Swedish rock veterans GRAVEYARD have teamed up with their long time friends GOAT to release a double A-side collaborative 7” for record store day. While the first track ‘Light As A Feather‘ had its digital premiere earlier this month, today sees the digital release of its counter part, ‘Ship Of Fools‘.
Both bands blend their sounds into a twin toke of sweat and singe. Born out of a history of house jams at GOAT HQ, the single unwinds GRAVEYARD‘s more meticulous nature. ‘Ship of Fools‘ unleashes a tsunami of sound, guitars barreling down on the listener with ill intent. The wave crests and quenches, though, leaning into the soul-soaked direction of GRAVEYARD‘s latest album, 6. Head to head the bands dig towards a stadium sound that’s still slicked with the swagger of the ‘70s, but rolled in more of GRAVEYARD‘s grandeur than GOAT’s eclectic grit.
The flip side lights up the speakers, less dense than anything either band has hooked into for some time. The jammy approach that inspired the session pays off throughout ‘Light as a Feather‘, soaking up prime-period Stones if they’d aimed for the heart of the sun with Father Yod in the driver’s seat. Sloughing off the shackles of verse/chorus/verse structure, the song picks up mid-ecstatic peak, the listener already in thrall to the groove, simmering in the sway-along harmonies before an acid-butter burner of a solo sends the whole thing rippling out into the cosmos.
Recent Prosthetic Records signees Maryland deathcore group THUS SPOKE ZARATHUSTRA deliver the second new single ‘Santosha’, and once again demonstrates the bands ability to combine elements of melodeath and deathcore. The track also boasts a guest appearance from one of deathcore’s most revered names, Cameron Argon of Disfiguring The Goddess. The single is taken from their forthcoming album ‘I’m Done With Self Care, It’s Time For Others’ Harm’, and is set for release on May 23rd via Prosthetic Records.
THUS SPOKE ZARATHUSTRA will be releasing their forthcoming sophomore album, I’m Done With Self-Care, It’s Time For Others Harm, on May 23. Intended as an examination on the duality of the self and human existence, I’m Done With Self-Care, It’s Time For Others Harm is a conceptual horror-inspired excavation of the bipolarity of self-betterment and healing with mankind’s more malevolent inclinations towards turmoil, anxiety and vengeance.
Formed as the brainchild of primary songwriter Andy Reynold, THUS SPOKE ZARATHUSTRA draw their influence from the Myspace-era deathcore scene, with the era’s key players legacies felt throughout the album. From opener GGO’s introductory ominous rise and fall of harsh noise giving way to triple threat guitar work that intertwines melodeath leadwork with rhythmic pummel, to I Never Believed In Magic Til My Dog Turned Into A Snake’s tale of malicious revenge set to breakneck blastbeats and belligerently heavy breakdowns, THUS SPOKE ZARATHUSTA pay reverence to all that came before them whilst leaving their own confident and contemporary take on the genre.
Throughout I’m Done With Self-Care, It’s Time For Others Harm’s runtime the inclusion of three guitars adds a ferociously dynamic and punishing quality to their compositions, layering complexities with savage bludgeon. Lyrically complimenting the musicality on show, THUS SPOKE ZARATHUSTRA’s concept is presented as a fragmented world that offers no easy answers. With the album cover adorning main character, Henry Ford, serving as the sadistic antagonist slipping further into a distorted reality of satanism, existential dread, psychological decline and jealousy.
Recording production for I’m Done With Self-Care, It’s Time For Others Harm was handled exclusively by the band before being placed in the trusty hands of Mychal Soto (Peeling Flesh) for mixing and mastering duties. Visually complimenting I’m Done With Self Care, It’s Time For Others Harm’s horror-movie inspirations and aesthetic, THUS SPOKE ZARATHUSTRA recruited Morta Sustain for the album sleeve. Celebrating the arrival of I’m Done With Self Care, It’s Time For Others Harm, the group will be embarking on an extensive 35 date North American release tour.
