UK metal five-piece DYGORA have released a video for their new single 'Ghetto Spiritual', the title-track from their forthcoming EP which is due for release on 3rd September 2020. Originating from South London, DYGORA label their approach to the genre as 'Southside Death Metal', bearing influence from a range of bands including Gojira, Jesus Piece, Code Orange, Malevolence and Thy Art Is Murder.
Watch the video for 'Ghetto Spiritual' here: https://youtu.be/zh2tZJpFTEU
'Ghetto Spiritual' is a term coined by the band as a salute to the Negro Spirituals, which were sung by the enslaved Africans in the Western hemisphere. The Negro Spirituals were sung to forget their pain during that moment; a moment wrapped in song. DYGORA have replaced the word 'Negro' with 'Ghetto', to highlight the different songs and rhythms that are still being sung today. The band's EP was inspired by those voices that still carry through.
Ghetto Spiritual embodies the aggressiveness of DYGORA's roots and conveys a message of the band's anger and desire to be heard in a world of confusion and uncertainty, a release of the tension that has built up in these previous months. The three-track record is an energetic and blunt call to those enraged, and for those seeking a voice amongst the obedient chaos we call society.
The band comments:
"To us, this EP is the epitome of rhythmic rage. A groovy aggression with a message unseen in the mainstream. We want people to feel where we have come from, what we've endured, what we've seen. We believe people aren't angry enough, and we know music is the greatest tool to bring about that anger; that same anger we've all decided to suppress, but with this EP we are asking people to bring it forth."
For more information:
https://www.facebook.com/DygoraBand/
https://twitter.com/dygoraofficial
https://dygora.bandcamp.com/releases
Swedish metal quartet ORBIT CULTURE have unveiled a live studio recording of single 'The Shadowing', taken from new album Nija, on 7th August via Seek & Strike.
Watch the video for 'The Shadowing (live in the studio)' here: https://youtu.be/tImGF4csU60
Vocalist / Guitarist Niklas Karlsson commented "
This follows the band's previous single / video 'Open Eye', which can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/odw_KMai2EA
In the deep forests of southern Sweden lies the small town of Eksjö where the band ORBIT CULTURE originate. The idea of ORBIT CULTURE came to vocalist / rhythm guitarist Niklas Karlson in 2013 whilst working on bedroom demos; he quickly formed and early version of the band, which included drummer Markus Bladh.
Citing Metallica and Gojira as their main heavy influences, ORBIT CULTURE are band who love to experiment with wide a range of sounds and textures to create something that is fresh but also familiar. Nikas continues: "As much as we love metal, we love other music, too. We love a good hard-hitting song as much as the next guy, but we've always found that blending and mixing genres seems more fun for us at least, rather than deciding on a specific genre to write within the metal scene. It really helps us to be creative and motivated. I'm guessing that is something that we'll always do."
Quickly after forming, ORBIT CULTURE released a self-produced EP and an LP, but it was summer 2016 when two new members joined the band - Richard Hansson on the lead guitar and Fredrik Lennartsson on the bass guitar - and the quartet perfectly honed their distinctive sound.
With the new line-up in place the band set to work on stunning new album Nija and in 2019 caught the attention of the Seek and Strike label, who signed them immediately.
For fans of Trivium, Metallica, Gojira and Architects, ORBIT CULTURE are a band from a small town with big ambitions, and are about to make 2020 their year.
Watch the original video to 'The Shadowing' here: https://youtu.be/maQdcLNrDyc
For more information:
https://www.orbitculture.com/
https://www.facebook.com/OrbitCulture/
https://www.instagram.com/orbitculture
twitter.com/orbitculture
https://www.youtube.com/user/OrbitCultureOfficial
BITCH FALCON are a name you will not forget, and a band who will not let you forget them. The acclaimed three-piece have released the video for newest single 'Gaslight' following their signing to Small Pond Records (Clt Drp, Wild Cat Strike).
Premiered on New Noise Magazine, you can now watch 'Gaslight' here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdfnhNhseY0
Stream 'Gaslight' here: https://smarturl.it/gas-light
BITCH FALCON showcase their return with the new track in typical fine form. Slightly grungy, slightly dreamy, the rockers have made great waves over the last few years, with acclaim from Dublin Inquirer, Irish Times, The Guardian, Paste Magazine. The trio have played with Girl Band, Fontaines DC, Torche, Black Peaks, Pussy Riot and display touches of St Vincent, 2:54, My Bloody Valentine, The Pixies and Bjork all in one scintillating package.
