Lamb Of God & Fever 333’s Jason Aalon Butler go bad, Hranice Abyss perfect oblivion, Flotsam and Jetsam blaze a trail, Solus Ex Inferis seek and destroy, Malacoda go deep — and we’re gaining momentum in today’s Weekend Roundup. Do you wanna go faster?
23 | Lamb Of God | I Against I (ft. Jason Aalon Butler)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Lamb Of God deliver a scorching cover of the Bad Brains classic I Against I, featuring Fever 333 vocalist Jason Aalon Butler. Lamb Of God vocalist Randy Blythe states, “The idea to cover I Against I goes back at least 20 years to a camping trip the band was on. Mark & I were sitting in the back of our buddy’s Jeep ripping through the mountains, Bad Brains was cranking on the stereo, and I was singing along to that particular song. Mark looked over at me & said ‘We should cover that tune.’ So we thought about it for a couple of decades and finally got around to doing it for the Burn The Priest Legion: XX record (hey, sometimes we move a little slow).”
24 | Hranice Abyss | Flawless Oblivion
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Hranice Abyss seek the union of visceral with aesthetic beauty, from pure catharsis to sublimation. Inspired by these concepts, the band release the single and video for Flawless Oblivion. Explain the band: “Flawless Oblivion revolves around modern life, the loss of will and free thinking. All the struggles we make to lead a normal, routine life, losing ourselves to the will of others. But in the midst of all the setbacks and moments difficult, people can move on, but with that feeling of emptiness inside. This is who we are. This is our story. The music itself has spatial-contemplative parts and also a heavy accelerated rhythm, making a parallel of anesthetized mind and anxiety, catharsis and sublimation, creating the environment for the lyrical approach.”
25 | Flotsam and Jetsam | Burn The Sky
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Legendary thrash metallers Flotsam and Jetsam have unveiled the first single of their upcoming album Blood in the Water via the video for the pummeling track Burn the Sky. “While we were in the process of selecting which songs we would use for the album’s videos, Burn the Sky was the only one that was on everyone’s lists consistently,” commented frontman Eric A.K. “This track has some guitar work by Mike and Steve that are second to none.”
26 | Solus Ex Inferis | Destroying Malevolence
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Solus Ex Inferis are a transcontinental, technical death metal band founded by guitar player Dave Sevenstrings alongside Marco Pitruzzella aka Lord Marco, Sahil Makhija aka Demonstealer, Ollie Morgan and Mauricio Catalán. The band first broke into the worldwide metal scene back in 2018 with their critically acclaimed EP Demonic Supremacy. Three years on Solus Ex Inferis have resurfaced with news of their debut album Daemones Ceramici, scheduled for July 9. Alongside the announcement, the band unveiled the new single Destroying Malevolence.”
27 | Malacoda | From The Depths
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Canadian gothic metal band Malacoda release the video for From The Depths, saying “The behind-the-scenes video for this song was created to showcase the many drummers we used on these (and future) songs. Every one of them added that little ‘something’ that made every nuance of these songs unique in their own way.” While looking for a drummer, the band recorded throughout the rest of 2019/2020 with friends behind the drum kit. Malacoda add: “The song is based on the movie. It’s one of the better horror movie remakes that’s come out recently. We really tried to capture the emotion from the film with this one.”
https://youtu.be/8_4KKvJV7sQ
28 | Horndal | Growing Graves
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Horndal’s new album Lake Drinker is out now. The band’s self-described brand of rust metal sees the Swedes tell the tale of the eponymous town of Horndal and how it is on a cursed path to destruction for the second time in 40 years, thanks to American tech. This story of urban decay is not a fairytale or fantasy; it’s rooted in the real lives of the citizens of Horndal, and all citizens of rusty towns worldwide. Drink up! Accompanying Lake Drinker’s release, Horndal have shared a video for the track Growing Graves.”
29 | Kataan | Abyss
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Kataan have released Abyss, the second single from their upcoming self-titled EP due out on May 7. The modern death metal duo are comprised of Nicholas Thornbury (formerly of Vattnet Viskar) on guitar and vocals, and Brett Boland (Astronoid) on drums and bass. While their lineup is small in number, Kataan’s sound is vast in scope. Their dystopian death metal sound explores existential missives and depressive imagery with uplifting melodicism.”
