Congratulations to Portland trio Hippie Death Cult on signing to Metal Blade Records imprint Blacklight Media. The powerhouse three-piece already had tours lined up for this summer on the West Coast and this Fall in the EU and UK, and the new label home — they’re labelmates to Gozu — follows a stint on Heavy Psych Sounds that was two studio albums, one live record and a split, and that saw the band tour domestically and internationally while rebuilding themselves in their current configuration. Obviously, the hard work they’ve put in to this point has gotten them noticed. Now they get to celebrate with — wait for it — more hard work.

As you can see below, this signing announcement is preface to a new album, which is due out in 2027 and will surely result in more touring. I don’t know the status of their next record, which will be the follow-up to 2023’s can-I-spell-it-right-by-memory-let’s-find-out Helichrysum (review here), as well as their fourth LP overall, but putting word out of this signing is a part of the promo process even if a preliminary one, and so the cycle has begun. I look forward to where their next outing will take them, figuratively in terms of their sound and literally in terms of touring.

Good news to warm the heart, courtesy of the PR wire:

HIPPIE DEATH CULT: Portland Heavy Rock Power Trio Signs To Blacklight Media/Metal Blade Records; US + EU/UK Tour Dates Announced

Blacklight Media/Metal Blade Records are pleased to announce the signing of heavy rock power trio HIPPIE DEATH CULT.

The band comments, “We are beyond excited to announce our signing with Blacklight Media and Metal Blade Records, a label that has been a pillar of the metal community for decades and has always championed artistic integrity over trend-chasing, which is something we resonate with deeply. We are honored to be part of their esteemed lineage.

“Our journey has always been fueled by passion, creativity, and authenticity and we feel right at home working with a team who understands and shares these values. We can’t wait to unleash some of our most visceral music to date via one of the most respected labels in heavy metal history. Fires are burning and wheels are turning.”

HIPPIE DEATH CULT has steadily become one of the most exciting bands in the modern heavy music scene, pairing massive riffs, deep grooves, psychedelic textures, thoughtful lyricism, and hypnotizing melodies into a sound that feels both classic and contemporary. Formed in Portland, Oregon, the trio — guitarist Eddie Brnabic, vocalist/bassist Laura Phillips, and drummer Harry Silvers — has earned a reputation for delivering dynamic, emotionally charged songs and electrifying live performances that showcase their distinctive sound, transcending traditional genres and captivating fans worldwide.

Since their early releases with Cursed Tongue Records and Heavy Psych Sounds Records, the band has built significant momentum. Their 2019 debut album, 111, and its 2021 follow-up, Circle Of Days, received strong praise from critics and listeners alike, with both records topping the Doom Charts and numerous “Best Of” lists, solidifying HIPPIE DEATH CULT as a standout name in the underground scene.

Following these releases, the band’s evolution into a power trio marked a turning point, with Laura Phillips stepping into lead vocal duties and infusing even more identity and force into the group’s sound and chemistry. This progression came fully into focus on Helichrysum, the band’s first full-length studio album featuring Phillips on lead vocals. Released in 2023, the album was widely praised for its stronger songwriting, greater dynamic range, and the chemistry of the new lineup, becoming their most successful release to date in terms of streams and sales.

The band supported Helichrysum with over 250 shows across North America and Europe, including performances on major festival stages and headlining spots, further showcasing the raw power and intensity that have made their live shows a must-see.

Now signed to Blacklight Media and Metal Blade Records, HIPPIE DEATH CULT is entering a new phase with the most reach and momentum of their career. With a growing international fanbase, an increasingly refined sound, and a new release on the horizon, the band is poised to take the next leap forward. Stay tuned for a new full-length in 2027.

The band will be roadbound for the remaining weeks of Summer and much of the Fall beginning with a US tour that runs from August 14th through September 12th. HIPPIE DEATH CULT will head to Europe and the United Kingdom on September 30th for another stretch of live dates through November 1st.

“After months of dedicated work behind the scenes, transforming our garage into a creative sanctuary and crafting a new album, we’re pumped to finally hit the road again this Summer and Fall,” the band notes. “This tour is all about reconnecting with our incredible fans across the States and Europe, welcoming new recruits, jamming on some classics, and giving everyone in attendance a chance to be among the first to experience some new material before it hits the streets. We can’t wait to share these transcendent moments with you all!”

See all confirmed dates below.

HIPPIE DEATH CULT Live:
8/14/2026 Mississippi Studios – Portland, OR w/ Abronia **
8/20/2026 Sunset Tavern – Seattle, WA w/ Earth Tongue **
8/21/2026 Silver Moon Brewing – Bend, OR w/ Earth Tongue **
8/22/2026 The Dip – Redding, CA w/ Earth Tongue **
8/23/2026 Rickshaw Stop – San Francisco, CA w/ Earth Tongue **
8/24/2026 Zebulon – Los Angeles, CA w/ Earth Tongue **
8/25/2026 Hotel Congress – Tucson, AZ w/ Earth Tongue **
8/26/2026 Whiskey Creek Zocalo – Arenas Valley, NM **
8/27/2026 Copeka Coffee – Grand Junction, CO **
8/28/2026 Green Mountain Ranch – Pine, CO **
8/29/2026 What’s Left Records – Colorado Springs, CO **
8/31/2026 The Sinkhole – St. Louis, MO **
9/01/2026 Raccoon Motel – Davenport, IA **
9/02/2026 X-Ray Arcade – Cudahy, WI **
9/03/2026 Black Circle Brewing Co. – Indianapolis, IN w/ The Well
9/04/2026 Frankie’s – Toledo, OH w/ The Obsessed
9/05/2026 Reggie’s Music Joint – Chicago, IL w/ The Obsessed
9/06/2026 James Ballentine Uptown VFW Post 246 – Minneapolis, MN w/ The Obsessed
9/08/2026 Reverb – Omaha, NE w/ The Obsessed
9/09/2026 Hi-Dive – Denver, CO w/ The Obsessed
9/10/2026 The DLC – Salt Lake City, UT w/ The Obsessed
9/11/2026 The Shredder – Boise, ID w/ The Obsessed
9/12/2026 The Chainsaw Cat – Yakima, WA **
** HIPPIE DEATH CULT headlining date