Track listing:
1. GGO 2. I Can’t Save You 3. Gage Lanza 2: Return Of The Red Hammer 4. I Never Believed In Magic Til My Dog Turned Into A Snake 5. The Final Blow Will Bring Blood 6. Santosha 7. All I Feel Is Cold 8. The Difference Between You And Me Is I Never Got Caught 9. Mithrandir 10. Bereft Of Light
MDC, the acronym that has launched a thousand interpretations, have now added a 1001st to the list, as the Legendary Austin-based warriors unveil their latest album, The Last War – or, More Defiant Covers as they laughingly refer to it.
The much-anticipated follow-up to 2023’s incendiary War is a Racket, The Last War finds the notoriously radicalized punk rock provocateurs rampaging through 80 years of musical history, all the way back to Woody Guthrie’s 1944 composition “All You Fascists Bound To Lose.”
From there, they revisit artists as disparate as The Rolling Stones (“Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker),” from 1973’s Goat’s Head Soup) to The Staple Singers’ “Freedom Highway” – previously covered by Rhiannon Giddens, although MDC’s version could not be more different!
Berkeley hardcore legends Fang’s “Here Come The Cops” is one staggering highlight; Thatcher On Acid’s “No Fuckin War” another. Whoever’s record collection they plundered for this set, it’s a good ‘un!
Especially as it also included Stevie Wonder’s 1974 album Fulfillingness’ First Finale, and it’s his “You Haven’t Done Nothin’” that marks the album’s first single. Just leave your memories of the original at the door, please, although the song nevertheless means a lot to MDC frontman Dave Dictor. He says, “I was fortunate enough to see Little Stevie Wonder at Madison Square Garden along with Three Dog Night… This solidified my desire to fight hard to make my life in music.”
The Last War is as volatile a brew as you could hope for. Who but MDC, after all, could swing so effortlessly from a brain-charring re-envisioning of Iron Maiden’s “Asesinos,” to a take on The Angelic Upstarts’ “Police Oppression” that surpasses even the original’s violent outrage? Or lift The Heart Attacks’ “The Last War” to an entire new level of ironic anger – “We’re so bored and so are you, there’s a war, something to do.”
And then there’s Slayer’s “Americon,” faster and more fiery than even the original could muster. This is NOT an album for the faint of heart. But if you’re ready to fight for what you believe in, this is the soundtrack to all of your plans – an outspoken hardcore firestorm of Modern Day Commentary… or, if you prefer, a Magnificently Deafening Cacophony. Either way, it’s MDC. What more you could ask for?
A person spends all day building a machine, only for it to torture them at night. As if this thought wasn’t malicious enough, they enjoy it. In fact, they enjoy being tortured so much that, come morning, they wake up rejuvenated, eager to tweak their creation until it runs perfectly in their mind.
This is the waking nightmare that inspired the upcoming ninth full-length album from Cryptopsy. “The concept for our new album came to me in a dream. When I woke up, I immediately wrote the title down on my phone”, vocalist Matt McGachy says before adding, “Because, you know, we all have to have our phones with us all the time”.
While an eerie mirror image of society’s latest brain rotting obsession, An Insatiable Violence is influenced by the many mutations that have come to define Cryptopsy’s Hall of Fame discography. On their new album, the JUNO Award winners continue to push death metal to even more blasphemous extremes. While near bursting with the band’s brutal technique, lead single “Until There’s Nothing Left” stakes its claim as their biggest, most vile earworm.
Watch the nightmarish video for “Until There’s Nothing Left”:
“Until There’s Nothing Left” holds nothing back. Just as quickly as the video’s star takes the band’s trusted bait, Cryptopsy lock him inside their freshly fleshed-out house of horror.
“Your greed for pleasure is too vast“, McGachy utters with bottomless disdain thanks to his newly deepened death growls. Christian Donaldson reels through brutal chugs while Oli Pinard snaps off not one but two gruesome bass-slapping solos. After 30+ years behind Cryptopsy’s drum throne, Flo Mounier continues to keep the band on the tips of their horned toes. With devilish ease, he slits between blinding fills, relentless double bass and punishingly precise blast beats without ever leaving the pocket.
“Since our last album, I’ve developed new techniques that make it easier for us to go even faster”, says Mounier, who literally wrote the book on extreme metal drumming. “An Insatiable Violence is a nice melting pot of Cryptopsy’s old and new eras”.
