Doom, doom, doom. Metalheads everywhere have been embracing snail paced devastation, with a new wave of Sabbath worshippers popping up everywhere over the past few years. Just like anything else, there are some real outstanding bands and a ton of way shittier ones, in this case hardcore kids pretending or boring traditionalists choking the fun out of everything.

A nice break from bullshit and/or boredom is Brooklyn’s Batillus. Setting Batillus’ brand of heaviness apart are their smart use of textural electronic soundscapes that give their huge doom attack a bleak vibe that seems like the perfect post apocalyptic soundtrack.

If some Walking Dead shit happens, this is the first record I am listening too. Basically, Batillus is doing for doom what their black metal contemporaries (Nachtmystium, Nagaroth) have done, which is creating fertile ground between metal and electronic music that isn’t complete shit and adds another level of epicness to their craft.

In this case, it’s the band’s use of noise and industrial sounds that push them into fuck yeah! fist pumping in the air territory. On April 5th of next year the band is dropping its debut full length Furnace on Seventh Rule/Vendetta and it fucking destroys. Check out the live vid above to hear the new track “Uncreator” live at the Cake Shop. Chills.

Do you like the Locust, Angel Hair or the Blood Brothers? Do you have a fucking sense of humor and like enjoying yourself at hardcore shows while challenging hetero-normative behavior? Then I got the band for you: Brooklyn’s own Gay for Johnny Depp! It’s amazing that only 6-7 years ago you could find dudes making really weird hardcore-like music, but now everyone wants to sound like Sick of it All.

Now, I love SOIA as much as the next dude but I like my fair share of high pitched, weird, shredding jams and GFJD satisfy that itch. Not to mention, if you have 1/3 of a brain this shit is hilarious as fuck. Song titles like “Nine Inch Males (Born To Hate),” “Belief in God is so Adorable” and “Hey Fucked Up! (Punk Rock Can’t Exist in Countries with Good Social Services)” are too funny to be ignored and the lyrics, even better.

The Gays have been at it for some time and have amassed a sizable following in England and Europe, but in the states no one has had the BALLS to put this band out. Apparently too many labels cowered at the band name even though they liked the tunes. Can we sound the pussy alarm? Anyway, Shinebox Recordings has stepped up and is releasing their new record, What Doesn’t Kill You, Eventually Kills You on February 15th. Check out their hilarious music vids, and remember that laughing and shredding aren’t mutually exclusive activities bro!

Full disclosure, I play music with one of these dudes, but whatever, these dudes rip. Suck it.

Our recent Guide to Grave Wave article and compilation did a few things: One, it got a bunch of people excited for a new generation of goth and industrial inspired music. Two, it got people excited about the term, be it fans or the bands themselves. Someone even went as far as to add it to Last.FM the very next day. Three, it undoubtedly upset some people who seem to have issues with “labeling” or “classifying” music. And Four it actually opened our eyes to bunch of bands that were flying below even our radars.

When compiling the article we were fully aware that some bands would be left out, either by choice or just by carelessly forgetting them. We tried our best to include everyone and as wide an array of what we call “Grave Wave” as possible, but knew that at the rate new bands were forming (especially in Witch House) that we’d never, ever finish the project if we just didn’t cap it after a certain point.

One such band that we missed, and weren’t all that familiar with, is Entertainment out of Athens, Georgia. What’s funny is I was in Athens a month ago and perused one of those local “what to do in Athens” guides while in a coffee shop. There was a whole section on “Hot bands in Athens” mostly fixated on MGMT wannabes and bar rock playing to the University of Georgia crowd. I’m pretty certain these guys were nowhere to be found in the article which profiled at least 12 bands, which is truly a shame.

Entertainment would fall squarely into the Death Rock revival category of “Grave Wave.” There’s bits of the Cure, Bauhaus, Christian Death and Red Lorry, Yellow Lorry all in there. They’re pretty theatrical in that old school Goth way and just a wonderful throwback. But what’s really embarrassing on our part is that they’ve been around since 2003 and we totally fumbled the ball on including them in our “Grave Wave” write-up. But hard as we try we can’t stay up on every band, even though we’d like to.