EU/UK Tour Dates:
9/30/2026 Scumm – Pescara, IT
10/01/2026 Freakout – Bologna, IT
10/02/2026 MKNŽ – Ilirska Bistrica, SI
10/03/2026 Kino – Ebensee, AT
10/04/2026 Up In Smoke – Pratteln, CH
10/05/2026 Brin De Zinc – Chambery, FR
10/06/2026 Le Molotov – Marseille, FR
10/07/2026 Trinità Live Club – Genova, IT
10/08/2026 Hostaria – Castel D’Ario, IT
10/09/2026 Berchtesgaden – Kuckucksnest, DE
10/10/2026 Kulturfabrik – Kufstein, AT
10/11/2026 Camäleon – Vaduz, LI
10/13/2026 Conne Island – Leipzig, DE
10/14/2026 Sunny Red – Munich, DE
10/16/2026 HPS Fest – Berlin, DE
10/17/2026 HPS Fest – Dresden, DE
10/18/2026 Desertfest – Liege, BE
10/19/2026 1001 Bières – Reims, FR
10/21/2026 TBC – Copenhagen, DK
10/22/2026 Geronimo’s – Stockholm, SE
10/23/2026 Høstsabbat Fest – Oslo, NO
10/24/2026 Kulturscenen – Esbjerg, DK
10/27/2026 Mist Rolling Inn – Nottingham, UK
10/28/2026 Parish – Huddersfield, UK
10/29/2026 Voodoo Daddy’s Showroom – Norwich, UK
10/30/2026 Blondies – London, UK
10/31/2026 Moor Beer – Bristol, UK
11/01/2026 Saturnalia Records – Faversham, UK

HIPPIE DEATH CULT is:
Laura Phillips – Bass/Vocals
Eddie Brnabic – Guitar
Harry Silvers – Drums

https://www.hippiedeathcultband.com/
https://hippiedeathcult.bandcamp.com/
https://soundcloud.com/hippie-death-cult
https://instagram.com/hippiedeathcultband/
https://www.facebook.com/hippiedeathcultband/

http://www.blacklightmediarecords.com/
https://www.instagram.com/blacklightmediaofficial/
https://www.facebook.com/BlacklightMediaOfficial/

Hippie Death Cult, Helichrysum (2023)

Hippie Death Cult, “Red Giant” live at Star Theater

The tour below that Edinburgh heavy progressive metallers DVNE are currently dug into began on Feb. 5. Does that make this old news? Yeah, it does. Think we can live with that? Good.

I’ll note that the live set for the rippers’ new release, Live at Hellfest — no need to call it anything else — was captured in 2023, and so their 2024 album, Voidkind (review here), doesn’t feature at all. No complaints with the instead-featuring 2021 outing, Etemen Ænka (review here), however, and if you’re dying to hear some of the Voidkind stuff, I’ll direct you to the band’s Bandcamp linked below, where 2025’s Live at the Biscuit Factory (discussed here) awaits with four tracks from the latest offering.

Both, arguably, are stopgaps, but unlike the more complainy wing of the internet, I happen to dig it when more things I like show up. Both are also streaming at the bottom of this post, along with the full video of the Hellfest ’23 set.

So yeah, DVNE are on tour now with Igorrr, and the run goes through the end of the month. Dates and info on the live outing follow, courtesy of the PR wire:

DVNE Announces Live At Hellfest Release Ahead Of Igorrr Support Tour

Scottish progressive metal band DVNE announces the release of their powerful performance at Hellfest Open Air 2023. Live At Hellfest features a selection of songs exclusively from DVNE’s acclaimed album Etemen Ænka, showcasing the band’s crushing heaviness, atmospheric depth, and commanding live presence. Recorded in front of a massive festival audience, the release captures the raw energy and immersive sound that has made DVNE one of the most compelling acts in modern progressive metal.

Live At Hellfest arrives as DVNE prepares to hit the road as support for Igorrr, marking an exciting new chapter for the band and offering fans a raw snapshot of their live presence.

Download it HERE: https://songs-of-arrakis.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-hellfest

Formed in Edinburgh in 2013 by displaced Frenchman Victor Vicart and native Scot Dudley Tait, post-metal prog-sludge artisans DVNE have been building a powerful head of steam since their second album, 2021’s kaleidoscopically mesmerizing Etemen Ænka. Their first release for the legendary Metal Blade Records label, the LP was a concerted hike up the greasy pole for this enigmatic outfit, enabling DVNE to embark on UK and European headline tours and win spots at such discerning festivals as Hellfest, ArcTanGent, Desertfest, Damnation, and Resurrection. Then the stunning third album Voidkind in 2024 propelled this expanded five-piece lineup (welcoming Maxime Keller on keyboards) to the top of their game.

Certainly, Voidkind succeeds in finding new modes of expression for DVNE. The songs are more pointed, direct and memorable, but the soundscape still has a radiant, evolving, hypnotic flow, the effect achieved with fewer layers of sonic ornamentation, consciously urging closer to DVNE’s incendiary live sound.

