Photo Credit: Napalm Records

Metalcore would not exist in its current form without Detroit legends WALLS OF JERICHO.  With genre defining records like 1999’s The Bound Feed The Gagged and 2004’s All Hail The Dead captivating the underground scene and establishing the model, they went on to break through charts globally with With Devils Amongst Us All, The American Dream, and No One Can Save You From Your Self thoroughly cementing their prestige. 

After years of gigging relentlessly, decimating prestigious stages at Louder Than Life, Hellfest, Tied Down, and Furnace Fest amongst others, they finally return with a new studio offering, System Error: Humanity, dropping 13th November 2026 via Napalm Records. Pummeling, confrontational, and uplifting, WALLS OF JERICHO remain steadfast to the values and sound their legacy was built on.

Alongside the album announcement, the band unleash the menacing first single 'The Ascent'.  Tense from its opening notes, the track hurls discordant breakdowns at the listener, leaning on dissonant chugs with glacial weight guaranteed to kick you back a reading level. 

Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/pSvKmWOGKqk

Pre-order the album here: http://lnk.to/WallsOfJericho-SystemErrorHumanity/napalmrecords
 
Frontwoman Candace Buckingham on System Error: Humanity: “System Error: Humanity is a raw, unapologetic, and our most aggressive record to date. We set out to capture the chaos, intensity, and raw energy of our live show rather than chase perfection. Lyrically, it's a rebellion against the modern forces that fracture identity: comparison, conformity, distraction, and the endless pressure to perform instead of live. At its core, this album is about reclaiming your attention, owning your choices, and becoming who you were before the world told you who to be. Kill the noise. Reclaim yourself.”
 
Candace continues on 'The Ascent': “‘The Ascent’ is a crushing blend of dissonant riffs, massive breakdowns, and raw intensity. Lyrically, it's about confronting yourself one hard truth at a time, shedding ego, silencing the noise, and discovering that real strength isn't found at the summit, but in the discipline and honesty it takes to climb. Because growth begins where comfort ends.”

Clobbering listeners out of the gate with 'True Til’ Death', the band affirms the triumph of their comeback with rabid aggression: iconic frontwoman Candace Buckingham immediately commands listeners with her gargantuan growls. The discordant violence of tracks like 'The Ascent' and 'Untouchable', tap into something truly primal and kick you back a reading level with their claustrophobic chord work, while more thrash driven tracks like 'The Flame' and 'Agency', take off at 100 miles per hour, plowing through a plethora of protein packed riffage and solos. Lyrically the band is stoking the flames of discontent, with tracks like 'Agency', 'Borrowed Ground', and 'Last Judgement', delivering empowering messages of reclamation, self determination, and human rights, encouraging listeners to fight for a better world. The record also features a premier slew of guests including Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe on 'Broken Mouths Can't Speak', his beckoning howl joining Candace on a ferocious duel attack; and Guy Kozowyk of The Red Chord on 'Humanity', propelling the groove laden pit starter into cataclysmic levels of chaos. After some more delicious violence, and a transcendent slow burn in the form of 'A Brighter Fire', 'The Reckoning' finishes things off with an epic, catastrophic energy that is bookended with one of the album’s most punishing breakdowns, bound to send some unlucky concertgoers to the dentist. 

Legendary producer and Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou (NAILS, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Code Orange, and Every Time I Die) is behind the boards, capturing the band’s ferocious live energy while maintaining a pristine presentation. Powerful, fierce, and stirring, WALLS OF JERICHO re-emerge with righteous purpose and brutal dedication, humanity may be the source of the system error, but we are the system, and we are the solution. 

WALLS OF JERICHO are: 
Candace Buckingham - Vocals 
Aaron Ruby - Bass 
Dustin Robert - Drums 
Bobby VaLeu - Guitar 
Kyle Gailey - Guitar 
Chris Towning - Guitar

WALLS OF JERICHO online:
https://www.facebook.com/WallsofJericho
https://www.instagram.com/wojofficial

System Error: Humanity tracklist:

1. True Til' Death  
2. Beginning           
3. The Flame          
4. The Ascent         
5. Broken Mouths Can't Speak (feat. Randy Blythe)
6. Untouchable      
7. Rise       
8. Agency 
9. Unchained          
10. The End Before 
11. Humanity (feat. Guy Kozowyk)
12. Borrowed Ground           
13. Last Judgement 
14. A Brighter Fire (feat. Patsy Puopolo & Matthew Ruby)
15. The Reckoning

