic Hero Records after gaining a sizable fanbase in their home area, the band ultimately disbanded due to a complete lack of support from their label.
Considering the band arrived at a time where bands in their genre were getting signed to labels and experiencing success, they’re a band that, at least in our opinion, should have “made it”. Now, they’ve reformed and are getting a second chance. Fans of bands like The Chariot will want to give one a spin for sure, and the song also features Oshie Bichar of Beartooth.
About the new song, vocalist Christopher Murray had this to share:
“I believe this band has immense potential that was squandered by a label that did not care about us and destroyed the band’s motivation and passion. I toiled for years at the thought that I was just not good enough. This return is about me proving myself, and the ones that did put the band in that position, ultimately wrong. This is about revenge. Your anger is a gift, don’t waste it. Let it illuminate.”
The new song is also off Illuminate Me’s upcoming EP, Dying On A Hill That Nobody Remembers. The EP also features a guest spot from Aaron Heard of Jesus Piece, so you know it’s gonna be vicious. It’s out at the end of this month.”
- New Fury Media
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1. Frog Mallet - S/T (EP) (Boston, Massachusetts)
Genre: Bullfrog Beatdown Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3MX0KcRjEAzsLK5mtx8bie?si=JKoZaC5CSxCm0oMFGkj7Cg
Ribbit
2. Mothica - Nocturnal (lofi beats to fall asleep to) (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
Genre: Lo-Fi Music: https://open.spotify.com/album/6k41xqUY8JEazYP4qRnKao?si=_6iGjomvQCWL73d_vjK8yg
Growing up in Oklahoma, MOTHICA found openly talking about mental health struggles to be taboo and looked to the internet for a sense of community. Though MOTHICA has been writing music since she was a kid, she did not begin pursuing music until she was 18, producing and releasing her songs independently online. Embarking on a journey of self-expression and exploration through music, MOTHICA has since released a handful of EPs, countless singles, and her 2020 debut record Blue Hour, which charted No. 3 in the US on iTunes the week of its release.
Making catchy alt-pop about difficult subject matters, MOTHICA has racked up 200M global streams and has collaborated with artists like nothing,nowhere., Royal & the Serpent, and MEMBA. She has built a passionate fanbase that connects with her openness on past traumas, battle with depression, and sobriety. MOTHICA seeks to challenge stigmas surrounding mental health with her inspiring message, using music as an outlet to depict a shared experience that anyone could relate to.
3. Julia Jacklin - PRE PLEASURE (Sydney, Australia)
Genre: Indie/Pop/Rock/Folk Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/12fRkVfO2fUsz1QHgDAG3g?si=xRhEI20HSTqagBQQ19zBHA
Since releasing her debut album Don’t Let the Kids Win in 2016, Melbourne’s Julia Jacklin has carved out a fearsome reputation as a direct lyricist, willing to excavate the parameters of intimacy and agency in songs both stark and raw, loose, and playful. If her debut announced those intentions, and the startling 2019 follow-up Crushing drew in listeners uncomfortably close, PRE PLEASURE is the sound of Jacklin gently loosening her grip. Stirring piano-led opener ‘Lydia Wears A Cross’ channels the underage confusion of being told religion is profound, despite only feeling it during the spectacle of its pageantry. The gentle pulse of ‘Love, Try Not To Let Go’ and dreamy strings of ‘Ignore Tenderness’ betray an interrogation of consent and emotional injury. The stark ‘Less Of A Stranger’ picks at the generational thread of a mother/daughter relationship, while the hymnal ‘Too In Love To Die’ and loose jam of ‘Be Careful With Yourself’ equate true love with the fear of losing it. Recorded in Montreal with co-producer Marcus Paquin (The Weather Station, The National), PRE PLEASURE finds Jacklin teamed with her Canada-based touring band, bassist Ben Whiteley, guitarist Will Kidman, and drummer Laurie Torres. PRE PLEASURE presents Jacklin as her most authentic self; an uncompromising and masterful lyricist, always willing to mine the depths of her own life experience, and singular in translating it into deeply personal, timeless songs.
