1947-2022

It is with great sorrow that we announce the death of world-famous German composer, musician, producer, and innovator Klaus Schulze. He passed away on 26th April, 2022 at the age of 74, after a long illness.

SPV managing director Frank Uhle comments on the death of Klaus Schulze: "We were shocked and saddened to hear the news of Klaus Schulze's sudden death. We lose and will miss a good personal friend - one of the most influential and important composers of electronic music - a man of conviction and an exceptional artist. Our thoughts in this hour are with his wife, sons and family. His always cheerful nature, his innovative spirit and his impressive body of work remain indelibly rooted in our memories."

'Electronic Music Legend' - Klaus Schulze (born 4th August, 1947 in Berlin) was known all over the world as THE pioneer of Electronic Music and notable representative of the 'Kraut Rock' scene. He shaped the 'Berlin School' and was the forefather of innumerable Electronic Music styles and genres, from Ambient to Techno. The 'godfather of Techno Music' – as he is fondly known – rolled out his extensive sounds, played his legendary sequences and created this unique 'Schulze atmosphere' for more than 50 years. Beginning with Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel, Klaus created over 50 solo albums, including Irrlich, Mirage, X, Dune, Farscape, Kontinuum, Silhouettes, and this year with Deus Arrakis (June 2022). Creating either under the moniker of Richard Wahnfried or in his various collaborations with great artists like Arthur Brown, Michael Shrieve, Rainer Bloss, Lisa Gerrard or lately Hans Zimmer (Oscar winner 2022 for the Dune soundtrack, with Klaus Schulze support): Klaus Schulze always remained faithful to his unmistakable style of making music, while keeping an open mind for innovations and experiments.

Klaus Schulze leaves behind a huge musical legacy and is survived by his wife, two adult sons and four grandchildren. RIP.

Credit: Mark Vyse

"Crunching alt-rock with a taste of grunge" - Clash

Psych-alt quintet Psyence have revealed the video for their new single, 'Domino'.

Watch 'Domino' here: https://youtu.be/84P_5ByIpRg
Stream here: lnk.to/Psyence-Domino

The first new music since March 2021's Reality or Design EP re-release, 'Domino' is another scintillating offering from the Stoke on Trent group. Elements of Tame Impala, Kasabian and Psychedelic Porn Crumpets abound - a psych-drenched, grunge-inflected track of the highest order.

The 'Domino' video release follows Psyence's appearance on Pieces of Her - UK's #1 charting Netflix show.

On the new track and music video, the band comment:
"We've always wanted to shoot a live performance based video on a rooftop in our hometown, Stoke on Trent, which has such a strong industrial past and is at the centre of the worldwide pottery, coal mining and steel making industries. Some of those structures of a bygone era still exist and are interspersed with newer, lighter industry and service sector buildings. It's a unique skyline and the eight-story YMCA building provided the perfect spot to shoot the video for 'Domino', on a surprisingly sunny but freezing cold winters day. Except the lift wasn't working so we had to lug all our gear up and down those stairs!"

Psyence began as a collaboration between schoolfriends, all from the working-class background of the Potteries. The band released their debut EP Reality or Design in 2017, and their self-titled debut album in 2019. 'Cold Blooded Killer' from their debut album featured in the hit US TV show SEAL Team in 2020. Two new singles were released in 2020, 'Tusk', and 'Retrospect', which formed part of 2021’s EP release.

Unable to tour for most of 2021 Psyence turned their attention to the studio, refining and expanding their sound. They made their live return at the Shiiine Festival in November 2021 and have previously toured with Warmduscher, The Blinders, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, and Saint Agnes.

Of the new single, the band comment:
“This song is about your patience being tested, like once you've been pushed past that certain point there’s just no coming back. Call it a warning shot if you will, don't f*ck with me.”

Psyence are Steve Pye (guitar and lead vocals), Jay Bellingham (bass), Joe Walsh (drums), Ben Nixon (Keys) and Jamie Cartlidge (guitar and vocals).

More news soon.

http://www.psyence.uk
https://www.facebook.com/psyenceuk
https://www.instagram.com/psyenceuk/
https://twitter.com/PsyenceUK
https://www.youtube.com/c/PsyenceUK
https://www.tiktok.com/@psyenceuk?lang=en

30th June - 4th July at the Newark Showground

UK Tech-Fest has announced 15 more bands for its biggest ever line-up at the Newark Showground on 30th June - 4rd July.