System Error: Humanity will be vaailable in the following configurations: 

1 LP Dark Yellow Black Splatter Deluxe Version Vinyl

With LP Sized Booklet – strictly limited, Napalm Records Shop exclusive

1 LP White Label Vinyl With LP Sized Booklet, Covercard, and Certificate – strictly limited, Napalm Records Shop exclusive

1 LP Solid Gold Vinyl – strictly limited, Retail GSA exclusive

1 LP Translucent Yellow Vinyl – strictly limited, Retail North America exclusive

1 LP Solid Verde Vinyl

1 CD Digipak

Digital Album

Photo Credit: V. Valadez

Louisiana deathgrind powerhouse, BRAT, will release their new LP, Manslayer, on 25th September via Prosthetic Records. 

Today the quartet reveal their first warning shot - the new single, 'Manslayer (Hell Hath No Fury)' and its accompanying music video, directed by John Colgan.

Experience 'Manslayer (Hell Hath No Fury)' now at this location.

Pre-order/save BRAT's 'Manslayer' at this location.

BRAT's eagerly awaited second album, Manslayer, was tracked at Chicago's Bricktop Recording, produced, engineered, and mixed by Weekend Nachos' Andy Nelson, and mastered by Brad Boatright (Deadguy, Pig Destroyer, Lathe of Heaven) with maximum weight and minimum mercy. The follow-up to BRAT's 2024 debut, Social Grace, Manslayer features 17 tracks of primitive death metal, garroting grind, and swamp-drenched sludge for devotees of the darkest reaches of the underground. 

Ironically for such a violently heavy band as BRAT, a lyrical influence that helped shaped Manslayer was country music. More specifically, BRAT vocalist Liz Selfish gleaned inspiration from its songs about women’s revenge, in which they took their power back and left the lifeless bodies of the men who wronged them in their wake. Take 'Earl' by The Chicks, 'Before He Cheats' by Carrie Underwood, 'Gunpowder & Lead' by Miranda Lambert. They were metal as hell without even trying to be.

Shock-inducing album artwork by Wes Benscoter (Mortician, Slayer), hammers home Manslayer's macabre motif. 

"There’s not a lot of those tropes in death metal," Selfish says by way of contrast, "which I think primarily is because there’s not a lot of women in that space. I thought that was a really cool perspective and I really liked the storytelling aspect of it." In extreme music, it’s far too often been the other way around, where women end up as the corpses, not the ones holding the knives. This seed of an idea was the ideal means for BRAT to add extra dimensions to its sound, which coincided with Liz stepping up to write lyrics for the first time after guitarist and co-founder Brenner Moate had taken the reins on the group's debut.

"It’s quite new territory for me, and it wasn’t necessarily an intentional thing initially,” Liz says. “I wrote the first song for the album, and I just loved writing, and I was like, ‘I really love doing this, and I want to do more, so I ended up writing the whole album. Brenner’s main focus is writing music – he wants to write riffs - so he wasn't too torn up about not writing the lyrics. It was a nice passing of the torch."

Above all, Manslayer represents a scaling up of ambition, sound, and vision for BRAT. The concepts are bigger, the music more widescreen, and it is all bound to translate into absolute mayhem live. As such, BRAT has been announced as one of the spotlight acts at Louisville's Louder than Life Festival on 17th September, where the band will share the stage with Pantera, Danzig, Mastodon, and more and as part of Chicago's Riot Fest on 18th September, alongside Iggy Pop, Pixies, and Sex Pistols. For a full listing of upcoming BRAT tour dates, click here.

“We’re evolving the bimboviolence and the campiness by making it all a little bit darker with this album, and a bit more overtly violent,” says Liz. “I think that will probably reflect in our stage show and our imagery as well, keeping it fun, not a total 180, but definitely progressing into something darker with it.”