4. Teen Suicide - honeybee table at the butterfly feast (Baltimore, Maryland)
Genre: Indie/Rock Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2cAvReLDmjFQtCJFDJbHBU?si=syWg0jPOSwm8YZGnYr-k8Q 
5. Pianos Become The Teeth - Drift (Baltimore, Maryland)
Genre: Indie/Rock Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5gbwngeG3dwS4ARmtgud9C?si=GKemy5PoSY2-UuR6PdUAHA
The opening couplet on Pianos Become The Teeth’s fifth full-length album Drift is as captivating as it is haunting, a statement which can also be said of the album as a whole. “For me, this record feels like one long night,” frontman Kyle Durfey explains. “Out Of Sight'' parallels that feeling musically via layered vocals, atmospheric instrumentation and percussion accents that sound like a crackling fire before the song carefully crescendos into a hypnotic blend of distorted bass and melodic guitar line that’s strangely satisfying and completely unexpected. But Pianos Become The Teeth have never been the type of act to follow conventions. The Baltimore, D.C., five-piece—which also features guitarists Mike York and Chad McDonald, bassist Zac Sewell and drummer David Haik—originally started out as a screamo band and gained an enthusiastic fanbase via 2009’s Old Pride and 2011’s The Lack Long After. However shortly afterward Durfey stopped screaming and the band transitioned into a post-rock act who expanded their sound on 2014’s Keep You and 2018’s Wait For Love. Drift is the culmination of the band’s penchant for redefining and transcending their sound and it does so in a way that stays true to their artistic and aesthetic vision.
6. Have Mercy - S/T (Baltimore, Maryland)
Genre: Indie/Rock Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2UvzehEVGcYTPKNwJSZ2kM?si=18YoIhVkRqm8sjBqk2a4dQ
Baltimore emo band Have Mercy had initially said that their 2020 tour -- which followed the death of founding drummer Aaron Alt -- would be their last, but COVID cut that tour short, and a lot changed for frontman Brian Swindle over the past couple years. He got sober, got engaged, and started writing new material, and he eventually decided to reunite Have Mercy's mid 2010s lineup -- Brian, guitarist Andrew Johnson, bassist Nick Woolford, and drummer Todd Wallace.
7. Becoming The Archetype - Children of the Great Extinction (Atlanta, Georgia)
Genre: Progressive/Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2lt0aSPzPngGw8KsfLYRyF?si=Zq28OBJeS_CL3F1KXTcLzA
10 years since their last release, Becoming The Archetype realize their most expansive, entrancing, and engaging vision yet on their sixth full-length offering, Children of the Great Extinction [Solid State Records]. The core trio—Jason Wisdom [vocals/bass], Seth Hecox [guitar/keyboard/vocals], and Brent “Duck” Duckett [drums]—focus their intensity into a cinematic trip bolstered by soaring clean vocals, technically proficient instrumentation, and a fascinating sci-fi concept. In 2005, Becoming The Archetype landed with the force of a tsunami on Terminate Damnation. Presenting an inimitable hybrid of tech, death, and progressive metal underpinned by deep themes, they captivated fans with The Physics of Fire in 2007. For Dichotomy a year later, they teamed up with the legendary Devin Townsend [Strapping Young Lad] behind-the-board as producer and served up anthems like the title track featuring Ryan Clark of Demon Hunter. Along the way, they packed shows touring with legendary bands like Parkway Drive, August Burns Red, Demon Hunter, Zao, The Chariot, and more. In 2011 the band partnered with producer Matt Goldman (Underoath, The Chariot) to unleash their most progressive album, Celestial Completion—the last album to feature Jason and “Duck”—until now. After building a devout fan base through a series of seminal records, they fulfill their potential at the highest level with a blockbuster story now on Children of the Great Extinction.
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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. Holding Absence & Alpha Wolf - The Lost & The Longing (Split EP)
Genre: Metalcore & Rock Music: https://open.spotify.com/album/7ixPK6qVgw0AMX3OsFf2eW?si=cwiA4_yCSba5-cdFgZVxHw
"Holding Absence and Alpha Wolf have just released a new collaborative split EP called 'The Lost & The Longing'.
As much a celebration of each band's music as it is a celebration of the strength and state of the scene at the moment, both bands coming out swinging with some of the most bruising, vital, ethereal and huge material to date, as well as allowing the other to encourage further exploration and innovation along the way.
It's a benchmark in its own right for not just the bands involved but for all of their peers, and shows just how exciting the future is set to be." - JACK ROGERS at Rocksound.tv
2. Sun Is Poison - Dark Cloud Unhand Me (Ballston Spa, New York)
Genre: Indie/Rock/Folk Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6z8QxGgkqFIkubQA3rCjZt?si=fTlQ3WGtSXqV7t8WLXDEFg
Bedroom Project
3. Russian Circles - Gnosis (Chicago, Illinois)
Genre: Instrumental/Atmospheric/Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0AZ3VR0YbFcS0Kgei7L2QF?si=VW-7XDXySUmv_6h6HI_itw
Russian Circles is an American instrumental band based in Chicago, Illinois. The band was originally formed by childhood friends Mike Sullivan and Dave Turncrantz after their previous musical projects dissolved. After parting ways with their original bass player Colin DeKuiper in 2007, the trio was rounded out by Brian Cook. The band has gained widespread recognition based on a series of critically acclaimed albums and extensive international touring. Their name is taken from a drill exercise used in ice hockey, a sport Sullivan and Turncrantz grew up playing in their original hometown of St. Louis.
