Divide and Dissolve announce new album Systemic with new single/video ‘Blood Quantum’. Systemic examines the systems that intrinsically bind us and calls for a system that facilitates life for everyone. It’s a message that fits with the band’s core intention: to make music that honours their ancestors and Indigenous land, to oppose white supremacy, and to work towards a future of Black and Indigenous liberation. Saxophonist and guitarist Takiaya Reed comments, “This music is an acknowledgement of the dispossession that occurs due to colonial violence,” She continues, “The goal of the colonial project is to separate Indigenous people from their culture, their life force, their community and their traditions. The album is in direct opposition to this.” Like its predecessor Gas Lit, Systemic was produced by Ruban Neilson of Unknown Mortal Orchestra and arrives on all formats through Invada on June 30 and is preceded by the lead single and video ‘Blood Quantum’ which calls into question the violent process of verification of identity.
U.K. mathcore trio Pupil Slicer are gearing up to release their sophomore album, Blossom, which is already sounding like a major level-up from their also-great 2021 debut, Mirrors. Last month, they dropped the record’s grunge-y, head-spinning title track, and now they’ve unveiled another, much heavier single called ‘No Temple.’ The track begins with a touch of drum ‘n’ bass before the band comes roaring in with their own jagged rhythms, blistering guitar work, and the spine-cracking power of singer-guitarist Kate Davies’ vocals. Pupil Slicer cap this new single off with a new video that tells a quick and bloody sci-fi horror tale that takes unfolds while the band is roaring away onstage. “Blossom is a story that encapsulates a wide gamut of intense emotions and a rollercoaster of events over the 47-minute runtime,” Davies said about the new album. “Likewise, the musical elements are also equally diverse whilst maintaining a cohesion to what’s going on at that point in the album. The feedback we received for our first single has been overwhelmingly positive but let’s face it — not what a lot of people were expecting from a band named ‘Pupil Slicer’. Here is a sample from the opposite end of the musical range that Blossom encapsulates. ‘No Temple’ is the heaviest song we’ve ever written.” [via Revolver]
The Hellfreaks have released a new music video. The new music video, for the track ‘PBSS,’ is taken from the Hungarian punk band’s upcoming new album, Pitch Black Sunset, which is out now. Speaking about the song and its accompanying music video, the band says, “today we also reveal the video for the abbreviated title track: ‘PBSS,’ which covers the most meaningful opposites: LIFE AND DEATH. The song is about thanatophobia, the fear of the death of a loved one and the common sense of impending doom. It is a longing for escape from the hardships of life, a plea to the heavens above for inner strength, but at the same a battle cry not to let this fear reign supreme. ‘PBSS’ is about the natural circle of life and mortality, something no one can avoid and all of us have to go through it in the end.” [via Distorted Sound]
Vintersea premiere their new single and music video titled ‘Unveiling Light’, taken from the group’s upcoming new studio full-length Woven Into Ashes, due out on May 5 through M-Theory Audio. The clip was once again directed by the band’s bassist Karl Whinnery. Explains guitarist Riley Nix: “When we set out to write this album, we challenged ourselves to make the brutal music heavier, and the beautiful music more breathtaking. What I didn’t know is that we would be doing both on the same song! ‘Unveiling Light‘ highlights the extremes of what we do, and I think it is going to stick with people in a very primal way.” Adds Whinnery: “‘Unveiling Light‘ kicks our new album off in proper fashion so we knew we wanted the video to match that vibe – chaotic, dissonant, and full of intense energy – but with splashes of beauty and depth. As far as our songs go, the song is pretty stripped down, so we wanted to match that with the video and keep it focused on performance. We took full advantage of the gnarly warehouse we filmed in, and had a blast with the Texas Chainsaw sliding door and Hellraiser chains!” [via Metal Underground]
The Buffalo hardcore band Spaced hasn’t been around for long, but they’ve come out of the gate with a vengeance. The band’s sound is straight-up hardcore, done with bounce and verve and swagger, with enough little stretches to set them apart — catchy melodic bits, smeary reverb, blazing guitar solos. Frontwoman Lexi Reyngoudt is a charismatic force of nature. Spaced formed during the pandemic and dropped their demo in 2021. They followed that release with a steady stream of short releases, and they collected all their songs on the LP Spaced Jams last year. They’ve just banged out two supremely catchy new songs, ‘Boomerang’ and ‘Cycle Killer.’ Watch the video for the former below. [via Stereogum]
