September 30, 2015

KOWLOON WALLED CITY Streams Grievances Title Track Via Decibel

“Arm to arm they burned., with nothing to bear, you learned. No love, no burden, no memory.” – “Grievances,” KOWLOON WALLED CITY


Today, Decibel Magazine is streaming the title track from Grievances, the new full-length from San Francisco’s KOWLOON WALLED CITY. Grievances will be released worldwide October 9, 2015 on Neurot Recordings, with vinyl on Gilead Media. Preorder bundles are available at THIS LOCATION.

Shifting even further from their sludgy post-hardcore roots towards a sparser, more melancholic heaviness, on the seven-track Grievances, strings rattle, guitars crackle and blister, notes ring out, at turns bleak and beautiful – sometimes both at once. Recorded and mixed by vocalist Scott Evans at Sharkbite Studios and his own Antisleep Audio, both in Oakland, the recording is honest and spacious, and intense without artifice or studio trickery. 




From an advance review in the UK’s The List: “Purely sonically, this is a stunning record – big, clean guitars, used as knives, not hammers, over a vicious bass bite and drums that hang and resound, full of anticipation, tension and release. And the vocals are one of KOWLOON’s main weapons – where others in this milieu go for the guttural growl or the manly roar, Scott Evans’ anguished howl is purer, softer, full of sorrow and frustration dredged up from the belly … Compositionally, it’s incredibly smart but unflashy. At first, it appears simple and straightforward, but the arrangements are deceptively complex and wilfully elusive, focusing on elision and clashing sour chords. A key strategy finds the band building from an austere beginning to a colossal, climactic riff that repeats and repeats.”

Evans says, “The song ‘Grievances’ started with the investment bankers who threw a cocktail party overlooking an Occupy protest, and ended up at a 1911 shirt factory fire where dozens of employees died because the owners had locked the exits and stairwells. The album cover is related in some ways—look up Lewis Hine's photography from the early 1900s.”

Stream “Grievances” courtesy of Decibel Magazine at THIS LOCATION.

You can also hear “Backlit” streaming at NPR at THIS LOCATION.



Following the release of GrievancesKOWLOON WALLED CITY will join Fight Amp for a short West Coast tour. The tour begins at the Day Of Shred Fest in Santa Ana and wraps up with a hometown record release show in Oakland.
KOWLOON WALLED CITY w/ Fight Amp:
11/1/2015 The Observatory - Day Of The Shred Fest - Santa Ana, CA
11/2/2015 Starlight Lounge – Sacramento, CA
11/3/2015 Obsidian – Olympia, WA
11/4/2015 The Shakedown – Bellingham, WA
11/5/2015 Highline – Seattle, WA
11/6/2015 Black Water - Portland, OR
11/7/2015 Golden Bull – Oakland, CA * Grievances Record Release Show

KOWLOON WALLED CITY formed in 2007 and has released an EP, Turk Street (Wordclock, 2008), and two full-length albums, Gambling On The Richter Scale (Perpetual Motion Machine, 2009) and Container Ships (Brutal Panda, 2012), as well as two splits. Grievances is the band’s first release under the Neurot Recordings banner.



Grievances will be released worldwide on October 9th, 2015 on Neurot Recordings, with vinyl on Gilead Media. Preorder bundles are currently available at THIS LOCATION.






September 25, 2015

DARK BUDDHA RISING: 'Inversum' Available Now from Neurot Recordings


DARK BUDDHA RISING: Inversum - Available Now! 
Release Date: September 25th, 2015


Regarded as the opening of the Third Cycle Of Dark Buddha Rising, Inversum was recorded, produced and mixed by the band in the bowels of the Wastement, the self-proclaimed “asylum of eternal feedback,” and welcomes the addition of new Dark Buddha Rising recruits, V. Vatanen (guitar, vocals), J. Saarivuori (keyboards) and M. Neuman (vocals).

