IN SHORTS #30 📢 Punk & Metal News Update: from America’s Hardcore to BEHEMOTH

Photo: LONG NECK live; new record out soon on Tiny Engines – see more details below.

20 years after its initial 1998 release, post rock titans ISIS are reissuing their debut EP Mosquito Control. Remastered for vinyl by Telegraph Mastering, the album features new artwork by Aaron Turner and is housed in a heavyweight, reverse-board jacket with custom debossing. GO HERE to order.

As ISIS’s first official release (originally on Escape Artist Records), Mosquito Control remains a testament to the band’s precocious nature with glimpses of their potential as a singular force. Even in this first peek into the oeuvre of the eclectic ensemble, ISIS established themselves as reflective and meticulous crafters, purposefully flowing each song into another and tying together each piece with their first overarching theme: mosquitoes. While the EP captures their penchant for long-form compositions and repetition, there is a desperate immediacy that grips the EP, offering some of the most abrasively affecting, raw, and urgent music of the band’s discography.

After a tasty teaser earlier this Fall, Italian screamo act ØJNE have shared the full steam of their captivating new record “Prima Che Tutto Bruci”. Free downloads are available via Miss The Stars, Through Love Rec., Dasein Records and Voice of the Unheard’s Bandcamps, and Dropbox (HERE). The record appreciates a myriad of inspirations and never fails to reach for more, which makes it one of the smartest records of the year.

The Winter Edition of Ieper Hardcore Fest will be taking place in Ieper, Belgium on January 13th and will feature Canadian politically charged metallic hardcore veterans CHOKEHOLD (!) with the support coming from DIE MY DEMON, MIND AWAKE & MINDWAR.

Marseille emotional, screamy hardcore punks CANINE are streaming their new EP “Boiling drops in an ice​-​cold ocean”, available on 12” via Bus Stop Press and Crapoulet Records. The record sounds amazing and the band is still looking for more bands to co-release it, so feel free to hit them up via contact form on their Bandcamp.

Folksy indie pop act LONG NECK joins Tiny Engines; Named Stereogum Band To Watch; New Album, Will This Do?, out 1/26/18. Listen to a new track called “Mine/Yours” below!

Her hooks, including the one on Will This Do? lead single “Mine/Yours,” often take the form of something akin to a marching band stomp or a rapturous barroom chant. Centered around Mastrodimos’ deeply affecting voice, “Mine/Yours” is an affirmation of individuality in the face of coupling, a compromise between holding on to what you need while navigating what someone else wants. – Stereogum ‘Band To Watch’

Brazilian post-rock / noise rock band TUER LAPIN have released their third album named “Banho de Cavalo” (Horse Bath), and it’s available for streaming below. The genre description sounds very understandable and familiar, but I can guarrantee you haven’t heard anything like it in a long time. “Banho de Cavalo” is certainly one of the most ambitious, dazzling experimental albums of 2017. Check it out and leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Philly’s emo indie pop punk rockers LITHUANIA are streaming a new record called White Reindeer, featuring 10 tracks of an endless supply of electrifying, ear-catching fun. Listen below.

IDIOTEQ-featured gritty, groovy indie rockers CORUSCO are streaming a new/old track called ‘Cabaret’. The band dubbed it ‘a demo recorded in a bedroom in early 2016 by Ross Hudgins’, and it seems to be a one hell of a cozy chamber.

America’s Hardcore Volume 4 compilation is now streaming in full. The record fatures 17 tracks from 17 American hardcore punk bands of variuous styles and sub-genres woorth a solid check. Blah, you should already know nearly all of them by now! Big up Triple B Records for doing this!

Flint, Michigan’s BRAIDEDVEINS return with another slab of stunning post-hardcore that is sure to please fans of Fugazi, At the Drive-In and Refused. The EP offers up three new songs, each with three different fictional perspectives on survival in a hyper-capitalist post-apocalypse. What does survival mean? What does it cost? What it is worth? What does it require? How does it change you? What did you do to survive? Listen below and grab a copy via Detroit label Dropping Bombs.

GO HERE to see our 2014 interview with Dropping Bombs founder Eric Scrobie.