DVNE w/ Igorrr, Thoughtcrimes:
2/10/2026 Kino Siska – Ljubljana, SI
2/11/2026 Gasometer – Vienna, AT
2/12/2026 Roxy – Prague, CZ
2/13/2026 Barba Negra – Budapest, HU
2/14/2026 Progresia – Warsaw, PL
2/16/2026 Loftas – Vilnius, LT
2/17/2026 Helitehas – Tallinn, EE
2/18/2026 Kulttuuritalo – Helsinki, FI
2/20/2026 Fryshuset – Stockholm, SE
2/21/2026 Rockefeller – Oslo, NO
2/22/2026 Amager Bio – Copenhagen, DK
2/24/2026 Metropol – Berlin, DE
2/25/2026 FZW – Dortmund, DE
2/26/2026 Tivoli – Utrecht, NL
2/27/2026 L’Aeronef – Lille, FR
2/28/2026 Le 106 – Rouen, FR

DVNE:
Victor Vicart – guitars, vocals
Daniel Barter – guitars, vocals
Dudley Tait – drums
Alexandros Keros – bass
Maxime Keller – keys

https://songs-of-arrakis.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/dvne_uk
https://www.facebook.com/DvneUK

https://www.metalblade.com
https://www.instagram.com/metalbladerecords
https://www.facebook.com/metalbladerecords

DVNE, Live at Hellfest full set video

DVNE, Live at Hellfest (2026)

DVNE, Live at The Biscuit Factory (2025)

Tell your normie friends you have a doctor’s appointment or something, because the Quarterly Review is back with day two of five, bringing another round of 10 releases to bear in succession rapid enough to be modern without, you know, actually being written by a computer. Unless you consider the entire universe a hologram, in which case, technically, everything is done by a computer. Processor sucks though. That’s why you get lags. And fascism.

But enough of that. More of this.

Quarterly Review #11-20:

Primordial, Live in New York City

A Primordial live album? Fine. Recorded in New York? Fine. Whatever. Just hook it to my veins and be done with it. The stalwart Dublin post-black-metallers have long since established their mastery of form, and frankly, the more examples there are of them doing the thing, so much the better for future generations to learn from. That’s only funny if you think I’m kidding. The 99 minutes of Live in New York City are a document of Primordial not at their most furious or unhinged, or at their most atmospheric, graceful or doomed, but they are stately in “The Golden Spiral,” “As Rome Burns” and the ever-epic “Bloodied Yet Unbowed.” I remain a sucker for “Empire Falls” and “No Grave Deep Enough,” that era, but newer material like “How it Ends” and “Victory Has 1,000 Fathers, Defeat is an Orphan” resonate well alongside what to my mind are classics, emphasizing the vitality and stage presence that remain in Primordial. If it’s a victory lap, or contractually obligated, or whatever, I don’t care. It’s Primordial. There’s no stronger endorsement you could give it than to say that.

Primordial website

Metal Blade Records website

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Cattlemass, Alpha 1128

Cattlemass have a live lineup, but the studio debut from the band was written, played and tracked by Chris Price, and the eight songs of Alpha 1128 (shades of THX 1138 in the title) would seem to be harnessing his vision of a mostly mid-tempo doom metal that’s not afraid to break out and rock a bit or dig into a creeper procession like “Infecticide.” Starting with its longest track in “Chant of Cthulhu,” Price enacts a thickly toned nod that holds even as “Eternal Beast” tosses psych flourish into its midsection. Some of the production reveals a background in metal — the muted stops in “Replicant,” complementing a robotic theme, bring the wavform all the way down; stoner recordings leave the amp hum — but there’s attention to atmosphere around that, both in “Intermission” and the instrumental finale “Exit Oblivion” and in the later reaches of “The Wizard” and the largesse that swells as “Nachthexen” rolls through its midsection. I’ll be curious to discover where Price goes from here, and if Cattlemass‘ next LP might be a full-band affair.

Cattlemass on Bandcamp

Cattlemass on Instagram

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Honeybadger, Let There Be Light

Though the intro guitar on “Before the Crash” seems to call out to original-era Mediterranean psychedelic rock, Athenian four-piece Honeybadger are nothing if not terrestrial. Specifically, grounded in desert-heavy and catchy songwriting, with their second album, Let There Be Light coming five years after their debut, Pleasure Delayer (review here), which they spent years supporting. Queens of the Stone Age remain a primary influence, though “Before the Crash” pushes outside this in its melody and “Filth and Disorder” hits harder and “Empty-Handed” is more fuzzed, and as with the first album, there are personality aspects that shine through as “The Green” answers in its riff the call of the opener and the horn arrangement in the closing title-track plays a dirge. It’s been a minute, and the LP feels short at 32 minutes, but the tradeoff is the songs are tight and sharply delivered and I’ll take that every time. Honeybadger took their time to make it, but what they’ve made is a step forward.

Honeybadger website

SODEH Records website

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Blue Heron, Emulations

Not gonna feign impartiality here, as I consider Blue Heron frontman Jadd Shickler a friend and he’s someone I’ve worked with for over 20 years, but what I will say is that I very much dug 2024’s Everything Fades (review here), and Emulations builds on that with included live versions of “Everything Fades” and “Swansong” (as well as two cuts from the first LP) recorded at KUNM in the band’s native Albuquerque, while pushing ahead with a new original track “Marigold” that’s a highlight, and three covers — Fudge Tunnel‘s “Grey,” Clutch‘s “The House That Peterbilt” and Floor‘s “Find Away” — that emphasize the flexibility of the band around their heavy desert core. “Grey” is vicious at its heaviest, “Find Away” is admirably loyal to the original in its weighted blowout, and the Clutch tune gets a gruff treatment, but the melodies in “Marigold” and the energy in the live takes give a full album’s worth of satisfaction while packaged as an EP to take on tour. Mark it a win.