As the dust of centuries has settled on pages unwritten, the gates are opened only within. In ascension rites of introvert spirits, the signature of passing flesh is inscribed in the memorial garden as a note of entrance. Succeeding this initiation, all levels are accessible through death transpired as severance of the flesh and the spirit immortal. As the remnants of flesh dance to the endless pulses of the multiverse, the underlying directives in biorhythms to which these pulses are synchronized (from ego to the universe on the left hand and no ego in the void beneath the veil) and to be followed like a call of nature. Nature withholds the void that exists to the unaided eye of the celestials, and the rhythms transpire as keys. As the innerspace traveler is aligned with the order of the nine, disarray in the processes is suddenly reversible, and the liberated shall walk the brightened path that is not treaded afoot. This is Dark Buddha Rising.


DARK BUDDHA RISING’s Inversum is available now through the Neurot Recordings Webstore.



Dark Buddha Rising's second audio excerpt "E X O" can be heard here; sample the condensed edition of opening hymn, “E S O,” here; and you can also still view the recently released video trailer here:




Upcoming DARK BUDDHA RISING Live Events:



“Inversum is a dark oasis that Dark Buddha Rising have lost themselves in. It really feels like the band set out to create a dark opus, and through their recording sessions, have become part of its darkness as well… with Inversum, the band is opening a new cycle to their existence.” - CVLT NATION

There's an uncomfortable mood set and in time, there is a payoff. While waiting, the listener is treated to wah drenched guitars with tones that sound like the amplifiers are on fire, howling vocals that breed anger, enmity, and sadness.” - GLACIALLY MUSICAL

“A bell is struck in a silent temple. Black clouds gather over the Himalayas. A yogi lights incense in a forest, isolated. He approaches death, and is ready for the trip.” - METAL STORM



darkbuddharising.com

facebook.com/dbrising

twitter.com/drkbuddharising



September 18, 2015

CORRECTIONS HOUSE: “White Man’s Gonna Lose” From Impending New Studio Offering Now Playing At Revolver; Know How To Carry A Whip Preorders Available




Know How To Carry A Whip is the imminent new studio endeavor from industrialized volume abusers, CORRECTIONS HOUSE. A nine-track, forty-five-minute exercise is sonic indecency, the record was captured by the band’s own Sanford Parker (Buried At Sea) alongside recently institutionalized minister of propaganda, Seward Fairbury, in a subterranean bunker complex in Vietnam.

Deeper, darker, and far more fluid than 2013’s critically lauded Last City Zero debut, Know How To Carry A Whip is unapologetic in its audio trauma. Featuring a guest appearance by Negative Soldier, the record finds CORRECTIONS HOUSE -- Parker, Fairbury, Scott Kelly (Neurosis), Bruce Lamont (Yakuza) and Mike IX Williams (Eyehategod) -- at their most arduous. Immersed in experiences of longing and loneliness from the depths of their collectively putrefying hearts, each movement contained within Know How To Carry A Whip discloses a new, disconcerting air of danger, paranoia and looming defeat marked by an inexplicable sense of catharsis

Suffocating yet stimulating, oft static sodden, discordant and tribal, all twined around Williams’ unassailable manic street preacher verses and intermittently juxtaposed by the smooth, cradling sounds of Lamont’s lingering saxophone, Know How To Carry A Whip remains rhythmic and hypnotic throughout, with grooves that dominate and penetrate.


In advance of its release, today Revolver undrapes the impulsive deviance and decadence of third movement, “White Man’s Gonna Lose,” now streaming at THIS LOCATION.


CORRECTIONS HOUSE methodically creates and destroys through audio infection and transcendent musical deconstruction. All things in all ways. There is nothing else. Know How To Carry A Whip will be released worldwide on October 23rd, 2015 via Neurot Recordings. Preorders for CD, LP, Digital & T-Shirt bundles are available at the Neurot Webstore


AMENRA Scheduled For Two Performances At Roadburn 2016; Additional Tour Dates And More Announced

Belgian entity AMENRA will take part in the upcoming installment of the world renowned Roadburn Festival, having this week been confirmed to perform two times at the 2016 event. With a sonic arsenal behind them that covers a broad spectrum of emotive intricacies AMENRA is perfectly placed to showcase their diversity at Roadburn 2016. The band will be playing an acoustic set, with an expanded band of musicians, immediately before Neurosis, on the Saturday, and again will take to the main stage on Sunday night to play an electric set.


