French four-piece Love Sex Machine tap into the vibration of the world with molasses-slow sensations, undulating with raw, primitive power that twists this perverted spiritualism into a nightmare narrative of nihilistic chaos, articulated by some of the most degenerately gleeful audio oblivion to spew forth from the Grande Nation. Love Sex Machine ‘Trve’ Artwork Despite forming in 2009, the latest album marks only their third release following their self-titled debut in 2012 and second Asexual Anger in 2016. In that time, they have expanded on the Iron Monkey/Abominable Iron Sloth crunch of th ..read more

The EP is a much maligned and vastly underused medium. Whether it allows a young kid to get the essence of an album without spending all of his pocket money (I’m looking at you, Seals The Sense by Paradise Lost) or it allows a spontaneous creative burst between albums, the EP has a special place in my music experience. Guiltless ‘Thorns’ EP Artwork The recent rise of vinyl as the plastic of choice for many bands and labels has perhaps had the happy side effect of disrupting the ‘let’s fill a CD right out to its eighty-minute edges’ phenomena of the noughties, but all too often we still get fed ..read more

Ahhhh, split single EPs, something of an anachronism these days maybe, but after separating from my first wife and selling our house, flush with cash I dreamed of setting up a small label whose speciality would be releasing split 7” singles combining two artists who may have sounded differently, but complemented each other ideologically. LLNN / Sugar Horse ‘The Horror / Sleep Paralysis Demon’ Artwork This was before the current vinyl boom rendered my innocent childhood love of records an expensive luxury item and around the time that I met the future mother of my children so, in the song of my ..read more

Pelagic Records are no strangers to rooting out bands that are consumed by the notion of pushing the boundaries of heavy music and coming off the back of a year which saw releases from the likes of The Ocean, Lo!, Herod and SÂVER mark them out as the destination for high quality, cerebral music to challenge your musical palette. Bipolar Architecture ‘Metaphysicize’ Artwork Showing no signs of slowing down, the label have already helped fill my New Year review quota for the next couple of weeks, the first of which being the second album by international (German/Turkish) four-piece Bipolar Archi ..read more

As 2023 is drawing to a close, as much as it is a time to reflect over the past twelve months, there are still a few little remaining moments of joy musically to be had. One of those for me has been the opportunity to interview one of my new favourite bands. With a recently released second album, A Lump Of Death: A Chaos Of Dead Lovers, that’s out now on Argonauta Records, and fresh back from a mini tour in Europe, Unverkalt have been quite the busy bees recently, so it was an absolute honour being able to get the time to shoot some questions towards the band’s vocalist Dimitra Kalavrezou. Unv ..read more

Often, I can feel my friends roll their eyes when I start to regale them with the latest non-conventional, post-whatever, word salad description band they have never heard of that I have been listening to repeatedly in order to write a small essay on (not to forget the boss either when I turn in those word limit threatening pieces). But that’s what I get for giving them a hard time for listening to Volbeat I guess. Dead Cosmonauts ‘Parasomnia’ Artwork So, imagine their delight when I offered up the hard-to-pin-down sounds of Sheffield, UK’s ‘post-rock, sludge metal, math rock, psychedelia, pro ..read more

Following the demise of respected Norwegian stoner doom outfit Tombstones, founding member Ole Christian Helstad was reborn, alongside Markus Støle (drums) and guitarist Ole Ulvik Rokseth (members who joined for the last days of the band) in the Oslo-based sludge doom trio SÂVER (a word that has origins in Norwegian meaning to be sleeping). SÂVER ‘From Ember And Rust’ Artwork Channelling an emotional blend of heavy post-metal noise that owes a debt to the likes of Neurosis, the band made their debut in 2019 with the discordant They Came With Sunlight after finding a home on the mecca for far-r ..read more

There are times when my naivety to a band is my undoing. This has happened several times, including with the likes of Mono, The Ocean, and Katatonia. All these bands, I knew the names of, but didn’t look into fully, having heard one track, and putting them down as not my thing. Thankfully I righted those wrongs, and these days I try to make a more concerted effort before having any sort of opinion.  Unverkalt ‘A Lump Of Death: A Chaos Of Dead Lovers’ Artwork Knowing the name Unverkalt, but without a ton of knowledge of the band themselves, when the option to cover their new album came up ..read more

KEN Mode are a band that has consistently exceeded all of my expectations. While it’s not right to play favorites, their seventh album Loved has been mine, and one I’ve frequently returned to since its release in 2018. Starting out in Winnipeg, Canada by Jesse Matthewson on vocals, guitar, bass, and piano alongside his brother Shane on drums in 1999 as a more stoner and rock band. Skot Hamilton joined in 2014 on bass and backing vocals while Kathryn Kerr come on in 2021 on saxophone, synth, piano, percussion and backing vocals. This is the line-up I’d like to talk about. KEN mode ‘VOID’ Artwor ..read more

When the subject of bands from Leeds in the United Kingdom is aired, it is far easier to be reminded of pop bands such Kaiser Chiefs and maybe even Chumbawamba, who once infamously lived in a squat in the city, than it is for heavier acts. Beyond such bands as Pulled Apart by Horses and the now defunct Black Moth, it would be hard to name any other Leeds based bands without the help of a Google search. Add to that bands that are stooped in post-metal stoner and doom, the list would diminish drastically further again. Helve ‘To Be Forgotten’ Artwork Thankfully, here to set that record straight ..read more