Blue Öyster Cult are less of a band and more of a heavy music institution in 2024 — being active for over 50 years is a distinction that very few bands can lay claim to. With 15 studio albums prior to the release of the interesting and new Ghost Stories, BÖC truly have no reason to provide us with new music, so they didn’t. What I mean by that is that Ghost Stories is less an album and more of a collection of forgotten pre-production tracks from 1977-1984 (Spectres through The Revölution by Night) as well as another cover from 2016. In other words, this is new old music and not new new music ..read more

Here are all the new releases for April 21st through April 27th. Releases reflect proposed North American scheduling, if available. Expect to see most of these albums on shelves or distros on Fridays. See something we missed or have any thoughts? Let us know in the comments. Plus, as always, feel free to post your own shopping lists. Happy digging. Send us your promos (streaming links preferred) to: [email protected]. Do not send us promo material via social media. New Releases 4/21-4/27 Darkthrone — It Beckons Us All…… | Peaceville Records | Black Metal + Heavy Metal | Norway There’s not ..read more

How much vocal delay is too much? Hässlig make a compelling argument for there being no such thing. On their debut full-length “Apex Predator,” the Spanish raw black-punk outfit absolutely drench their rancid vocals in reverb and delay so that each lyric and guttural proclamation, spat with bile, echoes back at the listener like it’s being repeated by a score of equally caustic onlookers. Taken with their raw, noise-packed mixture of black metal and surly punk, Hässlig create a sense of ferocity that’s unmistakably authentic: though they might not be the first entrants to stitch together d-bea ..read more

Here are all the new releases for April 14th through April 20th. Releases reflect proposed North American scheduling, if available. Expect to see most of these albums on shelves or distros on Fridays. See something we missed or have any thoughts? Let us know in the comments. Plus, as always, feel free to post your own shopping lists. Happy digging. Send us your promos (streaming links preferred) to: editors@invisibleoranges.com. Do not send us promo material via social media. New Releases 4/14-4/20 Haust — Negative Music | Fysisk Format | Black Metal + Punk | Norway What an accurate name for H ..read more

Record Store Day is this Saturday (4/20), and in celebration of that, our sister site BrooklynVegan has interviewed a dozen artists about record stores and record collecting for the free digital BV magazine. One person they talked to is Paul Riedl of Blood Incantation and Spectral Voice, and here’s what Paul had to say: — BV: How important have independent record stores been for you as a listener and consumer of music? Did you have any formative experiences at indie record stores growing up? Paul: Independent record stores are tremendously important to me, and are still my preferred avenue for ..read more

Do You Refuse The Demon’s Call? When I was contacted by Murk Rider regarding their new EP, The Murk Rider, I was already intrigued due to the success of their 2019 release Exile of Shadows. I then saw The Murk Rider coming out on Fiadh Productions, who is already becoming a foundational label in the dungeon synth scene. This seemed even more perfect. Then, Derek Schultz sent me back detailed information regarding each song on this EP, a lot of it having to do with science fiction and fantasy, so I knew this was going to be easy. Then, right before we were to publish this, they sent me promo a ..read more

I had this week’s column basically wrapped up, and then I heard the news that Neseblod Records had a devastating fire, and that sort of changed my outlook. For the six of you living under a rock, Neseblod is a record store in Oslo that is operated out of the location that used to be Helvete, the store owned by Euronymous and the launchpad of the activities that got most of us interested in black metal in the first place. To say there’s a cosmic irony that a fire occurred there would be in poor taste, but it’s not like I’m known for being a decent human being. In recent times, Neseblod has beco ..read more

When it comes to being burned out, Sundowner are very nearly religious about it. The Australian sludge band take an over-the-top approach to nihilism and despondency, instilling a mystic quality in their deep-rooted antipathy. As you listen to their new album Lysergic Ritual, which we’re streaming here ahead of its 4/20 release date (because, of course), let the album’s harsh approach to riffy sludge tap into your wellspring of negativity. It’s okay to feel bad, Lysergic Ritual says, offering up some of the worst stuff the world has to offer as proof. … SUNDOWNER · Lysergic Ritual … While you ..read more

Alright, I won’t bury the lede here – beyond hinting that a new album is ‘coming soon’, cosmic death metal entity Blood Incantation so far has not revealed any details on what’s to come. However, to stimulate your minds and prepare those neurons for their next dosage of galatically-oriented frequencies, today they’ve released an incredibly fitting music video for “Luminescent Bridge,” the B-side instrumental and title track of their recent Decibel maxi-single. It’s bizarre, but on brand and nails the song’s atmosphere. … … Blood Incantation comments: Originally conceived as an acou ..read more

Ixion has always been a band that applies their chosen subject matter of science fiction more broadly than most. They make their stories vast and their scope grand, and then position their deeply personal music against these backdrops as if arraying them to heighten the contrast. Though the French band explores the cosmos through atmospheric doom metal, they do so while remaining intensely emotional and always inquisitive. Their newest project is a sort of meta-album, Evolution, that looks at humanity’s fate alongside the rise of androids. The first part of this work, the Extinction EP,  ..read more