Blue Heron on Bandcamp

Blues Funeral Recordings website

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Stoned Spirit, Inside Me

Stoned Spirit offer big hooks, thoughtful songcraft, progressive arrangements and a sense of the material as an outreach to the listener. It’s my first experience with the band, who also had an album out in 2016, but from the voicing of all “Mankind” in the opener through the uptick in tonal density as the built-into title-track unfurls its lumber, there doesn’t seem to be a moment on Inside Me that one would call ‘unconsidered.’ This is a strength to the listening experience because the four-piece — vocalist Tony, guitarist Marios (also backing vocals), bassist Titos and drummer Chris — kind of sound like they’ve been hammering out this material for nine years. Or if not all nine, certainly some statistically significant portion of that span. That’s a complement to how dug-in Stoned Spirit are to their approach, satisfying in its atmosphere and movement alike, but mature as the songs feel they remain expressive in the stories they’re telling.

Stoned Spirit on Bandcamp

Stoned Spirit on Instagram

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Ravenswood, Rites of the Let Down

The two-song opening salvo of “Red Eyes in the Hollow” and “Oath of the Stream” doesn’t necessarily set you up for the full scope of Ravenswood‘s six-track debut album, Rites of the Let Down, which from those shorter and punchier pieces unfurls four longer, significantly-more-likely-to-be-called-“slabs” of doom leaning into psychedelia. The pairing of those two isn’t new, obviously, but Ravenswood make it feel dramatic as they reroute “Where You Won’t Be” or the willfully choppy title-track from darker processions into tripped-out jams — stark changes that are executed with remarkable fluidity and, in the case of the title-track, patience. “Holler Knows” might be where they find the middle-ground, but it’ll be another record or two before we know if that’s actually something they’re pursuing, and the post-grunge vocal melody and meme-ready last slowdown in closer “Solid Psychonaut” also bode well if we’re looking for things to bode. There’s room to grow and the production is raw, but Rites of the Let Down operates with individuality as part of its intention.

Ravenswood on Bandcamp

LINK

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Sum of R, Spectral

Maybe it’s somewhat counterintuitive, but in the pushing-out extremity of “Solace,” in the slow cinematic drones of “Cold Signtures,” in the synthy expanse of “Null” and the guitarrier (yeah I said that) reaches of “The Solution,” but what might be Sum of R‘s seventh album can be as stark, grim and desolate as it wants in “Agglomeration” with G. Stuart Dahlquist sitting in, and the penultimate “Violate” can hit a crescendo like what if post-black-metal-and-screamo-but-not-awful and it still to me just sounds like a celebration. There’s no getting away from it. Spectral is dark, and it often feels unremitting across its 49 punishment-prone minutes, but all of it is a celebration nonetheless — of creativity, of outsiderism, otherism, of searching for ideals beyond the mainstream and finding depth in places others would fear to go. It almost can’t help but be beautiful, otherwise consuming as the darkness is.

Sum of R website

Sum of R on Bandcamp

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Atomic Saman, Saman The Doom

Gritty stoner-doom nod pervades the debut release Saman The Doom from Shanghai-based trio Atomic Saman. Opener “Fuzzonaut” is instrumental, but after the Jeff Goldblum sample, “F.L.Y.” has vocals in its rolling, raw-tracked miasma. The grooves are loose as “F.L.Y.” plods into the bassy opening of nine-minute centerpiece “Torture Machine” (sample from A Clockwork Orange there) and the low-mixed stoner-chant is part of what unfolds, but Atomic Saman run deep in the addled ethereal, and “Torture Machine” and the subsequent, tops-10-minutes “Brain COP” keep immersion central, so it works. Closer “Weedsky (Live in CAVE)” is lumbering enough to make you think they actually went to a cave to capture it, and reveals something of an Electric Wizard influence underlying, but Atomic Saman are less horror and more red-eyed paranoia and that suits the exhausted-with-the-world disaffection as well as the trance factor here just fine.

Atomic Saman on Bandcamp

SloomWeep Productions on Bandcamp

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Moonstone, Age of Mycology

By the time they’re most of the way through sub-three-minute opener “A New Dawn” and the command is issued to, “Bow to mycelium cown,” I’m ready. With some rolling fluidity inherited perhaps from their countrymen in Dopelord and mellow vocals over purple-hued doomly fuzz, the lumber is strong with Kraków four-piece, who bring ambience alongside crush with the open spaces (gradually filled via tone) of “Glorious Decay,” the brash shove of “Primordial,” the daring toward ethereality of “This Barren Place,” and so on. “Disco Inferno” moves, but “Primordial” sprints, making for an interesting pair late, where back at the outset “Crooked One” and “Glorious Decay” bring moodier engrossing. It resolves, perhaps inevitably, with a 13-minute title-track that is a journey unto itself with multi-tiered solos, progressive expanse and a little flourish of goth in its verses. “Age of Mycology” fits as a summary for the LP that carries its name, with a speedier crescendo waiting after a murky slog to get there, righteously bleak but not hopeless. Dooming on their own wavelength, they are.

Moonstone on Bandcamp

Interstellar Smoke Records store

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Wooden Tape, Wool

A sampling experiment like “Alpine Pop” and the tuning-in-a-radio on “A Nutty and a Texan Bar Please,” the veering from “Saturday Morning” from serene meditation to harsher drone — these are just examples of the many ways in which Wooden Tape‘s Wool basks in the details. Songs like “The Moroccan House” and “Croxteth Hall,” the five-minute “Beneath the Weeping Willow Tree,” etc., have a foundation in blending often-acoustic guitar and electronics/synth, so there’s basically an infinity of room for UK-based solo artist Tim Maycox to explore whatever reaches he might choose. On “Kirby Market,” he imagines a kind of pastoralia with Mellotron and chimes, a thud behind for percussion, whereas it’s raining on “Laundrette Sunday” and the arrangement becomes a jangle of cascading elements, departing the strum of “Crescent Town” and seeming to cap the weekend conveyed through the tracks’ procession by packing a full day in the final 1:42. Some Sundays are like that.

