Band: Fake Youth Cult Release: White Light / Black Noise Genre: EBM Country: Netherlands Release Date: 25th of March, 2024 Released via Shipwrec Records Openings are an important thing in nearly any art form. Opening tracks or scenes set the stage for what is about to come and will likely be remembered (given that they are good of course). Sometimes the mind creates the oddest connections or associations. Upon hearing the opening track “Visitor” and seeing the cover of Fake Youth Cult‘s newest album White Light / Black Noise I immediately thought of the movie Predator 2. Set in ..read more

Bands: No Sun Rises Release: Harmisod Genre: Black Metal, Post-Black Metal Country: Germany (Dortmund) Release Date: 15th of September, 2023 Released via Alerta Antifascista Records, Golden Coffin Records Fiadh Productions Cover Artwork: Nimmermehr Artworks When having prepared the article about last year’s Culthe Fest 2023, there were several bands I came across that I did not know at that point. I tried to follow the further proceedings of these bands as far as possible, but there was one band that followed with the release of a new album shortly thereafter. We’re talking ..read more

Band: Soft Kill Release: Escape Forever Genre: Post-Punk Country: USA Release Date: 12th of April, 2024 Released via Cercle Social Records “Stillstand ist der Tod” (“Stagnation is death”) is a phrase coined by a famous German singer called Herbert Grönemeyer (the song this is taken from is “Bleibt alles anders”). One can hardly imagine a more fitting phrase for the musical evolution of Soft Kill. There hasn’t been any repetition or longer pause of releases (Metta World Peace was released merely a year ago) in the Soft Kill camp. The musical direction of Soft Kill has once again ..read more

Bands: Eremit Release: Vanguardian protect Genre: Death Metal, Doom Metal, Drone Country: Germany (Osnabrück) Release Date: 15th of December, 2023 Released via Zann’s Records Drei Gleichen Cover Artwork: Sabrina Smokic It’s been quite a big deal when monolithic Death Doom heavyweights Eremit announced the release of their third full-length Wearer of numerous Forms. Why – you might ask – let me explain. As some of you might have followed, we at Transcended Music Blog were involved in the pre-release phase of this full length as well by presenting the second single off this al ..read more

Band: Vnder A Crvmbling Moon Release: II: Aging & Formless Genre: Doom Metal, Post-Metal Country: England Release Date: 6th of April, 2024 Released via Ripcord Records Cover Artwork Leanne Elizabeth Vnder A Crvmbling Moon have returned from their house on the hill called I: Oblivion and once again pour their mixture of Doom and Post-Metal over the unsuspecting people already in sunny Spring-mode. What immediately catches the eye is the gorgeous cover, which looks like a golden surface covered with thick, black soot. This streak of gold paves its way like a raging stream ..read more

Band: Linnea Hjertén Release: Nio systrar Genre: Nordic Folk, Ambient Country: Sweden Release Date: 12th January 2024 Released via Nordvis The success of various franchises focusing on Scandinavia / Vikings during the recent years in film, television and gaming has also led to an increase in the number of bands and artists who are letting off steam in the Nordic Folk genre. Whether it’s artists who take up this genre as a variation of their own music, artists who have become known to a wider audience as a result, or people who see it as an opportunity to fulfil their musical d ..read more

Band: Ch’ahom Release: Knots of Abhorrence Genre: Death Metal Country: Germany Release Date: 3rd of November, 2023 Released via Sentient Ruin Artwork  Alexander Kavtea As can be seen by the time several of my 2023 reviews were finished, I often tend to be a little late to the game. However, apart from the fact that I also consistently take a little longer to fulfil my plans, I also tend to be late when it comes to finding out about bands from my closer surroundings. A few years ago, I reviewed the debut offering by US Death Metal outfit Tzompantli that transported a sta ..read more

Band: Ingested Release: The Tide Of Death And Fractured Dreams Genre: Death Metal Country: England (Manchester) Release Date: 5th of April, 2024 Released via Metal Blade Records Time for a new Ingested record! The UK based Death Metal / Deathcore act release their seventh full length record. As always, I’ll start with what strikes me first and that’s the art… goddamn, that thing is amazing! The cover art is a creation of the artist David Seidman, who already did the art for the band’s previous record Ashes Lie Still. His style is surreal, dreamy, macabre, sometimes even gory b ..read more

Band: Frail Body Release: Artificial Bouquet Genre: Screamo Country: USA Release Date: 29th of March, 2024 Released via Deathwish Inc. I can’t paraphrase Touché Amoré often enough: somehow it’s already been five years since Frail Body released their last offering Brief Memoriam. Two live albums and one new song (“Titus“) later Frail Body are finally back. Anticipation hasn’t been broken over the years so I couldn’t await to dive head- and heart-first into this release. The opener, “Scaffolding,” enters new stylistic territory, resembling something that could be on a future Deaf ..read more

Label: Summer Darling Tapes Location: Stuttgart, Germany Genres: Post-Punk, Dream Pop, Shoeganze Active since: 2022 When we started off with Transcended Music Blog, I originally introduced the format of Label Introductions, where I wanted to interview labels that arouse my interest within the underground scene and present a share of their releases. Unfortunately, this format has now been on a hiatus for quite some long time. This is why I’m very glad to say that we found our way back, this time taking a closer look at Stuttgart-based Summer Darling Tapes! Summer Darling Tapes star ..read more