So as a consolation, these guys are getting their own You Should be Listening to… installment here on the Bloglin, because, well, you should really be listening to these guys. They originally started out calling themselves Entertainme.nt, eventually dropping the period from their name when they released their debut album, Gender in 2008.

They’ve played with Blessure Grave, Dream Affair, Cult of Youth and even at the Disaro’s festival in San Francisco this past October. So our exclusion of them was totally a bonehead move (much like Dream Boat, whom I love…doh!). Currently they don’t have any upcoming shows listed, but  Gender, which was originally released as a limited edition 500 run vinyl on Duchess Archive, is currently available via the band’s Bandcamp page.

Did you even wonder what it would sound like if the singer from Deerhoof and three of her best girlfriends grabbed guitars and started fucking around with Satan? Then Hard Nips is the band for you! This quartet of Japanese estrogen from Tokyo via Brooklyn makes rock music as hard as their nips. Big ass riffs, pounding drums, and that charmingly straightforward Japanese girl singing are this bands pedigree.

Formed earlier this year, Hard Nips made a splash at SXSW, and are gaining buzz on their upcoming release.  These four friends admittedly had little to no musical experience before they started playing together, and it’s definitely to their advantage. There’s a certain primal goodness that comes from people who aren’t necessarily the most technically proficient with their instruments, but know the sounds they want to make. It’s kind of like a whole band of Meg White’s, but with more swagger.

“Release It,” the first song of theirs I heard, is a little pocket of post-punk goodness. The guitars are so huge at times that it almost flirts with drone, but is railed in by that exacting precision you see in Boris and other Japanese bands. It’s music made to stomp along to. Finding myself on their Myspace, I couldn’t help but be instantly charmed by these gals.

The background is populated by pictures of them all mean-mugging at the camera in samurai-esque hammer pants. Their top song is called “Children of Satan,” their bassist goes by Gooch Nips and they describe their sound as “Sex, Sushi, & RocknRoll shat out your butt”. What’s not to like here? Their self-titled first EP drops December 7th on Mixpak Records. They have an upcoming NYC show at the Cake Shop on that date as well, and judging from the videos on their page it’s gonna be a party. Check out that first single, “Release It,” below.

Hard Nips – “Release It” by Mixpak

This should really come as a no brainer. If you’re hearing a ghost talking to you, let alone one that’s a dead ghost you motherfuckin’ listen! But these Dead Ghosts aren’t actual apparitions but rather a Garage Rock band from Vancouver. I don’t really listen to that much Garage…I mean i listen to enough of it and always come across a few great albums each year, but I’m far from one of those dudes who obsess over Garage Rock (*cough* Nick Gazin *cough*) because truthfully after a little while it all mostly just starts sounding the same to me. Which happens to most things when you’re not that into it to care to pick up on all the subtle nuances. But enough about that and on to the band…

These dudes have been kicking about for a few years now but I first discovered them via their (studio) self-titled debut for Floridas Dying. I knew from the opening strums of “When it Comes to You” this was going to be a good fuckin’ time.

This is just some great fuckin’ Rock ‘n Roll that isn’t trying to be any more or any less. It’s rough around the edges and has that 60s melodic vibe running all through out it. It’s all incredibly catchy and something you’ll just find yourself throwing on over and over again without even realizing it. Second to Nobunny’s new album this probably the most I’ve enjoyed a Garage album all year.

Dead Ghosts have a few 7-inches and a live album out there, but you really can’t miss with their brand new studio album. Mongrel Zine did a really great interview with the four-piece back in August (which originally ran in their 6th issue). Worth a read especially if you’re into this kind of stuff. Right now their Myspace only lists one show in Vancouver supporting Thee Oh See, but since this band formed to play house parties I wouldn’t be surprised if you see them playing some raucous loft party in Brooklyn sometime soon… that or a Midnight Till Death.