The first taste of their upcoming album does smack you around before springing into a commanding groove. But even though the band’s last album won the JUNO Award for Metal / Hard Music Album just a little more than a year ago, Cryptopsy weren’t content with reaping their rewards. Writing for An Insatiable Violence began in earnest last spring, while they were touring North America with Death to All. Working from the road was new for them. And while not without bumps, playing 140 shows over the past 15 months gave them a clear sense of direction once the time came to hit Donaldson’s studio.
“As Gomorrah Burns was a stepping stone for our new album”, McGachy says. “We took what we enjoyed about the last album and focused on expanding it for a live setting. We wanted this album to be more groovy so that people can really latch onto these songs when we play them live”.
With its headbanger of a chorus, “Until There’s Nothing Left” will no doubt fill the pit when Cryptopsy tours Europe next month with Decapitated. The band’s signature fishhook riff wriggles deep into the grooves in your brain beneath bat-like shrieks. “And as you now can clearly see / You’re totally mine“. Of course, the song wouldn’t represent peak Cryptopsy if it wasn’t filled with a more insidious message. Its sinister story of an online predator feeds into the album’s larger cautionary tale.
“An Insatiable Violence reflects our toxic relationship with social media”, explains McGachy, who’s been feeling the effects since starting his podcast Vox & Hops. “I’m trying to break the cycle, but on those days where I’m just doom scrolling, I get so depressed. The fallacy of Internet stardom is just a dopamine trap that crushes our spirits”.
Cryptopsy know not every brutal technical death metal band is on the upswing nine albums into their career. The cover art for An Insatiable Violence pays tribute to their late, great vocalist Martin Lacroix.
“Martin did None So Live, but he never really got to do a proper album”, the band says. “His art is amazing. The two pieces of his that we used for An Insatiable Violence are incredible. His family was super excited about it, too. We are honored to have him be an even bigger part of Cryptopsy’s lore”.
The video for “Until There’s Nothing Left” was written and directed by Christopher Kells.
Additional video credits Photography directed by Graham Guertin Lighting by Giuseppe Calvinisti Casting by Giuseppe Valvinisti and Viky Boyer Location selected by Manoir Blackswan Main Actor – Nicolas Raspail Extras – Viky Boyer, Dominic Abate, Jason Greenberg, Liz Imperiale, Jeff Mott, Ardaeth, Gabriel Bernier, Tania Hébert, Misha Standjofski, Gabriel Rondeque-parent
Tracklist 1. The Nimis Adoration (4:10) 2. Until There’s Nothing Left (3:59) [WATCH] 3. Dead Eyes Replete (3:57) 4. Fools Last Acclaim (3:26) 5. The Art of Emptiness (4:16) 6. Our Great Deception (4:21) 7. Embrace the Nihility (3:50) 8. Malicious Needs (5:52) Total runtime 32:04
Cryptopsy are giving their hungry fans overseas an early helping of An Insatiable Violence. Next month, they’re playing “Until There’s Nothing Left” and other songs off their new album while touring Europe alongside Decapitated, Warbringer and Carnation.