(above photograph by Stefaan Temmerman)                                         (above artwork by Fortifem.fr)

AMENRA is renowned for the intensity of their live performances; often brooding, always evocative. Over the course of five full-length albums, and numerous split releases, the band has carved itself a nook in the affections of fans over the past twelve years. Their rhythmic, even tribal, and nihilistic bludgeoning interspersed with delicate twists has cemented the outfit as a firm favorite with open-minded fans of sludge, doom, drone and everything in between.

In 2009 when the band recorded an acoustic EP, entitled Afterlife, and played select shows with this material, they retained their unique atmospherics, but introduced a lighter yet still deeply personal element to their output. AMENRA mastermind Colin H. Van Eeckhout explains the motivation behind the EP as “borne out of the idea that we wanted to be able to counsel, speak to and guide our (grand) children long after we are gone.”

The performances at Roadburn are currently the only planned live outings for AMENRA in 2016, as they intend to dedicate much of the year to simultaneously writing both a second acoustic offering -- this time a full-length release -- as well as their upcoming LP, Mass VI, the follow-up to their latest album, 2012’s Neurot Recordings-released, Mass V.

The band is also scheduled to perform at a series of European dates this Fall, including a date at Amplifest in Portugal, with additional shows in France and the UK confirmed. A band like no other, the sounds of AMENRA are raw, honest and sincere, which often provides a helpful guide to listeners when facing the tribulations of life. With that being said, their live presence is simultaneously visceral yet ethereal, crushing yet cathartic, making these dates not to be missed.

AMENRA tour dates:
SUN 20/09: AMPLIFEST, PORTO PO
THU 1/10: DIVAN DU MONDE, PARIS FR
FRI 2/10: L'ASTROLABE, ORLEANS FR
FRI 6/11: BODEGA SOCIAL CLUB, NOTTINGHAM UK
SAT 7/11: DAMNATION FEST, LEEDS UK
SUN 8/11: HEAVEN, LONDON UK
SAT 16/04: ROADBURN FESTVAL, TILBURG NL
SAT 17/04: ROADBURN FESTVAL, TILBURG NL


In addition to writing the mentioned upcoming albums, AMENRA is also working on film scores and music for theatre and contemporary dance performances, while outside of the band itself, the members further immerse themselves within various sonic endeavors including Oathbreaker, Hessian, The Black Heart Rebellion, Harlowe, CHVE and more, in addition to continually creating new artwork and visuals to accompany their musical output. Stand by for further announcements in the coming months.







September 14, 2015

Dark Buddha Rising Offer the Second Audio Excerpt from their Upcoming Album Inversum; Preorders Now Live

Dark Buddha Rising have shared the second audio excerpt "E X O" from their upcoming fifth album, Inversum (Neurot Recordings) - a two-track exercise in the black arts of psychedelia. About this second offering, the band comment..."E X O is the cosmic process of Inversum, a universal collapse into the singularity of existence."

_____________________________________________________
LISTEN TO EXPANSIVE SOUNDS OF E X O

_____________________________________________________

Inversum ingests its listeners whole into a tense, menacing realm of dark atmospheres, harrowing mysticism, tormented howls and slow, treacherous riff rumblings.



Regarded as the opening of the Third Cycle Of Dark Buddha Rising, Inversum was recorded, produced and mixed by the band in the bowels of the Wastement, the self-proclaimed “asylum of eternal feedback,” and welcomes the addition of new Dark Buddha Rising recruits, V. Vatanen (guitar, vocals), J. Saarivuori (keyboards) and M. Neuman (vocals).

As the dust of centuries has settled on pages unwritten, the gates are opened only within. In ascension rites of introvert spirits, the signature of passing flesh is inscribed in the memorial garden as a note of entrance. Succeeding this initiation, all levels are accessible through death transpired as severance of the flesh and the spirit immortal. As the remnants of flesh dance to the endless pulses of the multiverse, the underlying directives in biorhythms to which these pulses are synchronized (from ego to the universe on the left hand and no ego in the void beneath the veil) and to be followed like a call of nature. Nature withholds the void that exists to the unaided eye of the celestials, and the rhythms transpire as keys. As the innerspace traveler is aligned with the order of the nine, disarray in the processes is suddenly reversible, and the liberated shall walk the brightened path that is not treaded afoot. This is Dark Buddha Rising.

