Phew, what a week! Loads of new releases and some news across hardcore, punk, metal, rock, and other moods and styles. Use the jump links below to head straight into the section that fits your taste.
⤵ Hardcore / Metalcore, ⤵ Screamo / Post Hardcore, ⤵ Post Rock / Post Metal, ⤵ Punk Rock, ⤵ Metal, ⤵ Rock, ⤵ Experimental / Other, ⤵ Pop, ⤵ General / Industry.
⤵ Hardcore / Metalcore
This article is being continuously updated throughout the day.
DEAD HEAT are back in full swing with Process Of Elimination, their first full-length for Metal Blade Records, out tomorrow. Produced with Paul Fig (Deftones, Trivium), the Oxnard crossover crew sharpen their thrash edge and ditch the polish for pure ferocity — eleven cuts of neck-snapping riffs, hardcore venom, and old-school attitude. New single “The Order” channels that ethos directly, a two-minute statement on hierarchy, loyalty, and knowing your place in the pit. It’s raw, fast, and perfectly ugly — just how DEAD HEAT like it.
50 LIONS have returned with their long-awaited new album New Reality, out now via LAST RIDE RECORDS. Produced, mixed, and mastered by Sam Bassal, and co-written by Daniel Kenneth Brown, the record also features guest spots from Graham Sayle (HIGH VIS) and Winston McCall (PARKWAY DRIVE), with artwork by Thomas Sweetman. The LP marks a fierce new chapter for the Byron Bay hardcore veterans — tighter, heavier, and just as urgent as ever.
To celebrate the release, the band is heading out on an Australian tour this October with stops in Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, Sydney, and Frankston. Known for their chaotic, sweat-soaked live shows and unstoppable stage energy, 50 LIONS continue to carry the torch for Australia’s hardcore scene. New Reality is available now on all platforms, with vinyl and merch through LAST RIDE RECORDS, SIX FEET UNDER RECORDS, and REIGNITION RECORDS.
Richmond punks PRIVATE HELL dropped a Halloween treat with their cover of “122 Hours of Fear,” originally by 70s synth-punk cult icons THE SCREAMERS. Recorded with Sam Dyerly and mastered by Arthur Rizk, the track twists the original’s manic energy into something raw, loud, and perfectly unhinged for October.
COMBUST have released their new album Another Life through Triple B Records. The record features eleven tracks, including The Big Game, The Knife, and Another Life, and delivers fast, direct hardcore rooted in the Boston and New York tradition.
WITNESS CHAMBER have dropped their new single “Stranger” and announced their debut full-length Bronze Gates, out December 5 via Brain Floss Records. Recorded by Charles Toshio at Panda Studios and mastered by Brogun Allen, the Boise straight edge outfit delivers seven tracks of punishing metallic hardcore steeped in dread and self-examination. “Stranger” opens with a vintage 70s sample before detonating into thick guitars, rapid drums, and a crushing breakdown. The band will join Judge, Integrity, and Earth Crisis on a California run in October, followed by November dates with End Of Dayz.
CURSES just dropped Chess Not Checkers — three new cuts out now via Kingpin Melbourne Records. The Sydney hardcore outfit leans into sharp, fast, and unrelenting energy across the set, clocking in just over seven minutes.
The title track lands ahead of the upcoming Born From Pain EP, due November 11, and was recorded and filmed on the lands of the Gadigal people.
UK metalcore outfit SHIELDS will release their new album Death & Connection on January 30, 2026 via Long Branch Records. Produced by George Lever, the record digs into grief and absence — “a body of work born from the absence of the people who no longer hold space in our lives,” as the band puts it. Across tracks like “Lacerate” featuring Harvey Freeman (Graphic Nature) and “Wolfskin” with Taylor Barber (Left To Suffer), SHIELDS blend their signature technical edge with raw emotion and crushing weight, turning loss into something truly overwhelming.
Metallic hardcore force THE BURDEN have dropped a new track, Siddhartha, lifted from their upcoming LP Ether Dreams.
GIDEON have dropped their new single and video “Wrong One” via Sumerian Records, delivering another blast of raw aggression and southern-fueled heaviness. Following “Til The Wheels Fall Off,” this track captures the band’s signature beatdown intensity and unfiltered energy. “We wrote this song at a time when we were simply fed up with always giving folks the benefit of the doubt. Never mistake kindness for weakness,” the band shared.
Long Island’s NYC SHOOTOUT are back with Knucklehed Anthemz, out now through Daze. The record’s a sloppy, loud mix of rap metal and streetwise humor — tailor-made for anyone who lives on weed smoke, wrestling clips, and Billy Club Sandwich riffs. Dumb, heavy, and proud of it.
Hardcore veterans WAR ORPHAN — with roots in Reach, Sick Of It All, Barfbag, and Ouiji Pig — are back with a new single, R.O.U.S., out via Stay Gold Records.
SNARLER just dropped Blast Rash through No Time Records — fifteen bursts of scorched-earth powerviolence from California. It’s all there: speed, sarcasm, and self-loathing crammed into seconds.
STREETS OF HATE have dropped their new Representing Hardcore Compilation. The release features 15 tracks from across the hardcore spectrum, including HEADBUSSA, WRECKAGE, DEADBODY, SIN AGAINST SIN, GRAND SCHEME, and more. True to the label’s reputation, it captures the current pulse of New York and beyond.
RAINS OF APATHY’s complete 2000–2001 Discography has finally surfaced, available now on a limited cassette run of 100 copies — half already gone.
The short-lived Minneapolis melodic hardcore act existed for just two years but left behind material that shaped later cult Midwest metalcore bands. The collection is now streaming, with restored live footage featured in videos for “This Burden” and “Bleeding Sugar.”
Orlando deathcore / metallic hardcore hitters HEAVY//HITTER just dropped Coming to Terms, a five-track barrage that turns rage into precision. The record swings between breakdowns and melody, with Zayna Youssef of Sweet Pill guesting on the title track and Face Yourself joining …From Bloodlust. It’s caustic, heavy, and human — straight from the Florida heat.
French noise-bruised outfit SPLIT drop their debut Violence Breeds Violence, a raw document of rage turned into architecture. The record runs seven tracks deep — part political howl, part personal reckoning — where frontman Marvin tears through themes of addiction, abuse, and systemic rot. We welcomed the band to our pages with a special in-depth feature here.
Heavy hardcore unit POWER OF FEAR just dropped their new full-length Where the Sun Don’t Shine, following up their 2023 debut A Breed Apart on Daze. The Pittsburgh crew keeps their raw edge—tight, metallic, and built for chaos—but there’s more bite here, more grit in the delivery. The record runs eleven tracks deep, with guest spots from Built Upon Frustration and Soulless, stacking aggression on top of that already ruthless foundation.
Upstate New York bruisers FIGHT FROM WITHIN have dropped their new record Talk Is Cheap through TLG|ZOID/Virgin Music Group. The album channels three years of grind, personal hits, and hard lessons into ten tracks that punch through frustration and self-control with metalcore and beatdown precision.
Tracked with Pablo Viveros of Chelsea Grin, the record hits that mix of anger and reflection that defines their sound — and yeah, we ran a full feature on it this week here on IDIOTEQ.
After a decade underground, Edmonton hardcore act TENSION have clawed their way back with Drought — a snarling mix of d-beat grit, metal swagger, and lived-in anger. Rising from their earlier run as Ringleader, the band’s new material hits on what guitarist Ryan Bodner calls “the commodification of our basic needs,” taking aim at corporate greed and the cost of survival.
This week, we present the band in our special feature at this location.
Kyiv crossover/thrash/death crew IRÖN BÜTCHER just dropped their first release demo’25 via Neformat Family. It’s old-school metal at its filthiest — HM-2 worship, raw riffs, and enough UGH to shake the rust off every amp in town. Think NUCLEAR ASSAULT, S.O.D., D.R.I., and early SODOM all mangled together in one furious blast.
The new documentary ÖS – The Story of LKPG Hardcore traces decades of Swedish DIY noise back to its core — the city of Linköping and its legendary venue Skylten.
Directed by Anders Carlborg, it pieces together rare footage, flyers, and stories from bands like Nine, Outlast, and Identity, showing how the scene built itself from the ground up. The film premiered in 2024 and keeps sparking new discoveries — Carlborg still gets old VHS tapes and photos from locals digging through their attics. We had a special feature about it this week on IDIOTEQ, diving deeper into the ghosts, grit, and new blood still keeping Linköping hardcore alive.
Hungarian metalcore band Wires push further into their dark, mechanical sound with the release of their two-track project “m.s.c / taint.” Both songs arrive as a combined visual experience, merging heavy downtuned riffs, dissonant electronics, and lyrics that lean toward psychological unease.
Following their debut EP and shows with The Ghost Inside and The Browning, the band builds on the intensity of their live energy with a colder, more claustrophobic production style. “m.s.c / taint” feels like a distilled snapshot of Wires’ aesthetic—modern metalcore stripped of gloss, driven instead by tension, distortion, and a deliberate sense of discomfort.
French heavy hitters ALEA JACTA EST drop Le Club, a new single and video out via Useless Pride Records. Pure hardcore muscle. Directed by Guillaume Gaessler and shot with the stunt crew CASCADE 31, the clip turns a parking lot into a warzone. Recorded by Simon Evangelista and mixed by Florent Salfati, the track hits like a fist in slow motion: relentless groove, shouted defiance, and that trademark Toulouse bite. “If you’re fucked up and fed up of this shit — welcome to the club.”
Cagliari Hardcore Fest 2025 will take place on October 18th, 2025 at Campidarte (Cagliari, Sardinia), hosting 12 bands and three international acts. This year’s lineup includes STILL IN LOVE (UK) — featuring former members of DEAD SWANS, THROATS, BRUTALITY WILL PREVAIL, and BRING ME THE HORIZON — WORST DOUBT (FR), and SORCERER (FR), alongside Italian names like DIE ABETE, FELDSPAR, FINAL STRUGGLE, FOR DIFFERENT WAYS, KONOHA, MISCREDENTE, OZONE DEHUMANIZER, SHORT FUSE, and VILE DENARO.
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Atlanta crossover bruisers TURN COLD are back with Violent Breed, their heaviest and most vicious release yet. The record nods to classic NY thrash-core — think LEEWAY, NUCLEAR ASSAULT, CRO-MAGS — while keeping the grit pure Zone 6. Fast, metallic, and built for the pit, it’s a straight shot of southern fury from a band hellbent on carrying the crossover torch into 2025.
Nick Tronckoe Media has shared a full multicam video of CATHARSIS’ explosive set from IEPERFEST 2023, filmed by Dylan Ghesquiere with a thumbnail by Cindy Frey. The footage captures the band’s raw political energy and timeless intensity in front of a packed crowd, a fitting reminder of why their message still hits hard decades later.
SLUG release new EP “No Pity” — six tracks in just over seven minutes, out now via Delayed Gratification Records. The Cleveland hardcore outfit delivers another burst of fast, dirty punk energy — sharp edges and street punk vibe. From the opening blast of Face to Face to the closing title track, No Pity hits like a basement show in full swing.
Australian hardcore unit PERSECUTOR are back with Lateral Violence, a new EP out October 17 through To Live A Lie and No Time Records. Recorded and mixed by Jamie Colic and mastered by Will Killingsworth, the five-track blast keeps it raw and unfiltered—fastcore energy straight out of Melbourne, no restraint, drenched in bleakness.
North Tacoma hardcore punks ENDLESS JOY just dropped their self-titled LP via IRON LUNG Records (LUNGS-298). Recorded by Jeffery McNulty and mixed/mastered by Arthur Rizk, it’s twelve bursts of sharp, dissonant frustration—equal parts speed, volume, and existential dread. “Think too much and you incapacitate yourself. Think too little and you become a pawn,” the liner notes warn. It’s bleak, biting, and cathartic as hell.
DRY SOCKET and VIOLENCIA just dropped their split release Dry Socket / Violencia Split — out now and streaming everywhere. Exclusive vinyl colors are already moving fast: white via To Live A Lie, yellow from Get Better Records, and limited red band copies.
