Industrial musician and artist (creator of the AEW superstars ‘The House of Black’ masks) Ivan King, has released a new single named “Extinction” with a sci-fi/horror themed video, directed by himself, at the following link:
The songs is the first of the new singles following up the success of the debut EP “The Ballad of the Dead Man” released in 2020, which is reaching 1M listens.
You can follow and find more about the artist at the following link:
I am so happy when I discover new bands that I like and learn to love their music, the same as I was back in the days of tape trading and waiting for weeks for your new music to arrive via snail mail and sometimes discovering your new favorites through such tapes. Now, it is easier, especially when you run a webzine for seventh year now, but the principle is still the same, scratch beneath the surface of underground and find what you like yourself and learn everyday new stuff in our beloved extreme music scene. So, I am so happy that I discovered LA´s Dawn of Ashes. But I am at the same time a little bit ashamed. Why? Because I found out late about them and they have been in the scene for more than twenty years now, delivering their punches and this is their ninth full length opus. This one contains 12 songs, some being intro and intermezzos between the maelstorm of Hellish sadomasochistic rites, darkened atmosphere, Satanic rituals, sex, death, life all of three being interlinked in one undividable whole of us as puny humans on this planet.
Dawn of Ashes play a mixture of industrial ebm metal, with symphonic black metal parts here and there, some gothic metal songwriting thrown in and whole lot of atmospheric darkness. I always respect and love the use of samples and Dawn of Ashes use samples so clever and so fantastic that it made goosebumps on my skin while listening to this opus. Electronic is great in adaptation with guitar parts, thundering drums, keyboards and superb vocals. The latter are special and it is so amazing to hear singer Kristof Bathory changing his voice from black metal croaking to screaming, back to gothic spoken word, some singing and altering back to industrial almost robotic voice. If I must compare this band to some it would be Kovenant from Norway in Animatronic period, but Dawn of Ashes sound richer and superb, also it would be a more upgraded black metal version of Combichrist. My personal favorites are Bane of Your Existence, Heart Beats Cold and Scars of the Broken. My recommendation for you, check this one out!
9/10
The Order Of The Fly is a proof of versatility and richness of horror punk scene. This band is celebrating their 20th anniversary of mischief and what better way to celebrate it than with the new album.
This band from San Bernardino led by Ralphie Repulsive on bass and vocals, always was one of my favorite horror punk bands. Why? Because they mix horror punk, hardcore, metal, industrial, gothic and even EBM in their songwriting creating dark and thickened atmosphere, almost you can feel it and touch it while listening. Yet, they retained a lot of melodies at the same time still holding on to their punk and hardcore roots thus delivering the best from both worlds.
This new album contains 15 songs carrying the story, couple of them being kind of interludes, making and creating atmosphere for the continuation of the main storyline in lyrics. Ralphie is screaming, whispering, singing and his vocals are soo fantastic, I love how they fit perfectly to the different songs and their atmosphere. Dual synth work is superb, guitar riffs catchy, metallic and thick, backing vocal harmonies awesome like they should be in this kind of bands. Double bass on drums, fast parts, slower rolling songs are totally fit for the album and this band will just never disappoint. Favorite songs: Pull You Under, The Persistence Of Vermin, Ashes.
KRAYKULLA-WEBZINE 