Buffalo emotive indie punk rock act LEMURIA have released a new secret record “Recreational Hate”, another surprise release that has been made available for 700 lucky fans on vinyl! The rest of us can hear the new track “Wanted to Be Yours” below and wait for official pre-orders starting December 15 at lemuriapop.com. Listen below and GO HERE to see their upcoming dates.

The band commented:

Thanks to everyone who took a gamble and purchased the “secret LP” we put up for sale back in August. We’re excited to unveil that the LP you ordered is our new studio album, “Recreational Hate”. Your trust and subsequent purchase enabled us to achieve some great feats with this release, including working with the 4-time Grammy winning producer and engineer Chris Shaw. We chose to work with him, in part, for his very eclectic discography, including the Weezer “Blue” album, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Ice Cube, Wilco, Public Enemy, Modest Mouse, A Tribe Called Quest, Ween and Lou Reed. You also gave us the opportunity to launch Turbo Worldwide, our new record label and home base for all things Lemuria. As a “thank you”, you are receiving the LP approximately the same time as this announcement, 2 months before the album reaches the shelves of your local record store.

A few years back, we thought it would be fun to place some very old songs (our CD-R-only demo) on an LP, and put it up for sale as a mysterious “Secret” release. Whoever bought this wouldn’t know what they ordered until it arrived in the mail and they spun it on their record player. We held no expectations as to what the response would be, however it was overwhelmingly positive, and the folks who received this special item seemed to enjoy the fun and mystery as much as we did. We tried various iterations of this in years to come, and we noticed that, each time we did, it was a similar group of friends and supporters who jumped on the opportunity. It’s the same group of folks who tirelessly support our shows, support our releases, and are our motivating force that inspire us to keep actualizing our passion. We don’t, not even for a second, take this amount of trust and support for granted. As a thank you, when we were planning the release for “Recreational Hate”, we decided to go this secretive route once again in hopes that a similar investment from you would turn into an even bigger reward of a full-length studio album.

These songs represent our next step forward. It has been a wild adventure for us to arrive to this moment of releasing the album. Thank you for traveling with us.

Post hardcore noise rockers THE JESUS LIZARD are in the middle of their reunion toour including a handful of dates in Nashville, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Houston. BrooklynVegan posted a nice review and photo gallery documenting the December 9th gig at Chicago’s Metro.

GO HERE to check it out and watch some videos HERE.

2017:

1996:

Seattle’s KEXP radio has shared a quality live session video of Providence alt punk rockers DOWNTOWN BOYS performing live in the KEXP studio. Recorded September 20, 2017.

The position of Providence, RI’s Downtown Boys has been clear since they started storming through basements and DIY spaces with their radically-minded rock music: they are here to topple the white-cis-het hegemony and draft a new history. Downtown Boys began by combining revolutionary ideals with boundless energy and contagious, inclusive fun, and their resolve has only strengthened as their sound and audience have grown.

Australian melodic metalcore veterans PARKWAY DRIVE have announced a new string of US dates with a “special guest” yet to be announced. GO HERE to see all their dates, including early 2018 Australian run and mid-2018 European trek.

Blackened death metallers BEHEMOTH are teasing their upcoming Warsaw ‘Merry Christless‘ shows with former members of Adam “Baal Ravenlock” Muraszko, Leszek “Les” Dziegielewski and Adam “Desecrator” Malinowski. Watch some cool rehearsal videos HERE and get more details on the shows HERE and HERE. Both gigs are SOLD OUT! Booo!

Seattle, Washington’s ‘dreamo’ act (think emotive, dreamy indie rock) SPECIAL EXPLOSION are teasing their new record “To Infinity”. Check out the new track “Fire” below and expect a full release this Friday on Topshelf Records.

Montreal melodic punks ARISING FROM have debuted the lyric video for “What You Carried Out”, a track from their debut self-titled EP available now for ‘name your price’ download via Thousand Islands Records.

Post-hardcore veterans GLASSJAW will be celebrating the release of their new record Material Control at a Long Island show happening on December 30th at The Paramount in Huntington. Tickets go on sale this Friday HERE.

The band performed live at St. Vitus Bar in Brooklyn on December 1st:

Alt goth rockers THE CURE will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of being a band next year. They have announced a huge show in London’s Hyde Park, the group’s only Euro gig next year. The concert features INTERPOL, GOLDFRAPP, SLOWDIVE, RIDE, THE TWILIGHT SAD, and EDITORS! The concert will take place on July 7th. GO HERE to get more details.