Announced are Scar Symmetry (UK exclusive) and Betraying The Martyrs (UK exclusive), as well as Party Cannon, Borders, Harbinger, Seething Akira, Arcaeon, In Fear, Sertraline, A Night In The Abyss, Blind Summit, Rosen Bridge, Dakesis, Blight Town and Lost In Lavender Town.

They join: God Is an Astronaut, The Ocean, Vulvodynia, Hacktivist, Novelists, Gorod, Inme, Slice The Cake (UK exclusive), Ten56, Frontierer, Distant, Martyr Defiled, The Hirsch Effekt, No Consequence (UK exclusive), Hypno5e, Destrage, Anima Tempo, Exist Immortal, VEXED, Drewsif, OHHMS, Bound In Fear, Artificial Language, Project Mishram, Pupil Slicer, The Materia, The Modern Age Slavery, Krysthla, Red Method, The Voynich Code, Black Orchid Empire, Novena, Godsticks, Monasteries, Greylotus, Wings Denied, Tiberius, Where Oceans Burn, Controversial, Azazel, Axiom, Pound, Thaeia, Ballius and He Knows.

Early bird tickets are priced at £79.99 + £20 camping, tickets purchased for the 2020 & 2021 events are still valid.

Tickets for UK Tech-Fest 2022 can be purchased here: http://uktechfest.gigantic.com/
Facebook event page: https://fb.me/e/3fkMeLirV

This announcement follows the release of Impressions II, the official UK Tech-Fest documentary. Released over the weekend UK Tech-Fest 2021 was scheduled, it's a celebration of the vibrant UK tech-metal scene, and the festival that has become the summer highlight for many music fans. Watch Impressions II here: https://youtu.be/UKoUX-o-4D0

2022 sponsors and partners:
Strandberg - https://strandbergguitars.com
Hands On Printing - https://www.facebook.com/handsonprinting
Hold Tight - https://holdtight.co
Pins & Knuckles Merchandise - https://www.pinsandknucklesmerch.com
Overload Custom Guitars & Basses - https://m.facebook.com/OverloadCustomGuitarsAndBasses
Primordial Radio - https://primordialradio.com
Loki Films - https://www.facebook.com/LokiFilms
JWA Creations - https://www.facebook.com/JWACreations2016

UK Tech-Fest online:
https://uktechfest.com/
https://www.facebook.com/uktechfest

About UK Tech-Fest:

Following the huge success of the first UK Tech-Fest selling out in 2012, the festival went outdoors in 2013 hosting headliners Scar Symmetry, Veil Of Maya and TesseracT. 2014 saw UK Tech-Fest move to the prestigious Newark Showground hosting Sikth's second show after their reunion, and the following year UK Tech-Fest 2015 hosted an exclusive UK appearance from Decapitated. UK Tech-Fest 2016 - The Fifth Anniversary - was a milestone in this festival's career, by far their biggest and best edition to date hosting Animals As Leaders and exclusive appearances from Between The Buried And Me and Protest The Hero. UK Tech-Fest 2017 had its heaviest line-up to date, 2018 had its largest ever attendance and in 2019 solidified its reputation as the UK's most forward-thinking metal festival.

Photo Credit: Luke Dean

New album Kodak out 3rd June 2022 via Rude Records/Equal Vision Records

Indie-rock quartet All Get Out have announced their new album Kodak, due for release on 3rd June 2022 via Rude Records (UK/EU) / Equal Vision Records (ROW). The band's first full-length offering since 2018's No Bouquet, Kodak is an album centred around the concept of small town living in America and how they — along with its people who stay behind — continue to remain frozen in time.

All Get Out have also released a video for their new single 'Sumter'. Check it out here: https://youtu.be/ZWlvao9HTyY

Stream/purchase 'Sumter' here: https://allgetout.lnk.to/sumter

'Sumter' is one of two songs on Kodak that references temporary memory loss experienced by frontman Nathan Hussey's mother. The track finds him offering up some self-aware, self-recrimination about his attitude towards these hometown memories via a hefty nostalgic jangle. Lyrically, the track is the centrepiece of the album and is another reflection on the unaddressable things that still bother you from another era of your lifetime. 