DRY SOCKET hit the road with DOUBT for an East Coast and Midwest run starting tonight in Philly, with shows alongside GLARE, CLOAKROOM, DESTINY BOND, and JIVEBOMB. Dates run through October 19 with stops in Baltimore, New Brunswick, Detroit, Cincinnati, Raleigh, D.C., and more.
FADING SIGNAL have shared their debut full-length Only an Echo via Indecision Records, marking a new chapter for the North Carolina hardcore outfit. Formed in late 2019 and initially inspired by TRASH TALK and CEREMONY, the band carved out a sound that blends melodic drive with heavy mosh energy. After two EPs and a split with Florida’s MIRACLE, they spent 2024 focused on writing and refining their first LP.
Vocalist Jordan Holland describes the record as “the most fully realized version of our sound yet,” exploring themes of loss, personal growth, changing relationships, and disillusionment with modern culture.
Toronto’s DOFLAME and DEAR-GOD just dropped their collaborative Neighborhood Watch EP — four tracks of distorted energy, punk attitude, and experimental production that crash together with purpose. The project marks a full-circle link between the two artists, as DEAR-GOD’s Robert Ortiz also plays in DOFLAME’s live band. Out now via Blue Grape Music, the release captures the chaotic pulse of the underground scene that fuels both projects, ahead of DOFLAME’s fall tour with PINKSHIFT.
West Coast streetcore act ’92 drop Shattered Garden, a three-track burst of groovy vibes and clarity straight out of Long Beach and Lancaster. Blending hardcore intensity with the pulse of G-funk and gangsta rap, the band — led by Jabril Ward — finds beauty in damage, turning fractured reality into defiance. They call this era a reflection of resilience, “a street sermon for those trying to bloom through the concrete.” Tracks like “Cannibal” (with Full Clip) and “Pariah” (with Jack-Knife) cut with purpose — sharp, loud, and unfiltered, just how they mean it.
SETBACK have dropped their new EP “No Pity No Love” via Convulse Records, delivering three tracks of raw, stripped-down hardcore straight from Nebraska.
San Diego hardcore crew NEGATIVE BLAST just dropped “Mac Dawg,” a two-and-a-half-minute ripper marking their debut for Three One G. The single comes ahead of their new full-length Destroy Myself For Fun, recorded at Sunsick Studios and mastered by Brad Boatwright. It’s that same chaotic mix of Black Flag bite and post-punk weirdness they’ve been honing—tupa-tupa rhythms, fried-amp swagger, and zero patience for genre purists. The band’s still rooted in hardcore, just tearing holes in its walls for fresh air.
NO SELF from Toulouse just dropped their new EP Defiance — a blast of metallic hardcore rooted in frustration, resistance, and the exhaustion of modern life. It’s the kind of record that swings between raw anger and sharp social critique, with a clear stance against the suffocating machinery of liberalism and post-truth politics.
Brazilian hardcore act BUDANG just dropped their debut full-length Magia via Deck, packing 16 sharp, fast, and politically charged tracks. Formed in Florianópolis in 2019, the band—Guilherme Larsen Güths, Vinícius Lunardi, Pedro Sabino, and Felipe “Minhoca” Royg—fuses old-school intensity with sly, modern grit. The record cuts into labor precarity and Brazil’s far-right coup attempt, while tracks like “Magia” and “Budangól” celebrate the band’s own roots.
Elsewhere, they slip from chaos to groove with “Deixa Quieto”’s grunge and Angel Dust vibes, and close with a two-step spin on Mamonas Assassinas’ “1406.” It’s heavy, restless, and unapologetically local.
Finnish grindcore punks HARMER announced their longest release yet — Descent, dropping December 12 via Bandcamp. Clocking in at 19 minutes, the record distills grindcore and powerviolence through a rough-edged Finnish lens, described by the band as an “unwanted but well-deserved Christmas present for the powers-that-be.” Two tracks, “Breadlines” and “Leech,” are streaming now, showcasing their raw mix of disgust, speed, and tightly wound chaos.
Groovecore bruisers SURVIVALIST have announced their new single “Failure Of Being,” featuring longtime producer Josh Sid Robinson, to be released next week. The Belfast crew — Gavin Sharp, Nick Butcher, Lee Shaw, and Rhys Fraser — stick to their heavy-meets-heart formula: breakdowns that hit like concrete, melody that cuts through, emotion that burns slow. It’s another step from their upcoming record A Place For Those Who Suffer, Alone…, following the chaos of “Deathbed” and “Radio Bleed.” After playing with Chelsea Grin, Polaris, and Atreyu, they’re rolling straight into a tour with Thy Art Is Murder, no brakes in sight.
CHAIN WOLF are back in full force with Lamentations… Turned Resentment, a filthy blast of blackened speed metal straight from Los Angeles. The band’s second full-length pushes deeper into chaos, blending thrash fury with punk grit and death metal attitude. Following their 2022 debut Dark Premonitions, this new record cements them as part of LA’s next wave of heavy hitters — all venom, no polish, just a raw and unrelenting attack that doesn’t let up for a second.
ORTHODOX tear through their Audiotree Live session like a wrecking ball — all groove, chaos, and molten precision. Recorded in Chicago on July 10, the Nashville/Columbus crew drags their brand of “big pants” metal through a set that feels both primal and sharp, with Adam Easterling’s growls cutting through the crush of riffs and whiplash bass lines. It’s the sound of a band fully locked into their own orbit — heavy, unfiltered, and unapologetically alive.
BEAR just dropped a new standalone single, Shapeshifter, via Pelagic Records, closing out their Vanta album cycle.
The Antwerp four-piece folds their signature hardcore-meets-prog-metal chaos into four minutes of shapeshifting aggression — sharp, unpredictable, and fully alive. The accompanying video pulls footage from across their recent tours, a reminder of the volatility and force BEAR carry into every stage they touch. Fifteen years in, they still sound like a band you don’t want standing too close.
THREE ONE G just announced the Cult & Culture compilation LP, landing November 21 — a noisy collage tying together Justin Pearson’s podcast world with the label’s chaotic lineage. The record features cuts from THE LOCUST, SWING KIDS, THE EXPLOITED, ADULT., YEAR FUTURE, HIRS COLLECTIVE, MARTIN ATKINS, and more, stitched with short podcast excerpts. There’s also a bonus PLANET B 7”, including a cover of “White Lines (Don’t Do It)” with Johnny Whitney from THE BLOOD BROTHERS. It’s Pearson’s universe condensed — messy, sharp, and full of the strange brilliance that keeps San Diego’s underground alive.
LA ARMADA just dropped a new single, “Over,” a sharp blend of political fury and Latin hardcore energy. Sung in both Spanish and English, the track tears into systems of exploitation, power, and hypocrisy — with that unmistakable mix of groove, aggression, and purpose the Chicago-based band is known for.
DISSENTIENCE just dropped Obsidian Tomb, the first single from their upcoming concept EP Kaiju, out February 20, 2026. The Bethlehem, PA band sounds sharper than ever — thrash speed, death metal density, and a cinematic sense of doom running through it all.
The track opens with a quiet acoustic passage before collapsing into chaos — blast beats, razor riffs, and a feeling of total destruction. It’s the first chapter of an apocalyptic storyline inspired by Japanese monster cinema and Lovecraftian horror, produced by the band with Corey Pierce and mixed by Zeuss.
⤵ Screamo / Post Hardcore
Raw emoviolent skramz, noise punk, melodic emo MySpace stuff, but also rockish 90s post hardcore.
Also, be sure to visit ⤵ Rock section, it’s full of post hardcore and emo infused sounds, too!
HETTA have returned with Plainclothes Man, the first preview of their upcoming album Acetate, out November 21 via Lovers & Lollypops.
The Montijo noise-punk outfit recorded the track with André Isidro, with mixing and mastering by Jack Shirley, keeping that raw, anxious tension alive — somewhere between chaos and control. Plainclothes Man flashes by in two and a half minutes of sharp edges and emotional weight, setting the tone for what’s shaping up to be one of the band’s most direct and unfiltered releases yet.
Southern Italy’s DIY collective 1A0 just dropped the Sept 18th release of “Questo cielo è un soffitto più sporco di quello che ho” by NOYÉ, a chaotic blend of experimental hardcore, noise, and scremato energy. The release runs like a fever dream — short bursts of emotion and distortion stitched together with a unique nerve.
Out through a patchwork of underground labels including Shove Records, Dingleberry Records, and Remorse Records, it’s another messy, beautiful entry from the Napoli/Caserta scene.
Tomb Tree has released the “Split” cassette from Austin-based bands OSHERA and TAMSEN, a six-track showcase of raw, late-’90s-inspired screamo that bridges emo-hardcore and grind influences. OSHERA leans toward a sound reminiscent of Eyes Of Verotika—melodic but tense, built on sharp guitars and strained emotion—while TAMSEN channel the abrasive energy of Tyranny Of Shaw, occasionally veering into post-hardcore textures.
French band PARLOR have unveiled their new single Juvenile, the second track from their upcoming album Tears for Everything, out October 24 via Source Atone Records. We premiered it right here on IDIOTEQ!
The song dives into the turmoil of youth — a state caught between confusion, anger, and the need for direction — while the accompanying video, filmed at Studio 89 and directed by Guillaume Quincy, visually extends its emotional tension.
LIFE just released demo twelve, a six-track collection, blending raw emo and screamo intensity with fragile vibes.
Portuguese IDIOTEQ-featured post-hardcore unit JUNKBREED dropped Sick of the Scene via Raging Planet, their sharpest and most direct record to date. Tracked at SinWav Studios by Pedro Mau, the album rips through nine songs of disillusionment and defiance, wrapped in an AI-generated cover that mocks the decay of creativity in a tech-saturated world. With the current lineup solidified around Pica, Karia, Antero, Miranda, and Tiago, the band push deeper into a heavier, more immediate sound that still carries their punk backbone.
Philadelphia’s JOHNNY FOOTBALL HERO drag themselves through Contingency Plan, a record that feels like it’s been clawed out from under the weight of bills, burnout, and bad news. Reilly James McGill and Misha Datskovsky sound like they’ve stopped trying to fix anything and just started documenting the wreckage — rent overdue, faith gone soft, the planet cooking. The guitars twitch and grind like they’re trying to shake something loose, but the real pulse is in the lyrics: angry, exhausted, too awake to pretend it’s fine. It’s the kind of album you write when survival starts to feel like its own form of protest.
Leipzig’s post-punk hardcore band COLD SUMMER return with Den Umständen entsprechend, a five-track blast of frustration and fatigue out now through It’s Eleven and Kink Records. Recorded in their own rehearsal room and mastered by JB Meyrieux, the album grinds through modern hopelessness with a mix of cold precision and raw nerve.
After their split from post-punk outfit The Tacks, KISSER built something harsher and stranger with This World Swallows People Whole. It’s hardcore run through loose circuits — distorted, electronic, and restless. Recorded in Leipzig, the record feels less like a plan and more like a reaction, all bass drops, noise layers, and short breaths between songs. Nalita’s vocals cut through with frustration and fatigue, tracing a world that keeps asking too much and giving nothing back.
Check out our full special feature about KISSER at this location.
London’s MILLPOOL surface with One Last Midnight, a debut EP that doesn’t so much define their sound as test its limits.
The four-piece—Josh, Ammar Kalia, Duncan Little, and Alejandro VanZandt-Escobar—pull from post-hardcore tension, jazz looseness, and years spent drifting through other projects before landing together.
This one deserved a proper feature.
Haarlem’s TRAUMATIZER blast back with Nuclear War Machine, a five-track 7″ out now on Discos Enfermos. It’s D-beat punk pushed to combustion — sharp, fast, and filthy. Recorded at Slachthuis Haarlem and mixed by Ville Valavuo, the record tears through in under ten minutes, trading melody for impact.
SLEEMO return with their new single “Bleeding,” out today via Drongo Records. Recorded at Bomb Store Studios, the track locks sludge, shoegaze metal, and post-hardcore into one volatile pulse — heavy, self-aware, and restless. Following their 2023 debut Call to the Void, the Norwich trio marks a shift toward a darker, more cathartic sound. “Bleeding” feels like an anthem for those who hold it all in until it breaks.
