From Finland to Ukraine, we cross the globe in search of new music. And when we find it, we leave it here. For listening.
Chris Cornell - Nearly Forgot My Broken Heart
We’ve featured this terrific song before, but Mr Soundgarden makes his acting debut in this Wild West-themed video, so we’re keen to share it again. Eagle-eyed viewers may spot the appearance of actors Eric Roberts (brother of Julia, Runaway Train, Heroes, The Expendables) and W. Earl Brown (Deadwood).
Vince Ray’s Loser Machine - Red Rocket 88
Red Rocket 88 is so infused with the spirit of original rock’n’roll that it actually reeks of Brylcreem, brothel creepers and exhaust fumes. We’re assuming that it was written as the 21st century successor to Ike Turner’s genre-defining Rocket 88, but with extra chrome and switchblades.
Slayer - Repentless
Yikes! If we had to describe Slayer’s new video to an alien, we’d probably compare it to a cross between Shawshank Redemption and Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer, such its heady mix of everyday prison life and brutal, bloody violence. And it’s probably NSFW, unless you’re a longtime employee at a particularly badly-managed abattoir.
Stoned Jesus - The Harvest
Every week we scour the globe for exciting new music, and our latest scouting expedition finds us in Kiev, where Ukrainian stoner rock titans Stoned Jesus are celebrating the six-month anniversary of their album The Harvest by releasing the title track, a beast of a song that swells and judders in all the right places and rocks harder than granite.
Killing Joke - I Am The Virus
No, I am the virus. If there’s a more glorious noise in all of music than the sound of Geordie Walker’s guitar cranked up to ear-breaching volume, then we want to hear it right now. I Am The Virus is the usual Killing Joke wall of terror: stark, brutal, epic, and — according to baseman Youth — an “intense, angry, uncompromising shout into the abyss.” Cripes.
Stratovarius - My Eternal Dream
“After Nemesis, we all decided to take a little bit of time off after we finished the world tour,” says Stratovarius keyboard man Jens Johansson. “Now we’re all tanned and rested and it’s about fucking time to get back into the saddle.” And what a saddle it is! For the My Eternal Dream video seems to be a commentary on many of the problems currently facing the world, addressed via the medium of Finnish power metal. Respect.
Soldiers Of Fortune - Nails
Nails is a racing piece of proto-metal that could easily have been recorded by Budgie in 1974 had it not been bestowed upon us by Soldiers Of Fortune in 2015. And who are these musical mercenaries? Why, it’s only various members of Oneida, Spiritualized, Interpol, Chavez, Pavement and more, and they’ve left their indie clobber in the cloakroom in order to make room for the POWER OF ROCK.
Broken Hands - Who Sent You
We’ll let frontman Dale Norton describe this one. “Who Sent You describes the moment when paranoia takes over from fun experiences and the strange other worldly voice enters your thoughts,” he says. “You start to question your own trajectory; even asking your friends ‘is everything okay here?’ as if they are passengers. Who invited this person into my head? Have they got control of this journey or me? Am I going to crash?” Well, are you? How could you not listen after that introduction?