As much as you can try, you can never fully run away from who you are, because it'll always be part of who you are. It's in your soul, your heart, your essence. That sense of resigned futility is something that All Get Out has captured on its touching new album, Kodak.

Formed in Charleston, SC in 2007, frontman Nathan Hussey is the only original member left in the band, joined by guitarist Kyle Samuel, drummer Dominic Nastasi and bassist James Gibson. And while Hussey and Nastasi really fleshed out the demos between them before recording the bulk of the songs in May 2021, a conscious decision was made this time around to also incorporate the same kind of approach Hussey had taken with the two solo albums he’s released.

“We wanted to make a record where I got my voice, as the writer, heard first – and then we tacked on everything else,” Hussey says. “It’s means this is more of a songwritery record, and that’s on purpose.” It’s a method that suits the introspective nature of the record perfectly.

Having uprooted from South Carolina to Texas, Hussey recently found himself moving back to his home state. He says that’s not the reason why the theme of the record is centred around the idea of small American towns like Sumter – and everything good and bad that they represent – but they’re nevertheless infused with his experiences and memories of them.

“A lot of the record came out to be about growing up in small towns that don’t move,” explains Hussey. “There are these little American towns that just haven’t evolved, and that’s on purpose — the way Bubba still has a Confederate flag on his pickup truck, or how friends and members of my family have perpetuated the small town thing of having kids at 18 and doing drugs. It’s just this cycle that keeps happening.”

Throughout the course of these 10 tracks, Hussey immerses himself in the history of his home state, and in a weird, ironic way, it’s here – back at the start but while trying to get away from it – that he found both himself and the closest manifestation of what he’s always wanted All Get Out to be. As such, it’s fitting that, with final song 'Know Your Tell', Kodak ends where it began — in a car, with nothing answered and nowhere to go but both forward and back at the same time. And just like a photograph, it’s a physical snapshot of the past that also exists now, in the moment.

“This album is either who I am or where I came from or a combination of both,” says Hussey. “I’m very slow to evolve, and that’s part of the record as well. Not to get too meta, but it takes me a long time in life to get there sometimes. I don’t know if I manage to reconcile my past with my present, but it’s definitely been brought to attention – and that’s what was so important about this record.”

For more information:
http://www.allgetoutmusic.com/
https://www.facebook.com/allgetout/
https://twitter.com/allgetout/
https://www.instagram.com/allgetoutmusic/

Kodak track listing:

1. Clinical Trial
2. Feeling Well
3. DFR
4. State Of Abuses
5. Soma
6. Walk Me Through It
7. AA Almanac
8. Sumter
9. Quitter Talk
10. Know Your Tell

Photo credit: Martyna Bannister

They Fear Us album due 29th July via Hassle Records

"An absolute beast" - Rock Sound
"Scarily good" - Kerrang!

Acclaimed UK metallic hardcore group Ithaca will be touring their stunning second album, They Fear Us, across the UK in August 2022.

Support will come from mathcore troupe Pupil Slicer.

Tickets onsale from 10am Friday 29th April.

Dates as follows:

03.08 Manchester, The Deaf Institute
04.08 London, Boston Music Rooms
05.08 Birmingham, The Victoria
06.08 Glasgow, Garage Attic
07.08 Nottingham, Rough Trade in-store*
08.08 Bristol, Rough Trade in-store*

*Ithaca only.

Pre-order the album and stream Ithaca's last single 'In The Way' here: https://orcd.co/theyfearus

Ithaca are one of the most exciting and vital voices in the UK heavy scene currently. Formed out of a mutual love of metallic hardcore but despair at its lack of ambition, Ithaca exist to challenge everything you thought a band that makes heavy music should look and sound like.

A glitter-covered nailbomb, Ithaca seamlessly blend the brutality of Relapse Records metalcore with blackgaze, 90s industrial metal, 70s prog and even tinges of 80s power pop. Their influences stretch beyond the musical - this album comes with a clear vision and aesthetic: drawing from members’ different ancestral heritage, queer/non-conforming identities and iconic figures in avant-garde, new wave and post-punk culture.

