TodoMal are releasing “Humanised Gods” as the second single from their upcoming third album Graveyards of Joy. The song bears all the marks of the Spanish duo: solemn doom metal, strong melodies and cinematic atmosphere.
Where the first single from Graveyards of Joy, “Point of Coalescence”, opened on dense, uncompromising ground, “Humanised Gods” offers a different kind of weight. Mid-tempo and melodic, the new single draws its lyrical material from the excess and spectacle of the Claudian dynasty in ancient Rome: emperors regarded as demi-gods, figures onto whom desires and projections were freely cast. From there, the song widens its frame to address something more immediate: the hubris of contemporary individualism, the cult of the self, the particular vacancy that follows when admiration tips into deification. It is, within the arc of the album, a moment of relative relief, the music direct and unguarded in a way that the record’s darker corners are not.
Graveyards of Joy is the closing chapter of a trilogy that began with Ultracrepidarian (2021) and continued with A Greater Good (2023). Written in solitude following personal tragedy, the album draws on the landscapes and ghost towns of rural eastern Spain, a terrain the band describe as raw, honest and untamed. It channels grief, anger and hard-won hope through a sound rooted in the slow-burning weight of classic doom and dramatic rock. Vast Hammond organ-driven passages give way to desolate folk; strings with Morriconian openness sit alongside heavy, anchoring riffs. The band draw on a wide range of reference points, from the orchestral sweep of Vangelis and the warmth of Deep Purple to the dramatic sensibility of Tindersticks and Nick Cave, without losing the solemnity that defines TodoMal.
Catch TodoMal on tour this summer, including dates with Evoken.
TodoMal Graveyards of Joy 2026 European Tour
4 July – Viveiro, ES @ Resurrection Fest 24 July – Tolmin, SI @ Tolminator Fest 30 July – Paris, FR @ Le Klub* 31 July – Rouen, FR @ Fury Defendu* 1 August – Diest, BE @ Club Hell* 2 August – Rotterdam, NL @ Baroeg* 3 August – Hamburg, DE @ MS Stubnitz* 5 August – Berlin, DE @ Neue Zukunft* 6 August – Schlotheim, DE @ Party.San Open Air* 7 August – Karlsruhe, DE @ Die Stadtmitte* 9 August – Dresden, DE @ Chemiefabrik* 10 August – Prague, CZ @ Subzero* 11 August – Bratislava, SK @ Pink Whale 18 September: Barcelona, ES @ Sala Boveda 25 September: Madrid, ES @ Dark Echoes Fest (w/ Draconian, Dødheimsgard) 26 September: Auzas, FR @ L’Homme Sauvage Festival *with Evoken
Tracklist:
Mare Ignis (05:14)
Lucid Nightmare (04:31)
Point of Coalescence (05:04)
Misericordiah (02:50)
Unholy (04:22)
Deliverance (07:25)
Humanised Gods (03:54)
For Mercy (03:02)
Graveyards of Joy (06:51) Full runtime: 43:15
TodoMal came to life in 2020, conceived by Anglo-Spanish musician and composer Christopher B. Wildman and musician, composer and producer Javier Fernández Milla: two veteran multi-instrumentalists of the Spanish underground scene whose careers span a wide range of projects and styles. A product of pure serendipity, TodoMal represents a deeply personal fusion of the solemnity of traditional doom metal and the expansiveness of space rock, interwoven with nuances of ecclesiastical music, classic hard rock and cinematic soundscapes.
Their debut album, Ultracrepidarian (2021), evokes the placid yet desolate moorlands of their base in northern Alcarria and the region of Matarraña (Teruel), two emblematic landscapes of Spain’s so-called “emptied lands.” With A Greater Good (2023), the duo crafted a collection of what they describe as “dark songs,” evolving into a complex, dense and unclassifiable album that appeared on several year-end lists and sold through its initial pressing. Fuelled by this momentum, they expanded into a five-piece live ensemble, joining forces with Javier Félez (guitar; Teitanblood, Graveyard, Balmog), Javier “Bud” Martínez (drums; Dejadeath, Jade, Ktulu) and Cecilia Tallo (keyboards/vocals; Maud the Moth).