Numero Group is digging deep into Florida’s basement emo past with To Sketch An Arrow, a full-discography release from DON MARTIN THREE. The St. Augustine band’s complete 42-minute run — including their self-titled 12”, 7”, and the unreleased Trains, Our Yard from the Moonraker/Hope Springs Eternal session — has been remastered and pressed into a hand-screened edition limited to 500 copies. Jangly, raw, and soaked in late-’90s angst, this one closes out Numero’s Hand-Screened Series with a proper nod to the Sunshine State’s first emo band.
⤵ Post Rock / Post Metal
Polish post-rock veterans TIDES FROM NEBULA dropped a live version of “Purr,” taken from their Aura sessions recorded at Nebula Studio. The video, directed by Maciej Karbowski and Filip Klimaszewski, captures the band’s clean, widescreen precision — all glowing lights and slow-burn tension. Mixed, mastered, and cut by Karbowski himself, the session feels like a full-circle nod to Aura, the record that started their orbit back in the day.
BELL WITCH & AERIAL RUIN return with Stygian Bough Vol. II, out November 14 via Profound Lore Records. Recorded with Billy Anderson (AGALLOCH, PALLBEARER), the album follows their 2020 collaboration and dives even deeper into the space between doom and dark folk. The lead single Waves Became The Sky stretches past 12 minutes — a hypnotic piece of slow-motion heaviness with reverb-soaked harmonies and vast, meditative atmosphere.
The cover, created by Denis Forkas (BEHEMOTH, WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM), ties into the recurring themes of worship, death, and transcendence — “a fascination with what connects us to those before and after,” as Dylan Desmond explains.
Instrumental post-rock duo CARVED INTO THE SUN just dropped Silent Tower, a five-track deep dive into layered grief and slow-burn catharsis. Made between California and Switzerland by Eric Reifinger and Artem Molodtsov, the album brings in cello, bass, and the touch of Beau Burchell on mixing. Reifinger calls it a labor of persistence, written through self-doubt and kept alive by listeners who “made it worth writing when nothing felt worth saying.”
THROE return with “Silver Blue,” released via Burning London Records and Deathtime Records. The São Paulo-based project, led by Vina, expands its signature blend of metal, shoegaze, and post-rock into something both heavy and cinematic. The record leans into circular riffs, hypnotic drumming, and moments of raw distortion balanced by fragile, textured soundscapes.
Now joined by Guix (guitar) and Juliana Fernandes (drums) from Lōtico, and Vellozo (bass) from Huey, THROE sound more organic and dynamic than on their 2021 album “Throematism.” Tracks like the title song and “Birds” build tension through repetition, while “Giz” and “Holding Hands” drift into more atmospheric territory. Recorded at Gotan Studio and produced with David Menezes (Ratos de Porão, Sérgio Sampaio), “Silver Blue” captures the band’s ongoing search for balance between weight and emotional depth.
EF are celebrating two decades since their debut with the 20th Anniversary edition of Give Me Beauty… Or Give Me Death!, out November 28 via Pelagic Records. The reissue includes newly remastered versions of the original tracks — with “Noll (20th Anniversary)” now streaming — bringing a sharper edge to one of Gothenburg’s defining post-rock releases.
Originally released in 2006, the album helped establish EF as a cornerstone of European post-rock, known for their emotional crescendos and cinematic scope. This anniversary edition marks both a reflection and a reminder of how enduring that first statement still sounds.
SEIMS are back this Friday with V, their new full-length on Bird’s Robe Records and dunk!records. The Australian math-rock outfit, led by Simeon Bartholomew, continues to twist the genre into cinematic and unpredictable shapes — fusing complex rhythm, orchestral layering, and bursts of raw experimentation.
Bartholomew wrote, produced, and played much of the record himself, with guests from PLINI, WE LOST THE SEA, and TANGENTS adding texture. Like their previous work, V sounds as much like a fever dream as a math-rock record — dense, emotional, and constantly on the move.
Poznań-based five-piece Asteriæ return with “Tchnienie,” a dense, blackened post-hardcore track announcing their forthcoming album “Miejsce, które nazywam sobą”, out November 4, 2025. Known for blending furious blast beats with spacious guitar motifs and distorted bass, the band continues to explore the intersection of post-metal atmosphere and hardcore intensity, driven by Bartosz Jankowski’s visceral vocals.
“Tchnienie” unfolds as a story of pain, emptiness, and inner struggle—an emotional descent into darkness and decay. Its sound moves between chaos and silence, capturing the volatility that defines Asteriæ’s work. The track extends the band’s focus on raw emotion and introspection, suggesting the upcoming record will expand on those contrasts with both heaviness and restraint.
Belgian instrumental post-metal trio JUNEAU will release Scraps of the Final Lights on November 7 via A Cheery Wave Records (UK), Tokyo Jupiter Records (JP), and De Mist Records (NL). The five-track album threads together post-metal, doom, and black metal textures into a slow-burning narrative about decay, memory, and fleeting beauty. Following the singles “Heave” and “Observer,” the record expands JUNEAU’s cinematic scope, shifting between massive walls of sound and fragile, melodic introspection. Formed in Heist-op-den-Berg, the band continues its evolution from their 2021 debut Cloak, now taking their sound beyond Belgium with a Japan tour planned for late 2025.
TOWN PORTAL drop new single and video “Touching Grass” — the second preview of their upcoming album Grindwork, out November 7 via the band’s own label Dream Bureau. Written during the pandemic and revived from a forgotten phone recording, the track captures the trio’s signature mix of angular math-rock grooves and melodic post-hardcore tension. The surreal video — set in a warped ’90s TV shop — was directed by Joakim Johnsen and the band themselves.
Italian post-rock and avant-folk group DOR have returned with The Dream In Which I Die, out now via Dischi Bervisti. Led by Francesco Fioretti and joined by Mario Di Battista (Ulan Bator), Manuel Coccia, and Alessandro Vagnoni (Bologna Violenta, Ronin), the album takes cues from Giorgio Manganelli’s twisted reading of Pinocchio, blending dissonant Touch and Go-style guitars with dark, folk-tinged vocal melodies. Recorded by Sergio Pomante at Noiselab Studio, it’s a dense, literary work that shifts from Shellac-like tension to Ulver’s shadowy grandeur.
Anonymous instrumental collective THERE IS NO SPOON unveiled The Sound Of Doom To Come [Part 1] — the first act in a four-part sonic chronicle of societal collapse. Built from layered instrumentals and archival human sound bites, it presents a bleak reflection of civilization consumed by its own noise. The group remains fully anonymous for security reasons in the age of AGI, using pseudonyms to protect their identities.
Mexico City trio PELEA DE CANTINA will release their debut EP Música para preocuparse on October 24 — a raw, unfiltered blend of punk, hardcore, thrash, noise rock, and post-punk. Formed in late 2022 by Diego Galán, Patricio Cantú, and Julián Ovalle, the band emerged from years of drifting through Mexico’s music and art circuits, disillusioned by their performative side and drawn back to something more visceral.
We have a full feature on the band here.
Portland, Oregon’s post-rock/post-metal outfit COASTLANDS are back after five years with their new full-length Coastlands, available now through Translation Loss Records. Recorded and mixed by Jason Sissoyev of the band and mastered by Magnus Lindberg (Cult of Luna, Brutus, Refused, Russian Circles), the album moves through sadness, grief, and resolve, balancing heaviness with striking emotional depth.
For fans of Holy Fawn, We Lost the Sea, Rosetta, and Mogwai, Coastlands feels like both a culmination and rebirth — vast, cinematic, and deeply human.
⤵ Punk Rock
Punk, Pop Punk, Folk Punk, raw, fast, melodic, and more.
PENNYWISE have dropped their version of Motörhead’s “Ace of Spades,” the second preview from “Killed By Deaf – A Punk Tribute to Motörhead,” due out October 31 via BMG. The California punk band’s rendition keeps the original’s grit intact while amplifying the energy that once bridged punk and metal’s divide. Guitarist Fletcher Dragge recalls that when he got into punk around 1980, “the only metal band that was allowed to be part of the punk rock scene was Motörhead. If you saw somebody show up in a jean vest with the Motörhead patch on the back it was like, ‘There’s a metaller, but he can hang with us!’”
Arizona punk veterans AUTHORITY ZERO take a sharp left turn with their cover of Fugazi’s “Waiting Room,” out now via Law Records as part of Operation Irie — a reggae-rock tribute to the ’90s and 2000s punk era. Their version keeps the tension and drive of the original but filters it through their own sunburned, ska-leaning grit. It’s part homage, part reinterpretation — a nod from lifelong punks who know how to bend genres without losing the bite.
RELATE just dropped their new EP Have I Ever Done Anything?, and it’s the kind of release that hits right in the gut of anyone who’s ever felt a little lost.
The Denver pop-punk crew trades in raw emotion and late-night introspection — songs built on melody, tension, and that feeling of drifting while everyone else seems to have a plan. There’s heart in every hook, frustration in every shout, and a quiet acceptance that maybe not having it figured out is part of the deal.
SIGNS OF PROGRESS return with a sharp, sun-drenched cover of Sabrina Carpenter’s “Taste”. The Central Florida pop-punk band twist the glossy pop hit into their own energetic style — crisp guitars, melodic urgency, and the emotional edge that’s been running through their work since Everything Alters Us. It’s a playful detour but still soaked in that SoP earnestness, bridging nostalgia with modern radio shimmer.
HOT PENNIES just dropped “Tungsten” b/w “All That,” a scrappy garage-surf-punk double from Mark “Trash” Anderson, recorded straight out of his garage with drummer Scott “Tito” Russell.
Previously featured on KEXP’s Sonic Reducer, Anderson’s still running it DIY-style, pushing out raw, lo-fi tracks that feel like they were made for basement shows and busted amps. More releases are already in the works for next year.
PRIMITIVE HEADS tear through caffeine-fueled chaos on Black Coffee, a jagged anthem raging against burnout and self-destruction. The Bay Area outfit bends punk into something twitchy and surreal — caustic riffs, sharp edges, and John Bonnel’s (SWINGIN’ UTTERS) half-spoken, half-snarled poetry. Their debut album Beak Wyatt! lands October 24 via Strange Club Records, packing seven tracks of wired urgency and weird hallucination, where every jolt feels like another gulp of something too strong to quit.
CHIEF STATE have dropped their new single “No Brakes” via Mutant League Records, delivering the kind of emotionally wired pop punk that rides the edge between burnout and breakthrough.
Produced and mixed by Tim Creviston and mastered by Stu McKillop at Rain City Recorders, the track bursts with melodic urgency — lyrics tracing exhaustion, distance, and the fight to hold on when everything’s slipping. “Okay / Well if it has to be this way don’t give me / No pain / No brakes” captures that restless push forward even when nothing’s going right.
PSICO GALERA return with Memorie Di Occhi Grigi, an eight-track descent into madness and metallic punk chaos, out November 7 via Sorry State Records. The new single Imperfetto, sii Imperfetto captures the band’s dissonant, fractured intensity — a raw blast of distorted vocals, jagged riffs, and unhinged energy somewhere between late-era NEGAZIONE, early VOIVOD, and the warped aggression of Japanese acts like BITOUSHA and HOG-GISH. Recorded across Italy, Berlin, and London, the album merges precision and delirium, dragging hardcore into a claustrophobic world of fractured minds, guilt, and defiance.
Mendeku Diskak just announced Sota La Influència, the new 10″ from BRUX, out October 24 with pre-orders opening the same day. The Barcelona trio returns with five tracks that pay homage to the punk, Oi!, and post-punk acts that shaped their sound — a raw, streetwise tribute to their roots and influences. Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Adri at Bonzo Recordings with artwork by Juanma, the record channels the spirit of underground rebellion that’s always defined BRUX.
Midwest ska-core detectives THE BOY DETECTIVE just dropped a new video for “American Farts,” the ninth track off their upcoming full-length Disco Lunch, out November 7 via Punkerton Records. Produced by Roger Lima and mixed by Eric Taft, the record follows their knack for chaos wrapped in brass and sweat — this one’s short, loud, and borderline unhinged. Lunch is coming, but the appetizer’s already on fire.