Their upcoming second album They Fear Us is the sound of a band healing from trauma - standing in their own, unapologetic voice. Furious and wildly inventive while also being more coherent and accessible, this album will introduce Ithaca to a wider audience than they’ve ever had before. In the words of the band: ‘those who oppose us; your sins will catch up to you. You will fear us’.

Ithaca's 2019 lauded debut The Language of Injury was followed by their early 2020 tour with Grammy-nominated indie-rock band Big Thief, starting at London’s Hammersmith Apollo.

Press support from The Guardian, Pitchfork, BBC R1, Metal Hammer, Kerrang!, Rock Sound, Revolver, Decibel, BrooklynVegan, and performances with Bleeding Through, Jamie Lenman, Anaal Nathrakh, The Number Twelve Looks Like You, at Boomtown Fair and ArcTanGent Festival position Ithaca as a great hope in the future of new UK music. Ithaca have also appeared on Ed Gamble’s Spotify podcast ‘Lifers’, Sky News and BBC3.

For more information:

https://www.facebook.com/IthacaUK
https://twitter.com/ITHACABAND
https://www.instagram.com/ithacaband
https://www.hasslerecords.com/

Tracklisting:

1. In The Way
2. The Future Says Thank You
3. They Fear Us
4. Camera Eats First
5. Cremation Party
6. Number Five
7. Fluorescent
8. You Should Have Gone Back
9. Hold, Be Held

'Origins' video streaming now

Origins album out 24th June 2022 via Season of Mist

Inspired by the myths and tales of the Scottish highlands, Caledonian metal band SAOR have announced the release of new album Origins on 24th June via Season of Mist, and have unveiled its title-track.

Watch the video to 'Origins' here: https://youtu.be/NkUCTBSiHMk

Combining black, post and classic heavy metal with traditional Scottish folk instrumentation, Origins tells stories of the Picts - people who lived in what is now northern and eastern Scotland during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages - and their fierce battles.

Andy Marshall comments: "It's been a long wait and an unpredictable few years but I'm very happy to finally be sharing this song with everyone! A lot of hard work went into making Origins and I can't wait to let you all here the full album in June."

Pre-orders for Origins here: https://shop.season-of-mist.com/list/saor-origins
Pre-save Origins here: https://orcd.co/saor-origins

SAOR will be touring this autumn across with EU with Gaahls WYRD and GAEREA.

UK date: 19th October at The Garage, London.

The cover artwork was created by Anaïs Mulgrew.

SAOR online:
https://www.saormusic.com
https://www.facebook.com/saorofficial
https://www.instagram.com/saormusic
https://saor.bandcamp.com
https://www.youtube.com/user/saormusic
https://www.bandsintown.com/a/4099241-saor

Track listing:

1. Call of the Carnyx
2. Fallen
3. The Ancient Ones
4. Aurora
5. Beyond the Wall
6. Origins

SAOR, in Scottish Gaelic, pronounced [sɯːɾ], means free, without obligations, unconstrained. All of these characteristics intrinsic to the music of SAOR, the musical entity spearheaded by sole member Andy Marshall. 

A lone wanderer proudly telling tales and myths of his culture from the tops of misty Caledonian mountains, Andy has carved a solitary, yet strikingly inspiring path with SAOR ever since his first album Roots in 2013. 

A decade on, Andy is set release his fifth full-length; a decade in which Andy and SAOR have almost single-handedly made us all feel a little bit like Scots at heart, regardless of our own individual origins. Such is the passionate and almost visual way that this musician delivers his profoundly atmospheric hybrid of black and folk metal, peculiarly described as Caledonian metal. 

Written over the pandemic, fifth album Origins appeared as a result of these difficult times. And for their first album in three years, and their premiere for Season of Mist, we wouldn’t expect anything other than… the unexpected. A counter reaction of sorts to the more meandering and even “accessible” direction of the previous records, perhaps inspired by its main theme of the Picts (a group of peoples who lived in what is now northern and eastern Scotland during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages) and their fierce battles, Origins comes across as a more raging, black metal-infused effort, copiously evocative in its imagery and even melancholic in places, but decisively strong and abrasive at the same time.