Wooden Tape on Bandcamp

God Unknown Records Linktr.ee

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I follow DVNE — who are on tour now in Europe; I’ll see them later this week in Oslo — on Bandcamp, so I got the email for it when Live at the Biscuit Factory went up this past Friday, but there’s only so many hours in the day and so much electricity in the brain and here we are now talking about it. The new offering is relatively brief at 35 minutes — that’s four songs in DVNE-land — but there’s just no arguing with either performance or sound here. As far as heavy metal goes, I’ll take 2024’s Voidkind (review here) over most of what’s out there on the ‘progressive’ or any other side of it. An album loaded with charge, but poised, all-in on its expression but remaining distant enough from the material to use it to really tell a story. They’re not the kind of band that happens every day.

For A/V demonstration of that, check the video session posted of Live at the Biscuit Factory, which you’ll find down at the bottom of this post in addition to the audio from Bandcamp and the stream of Voidkind, which is just there because it should be there and you should hear it and blah blah blah I know you know this.

Off to the PR wire, then:

DVNE: Progressive Post-Metal Collective Releases Live At The Biscuit Factory; Full Live Session Now Playing + European Tour Underway

After the successful release of their third album, 2024’s Voidkind, followed by extensive touring all over Europe, DVNE decided to capture the live energy of some of the Voidkind songs and record it in a unique setting. “With this live session, we wanted to create something that felt intimate and real,” the band comments. “We picked some of our favorite tracks from Voidkind and set things up to reflect the atmosphere of our rehearsals. It’s a glimpse into how we come together as a band, and it’s clear from the performance just how much these songs and playing them together mean to us.”

Live At The Biscuit Factory Track Listing:
1. Eleonora
2. Sarmatae
3. Abode Of The Perfect Soul
4. Cobalt Sun Necropolis

DVNE kicked off a month-long European tour last week. The tour will be followed by several festival dates. See all remaining dates below.

DVNE Live [remaining dates]:
5/06/2025 De Casino – Sint-Niklaas, BE
5/07/2025 Vera – Groningen, NL
5/09/2025 Desertfest Oslo – Oslo, NO
5/10/2025 Bar Brooklyn – Stockholm, SE
5/11/2025 Stairway – Copenhagen, DK
5/13/2025 Cassiopeia – Berlin, DE
5/14/2025 Pod Minoga – Poznań, PL
5/15/2025 VooDoo Club – Warsaw, PL
5/16/2025 Escape Metalcorner – Vienna, AT
5/18/2025 Orto Bar – Ljubljana, SI w/ Allochiria
5/19/2025 Boogaloo Club – Zagreb, HR w/ Allochiria
5/20/2025 CK13 – Novi Sad, RS w/ Allochiria
5/21/2025 Pavé Culture Club – Sofia, BG w/ Allochiria
5/22/2025 Eightball Club – Thessaloniki, GR w/ Allochiria
5/23/2025 Skyland Live Stage – Larissa, GR w/ Allochiria
5/24/2025 Gazarte (Ground Stage) – Athens, GR w/ Allochiria
5/27/2025 Freakout Club – Bologna, IT
5/28/2025 Caves du Manoir – Martigny, CH
5/29/2025 Xtra Music Cafe – Zürich, CH
5/30/2025 Schon Schön – Mainz, DE
5/31/2025 Patronaat – Haarlem, NL
6/01/2025 Oslo Hackney – London, UK
6/12/2025 Rock for People – Hradec Králové, CZ
7/04/2025 Fumega Festival – Betanzos, SP
8/08/2025 Alcatraz Festival – Kortrijk, BE
8/16/2025 ArcTanGent Festival – Bristol, UK

DVNE:
Victor Vicart – guitars, vocals
Daniel Barter – guitars, vocals
Dudley Tait – drums
Alexandros Keros – bass
Maxime Keller – keys

https://www.facebook.com/DvneUK
https://www.instagram.com/dvne_uk/
https://songs-of-arrakis.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/metalbladerecords
https://www.instagram.com/metalbladerecords/
https://www.metalblade.com/

DVNE, Live at the Biscuit Factory session

DVNE, Live at the Biscuit Factory (2025)

DVNE, Voidkind (2024)

A lot going on today, not the least of which is the Spring 2025 Quarterly Review passing the halfway mark. Normally this would’ve happened yesterday, but half of 70 records is 35 and unless I’ve got the math wrong that’s where we’re at here. It’s a decent time to check and see if there’s anything you’ve missed over the last couple days. You never know how something will hit you the next time.

The adventure continues…

Quarterly Review #31-40:

Messa, The Spin

Now signed to Metal Blade — which is about as weighty as endorsements get for anything heavy these days — Italy’s Messa emerge from the pack as cross-genre songwriters working at a level of mastery across their fourth album, The Spin, elevating riff-led songs with vocal melodicism and aesthetic flexibility. “Fire on the Roof” is a hook ready to tattoo itself to your brain, while “The Dress” dwells in its ambience before getting intense and deceptively technical — just because a band dooms out doesn’t mean they can’t play — ahead of the Iommi-circa-’80 solo’s payoff. It’s all very grand, very sweeping, very encompassing, very talented and expensive-sounding. “At Races” and “Reveal” postulate a single ‘Messa sound’ that someone more important than me will come up with a clever name for, and the band’s ascent of the last nine years will continue unabated as they’re heralded among the foremost stylistic innovators of their generation. You won’t be able to say they didn’t earn it.

Messa on Bandcamp

Metal Blade Records website

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After Nations, Surface | Essence

Kansas-based heavy djent instrumentalists After Nations offer their fifth full-length, Surface | Essence, with a similar format to 2023’s The Endless Mountain (review here), and, fortunately, a similarly crushing ethic. Where the prior album explored Buddhist concepts, the band seem to have traded that for Hinduist themes, but the core approach remains in a mix of sounds churning and progressive. Meshuggah are a defining influence in the heavier material, but each ‘regular’ song (about four minutes) is offset by a shorter (about a minute) ambient piece of one sort or another, and so while Surface | Essence gives a familiar core impression, what the band add to that — including in short, Between the Buried and Me-ish quiet breaks like in “Yāti” and “Vīrya” — is their own. Not to harp on it, but the last record played out the same way and it worked there too. Eventually, one assumes, the two sides will bleed together and they’ll lay waste with that all their mathy interconnected atmospheric assault. As-is, the gigantism of their heaviest parts serves them well.