4. The Chats - Get Fucked (Queensland, Australia)
Genre: Punk Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1aQ7P3HtKOQFW16ebjiks1?si=a1fVrkvhQ-OQE1jL2_gkyQ
The Chats are a pub-punk shed-rock band from Queensland, Australia. They began playing together in high school, releasing their debut self titled EP a month away from graduating. About nine months out of high school, The Chats went back into the studio to record their follow up EP, "Get This In Ya". The second EP sat online for half a year until the band had a viral hit with the music video for their song "Smoko", which racked in millions of views on Youtube in a couple of days. Since then, The Chats have become notorious for their loud and chaotic live shows and their zero fucks attitude. The Chats have sold out shows in Australia, New Zealand, England, Scotland, and Europe. They've toured with Australian punk legends Cosmic Psychos, US rock heavyweights Queens of the Stone Age, and fellow pisswrecks Pist Idiots. With a debut album in the works, as well as national and international tours, The Chats aren't showing any signs of slowing down soon.
5. Orthodox - Learning to Dissolve (Nashville, Tennessee)
Genre: Hardcore/Metalcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0DkKBTgWxBnvYsOXDaoTVP?si=ATBFMdSPTD-250IR7Rfmew 
6. Spite - Dedication To Flesh (Kalamazoo, Michigan)
Genre: Deathcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2DynE7m1BMVl4hQMvCXXq0?si=MHA1hBmwRTKaZXt4aFqKqA
SPITE CULT
7. Hive - Spiritual Poverty (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
Genre: Punk/Hardcore/Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3Z5NPiT8J9qO4efnCzMQCM?si=pymwMRqaT5mLXRPmXKkCrg
Minneapolis’ HIVE have no doubts about who they are or what they want to do. Featuring members of veteran hardcore bands such as BOSNIA and DISEMBODIED, the constituent parts of this four-piece had all been around the block a few times before they settled on this project’s largely singular vision of destruction back in 2014. Helping themselves to overlapping dollops of D-beat, crust and hardcore, their methods may be somewhat familiar, but they’re also thoroughly effective. Their latest effort, Spiritual Poverty, is out this Friday via the invariably consistent Translation Loss Records. True to form, it’s a razor sharp offering that proudly flies the flag for the legendary Twin Cities scene.
With the band clearly uninterested in reinventing the wheel, Spiritual Poverty mostly gets by on fury alone. Early impressions of the record are essentially a whirlwind of blistering D-beats, crunchy riffs, squealing guitars and invariably pissed vocals. It hits the ground running with opener With Roots In Hell, the band doing away with any kind of ominous intro or slow-build and instead launching arguably far more impactfully into a scuzz-caked rager. Second track So It Is Done only ups the ante from there, again avoiding any particular frills or fancies in favour of a feral exploration of “the relationship between master and slave in the American political system”. By its end, you should already have a good idea of what to expect from the record to follow, and it doesn’t disappoint from there. - Ellis Heasley at distortedsoundmag
8. Morbid Evils - Supernaturals (Turku, Finland)
Genre: Doom Metal/Death Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/30xCXjo1sNV0694Mya7QCm?si=s7bbkAZoTiWJ1MMyiyhCdQ
"Back in 2014, Finnish funeral sludge project Morbid Evils emerged with their first song. Founded by Keijo Niinimaa, it’s a wildly different beast than Niinimaa’s grinding output with Rotten Sound. During their 8 year tenure, Morbid Evils have displayed influences from old school death metal, crust, and the most misanthropic forms of doom. Five years since the release of Deceases, the band prepares to unleash their third LP. Supernaturals is an impenetrably heavy ode to misery with the band’s most sinister compositions to date. Decibel Magazine is psyched to exclusively share the record ahead of the album’s August 19th release from Transcending Obscurity Records.
Composed of four lengthy tracks spanning forty minutes, Supernaturals is an uncompromising journey through wastelands of the human psyche. An undercurrent of old school death carries “Fearless” to stomping segues between monolithic riffs. Dark psychedelia swirls into the bloodstream of “Anxious.” Like countrymen Hooded Menace, Morbid Evils imbue their sound with splashes of melody (“Tormented”) in the form of eerie and emotive guitar leads from Tuomas Varila. The final track is a churning nightmare of down-tuned death and caustic sludge that shapeshifts tempos across its eleven minute reign of terror. The result is a record that matches the hellish smudges of the album’s cover art by Dawid Figielek. It’s a dense and gnarled album that offers no sanctuary and no reprieve." - Sean Frasier at Decibel Magazine
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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. Thee Oh Sees - A Foul Form (San Francisco, California)
Genre: Indie/ Garage/ Punk Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3qYfqdVwX0fil71onLpLkh?si=exAHSHZ6ReeV8UpW7q_vRw
Oh Sees (formerly ‘Thee Oh Sees’) are a band from San Francisco, California, USA. The group began as an outlet for John Dwyer to release his instrumental, experimental home recordings, and over the course of several albums evolved into a full band. The band is noted for both its prolific album releases, energetic live shows, and their whimsical visual aesthetic that juxtaposes cartoon imagery and horror. The band has changed its name several times, being known as Orinoka Crash Suite, OCS, Orange County Sound, and The Ohsees. Some say John Dwyer (of Coachwhips, Pink & Brown, OCS, Landed, Yikes, Burmese, The Hospitals, Sword & Sandals, Superpit, The Drums, The Trawgs, Zeigenbock Kopf and Dig That Body Up It’s Alive!) is in Thee Oh Sees and he seems to be making this band the most serious project. He’s done everything from noise to death metal to punk and now Thee Oh Sees. Thee Oh Sees are no doubt the lightest of his excursions, but in contrast to the rest of his resume one could surmise that there are significant reasons for the change.Thee Oh Sees have a lo-fi electric-acoustic sound that’s usually soaked in reverb, making it as if you can hear and see the exact room they recorded in. It creates a very distinct mood that seems to fit their style, lyrics, and melodies.