If you missed it, sample the condensed edition of opening hymn, “E S O,” self-described as “the inner process of Inversum, a personal voyage into the eternal current of existence,” via Soundcloud, and you can also still view the recently released video trailer.


DARK BUDDHA RISING
’s Inversum will be released on CD and vinyl formats on September 25th, 2015 through Neurot Recordings.
Preorder bundles are currently available at the Neurot Webstore.



“Inversum is a dark oasis that Dark Buddha Rising have lost themselves in. It really feels like the band set out to create a dark opus, and through their recording sessions, have become part of its darkness as well… with Inversum, the band is opening a new cycle to their existence.” - CVLT NATION

There's an uncomfortable mood set and in time, there is a payoff. While waiting, the listener is treated to wah drenched guitars with tones that sound like the amplifiers are on fire, howling vocals that breed anger, enmity, and sadness.” - GLACIALLY MUSICAL

“A bell is struck in a silent temple. Black clouds gather over the Himalayas. A yogi lights incense in a forest, isolated. He approaches death, and is ready for the trip.” - METAL STORM



darkbuddharising.com

facebook.com/dbrising

twitter.com/drkbuddharising

September 3, 2015

KOWLOON WALLED CITY Partners With NPR For The Premiere Of First Single From Upcoming Grievances Full-Length; Preorder Bundles Available; Live Dates With Fight Amp Confirmed

“Lost from the start; failed by the facts; you walk in defeated; wear out your weaknesses…” 
- “Backlit,” KOWLOON WALLED CITY

Grievances is the forthcoming new full-length from San Francisco’s KOWLOON WALLED CITY. Set for release next month, the band’s first offering under the Neurot Recordings banner and third studio recording overall finds the eclectic collective at their artistic apex, shifting even further from their sludgy post-hardcore roots towards a sparser, more melancholic heaviness.


On the seven-track Grievances, strings rattle, guitars crackle and blister, notes ring out, at turns bleak and beautiful — sometimes both at once. Captured and mixed by vocalist Scott Evans at Sharkbite Studios and his own Antisleep Audio, both in Oakland, the recording is honest and spacious, and intense without artifice or studio trickery. Jeff Fagundes' drums resonate in a huge room while guitarist Jon Howell’s unusual chord changes and discordant aesthetic channel Unwound and Slint against Ian Miller’s gritty, melodic bass. Evans’ shouted vocals are raw with frustration and disappointment, but without the typical veneer of macho aggression.

Today, NPR offers the first chance to hear Grievances via its third track, “Backlit.” Evans explains, “This song pretty much sums up the record. It was the first song we started working on, and one of the last ones we finished. Coincidentally, it's about impostor syndrome -- no matter how hard you work at something, it's not good enough.”


Adds NPR: "In the first single, 'Backlit,' the band dials down the sludgy distortion in favor of more repetition. Loose strings rattle violently in riffs that aren't so much slow as weighted. Kowloon Walled City seems more aware of its space, rooting inside a shimmering cymbal, a throbbing bassline or a rare squeal of feedback instead of overpowering its sound with noise or studio compression. After guitarist Scott Evans shouts the devastating line, "You walk in defeated / Wear out your weakness," the guitar solo unwinds into a nervous, Unwound-ian abstraction that works out its catharsis in bent strings on the verge of bursting."

“Backlit” is currently available for public consumption at THIS LOCATION.


Following the release of Grievances, KOWLOON WALLED CITY will join Fight Amp for a short run of West Coast shows. Running from November 1st through November 7th, the trek includes an appearance at The Day of Shred Fest in Santa Ana as well as a specialGrievances record release show in Oakland.
KOWLOON WALLED CITY w/ Fight Amp:
11/1/2015 The Observatory - Day Of The Shred Fest - Santa Ana, CA
11/2/2015 Starlight Lounge – Sacramento, CA
11/3/2015 Obsidian – Olympia, WA
11/4/2015 The Shakedown – Bellingham, WA
11/5/2015 Highline – Seattle, WA
11/6/2015 Black Water - Portland, OR
11/7/2015 Golden Bull – Oakland, CA * Grievances Record Release Show

KOWLOON WALLED CITY formed in 2007 and has released an EP, Turk Street (Wordclock, 2008), and two full-length albums, Gambling On The Richter Scale (Perpetual Motion Machine, 2009) and Container Ships (Brutal Panda, 2012), as well as two splits. Among the bands it has shared stages with are Neurosis, Tragedy, Sleep, Thou, Coliseum, Zozobra, Fight Amp, Roomrunner, The Body, and Helms Alee.