After Nations website

After Nations’ Linktr.ee

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Lost Moon, The Complicated Path to the Multiverse

Taking its chiaroscuro thematic to a meta level, The Complicate Path to the Multiverse breaks its eight-song procession in half, with four heavy rockers up front followed by four acoustic-based cuts thereafter. It’s not a hard and fast rule — there’s still some funky wah in the penultimate “When it’s All Over,” for example — but it lets the Roman troupe give a sense of build as they make their way to “Cradle of Madness” in drawing the two sides of light and dark together. The lyrics do much of the heavier lifting in terms of the theme — that is, the heavier material isn’t overwhelmingly grim despite being the ‘darker’ side — but they let tonal crunch have its say in that regard as well, and side A brings to mind heavy rockers with a sense of progressivism like Astrosoniq while side B pays that off with a creative turn. If you don’t know what you’re getting going into it, the songwriting carries the day anyhow, and as laid back as the groove gets, there’s an urgency of expression underlying the delivery.

Lost Moon on Bandcamp

Pink Tank Records website

Karma Conspiracy Records website

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Bident, Blink

Likely no coincidence that London instrumentalist guitar/drum duo Bident — get it, bi-dent? two teeth? there are two of them in the band? ah forget it — launch their debut album, Blink, with “Psychological Raking.” That opener lives up to its billing in its movement between parts and sets up the overarching quirk and delight-in-throwing-a-twist that the subsequent eight tracks provide, shenanigans abound in “Calorina Leaper,” “Thhinking With a Moshcap On” and “Blink,” which renews the drum gallop at the end. With a noteworthy character of fuzz, Blink can accommodate the push of “Two-Note Pony” — which sure sounds like there’s bass on it — the nod in “Bovine Joni” and the sprint that takes hold in the second half of “That Sad,” and their use of the negative space where other instruments or vocals might be is likewise purposeful, but they don’t sound like they’re lacking in terms of arrangements thanks to the malleability of tone and tempo throughout. They operate in a familiar sphere, but there’s persona here that will come to fruition as they proceed.

Bident on Instagram

Bident on Bandcamp

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Harvest of Ash, Castaway

Death-sludge and post-metallic lumber ooze forth from the five songs of Harvest of Ash‘s second full-length, Castaway, which keeps its atmospheric impulses in check through grounded riffing and basslines as the whole band takes straightforward nod and extreme metal methodologies and smashes them together in a grueling course like that of “Embracing.” Remember in like 1996 when a band like Skinlab or Pissing Razors could just make you feel like you needed to take a shower? There’s a bit of that happening on Castaway as well in the opening title-track or the nine-minute “Constellation” later on, what with its second-half murk and strident riff, but a turn to quieter contemplations or a flash of brighter tone, whatever it is that offsets the churn in a given song, gives breadth to all that misanthropic plodding and throaty gurgle. Accordingly, Harvest of Ash end up both aggressive and hypnotic. I’m not sure it is, at least entirely, but Castaway positions itself as post-metal, and if it is, it is its own interpretation of the style’s tropes.

Harvest of Ash on Bandcamp

Harvest of Ash’s Linktr.ee

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Vlimmer, Diskomfort EP

Berlin’s Vlimmer — the solo-project of multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, label head and producer Alexander Leonard Donat — return on a not-surprising quick turnaround from late-’24’s full-length, Bodenhex (review here) with six new tracks that include a Super Furry Animals cover of “It’s Not the End of the World?” and quickly establish a goth-meets-new-wave electro dance melancholy in “Firmament” that gives over to the German-language “Ungleichgewicht,” residing stylistically somewhere between The Cure and krautrock experimentalism. Guitar comes forward in “Friedhofen,” but Donat keeps the mood consistent on Diskomfort where the album ranged more freely, and even as the title-track moves into its finishing wash, the bumout remains. And I don’t know if that’s an actual harpsichord on “Nachleben,” but it’s a reminder that the open arrangements are part of what keeps me coming back to Vlimmer, along with the fact that they don’t sound like anything else out there that I’ve heard, the music is unpredictable, and they take risks in craft.

Vlimmer on Instagram

Blackjack Illuminist Records on Bandcamp

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Duskhead, The Messenger EP

When Duskhead posted “Two Heads” in December from their The Messenger four-songer EP, it was the first new music from the Netherlands-based rockers in a decade. Fair enough to call it a return, then, as the band — which features members culled from Tank86 and The Grand Astoria — unfurl a somewhat humble in everything but the music 15 minutes of new material. “My Guitar Will Save the Day” answers the Elder-ish vocal melody with a fervent Brant Bjork-style roll, while “Kill the Messenger” cuts the tempo for a more declarative feel and “Searchlights” takes that stomp and makes it swing to round out, some layering at the end feeling like it’s dropping hints of things to come, though one hesitates to predict momentum for a band who just got back after 11 years of silence. Still, if they’re going for it, there’s life in this material and ground to be explored from here. Concept proven. Back to work.