What most people focus on is that Mr. Dwyer is in the band. While it’s certainly a notable quality, the recent band members bring so much more to the table. The earliest recordings are Dwyer’s solo recordings, mostly single instrument/vocal ditties that you can hear him working out. They’re an intimate portrait of John, but without the recent material, the portrait would simply be incomplete.Thee Oh Sees don’t subscribe to any one style. With the addition of Brigid Dawson, Petey Dammit, and a rotating cast of drummers, the sound has grown into the landscape that one man couldn’t create alone. Brigid’s soprano voice brings an almost hauntingly sensitive aspect to the lyrics and melodies, while Petey and Mike’s pounding and insistent backline (and additional drums from Lars Finberg of The Intelligence on recent recordings) complete the frame in its entirety. Their energetic, sweat-laden shows coupled with their prolific recording schedule has garnered them a growing, dedicated fan base.
The catalog that this band has put together is growing and growing, albeit under several different monikers, and several different labels
2. Tobe Nwigwe - moMINTs (Houston, Texas)
Genre: Hip-Hop Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3Qh89pgJeZq6d8uM1bTot3?si=s050qXEVReC57CPnOjBtKg
Tobe Nwigwe is an enigma. The lyrics and tone of his music tell the story of a difficult upbringing in Alief, TX. Like other rappers who grew up in the proverbial hood, Tobe’s autobiographical tracks conjure images of gang violence, drug deals, pimps and prostitution. The authenticity in his work is palpable. Still, the man is a beacon of positivity and graciousness. The same songs that describe shootouts and the loss of childhood friends also speak on the power of faith and the importance of purpose. Tobe has a singular goal in life: “to make purpose popular.” The first-generation-Nigerian kid from Alief (Houston, TX) who had a scholarship to play college ball and dreams of playing in the NFL, saw those dreams dashed by a career-ending foot injury his senior year. In his despair, he turned to his faith and found a new calling; he would teach others to “move through purpose.” Long before he ever put pen to paper and called himself a rapper, Tobe was speaking to rooms full of students through his self-started nonprofit foundation, TEAM GINI, educating them on the merits of a purpose-driven existence. Through tremendous consistency and execution, Tobe has attracted fans across the globe, including culture heavy-weights: Erykah Badu, Sway Calloway and Dave Chappelle.
3. Shuriken Cadaveric Entwinement - Constructing the Cataclysm (Gastonia, North Carolina)
Genre: Death metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7M4RGtLFp4kHV69ut36PKt?si=6UnWzKyQRDSkEea9UmqQpw
SCE is a brutal death metal band from North Carolina,US.The band is side project of Jay Barnes and Jordan Varela from 'Lust of Decay'.
4. Pale Waves - Unwanted (Manchester, United Kingdom)
Genre: Pop-punk Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0wOej91SVqB1zcYkW6xUtA?si=nZ39gwkMSImwdv14yMiceg
Pale Waves are a four-piece band from Manchester made up of Heather Baron-Gracie, Ciara Doran, Hugo Silvani & Charlie Wood.
Their third studio album is a bold statement of reclamation – from the lyrics to the title itself. Unwanted reaches out into the community of misfits and LGBTQI fans, tapping into darker emotions than ever before while striking a fresh tone of defiance. Since their 2018 debut My Mind Makes Noises, the band has grown to embrace their queerness, with lead singer Heather Baron-Gracie writing more directly about her relationships with women. Meanwhile, drummer Ciára Doran has been posting updates about their transition over the last year, from starting testosterone to recovering from top surgery. These experiences have shaped Pale Waves’ music over the last few years, but they jump to the fore on Unwanted. Unwanted is 13 tracks of classic pop punk with an edge. Think Sum-41 by way of Veruca Salt; all the crunchy guitars and rhythmic drive of a 2000s pop punk classic with the rage of a 90s rock band. At the time of writing, Baron-Gracie was listening to a lot of Garbage, Paramore, Metric, Sky Ferreira and Blondie – artists that fed into her desire to pull Pale Waves out of the indie and synth-pop world they started out in, and towards a harder, more alternative sound. “Unwanted is in your face, and that's exactly what I wanted,” Baron-Gracie says resolutely. “I want Pale Waves to keep growing in this direction. Bigger, bolder, and more unapologetic.”