Graveyards of Joy is the third album and the closing chapter of a trilogy. Written in solitude following personal tragedy, it channels grief, anger and hard-won hope into nine tracks of slow-burning, widescreen doom. The music breathes: vast Hammond-driven passages give way to desolate folk, Morricone-like strings open onto dusty cinematic plains, and heavy riffs anchor songs that never lose sight of melody. A DIY record of striking emotional depth and modern, alternative edge.
Recording Line-up: Wildman – Guitars and Vocals Mile – Bass and Vocals Javi – Guitars Bud – Drums Cecilia – Synths and Vocals
Production Credits:
Recording Studio: Trinitat-Montseny / 7th Middle Street / Moontower Studios Producer: Javier Fernández Milla / Christopher B. Wildman; assisted by Javier Félez Rodríguez (drums recording and guitar engineering) Mixing: Javier Fernández Milla at Trinitat Montseny Mastering: Jaime López Arellano at Arda Recorders (Portugal)
The late-great Steve Cropper had another ace up his sleeve before his tragic passing in December 2025. To anyone who knows the roots and branches of American music, the loss of The Colonel was seismic. As guitarist, songwriter, producer and engineer – not just for the iconic Stax record label but on a forest of sessions and solo releases – the Tennessee soul man was the DNA that coursed through the post-war era, his fabled right hand setting the pace of rock ‘n’ roll for 60-plus years.
The legendary musician was working on this new record, and with Watching The Tide, he has left a beautiful gift to the world, featuring an all-star cast including Eric Clapton, Brian May, Billy Gibbons and Ronnie Wood.
Steve Cropper & The Midnight Hour will release Watching The Tide on 28 August via Provogue/Artone Label Group. Listen to the first song, ‘Ticket First’ featuring Eric Clapton HERE.
The wider world assumed 2024’s star-dusted, Grammy-nominated Friendlytown was the full stop on this most seminal of careers. Little did we know this towering figure had one last play in his lifetime. “Making music was Steve’s greatest joy,” explains Jon Tiven, the acclaimed songwriter/producer who first met Cropper in the early-’70s, became a close friend and helped ignite his post-millennial solo career. “Steve was so encouraged by Friendlytown. He was adamant he wanted to do another record.”
Appropriately for an album whose title references the guitarist’s most famous co-write – Otis Redding’s 1967 standard ‘(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay’ – Watching The Tide saw Cropper roll back the years. Writing alongside Tiven and Midnight Hour vocalist Roger C. Reale – then tracking at Nashville’s historic RCA Studio C with a crack-squad band including Ana Grosh (vocals), Nioshi Jackson (drums), engineer Eddie Gore (keys/percussion), and a wishlist of guitar heroes (Eric Clapton, Billy Gibbons, Brian May, Ronnie Wood) – the 83-year-old sounds ageless and energised.
Talking about ‘Ticket First,’ Tiven says, “Steve had a joke about a woman who rubs a magic lamp. The genie comes out and says, ‘You’ve got one wish’. The woman says, ‘I want to win the lottery’. And the genie says, ‘Sorry, you’ve got to get a ticket first’. When Roger and I heard that, we said, ‘Oh, that’s a song title’. I sent out some emails to guitar players I knew who had a great affinity for Steve and two days later, I got an email back from Eric Clapton’s manager, saying he’d be in Nashville for a concert and could we do it then. He did, I believe, 11 takes on guitar. At the end, Steve and I looked at each other and said, ‘Man, you just turned the song inside out. I think we’re gonna have to give you a writer’s credit’. Eric looked pretty stunned by that. And he said: ‘Well, anything to get my name next to Steve Cropper’s…’”
The A-list cameos continue with the valedictory ballad, ‘My Angels Are Calling,’ featuring Brian May and Billy Gibbons (“Brian is singing from Steve’s point of view,” says Tiven of the Queen man’s touching lyric, “looking back over his life and his road. It’s very powerful”). ‘Until Now’ makes stellar use of Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood’s stinging slide, before Tiven himself takes lead guitar for the brassy strut of ‘Blood From A Stone’ and ‘Here & Gone.’ The latter is also one of the showcases for upcoming vocalist Ana Grosh (who features prominently on ‘Stand Right Here’ too). “We met Ana at the Grammys and I heard immediately that this 21-year-old had something,” recalls Tiven.