BITCH FALCON were formed by frontwoman Lizzie Fitzpatrick in Dublin in 2014, and are mainstays of the festival circuit in both Ireland and abroad (packing out rooms in the US, Canada and Europe). Since these freshman days, the lineup has galvanised around the rhythm section of Barry O'Sullivan on Bass and Nigel Kenny on Drums.
From the early days of their first single, 'Wolfstooth' to their most recent release 'Damp Breath', an evolution in sound can be heard as the group perfect and refine their raw, fuzz-laced offerings over six singles and one EP.
There is nothing conventional about BITCH FALCON and rather than replicate the music they love, they have managed to effortlessly create something that is truly their own from these diverse influences. Their recorded history however, is only a small part of their story. The band quickly developed a buzz in Dublin, selling out their own gigs without having released any recorded music. Their live show must be seen to get a true appreciation for what this band can do. From the high pitched wails and infinite feedback of Lizzie's guitar and soaring vocals from the front to the back, to the interplay between the glass-shattering bass and thunderous drums, there is very little of the stage left untouched and still bolted down once they are finished.
In the words of the band: "Gaslight' is a song that came together quite fast. Barry started playing his riff and I played along messing rhythmically, just making noise. It sounded so weird and intense so quickly. I remember us all looking at each other and saying this is the one. I think this song was a change in our writing together. We knew we wanted a heavy sound with melodic intricacies.
I recorded the vocal layering at home, building up chords with my voice. When we recorded it in studio I wasn’t able to sustain my voice for the whole section, and so me and Rían (Trench) decided to record it in a wave, one note resting while the other picks up, so it sounds like a living, breathing thing.
I wanted to describe the feeling of what you see is not necessarily what you get. The holy grail of public display, and worth to others. Expressing yourself puts you in a vulnerable position, and I think a lot of people embellish the truth. In that way, an unachievable status is shoved down our throats, and we play into the game every day."
For more information:
https://www.facebook.com/b.tchfalcon
https://twitter.com/bitchfalcon
https://www.instagram.com/bitchfalcon/
https://www.youtube.com/c/BitchFalcon
German brutal death metallers CYTOTOXIN have unveiled a new taste of their new LP Nuklearth, set for release on 21st August via Unique Leader Records.
Streaming worldwide now, you can watch the new single 'Dominus' here: https://youtu.be/bY7djxo6lz0
https://www.indiemerch.com/uniqueleader (US)
https://www.impericon.com/en/unique-leader-records.html (Europe)
During the night of April 26th in 1986 a world-changing accident occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. Inspired by this catastrophe and its consequences, CYTOTOXIN first pulverised the death metal world in 2010.
In 2011 the band released their self-produced full-length album Plutonium Heaven, and the following year they entered Kohlekeller Studios (Aborted, Benighted) to forge their highly appreciated second record Radiophobia. Since the release of Radiophobia via Unique Leader Records in 2012, CYTOTOXIN continually toured the clubs and festivals of Europe. In January 2017 the band returned to Kohlekeller Studios to record their highly anticipated third album Gammageddon, which was released later that year.
Ready to conquer the world with their new weapon Nuklearth, you better keep your gasmask at hand.
CYTOTOXIN are:
Sebastian Grihm – vocals
Fabrice Töpfer – guitars
Vitalis Kast - bass
Jason Melidonie – guitars
Stephan Stockburger – drums
More info:
https://www.facebook.com/Cytotoxinmetal
https://www.cytotoxin.de
https://www.instagram.com/cytotoxin.official
https://uniqueleader.com
https://www.facebook.com/UniqueLeaderRecords/
I’ll just roll out all of the clichés right off of the bat and get them out of the way. What a ride! Ten amazing years in the business and where did they go, bloody hell that was fast, you don’t notice the time going, my how we’ve grown etc etc and so on. You get the idea. A decade of PR, music, gigs, deadlines tighter than an Olympian’s spandex, late nights, later mornings and fun, so much fun along the way.
Hold Tight made it to ten! Somehow our wee agency that was started probably in the pub whilst several beers in, has been grafting away like a Trojan horse for a decade. That’s a lot of bands asking WHERE’S MY REVIEW! A lot of deadlines and a lot of journalists puked on, rain-soaked festivals barely remembered, and gigs oh my god the gigs. Ten years where we’ve grown older, not really wiser in some respects, grown greyer definitely and all whilst we’ve watched our client base expand, our team expand, our offices grow - so we’re clearly doing something right?!
We’ve seen bands come and go, we’ve seen bands hit the big time, we’ve watched labels birthed and labels die but most have stayed for the long haul. We’ve watched sites and magazines, radio shows and podcasts come, go, come back again, grow bigger…. change name. And not a week has gone by where directors James and Lisa haven’t shouted at the younger account managers in the team - YOU GUYS DON’T REMEMBER PAGERS AND FAXES, WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU’VE NEVER SEEN TOP GUN….as we both slowly morph into Statler and Waldorf, the grumpy old men from The Muppets.
