Looking for something new to listen to? Get acquainted with these tracks from some lesser-known bands that came out in May thanks to our monthly Underground Roundup! Check out our cumulative playlists below featuring this month's edition, as well as all the previous months as well.
You can also check out all editions of the Underground Roundup here.
Abrams – "In The Clouds"
Abrams released their new record In the Dark on September 9, and you need to hear "In The Clouds" right now! The band nails this perfectly grungy, sludgy sound with just the right amount of atmosphere and it works so well. Especially toward the end of "In The Clouds" when they bring it all down into a crushing finale.
Blacklist – "In Shadow Light"
Blacklist is now streaming their very post-punk single "In Shadow Light." If you're in the mood for some gloomy Joy Division-styled drive with a chorus that would fit right in with modern Alcest, then you're going to love this. Blacklist will release their new album Afterworld on October 28.
Bonecarver – "Carnage Funeral"
Bonecarver is now streaming their new single "Carnage Funeral" alongside a music video that "looks inside the mind of someone that thinks the human race is an infection that should be exterminated." So y'know a sunny message for a very lighthearted song. Bonecarver will release Carnage Funeral on November 11.
Bossk & Pijn – "Kobe"
Bossk has teamed up with rising doom legends Pijn for a new version of their 2016 track "Kobe." The new version, dubbed "Kobe x Pijn," forgoes the heaviness of the original and instead employs massive spacious production reminiscent of love Earth or Godspeed You! Black Emperor.
Dream Unending – "Secret Grief"
Dream Unending, the band featuring guitarist Derrick Vella (Tomb Mold, Outer Heaven) and multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Justin DeTore (Innumerable Forms, Sumerlands), is back with "Secret Grief" and it feels like perfect headphone listening as the seasons slowly begin to turn. Song Of Salvation is out November 11.
Fire-Toolz – "Vedic Software ~ Wet Interfacing"
Fire-Toolz isn't for anyone looking for a traditionally "heavy" experience. It's weird as hell, and absolutely worth your time. "Vedic Software ~ Wet Interfacing" sounds like a corpse-paint-wearing computer listening to Squarepusher and trying to figure out what the fuck is happening. The new Fire-Toolz EP is out October 11.
Freedom Hawk – "Take All You Can"
Freedom Hawk was described to me as "Ozzy Osbourne crashing at a generator party hosted by Fu Manchu," and now I can't get that out of my head. Well, until I heard Freedom Hawk's music. Then I couldn't get the description or the music out of my head. Freedom Hawk's new album Take All You Can is out now.
Grin – "Apex"
Grin, the duo consisting of Sabine and Jan Oberg (Earth Ship, Slowshine), is now streaming their latest single "Apex." What I love about Grin is their ability to sound like a doom band whose songs should be nine minutes long, but pack all the wallop of that length into a tidy three or four minutes. Phantom Knocks is out October 14.
High Command – "Siege Warfare"
High Command is back with their second full length Eclipse Of The Dual Moons and a brand new single "Siege Warfare." If you're looking for a perfect blend of old school heavy metal and bay area metal, you're really going to dig what High Command is bringing. Eclipse Of The Dual Moons is out November 25.
Flub – "Leaves Of Gold"
Flub is now streaming "Leaves Of Gold" from their upcoming EP Dream Worlds. It's a shreddy, orchestrated crusher sure to make any musician feel the sudden urge to practice way more… and every non-musician bang their heads. Dream Worlds is out February 10.
Irist – "Surging Ablaze"
Irist is now streaming their urgently furious new single 'Surging Ablaze" from their recent EP Gloria and you're going to love it. I mean, if you're a fan of bands like Burst and Cult Of Luna, or just enjoy good metal in general, then you're going to love it. If not, then keep readin'.
Lamentations – "Prodigal"
Progressive death metal band Lamentations is back for the first time in six years with a new single "Prodigal" from their upcoming record Passion Of Depression. Rife with everything from impressive musicianship to excellently catchy writing, you should be listening to Passion Of Depression come November 11.
Lost In Kiev – "We Are"
Lost In Kiev is now streaming their latest single "We Are" from their coming record Rupture, due out October 21. "We Are" falls somewhere between the urgent Pelagic Records-style of post-rock and a score written by Zombi for an apocalyptic documentary. It's awesome.
Lykotonen – "That Which Stares In Kind"
Performing under a handful of pseudonyms, Lykotonon is "avant-garde black metal featuring members of Wayfarer, Stormkeep, and Blood Incantation." Their latest single "That Which Stares In Kind" is a blackened digital nightmare straight from the depths of computer hell. Promethean Pathology is out November 25.
Morbikon – "Cursed To March On Shattered Limbs"
Morbikon is the new band featuring Municipal Waste's Dave Witte on drums and Phil "Landphil" Hall on bass and guitar, alongside Finntroll vocalist Matthias "Vieth" Lillmåns. The band is now streaming their very blackened new single "Cursed To March On Shattered Limbs" from Ov Mournful Twilight due out October 28.
Perilaxe Occlusion, Fumes, Celestial Sanctuary, Thorn – Absolute Convergence Split
There are four names you might not know in the new wave of death metal, but you need to – Perilaxe Occlusion, Fumes, Celestial Sanctuary, and Thorn. All four have teamed up for a four-way split Absolute Convergence that spans cavernous death metal to brutality that rockets through the psychedelic cosmos. Get into it all now.
Spell – "Ultraviolet"
Spell is back in 2022 and they're looking a little different. Spell is now a duo featuring Cam Mesmer and Al Lester, and is now streaming the incredibly catchy "Ultraviolet" that treads the line between dreamy progressive rock and more straightforward old-school heavy metal. Tragic Magic is out October 28
Street Sects – "X Amount"
Street Sects is now streaming a seething new track called "X Amount." The track is meant to capture Street Sects' wildly energetic live shows, which it does pretty well! The band also points out it's one of their few tracks you can actually dance to, and they're certainly not wrong.
Vacuous – "Matriarchal Blood"
Vacuous is now streaming "Matriarchal Blood," whose opening salvo is more stomp than drive… and then the total opposite once the band kicks into gear. It goes without saying at this point (given the recent death metal list) that I personally suggest you get very stoked for this album. Dreams Of Dysphoria is out on October 18.
Whitespade – "Thundercharge"
Athenar already put out a Midnight record called Let There Be Witchery earlier this year, and now he's got a new early Motörhead worship band called Whitespade. Predictably it rocks hard as hell and should be listened to at paint-peeling volumes. Somewhere, Lemmy is smiling.
Woods Of Desolation – "The Falling Tide"
Atmospheric black metal project Woods Of Desolation, the project headed up by frontman D. and drummer and keyboardist Vlad (Drudkh, Windswept), has signed with Season Of Mist and is now streaming the title track of their new album "The Falling Tide." The Falling Tide is out December 9.
Worm – "Shadowside Kingdom"
Worm's upcoming EP Bluenothing features two B-sides from Foreverglade on the A side and two very black metal-inspired tracks on the B side. We're talking about "Shadowside Kingdom" from side B today, which gets its '90s symphonic black metal on extremely well. Bluenothing is out October 28.