He might have been indomitable as ever in the studio, but as Tiven and Gore set to work on post-production, nobody could deny that Cropper was running out of time. Yet even as the great man slowly bowed to his medical issues in late 2025, he clung on to hear the mixes of Watching The Tide (10 of the 11 tracks were completed before his death, with only My Angels Are Calling still a work-in-progress).
“I finished the mixes about a week-and-a-half before Steve passed and we brought a CD to him at the medical facility,” remembers Tiven. “He called me the night before he passed to tell me how much he loved it. He was playing it for everyone who came to visit him, telling them it was the best record he’d ever made.”
It’s a huge statement for a musical colossus who towered over the rock ‘n’ roll age. Yet to play this posthumous release is to hear an all-time-great still at the top of his game, blending the burning passion of youth with the wisdom of an old master. Steve Cropper might have left us, but with Watching The Tide, the ripples continue to spread. “I know this record provided great joy to Steve in the last year of his life,” says Tiven. “And I’m so glad he was able to have this great creative burst that was so strong…”
Tracklisting:
1. Tandoori Chicken 2. Ticket First ft. Eric Clapton 3. My Angels Are Calling ft. Brian May & Billy F. Gibbons 4. Until Now ft. Ronnie Wood 5. Blood From A Stone 6. Here & Gone ft. Ana Grosh 7. It’s Gonna Get Worse 8. Down & Out 9. Stand Right Here ft. Billy F. Gibbons & Ana Grosh 10. Tipoff To The Ripoff 11. House of Cards 12. Tandoori Chicken Part 2
Today, transatlantic pop-rock quartet AS IT IS proudly releases their new single ‘Do You Remember?,’ the latest track from their forthcoming self-titled album, out on July 17th via FLG.
Speaking on the reflective track, a live favorite in-waiting, frontman Patty Walters shares:
“‘Do You Remember?’ is about the countless nights we’ve spent retelling all our favourite stories from the road, the studio, and everywhere else that music has taken us over the years. When we were on top of the world and when we hit rock bottom, we went through every moment of it together, and the memories and the friendships are something we cherish every day. We wrote the song with Max Helyer (You Me At Six), someone who knew exactly what we wanted to say and capture in a song, both in its lyrics and its heart, and ‘Do You Remember?’ wouldn’t be half the song it is without him.”
Max himself adds:
“Working with the lads was a real pleasure. I remember when Patty and myself spoke about doing something at a Marshall writer camp in early 2025, a couple of months later, we were in his studio together writing this song. We shared stories of being on tour with your brothers and what AS IT IS have been through as a band, and I thought, hey, why don’t you write about that side of it? We wanted it to be a triumphant celebration of where they have been and what they’ve gone through together, but most importantly, coming back and doing it for the right reasons.”
Of the accompanying music video, Walters comments:
“It was a blast filming the music video in a living room in Brighton, surrounded by partners, friends, and so many of the fans who have supported this band since the very beginning. We love this song so much, and it’s always special getting to share something unreleased with a handful of people before it officially drops. Once the video was wrapped, we played a headline set for everyone who came down, and it was a show I’ll absolutely remember forever. The band’s first-ever show was in a similar living room, no more than a ten-minute walk away from where we shot the video, and it felt so special to, nearly 14 years later, reconnect with the band’s most humble of beginnings, and to know that the video itself was becoming one of those same stories that inspired us to write this song in the first place.”
To create art for art’s sake is as pure an intention as a band can have. Writing a song that may never even see the light of day, but speaks to the very reason that you want to create in the first place. Putting joy, connection and fulfilment above anything else, and reaping the rewards that come from pushing such human endeavors. It’s a noble and selfless position to place yourself in, one that sits at the very root of why we all fall in love with music in the first place.
For AS IT IS, it was an absolute necessity to do things like this.