“Europe, get ready!”, Cryptopsy says. “With over 30 dates across the continent, this tour promises relentless energy, crushing riffs and unforgettable nights”
Infernal Bloodshed Over Europe 2025 May 1 – Kopervik, NO @ Karmbygeddon* May 3 – London, UK @ Incineration Festival May 4 – Exeter, UK @ Phoenix May 5 – Birmingham, UK @ Asylum May 6 – Newcastle, UK @ Anarchy Brewery May 7 – Glasgow, UK @ Slay May 8 – Manchester, UK @ Academy 2 May 9 – Swansea, UK @ Sin City May 10 – Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Rooms May 11 – Norwich, UK @ The Waterfront May 13 – Lille, FR @ The Black Lab May 14 – Enschede, NL @ Metropool May 15 – Munich, DE @ Backstage May 16 – Aarau, CH @ KiFF May 17 – Lindau, DE @ Vaudeville May 18 – Vienna, AT @ Szene May 19 – Budapest, HU @ Dürer Kert May 20 Prague, CZ @ Fuchs2 May 21 – Schweinfurt, DE @ Stattbahnhof May 22 – Dresden, DE @ Blauer Salon May 23 – Krakow, PL @ Hype Park May 24 – Warsaw, PL @ Proxima May 26 – Berlin, DE @ Hole44 May 27 – Aarhus, DK @ Voxhall May 28 – Hamburg, DE @ Logo May 29 – Vechta, DE @ Gulfhaus May 30 – Dortmund, DE @ Junkyard May 31 – Sint-Niklaas, BE @ Casino June 1 – Paris, FR @ La Machine June 2 – Esch Sur Alzette, LU @ Kulturfabrik June 3 – Frankfurt, DE @ Das Bett June 4 – Karlsruhe, DE @ Substage June 5 – Milan, IT @ Legend Club June 6 – Bologna, IT @ Locomotiv June 7 – Lyon, FR @ Lions Metal Fest June 8 – Maastricht, NL @ South of Heaven *Decapitated Only
Metalheads who are chomping at the bit for An Insatiable Violence can further their appetite by revisiting Cryptopsy’s hallowed catalogue. Since signing with Season of Mist in 2024, the band have reissued their 1993 demo Ungentle Exhumation, the widely-worshiped None So Vile, their triumphant self-titled and The Book of Suffering Tome I + II, which is now available for the first time on one combined LP.
More than 30 years into their storied career, Montreal death metal innovators Cryptopsy return with their ninth studio album, An Insatiable Violence, set for release on June 20, 2025 on Season of Mist.
Revered in extreme metal circles for such groundbreaking classics as 1994’s Blasphemy Made Flesh and the 1996 magnum opus None So Vile, Cryptopsy find yet another gear on An Insatiable Violence, which further solidifies the band’s place in the upper echelon of death metal. Coming out of the pandemic, the band dedicated themselves to staying on top of their game more than ever before, with the intention of consistently putting out a new record every two years. That started with 2023’s acclaimed As Gomorrah Burns, and continues 21 months later with An Insatiable Violence.
“We had to write the majority of An Insatiable Violence while on the Death to All tour, which was something we’d never done before”, vocalist Matt McGachy says. “Flo [Mounier, drums] and Chris [Donaldson, guitar] really put their hats on. It was a feat”.
“Ever since COVID our focus is clearer, a lot of work gets done faster, and we push each other to get it done.”, Mounier says.
In addition to featuring some of the fastest passages Cryptopsy has ever recorded – keen listeners will even hear the odd gravity blast from Mounier, a rarity from the virtuoso drummer – the controlled chaos of their signature sound is offset by well-timed passages that ease off the gas pedal enough to allow listeners to come up for some air. That dynamic rage on An Insatiable Violence in turn makes the more aggressive moments hit even harder, which is immediately noticeable on the harrowing “Until There’s Nothing Left” and the chugging closing track “Malicious Needs”. Olivier Pinard anchors “Fools Last Acclaim” with stunning authority (keeping pace with Mounier is an unenviable task) while Donaldson offsets gnarly, atonal riffs with melodic passages throughout the record. “It’s a continuation of As Gomorrah Burns,” McGachy says, “We really wanted to make a groovy record, and we think we’ve done it.”
It seems as though nothing is scarier than real life right now, and An Insatiable Violence is a commentary on today’s society as though filtered through the transgressive, countercultural perspectives of J.G. Ballard and David Cronenberg.
“It all came to me in a dream in August 2023,” elaborates McGachy. “I woke up, I took my phone, and I wrote down the title of the record. It’s about a person that wakes up every day and fixes a machine. Tinkers with it, tries to make it better all day long, sweating in the sun, and then at night, they strap themself into this machine and the machine tortures them, and they love it. Then they wake up the next day and fix it again to make it more efficient, to keep harnessing it, and then just keep doing it over and over again.
While fantastically twisted, An Insatiable Violence mirrors our toxic relationship with social media. “We’re continuously trying to feed this algorithm of the machine while it’s totally tearing us apart socially and psychologically”, McGachy continues. “’The Nimis Adoration’ is about mukbang, these Korean people that eat too much food on the Internet. Piles and piles of food. A poor girl died on a live cam”.