MUTHA FLAC, the only punk band from Suriname, just dropped their new single Guillotine on October 3 via their own Beerput Records. It’s their first release in two years — a raw, politically charged anthem ripping into corrupt leaders and hollow promises. Mixed by Lucas de Gier, the track blends sharp-edged energy with the band’s signature Caribbean twist, landing somewhere between ANTI-FLAG and RANCID in both urgency and grit.
HYPERDOG from Linz, Austria just dropped Depressed, a 2-minute burst of raw garage punk energy. Mixed and mastered by JOHNNYFROMTHEROTTEN with artwork by Chrizao, the track hits fast and dirty — stripped-down, wired-up punk straight from the Austrian underground.
FRANK TURNER has dropped a new cover of CHRIS T-T’s Giraffe #1, recorded backstage with T-T himself during Lost Evenings VIII. The track appears on The Next Ten Years, a triple-vinyl collection arriving November 7 via Xtra Mile, gathering B-sides, live takes, collaborations, and covers from 2015–2024. It follows Turner’s 2015 retrospective The First Ten Years and traces a decade of restless songwriting between albums like Positive Songs for Negative People, Be More Kind, No Man’s Land, and FTHC.
The 3LP set — limited to 4000 numbered copies — includes acoustic versions, deep cuts, and rare sessions, packaged in a detailed die-cut gatefold sleeve with tour collage artwork and an etched final side. Turner calls it “a way to make all the non-album music easy to find… B-sides, covers, sessions, alternative versions — it’s lovely to have it all in one place.”
SHAKTI drop debut LP on LA VIDA ES UN MUS DISCOS — a chaotic and vibrant fusion of Indian nostalgia and Barcelona punk. Sung in Marathi, S/T crashes Bollywood melodies and Hindustani echoes into jagged post-punk and raw hardcore energy. It’s sarcastic, furious, and danceable — immigrant rage wrapped in groove and noise. Out now on vinyl and digital.
Ohio punks RAGING NATHANS dropped Bad Timing: Sordid Youth Vol. 3 via Rad Girlfriend and Brassneck Records — the third chapter in their ongoing archive series. It stitches together b-sides, singles, and lost cuts into one tight, no-filler listen that plays like a proper album. Fast, hooky, and loud, it’s the band doing what they do best — turning the leftovers into a main course.
Los Angeles pop-punk trio FLY RIGHT dropped their new single The Line via Bad Self Records, marking their tenth release and first official video, filmed by Brian G. Addie and Anton Floquet.
Frontman Matty McNamara wrote the song during a freezing night in Cleveland, inspired by a new relationship — “I felt totally outside of my comfort zone and that I was putting myself in a vulnerable position,” he said. The track hits that point between falling in love and losing control, blending emotional honesty with sharp alt-rock punch. We had a special feature on it this week.
New Jersey ska-punk trio JOKER’S REPUBLIC return with The Hand You’ve Been Dealt, out now via Punkerton Records. Produced by Roger Lima of LESS THAN JAKE and mixed by Grammy-nominated engineer Eric Taft, the 12-track album hits fast with political bite, mental health confessions, and a hook-driven energy that never lets up. It’s tight, loud, and full of that mix of defiance and melody that made ska-punk stick in the first place.
HOIST THE COLORS have released their new full-length album Dear Wanderlust via Hey!Fever Records. The Los Angeles folk-punk band blends traditional folk and bluegrass with the grit of SoCal punk, delivering a record that captures both restless energy and reflection. Recorded, produced, and mixed by Paul Miner at Buzzbomb Studios, the album features guest vocals from Jack Grisham (TSOL) and Brian Barbara. The new video for The Sins of Saints — inspired by Nacho Libre and featuring wrestlers from Santino Brothers Wrestling — is premiering now on Dying Scene.
BASHFORD are set to release their new album Wannabe on November 7 via Big Neck Records. The Madison, Wisconsin-based band blends grunge and punk with a balance of heaviness and restraint, channeling the tension between belief and burnout. The first single, Rage Bucket, is now streaming via Punk Rock Theory. Recorded somewhere “on a sunken pirate ship between Lakes Mendota and Monona,” Wannabe captures the raw grit and emotional pull of the Midwest basement scene — loud when it needs to be, quiet when it hurts the most.
Tokyo’s ANGEL FACE tear through Out In The Street, their second full-length on Slovenly Recordings. It’s power-pop with a pulse — rough-edged, loud, and restless. Frontman Hercules howls like he’s coughing up his own soul, while Fink, Toyozo, and Rayco keep everything swinging between swagger and breakdown. Tracks like Days in the Haze and Let’s Go sound like they’ve been scraped straight off the concrete — fast, greasy, and just unhinged enough to stick.
⤵ Rock
Alternative, Indie Rock, Hard Rock, Emo, Noise Rock, Post Punk, Grunge, Shoegaze and more
ADIÓS COMETA drift deeper into their dreamlike universe with El mundo en mis brazos (Leonor) — a slow-motion swell of shoegaze and melancholy featuring FIN DEL MUNDO.
The song feels like standing on a quiet shore at dusk, watching the horizon blur between light and loss. Layers of reverb and soft distortion fold over whispered vocals, carrying that familiar oceanic weight — sadness and beauty moving as one.
BURIAL WAVES — featuring Kyle Durfey (Pianos Become The Teeth), Ross Hurt and Matthew Dowling (Caverns), Dave Davies (Black Clouds), and Jimmy Rhodes (The Effects) — have unveiled Washed Clean, their full-length debut out October 10, 2025 via Dark Operative. Co-produced with J. Robbins and mixed by Paul Malinowski, the record channels the collective pedigree of its members into something leaner and more cinematic. Across eight tracks, from the propulsive Causer to the brooding Suitors, the album fuses post-hardcore precision, atmospheric post-rock layering, and emotional depth — a natural evolution of the sound these musicians helped shape in their earlier bands.
SPANISH LOVE SONGS just dropped Cocaine & Lexapro / Berlin — a two-track single that somehow manages to sound both exhausted and painfully alive.
The first track, featuring Kevin Devine, drifts through the kind of emotional wreckage that’s become their trademark — a mess of dependency, confession, and deadpan humor that cuts way too close. Berlin, with Tigers Jaw, pulls the same weight but from another angle, synth driven, dark pop infused, all late-night honesty and half-broken calm.
Their new EP A Brief Intermission in the Flattening of Time is out November 21 via Pure Noise Records.
The EP follows No Joy Sessions and reflects on time, growth, and uncertainty through spontaneous sessions with producer Arun Bali. Frontman Dylan Slocum describes Devine’s verse as transforming anger into something “delicate and full of pathos,” while “Berlin” delivers a moody, cinematic love song elevated by Brianna Collins’ harmonies. The band is currently on a European and UK tour with The Dirty Nil, Sincere Engineer, and Kali Masi, and will also join the Common Thread Tour alongside Tigers Jaw.
More than twenty years after Cough, BLACK EYES return with Hostile Design — six new tracks written right after their 2023 reunion shows. Recorded at Tonal Park with Ian MacKaye producing, it feels spontaneous and sharp-edged, all shifting rhythms and tangled energy. The record moves like a band reconnecting through instinct rather than nostalgia, still playing with friction and pulse instead of melody, still sounding like no one else from D.C.
Cinematic shoegaze outfit BLANKET have dropped a new single, Hole In My Head, via Adventure Cat Records. The band describes it as born from that “restless place where something inside you isn’t quite right,” channeling unease into dense layers of guitars and vocals soaked in reverb and modulation. The result blurs beauty and anxiety — a swirling, uneasy sound that feels as intimate as it does vast.
VIDEO STORE have released a new video for Eline, taken from their EP Everything Looks Better at Night, which came out on October 1. The EP is available on Bandcamp digitally and on a limited cassette run of 25 copies.
Recorded with Menno Bakker and mastered by Igor Wouters, the release captures the band’s late-night energy and sense of nostalgia. As the band explains, the concept behind Everything Looks Better at Night is about chasing the moments that still make you feel alive — writing songs, staying out late with friends, or catching a show that reminds you why you love music in the first place.
‘90s emo staples POHGOH and SAMUEL S.C. just teamed up for a split 10” out now via New Granada Records (U.S.) and Waterslide Records (Japan). The release ties together two bands that helped shape the DIY emo and punk underground, both recently revived and back in motion. POHGOH’s “I’m A Fan” leans bright and heartfelt, while SAMUEL S.C.’s “Evergreen” hits midlife reflection with grit and grace. It’s a short, sharp reminder that these bands never lost the pulse — they just waited for the right moment to reconnect.
ARMOR FOR SLEEP return with The Outer Ring, the opening track from their upcoming LP There Is No Memory, out November 7 via Equal Vision Records. Recorded with Sam Guaiana (Silverstein, The Devil Wears Prada), the record confronts betrayal, memory, and the weight of the past through a more grounded and personal lens than 2022’s The Rain Museum.
Frontman Ben Jorgensen describes The Outer Ring as a song “about dealing with betrayal and wanting to just vanish into the darkest pits of the universe.” Across the album, he unpacks loss, addiction, and broken friendships with raw honesty and reflection — tracing how memories can shape and distort identity.
Boston emo act BICYCLE INN have released their new single Ordinary Hell, recorded with Gary Cioni (HOT MULLIGAN, CLIFFDIVER) at Soundacres Studio. The track follows last month’s Longsword (4th Place) and dives deeper into the exhaustion and contradictions of faith, exploring what the band calls “the gospel of self; performative holiness.”
Layered guitars and sweeping vocals carry the song’s sense of disillusionment and spiritual fatigue, while guest appearances from Ryan O’Rourke (INNERLOVE.), Kyle Kinney (EXCUSE ME, WHO ARE YOU?), and Maggie Ciora add emotional depth. Ordinary Hell continues BICYCLE INN’s evolution into one of the more thoughtful and emotionally articulate voices in today’s emo scene.
LAVISHER have released a new video for Sultry, a track from their upcoming album Aligned & Vital, out November 14 on Nefarious Industries. The Chicago band’s latest work leans into a cinematic alt-rock and grunge mix — a hazy, noir-inspired trip that fits their layered, slow-burning sound. Directed by Sarah Giroux, Andrew Melzer, and Gavin Cushman III, the video follows a sequence of strange, distorted moments that mirror the song’s fever-dream tone.
WEATHERBOX return with new EP “The Compass” — out today via DHCR and Cake Police Records. Released alongside a remastered edition of Follow the Rattle of the Afghan Guitar, the new WEATHERBOX EP The Compass gathers six songs written in the same restless era but only recorded this year.
MY TICKET HOME are back with a new EP, Flooded Eyes, out today via Puke Rock Records. The four-track release — their first new material in years — tightens their signature mix of heavy groove, melodic vibe, and raw atmosphere into something sharper and more direct. Songs like “Nothing Lost” and “Urethane” hit with precision, while “Tearjoint” drags melody through distortion in that familiar, uneasy way only this band can.
TERMINALS have released Awake, their second EP and a clear step deeper into the heavy, anxious world they’ve been building since Baptise.
The Birmingham trio push their mix of grungegaze, alt-rock, and nu-metal textures into sharper focus — all thick grooves, swirling atmosphere, and the kind of introspection that hits like a panic attack halfway through a daydream. Lyrically, it’s all about fear, self-doubt, and trying to find something resembling hope in the middle of it. Awake feels like a band fully aware of what they’re capable of — and ready to lean harder into it.
Buffalo shoegaze quartet ELEMANTRA unveiled their new single “Ishimura,” a haunting track from their upcoming Air Like a Buzzsaw EP via Friend Club Records. Inspired by Dead Space, the song mirrors real-world denial and fear, layering reverb-drenched guitars and melancholic vocals into a surreal descent. The six-song EP arrives October 9 on cassette and CD, with two more singles to follow before streaming release.
Garage-punk rockers band SALEM WOLVES just dropped Greatest Hits, Vol. 2, a five-track covers EP that rips through songs by Jawbreaker, The Replacements, Hüsker Dü, INXS, and Tom Waits like they were written for a bar fight.
Bedroom-pop/indie artist BOK SUNA drops Carnate via Play Dead and Softseed Music, a body-built record of trauma turned testimony.