It was the only way that they could even attempt to recapture what once brought them together 13 years ago. A moment in time where Patty Walters, Ben Langford-Biss, Ali Testo, and Patrick Foley could reconvene for the first time in a long time, look back on the highest highs and lowest lows they have experienced together, and draw hope and inspiration from them once again.
From that, they have created their new upcoming self-titled album, the first body of work made as a quartet in eight years. A record that finds them at the most comfortably bold they have ever been, delivered via the most beautiful brand of collective catharsis. However, to even consider reaching this sort of solace, a different kind of work needed to be done first.
For Patty, that meant finding a purpose outside of the band. For so long, he had felt like he had no choice but to be in AS IT IS. That, without it, there was nothing else. To listen to 2022’s‘I WENT TO HELL AND BACK,’ the band’s fourth full-length album and only piece of work to not feature Ben or Foley following their respective departures in 2019 and 2020, is to hear Patty in fight or flight, unfurling some seriously dark thoughts and making music that bleak because it felt like it was all that he had.
But in stepping away from not just the band but music altogether around the birth of 2024 to seek professional help to exorcise demons, muddle through trauma and realize that there is a life beyond music, he was able to realize that he can be all of the things that he wants to be. He just needed to relocate who he was within them, not who he thought he had to be.
“I realized the most important thing for me to do was find happiness, fulfilment and a sense of identity outside of all of this,”Patty explains. “So, I found stability. Found help. Found that happiness. Then I slowly started to realize that the possibility of returning to music wasn’t a regression but an opportunity to introduce more purpose into my life and use it as an outlet for self-expression. That’s always been the best way that I’ve communicated with the world, through songs and performance, and I had been denying myself that for so long.”
It feels serendipitous that around the same time, Ben had contacted and reconvened with Patty, not as a bandmate but as a best friend to show support through the emotional turmoil that unloading so much from within can produce. The band never even came into the equation at this point; this, instead, was an opportunity for the two of them to just be. A support network without any add-ons or other intentions. Joined then by Ali and Foley for meetups, heart-to-hearts, and general hangs, starting in The Eagle in Brighton, this was four friends loving each other as that, and nothing else, for the first time in a very long time.
“I think that Ali is the only one of us with an actual brother,”Patty laughs. “But I now have brothers because of AS IT IS. Because of how much they loved me and showed up for me when I needed them. I feel like we are going to be brothers first always and till the end because of that.”
Before all of this, Patty and Ben had attempted to write music as a pair, not for anything, just because it’s what they had always done. After realizing he wasn’t ready for it and taking those steps to properly heal through actual therapy rather than through writing lyrics alone, only then did the conversation turn to the possibility of AS IT IS being their focus once more. But things could never be the same as they once were. Why would they want them to be? So, if they were going to do this, it would be entirely on their terms.
It’s because of this that the first fruit of their labors, the raw, rallying and very real “Lose Your Way & Find Yourself” took almost a year to the day of these conversations to be mixed, mastered, and ready to go. 365 days of love, care, consideration, and patience have gone into it, a reminder that this is a choice rather than a necessity, and that really making sense of the heaviness in your chest takes time. What would follow would be three additional trips into the studio with producer Kel Pinchin at the Ranch Production House in Southampton, allowing them to space out their writing rather than forcing it. For the first time in their career, the band was making an album whilst not being in the middle of at least 200 days of the year on the road. When you are spinning so many plates, just trying to make it to the next venue, you don’t have time to face any sort of demons or make sense of any trauma, let alone let anyone else know what you’re going through.
“We weren’t previously able to heal and grow when we were in the thick of it,”Patty admits. “We just had to cope and do our best, and within that, not always share that with each other. We could only share it with ourselves. When we were writing our second and third records, we were thinking about the bigger rooms we wanted to play and the bands we wanted to tour with as a result. This one was about as long as we are bringing out who we are and ourselves into the writer’s room. It’s not about what happens after we write, record, and release. This is just who we are.”