At the center of the album is the mind-boggling percussion skill of Mounier, arguably the most imposing Canadian drummer not named Peart, who dominates such standout tracks as “Dead Eyes Replete”, “Fools Last Acclaim”, and “Embrace the Nihility”. “I look at Flo as an Olympic athlete,” says McGachy. “I want to push this guy to go a lot faster than Cryptopsy’s previous releases. We have so much more to give, and I wanted just drain it all out of him while he’s still at the top of his game, because he is. He’s crushing.”
“I mix up a lot of a physical activity, like resistance training into the drumming,” Mounier says. “I recently developed new techniques that make it easier to go even faster, so I tried to push that on this album. My focus is now more on dynamics and the touch of the snare, a certain snap of the snare, a rim shot on the snare, the toms, a light touch or a hard touch. Live, I can really let go, you know, give the sound guy a hard time,” he adds with a laugh.
For McGachy, who has always boasted a powerful, guttural death growl, the rigors of touring have enabled him to evolve as a vocalist, and he turns in a revelatory performance on An Insatiable Violence. In addition to ear-scraping screams that rival George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher, McGachy unleashes the deepest, filthiest death growls of his career. “Gomorrah was the first album that I recorded with my full false chord scream, which is something that I’d only just touched on The Book of Suffering: Tome II in little sections,” he says. “We did at least 140 shows since Gomorrah. I exclusively did my false chords during all the songs that we performed on None So Vile and Blasphemy Made Flesh. And then, when we did go into the studio for An Insatiable Violence, Chris would be like, ‘Deeper, you must go deeper!’”
Another fearsome vocalist from Cryptopsy’s lore pops back into the booth on An Insatiable Violence. “When we were recording the vocals for ‘Embrace the Nihility’, Chris had the idea of ending the song with the same vocal pattern as the end of ‘…and Then It Passes’”, McGachy remembers. “We figured if we were going to rip ourselves off, then we may as well get the real thing. We were honored that Mike DiSalvo accepted. We are all huge fans of Cryptopsy’s DiSalvo era. His vocals on this album are an ultra Easter egg for our fans”.
In addition to the effusive praise As Gomorrah Burns received from within the metal scene, the 2023 album achieved a first for Cryptopsy: earning them their first ever JUNO Award in 2024 for Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year. “We had little-to-no expectations of winning” says McGachy. ”We didn’t even go to the ceremonies because we were on tour in Europe with Atheist. On the day we found out that we won, we had a crazy 18-hour drive from Derby to Germany, plus a ferry ride. But we still partied for 48 hours. Flo bought an expensive bottle of champagne”.
Cryptopsy recognize that not every death metal band sticks around long enough to win a Canadian Grammy 30 years into their career. The cover art for An Insatiable Violence was created by the late, great vocalist Martin Lacroix. “The album artwork has got to be one of the most important things to us!”, the band says. “Martin Lacroix was one of our vocalists, one of our great friends and one of the nicest people that anyone could have the privilege to meet. We really wish he was here with us to share this moment. His perfect smile would say it all! Rest in peace brother”.
With Cryptopsy’s latest career renaissance showing no signs of slowing down, the recent accolades are only the beginning. An Insatiable Violence reaches a new peak in a career loaded with them.
Lineup Flo Mounier – Drums Matt McGachy – Vocals Christian Donaldson – Guitar Oli Pinard – Bass
Recording, Mixing & Mastering Studio Christian Donaldson’s Studio
Production, Sound & Mixing Engineer Christian Donaldson
Guest Musicians Mike DiSalvo performs vocals on “Embrace the Nihility”
French post-metal collective Year of No Light return with their highly unique, evocative live album Les Maîtres Fous, to be released 23rd May via the esteemed Pelagic Records.
Haunting, discordant and deeply unsettling, Les Maîtres Fous (‘The Mad Masters’) was written by the group in response to French filmmaker Jean Rouch’s controversial 1950’s docufiction of the same name.
Captured live in 2015, this arresting piece of music is now available to hear for the first time in a decade.