“Writing music feels almost anatomical… you start with a skeleton… then you layer sound, texture, distortion—muscle and flesh,” she says, framing songs that transmute suicide, toxic ties, and substance use into resilience. Living with schizoaffective disorder, she leans into the surreal—see the “Doghorn” video, a collage of animated diary fragments that plays like a private ritual—while keeping the community angle real with Zegema Beach in the orbit. “I’d rather listeners take what they need… the art becomes theirs once it leaves my hands.”
See our special feature posted this week at this location.
THE CITY GATES have released their new single La Douleur (Des Mortels) through Velouria Recordz and Icy Cold Records.
Known for their blend of post-punk, shoegaze, and darkwave, the Montreal band delivers one of their most immersive works yet — driven by heavy basslines, hypnotic guitars, and a deep baritone vocal that brings both intensity and mysticism.
SOUL BLIND rise again with Red Sky Mourning, their second full-length arriving October 10. Following 2022’s Feel It All Around, the band sharpen their live-born heaviness into molten riffs and thick melodic haze. Sobriety, loss, and self-examination pulse through the record’s emotional core, while lead single “Hide Your Evil” channels pure aggression. It’s a new dawn for the Hudson Valley quartet—heavier, clearer, and more human than ever.
Pop-punk survivors YELLOWCARD just dropped Better Days through Better Noise Music — their first album in nearly a decade, produced and drummed on by Travis Barker. The record’s title track already scored the band their first-ever number one on alternative radio, a full twenty-two years after their debut spin. Avril Lavigne shows up on “You Broke Me Too,” calling it “an anthem people can relate to when finding hope after a relationship,” while Ryan Key calls her feature “a sonic time machine.”
Barker says the collab came together by chance but turned into “undeniable magic.” The album also features Matt Skiba on “Love Letters Lost.”
Oregon outfit FEVERSLEEP have dropped Contaminator, a new track from their split 7” with Museum of Light via Ashtray Monument. The song hits that zone between punk grit and grunge haze — think a melodic Helmet wired through Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr., with just enough DC pulse underneath. The release coincides with their East Coast run, including stops in Boston, New York, Richmond, and Gainesville’s Fest.
Rush announce a 2026 reunion tour with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson joined by new drummer Anika Nilles, starting June 7 at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles and hitting Mexico City, Fort Worth, Chicago, New York, Toronto, and Cleveland. Each stop is billed as an “evening with” featuring two career-spanning sets, with most cities getting two nights. Tickets go on sale October 17 at 12PM local time (11AM for Mexico), with presales before that.
“It’s been over 10 years since Alex and I have performed the music of Rush… we fucking miss it,” Lee says, framing the run as a celebration of “50-something years of Rush music” while emphasizing that Neil Peart is “irreplaceable.” He adds that Nilles is “adding another chapter to our story,” and notes they “hope to add another musician or two to expand our sound.” Neil Peart’s widow Carrie Nuttall-Peart and daughter Olivia Peart “support the Fifty Something tour,” calling his work “singular” and “inimitable.” The itinerary includes two nights in Los Angeles (June 7, 9), Mexico City (June 18), Fort Worth (June 24, 26), Chicago (July 16, 18), New York (July 28, 30), Toronto (August 7, 9), and a closing date in Cleveland (September 17).
LIKE ROSES have revived Hopeless Records’ Songs That Saved My Life series with a cathartic cover of CHER’s “Believe,” marking the project’s first official release in three years. The Berkeley-based emo rock band transforms the dancefloor classic into an emotional, guitar-driven anthem while honoring the spirit of the charity initiative supporting mental health and suicide prevention.
Frontwoman Amy Schmalkuche says the song became a source of empowerment after heartbreak: “There was something healing about finding reassurance in an absolute club banger.”
London noise-rock trio TEST PLAN have returned with Gone, a chaotic and unnerving single out October 7. Recorded with producer Darren Jones (Fat Dog, Gorillaz), the track channels the band’s live volatility into a convulsive rush of static, distortion, and shouted breakdowns. It feels like a panic attack in motion — tense, unstable, and gripping.
The accompanying self-directed video turns performance into something closer to ritual. Frontman Max Mason coats himself in paint and clay, transforming into a living sculpture while fruit bursts and books scatter in surreal, feverish tableaux.
ICE NINE KILLS just released The Laugh Track, a gothic, cinematic homage to Tim Burton’s Batman ’89 and its chaotic antihero, the Joker. The track merges theatrical metal and dark humor in the band’s signature Horrorwood style, with frontman Spencer Charnas calling it a tribute to “the Clown Prince of Crime” and the twisted fun that defined Burton’s Gotham.
ALEX EDKINS of METZ is back with a new WEIRD NIGHTMARE single titled “Forever Elsewhere,” out now via Sub Pop and Dine Alone. Recorded with Seth Manchester and co-produced by SPOON’s Jim Eno, the track finds Edkins diving into raw hooks and fuzzed-out textures — the kind of messy pop chaos that’s become his signature.
Originally launched during the pandemic, WEIRD NIGHTMARE continues to serve as Edkins’ looser, more melodic outlet, separate from METZ’s heavier grind. Check out “Forever Elsewhere” and its Colin Medley–directed video, out now on all platforms.
Texas emo crew UP DOG just dropped their new single Disappointment At The Torchy’s and opened pre-orders for the upcoming EP Going Nowhere Fast, out November 11. The track hits like PUP crashing into No Doubt — jagged riffs, groovy bass, and bursts of brass chaos. Lyrically, it’s about chasing the spark of old DIY nights and friendships that slipped away with age: “I’ve been searching for that feeling / but I haven’t found it yet.” Recorded at Fuzzy Tiger Studios with Steven Jolly and mastered by Jas Nowicki, the EP turns missed calls and late-night frustrations into scrappy, communal anthems made for beer-soaked singalongs.
Italian noise rock trio FLYING DISK are revisiting their roots with Circling Further Down – Remixed & Remastered, set for release on October 29 via a joint effort between several European and US underground labels. Originally out in 2014, the record captured the grit of small-town Italy through a sound steeped in the lineage of Unsane, Helmet, and Melvins. Ten years later, the band—now featuring Enrico Reineri and Francesco Martinat—have reworked the album to match the raw energy they always meant it to have, with new mixes and mastering giving their noisy grind a sharper, more lived-in edge.
LA MALA DENTRO — a trio from Asturias, Spain — have released Mørkkest, the first single from their upcoming debut LP, set for release in 2025.
Formed in 2024 in the isolated industrial west of Asturias, the band blends post-hardcore and post-punk influences, channeling a sound that recalls HIGH VIS, TOUCHÉ AMORÉ, and FONTAINES D.C.. Their lyrics, written in Spanish, carry a sense of darkness shaped by grey skies and factory towns.
THE CASKET LOTTERY are back with Feel The Teeth, out now through Iodine Recordings — a record that exhales more than it screams, sitting somewhere between weariness and quiet revelation. It’s full of late-night thoughts, aging bones, and that stubborn need to keep creating noise even when the world’s gone still.
We’ve got the full interview with Nathan Ellis coming later this week — talking insomnia, middle age, Kansas City roots, and what keeps the fire burning.
QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE brought some action and artsy stuff to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, performing a medley of “Running Joke” and “Paper Machete.” Filmed October 10, 2025, the set felt like classic QOTSA — lean, menacing, and effortlessly tight, with Josh Homme leading the charge through riffs that hit like a slow burn turning into a wildfire.
WET LEG returned to KEXP for a full in-studio session recorded on September 9, 2025, and aired October 10. The set featured four new tracks — Catch These Fists, Davina McCall, CPR, and Mangetout — marking a sharp, playful continuation of their wiry post-pop sound.
Polish math-instrumental emo outfit SON OF DENI close their chapter with 3 Years, a two-track farewell EP now streaming everywhere. Recorded with mix engineer Pavel Sinila, the release features “15 Years Of” and “Sparkles,” two final cuts balancing intricate rhythms and emotional weight. The band signs off with gratitude, while guitarist Dzenyaa continues solo under her own name.
Ottawa’s emo-rock outfit GUEST ROOM STATUS have dropped their new single Losing Track, setting the tone for their upcoming EP Eventually?, out November 7. The song threads bright mathy guitars through dual vocals and restless rhythms, a reflection on the fear that your best days might already be behind you. It swells and crashes with the same uneasy pulse that runs through their live shows — scrappy, urgent, and a little nostalgic — capturing that cycle of doubt and drive that keeps you moving even when you’re not sure why.
Dutch outfit VIEK just dropped their new single “Jump Away” via White Russian Records — a bright, bouncy mix of pop hooks and punk drive. It’s got that carefree, windows-down energy that never tries too hard, just hits right where it should.
ACTION/ADVENTURE have released a new single, Spiral, from their upcoming album Ever After, out October 24 via Pure Noise Records. The track drifts through late-night anxiety and restless thoughts, tracing that familiar sense of unease when something feels off but remains unspoken.
Directed by vocalist Blake Evaristo, the video mirrors that tension with a mix of surreal visuals and quiet chaos. Ever After was produced by Alan Day (Four Year Strong, Knuckle Puck) and continues to explore the balance between daily life and creative drive — a recurring theme in the Chicago band’s recent work.
Industrial menace BLACK CROSS HOTEL have dropped Eyes From Nowhere, the opening track from their upcoming album Songs for Switches, out October 31 via Someoddpilot Records. Bassist Sanford Parker says the track began with “a raw, Jesus Lizard-type energy” before twisting into “dark, punk-fueled Depeche Mode,” while keyboardist Andrew Ragin calls it a “RoboCop (1987)” moment — exploring identity, humanity, and corporate decay through the lens of a cyborg cop. The Chicago crew, featuring members of The Atlas Moth and Stabbing Westward, will host a listening party at Public Works on October 24 and a release show at the Empty Bottle on October 29.
CREEPER return with “Prey for the Night,” the newest single from their upcoming album “Sanguivore II: Mistress of Death,” out October 31. The track builds on the gothic grandeur of “Headstones” and “Blood Magick (It’s a Ritual),” mixing darkwave synths, theatrical vocal interplay, and an ‘80s hard rock flair. William von Ghould’s baritone leads the charge, backed by Hannah Greenwood’s vocals and a sudden saxophone burst that underlines the song’s dual edge of seduction and menace.
FEVERSLEEP contribute the track “Glassing” to a four-way split 12” released for Fest 23 through Protagonist Music and Creep Records. The Portland-based band leans into their mix of alternative, grunge, and indie rock, shaping a sound that feels both heavy and reflective.
PREOCCUPATIONS have shared two previously unreleased tracks, “Mur” and “Ponr,” taken from the Ill At Ease sessions and now pressed as a limited 7” via Born Losers Records. Both songs expand on the cold, anxious post-punk palette the Calgary band has long inhabited—dense, moody, and deliberate. On “Mur,” vocalist Matt Flegel described his intent as “trying to translate the feeling of overwhelming, aggressive helplessness and unwillingness to talk about things that scare you, into the form of sound. It builds up and hits the point of almost rapture, and then explodes into a rant and rage.”
Irish math/noise rock chaos unit GOD ALONE just dropped their new single Tony Gawk, a frenetic burst of sickness-fueled energy from their upcoming album The Beep Test, out October 10 via Prosthetic Records. “It’s super-fast, and it definitely nods to our mathcore influences,” says guitarist and vocalist Jake O’Driscoll, who wrote the song after a night of heavy drinking left him convinced he was possessed. With its spasmodic riffs, quivering cymbals, and throat-shredded refrains, Tony Gawk captures the band’s trademark mix of humor, delirium, and technical wreckage — a dizzying teaser for what’s to come.
South Bay rockers JOYCE MANOR just announced their seventh album I Used To Go To This Bar and dropped a new single, Well, Whatever It Was. Frontman Barry Johnson calls it “one of the most Southern California sounding songs ever recorded,” pointing to “Jane’s Addiction in the verses, Beach Boys / Weezer in the chorus, and RHCP in the outro.” Produced by Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion fame, the track lands somewhere between pop-punk absurdity and surf-soaked nostalgia — complete with a Great British Bake Off parody video that, in Barry’s words, “would go insanely hard in a Shrek film.”