Such space to make sense of not just their own journey but also that of their brothers has resulted in some of the most emotionally stark, curiously brash and, ultimately, healing songs the band has ever committed to tape. Musically, rather than attempting to fit in any sort of particular scene, the quartet has spoken to the kind of sounds they actually adore instead of what they think others do. There are as many flickers of The Starting Line and The Early November as there are Counting Crows; big, bold rock songs with the earnestness and euphoria that make them want to pursue this life in the first place. Forged in a space where every instrument was ready to go as and when, rather than the regimented practice of tracking each element block by block, allowed spontaneous creativity to take precedent and more luscious and layered songs to blossom and bloom.
And lyrically, it is as warts and all as they have ever been, and that’s saying something for a band that has worn their hearts on their sleeves in the way they have over the last 14 years. Looking back on the people they have been with the most open eyes they have ever had, being honest in the ups and downs of what they experienced, and writing down their findings, the result is as nostalgic as it is earnest. From the raw storytelling of “Ruin My Life” to the hope-speckled “What If It All Works Out,” the open looking back of “Do You Remember?” to the curious understanding of “Marilyn,” every song holds a different sort of sentiment. A realization, defined by a situation, person, or thought process, that speaks for whom the band used to be, as well as whom they thought they used to be, as much as who they really are now. It is the sound of healing in real time, which makes for a band rejuvenated, impassioned, and more awake and alive than they have been since their inception.
“This is an amalgamation of the last 12 years as well as a new level of honesty and transparency,” Ben explains. “This is the core and crux of who we are. We’re never going to change from now on. It really is more about our relationship with each other and how, through everything, the four of us still have this bond, both as friends and musically. That has been tested a lot through the years, and these songs are now a real testament to our overarching brotherhood and love for each other.”
It’s because of this that the quartet knew that this had to be their self-titled record. For any band, making such a statement can either signal a moment of reinvention or a doubling down on what you believe defines you by reconnecting with what initially pushed you. And though the former is not strictly untrue, for Patty and Ben, the latter is what this whole experience is about. In remembering why they started this band in the first place, with the wisdom, experience, and drive they now possess all these years later, they feel they have almost come full circle. Though in taking stock of what it takes to nurture something as precious as this and not viewing this as an all or nothing situation, both within their friendship and relationship with the music, they have produced a piece of art that will inspire, instill belief, and live long in the hearts and souls of all who let it in.
It is everything that AS IT IS was, is, and will be, and it means the absolute world to them.
“You can never manufacture genuine connection with people,” Ben remarks. “Just find what is honest to you and honest to your journey, and that’s all any artist has to offer to the world. This is our reality, and reality is looking a bit more positive these days. We’re a band known for four quite depressing albums. But days fluctuate, and things change. That’s mental health. But to be able to look at everything with a different and more positive outlook on the future is all that we wanted to say.”
“This is the spirit and intention of the joy that formed AS IT IS in the first place,”Patty adds. “It is reconnecting with the kids that we were when we started to write songs. And now, we’re showing up with life in our eyes. We can listen to and support each other. This is the most in control and confident the band has been in a long time, but also the most proud. In the past, I had no choice but to be in AS IT IS. This new era of the band is my choice. Our choice. A choice. But in having it back, it means having maybe the biggest piece of myself back, too.”
