July was a month dominated by singles whose aim was to prepare us for the full-length releases of the bands later in the year. It was also a month of increased experimentation with the boundaries of existing or perceived music genres. We salute the added ceremonial elements and the moments of psychedelia in the new album by Emptiness as well as the Jazz moments within the sound of English Heretic who describe the music as “Eight dark nightclubs of the soul and their music imagined and reimagined.”
We were utterly excited by the announcement of a new album by The Sick Man of Europe, appropriately teasing us with the release of a single with the evocative title ‘Negative Stimuli’. We were impressed by the debut EP of Horns of Abomination with its exciting combination of relentless muffled vocals and throbbing noisy guitar walls that destroy any boundaries between metal, industrial and noise. Finally a special mention is due to Feverdreamt who seem to have stepped out of their comfort zone to offer an album that celebrates darkwave melancholy and lyricism in the best way possible.
We hope you enjoy our playlist as much as we did preparing it!
The first month of the summer contained probably the darkest music of the year so far, both conceptually and in terms of the melodies. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did preparing it.
When reality brings Tom Waits out of his lair, then it is certain that things are not at all quiet in the world. And if his surfacing wasn’t enough, his collaboration with Massive Attack was the cherry on top of this month’s soundtrack. ‘Boots on The Ground‘ the new single that Tom Waits and Massive Attack have released, was inspired by the discontent towards the killings by ICE agents in the US.
In other news, this monthly playlist has two beautiful debut albums by Haunted House and Theo Vandenhoff. Atmospheric downtempo, and witch house elements dominate the sound of ‘Haunted Houses’ and are complemented by ethereal vocals. The band has said about this release: “It is not just an album, but an act of listening to what remains when humans leave.” Melancholic synth melodies, theatrical vocals and bass riffs that hark back to the heyday of 1980s’ Belgian post-punk, characterise the sound of ‘Saviour of the Spilled Blood’ by Theo Vandenhoff.
Last but not least, SUNN O)))‘s return with a new album after seven years dispels any doubt about the significance of this moment in time. Needless to stress the fact that this album will disturb the space/time continuum while you are listening to it so just let your minds travel to places in the meantime.
We hope you enjoy this playlist as much as we did while preparing it!
The sound of the beginning of 2026 is one that feels at odds with the global energy of shock and terror that is unveiling. Whether through landscape-inspired soundscapes or driven by an excitement for sonic experimentation that sees no boundaries, the bands that make up the soundtrack of this month are definitely worth your attention. A special mention is due to Backengrillen for releasing one of the bravest albums we will probably hear this year. Merging punk with free jazz, this band does not see any boundaries between genres; instead, it breaks and blends them to create a new sound in the spirit of the punk bands of the 80s.
We also welcomed the release of the new album by Bragolin, a post-punk band loved around the world. Building on the success of their signature sound, the band has offered another dancefloor pleaser album, and we can’t wait to listen to it live at some point. Finally, we really enjoyed the new album by Blackwater Holylight, which is full of psychedelic rock magic!
We hope you enjoy this playlist as much as we did making it, and no matter what you do, do not buy into the global hysteria of terror that is being spread!
Music for the longest night of the year, music for the end of the year. These were our favourite underground music releases from around the world from December 2025. We presented these albums with added information about live gigs that these bands have planned for 2026 during our live radioshow which you can access from our Mixcloud profile.
Music to dance the summer away or to just keep it here a little longer. Get on your feet and move to the darkest tunes of the summer in our latest show, then get out and support a music venue/club/bar as some people are determined to kill the night!
What can be more exciting news than the release of a new album by SWANS? Well…the release of a new solo album by Peter Murphy, and the resurfacing of These New Puritans, Somatic Responses and DARKWOOD is the answer. If, like us, you enjoy music that could be considered mutually exclusive, and despite this, you can still identify the common thread that ties all of these albums together, then I think we need to sit down and have a beer with you 🙂
‘Birthing‘ the new offering by SWANS is everything that is expected by the band. Apart from ‘Red Yellow’ all the other songs in this album are over 10′ long. This is a slow burner, with a tried and tested recipe that the band has refined over the years. Michael Gira, a summoner like those very few out there, is giving the signal needed for each song to open its tentacles to all sorts of dimensions. In his own words Gira has said about this album: “In all cases the material began with me sitting in my office with an acoustic guitar, singing and dreaming about what would become of these skeletal songs…” just before he throws a sort of bombshell: “We’ll do a final tour in this mode towards the end of 2025, then that’s it.” That’s IT? “After that, Swans will continue, so long as I’m able, but in a significantly pared down form.” We shall take this with a pinch of salt…for now.