5. Norma Jean - Deathrattle Sing For Me (Douglasville, Georgia)
Genre: Metalcore/ Post-Hardcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/55b0Gfm53udtGBs8mmNXrH?si=9icdPj54QjG-q-3LwRaYDg
Norma Jean is an American progressive heavy rock band, originally from Atlanta, Georgia and currently based in Fort Smith, Arkansas. After nearly 20 years, the band identifies more as an artistic collective than a traditional band. To date, Norma Jean has released nine studio albums and received a Grammy Award nomination in 2006.
6. Of Virtue - Sinner EP (Lansing, Michigan)
Genre: Metalcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4GnK2zRFtw1gBoiFORWHsA?si=diURGQAJSIi7OVyKr9Styw
Progression, or more generally, change, is a constant in music; in order to adapt and survive, you must grow and develop - and no band knows that more than Lansing, MI metal act Of Virtue. What began as a humble, promising metalcore act born from the blisteringly chill and barren fields of the Midwest has erupted into an internationally recognized and critically acclaimed alternative powerhouse. From reaching #28 on Billboard’s Current Hard Music charts to performing in over 30 countries across three continents, to accruing over a staggering 6.5 million plus streams on Spotify alone for their previous record “What Defines You” - Of Virtue’s growth is nothing short of jaw dropping. The band combines an eclectic taste of the melodic, catchy and ethereal with a foundation in heavy music and a penchant for punishing breakdowns and immolating riffs. All of this mixed in one helps define Of Virtue as a multifaceted, diverse, and engaging act that create something for just about any fan to fall in love with.Their brand new EP "Sinner" is out now via Arising Empire! Of Virtue is: Tyler Ennis - Vocals Damon Tate - Guitar / Vocals Michael Valadez - Guitar Ryan Trinh - Drums
7. Heart Of Gold - Beautiful Dangerous (United Kingdom)
Genre: Dreampop Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4hqo1pdNrZHfPmSmTtMvUZ?si=7ioxhkv3R-uHxhj8WjlRkA
Singer / songwriter michael mcgough is known for his work in rock-band being as an ocean as vocalist and guitarist, and now his latest project heart of gold. drawing influence more from ‘situations involving specific people and places’ he has captured a distinct sound not unlike that of mid-late 1980’s / early 90s pop. ‘i grew up between two households’ says michael. 'my mother brought in this incredible range of pop/rnb to my life. i’ve always been so drawn to dominant vocals in a song, accompanied by just the right chord progression that really makes you feel something. michael jackson, whitney houston and lisa stansfield in particular were the leaders of that. thats what i wanted to do. however, my fathers house was always filled with rock and roll music. the smiths, queen, thin lizzy and led zeppelin just to name a few. that brought in a wider range of inspiration of vocal ranges, and how the voice can really work when accompanying the right music
8. Been Stellar - S/T (Manhattan, New York)
Genre: Indie/ Rock Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3ep1YmatQ8L9UKCGYiJNBh?si=u__cLCp6Tqu4oTJ3UIh8rw
Been Stellar is what you get when you leave the youth alone in a metropolis; they grow up. They make noise. Their songs are formed and lived somewhere on Broadway, on Hester, on 34th, in Union Square, on the bridge, in the gutter, and under your shoe. The trivial street scenes lipsticked by well-loved decades are fully recognized in Been Stellar’s hail of guitar tones and insistent lyrical earnesty. Crackly, bright and distorted - stories of violence, love, and a new, un-glamorous, New York City. Hailing from metro-Detroit, the beaches of Los Angeles, and Brazil by way of Sydney, Nando Dale (guitar), Laila Wayans (drums), Sam Slocum (vocals), Nico Brunstein (bass) and Skyler St. Marx (guitar) have positioned themselves at the glimmering rotten center of tonight’s rock and roll. Each member so distinctly themselves, it must be assumed that such a diverse and unlikely gang were drawn tight together in their first year of university by nothing short of serendipitous fortune and a shared, waggish sense of humor. They are a band of friends - sharing, crying, fighting, and kissing- wreaking havoc together and laughing like how only the jaunty youth can afford to. Been Stellar’s arrangements come textured, swooping - pushing past you at a downtown pace and off to find a better night. The songs are of their own time and space, offering a New York City - Been Stellar’s New York City - the sounds of growing up young.