1- I’m So Alive! 2- Ruin My Life 3- Do You Remember? 4- Marilyn 5- Lightless Sun 6- Watching The World Go Bye 7- Lose Your Way & Find Yourself 8- Last At The Party 9- Turn To Dust 10- If I Ever Lost You 11- What If It All Works Out 12- Not Anymore 13- Live, Laugh, Love, Los Angeles (Physical Editions Bonus Track)
AS IT IS Live:
JUNE
7th – Dordrecht @ Bibelot Poppodium 8th – Hamburg @ Betty 9th – Berlin @ Badehaus 10th – Hradec Králové @ Rock For People 11th – Cologne @ Mtc Club 13th – Donington @ Download Festival
JULY
13th – Bristol @ O2 Academy (W/ Boys Like Girls) 15th – Glasgow @ O2 Academy (W/ Boys Like Girls) 17th – Manchester @ Academy (W/ Boys Like Girls) 18th – London @ O2 Academy Brixton (W/ Boys Like Girls) 19th – Brighton @ Resident Music (In-Store & Signing) 20th – Birmingham @ Hmv (In-Store & Signing) 21st – Bury @ Wax And Beans (In-Store & Signing) 21st – Leeds @ Brudenell Social Club (In-Store & Signing) 22nd – Nottingham @ Rough Trade (In-Store & Signing) 23rd – Kingston @ Upon Thames Circuit 24th – Bristol @ Rough Trade (In-Store & Signing) 25th – Sheffield @ The Arundel Emporium (In-Store & Signing) 25th – Liverpool @ Jacaranda Baltic (In-Store & Signing)
SEPTEMBER
3rd – Torquay @ Burn It Down Festival
AS IT IS are: Patty Walters – Vocals/Guitar Benjamin Langford-Biss – Guitar/Vocals Alistair Testo – Bass Patrick Foley – Drums
Their impressive show at the legendary Budokan in Tokyo just behind them, Japanese power metal quintet LOVEBITES are ready for the worldwide physical release of their new album, Outstanding Power, with a new video for “Reaper’s Lullaby”. The song ventures into rougher territory: not only do LOVEBITES harshen their sound to be reminiscent of thrash metal, but they also add gang shouts to enhance the stirring character. Delightfully fast, “Reaper’s Lullaby” repeats its lyrics to burn in their meaning, giving the words significant weight and turning the song into another standout showing LOVEBITES’ versatile skills. The accompanying album, Outstanding Power, is out today, Friday, May 8, 2026, via Napalm Records – find physical formats below!
Additionally, the band will embark on a European and UK tour in July and August this year in support of the album, including a festival appearance at Germany’s legendary Wacken Open Air. Tickets are on sale now via https://lovebites.jp/shows/#live79, and you can find the full list of dates below.
LOVEBITES about “Reaper’s Lullaby”: “While our music is fundamentally rooted in power metal, we embrace a wide range of musical styles. Among them, ‘Reaper’s Lullaby’ can be described as a fast and brutal track at 240 BPM, featuring tremolo riffs that convey a cold, chilling atmosphere and distill one of the most aggressive facets of LOVEBITES’ musical identity. The music video also stays true to the song’s image, depicting us performing within a circle formed by candles, resulting in a dark visual presentation that differs from previous LOVEBITES music videos. We invite you to fully experience the dark side of LOVEBITES.”
LOVEBITES showcase their unmatched force on their aptly named Napalm Records debut, Outstanding Power. Coming May 8, 2026, the Japanese power metal quintet is ready to expand their reach with a new heavy-hitting partner by their side for their tenth anniversary as a band. Founded in 2016, LOVEBITES have rocket-launched themselves all the way to the top of the metal scene in their home country—including their debut at the legendary Budokan in Tokyo in March of 2026. Additionally, they have made a name for themselves abroad, gaining early recognition at Metal Hammer UK’s Golden Gods Awards and playing major stages across Europe, from Wacken Open Air, Hellfest, and Graspop Metal Meeting to Download Festival and Bloodstock Open Air.
LOVEBITES level up on passion for their fifth album. Thrillingly adding multifaceted elements to their highly skilled power metal, the women let both their vocalist and instrumentalists shine equally with their latest release. Outstanding Power is exactly what it claims to be: outstandingly powerful.
LOVEBITES about Outstanding Power: “Unlike the solid ground of land, the sea never offers stability. Yet a ship pushes forward across its surface, never yielding to the crashing waves, raging storms, or roaring thunder. It was with this sense of overwhelming power that we created a truly one‑of‑a‑kind album—something only we could bring into the world. We hope metalheads everywhere will draw strength from the songs contained in Outstanding Power, and we look forward to setting sail together aboard the ship called LOVEBITES!”