Moving towards a less dark sonic part of this monthly soundtrack, we encounter ‘Crooked Wing‘ the new album by These New Puritans. Alternating tracks that bring to mind pre-classical compositions, others that belong to the sphere of dreamscapes, and others that explore krautrock dimensions, the band has offered us a lot of food for thought in this album.
In the realm of post-punk, we had the pleasure to enjoy really nice albums by Shad Shadows, No and The Discussion. ‘wunderhammer desire‘, ‘Desire Kills‘ and ‘All the pretty flowers‘ will definitely keep any dancefloor that hosts them very busy. With addictive and melodic synthwave soundscapes and motivating rhythms all three albums will keep fans of coldwave and darkwave music inspired.
Finally a special mention is due to Nytt Land who have reimagined Shamanic spells and set them to a different sound than they had in their original form. ‘Songs of the Shaman‘ is an album with an inspiring collection of positive spells employing throat singing and text in its original language. We believe this is the best way to prepare you for the upcoming Summer Solstice so…enjoy them with a shovel at hand or with your poison of choice in an unusual chalice.
The soundtrack of the harvest month, is as rich as a recently reaped crop. It includes all-time familiar names as well as new ones who offered us memorable releases. We will start by praising two of the debut album releases of this month for the richness of their sound and their conceptual originality. They are the albums ‘At The Sound Of The Heart‘ by Whispering Void and ‘Sober Maal’ by De Mannen Broeders. Whispering Void, bring together WARDRUNA’s ceremonial vocals (i.e. Lindy-Fay Hella(current) and Kristian “Gaahl” Espedal (ex-member)), ENSLAVED and TRELLDOM’s prog and black metal hues. The result is truly enchanting.
De Mannen Broeders is a project that had to be created as the personal stories of AMENRA’s frontman Colin van Eeckhout and Tonnie ‘broeder’ Dieleman, a Flemish folk icon, had so many common elements, that they had to be channeled through a common outlet. The debut album is entitled ‘SOBER MAAL‘ which refers to the process of eating a simple meal to express gratitude.
During this month, we welcomed the return of A Place To Bury Strangers with yet another powerfully addictive psych rock album entitled ‘SYNTHESIZER‘. The punk side of this monthly soundtrack, represented by MESTRE and M I C H A E L, combined heavy psych elements as well as bone-cracking social realism, making the albums ‘All of you are so far‘ and ‘Nite Salad‘ and , two of the best of the year.
Finally, Godspeed You!Black Emperor resurfaced with yet a new album with a title that acknowledges the incredible loss of life in Gaza and Lebanon. The album contains six tracks that build up the energy and anticipation through carefully crafted drone/ambient compositions.
We hope you enjoy this playlist as much as we did while creating it!
July might have been much quieter than usual, but it was not a dull month in any way. The soundtrack of the month included the release of a very promising debut single by Virgin Vampires who are warming us up for their first album that sounds as if it will be following a darkwave path. The new offering by Peace De Resistance was refreshing with its combination of socially perceptive lyrics and a glam rock attitude. The new album by The March Violets is a classic gothic rock album that should be heard on the dancefloor of any dark alternative club.
Finally the new psych-rock release by Black Market Karma is inspired by the characteristics of analogue recording equipment with the aim of making the album “…feel like a collection of discarded and worse for wear instruments came to life, refurbished themselves and started to play. The sound is an attempt to give form to the often formless feeling that is nostalgia. With songs attempting to crystallise a feeling known as ‘fernweh’. A kind of longing for a place and time you’ve never experienced, be it in this world or another.” as Stanley Belton explained.
We think that this short and sweet playlist will be a great accompaniment to a very warm evening during the hours of the sunset and we hope that you enjoy it as much as we did while preparing it!