Duskhead website

Duskhead on Bandcamp

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The Watcher, Out of the Dark

Plenty to hear in The Watcher‘s Cruz Del Sur-issued late-2024 debut Out of the Dark as the Boston unit — not to be confused with San Fran rockers The Watchers — unfurl the Trouble-and-Pentagram-informed take on traditionalist metal. The title-track opens and makes an energetic push while calling to mind ’80s metal in the hook, where “Strike Back” and the lead-heavy “Burning World” emphasize the metal running alongside the doom in their sound. Time for a big slowdown? You guessed it. They fall off the edge the world with “Exiled,” but rather than delve into epic Sabbathianism right then, they break into to the thrashier “The Revelator,” which only gets grittier as it goes. “Kill or Be Killed” and “The Final Hour” build on this vitality before the capper “Thy Blade, Thy Blood” saves its charge for the expected but still satisfying crescendo. Fans of Crypt Sermon and Early Moods will want to take particular note.

The Watcher on Bandcamp

Cruz Del Sur Music website

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Weed Demon, The Doom Scroll

Each of the six inclusions on Weed Demon‘s cleverly-titled third long-player, The Doom Scroll, adds something to the mix, so while one might look at the front cover, the Columbus, Ohio, band’s moniker and general presentation and think they’re only basking in weed-worshipping dirt-riffed sludge, that’s not actually the case. Instead, “Acid Dungeon” starts off with dungeon synth foreboding before the instrumental “Tower of Smoke” lulls you into sludgenosis before “Coma Dose” brings deathlier vibes and, somewhere, a guest appearance from Shy Kennedy (ex-Horehound), “Roasting the Sacred Bones” strips back to Midwestern pummel circa 2002 in its stoned Rustbelt disaffection, “Dead Planet Blues” diverges for acoustics and the vinyl-only secret track “Willy the Pimp,” a Frank Zappa cover, closes. By the end of the record, Weed Demon are revealed as decidedly more complex than they seem to want to let on, but I suppose if you’re numbed out on whichever chemical derivative of THC it is that actually does anything, it’s all riffs one way or the other. You want THC-P, by the way. THC-A, the ‘a’ stands for “ain’t about shit.” I’m gonna guess Weed Demon know the difference.

Weed Demon on Bandcamp

Electric Valley Records website

Daily Grind Records on Facebook

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Nuclear Dudes, Compression Crimes 1

The one-man solo-project of Jon Weisnewski (also of Sandrider, formerly of Akimbo), Nuclear Dudes released the rampaging full-length Boss Blades (review here) in 2023, glorious in both its extremity-fueled catharsis and its anti-genre fuckery. Weisnewski described the seven-song EP Compression Crimes 1 as “a synthwave album, probably,” and he might be right about that, but it’s definitely not just that. “Death at Burning Man” brings unruly techno until it lands in Mindless Self Indulgence pulsations, where “Tomb Crawler” surges near its end with metallic lashing. “Skyship” is so good at being electro-prog it’s almost obnoxious, and that too feels like the point as Weisnewski sees through creative impulses that are so much his own. Sleeper outfit, maybe. Never gonna be huge. But if you can find someone else making this kind of noise, you’re better at the internet than I am.

Nuclear Dudes on Instagram

Nuclear Dudes on Bandcamp

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As you can see on the poster below, DVNE aren’t exactly taking it easy this coming Spring. They’ll be on the road from May 1 to June 1 with festival dates thereafter as they continue to support their 2024 album, Voidkind (review here), which I’m happy as hell to have an excuse to put on this afternoon while I write about the tour.

I’ve been lucky enough to see DVNE twice over the years and if all goes according to my evil plan I’ll see them again on this run at Desertfest Oslo, and Voidkind is part of the reason I’m so much looking forward to that. As precise as DVNE are on the record, I’ve never heard them put anything to tape they couldn’t do from the stage, and so I find myself hoping very much that songs like “Eleonora” or “Sarmatæ” make it into the setlist. Fingers crossed.

I don’t know Allochiria, but given the other three who’ll be supporting DVNE along the way — Pothamus, Sunnata and Pijn — I should probably get on that.

No text list of the shows that I saw — bad for archiving, easy for social media posting; nobody thinks long-term, including me or I’d be printing ‘zines in my basement — but the poster has it and I know you’re perfectly capable of checking local listings, and so on. Here’s the announcement from socials:

⚔️ European Spring/Summer Tour Update ⚔️

More shows, tour supports & new art! We will finally play in the Balkans with shows in Ljubljana, Zagreb, Novi Sad and Sofia before we head to Greece.

Vienna—after last year’s flooding, we said we’d run it again! Excited to finally make it up to you!

We will also hit a few festivals this summer with Rock For People, Alcatraz Festival, and ArcTanGent, with more festivals to come.

🎟 Tickets: http://songsofarrakis.com/tour

Joining us along the way:
⚫️ Pothamus (Belgium & Netherlands)
⚫️ SUNNATA (Poland)
⚫️ Allochiria (Balkans & Greece)
⚫️ Pijn (Haarlem)
+ Local supports to be announced

Art by Victor Vicart

https://www.facebook.com/DvneUK
https://www.instagram.com/dvne_uk/
https://songs-of-arrakis.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/metalbladerecords
https://www.instagram.com/metalbladerecords/
https://www.metalblade.com/

DVNE, Voidkind (2024)

There was little question left between the upward trajectory of Italy’s Messa since their 2016 debut, Belfry (discussed here), the continued success and stylistic innovation of 2018’s Feast for Water (review here) and 2022’s Svart-issued Close (review here) and the consistent international touring ethic with which the band have supported and fostered their songwriting progression. They were going to end up on some ‘bigger’ label. The only question was which, and the answer is Metal Blade.

Yeah, I’m late on the news, which came through last week — ahead of the band starting their Fall European run, for which you’ll find the dates below, including the ones already passed — but I was doing a Quarterly Review, so while it still applies that I suck at this and everyone’s cooler than me, the usual blah blah, at least this time I have a reason.

So what’s next for the band? The tour they’re doing, then who knows. Maybe an early leak of some new material to build interest, or maybe they keep it all under wraps and surprise-drop an LP at some point in 2025. Let’s say probably neither and look forward to whatever comes. Here’s the PR wire’s take:

Messa Signs to Metal Blade Records!