Outstanding Power dashes forward with galloping riffs and sweeping pathos in its opening song, “The Castaway”, a speedy power metal hymn extraordinaire, featuring rousing vocals and shimmering guitar and bass solos. Encouraging “Silence The Void” ties in with catchy verses, while “Forbidden Thirst” channels the inner turmoil in its lyrics into heroic storytelling through music, crowned again with impressive solos by guitarists Miyako and Midori. In mature “Blazing Halo”, their dual guitars take the form of AC/DC-esque structures, gifting a classical sense to LOVEBITES’ high-energy approach. “Dream Of King” starts off as a stripped-down, mid-tempo anthem, letting vocalist Asami shine, before crescendoing into an emotional firework—an easy album highlight! Following, LOVEBITES channel some classic genre imagery by dedicating “Phoenix Rises Again” to the mighty mythical creature with regenerative powers, a symbol to outlast and overcome struggles. “Out Of Control” is a true rock hymn, perfectly matching its successor “Wheels On Fire” in its heavy metal vibe. A suspenseful riff builds up tension for “The Eve Of Change”, reminding listeners to raise their voices and stand up for themselves—this is the call! With “Reaper’s Lullaby”, the Japanese five-piece ventures into rougher territory, adding gang shouts to a thrash-reminiscent sound. Delightfully fast, repeating the lyrics burns in their meaning, giving the words significant weight and turning the song into another standout showing LOVEBITES’ versatile skills. Instantly contrasting comes the power ballad “Eternally”, layering Asami’s gentle vocals with tender keys before making room for her ardent vibrato and sweeping instrumentals, before Outstanding Power finds its finale with ever so heartfelt “One Will Remain”.
Outstanding Power tracklisting:
The Castaway
Silence The Void
Forbidden Thirst
Blazing Halo
Dream Of King
Phoenix Rises Again
Out Of Control
Wheels On Fire
The Eve Of Change
Reaper’s Lullaby
Eternally
One Will Remain
LOVEBITES LIVE 2026 22.07.26 AT – Vienna / Flex 23.07.26 HU – Budapest / Analog Music Hall 25.07.26 PL – Warsaw / Oczki 26.07.26 CZ – Prague / Rock Café 29.07.26 DE – Wacken / Wacken Open Air 30.07.26 NL – Tilburg / Hall Of Fame 1.08.26 FR – Paris / Backstage BTM 3.08.26UK – London / O2 Academy Islington
French atmospheric post metal duo CLØUDY SKIES return with a powerful new chapter, announcing a brand new album currently in the making alongside the release of their new single and video Depth Spell, out now via Argonauta Records.
Following their acclaimed 2023 debut Changes, Cløudy Skies continue to refine and expand their signature sound. Formed in 2019 on the outskirts of Paris, the duo composed of Lionel Forest and Nicolas Simon has established a distinctive identity within the modern post metal and dreamgaze landscape. Their music merges cinematic post rock dynamics, shoegaze textures, and post metal weight into immersive, slow burning compositions where tension and emotion coexist in constant transformation.
With Changes, Cløudy Skies introduced a sound defined by contrast and atmosphere, shifting between suspended calm and overwhelming intensity. The album marked the beginning of a clear artistic vision, built on emotional depth, sonic scale, and a carefully constructed balance between fragility and force.
Now, Depth Spell signals the next step in their evolution. The new single and accompanying video dive deeper into hypnotic layering and dense emotional atmospheres, expanding the band’s language into darker, more immersive territory while maintaining their signature sense of cinematic progression.
At the same time, Cløudy Skies confirm that a new album is currently in development. All details will be revealed in the coming months, ahead of a planned autumn release, marking a further expansion of their sound and vision.
The band comments:
“We’re genuinely happy to be working once again with Argonauta Records. This collaboration feels natural, like returning to a place where our music is truly understood and given the space it needs to breathe, mutate, and darken.
We pushed the work on composition and arrangement to an extreme. Every detail was questioned and reshaped. We focused on sound and texture, searching for the exact point where emotion becomes physical.
We do not write songs to fit a genre. We aim for that fragile zone where beauty and threat become the same movement. If it feels like floating and sinking at the same time, then it is doing what it was meant to do.”
Depth Spell is available now, marking the beginning of a new phase for Cløudy Skies as they continue to evolve their immersive and cinematic sonic universe.
Mawiza are pounding the drum for indigenous metal in 2026. The modern day Mapuche warriors rang in the year by visiting Gojira frontman Joe Duplantier’s Silver Cord Studio, performing with Mr. Bungle and Avenged Sevenfold, headlining Pumapu Rock Fest and packing the stands in their hometown of Santiago, Chile.