Grievances will be released worldwide on October 9th, 2015 on Neurot Recordings, with vinyl on Gilead Media.

Preorder bundles are currently available at THIS LOCATION.


September 2, 2015

DARK BUDDHA RISING: New Teaser Video From Finnish Psychedelic Doom Cult Playing At Noisey; Inversum Release Day Draws Near

With the release of Inversum, the imminent new full-length from Finnish psychedelic doom cult, DARK BUDDHA RISING, now less than one month away, today Vice’s music portal, Noisey, offers up an ominous new video teaser for public intoxication.

Their fifth studio offering overall and first for Neurot Recordings, Inversum is a two-track exercise in the black arts of psychedelia, consuming its listeners whole into a tense, menacing realm of dark atmospheres, harrowing mysticism, tormented howls and slow, treacherous riff rumblings. In an advance and thorough investigation, Cvlt Nation commends the occult quality of the record and its minimalistic but incessant, underlying drone quality noting, “Inversum is a dark oasis that DARK BUDDHA RISING have lost themselves in. It really feels like the band set out to create a dark opus, and through their recording sessions, have become part of its darkness as well… with Inversum, the band is opening a new cycle to their existence.” Abysmal Hymns hails the band’s, “bleak post-apocalyptic tone,” while Glacially Musical elaborates, “Slow, plodding, and then full of rage and energy, these songs do not do anything quickly. There's an uncomfortable mood set and in time, there is a payoff. While waiting, the listener is treated to wah drenched guitars with tones that sound like the amplifiers are on fire, howling vocals that breed anger, enmity, and sadness.” Adds Metal Storm in a poetic analysis, “A bell is struck in a silent temple. Black clouds gather over the Himalayas. A yogi lights incense in a forest, isolated. He approaches death, and is ready for the trip.”


The latest DARK BUDDHA RISING video teaser offers up a brief taste of second movement, the twenty-three-plus minute “E X O,” combined with mystical images of doom and decay. Issues Noisey of the clip:“There are several things you need to know about DARK BUDDHA RISING. Chief among them is that they form a cornerstone of that Finnish dark psychedelia scene you've been hearing so much about. Secondly, they've got a new album coming out soon… which will come squalling into the world via Neurot…. Finally, and most importantly, it is imperative that you understand just how much they fucking rule. The video clip gives you a solid hint as to just how special this heavy, weird, hypnotic band can be”



View the teaser at THIS LOCATION



And if you missed it, sample the condensed edition of opening hymn, “E S O,” self-described as “the inner process of Inversum, a personal voyage into the eternal current of existence,” courtesy of Decibel Magazine at THIS LOCATION.

Regarded as the opening of the Third Cycle Of DARK BUDDHA RISING, Inversum was recorded, produced and mixed by the band in the bowels of the Wastement, the self-proclaimed “asylum of eternal feedback,” and welcomes the addition of new DARK BUDDHA RISING recruits, V. Vatanen (guitar, vocals), J. Saarivuori (keyboards) and M. Neuman (vocals).

As the dust of centuries has settled on pages unwritten, the gates are opened only within. In ascension rites of introvert spirits, the signature of passing flesh is inscribed in the memorial garden as a note of entrance. Succeeding this initiation, all levels are accessible through death transpired as severance of the flesh and the spirit immortal. As the remnants of flesh dance to the endless pulses of the multiverse, the underlying directives in biorhythms to which these pulses are synchronized (from ego to the universe on the left hand and no ego in the void beneath the veil) and to be followed like a call of nature. Nature withholds the void that exists to the unaided eye of the celestials, and the rhythms transpire as keys. As the innerspace traveler is aligned with the order of the nine, disarray in the processes is suddenly reversible, and the liberated shall walk the brightened path that is not treaded afoot. This is DARK BUDDHA RISING.

DARK BUDDHA RISING’s Inversum will be released on CD and vinyl formats on September 25th, 2015 through Neurot Recordings. Preorder bundles are currently available at THIS LOCATION.

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