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1. Odium Rot - S/T (Tampa, Fl)
Genre: Death Metal/ Deathcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5eCyfRSpV8FRW6I7KZ8yT7?si=lKv7lIbZRFy8FF2GPF9A9w
AEP band Odium Rot is a up and coming 5-Piece Death-core act representing Tampa, Florida. Known for their harsh subject matter, hellacious speed, bone slamming breakdowns and unconventional chaotic riffs, they’ve built an underground following by playing a handful of shows throughout 2021 and releasing their debut EP In August 2022.
2. Epilogue - Hounds (Single) (Tampa, FL)
Genre: Deathcore/Metalcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4TupkdT5xdlHt1FWD4K3nF?si=J0A_7yIiRwGR2Im9HMRWSA 
3. Pintglass - Blood, Sweat, and Stella (Guildford, United Kingdom)
Genre: Beatdown/Hardcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6b6QVdUlocAllySCrU4gQs?si=vrHnHkIjSn2wFj3_vekLXQ
01483 COMING FOR YOUR TEETH YOU SOPPY MUG. GU4 BLOKE CULT. PINTGLASS FROM THE GAFF TO THE CAF', THE ONE AND ONLY GEEZACORE DIVISION.
4. Silent Planet - :Signal: (Single) (Azusa, California)
Genre: Metalcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0JGTiwfinlCuANGu4Gq2XU?si=9adrUZABQmKtv0YJwVqzsg
All creativity is a dialogue. Every song, painting, innovation, poem - is just the latest statement in a conversation that is as old as human civilization. And Silent Planet intends to add to this dialogue. Weaving together topics that range from historical injustice to the existential despair of modern life, Silent Planet has a message that burns with a hardcore indignation, while coupled with progressive instrumentation. Since the their inception in 2009, Silent Planet has never looked for handouts. Initially the band slowly gained traction playing local venues throughout California, subsequently expanding to DIY touring throughout the States. The band first gained prominence due to their vast array of intellectual influences, anchored by Russell’s masters degree in psychology and field experience as a mental health therapist. However, it is their remarkably intimate connection with their listeners (who they often refer to as “Lovers”, eschewing the term “fans”) that has become their trademark in the music scene. Perhaps no single event better speaks to their grassroots base than their surprise, underdog victory of “Underground Band of the Year” at the 2017 APMA awards. Hope doesn’t have to be an abstract concept. It can be an embodied reality.” Perhaps the band’s message is best summed up in their own words: “Trade your certainty for awe.”
5. I AM - Surrender To the Blade (Dallas, Texas)
Genre: Death Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7dQNPdkq99QGiUIMmRjqur?si=DV4kMeXxS9e1aLfRpbhbiw
Texas death unit I AM will release their Eternal Steel full-length September 9th via MNRK Heavy. Brandishing a unique blend of furious thrash and death metal like a weapon of mass destruction, I AM is purely no-nonsense in their patented “Texas Death” assault. Armed with riffs, speed, and overwhelming power, “I AM writes songs that make you want to move” (Decibel Magazine). Across three full-length slabs of bludgeoning intensity and snarling rage, I AM put a Southern stamp and revitalized swagger into deathcore, a subgenre rarely as raw, energized, and diverse as this band. In the spirit of fellow Southern icons Pantera and newer Texan heroes Power Trip, I AM channels discontent and anger into empowering anthems, as likely to inspire a grueling workout as to incite the pit. Reminiscent of the combination of death metal heaviness and thrash metal speed found in the early catalog of Sepultura, I AM mines the heaviness of Morbid Angel and the dexterity of the Big 4 to create something groundbreaking of their own. Vocalist Andrew Hileman — who started the band in 2011– guitarists Tom Reyes and Chris Burgess, bassist Erik Rodriguez, and drummer Brandon Busa deliver their Texas Death in clubs, theaters, and festivals, with bands like The Acacia Strain and Kublai Khan. Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Randy Leboeuf & EQ.
6. Amon Amarth - The Great Heathen Army (Tumba, Sweden)
Genre: Melodic Death Metal/Viking Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3pulcT2wt7FEG10lQlqDJL?si=U6QylX9iQAmyzGViZ3C60A
Amon Amarth is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Tumba, formed in 1992. The band takes its name from the Sindarin name of Mount Doom, a volcano in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. Their lyrics mostly deal with Viking mythology and history, and so they have been sometimes erroneously labeled "Viking metal", although the band insists they play melodic death metal.
7. Psycroptic - Divine Council (Hobart, Tasmania, Australia)
Genre: Death Metal/ Black Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2O8ZayBAqBqoXujSAAx7pm?si=k-QVJb3bR32e0nwn3mRjyg
Hailing from the tiny, frosty, untamed and detached Australian state that is Tasmania, Psycroptic have become an unparalleled act in an enigmatic world wide movement commonly known as death metal. Many years have passed since their formation in 1999, the band having released 6 albums all which show an organic progression along a clandestine path from which they will never stray. Newer elements too can be expected when the new album is finally unleashed - more vocal variation, a heightened handle on instrumental melody, and an overwhelming sense that this act has truly mastered their craft.