BRAT are:
Liz Selfish (vocals)
Brenner Moate (guitars)
Eoghan Mccarthy
Dustin Eagan (drums)
Ian Hennessey (bass)

Find BRAT online:

BratBand.com 
Apple Music 
Bandcamp
Facebook
Instagram
Spotify
TikTok
YouTube
X 

Manslayer tracklisting:
1 Intro
2 Aileen Wuornos
3 Speculum Bleed
4 Bone Spurs
5 Botch Tox
6 Media Slop
7 Trophy Hunting
8 Asking For Hell
9 Heretic Burning
10 Interlude
11 Manslayer (Hell Hath No Fury)
12 Bloody Mary
13 Femicidal Vengeance
14 Spit On His Grave
15 Ways To Kill Your Husband
16 Blistered Tongues
17 Outro

Photo Credit: Leah Komos

Brooklyn-based noise rock/punk outsiders FOREIGN BODY will release their gnarled second LP, Libertine, through Brutal Panda Records on 11th September. Today they reveal their scathing new song, 'Trophy'.

Watch the video to 'Trophy' here: https://youtu.be/NFAl4hs76XQ

Libertine will be released on coloured vinyl LP, CS, CD, and digital format. Pre-orders are now live at the Brutal Panda webshop and Bandcamp, and digital presaves are available here.

FOREIGN BODY play raw, hideous, and vulgar music emblematic of the seedy underbelly of yesterday’s New York City – where sex workers walked the streets freely, rubble and decay were prevalent, drugs were readily available, and every businessman’s briefcase contained a loaded gun. The quartet spin jet-black yarns that polite society would rather have swept under the rug, soundtracking them with jaw-clenching and furious mid-tempo punk exploding with fresh ideas. And even though FOREIGN BODY drip with a loathsome mix of hatred for modern living and a desire for its immolation, they’re also one of music’s most promising faces.
 
FOREIGN BODY’s new album Libertine is a wholly relentless listen with unflinching portrayals of vice, perversions and glorified excesses. The album was recorded by Matt Russell (REZN, Oozing Wound, Big Laugh), mixed and mastered at STR in San Diego by Matt Ibarra of Rectal Hygienics, and completed with artwork by vocalist Hugh Potter. This is a must-hear record for fans of Brainbombs, Couch Slut, Rectal Hygenics, Unsane, Chat Pile, The Birthday Party, Flipper, Big Black, and labelmates Intercourse.
 
The band reveal, “The notion of Libertine is the idea of an individual, usually people with a lot of wealth that have the capacity to act upon their desires to the fullest extent. It’s an investigation of that idea to its farthest, impossible conclusion, within literature and a modern context.”
 
The raucous new video for 'Trophy' was directed by FOREIGN BODY bassist Thomas Koenig.
 
FOREIGN BODY will be touring USA in September. Expect additional live updates as the record’s release draws near.
 
Tour dates: 
7/17 Love City Manayunk – Philadelphia, PA w/ PLQ MRX
09/18 McDuffs – Philadelphia, PA
09/19 Preserving Shows – Pittsburgh, PA
09/20 The Brass Rail – Ft. Wayne, IN
09/21 TBA – St. Louis, MO
09/22 Backline At Avondale Music Hall – Chicago, IL
09/23 TBA – Indianapolis, IN
09/24 Portal – Louisville, KY
09/25 TBA – Columbus, OH
09/26 Pie Shop – Washington, DC

FOREIGN BODY are:
Hugh Potter – vocals, saxophone
Nikolai Kapetan – guitar
Collin Melazzo – drums
Thomas Koenig – bass

FOREIGN BODY online:
  
https://www.instagram.com/foreignbody_nyc
https://foreignbodynyc.bandcamp.com
https://www.brutalpandarecords.com
https://linktr.ee/brutalpanda
https://brutalpandarecords.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/brutalpandarecords
https://www.facebook.com/BrutalPandaRecords
https://x.com/BrutalPanda

Libertine tracklisting:
1. Strung Out
2. White Lord of Hell
3. Passed Around
4. Hind Legs
5. Trophy
6. When Sex Is Not Enough
7. Man Was Meant To Take Advantage
8. Born For This
9. Libertines
10. Beauty is a Hammer

Photo Credit: Robert John

German heavy metal legends ACCEPT release another single from their upcoming new album, Teutonic Titans 1976-2026. 

Today they release an explosive new rendition of the genre classic, 'Balls to the Wall', featuring 'Metal God' Rob Halford and guitar icon Matthias Jabs.

Stream here: https://youtu.be/PV3lMI1_KBY

Serving as the second single from their massive 50th-anniversary celebratory album, Teutonic Titans 1976-2026, this track perfectly illustrates the band’s half-century legacy. Dropping 4th September via Napalm Records, this tight and powerful release delivers a vital blow that proves ACCEPT are as relevant as ever. Featuring 19 timeless songs and more than 50 legendary guest artists, the all-star metal supergroup ACCEPT have gathered is a powerful look at an album celebrating both the band’s extraordinary 50-year legacy and the heavy metal genre they helped shape.