What started as a small PR arm to support bands for Basick Records has somehow grown arms and legs, gained bands and labels worldwide to the point where we’ve grown into some Cthulhu like behemoth that’s shifting, evolving and keeping up with the times and that’s where we’re at now, a leading force in rock and metal music publicity. It’s 2020 and we all agree it’s the weirdest of times. Murder hornets anyone? Bubonic Plague? Industry mostly in lockdown. Out of lockdown. Back into lockdown.
What we realised as a team throughout all of this was that we could no longer continue JUST as a PR agency. Our clients began to look for new solutions to their promotional needs, the music industry never sits still and is always changing, global issues demand that we adapt our service offering or we pack it in. So we’re growing, evolving, sort of like a mould, kinda like that weird thing in that film THE THING which starts out as one thing and grows into another, and although we’ll continue to have PR at the core of our offering for bands, labels, festivals and beyond, it’s time to look at where we need to be and that’s as a multi-faceted music marketing agency offering print & online PR, radio plugging, strategic planning and digital marketing services.
Not only does this allow us to offer our clients more, it means we can continue as a company and one thing we’ve worked hard on is continuing our business, even in the face of a global pandemic. We’ve watched people being furloughed right across the industry, in fact right across most sectors we cross into, and right from the start of it we were determined as a company not to go down that road. We owe it to our clients who are still working to push records out and shine a light on them and we owe it to our team to fight, so fight on we have.
As well as adapting our service offering to meet the changing needs of our clients, we’ve looked into how to improve our work environment so that our staff are not only secure in their jobs in what is undoubtably one of the most anxious times in our generation, but that they’re happy with a work/life balance determined BY THEM, because we are really conscious that PR is a high burn out industry in terms of stress and anxiety. So, this year we introduced unlimited paid holiday for all staff on top of existing benefits such as ‘Free Beer Fridays’ (or soft drinks and snacks), a comprehensive pension scheme, flexible working hours picked by them, hangover days, bonuses and surprise packages through the post ‘just because’. The business of being a business doesn’t just mean providing services for clients and making money to support our families, it’s important to provide a work environment where people thrive and that’s just as important to us, if not more. To do great work, you have to feel great and if you don’t feel great at work where you spend most of your day, then what’s the point? So we continue to evolve our offering to our staff as well. We listen, we adapt, we improve and we grow. Together. And although I’m biased I think we really do have the best team of people.
As we enter our next decade with a rebrand, new product suite and fresh coat of paint we’re excited to see what the future holds. Thanks to everyone who has joined us on our journey so far, from clients, team members and interns, the media we work with across the world day in day out and who have supported us throughout and continues to like what we do. We really do appreciate you.
You can read all about our exciting changes here: https://holdtight.co/home/2020/7/6/hold-tight-pr-relaunches-as-music-marketing-agency-hold-tight
About the author: Lisa lives in a forest in Scotland and likes to complain about the weather. She's a partner at Hold Tight and has a ridiculous amount of years PR and Marketing experience within the corporate, arts and music sectors. She can usually be found face down in a pot of fresh coffee, writing press releases for a myriad of bands, or trying to coerce musicians into things they generally don’t want to do. She also likes to harass journalists with pictures of cats. She’s passionate about progressive music and filthy as shit metal, cheese and Between the Buried and Me. She has 2 kids under the age of 6 and longs for the day when she’s able to write anything without having to get up to get someone a biscuit. For any enquiries contact lisa@holdtight.co
Connect with Lisa Coverdale on Social Media: Twitter || LinkedIn
USA crossover death thrashers PLAGUE YEARS have unveiled their lyric video for 'Incantation', taken from the band's punishing Circle Of Darkness full-length, set for release 18th September via Entertainment One ("eOne").
Premiered via Revolver, watch 'Incantation' here: https://youtu.be/ddiKUasoCb0
Guitarist Eric Lauder commented: "This song is about resurrecting the dead that were condemned by God. Corpses become masters of chaos, rising to become a part of hell's army to destroy their land and all things divine. This is one of the hardest and most aggressive songs on the record, relentless with its speed in the beginning and crushing heaviness at the end."
This follows the band's previous single / video 'Play The Victim'.