8. Kal Marks - My Name Is Hell (Boston, Massachusetts)
Genre: Indie/Rock Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1Yv0Obn2mIOsryAqqXHP89?si=9RkzyvgvQiu3NLOIW7ZGAw
Considered veterans of the Boston DIY scene, Kal Marks has been going for over a decade, constantly pushing themselves and growing along the way. Their tireless work ethic keeps them out on the road, throughout the US and most recently their first tour of Europe and the UK. While many bands settle into a comfortable place, Kal Marks take pride in expanding their sound, contorting and reshaping the formula with every album they’ve released. They’ve challenged their audience over the years and its been met with adoration and critical acclaim from outlets like NPR, Pitchfork, Fader, and Stereogum. Known for being one of the loudest and heaviest “indie rock” bands out there, they’ve shared bills with Big Business, Black Midi, The Messthetics, METZ, True Widow, and more. Their explosive live show is built on feedback and cathartic aggression, an outlet to exorcise the weight of the world around us.
9. Demon Hunter - Heaven Don't Cry (Single) (Seattle, Washington)
Genre: Metalcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6f3a43i1MJZwdjEpV1M0oH?si=HDlLVr7lQEmQoR3zcTnS4A
Demon Hunter is an American metal institution. The band embraces brazenly transcendent melodies, without apology, while maintaining a defiant heaviness reminiscent of the most timeless of metal music. For two decades, Demon Hunter has weathered the changing tides of rock subculture, proving ever resistant to trends, and ever resilient, making music as determined and resolute as the men within the band.Demon Hunter’s body of work is born from unwavering commitment, uncompromising creative determination, and stark recognition of the reality of an often-cold world, tempered in defiant hope. It’s made up of smartly constructed, confessional lyrics; heady and catchy melody; monster riffs; bottom heavy grooves; the collision of meticulous production and urgent raw power; bold imagery and bolder themes.The band's eleventh studio album, EXILE, is available everywhere on September 9, 2022.
10. Royal Hearts - Second & Sebring (OM&M Cover) (Fort Lauderdale, Florida)
Genre: Metalcore/ Post Hardcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5KUxUfHcwed6mQR9y0epiH?si=wYBwKEqRROymZs4m5iA9hg
“I spent the best years of my life, trying to fit in a thousand times,” Ryan Camuto. If there is a more relatable statement for thousands out there, Royal Hearts has yet to say it. Three years in the making, this emotive metalcore band has tied themselves to the idea of emotional honesty, combining personal lyricism with intense, melodic music. Nelson Tran (Bass), Ryan Camuto (Vocals), Michael Summers (Drums) Taking cues from formative core acts like The Ghost Inside, Silverstein, Counterparts and a litany of Hot Topic dominating mainstays, Royal Hearts defines themselves with the idea of being relatable but refreshing. Combining nostalgic riffs and breakdowns with a dual vocal approach (from vocalist Ryan and drummer Michael Summers) and high energy performances, AEP band Royal Hearts is keen on taking the very best of their influences and blending them together to peak nostalgia while offering a new shade of core music. Since their inception they have self released a ritual of 4 singles and in late 2020, their debut EP, Within Reach, with several tracks (Fairweather) being picked up by Spotify editorials and featured on content creators channels such as Rachelle Reacts and FYM. In that same time, they have performed across Florida extensively, sharing the stage with artists.
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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. Prowl - The Forgotten Realms (Montreal, Québec, Canada)
Genre: Crossover Hardcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7ACP45dQOuD5mJ8LWI3gH8?si=uCbzV5sbQiKlZLdvryLkqg 
2. Chat Pile - God's Country (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
Genre: Death-grunge/sludge/industrial Metal Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4yRSUmhuSJ3KcIMljdh4fH?si=539qv5-URbujZRmFQ8pKJg
Throughout parts of the mid-western United States lie towering mounds of the waste residue from early 20th Century lead mining operations. Comprised of what is known as "chat," these hills of toxic, metallic dust dot the countryside as if they were headstones for communities destroyed by industrialization such as Picher, Oklahoma. These effigies would come to be the namesake for the Oklahoma based band, Chat Pile, whose grotesque and pummeling brand of noise rock has managed to terrorize listeners worldwide in only a matter of months.Intent on raising as much havoc as possible, Chat Pile was spawned from the bowels of the OKC underground music scene in February of 2019. Consisting of Raygun Busch (vocals), Luther Manhole (Guitars), Stin (Bass), and Captain Ron (Drums), the quartet brings with them a sludgy and starkly nihilistic take on noise rock. Channeling everything from the oppressive sludgy beat downs of Godflesh, the vulgar absurdity of The Jesus Lizard, and the rebellious, post-modern experimentation of Sonic Youth, the works of Chat Pile are bleak, brutal and genuinely terrifying. Few bands have a level of self-understanding as Chat Pile. Despite the infancy of the project, Chat Pile continues to be a standout among the sea of D.I.Y. music projects to come out in recent memory. Their brand of crass, crushing, and poignantly cynical noise rock fills an otherwise unaccounted for niche in today's underground music landscape.
