Out Of Nowhere fly in the face of oppression, The End Machine are not afraid of the dark, Djevel serve up a song title I’m not even going to try to pronounce, Vulture Lord activate the militia — and they’re not the only artists fighting for your time in today’s Thursday Roundup. Don’t look now, but here we go again:
25 | Out Of Nowhere | Blind Crow
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Iranian djent/metalcore crew Out Of Nowhere dropped the video for their single Blind Crow. The oppressive regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran made heavy music illegal inside the country, and metal bands often get arrested for their endeavor. However, regardless of the risk of being imprisoned, Out Of Nowhere have actively been releasing music and playing live shows across the country for more than a decade. “We started 15 years ago in one of the most religious cities in Iran. Despite everyone saying you can’t make it, we didn’t give up on our dreams, so we made the pact that we will make them our goal to make sure we’ll all see a day that our message has been spread around the world. No matter what, no matter how many sticks and stones will get thrown at us.”
26 | The End Machine | Dark Divide
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The End Machine have released a new video for Dark Divide, featuring footage taken from the filming of two videos earlier this year. The band’s new record Phase2 builds on the great bluesy hard rock music of the debut, but also moves them toward a classic ’80s hard rock sound. The result is a 2.0 reboot of a killer music machine.”
27 | Djevel | Maanen Skal Være Mine Øine, Den Skinnende Stierne Mine Ben, Og Her Skal Jeg Vandre Til Evig Tid
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Here’s the second track from Djevel’s upcoming album Tanker Som Rir Natten, which will be released on May 14. You can listen to Maanen Skal Være Mine Øine, Den Skinnende Stierne Mine Ben, Og Her Skal Jeg Vandre Til Evig Tid now. Djevel are Ciekals, Faust (ex-Emperor), and new vocalist/bassist Kvitrim (Vemod, Mare). They perform black metal with an ominous melodic sense.”
28 | Vulture Lord | Bloodbound Militia
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Some 18 years after the release of their first album Profane Prayer, the legendary Vulture Lord have returned with its caustic, violent successor Desecration Rite! The album will be released in June, but today brings the unveiling of first single Bloodbound Militia. Vulture Lord feature members of Urgehal, Carpathian Forest, Beastcraft and Endezzma, while Desecration Rite features material written by the sadly departed and much-missed Nefas of Urgehal.”
29+30 | American Teeth | Fix You + E-Girl
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “American Teeth just dropped a double single of Fix You and E-Girl. “Fix You and E-Girl detail different points in time in a relationship that was very beautiful but also extremely tough at times,” American Teeth says. “Both are concentrated moments, and encapsulate very specific feelings for me. Fix You came out of an instrumental track that Colin Brittain and Alex Gaskarth had created. I really connected with the feeling of it during that time and sat and wrote my demo in one night. Alex’s guitar part was a voice memo he had sent Colin while on tour and it had a feeling to it that couldn’t be replaced.”
31 | Vexed | Misery
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “U.K. upstarts Vexed have been checking off boxes as the next big name in aggressive-yet-progressive modern metal, and have just released one of their most ruthless offerings yet: The gut-punching third single Misery from the band’s upcoming album Culling Culture, out May 21. On their third offering, the four-piece fluctuate between grooving, ethereal leads and destructive, airtight riffs, technically adept drumming and vocalist Megan Targett’s undeniably dynamic, haunting vocal power. As their new video clearly refers to absolution via its striking visual content, the track’s lyrics reflect a reckoning with the past, mirroring the intensely personal themes of the upcoming album. Vexed say: “Anxiety is a demon powerful enough to posses anyone and can leave the strongest of us feeling helpless. Misery is an inner monologue of an anxiety riddled mind constantly overanalysing and catastrophising. Taking inspiration from a spectrum of genres, this track is a true musical representation of how drastically our thoughts can change from one moment to the next, often ending in confusion and Misery.”
32 | Misfire | Red Flag
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “In 2004, at the age of 13 and 14, drummer James Nicademus and singer-guitarist Jay Johnson formed what ended up becoming the thrash metal band Diamond Plate. In 2007 Jay left. He has since released multiple solo projects. Diamond Plate went on to record two albums and play multiple shows with Overkill, Death Angel, Testament, Megadeth, D.R.I. and many more. Fast forward to 2018, when Nicademus, Tommy Denniger of End of Sanity and Sean Coogan of Vitrial formed Misfire. Shortly after Tommy decided to follow a different path, so James called the only man for the job: His old friend Jay. Misfire have since opened for Iron Regan, Sacred Reich and more. Their debut album Sympathy for the Ignorant arrives May 1.”
https://youtu.be/onTcl74y-dw
33 | Suzie Ungerleider | Baby Blues
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Following Suzie Ungerleider’s recent announcement of a name change and new album, My Name is Suzie Ungerleider, an accompanying video has today been released for the lead single “Baby Blues”. The dreamlike and evocative video by Christine Fellows uses a labour-intensive process of collage and stop-motion animation. As she explains “Before I made the video, I listened to Baby Blues over and over and over again until it played on a loop in my head all day. I dreamed the song, sat at my work table, flipping through pages and pages of images with my Xacto knife as I listened. The first image that revealed itself to me was the starry sky and the landscape, and everything else followed from there.”