Pre-order: https://lnk.to/Accept-TeutonicTitans/napalmrecords

Wolf Hoffmann comments: “Rob is the Metal God. I don’t need to say any more about him. Once we knew that he would do it, it was an obvious choice to give him ‘Balls to the Wall’ because it’s the best fit imaginable! I played all the rhythm guitars. Matthias Jabs from Scorpions played the solo, which is very cool and a huge honour, and it’s Rex Brown on bass and Jason Bowld on drums. So that’s a really cool package.”

German heavy metal legends ACCEPT celebrate 50 years of pure power, bringing together the scene’s A-list musicians for a landmark release. Teutonic Titans 1976–2026 stands as a definitive statement of the band’s legacy, forged in steel and driven by unmistakable riffs. Arriving 4th September via Napalm Records, the album delivers some of the most iconic songs ever written in heavy music.

Led by guitarist Wolf Hoffmann, the longtime architect of ACCEPT’s sound, the band are joined by a staggering 50 guests across 19 reimagined versions of their biggest tracks. Teutonic Titans 1976-2026 is ACCEPT’s most ambitious and star-studded release to date, reaching far beyond their country’s borders. Featuring the biggest names in heavy music paying tribute to the German icons, the record cements the band’s standing on the global stage.

This is more than an album; it is a manifesto of metal. Pre-orders are now available in various exclusive formats.
  
Wolf Hoffmann about Teutonic Titans 1976-2026:
“There is no better way to celebrate this 50-year anniversary than to have our musical peers, friends, and inspirations come together with us to record these classic ACCEPT songs, which I am honored and proud to share with the world. I hope everyone enjoys this very special record as much as we all enjoyed making it.”

Chronologically progressing through albums from their formative years, from I’m a Rebel (1980) to Eat the Heat (1989), ACCEPT present their songs with an all-new, all-star lineup, alongside the signature voice of Mark Tornillo and Wolf Hoffmann’s unmistakable riffs. By enlisting a Who’s Who of metal, no two songs on Teutonic Titans 1976-2026 are the same. Every track features a different combination of vocals, guitars, bass, and drums, giving each classic a fresh edge.
 
Tobias Forge delivers a commanding performance on the track 'Save Us' (I’m a Rebel, 1980), joined by Ray Luzier on drums. Phil Anselmo, Kirk Hammett, and Mikkey Dee tear through the speed metal classic 'Fast As A Shark' (Restless and Wild, 1982). 'Balls to the Wall' surges with the powerful range of Metal God Rob Halford, alongside the guitar work of Matthias Jabs, while the reimagined 'Love Child' is elevated by Billy Corgan and David Ellefson (both songs from Balls to the Wall, 1983).
 
Other guest stars on ACCEPT’s extraordinary release include K. K. Downing, Bobby Blitz, Hansi Kürsch, Chris Jericho, Ralf Scheepers, Billy Sheehan, Ola Englund, and Jeff Loomis. The album also features a re-recording of 'Hellhammer' (Eat the Heat, 1989), performed by ACCEPT’s current lineup: Wolf Hoffmann, bassist Martin Motnik, guitarist Philip Shouse and drummer Christopher Williams, joined by Jason McMaster on vocals. The album masterpiece was produced, mixed and mastered by legendary producer Zeuss.
 

ACCEPTare:
Wolf Hoffmann – guitar
Mark Tornillo – vocals
Philip Shouse – guitar
Martin Motnik – bass
Christopher Williams – drums

WatchACCEPTin the UK:

27.08.26 UK - Wolverhampton / KK’s Steel Mill
28.08.26 UK - London / Indigo at The O2

ACCEPTonline:
FACEBOOK
INSTAGRAM
TWITTER
VK
TIKTOK
NAPALM RECORDS

Tracklisting: 

1. Fast as a Shark
2. Balls to the Wall
3. Aiming High
4. Run If You Can
5. Hellhammer
6. Metal Heart
7. Losers and Winners
8. Save Us
9. Up to the Limit
10. Wrong Is Right
11. Starlight
12. Fight It Back
13. Love Child
14. Breaker
15. Demon’s Night
16. T.V. War
17. London Leatherboys
18. Monsterman
19. Restless and Wild

Liverpool's No Play Festival has completed the line-up of its 2026 edition, with the addition of Dream State, Love Rarely, Crowquill, So Far So Good, Without Love, Vienna, Breakfast with Bears, Bye Bye, Omoia, Horsebastard, Syntara, Face It Tegan.