Now, as Mawiza prepare for European festival dates at Midgarsdblot, Hellsinki Metal Festival and Malmö Massacre, the band are proud to announce that their latest album, ÜL, is nominated for a 2026 Pulsar Award (Chilean Grammy) in the category for Best Metal Album. They previously won a Pulsar Award in the same category for their previous album Kollong.
“ÜL has been nominated for the 2026 Pulsar Awards in times where nature and art feel more abandoned every day”, Mawiza vocalist and guitarist Awka says. “Forests disappear, culture becomes weaker and many people forget how to listen to the earth. It feels strange to celebrate art while the spirit of the land is slowly dying. But ÜL was born against this silence. It is a chant to recover energy, to feel united with nature again, to remember where we come from, to hear the birds, the wind, the rivers, the trees. The earth still speaks. And we will keep singing with it”.
Tracklist(English Translation) 1. To Decolonize (3:38) [WATCH] 2. Hummingbird Dream (4:29) 3. Western Storm (3:50) [WATCH] 4. Become a Cougar (5:06) 5. Just Like The Tree (4:24) [WATCH] 6. The War of the Sky (6:13) 7. Dead of the Sun (4:08) 8. Let It Die (3:58) 9. The Last Harp Call (featuring Joe Duplantier from Gojira) (4:42) [WATCH]
Catch Mawiza this summer at select European shows.
Mawiza 2026 European Dates August 6 – Helsinki, Finland @ WTF – Capital of Metal [TICKETS] August 7 – Helsinki, Finland @ Hellsinki Metal Festival [TICKETS] August 12 – Borre, Norway @ Midgardsblot [Acoustic Set] [TICKETS] August 13 – Borre, Norway @ Midgardsblot [Electric Set] [TICKETS] August 15 – København, Denmark @ Stengade [TICKETS]
ÜL means “chant” in Mapuzugun. The album represents the voice of the land, the origin of feeling, the first call to connect with emotions. It is the materialization of a part of the spirit that, for a few seconds, becomes one with the wind—a force we can hear, resonate, communicate with, and return to. ÜL is Mawiza’s indigenous chant, and like smoke, it rises as a message to the skies.
Like their Mapuche ancestors, Mawiza always look back. ÜL chants to awaken the energies that have fallen asleep in the land, using the power of the great cities to resist the noise of imbalance. In this way, the album becomes another element of nature, a force defending itself, speaking in its own language to keep fighting and condemning those who continue to futilely subjugate their own strength.
With ÜL, Mawiza present themself to the world with a decolonizing and empowering mission. The album proclaims that nature possesses consciousness and spirit. Opening song “Wingkawnoam” emphasizes the importance of indigenous Mapuche thought by following dreams as precise guides for one’s path in life.
“Pinhza ñi pewma” is a dream that Mawiza’s vocalist Awka had during a time when hummingbirds were nowhere to be seen. Their chant was absent and the chilco plant was disappearing. In Awka’s dream, four hummingbirds came to feed on the blood from his fingertips, as if it were nectar flowing from the flowers of the chilco.
ÜL pays tribute to nature and Mawiza’s ancestors. “Ngulutu” recalls ancient battles between the Mapuche and the Spanish in Santiago, Chile. “Mamüll Reke”, “Wenu Weychan”, “Lhan Antü”, and “Kalli Lhayay” are filled with rhythms and sounds reminiscent of the most hermetic rituals of the Mapuche people. They were used by shamans to induce trance and heal the sick, to communicate with and greet the spirits of the mountains.
Closing song “Ti Inan Paw-pawkan” features chants from members of Mawiza’s indigenous community, as well as Gojira frontman Joe Duplantier. It is here, during the album’s finale, that the band stake their claim as both indigenous and urban. The song acknowledges the mission entrusted to Mawiza by Mapuche authorities and by the land itself: to raise awareness about balance on Earth in an empowered way and to call for greater attentiveness to Mapuche territory. Otherwise, the consequences will be dire.
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