“This album is a lot more guitar driven,” Andy confirms. “During the pandemic I listened to a lot of classic heavy metal and I think you’ll hear the influences on the dual lead guitars and solos. I also wanted this to be my heaviest album with emphasis on the riffs. My harsh vocals have changed from deep growls to more of a black metal style. Since the subject of the album is the Picts, I wanted a pagan theme throughout, and so that aspect is a lot more prominent than in the previous albums. I also used instruments such as the Carnyx and tribal drumming to convey that feeling.”

One of the strongest songs on offer, the opener in fact, 'Call of the Carnyx', is in fact about the Carnyx itself, the ancient Celtic war horn, and it conveys like never before the feeling that it must have been to hear its resounding bellow, calling the Pictish warriors to battle. A moving homage to the legacy of the Picts, Origins guides us through their gods, their fallen heroes who died protecting their families and land, and what still remains of their identity in the Scottish people of today.

As much as we have food for thought assured and guaranteed entertainment and inspiration for the months to come as we listen to and explore Origins and its themes, its creator is naturally already moving on. Andy doesn’t need much to create the worlds SAOR albums inhabit, and his most powerful tool is always with him.

“I don’t need to be in one particular place to write or be inspired,” he explains. “I do have my own little office/studio in my home where I write music and lyrics, but it’s nothing special. My imagination is the most powerful tool for SAOR.”

Not only do we vehemently agree, we would even say that imagination is the most powerful tool, always, for everyone. The one untamed weapon we all possess and can use at all times. Free. Without obligations. Unconstrained.

Credit: Manuel Vargaz Lepiz

New project of Ivo Henzi (Cellar Darling, ex-Eluveitie)

Nighted, the new genre-bending black metal synthwave duo, have released their second single 'Acronyc', out now via Klang Machine Records.

Stream 'Acronyc' here: https://fanlink.to/nighted

Nighted are Ivo Henzi (vocals, guitars - ex-Eluveitie, Cellar Darling, Forest Of Fog) and Marc Petralito (synths, Appearance Of Nothing). One late and misty summer night, in the enforced lockdown of 2020, the two struck on the idea of mixing black metal with 70s-era synth, à la Blade Runner and Jean-Michel Jarre: and Nighted is the result.

Ivo Henzi comments:
“The story of this song is based on the idea that humans are one of the few species that decide for themselves on which side of the life line they want to stand. One decides either for life or for death. It is a topic with many taboos and stigmatas, and this track is a love letter to life & a poem of death.”

Marc Petralito adds:
“‘Acronyc’ best showcases our core idea of playing music that is rooted in black metal and influenced by a synthwave atmosphere. We‘ve based this song on the synth lead at the beginning and developed it from there.”

‘Acronyc’ is the second of a series of songs that will be unveiled throughout 2022, leading up to Nighted’s debut album Absence, which will be released in the Autumn. The stunning single follows the band's debut, 'Aeons'.

The album was recorded, mixed and mastered by Anna Murphy (Cellar Darling, ex-Eluveitie) at Lucerne’s Sound Farm Studio, with drums performed by session drummer Dylan Watson (Kassogtha). Nighted are signed to the newly-formed heavy music label Klang Machine Records, co-founded by drummer and artist manager Merlin Sutter.

For more:

www.nightedband.com
Nighted on Spotify
www.facebook.com/nightedband
www.instagram.com/nightedband
www.kmm.rocks / www.instagram.com/klangmachine

'Wings of Deliverance' streaming now

Melodic death metallers Carrion Vael have announced their signing to Unique Leader Records. In celebration of the new partnership, the band from Indiana, USA have also released their latest frenzied single 'Wings of Deliverance'.

Watch the music video to 'Wings of Deliverance' here: https://youtu.be/74ZWH7Zlo-I

On signing with the label, the band comments: "Signing with Unique Leader is exactly where we wanted to be, and the right label to reach our ultimate goals with. We are very happy to be the newest members of this family."

Vocalist Travis Lawson Purcell added: “Our new single 'Wings of Deliverance' speaks of death and mind control, the living existence that so many suffer within to this day. It’s fast, it’s technical, it’s brutal, and it’s true.”

Formed in 2017 Carrion Vael execute skilfully crafted melodic death/thrash and draw lyrical influences from famous serial killers and mass murders in history. Their brutal force is heavily influenced by technical, melodic and traditional death metal, incorporating aspects of slam and old school death with razor-cut precision.

