Rock & Indie 340 Items

The tenth official full-length by St. Petersburg synth savant Vladimir Karpov aka X.Y.R. is a liquid suite of surreal tranquility, divined and designed to soundtrack the shimmering mysteries of underwater life: Aquarealm. Inspired by vintage Soviet cartoons, nature documentaries, and his own colorful aquarium fish, the album’s seven songs share a mood of contemplative depths and dizzying beauty, adrift in deepwater currents and bioluminescent tides. Hazy tones swell and swirl while crystalline keys, loops, and echoes swim in the periphery, rising like bubbles to the surface. Karpov describes these compositions as flights of fantasy, born of an oceanic muse as idyllic as it is infinite. It’s music simultaneously serene and cinematic, conjuring blue horizons of kelp forests swaying above rainbow reefs, casting shadowplay on sandy floors. A realm both real and imagined, submerged but transcendent, rippling from the mind’s eye to the great beyond.

Perpetually out of print, much sought after and universally worshipped amongst those in the know, Winter's "Into Darkness" was a game-changing classic.

Formed in New York circa 1988, Winter played slow, deep and hard nuclear doom with a crust punk rawness, that came across like Hellhammer jamming with Amebix. Their penchant for mammoth sized and funeral-paced, wasteland droning has become a touchstone reference for bands across the whole spectrum of underground metal.

Their pre-internet infamy led to Winter demos being tape- traded in hallowed adoration by fans and bands alike, gaining notable fans such as Fenriz from Darkthrone. Deserving of their special place in the pantheon of one-off classic albums, the Swans-like noise and down-tuned Earth-like riffs of "Into Darkness" went on to spawn countless doom and sludge bands, being an influence for an entire doomed generation.

The Winter come-back show at Roadburn Festival in 2011 was massively anticipated and held a captivated audience. Packing out one of The Netherlands largest stages, that particular Winter show, after many years in obscurity is a rare event that is still highly regarded today. The band is a rare jewel amongst collectors, and audiences alike.

"Into Darkness" was a gateway drug to the dark depths of sludge metal, and now awaits a whole new throng of acolytes who bow down before the throne of heavy doom. Svart Records is proud to re-release it once more, putting the album back in print for a new generation of listeners. Eternal Winter awaits!

Perpetually out of print, much sought after and universally worshipped amongst those in the know, Winter's "Into Darkness" was a game-changing classic.

Formed in New York circa 1988, Winter played slow, deep and hard nuclear doom with a crust punk rawness, that came across like Hellhammer jamming with Amebix. Their penchant for mammoth sized and funeral-paced, wasteland droning has become a touchstone reference for bands across the whole spectrum of underground metal.

Their pre-internet infamy led to Winter demos being tape- traded in hallowed adoration by fans and bands alike, gaining notable fans such as Fenriz from Darkthrone. Deserving of their special place in the pantheon of one-off classic albums, the Swans-like noise and down-tuned Earth-like riffs of "Into Darkness" went on to spawn countless doom and sludge bands, being an influence for an entire doomed generation.

The Winter come-back show at Roadburn Festival in 2011 was massively anticipated and held a captivated audience. Packing out one of The Netherlands largest stages, that particular Winter show, after many years in obscurity is a rare event that is still highly regarded today. The band is a rare jewel amongst collectors, and audiences alike.

"Into Darkness" was a gateway drug to the dark depths of sludge metal, and now awaits a whole new throng of acolytes who bow down before the throne of heavy doom. Svart Records is proud to re-release it once more, putting the album back in print for a new generation of listeners. Eternal Winter awaits!

From Death to Texas” b/w “Seems Like a Dream” is the new Walter Daniels single on Spacecase. The 45 features a Jeffrey Lee Pierce cover on the A side, “From Death to Texas,” and a Yank Rachell tune, “Seems Like a Dream,” on the B side. As per his usual, Walter assembled a formidable group of musicians to help him out, including Marco Butcher, Luis Tissot, Danny B. Harvey, Annie Marie Lewis (Jerry Lee’s niece), TED Roddy, Steve Schecter, Kurtis Machler and Mike Buck. Cover art by ART Chantry.

By now listeners are probably familiar with Riding Easy’s wildly popular Brown Acid series of rare, lost and unreleased proto-metal and stoner rock singles from the ’60s-’70s. In the endless pursuit of those glorious gems, the label often uncovers equally brilliant rarities from the late-’70s to late-’80s Golden Age of Heavy Metal that also just must be heard, but they don’t fit the series’ aesthetic. Scrap Metal Volume 1 collects some of the greatest unknown and lost heavy metal tracks, long buried beneath the avalanche of the era’s classic output. Everyone knows the old adage that history is told by the winners. But sometimes the losers tell the best stories. And while none of these bands found fame and fortune, this artifact and the volumes to come are testament to the enduring power of heavy music. One can hear the blood, sweat and beers that went into each of these singles. The recordings may be low budget, but the inspiration and talent is immutable. Not only are the amps turned up to 11, the boyish sexual innuendo is cranked to 69. One can hear the convergence of influences—NWOBHM, thrash, glam metal, doom, etc—colliding at once as the era birthed a wellspring of subgenres. Many of these singles are self-released and were thus limited to a small run of copies. Those that remain are hoarded by collectors and sold for exorbitant amounts. Riding Easy has collected the best of the best for the listener here. As with Brown Acid, all of these tracks are licensed legitimately and the artists all get paid. Because it’s the right thing to do.

"We continue down the wormhole of hard rock, heavy psych, and proto-metal here on The Third Trip with a set of tunes so obscure they can't be seen without a third eye. Most of these tracks were recorded in shack-sized studios, privately pressed for promotional purposes, and tossed out like last night's half empties only to later be discovered to be half-full, if not overflowing with greatness. The majority of these tracks are from the good ol' US of A with two exceptions, Ash-labelmate New Zealanders, Chook, and the mighty Limeys, Factory. As they say, first is the worst, second is the best, third is the one with the hairy chest. So take a shot of whiskey, shotgun a beer, and put some fuzz in between your nipples with the hairiest Trip you've taken yet. You won't be sorry you did."