Circle Of Darkness will be released on CD, digital, and vinyl formats. Pre-order here: https://lnk.to/circleofdarkness
Like an ice pick to the face, PLAGUE YEARS arrive with an electric surge of sudden pain. An unrelenting end-of-the-world assault of the cataclysmic convergence of thrash and hardcore, with added blackened death and mid-tempo madness, the Detroit master blasters are here to crash the crossover party. Summoning the primitive spirit of the singular moment when the heaviest of metal first smashed into a circle pit, PLAGUE YEARS reignite the flame with sharp fury.
Mining the subterranean depths once unearthed on classic Sepultura albums like Beneath The Remains and Arise, with the vicious bite of Germanic slabs like In The Sign Of Evil by Sodom and the Hall of Fame '80s output of Slayer, the devilish and down-tuned death worship within PLAGUE YEARS serves as a demonic calling card for the foursome; a brutal counterbalance to their otherwise like-minded thrash revivalists. On Circle Of Darkness, the band's full-length debut, PLAGUE YEARS reunite with engineer Arthur Rizk, whose work with Power Trip, Tomb Mold, Candy, and Cavalera Conspiracy has propelled him to the front of the horde amidst the resurgence of crossover thrash.
PLAGUE YEARS pay homage to Detroit fore bearers Negative Approach and modern contemporaries Hellmouth in equal measure, while infusing the proceedings with a brutal spin of their own design. In terms of lyrical aggression, songs like 'Play The Victim' and 'Paradox Of Death' blend traditional death metal blood-and-gore fantasy with the unrestrained bravado of Detroit's grittier contributions to rap, like LOM Rambo and Motown upstart Icewear Vezzo.
For more information:
https://www.facebook.com/plagueyearsdet
https://www.instagram.com/plagueyearsmi
US rockers POP EVIL have debuted the music video for their newest hit single, 'Work', released earlier this spring in the midst of uncertain times.
Watch 'Work' here: https://youtu.be/DlOyRPR0RRU
The track arrived alongside 'Let The Chaos Reign', one of the heaviest songs the band has released yet, while 'Work' counterbalanced it with driving guitars atop a grooving rhythm with electronic flourishes. The new animated video brings 'Work' to life, tackling the angst and emotions of being stuck in a rut, the monotony of daily life juxtaposed with constant communication as technology is fused with all parts of life.
As heard this summer in ESPN’s UFC promotions, 'Work' has jumped into the Top 10 Active Rock songs at US radio charts, tying for the band’s fastest Top 10 hit yet.
POP EVIL have been a staple at major festivals (including playing the Download Festival main stage) and in theatres and clubs for over a decade, despite the group’s relative youth. As they’ve ruled the roost with US No. 1 Billboard Rock singles like 'Trenches', 'Deal with the Devil', 'Torn to Pieces', 'Footsteps', and 'Waking Lions', they’ve taken their inspired message to the people, on tours with modern rock titans and veteran acts alike. The band bunkered down in Los Angeles in the winter of 2019 to put the finishing touches on the yet to be titled new album due out via Entertainment One (eOne). The band also enlisted new creative teams of producers and collaborators to emphasise the uniquely varied aspects of the band’s sound.
As 'Let The Chaos Reign' and 'Work' might suggest, the contrast and fearless genre-defying cross-cultural pollination have never been stronger than on album number six. The pre-production process yielded close to 30 songs, whittled down to the most potent 12 that represent everything POP EVIL is about. This new effort will be the highly anticipated follow up to their self-titled album that came out two years ago to high critical praise with outlets like Loudwire saying, "their self-titled effort continues that delivers a solid top-to-bottom listen." Collectively, the band’s previous five albums account for over 600 million worldwide streams.
For more information:
Website
Facebook
Instagram
Dublin’s finest new rock/metal quintet JET FUEL CHEMISTRY have streamed their video for new single 'Sleep', taken from their forthcoming EP Sign of the Times, released on 7th August.
Watch the video, premiered on Rock Sound, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fTqTeF-lhA
And pre-order the EP here: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/jetfuelchemistry/sign-of-the-times
In the words of the band:
"‘Sleep’ is the second track on the EP, with a focus on the exacerbating of isolation and mental illness by social media. It’s paradoxical that the more time we spend “connected” to one another, the more alone we feel.
"All in all, the world is a really chaotic and fucked up place right now and if we’d written a release without this tone we’d feel dishonest and, frankly, there’s every chance we’d have gone insane. People need to stop vilifying each other, and instead unite to hold those with power accountable for our misery. It’s a positive message that we hope anyone can get behind.
"Sign of the Times is a release this band really cares about. We painstakingly recorded and produced every second of it ourselves in one tiny bedroom. The songs explore the nature of societal fears and public hostility and, more interestingly to us, how these emotions can be exploited (or even manufactured) for gain.