Their debut album, Resurrection of the Doomed, arrived in 2017 with sophomore album God Killer following in 2020 via Horror Pain Gore Death Productions to worldwide critical acclaim.

Now the band have joined the Unique Leader roster for the release of their latest single 'Wings of Deliverance', a powerful track showcasing a sophisticated blend of modern death, tech and thrash, buzzing with adrenaline-fuelled intensity and carried out with meticulous clarity.

Having shared the stage with The Black Dahlia Murder, Cattle Decapitation, Nekrogoblikon, Wolftooth and many more hard-hitters, Carrion Vael are ready to push the next chapter of their career to the fullest. Stay tuned for more news.

Carrion Vael are:
Travis Lawson Purcell - vocals
Trent Limburg - guitar
Alex Arford - bass
Chris Smiley - drums
Ryan Kuder - guitar

Carrion Vael online:
Facebook || Instagram || Twitter

Unique Leader Records online:
Website || Facebook || Twitter || Instagram || YouTube

Photo: Cornelius Qvist

Danish blackgaze masters MØL will join Crippled Black Phoenix on the forthcoming 'Banefyre Europe MMXXII' tour, supporting them through all European dates.

MØL's frontman Kim Song Sternkopf comments:

“It's been over two years since our last tour and we are beyond excited to join Crippled Black Phoenix as main support for this upcoming run throughout EU & UK! We are very much looking forward to seeing all of our MØL fans old and new in person! For our UK fans, if you can’t wait, please make sure to catch us on Friday 19th August at Arctangent Festival 2022 in Bristol!”

The tour line-up will be completed with Swiss metallers Impure Wilhelmina.

Tickets go on sale: Thursday, April 28th at 11am CET and 10am UK time.

Find all tour dates here:
25.08 - DE Hannover – Faust
26.08 - DE Hamburg – Bahnhof Pauli
27.08 - DK Copenhagen – Hotel Cecil
28.08 - DE Berlin – SO36
29.08 - DE Leipzig – Täubchenthal
30.08 - DE Munich – Backstage
31.08 - HU Budapest – A38
01.09 - AT Vienna – Chelsea
02.09 - IT Bologna – Link
03.09 - CH Winterthur – Gaswerk
04.09 - FR Paris – Backstage
05.09 - DE Cologne – Essigfabrik
06.09 - NL Zoetermeer – Boerderij
07.09 - UK London – The Dome
08.09 - UK Bristol – The Fleece
09.09 - UK Manchester – Rebellion
10.09 - UK Glasgow – Classic Grand

Watch the band's music videos of the latest studio album Diorama here:

'Vestige' official music video: https://youtu.be/x2vjkHI2CJQ
'Photophobic' official music video: https://youtu.be/ooY2JtQ6NXc
'Serf' official music video: https://youtu.be/T2l2tvw2n7c

Undeniably one of the most exciting and unique groups to set the metal landscape alight in recent years, MØL mix elements of black metal with the contrasting sub-genre of shoegaze. Meandering dreamy soundscapes intertwine with hellspawn vocal rasps and lush melodies to create an exceptional collision of beauty and wretchedness.

Inspired by bands such as My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Drop Nineteens, Lantlôs and Alcest, MØL released their self-titled debut EP in 2014. A year later they perfected their sound with their second EP II, produced by Jacob Bredahl and released in 2015. Both EPs were well received and drove them on to do some emphatic live shows which were praised by press. In 2018, MØL made an international breakthrough signing with Holy Roar Records (UK) who released their debut album Jord to worldwide critical acclaim. The record was recorded at Grapehouse Studios and mixed and mastered by Chris Kreutzfeldt. The album was also released as an instrumental version and in 2019, the band re-released their two first EPs, remastered for CD and vinyl.

In November 2021 MØL returned with their second studio album, Diorama, the group’s first for Nuclear Blast Records. Recorded and mixed by Tue Madsen (Gojira, Meshuggah, Heaven Shall Burn), the album once again captivated critics worldwide.

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Follow MØL and get more info:
https://www.facebook.com/moeldk/
https://www.instagram.com/moeldk/
https://twitter.com/moeldk