To acknowledge the album announcement, the group have streamed an excerpt from the album. Listen here:
Commissioned by Musée Du Quai Branly in Paris for their 2012 ‘L’Invention Du Sauvage’ exhibition, Year of No Light approached the ritual practices of the Hauka movement as depicted in the original film and responded with their uniquely hypnotic heaviness. Performed only twice, once at the exhibition on the 6th January, 2012 and again in Bordeaux on the 29th January, 2015 – this release is a live recording of the second and final performance of Les Maîtres Fous. Whilst Year of No Light have a long history of collaboration with forward-thinking filmmakers and visual artists, the sensitivity of this documentary’s problematic subject matter and the intensity of the band’s performance made this performance both a physically and emotionally demanding experience; something that can be keenly felt upon listening.
Founded in September 2001 by a collection of Bordeaux’s heavy scene stalwarts as an ongoing side project encompassing elements of sludge metal and shoegaze, Year of No Light released their debut album, Nord, in 2006 to critical acclaim. The subsequent years however saw a significant line-up change, with the band replacing their vocalist with a third guitarist to become a fully instrumental sextet, incorporating aspects of black metal, drone electronica and dark ambient into their already formidable sound.
2010’s four-track epic Ausserwelt and the 2013 follow-up Tocsin saw Year of No Light distilling their punishing sound even further; stalling the tempo to a glacial crawl and tuning guitars ever downwards to new uncharted depths. Consolamentum, the band’s first full-length release in nine years and their first with Pelagic Records, brought the outfit’s crushing double-drumming percussion to the fore – as a masterclass in dynamic control saw Year of No Light embrace the highest highs and the lowest lows of the intervening years.
Now approaching their 25th anniversary, Les Maître Fous is a pressing reminder that, despite the band’s long and ongoing journey, Year of No Light have never been afraid to experiment, to take risks, to square up to life’s ugliness and look it straight in the eye.
Year of No Light are: Bertrand Sebenne Shiran Kaidine Mathieu Megemont Pierre Anouilh Johan Sebenne Jerome Alban
US melodic rockers Double Vision are thrilled to debut their first single and accompanying lyric video, “Silence Is Louder”, out now via Frontiers Music Srl.
Vocalist Chandler Mogel commented on the single: “Silence Is Louder” evokes late 70’s / early-era Foreigner with a fresh flair and approach for the modern melodic rock era. The concept is a powerful one, because silence often leaves room for interpretation, reflection and sometimes even tension. And in that space, emotions can grow louder than spoken language ever could. Ironically, we believe that conveyance of this concept through music is just what the doctor ordered – as people experience these concepts manifested in relationships, in protest or defiance, or also in communication. All very important factors of life and for this day and age”.
Born as a Foreigner tribute band in the United States, Double Vision honed their craft performing to lively and sold-out crowds up and down the east coast and across the country, soon becoming a real live attraction.
With a lineup boasting some of New York City’s top professional rock musicians and well-known faces of the scene, including dynamic frontman and singer Chandler Mogel (Outloud, Jeff Waters’ Amerikan Kaos, Punky Meadows, etc.), super drummer Scott Duboys (ex-Warrior Soul) and bass player Scott Metaxas (ex-Prophet) as well as guitar virtuosos Chris Schwartz and Paul Baccash, and keyboard maestro Alex Lubin, Double Vision recently considered working on their own music, still owing a debt and strong influence to the Foreigner sound.
Double Vision now makes its foray into the world of original music. While they showed they are truly second to none at recreating the masterful songs Foreigner fans worldwide have come to love, Double Vision now enters the second phase of their career, primed and ready to establish a strong foothold in the melodic rock realm with a sound that truly recreates the magic of the 80’s rock vibe with a contemporary take.
Line Up: Chandler Mogel – vocals Scott Duboys – drums Scott Metaxas – bass Chris Schwartz and Paul Baccash – guitars Alex Lubin – keyboards
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s ASA unveil the long-overdue release of "Collective Failure" + first music video for title-track! Check it out and stay tuned for more news! Click image to watch the video
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s SARCOFAGUS return with a Historic 2010 Concert Video Premiere on YouTube! Click image to watch the video
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Visionary artist KIMMO KUUSNIEMI's ANCIENT STREAMING ASSEMBLY (ASA) have released “Aurora Nuclearis”, a powerful 12-minute audiovisual experience, dedicated to the Late Keyboardist Esa Kotilainen. - Click image to watch the video
Click image to watch the video
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