Oshawa, Ontario’s pop punk rockers LETDOWN are streaming another contagious new track called “Downcast”! The band will release a new EP “..Till Now” on January 19th, 2018!

WTCHS (Sonic Unyon) frontman’s solo project of unsettling and dramatic sonance, SINISTER BODIES OF WATER, has unveiled a new track and video ‘When A Knife Calls’, coming from his new record called ‘When The Knife Calls’, out December 21st on Out Of Sound Records. Video was shot and directed by Kitchener, ON Torin Langen who creates wildly, vivid and dark horror movies to much critical acclaim around the world.

This is a song about fear, fear of oneself, fear of thoughts, fear of loss, fear of the knife and fear of everything.

Thumper Punk Records is honored to announce the release of Edu TMZ’s contribution to the 3 Song Acoustic EP series. Edu TMZ is the guitarist and vocalist of Sao Paolo, Brazil’s great JCHC band No More Zombies, and operator of music webzine and record label Cristo Suburbano (http://cristosuburbano.blogspot.com.br). He is also currently working on a feature film documenting the Brazilian Christian punk scene, which is tentatively scheduled for release next year. We are thrilled to have such a vital member of our community participate in our 3 Song Acoustic EP series

NJ indie rockers TOY CARS have just announced the release of their debut full length album Paint Brain, set to be released on January 12th. The band has also just released the new music video for “Cold” via The Alternative. The Alternative says, “‘Cold’ explodes with emotional brevity and bright guitars, reeling in the sound of reflective nights with a song that wants to be the cold.” Pre-orders for Paint Brain are available now. Toy Cars will be playing their album release show at the House Of Independents in Asbury Park, NJ on January 19th.

This Friday will mark the official unveiling of Black Somnia, the impending new full-length from Seattle-based blackened avant doom bringers EYE OF NIX. Slated to drop via newly-launched Scry Recordings, the immersive new offering was captured by renowned producer Billy Anderson (Neurosis, Om, Pallbearer) at The Hallowed Halls in Portland, Oregon and mastered by Brad Boatwright (Gatecreeper, Necrot). Noisey is hosting a stream of the record in its disquieting entirety crowning its six immersive tracks “…absolutely stunning and wholly unique….,” further elaborating below… GO HERE to listen!

“The sheer depth of this music is stunning from the onset, when ‘Wound And Scar’ ripples to life, its taut guitar lines of blackened doom midwifed by rapid-fire percussion and roiling bass, kicking into a more frantic tempo as vocalist Joy Von Spain dispenses vengeful howls. Here, atmospheric, ambitious melodic black metal meets thoughtful, midnight-tinted doom, stately neocrust, and ghostly vintage goth in a perfect danse macabre; I’ve honestly never heard anything else like it, and a big part of that lies in [vocalist Joy] Von Spain’s vocals.”

Deathcore / metalcore act WAR OF AGES have premiered a new video for their song “Creator”. Watch below and grab their new record “Alpha” via Facedown Records and streaming platforms.

Philly’s alt indie pop artist KISSISSIPPI has shared a new single called ‘Cut Yr Teeth’! Listen below and expect a new full length oon SideOneDummy next year.

The label commented:

One of Philadelphia’s best kept secrets is stepping out in a big way; Kississippi, the indie-pop writing project of musician/visual artist Zoe Reynolds, will be releasing their debut album on SideOneDummy Records this coming spring. The forthcoming album’s first single is a bold ode to confidence in the face of trauma entitled “Cut Yr Teeth.”

Featuring backing vocals from Mary Allen of Tombo Crush and recorded by Kyle Pulley at The Headroom, “Cut Yr Teeth” is the kind of bold but intimate look inside of Zoe’s world that fans can come to expect from the forthcoming debut.

“Cut Yr Teeth is about recognizing the toxicity of a relationship, and letting go of it along with your trust for the other half,” Zoe explains.

Since 2014, Zoe Reynolds has been making music under the Kississippi moniker, but the release of her debut full length signals a significant change for the artist. Following a series of demo releases and EPs including the 2016 standout We Have No Future, We’re All Doomed, Reynolds believes she has finally found her voice, calling the album an honest recognition of the music she always wanted to make.