- Evan Mester of Yer Scene
3. Dance Gavin Dance - Jackpot Juicer (Sacramento, California)
Genre: Progressive Rock Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6guC9FqvlVboSKTI77NG2k?si=wIPCH70CQGqyH4VC5IU8hA
Dance Gavin Dance has gone through some of the worst nightmares a band could possibly endure in the last few years. Not only was the music industry shaken to its core during the pandemic, the group lost longtime bassist Tim Feerick in April. To make matters worse, vocalist Tilian Pearson had accusations of sexual misconduct levied against him during the album rollout. Add on the multiple delays and obstacles during the Afterburner tour in 2021, and it’s a wonder the band is still standing to this day. If any band could make it this far, though, it’s DGD – a rare band spawning a subgenre and amassing a steadfast, rabid cult following supporting them every step of the way. Now, the time has come for the outfit’s tenth full LP, Jackpot Juicer, nearing twenty years of Dance Gavin Dance and showing no signs of slowing down with a whopping eighteen songs. - Mike Reitemeier of The New Fury
4. Stick To Your Guns - Spectre (Orange County, California)
Genre: Hardcore/Punk Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2sqrupqcoipb7UzVKApEnJ?si=10vU036rSniSCHpYZ9-lmA
Since emerging in 2003, Southern California’s Stick To Your Guns—Jesse Barnett [vocals], Andrew Rose [bass], George Schmitz [drums], Chris Rawson [guitar], and Josh James [guitar]—have merged socially conscious and outspoken lyricism with hardcore energy and hammering metallic force.
5. Anberlin - Silverline (EP) (Winter Haven, Florida)
Genre: Alternative Rock Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5v61OSg53KaQxGMpErkBNp?si=RFJmxNHBTyiPRVM-Ul5eSw
Since the beginning of 2007, the band consists of lead vocalist Stephen Christian, guitarists Joseph Milligan and Christian McAlhaney, bassist Deon Rexroat, and drummer Nathan Young.Anberlin signed with major label Universal Republic in 2007 and in 2008 released New Surrender, which peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard 200, with the first single, "Feel Good Drag", claiming No. 1 on the Alternative Songs chart, after 29 weeks in the chart. Prior to the release of their fifth studio album, Dark Is the Way, Light Is a Place, Anberlin had sold over 1,000,000 albums. On October 18, 2018, the band announced that they would reunite for one show on December 14 at the Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida, as part of Underoath's Erase Me Tour. However, in March 2019, it was announced that the band would perform a series of headlining shows across Australia in May 2019. This expanded to an announcement of a 22-stop U.S. tour the following month. Young stated the band had no plans for a full comeback after the reunion shows. However, Christian revealed in May 2020 that they had reversed course and were in the process of recording new music.
6. Bastions - Majestic Desolation (Wales, United Kingdom)
Genre: Alternative/Hardcore Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/28I7fJRc6dm6a4Cq7kNSS6?si=rToQR0V3Q8Glvs34l2ZkaA
Seven years on from playing their final note onstage and unexpectedly ceasing all activity, seminal UK alternative hardcore band BASTIONS have announced their return. Eleven years on from the North Wales band’s revered debut album, Hospital Corners, BASTIONS will be releasing their second proper full-length , Majestic Desolation, via Church Road Records on July 29.
Majestic Desolation is proof that time dulls nothing. As visceral as they ever were, BASTIONS’ trademark darkened hardcore and unnerving melodicism still convulses and writhes with an air of disquietude. Lamentations of lost time, profound emptiness and grief permeate throughout the entirety of Majestic Desolation’s 25 minutes. No more earnestly is this showcased than the one-two punch of Slithering into Coalfields - with Burne’s howls of “All this loss, all these years” on the latter. Majestic Desolation is less a comeback record as much as it is a continuation of all that made BASTIONS a highly influential UK act in the first place, taking personal hells and finding the universality within them against the backdrop of a sonically ceaseless push and pull.
BASTIONS in 2022 remain as perceptive towards all that leaves us desolate and hurting, with Majestic Desolation knowing when to swing and when to swim in the malaise of it all. Seven years on from that final strangled note at iconic London venue The Black Heart, BASTIONS are back and that sinking feeling of desolation is here to stay.
Want to be featured on a blog post?
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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