STRAY VIEW just dropped their new single Break via Hopeless Records — a fierce, emotionally charged metalcore track fronted by Dave Escamilla (formerly of CROWN THE EMPIRE). Following their recent single Vivid and a summer run with SLEEP THEORY, the band continues to build momentum with a mix of melody and aggression. According to guitarist Jake, Break digs into the pain of realizing when relationships turn one-sided and the strength it takes to walk away..
German rock trio KADAVAR begin their European tour next week, with dates across France, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Poland. Their new album K.A.D.A.V.A.R., out November 7 via Clouds Hill, circles back to the rough, riff-heavy sound of their early work, shaped by guitarist Simon Kreft’s recent addition. Early press calls it a dark, tense record — the kind that fits the times more than it tries to escape them.
New Jersey indie-punk band BANQUETS have shared Middle School Burnouts, the final preview before their upcoming album Petty Relics, out October 17 via Black Numbers. The track circles back to the guilt and growing pains of youth, with guitarist and vocalist Travis reflecting on the uneasy mix of rebellion and regret that shaped him. After nearly a decade away, the band’s return feels unforced — same sharp hooks, same unpolished honesty — just older, maybe a little wiser, but still carrying that restless spark that once pulled them together.
STILL MACHINE have announced their new album “Echoes Within,” set for release on November 14 via Someoddpilot Records. Alongside the announcement, the Chicago trio shared the title track, a brooding piece of post-punk tension that asks, as vocalist and guitarist Ray Dybzinski puts it, “Where is the solid ground in a world that can only ever be felt or seen through a small and arbitrary frame?” The song’s accompanying video was co-directed by Dybzinski and Chris Eichenseer, the creative director of Someoddpilot, known for collaborations with Pitchfork and Lollapalooza.
ARMBITE will release their debut album “dawg rock vol. 1” on October 10 — a raw, cathartic collection written between 2022 and 2024. The record circles around themes of defeat, false starts, and broken connections, yet never loses its rough charm or sense of reckless fun.
Initially planned for 2025, the sessions were derailed by a studio flood, pushing the band to finish the album across basements, apartments, and a piano hidden in an old college. Produced with Bridget and mixed/mastered by Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Jeff Rosenstock), “dawg rock vol. 1” captures ARMBITE’s scrappy, unfiltered energy through tracks like “lucky penny” and other cuts that oscillate between chaos and vulnerability.
SOLELY VEIL have released their new single Prisoner via The Artery Foundation, marking their second release under the label. The Sacramento-based band — featuring members from BURN HALO, JAIME’S ELSEWHERE, and CEMETERY SUN — continues to merge heavy rock and alt sensibilities with deeply personal themes. Vocalist Allen Wheeler describes the track as “putting my own scars on display,” confronting inner turmoil and the cost of suppressing dark thoughts.
Chicago indie project POMMER just announced their new EP “Nothing,” arriving November 7, with the lead single “Ever After” out now. Written mostly in 2025 by Josh Ehlke with help from Liam Hartnett, the record marks POMMER’s first properly mixed and released collection, handled by Tyler Floyd in Chicago.
Influenced by artists like Hovvdy, Slow Pulp, Petey, and Mini Trees, “Nothing” reflects on memories that overstay their welcome — quiet moments stretched by nostalgia and regret. It’s a subtle but defining step forward for the band, tracing their shift from lo-fi beginnings toward something more intentional and complete.
FOR EXAMPLE JOHN keep things moving with Back & Forth — a crisp, mathy, and slightly sentimental track that bridges the sound of their debut Hello Stranger with the more raw, energetic direction of their upcoming record. Born as an online project spanning Poland, Japan, the UK, and the US, the now fully-formed band leans into bright guitars and restless emo rhythm changes that feel both restless and alive. Out now, ahead of their fall Stranger or Friend tour across Poland and Germany.
MOODRING are back with “Half-Life,” their first single since signing with SharpTone Records. Led by frontman Hunter Young, the Florida-turned-Atlanta project blends nu-metal atmosphere with alt-rock introspection, this time channeling deep personal grief and transformation following Young’s life-altering medical diagnosis.
The track marks a shift in how the band operates — now more fluid, collaborative, and less bound by traditional touring. “Half-Life” is out now with a new video, offering a raw look at a band redefining itself through loss and adaptation.
Brooklyn heavy-gaze duo HESITANT return with Some Light, their first new track in two years. Blending the haze of DIIV and Slowdive with the weight of Hum and Deftones, the song searches for glimmers of hope buried in everyday darkness. Produced and mixed by Nicholas Starrantino at Deadend Studios, it follows the band’s Seasons of Grief EP and arrives with a tongue-in-cheek video capturing the quiet frustrations that wear people down.
HEAVEN FOR REAL return with Improvement, a twitchy, self-aware new single from their upcoming album Who Died & Made You The Dream?, out November 7 via Mint Records. The track turns road rage into a metaphor for self-betterment, caught between chaos and clarity, while Laura Jeffery’s drumming and choreography give both the song and its video a playful physical rhythm. Recorded in Victoria with Austin Tufts (BRAIDS, MARCI) and mixed by Jay Arner, the album captures the Grundy brothers’ skewed avant-pop energy — all tangled guitars, dream logic lyrics, and hooks that stumble just right.
HAIL THE SUN dive deep into vulnerability on their new single “Relapse Is A Love Affair”, taken from their upcoming album cut. turn. fade. back., out October 24 via Equal Vision Records. Frontman Donovan Melero turns his own relapse after fourteen years of sobriety into a raw confession, framing addiction as a toxic romance you can’t fully escape. Produced by Pete Adams and Johnny Kosich (Kendrick Lamar) and mixed by Zakk Cervini, the track balances their trademark math-rock precision with emotional volatility. It’s another reminder that HAIL THE SUN’s intensity doesn’t just come from chaos — it comes from honesty.
SPENCER HOFFMAN’s new single Dandelions, out now via Anxiety Blanket Records, drifts between exhaustion and quiet defiance — a weary reflection of long days spent balancing construction work, art gigs, and music sessions in Los Angeles.
Featuring Meg Duffy on slide guitar and Sharon Silva on harmonies, the song unfolds like a late-night confession from someone caught between glamour and survival. Hoffman’s writing is sharp and self-aware, calling out the hollow posturing of blue-collar chic while longing for the simplicity of his roots. It’s a junkyard waltz of grit, privilege, and persistence — tender, unvarnished, and unmistakably human.
Swedish heavy modern rockers AVIANA are pulling listeners straight into the void with their upcoming album Void, out October 31 via Arising Empire.
The latest single, “Worlds Pulse,” features IMMINENCE frontman Eddie Berg, whose violin and vocals add eerie elegance to the chaos. Led by Joel Holmqvist, the band has turned their mix of cinematic soundscapes, raw emotion, and punishing breakdowns into something that feels both massive and uncomfortably human.
Queer Philly punk infused rockers WAX JAW drop their debut LP It Takes Guts! this Friday via Born Losers Records — eleven tracks of jagged punk and new-wave grime that split the line between chaos and catharsis. Fronted by Shane Morgan, the record dives into addiction, self-worth, and sexual liberation with a mix of bite and dance-floor heat. It’s sweaty, scrappy, and fully alive. After sharing stages with The Get Up Kids, Spiritual Cramp, and Bad Nerves, the band keeps pushing their high-voltage message: joy and suffering can dance in the same room, and both deserve to be loud.
Polish folk-industrial metal rockers CZARNY BEZ have unveiled their second album W Blasku Księżyca along with a video for the single “Noc w leście.” The record dives deep into Slavic mythology and pre-Christian history, blending heavy guitar riffs, traditional vocals, and industrial electronics. Songs evoke ancient battles, deities like Mokosz and Trzygłów, and mystical forest rites.
True to its title, the album was written mostly at night — “in the moon’s glow,” as the band says — channeling both darkness and the vitality of folklore. The new single captures that duality perfectly: eerie, earthy, and alive.
THE SOLAR LODGE drop new single “Söder” — a punkish burst of rowdy pop that channels BUZZCOCKS, PIXIES, and THE STOOGES energy. The track marks a sharper turn both musically and lyrically for the band, featuring guest saxophonist Mats Bäcker, whose brassy lines cut through the chaos with swagger and bite.
COLD IN BERLIN release new single “The Stranger” — a brooding collision of post-metal, doom, and cold wave textures. The track, featuring Berlin artist BOW CHURCH on synths, teases the band’s fifth album “Wounds”, out November 7 via New Heavy Sounds. Frontwoman Maya calls it “a call into the darkness… a healer, a cage, an addiction.” Tour kicks off in November across the UK and Poland.
THE WYTCHES return with new album Talking Machine — out now via Alcopop! Records. Self-produced and recorded live in one room, the record channels the raw spirit of ’60s garage and surf rock with a dark, analogue pulse. Led by Kristian Bell, the band dives into gritty, human imperfection — from the roaring title track to the ghostly Is The World Too Old?, now accompanied by a new video. UK/EU tour runs through November.
ELIE ZOÉ releases new album Shifting Forms — out today via Humus Records. The Swiss artist’s fourth record marks their first under their chosen name, capturing a raw yet reflective blend of indie rock and minimalist pop. Produced by Louis Jucker and mastered by Johann Meyer (Gojira), the album explores transformation, interconnectedness, and renewal. New video for opening track “Devour the Sun” is also out now. Upcoming tour includes dates with The Young Gods across Europe.
SEOI NAGE release debut LP No Retreat, No Surrender — out now, the Münster-based quartet blends martial arts cinema, psychedelic noir, and 70s funk into a vivid instrumental soundtrack for an imaginary film. Mixed by Pogo McCartney and mastered by Alexander von Hörsten, the record channels the analog pulse of vintage detective flicks through modern grooves. For fans of YIN YIN, KHRUANGBIN, GOAT, and ALTIN GÜN.
Scottish outfit GUTTERBLOOD return with Good Dogs Will Never Die, a politically charged mix of post-punk, stoner grooves, reggae touches, and punk grit. Recorded at Post Electric Studio in Leith, the record drifts from heavy riffing to dub-like space, tracing stories of injustice, loss, and everyday struggle. It’s dark, human, and oddly danceable — protest music with groove and teeth.
Check out out full special feature and interviw with the band at this location.
Brooklyn’s MIDNIGHT FOOLISHNESS reimagine EMMURE’s “MDMA” as an acoustic descent into vulnerability and tension. Their stripped-down version replaces the original’s aggression with open space, emotional weight, and raw fragility.
LA trio URGENT CARE deliver a darkwave rush with Melt Away — a four-minute pulse of dance and disarray that fuses 80s gloom with post-punk speed. Sergio Camarena, Mario De La Cruz, and Oscar Ruvalcaba build tension from delay-soaked guitars and hypnotic basslines, carving out a sound that’s both anxious and oddly serene.
See our review here.
Portland’s indie outfit BONUS ROOM unveil Blessed Be — a dark, sardonic reflection on faith and contradiction, streaming now ahead of their fall debut EP Bunk. Written by Derrin Brice, the track came from personal conflict between spiritual upbringing and agnostic leanings, wrapped in a gritty post-punk pulse inspired by Human Fly by THE CRAMPS.
We covered the band in our special feature this week.
Grunge-soaked Pittsburgh trio PUMMELED have dropped their new single Beaver Valley Mall, a fuzzed-out slice of alternative rock cut with dry humor and small-town nostalgia. Recorded at Mr. Small’s Studio with Nate Campisi and mixed by Justin Francis, it’s the band’s rough-edged ode to mall culture decay — loud, catchy, and just the right amount of unhinged.
Portland indie oddball GUITAR has dropped We’re Headed to the Lake through Julia’s War Recordings — twelve tracks of riff-heavy rock that lean on optimism, bathroom-mirror pep talks, and the joy of keeping it DIY even when it all goes sideways. Bandleader Saia Kuli calls it about “making shit happen in the spiritual sense,” mixing stream-of-consciousness detours with hooks that barely hold together but somehow still do. The record swings from sharp noise to jangly pop turns, pulling off the same messy charm that defines life in motion — no big statements, just movement, grit, and a little self-delusion to keep going.