30 | Nöctæ | Everything You Know
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Nöctæ bring their ingenious blend of genres, eras, and instruments to a striking new creation on Everything You Know. The track’s thunderous percussion and grinding guitar riffs coalesce with gritty electronics and a dynamic vocal performance for one of the most exhilarating tracks on the FiXT: Radium anthology to date.”
31 | Hideous Divinity | Chestburst
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Italy’s technical death metal heavyweights Hideous Divinity put out Chestburst, the second brutal single from their forthcoming EP LV-426, arriving April 23. The band comment: “That persistent beat in James Horner’s Face Huggers theme from the (Aliens) movie score … it all starts there. If Acheron Stream of Woe is the epic theme, then Chestburst is the crazy-fast escape tune; it’s the soundtrack of alien drones hunting the Colonial Marine squad. And no, there’s no happy ending.”
32 | Dead Label | Flux
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Ireland’s Dead Label have been busy working on their forthcoming album, but made time to release all of their previous singles as one body of work. Today, the band share Anthology, a collection of their bone-shattering singles, as well as previously unreleased track Flux. Vocalist/Bassist Dan O’Grady says Flux is “very poignant for the times we’re all living in right now. It’s about not giving up and just trying to turn a bad situation into something positive. Life throws so much at all of us and instead of just giving up, it’s important to know that if you fight back and look for the good in a bad situation.”
33 | Witchbound | Interstellar Odyssey
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “With their second video Interstellar Odyssey, Witchbound are going on an exciting lyric journey and showing their new diversity with two voices. While Natalie Pereira dos Santos did the vocals in the first video End Of Paradise, this time the voice of Tobias Schwenk is in the foreground. In combination with Stefan Kauffmann’s proven talent for haunting songcraft, it turns into a fast-paced melodic metal number. Their upcoming album End Of Paradise, arriving April 30, is the successor to the legendary 2015 debut Tarot’s Legacy.”
34 | ten56. | Diazepam
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “With Aaron Matts’ new band ten56., the next level of uncomfortably heavy is here — and it’s here to stay. The ex-frontman of Betraying The Martyrs joins forces with members of Novelists FR, Uneven Structure and Kadinja to unleash a gut-wrenching sound where each new track is taking a direction that is sure to leave listeners in a state of disrepair. Says Matts: “Betraying The Martyrs has been the focus point of my life for the most part of these past 10 years and was at some point the very thing that defined who I was as a person; but as you all know, times change and it is with a heavy heart but also with a great deal of anticipation that I have decided to part ways with my role as the lead vocalist of the band. There are many reasons and factors that have played a role in making this decision, but what it really boils down to is simply the necessity to make decisions for myself, to do what’s right for me in order for me to remain healthy and happy; and above all, to remain true to myself, to who I am as a person, a musician, and to what really moves me artistically.”
35 | Cat Clyde & Jeremie Albino | Been Worryin’
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Singer-songwriters Cat Clyde and Jeremie Albino have joined forces on the album Blue Blue Blue, which will be released on May 21. As a preview, the duo released the first single Been Worryin’, along with a video. Jeremie says, “I had been working on this original song with a Big Bill Broonzy vibe and I took it to Cat to see if we could work on it together. She loved the tune and helped with some really great lyrics before we hit the studio. We love this tune cause the final version ended up being really close to the original demo which to me always means — there’s some kinda magic in a song.”
36 | Art Bergmann | Your Second Amendment
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Canadian music legend and recent Order of Canada recipient Art Bergmann releases Your Second Amendment, the third single from his album Late Stage Empire Dementia, set for release May 21. One of the album’s rootsier songs, Your Second Amendment tears down American mythology. Art sums up the message succinctly: “Somewhere a bullet punctures another soft innocent body and a gun manufacturer laughs until he wets his pants.” The video’s creator Roy Pike adds, “To be lucky enough to work with Art again, after 30 years, is so fucking cool. The world is beautiful. Bullets are not.”