"Our goal was to pioneer an exciting new sound while keeping our roots in guitar-driven heavy rock. We’re passionate about the music, so naturally our lyrics address subject matter that we feel passionately about. Throughout these songs we offer our take on a series of issues with something in common - their contribution to our inevitable doom."
Elements of I Prevail, Nothing More, While She Sleeps and modern Bring Me The Horizon come together to create an EP far more than the sum of its parts. New track 'Sleep' is a huge track, and another demonstration of the power JET FUEL CHEMISTRY possess.
An impressive collection of songs from such a young band, JET FUEL CHEMISTRY first came together three years ago. The entirety of the band’s EP was recorded, mixed, and mastered in guitarist / producer Danny’s bedroom, for a grand total of £0.
A scintillating mix of anthemic alternative rock and modern metalcore mark this new group as ones to truly take attention of.
The sounds of Dublin are fully embedded in Sign of the Times. As bassist Lorcan states:
"Dublin is a city notorious for phenomenal indie music and there's a lot of positives to that, but what's overlooked by that movement is the misery endured by Dublin's young people for the last decade as more and more of their lives and identities shift to social media. We love the music coming out of our city but most of it does not capture the spirit of dread and aimlessness that's become the norm here. We want our songs to not only acknowledge these issues, but to give a two fingered salute to the enablers of our collective unhappiness and offer a source of strength to anybody feeling as lost as we do."
Such a thoughtful, considered approach is typical of JET FUEL CHEMISTRY and a true acknowledgement of their calibre, carried throughout the five songs. The EP’s eponymous track satirises our modern culture of self-worship, with the cry ‘it’s just a sign of the times’ signalling the forfeit of redemption in favour of nihilism. The track opens with a Greta Thunberg quote that perfectly encapsulates how self-involved we have become: a young woman speaking at the UN, begging them to take responsibility, and yet she becomes the target of abuse.
Who cares about public approval when you have integrity?
The spotlight on JET FUEL CHEMISTRY has grown steadily brighter following a whirlwind of live shows across Ireland, more than holding their own as support to a string of powerhouse US rock bands from Halestorm to Hundredth.
JET FUEL CHEMISTRY ARE:
Danny Bochkov - Guitarist / Producer
Ed Orr - Guitarist
Lorcan Macken - Bassist
Dan Cusack - Vocalist
Ross McDermott – Drummer
TRACKLISTING:
1:War
2:Sleep
3:Sign Of The Times
4:Fever
5:Use Your Eyes
The esoteric and unique alternative trio POISONOUS BIRDS have streamed their new single, the title track of their forthcoming EP, We Can Never Not Be All Of Us, set for release on 14th August.
Premiered on Prog, you can watch the single here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Nf-zM8ewJw
Pre-order the EP here: http://poisonousbirds.com/
In the words of POISONOUS BIRDS' Tom Ridley:
"This record is a collection of small vignettes, each exploring an idea that's been tumbling around in my brain during 2020, and sonically finding uncharted ground between rock music and electronics. The title track was inspired by a podcast featuring Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), but has since gained new poignancy in light of the renewed energy behind Black Lives Matter in recent weeks. We can never not be all of us."
The new EP follows hot on the heels of POISONOUS BIRDS' collaborative EP with Sunflower, the solo project from Black Foxxes' Mark Holley. A stunning, yearning, emotive release, you can stream Low Tide and the Dying Sun here: http://links.poisonousbirds.com/lowtide.html
One of the more intriguing acts in the British rock scene currently, Bristol-based POISONOUS BIRDS are more than just a band.
The electronically-influenced group, in their own words, take more inspiration from the visual arts than music. Their live performances take the form of improvisational collages, more than scripted songs. Most songs contain well over 100 tracks, subtly sampling, re-sampling, modifying as they move forward.
The trio have already been championed by DIY Magazine, Kerrang! Radio, Bristol In Stereo, and more, and have supported The Physics House Band and Sleep Token, among others. Bearing comparison to a heavy Radiohead, Battles, SCALPING, 65daysofstatic and HEALTH, POISONOUS BIRDS' guitarless approach is as much electronic as rock-centred.
Tom (vocals, songwriter, producer, electronics) has co-directed and scored a film for BBC Four, titled Elver; beyond this, he's designed sounds for Dyson and is co-writing, producing with ZAND.
POISONOUS BIRDS are:
Tom Ridley: vocals, electronics, producer
Finn Mclean: drums, synths
Jack Barrett: guitars (live)
POISONOUS BIRDS links:
poisonousbirds.com
Instagram
Twitter
Bandcamp
Spotify
Apple Music