They join the headliner, the legendary Stick To Your Guns, alongside some of the best in today's underground hardcore and shoegaze scenes.

Five stages. No Barriers. No Play 2026 will be a day to remember.

Held in Liverpool City Centre on 5th September, No Play Festival tickets are currently £62.85, inclusive of fees. Ticket options include a monthly payment plan, where you can pay across two instalments.

Purchase from: noplayfestival.gigantic.com

Full line-up so far:

Stick To Your Guns
Spy
Pest Control
Dream State
Roman Candle
Spaced
Liquid Mike
Last Wishes
Bodyweb
Love Rarely
Crowquill
Without Love
Vienna
So Far So Good
Breakfast With Bears
Bye Bye
Fools Game
Omoia
Dry Socket
Dormant
Heads Above
Imissyoualready
Invasion
Jetski
Malignant Methods
Nylon
Pale Sailor
Safeguard
Sunday Best
Victims of Life
Horsebastard
Witherhorde
Syntara
Face It Tegan

Held across five stages in the heart of Liverpool, the no barrier No Play 2026 is one not to miss. Highlights include stage five, the Guillotine Stage held in the Jacaranda Basement - a stage which takes its name from No Play's monthly local showcase. A variety of homegrown talent, discovered through the Guillotine Sessions, will be performing on this stage throughout the day.

Stage four, the Best Life Records Stage, at Kazimier Stockroom, will be a takeover from Liverpool's Best Life Records, showcasing their roster alongside upcoming UK talent. 

No Play founder Ted MacDonald comments: “We’re pretty excited about the new stage setup this year! No barriers all day is something we’ve wanted to do since we started, it’s how this music is meant be experienced. The fest has really grown over the last few years and to have the two biggest stages in Arts Club running back to back as well - it’s gonna go off!”

Now in its fourth year, No Play Festival is fast becoming one of the best-kept secrets in the UK heavy calendar. Previous iterations of the festival have included Glare, Higher Power, Vukovi, Guilt Trip, SeeYouSpaceCowboy, Heriot, and Split Chain - a raucously fun DIY event that puts Liverpool on the map.

The team behind No Play have been working as a collective in the Liverpool scene for over a decade. No Play Festival is a proudly independent, affordable metro-fest, that aims to showcase local talent alongside rising acts and acclaimed artists, both UK and international. 

For more:
https://www.noplay.uk/festival
https://www.instagram.com/noplayfest

Venues return with 'Becoming', a modern metalcore anthem that turns pain into power and self-doubt into momentum. After the emotional weight of 'Solace' and their acclaimed album Transience, the Stuttgart band deliver one of their boldest, most uplifting tracks yet.

Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/leUNyDtDhSo

Stream here: https://arisingempire.com/venues

Built on punchy riffs, explosive rhythms, and sleek modern production, 'Becoming' hits hard while keeping its hooks front and center. Harsh screams channel the pressure of insecurity and outside expectations, before the clean vocals break through with a clear statement of self-worth. Every breakdown and chorus drives home the message: real strength starts when you stop living for others. Lyrically, the song follows someone cutting loose from toxic influences, refusing to be defined by the past, and finally owning who they are, ending on a reminder that everyone deserves to see their own value.

Since signing with Arising Empire, Venues have become one of Germany’s standout modern metalcore acts. Their 2018 debut Aspire was named Kerrang! Album of the Week, and they’ve kept pushing forward ever since, powered by the contrast between Lela Gruber’s soaring melodies and Robin Baumann’s visceral screams. With 'Becoming', they sharpen that balance into a heavy, hooky, and genuinely empowering release.

Catch the band live: 
03.08.2026 Free & Easy Festival, Munich (DE)
28.08.2026 Hot Rock Festival 2026, Hilgertshausen-Tandern (DE)
04.09.2026 Pell-Mell Festival 2026, Obererbach (DE)

Venues online:
https://www.instagram.com/venuesofficial
https://www.facebook.com/VENUESofficial/
https://www.tiktok.com/@venuesofficial

Belgian atmospheric metalcore newcomers Ice Sealed Eyes open a new chapter with the release of Tape 1: Far Away. The four-track EP plays like one continuous emotional arc, with 'Stay Still' flowing into 'To Realise' and 'The Weight Of Loss' moving through grief, isolation, betrayal and acceptance.

Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/_Xsg9P0f2ng

Stream here: https://arisingempire.com/icesealedeyes

Built on shimmering ambience, crushing guitars, thunderous drums and soaring vocals, the EP sits in that fragile space between holding on and letting go. 'Stay Still' captures two people drifting further apart as hope fades. 'To Realise' sinks into a hypnotic, helpless spiral, while 'The Weight Of Loss' brings the story to a breaking point, no easy apologies, just painful clarity. Each track stands on its own, but together they form a cinematic listen, with recurring motifs and evolving dynamics that reward a full start-to-finish play.

Already tipped as one of Belgium’s most promising heavy acts, Ice Sealed Eyes have racked up millions of streams and built an international following. After the success of their debut album ALTAR, they toured across Europe, played Euroblast Festival, and shared stages with Falling In Reverse, Unprocessed, Amenra, Brutus, Resolve and Hypno5e. With Tape 1: Far Away, they sharpen their signature blend of atmosphere, weight and emotion and make a strong first statement in this new era.

Live dates:
04.09.2026 Tramfest, Troye (FR)
04.02.2027 Club Transbo, Lyon (FR)
05.02.2027 La Laiterie, Strassbourg (FR)
06.02.2027 The Black Lab, Lille (FR)
07.02.2027 Botanique, Brussels (BE)
10.02.2027 Hydrophone, Lorient (FR)
11.02.2027 Le Ferrailleur, Nantes (FR)
12.02.2027 Rock School Barbey, Bordeaux (FR)
13.02.2027 Le Rex, Toulouse (FR)
18.02.2027 La Caronnerie, Reims (FR)
19.02.2027 Le 106, Rouen (FR)

Ice Sealed Ice online:
https://www.instagram.com/icesealedeyes
https://www.facebook.com/icesealedeyes
https://www.tiktok.com/@icesealedeyesband

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Disfiguring The Goddess release new single/video  

Bloom out 31st July via Seek and Strike  

New single 'Kiss The Dice' streaming now

Disfiguring the Goddess unveil their powerful new single 'Kiss The Dice', the third track to be released from the forthcoming album Bloom, due out 31st July via Seek & Strike. Written as the final piece of the album, the track brings together the many sonic threads that define Bloom, fusing gut-punching, pit-ready riffs with bouncy, hard-hitting rhythms, an infectious, expansive chorus and subtle dance-infused textures. Lyrically, 'Kiss The Dice' captures the intoxicating highs and quiet despair of an all-night gamble through Reno, Nevada, balancing swagger and self-assurance with an undercurrent of loss and longing. It's a song where sin, chance and self-awareness collide, offering one of the album's most dynamic and emotionally layered moments while remaining unmistakably Disfiguring the Goddess.

Watch the video for 'Kiss The Dice' here: https://youtu.be/Iyb_5x7b6q4

Pre-save Bloom here: https://orcd.co/dtgbloom

Commenting on the single, vocalist Argon states: “'Kiss the Dice' was actually the last song I wrote for the album, and it became a way to pull together a lot of the different directions and influences that shaped this record. Lyrically, it is about an all-nighter in Reno, Nevada, with a bit of Lady Luck woven into it. On the surface, the song can feel confident and fun, but underneath that there is something sadder and more lost. It carries the feeling of knowing your truth while still being intoxicated by the sin-driven atmosphere of a city like Reno. Musically, it moves back and forth between gut-punching, pit-driven guitar sections and a simpler, more open chorus. The drums stay bouncy and punchy throughout, and there is a subtle dance-oriented thread running through the song until the very end, where some of the buried melodic emotion finally comes to life through the synth arrangements.”

Disfiguring the Goddess has never chased trends or waited for permission. For nearly two decades, Cameron Argon (aka Big Chocolate) has built the project entirely on his own terms, writing, producing, programming and shaping every aspect of its evolution. What began as an uncompromising creative outlet has grown into one of extreme music's most distinctive independent success stories, cultivating a fiercely loyal global following through innovation, consistency and a refusal to conform.