Metal Blade is very happy to welcome Italian Doomster MESSA to it’s Worldwide roster!

MESSA play evoking doom metal with middle-eastern vibes. Deliciously haunting female vocals, 70’s guitars and Arabian Oudh combine to conjure a sound that is all of their own. With influences as diverse as Dead Can Dance, Om, Swans, Killing Joke, Electric Wizard, Thergothon, Current 93, the band has moved from the first occult then noir-tinged doom metal of their previous works to a new atmospheric mediterranean sound which is unique. The evolution is clearly showcased in their latest studio album “Close”.

MESSA emerged in the first day of 2014. Marco and Sara started to develop the basic concept while writing the first songs. Later on, Alberto and Rocco joined the band. The extreme diversity of their musical background immediately proved to be essential in the construction of the band’s sound. In 2016 their first opus “Belfry” was released, and the band made several tours across Europe and USA. In 2018 their second work “Feast For Water” brought the band on tour even more extensively. Their latest studio work “Close”, released in 2022, was acclaimed by critics. Some appearances made by the band were Hellfest Open Air, Roadburn, and Desert Fest. The band’s latest record Live At Roadburn was released April 7th 2023, offering their main-stage triumph, joined by a unique constellation of musicians and instruments. Seeming to both embrace and defy everything it means to be a metal band, MESSA mesh Mediterranean sounds with crushing doom riffs, with an emphasis on atmosphere and unusual use of instrumentation.

Comments MESSA: “We’re glad to announce we’ve joined forces with legendary Metal Blade Records. We are beyond stoked to become part of the incredible legacy of this label, marking their catalog with our music. Since 1982 Metal Blade has put fundamental metal artists on the map, and being in this labels’ roster is a big honor for us. We can’t wait to share some glimpses of what we are working on! In the meantime you can catch our live shows in the following European cities, list below.”

MESSA live 2024:
Thursday 17/10/2024 CH Martigny Sunset
Friday 18/10/2024 DE Freiburg Artik Club
Saturday 19/10/2024 DE Braunschweig Kufa Haus
Sunday 20/10/2024 BE Antwerp Desertfest
Monday 21/10/2024 DE Aachen AZ
Tuesday 22/10/2024 DE Berlin Cassiopeia
Wednesday 23/10/2024 PL Warsaw VooDoo
Thursday 24/10/2024 PL Poznan 2Progi
Friday 25/10/2024 DE Chemnitz AJZ
Saturday 26/10/2024 DE Hamburg Lazy Bones
Sunday 27/10/2024 NL Maastricht Samhain Festival
Saturday 9/11/2024 ITA Catania Catania Tattoo convention
Friday 13/12/2024 AT Linz Kapu
Saturday 14/12/2024 DE Stuttgart Hellgart Festival

MESSA line-up:
Sara – vocals
Marco – guitars/bass
Alberto – guitars
Rocco – drums

https://www.instagram.com/messa_band/
https://www.facebook.com/MESSAproject
https://messaproject.bandcamp.com/

http://www.metalblade.com
http://www.facebook.com/metalbladerecords
http://www.instagram.com/metalbladerecords

Messa, Close (2022)

In addition to slots among the enviable lineups for Desertfest Belgium in Antwerp and Damnation in Manchester, UK, and other fests besides, Boston dark atmospheric noise metallers Morne will bring their brutalist heraldry to Europe for a full round of touring through the bulk of October. There are a couple TBA dates, and if you heard last year’s Engraved With Pain (review here) and you’re feeling up for a bit of methodical destruction, by all means get in on the action. Just because they’re absolutely crushing live doesn’t mean they won’t be grateful.

Tickets are on sale now at the Linktree, and the band posted the following update on socials with that and the routing. Have at it:

We return to Europe for the second time this year. Come and share those nights with us, buy merch support live music in any way you can. We hope to see you on the road. Cheers.

Tickets are on sale now via https://linktr.ee/morne.boston.

The band states: “We are preparing for our second trip to Europe this year. We will play a few festivals and a bunch of club shows. It’s a very busy season for touring bands and we would to encourage people to support us on this trip. Come to shows, buy merch and enjoy live music. We appreciate you all. Cheers!”

12-10-2024 – Nijmegen (NL) – Soulcrusher
14-10-2024 – Gdansk (PL) – Wydział Remontowy
15-10-2024 – Warsaw (PL) – Hydrozagadka
16-10-2024 – Poznan (PL) – Pod Minogą
17-10-2024 – Berlin (DE) – Reset Club
18-10-2024 – Leipzig (DE) – Bandhaus
19-10-2024 – Weimar (DE) – Gerber 3
20-10-2024 – Antwerp (BE) – Desertfest
21-10-2024 – Kassel (DE) – Goldgrube
22-10-2024 – Salzburg (AT) – Rockhouse
23-10-2024 – Ljubiljana (SI) – Klub Gromka
24-10-2024 – TBA
25-10-2024 – Bern (CH) – Reitschulen Festival
26-10-2024 – Montpellier (FR) – Ex Tenebris Festival
27-10-2024 – TBA
28-10-2024 – Paris (FR) – TBA
29-10-2024 – Lille (FR) – La Malterie
30-10-2024 – Leeds (UK) – Boom
31-10-2024 – Glasgow (UK) – Classic Grand
01-11-2024 – Manchester (UK) – Damnation Festival

MORNE:
Milosz Gassan – Guitar, Vocals
Paul Rajpal – Guitar
Morgan Coe – Bass
Billy Knockenhauer – Drums

https://www.facebook.com/mornecrust
https://www.instagram.com/morneband
https://morneband.bandcamp.com

http://www.metalblade.com
http://www.facebook.com/metalbladerecords
http://www.instagram.com/metalbladerecords

Morne, Engraved With Pain (2023)

Morne, “Wretched Empire” official video