Swedish darkwave unit KILLING KIND return with Being Human, a colder, heavier step into the shadows. Recorded at Sunlight Studio with Tomas Skogsberg — the same producer behind Entombed and Dismember — the album folds post-punk, synth pop, and goth into one bleak vision of modern collapse. Across eleven tracks, the band channels sci-fi paranoia and horror imagery into reflections on global decay, where “humanity keeps trying to extinguish great fires with gasoline.” Built around Björn Norberg’s vocals and guitars, Being Human expands the sound first hinted at on their 2023 debut — cinematic, uneasy, and painfully aware of the world outside the frame.
Columbus, Ohio’s TEETH MARKS have shared a video for their new single “Tin Soldiers”, taken from their upcoming debut LP Raise/Wreck/Rebuild/Raze, out November 14, 2025 via Better Days Will Haunt You.
Formed out of what was supposed to be a breakup, the band—featuring members of indie alt-rockers YELLOW PAPER PLANES—leans into darker tones and heavier moods, trading in bright chords for drop tuning and pedal steel atmospherics. “Tin Soldiers” captures that balance of grit and melancholy, where restraint hits harder than noise.
The album follows a run of tight, dynamic live shows and channels what the band describes as “the brooding, melodic side of your favorite heavy band—or the doomy closer on your favorite indie rock record.”
OSO OSO are back with a new track, Bad News, out tonight at midnight via Counter Intuitive Records — part of the label’s 10 Year Compilation.
It’s the first time the label’s been part of an initial OSO release, despite having handled tapes and vinyl for all their past albums. There’s a full-circle touch to it — back when Counter Intuitive dropped their first compilation nine years ago, Jade let them use a STATE LINES song, I’m New, which never had an official album release until then.
Vienna garage alt rockers BRIVAT dropped Alle Wörter, a jagged, two-minute burst from their upcoming album Alle Wörter Sind Defekt on CUT SURFACE. Fuzzy, off-kilter, and soaked in that free-pop/new wave energy the label’s known for — raw, crooked, and strangely magnetic. Full record lands soon.
Calgary post-punk unit PREOCCUPATIONS return with MUR/PONR — two unreleased tracks from the Ill at Ease sessions, out now on a limited yellow 7″ via Bandcamp. Dark, hypnotic, and cut with that familiar industrial pulse, both songs stretch the band’s tension-driven sound into colder, more mechanical territory.
Nashville-based trio PALM GHOSTS have shared “Content Provider”, the third single from their upcoming album Content Providers, out October 10 via Sweet Cheetah Records, Steadfast Records, and Poptek Records.
The track tells the story of an aging artist trying to find their place in a hyper-digital world. As described by Catherine Gillette from White Light//White Heat, the song “bobble[s] along a relentless stuttering driving bed of wobbly, rattling percussions and buzzing low ends,” merging anxious art-rock energy with cinematic melancholy.
Softseed Music has reissued “Survivor’s Guilt + Mercy of the Gutter” by DOLLIE ROT, combining the artist’s first two EPs into one physical release nearly a decade after their original debut. Originally recorded when she was just 17, these early works from the Ann Arbor-based songwriter blend eerie folk with a gothic, midwestern country mood—dark, tender, and quietly unsettling.
CKY have returned with “Can’t Stop Running,” their first new track in seven years. Released without warning, the single channels the band’s melodic grit and signals a refreshed chapter ahead of their UK and Ireland tour this fall. Featuring new bassist Mike Leon alongside longtime members Chad I. Ginsburg and Jess Margera, the lineup sounds reinvigorated — seasoned but still driven by the raw energy that defined their early years.
Hard rock lifers BLACK LABEL SOCIETY are back with a new single, Broken and Blind, out via MNRK Heavy and Spinefarm Records. It’s the third track leading up to their next album set for early 2026, following Lord Humungus and The Gallows. In his usual deadpan humor, Zakk Wylde described the song as being “about peanut butter and chocolate and what happens when you don’t have any of it,” adding that he’s “broken and blind with rage” without the combo. The track’s video, directed by long-time collaborator Justin Reich, is up now on YouTube.
⤵ Metal
Alt Metal, Death Metal, Heavy Metal, Black, Thrash, Sludge, Nu Metal, and more.
THOU have turned Nine Inch Nails’ “Suck” into a filthy, slow-burning wall of sludge. Pulled from Best Of Nine Inch Nails (Redux) — out October 27 via Magnetic Eye Records — their version pushes the industrial sneer of the original into swampy, doom-soaked territory. Buzzing riffs and venomous vocals drag the track through Louisiana mud while keeping its mechanical pulse intact.
The compilation also includes contributions from The Ocean, Marissa Nadler, Bees Made Honey in the Vein Tree, and more, each reimagining a NIN classic in their own way — but THOU’s “Suck” might be the heaviest of them all.
SUNBURSTER return with Fresh Dirt, a filthy and slow-burning preview of their upcoming full-length No Semblance of Peaceful Existence, out via Knife Hits Records.
The Philadelphia sludge unit deals in weight and decay — blues-drenched riffs, tortured vocals, and a suffocating atmosphere that drags everything down with it. Equal parts groove and misery, Fresh Dirt feels like the sound of the ground swallowing itself whole.
BLINDFOLDED AND LED TO THE WOODS unleash new album “The Hardest Thing About Being God Is That No One Believes Me”. Out today via Prosthetic Records, the New Zealand band’s latest release marks their first self-produced effort — a concept record tracing a descent into obsession and madness. It pushes their mix of technical death metal, blackened chaos, and experimental atmosphere further than ever, pairing sharp precision with emotional unease.
GONEMAGE returns with Coldest Keep in Bitter Heavens, a concept album released via Fiadh Productions that merges late ’90s symphonic black metal grandeur with pixelated 16-bit soundscapes. Written between late 2024 and early 2025, the record tells the story of Aetherhold — a levitating ice castle ruled by a disgraced wizard luring beings across dimensions for twisted experiments.
Featuring guest appearances from Æggnyth, Cain Borgia, Manic Dream Girl, and Stealth Archer, the album builds on the same mythos as SALLOW MOTH’s Mossbane Lantern. Influences include ULVER, ARCTURUS, EMPEROR, DØDHEIMSGARD, and SIGH, all refracted through GONEMAGE’s distinctive fusion of black metal and chiptune.
REDIVIDER have unleashed their first single “Sounds of Malice”, the title track from their upcoming debut album due January 9, 2026 via Third House Communications. Blending old-school brutality with modern aggression, the Louisville death metal unit delivers a tale of a deranged wizard addicted to Liquid Pain — a substance drawn from human suffering — wrapped in twisting riffs, shifting time signatures, and guttural intensity. Recorded across Round Table Recording Company and Michael Kent O’Bryan Studio, and mastered by Dan Swanö at Unisound, the album promises seven tracks crafted for maximum live impact.
ROB ZOMBIE has announced his new album The Great Satan, set for release on February 27 via Nuclear Blast Records. The 15-track record sees him diving back into his early Hellbilly Deluxe energy, mixing punk grit with heavy metal theatrics. The first single, Punks and Demons, drops today alongside a self-directed video that brings Zombie’s trademark horror-carnival vision to life. Recorded as his first new material since 2021’s The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy, this one looks like a loud, twisted return to form.
Sentient Ruin Laboratories has announced Corrosion of Existence, the new full-length from URANIUM, set for release on November 7, 2025.
Described as “industrial music’s most terrifying triumph,” the album delivers 36 minutes of nuclear black industrial chaos — five tracks of radioactive dread that push the project’s concept of apocalyptic annihilation to its most extreme form. Drawing from the legacy of Godflesh, Swans, Brighter Death Now, Gnaw Their Tongues, and Merzbow, Corrosion of Existence expands URANIUM’s sound into a colossal fusion of blackened noise, industrial death, and world-ending electronics.
AUTOMASSIVE emerge from the Greek underground with Parasite, a raw, noise-drenched collision of post-sludge and experimental rock released via Nothing to Harvest Records. Built from members of Plebah, Autumn Acid, and Millions of Dead Tourists, the Karditsa trio sound like a demolition site of riffs — live-tracked, unpolished, and vibrating with tension. Recorded at Stereotype Studio by Tasos Karadedos, the record twists through industrial sludge and punk abrasion, its eight tracks crawling through greed, paranoia, and decay with relentless precision.
AS I LAY DYING introduce their new lineup with the single “Echoes,” a controlled and confident return that refines their established sound without exaggeration. The song maintains the band’s core identity—tight, melodic metalcore arrangements and an emphasis on lyrical struggle—while allowing space for subtle shifts in tone and composition.
The release also marks the debut of the updated lineup featuring Tim Lambesis, Chris Clancy, Bill Hudson, Don Vedda, and Tim Yeung. Their upcoming European tour, centered on the 20th anniversary of Shadows Are Security, will combine older material with this new direction, signaling a stable continuation rather than reinvention.
PRIMITIVE MAN have unleashed “Natural Law,” the second single from their upcoming album *Observance*, out October 31 via Relapse Records. Recorded with Andy Nelson at Bricktop Recording Studio and mastered by Arthur Rizk, the track crawls between trance-like tension and crushing distortion — a descent into isolation, resentment, and barely restrained violence.
Frontman Ethan McCarthy describes it as “a callout, a reckoning, and a reflection on the line between using hatred as fuel or letting it destroy you.” *Observance* marks the Denver trio’s most suffocating and introspective work yet — a slow-motion collapse that still claws for light through the wreckage.
DRY KILL LOGIC are back in the studio, working on Your Sins Will Find You, their first album since 2006’s Of Vengeance & Violence. The New York crew that once blended nu metal, hardcore, and metalcore before it was cool are trying to pick up the thread after nearly two decades off. The record’s being shaped with Greg Thomas, known for work with END and MISERY SIGNALS, and promises to revisit the band’s early aggression while leaning into darker, more atmospheric corners.
ESHTADUR are heading back to Mexico this October for the “Bellum Regiis” Tour, supporting HATE and sharing the stage with BEHEMOTH at the opening show in Mexico City. The Colombian blackened melodic death metal force will storm through seven cities, bringing their symphonic, tribal, and crushing sound that’s defined their rise across Latin America and Europe. Alongside the tour, they’ve announced Symphonic Crows – Live at the Santiago Londoño’s Theater, out December 4 via Void Nation — a live album recorded with a full orchestra in Pereira that captures their most cinematic and grand performance to date.
Italian death metal act MIASMIC SERUM returns October 24 with Better Left Dead, a Lovecraft-inspired concept EP dropping via Iron Fortress Records. Built around the Herbert West–Reanimator mythos, the three main tracks move from the deranged perspective of the scientist to the revenge of the dead, closing with a cover of Witches – A Tribute to Dario Argento’s Suspiria featuring Il Becchino of Tenebro. Recorded by Giovanni Pezzato at Alter Recording Studio in Treviso, the release mixes old-school death metal grit with cinematic horror atmosphere — the kind that drags you straight into the grave and leaves you there to rot.
CHAINED TO THE DEAD return with “Something Happened On The Way To Hell,” the second chapter of their death metal and horror trilogy released through Horror Pain Gore Death Productions. Following 2024’s “Only Hunger Remains,” the new EP maintains the same punishing intensity but carries a more sinister undercurrent, described by the band as sounding “like it crept out of a backwoods crypt and then crawled behind your eyeballs.”
HÆRESIS unleash Si vis pacem para bellum — a towering slab of atmospheric black metal through Vendetta Records. Clocking in at nearly 45 minutes, the album moves between vast, melodic passages and crushing, apocalyptic weight. Recorded in Schorfheide, Germany, it feels both intimate and monumental — cold, demonic, and relentlessly intense. Available on CD and vinyl, including a limited red-and-black ink edition of 200.
SEDNA return with their new album Sila Nuna, set for release on November 21, 2025 via Dusktone. Known for their atmospheric and introspective take on post-black metal, the Cesena-based band continues its evolution with a record inspired by Inuit mythology — a shift from the cosmic and mythological themes of their earlier works.
The title, Sila Nuna (“Sky and Earth” in Inuktitut), anchors the album’s exploration of figures such as Tulugaq, the raven god and bringer of light; Amarok, the guardian wolf of the forest; Torngarsuk, protector of the spirit realm; and Sedna, goddess of the sea. The new material brings a sharper, more aggressive sound while maintaining SEDNA’s characteristic depth and atmosphere.