Partnering with Seek & Strike doesn't redefine Disfiguring the Goddess, it amplifies it. For the first time, the project has the infrastructure to match the scale of Argon's vision, extending its reach while preserving the complete creative freedom that has always defined it.

That philosophy is woven through every second of Bloom. The album captures years of artistic growth distilled into its most focused and fully realised form yet: crushingly heavy, emotionally expansive and fearless in its willingness to blur the boundaries between slam, deathcore, industrial textures and unexpected melody.

As Argon explains: "Bloom is an album about accumulation, cultivation, and execution. There are a lot of themes running through it, both personal and sonic, but when I step back and look at the bigger picture, it symbolizes nurturing the seed of DTG until it finally blossoms. It is the beginning of a new chapter and the closing of an old one."

With Bloom, Disfiguring the Goddess isn't reinventing itself, it is becoming exactly what it was always meant to be. Bigger in scope, sharper in execution and more uncompromising than ever, it marks the arrival of a project that has spent years evolving in the shadows and is now impossible to ignore.

Check out previous singles 'Low Slam Low' here and 'AWOL' here. 

For more:
Instagram || Facebook || Bandcamp

Track-list:

1. Samba of the Faceless
2. Echoes Fade, I Remain
3. Deathcore Song
4. AWOL
5. Mask Off (feat J Figure)
6. Sweet Dreams (feat Four Stroke Baron)
7. Low Slam Low
8. Goddess Box (feat  Bodybox)
9. Deep Sway
10. Permission to be Claimed
11. Kiss the Dice
12. Black Widow Spider
13. Dapper (feat Four Stroke Baron)
14. Pleasure Island
15. Old Man’s Bones
16. Lose the Head
17. Penance

Photo Credit: Ash Winter-Sim

Multinational progressive metal / electronic band Playgrounded will release their new record A Flower to Water on 18th September via celebrated label Pelagic Records.

Today they release another new single from the album, the meditative 'Snow'.

Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/2xu19HHHYj8

Stream and pre-order here: https://orcd.co/playgrounded

Playgrounded choose the heart of summer to release 'Snow', the prog metal quintet's most intimate composition to date. Themes of loss and longing, a dreamy beat in 15/16, experimental modular synthesis and lush analogue basslines set the stage for a fragile vocal hanging delicately on chilling harmonies. 'Snow' unravels Playgrounded's electronic introspective core stripped of the heavy distorted tones that usually adorn it. A token of contemporary songwriting that transcends styles and aims for the heart.

The band comment: “We slightly lift the veil to uncover the themes of A Flower to Water in black and white. We speak of grief as a process, its marks on time, the anticipation of the new.

"So… we let it go, inside the snow, today."

Playgrounded are a progressive post-metal band based in the Netherlands and Greece. Alternative metal and contemporary electronic elements form a genre-defying sound, comparable to artists as diverse as Deftones, Massive Attack, Karnivool, and The Ocean.

A band together for over a decade, Playgrounded have in their time supported Riverside, Anathema, and Nine Inch Nails. Their 2022 record The death of Death (Pelagic Records) was globally lauded, with praise from Prog, Eclipsed, Metal Injection, Metal Hammer Germany and more.

Following its release the band presented the album to packed venues in their home countries and embarked on a 36 date UK/EU tour with The Ocean and LLNN, and then festival performances at ArcTanGent, Euroblast, RADAR, and more. 

A Flower to Water is Playgrounded’s third full-length offering and sees the band thriving in their creative relationship with Pelagic Records. Recorded and produced by the band across multiple studios back home in Athens, Playgrounded enlisted the help of longtime collaborators C. Cederberg (Leprous, Anathema) who mixed the album at Cederberg Studios in Kristiansand, Norway and George Tanderø (Madrugada, Satyricon, Jaga Jazzist) who mastered it in Oslo.

An ever sharper refinement of the quintet’s inimitable process, which sees the band build splinters of noise into huge, sprawling soundscapes inspired in part by the work of experimental sound artists like German composer Orson Hentschel; A Flower to Water welcomes the emotional and physical toll of loss into the melee.

Playgrounded online: 
https://www.instagram.com/playgroundedofficial
https://www.facebook.com/playgrounded
https://playgrounded.net

Tracklisting:

1. A Flower...
2. Counting Embers
3. Someone
4. Snow
5. Of Air and Metals
6. … to Water