34 | Lindsey Stirling | Lose You Now (ft. Mako)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Platinum-selling violinist Lindsey Stirling and artist-songwriter Mako have released an acoustic version of their single Lose You Now. It strips down the emotive song to just piano and a full string accompaniment highlighting its deep lyrics about loss and grief, written in memory of Stirling’s father and best friend. “Mako and I are so happy to share this new version of Lose You Now with everyone,” says Stirling. “We’ve always known this song was special but seeing the way it’s been connecting with fans and listeners all across the world has been beyond expectations. We thought an acoustic version that strips it down to its beautiful and raw core could reach people in a whole new way.”
35 | Moistbreezy | Oasis
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Pop sensation Moistbreezy returns with her video for the catchy and cool Oasis. Self-produced but meticulously created, Oasis is rich and textured. Driven by percussion and smooth atmospheric pads, Moistbreezy’s vocals are centre stage. “True to its title, Oasis was meant to be just that — a sonic oasis,” she explains. “I wrote everything else around it, knowing it would fall directly in the middle of the track listing. It’s a love song that captures the philosophy I had for the project as a whole: a safe haven in a world of chaos. This is what I believe love is. It’s also what making music and art is for me, an escape from the crazy dystopia we live in to a place of peace and emotional safety.”
36 | Aziya | Heaven For Me
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “British musician Aziya is just 21 years old, but her talent and wisdom are far beyond her years. Today, she shares her newest single Heaven For Me, a track with psychedelic roots that she wrote and co-produced earlier this year. This is her second single off of a debut EP coming this summer. The accompanying video takes you on a dreamy, kaleidoscopic journey that serves to firmly bolster the feel of the song. Aziya states: “Heaven For Me is a romanticised and fantasised version of a very toxic relationship — it relays the story of someone in love with a person plagued by narcissism and inner demons. I’ve tried to depict the ill fate it brings to the one in love with that person. It’s a fairytale description of a very real scenario that happens in front of us everyday.”
37 | Aasiva | Piqatiikka (ft. Riit)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Recently, Inuk indie-pop artist Aasiva shared the single Namu. Today, the artist originally from Panniqtuuq, Nunavut is sharing Piqatiikka, produced by Jace Lasek and featuring Juno-nominated and Polaris Music Prize long-lister Riit. Aasiva outlines the themes used in Piqatiikki (translation: My Friends): “We all go through difficult situations in life. Often the ones who support me are my friends and family. They are my rock! This song helps me express my gratitude for their unconditional love and support towards myself and my career as an artist. I love my family and friends so dearly.”
38 | Flynn Marks | Paper
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Flynn Marks has released his EP Cold Comfort alongside the single Paper. Cold Comfort sees the artist in a raw and stripped-back guise. Offering up little more than a bare and wistful production alongside his own spectacular voice, the new five-track collection cements him as an intimate and heartfelt name emerging right now and this is only the beginning. With so much incredible new music on the horizon and comparison to the likes of Lewis Capaldi and James Bay, we can expect big things to come soon from this driven and ambitious artist.”
39 | Iceage | Gold City
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Copenhagen’s Iceage release the single Gold City from their forthcoming album Seek Shelter, out May 7. Gold City is a passage in Seek Shelter’s story of scorched-Earth salvation. Elias Bender Rønnenfelt comments: “At home and enraptured in the fleeting moment, the sky becomes technicolor in its makeshift lucidity. A culmination made so that everything felt briefly complete. Traffic lights and the setting sun through a polluted filter, shimmering and golden.”
40 | Bachelor | Sick Of Spiraling
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Bachelor — the collaborative project of Jay Som’s Melina Duterte and Palehound’s Ellen Kempner — will release their debut album Doomin’ Sun on May 28. Today the duo share the latest single, the country-inflected Sick of Spiraling. The band say: “Sick of Spiraling is one of the last songs we wrote and recorded together in Topanga. Both of us initially tried to play drums on the song but the groove wasn’t right so we enlisted help from James Krivchenia. He came over for a day and drummed on a few songs on the record. He really brought this song to life with his unique style. Ellen had the riff in her voice memos for a while and had originally imagined it as a slow kinda melancholic song. Once we got together and listened back to the riff we heard it a whole new way as an upbeat driving song. After that Ellen wrote lyrics inspired by driving on tour and the rush and anxiety of being completely untethered and unprotected on the open road.”