After half a decade away, Finnish-Swedish outfit Mørket resurfaces with “Del III: Dödsångestens fågelsång” (“The Birdsong of Death Anxiety”), a record that channels global unrest and personal upheaval into sharpened anthems of resistance. Known for their self-styled “Scandinavian action metal,” the band’s fusion of black metal and punk remains intact but feels more deliberate, stripped of excess, and lyrically more forceful.
“It’s about cutting ties with the past, burying the world’s suffering, and rising from years of adversity into a new era,” says vocalist Erik Sigvard. The addition of guitarist Arttu Hurme brings new precision to the group’s sound, while the bilingual play between Finnish and Swedish lyrics continues. Following acclaimed records “Musta luonto” (2016) and “Orto” (2020), this release closes their trilogy and marks a return to stages that once included Norway’s Inferno Metal Festival and Germany’s Summer Breeze.
TERZIJ DE HORDE release new album Our Breath Is Not Ours Alone — out now via Church Road Records. The Utrecht collective fuses black metal’s mythical fire with hardcore urgency, pushing between fury and reflection. Lyrically drawn from Hartmut Rosa’s ideas on resonance and alienation, the record confronts collapsing systems and human responsibility with raw, melodic intensity. Mastered by Arthur Rizk, featuring Amelia Baker (Cinder Well), and artwork by Christian Degn.
Melodic metalcore act SECRETS have dropped a new single, Paralyzed, out now via SBG Records, marking the return of Richard Rogers and Connor Allen to the lineup. The track dives into the emotional wreckage of love gone toxic — that suspended state between heartbreak and the will to move forward.
Musically, it’s classic SECRETS: tight, melodic, and heavy, balancing clean hooks with the kind of breakdowns that made their early records stand out. The band calls it a raw reflection on betrayal and paralysis, both literal and emotional — a snapshot of pain caught mid-freefall.
ORM unveil new single “Rigdom” — a towering piece of progressive black metal from the Copenhagen collective. Out today, the track explores the beauty and ruin in human longing — “of love promised and broken, of beauty crumbling into stillness.” Dense and spiritual, Rigdom carries ORM’s signature epic scope, balancing cosmic grandeur with emotional gravity.
MAD VANTAGE unveil new single “Ictus” — a towering collision of progressive metal, nu-jazz, and cinematic tension from Melbourne composer and multi-instrumentalist Solune. Out now via Art As Catharsis, the track fuses 8-string heaviness with Byzantine dissonance and jazz precision, confronting themes of oppression and catharsis. It’s the latest glimpse of debut album Minutiae., due November 7.
UFOMAMMUT’s solo offshoot THE MON has unveiled Mayhem, the second single from the upcoming album Songs Of Abandon—part one of a two-album series Embrace The Abandon. Created by Urlo and accompanied by a Malleus-made animated video, the track channels fury and despair into resistance: “Mayhem is not just a song, it is a necessary cry,” he says. Written, performed, and recorded entirely by Urlo at The Howl, the record trades Ufomammut’s cosmic heaviness for shadowy electronics and stripped-down dark folk, a raw dive into solitude and self-confrontation. Out November 7 via Supernatural Cat.
French grindcore unit CIVILIAN THROWER just dropped Discography 2021–2024 via No Time Records. Two sides, over an hour of chaos — a full burn-through of everything they’ve done so far.
Finnish melodic death/doom outfit SERPENT GOD has dropped their debut album Denial through Inverse Records. Formed in 2023 in Iisalmi out of leftover material from Se, josta ei puhuta, the band leans slower, darker, and way more eerie. As frontman Samu Männikkö puts it, “Denial is a manifestation of hopelessness and cynicism. The end is coming; if there’s a light it is always surrounded by endless darkness.” The record runs nine tracks deep, recorded across 2023–2024, with all music and lyrics penned by Männikkö and arrangements handled by the trio.
Australian death metal unit VILE APPARITION resurface with Malignity, their second full-length and easily their most feral to date. Out via Me Saco Un Ojo and Dark Descent Records, it’s a thick slab of mechanical precision and warped brutality — the kind that nods to 90s death metal without feeling trapped by it. The record crawls and claws through 11 tracks of blast-heavy punishment and twisted riffs, equal parts groove and gore, leaving barely enough room to breathe. There’s nothing polished or polite here — just total fixation on extremity. Available now on vinyl, CD, and cassette.
Melodic heavy metal unit BEFELL have released their debut album To Mourn The Living via Innerstrength Records. Signed earlier this year, the band leans on crushing riffs and melodic precision across nine tracks — with “Marionette” setting it up in July alongside a video — landing squarely for listeners into Killswitch Engage, Trivium, and As I Lay Dying. Cold swing, straight to the point.
Swedish death metal wrecking unit KATAKOMBA return with The Second Death, their follow-up to 2022’s debut, out now via Majestic Mountain Records. The band calls it “a natural follow-up” that trades some of the debut’s tightness for raw, punk-charged energy. Still drenched in HM-2 grit, the record digs further into nihilism and decay — riffs hitting like rusted blades, drums like a cave collapse. It’s not reinvention, just the sound of a band doubling down on what already made them dangerous.
German pop infused melodic metalcore band ANNISOKAY have dropped a new single, Splinters, marking the final stretch before their next release Abyss – The Final Chapter, out November 21 via Arising Empire. The track carries their usual mix of clean hooks and sharp heaviness, tightening the sound they’ve built since 2007. Labelmates DEFOCUS also returned with Coma, a dense, atmospheric punch that leans harder into modern metalcore’s darker textures.
⤵ Experimental / Other
Psychedelic trip-hop duo BRAINWASHER — featuring Matthew Duckworth Kirksey and Tommy McKenzie of The Flaming Lips — are set to release their debut album 39 Lightyears from Heaven on October 24 via Mothland. Written over a decade between tours and studio sessions, the record fuses offbeat rock with distorted electronica, channeling the surrealism of David Lynch and the emotional weight of Nick Cave and Portishead. Their latest track Home, a hazy ballad about finding belonging in strange places, was filmed across the American West and captures the drifting heart of the band’s strange, sleepless world.
Experimental noise artist DAGGER WOUND is set to release Corpse Bride on October 17, 2025 — a brutal and intimate work built from grief, survival, and raw transmutation. The record, created in memory of someone named Lawu, opens with the 9-minute track “Death Forced Me To Live,” a piece that drags through despair and rebirth like a ritual. Recorded between Konvent BCN and Los Angeles, it features a contribution from NEUTER on “Thank You For Your Blood.” The whole thing feels like a love letter written from the void — personal, unsettling, and painfully human.
Cape Town doom trio P+A+G+E+S are set to release their debut album No More Can Be Done on October 25 via Plug Music Agency. Recorded live at Sound and Motion Studios, the record grinds through drone, sludge, and atmospheric noise with slow, crushing precision.
It’s a bleak meditation on grief, oppression, and environmental decay — the kind of heaviness that doesn’t just hit hard, it lingers. Built from riffs dating back to 2019 and finished after years of delays, the album captures what the band calls “a state of grief and the depressing state of the world,” channeling it into something raw, dissonant, and uncomfortably human.
E3L unleash boredom, the first single from their upcoming EP bitch in a well with an eel, out November 21 via Solium. The French digital hardcore duo blend breakcore, industrial rap, and noise energy into a chaotic burst of distortion and aggression — a warped, high-voltage taste of what’s to come from one of the most unhinged acts on the TERRORIST ORGANIZATION netlabel.
Norwegian death metal unit REAPING FLESH return with Death Creeps, a record that grinds death, black, and thrash into one bleak slab. Recorded at Store Studio in Bodø with Martin Bowitz and mastered by Magnus Lindberg, it hits with the cold precision of the North—raw, heavy, and stripped of anything unnecessary. With members from Kollwitz, The Spectacle, Arv, and Gabriel, the band sound like they’ve lived every riff — channeling years of underground noise into something that feels both ancient and freshly wounded.
Experimental guitarist TRUCULENT has dropped Born For The Gallows Or The Wheel via Philadelphia’s Strange Mono, a benefit release pushing proceeds to the Immigration Bond Freedom Fund. The album feels more like a sonic journal than a record — Dan Timlin twisting time, tone, and tuning into protest and meditation in equal measure. Recorded with Dan Angel and featuring upright bass from Jessica Kramer, it’s a sprawling, brain-weave of noise, folk, and field recording, where every note seems to hum with intent.
⤵ Pop / Rap
Pop, Synth Pop, Rap, Hip-Hop
“The Professor” Nick Harrison has taken Slipknot’s “Before I Forget” and run it through a soulful AI filter, turning one of the band’s most explosive tracks into something unexpectedly smooth and human. Engineered entirely by Harrison, the cover swaps aggression for groove — harmonies where there were once screams, rhythm where there was chaos — showing what happens when heavy music collides with machine learning.
OLIVIA DEAN returned to Later… with Jools Holland with two stripped-down performances — “Man I Need” and “Nice To Each Other.” Both tracks highlight her understated command of melody and emotion, her voice sitting warm and direct against the show’s familiar stage lighting and sparse live instrumentation.
HAYLEY WILLIAMS hit The Tonight Show to debut “True Believer” from Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party — starting solo at the piano under a spotlight tagged “Mississippi G-d Damn,” before a full band and strings joined in. It’s a protest song aimed at the South’s moral decay, Nashville’s megachurch sprawl, and the capitalism behind it all. Williams’ delivery was calm, seething, and precise — no stage antics, just a slow burn that said more than a shout ever could.
TEN56. have unveiled a powerful new video for “IO”, the closing track from their recent album of the same name. Filmed during vocalist Aaron Matts’ rehab process, the video captures the raw vulnerability behind a record rooted in addiction, recovery, and emotional self-confrontation. Musically distinct from the rest of IO, the song blends lo-fi beats and reverb-soaked guitars with Matts’ reflections on substance abuse and healing. He described it as “a turning point” — both a statement and the end of a painful chapter. Released via Out Of Line Music, IO stands as the band’s most personal and devastating work to date, exploring the collapse and rebuilding of identity through brutally honest lyricism and immersive production.
LA indie-pop duo ELECTRIC GUEST return with their fourth album 10K, out October 10 via Independent CO. Fronted by Asa Taccone and Matthew Compton, the record captures the band’s signature warmth and rhythmic polish, anchored by the standout single Play Your Guitar — a breezy, anxiety-soaked earworm that shifts between existential reflection and pure pop clarity.
Built on a steady four-on-the-floor pulse and softly strummed acoustics, it dives into uncertainty (“fortune teller, politician, operator on the phone”) before resolving in a chorus that celebrates simplicity and presence. Taccone, a Grammy-nominated producer behind hits like Feel It Still by PORTUGAL. THE MAN and collaborations with artists from CHARLI XCX to THE WEEKND, folds that same pop instinct into 10K, creating a record that balances introspection with effortless groove.
Black Country duo BIG SPECIAL have dropped National Average. on So Recordings, the follow-up to last year’s Postindustrial Hometown Blues. It’s still dark and heavy on the words, but more inward this time—less rage, more reflection. The band calls it a look at “brotherhood, pressing on through the changes in their lives,” somewhere between biting humor and quiet exhaustion.
⤵ General / Industry
Spotify shares dropped 6.6% following Daniel Ek’s announcement that he will step down as CEO on January 1, to be replaced by co-CEOs Alex Norström and Gustav Söderström. The decline came after Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock from “buy” to “neutral,” slightly cutting its price target from $770 to $765.
Despite the dip, SPOT remains 55% higher year-to-date and up 120% since last July. Goldman Sachs projects Spotify’s revenue to continue growing at a mid-teens rate over the next several years, driven by price increases, new subscription tiers, and expanding ad tools. Profit margins are expected to improve as royalty costs decrease—from roughly 71% of revenue now to 64% by 2030—and ad revenue rises by over 16% annually between 2025 and 2028.
Previous roundups:
- Sept 26 – Oct 3
- Sept 19-26
- Sept 12-19
- Sept 5-12
- August 14 – September 5
- August 8-14
- August 1-8
- July 25 – August 1
- July 23-25
- July 21-23
- July 19-21
- July 16-18
- July 12-15
- July 9-11
- July 5-9
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