ALBUM REVIEW: Trash Boat – Heaven Can Wait


It is not until a band evolves and transforms their sound that they are able to unleash their fullest potential. With their last album Don’t You Feel Amazing? in 2021, British alternative rock outfit Trash Boat proved there was more to them than Pop Punk. With their fourth album Heaven Can Wait (Hopeless Records), the band has found their footing in their own unique blend of Rock, Metal, Punk, and experimental elements, taking the most captivating aspects of each to bring their brutal and contemplative vision to life.Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Bangladeafy – Vulture – Nefarious Industries


Eschewing entirely the notions of guitars and bass, two-piece Industrial / Electronica / call-it-what-you’d-like outfit Bangladeafy take a less-is-more approach for sixth full-length, Vulture (Nefarious Industries), with a (pleasingly) heavy emphasis on blending songs into the next, cementing that this record should be listened to the old-school way.Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Mono – Oath


A sensuous, rapturous and thought-provoking collection of superior, post-rock instrumental music, Oath (Pelagic Records), from Japanese four-piece Mono, was recorded and mixed by late, great and already much-missed engineer Steve Albini, who passed away last month, aged 61.Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Alien Ant Farm – mAntras


A lot can happen in a decade, from breakups and personal growth to illness and death, or even a global pandemic. So when a band releases their first album in ten years, you know it’s going to be one full of substance and genuineness. California alternative rock band Alien Ant Farm accomplishes just that with their sixth full-length album, mAntras (Megaforce Records). The record reintroduces the quartet through eleven tracks that detail everything they have been up to since their last record Always And Forever in 2014. Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Polar Sun – Wax –  Wane


Rising from Brighton, United Kingdom, the genre-bending quintet Polar Sun (formerly known as Porshyne) self-release their new album Wax / Wane, which presents a mix of styles from electronic and Jazz to post-Rock and Math Rock. 

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ALBUM REVIEW: Autarkh – Emergent


 

As the mastermind behind the sadly missed Dodecahedron, future works of Michel Nienhuis were always going to challenge conventions. This was certainly the case with Autarkh’s debut Form In Motion which was as abrasive as it was innovative in its execution. So, in perhaps expected fashion, a new album feels markedly different to its predecessor with sophomore release Emergent (Season Of Mist), if not proving any less progressive and captivating.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Teeth of the Sea – Hive


 

If the sea had teeth what would they look like? (You’ve probably never wondered). If you have asked yourself such a question, you’ll likely have to keep pondering. As to what they would sound like, well Sam Barton, Mike Bourne and Jimmy Martin, known collectively as Teeth of the Sea, have been providing an answer to that question since their first record (2009’s Orphaned by the Ocean). Hive (Rocket Recordings) is the group’s sixth full-length release. 

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ALBUM REVIEW: Code Orange – The Above


 

The hope for a band to “return to their roots” is a phrase that has been thrown around so much in modern music, it has begun to lose its meaning. As with the roots of a tree, a band’s roots are always there, securing the foundation of their sound, no matter how many different directions it may branch out into. 

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EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE: Huelga – ‘Chinga de Perro’


Instrumental metal act Huelga is the brainchild of artist/activist and jazz multi-instrumentalist Michael Fonseca of Austin, TX. Huelga is bringing the release of his debut EP next month, promising to rewrite the book on progressive metal. Huelga, mixed by Mick Kenny of Anaal Nathrahk, will be released in digital and cassette format on April 5th, 2019. Inspired by modern composers Charles Ives, Frank Zappa, and Elliot Carter, as well as the Chicano Movement and the current political tensions that have come to a boil on the Texas/Mexico border, Huelga is making an emphatic statement musically and politically. Check out the new single ‘Chinga de Perro’ right here at Ghost Cult! Continue reading