37 | James Vincent McMorrow | Waiting
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “James Vincent McMorrow has announced that his new album Grapefruit Season will see release on July 16. Today he offers the beautiful album track Waiting. He says: “This last year has been a massive lesson in patience for all of us. But I don’t feel any more patient than I did before, in fact the opposite, I feel impatient. I had this album finished last year and then the world stopped and I had to stop. I remember sitting in my car crying after I heard that we’d be parking the work until 2021, and then I wrote Waiting. It’s a song about feeling sorry for myself, and then going home and talking to the one person in my life who understands just how awkward a fit all of this is for me, and who loves me for the actual human I am and not what I curate in order to feel like the person I need to be.”
38 | Kyle McKearney | Annie
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Born and raised in small-town northern British Columbia, Kyle McKearney grew up immersed in country and bluegrass music, and is now poised to carve out his own place with his unique Americana sound. Kyle’s new single Annie is an irresistible, acoustic-based love song that hearkens back to simpler times — not so long ago — when all of us were able to indulge in romantic thoughts, and musicians could get together in person and play the way they were meant to. As Kyle describes: “Annie is that person who you yearn to be with but deep down you know that you never will. There is peace and hope in knowing that she exists.”
39 | Tejon Street Corner Thieves | Greasy Coat
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Colorado Springs alt-folk rippers Tejon Street Corner Thieves have released a rowdy version of the bluegrass classic Greasy Coat. “We call this one a barnburner,” shared frontman Connor O’Neal. The track is the latest single from their upcoming album Stolen Goods, which is set for May 7. “There’s been a lot of skepticism about this song’s original meaning, but we’ve actually combined two songs here; Greasy Coat and Cluck Old Hen,” said O’Neal. “We live for live shows and they tend to get rowdy, so we approached this one with the same kind of fast energy we have during our live show.”
40 | Grace Petits | Working Woman
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Working Woman, Grace Pettis’ upcoming debut album, will be out on May 7. The record features an all-female/non-binary band and was produced by singer-songwriter Mary Bragg and mixed by Grammy winner Shani Ghandi. Featured artists include Indigo Girls, Ruthie Foster, Dar Williams, The Watson Twins, Gina Chavez and Mary Bragg. Grace explains, “I thought a lot about what to call this album. I tossed around a lot of different titles, pulled from lines I liked or themes the record seemed to have. But in the end, it really had to be called Working Woman because the album is not subtle. It’s about recognizing and honoring the work that women do in every space in our society. It’s about claiming our own power and place in the world. This record is about the work women do and valuing that work.”
41 | The Nūes | Revolution
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Nūes stands for ‘Never Underestimate Extraordinary Souls.’ An inspiring and potent message, driven by quite an unbelievable backstory of hope and perseverance, has led this Chicago artist to the here and now with more motivation than ever before. With the latest release Revolution, the message is vivid from the get-go. A stunning video takes the track to a whole new level, while addressing the ongoing issues of racism which have been highlighted in the last year. Every frame encapsulates the rawness and whole essence of the meaning behind the song.”
42 | Wassailer | Trad
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Fresh from releasing his debut album, Will Serfass, the multi-talented artist behind the pseudonym Wassailer, unveils Trad, an ambitious mix of Irish trad and trap. Trad is another genre-spicing cocktail of a single that takes influence from Tom Misch and Yussef Dayes, with sounds reminiscent of neo-soul and jazz. Wassailer says: “As I was finishing my debut LP, a year ago today, I felt it was missing something. Some kind of hope, some light-hearted touch that would bring sunlight to this rainy journey. I was still trying to figure out what my sound was, and I wanted to create something that would really link up my past influences to my current trap music crushes.”
43 | Boyband | Fooly Cooly
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Grammy-nominated producer/creator Boyband has released his single Fooly Cooly alongside a vibrant video that captures the spacious and abstract aesthetic that inspired it. Boyband uses the emotionally charged song as a platform to highlight the complicated feelings associated with growing up.”
44 | Lom Mazi | Watch My Ops
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “D.C. native Lom Mazi takes us to L.A. in his latest video Watch My Ops. The video has the rapper caught living a dual life as an ice cream man to the community, but operating more than that on the down low through his business on wheels. He says: “Watch My Ops stands for my everyday life being in the streets, making music and being an artist. The video was shot in Los Angeles which brought in a completely new experience. The lowriders and street dancers brought a vibe that made it authentic to the west coast. The two worlds on the ice cream truck stand true to the life I have lived.”