Photo by Barrett Emke

I first discovered CVLTS when the dependable AMDISCS posted a free download to their debut album, LVST a few months back. I was instantly smitten and transported back to a time when I was obsessed with atmospheric post-rock stylings of bands like Labradford and Tower Recordings.

Eerie and beautiful drones, samples and tape loops that converge for days on end. Cascading sounds over and under one another until they build into feverish climaxes that mask subtle and delicate melodies. CVLTS are most defiantly not a band for everyone, nor something you can just throw on. But in the right state of mind, they’ll transport your consciousness on a wild psychotropic adventure…you just have to close your eyes, open your ears and listen. Then just let your mind do the rest.

CVLTS began as the duo of Gaurav Bashyakarla and Josh Thomas in May of 2010. Their first ever recording session was what eventually became LVST and shortly there after they brought in Brian Shattuck to round the band and move on into live performances.

While still a duo, in addition to LVST, Gaurav and Josh have also recently released the Black Hole/Hi Five cassette on France’s Atelier Ciseaux. The 30 edition tape sold out quickly, but an MP3 version of it is still available for purchase from Atelier Ciseaux. It’s another excellent, albeit short mind-bending excursion through space and time…check the promo video for the release below:

This November/December CVLTS will be releasing their first recorded material as a trio via a split 7″ with Lazy on Collective Crowd Records and then a split cassette with Goodwillies on Solid Melts. In the meantime I highly recommend you Download their debut album, LVST or free and check out their recent mix, Betamax for International Tapes.

I’m not sure when or where CVLTS will be performing live. I did notice them tweet a few times recently about shows, but see no future dates anywhere. If you do happen to catch them coming through your town, try and get hold of some peyote and experience a new era of psychedelia.

DO DRUGZ AND LISTEN TO CVLTS. EXPAND YR MINDZ PEOPLEZ!

I know you’re seeing that name and expecting this to be a Witch House band, but they’re not… even if their name and song titles totally bait you into thinking so. c0ld l▲k3 probably share much more in common with modern Synthscapres Emeralds and Oneohtrix Point Never, droners Pink Priest and even Dubstep than they do with Salem.

That said, c0ld L▲k3 are a pretty clandestine bunch. A few months ago the Bloglin received a mysterious email to check out their album, c0ld l▲k32 dubbing it “screw. metal. noise. doom.” Since then I’d noticed a few blogs here and there pick up on it the group all with little more info about them than the actual music, no website, no info, nothing.

From the description and song titles like “br†▲n’5 ch†1dr3n /// d▲d▲m▲h” I honestly had no clue what to expect from c0ld l▲k3. Honestly I held off listening to it because I damn well was sure it would be near cacophonous. The lesson here is never trust a book by it’s cover, or a band by it’s own description and song titling practice.

c0ld l▲k32 is actually very beautiful atmospheric drones that swell into beautiful dreamlike melodies with a touch of vocals here and there. The vocals actually remind me a bit of a codeine fueled Animal Collective or Deerhunter, while the music is heavily influenced by post-rockers like Flying Saucer Attack and Third Eye Foundation.

Like I said there is next to no info on this band online. There is a Last.FM account and that’s about it. I decided in doing this YSBLT to try and hit back the original source email, hoping to find out more info about c0ld L▲k3. From that email to the Bloglin, I can deduce that they may be from somewhere in UK (used a hotmail.uk account)? I also know that that c0ld l▲k32 is their second release (hence the 2 at the end). They have an earlier release, but it seems every download for it is long dead… same holds true for c0ld l▲k32 which is why I have re-uploaded it here.

I was ready to just publish this post without any real info on the band, but wouldn’t you know it? The morning this is supposed to go live, The Bloglin gets an email back from c0ld L▲k3. I was right in guess that these guys were from the UK… Glasgow, Scotland to be exact and aren’t really “guys” per say, but one guy, Johnny Walker.

The name c0ld l▲k3 is actually a reference to (unsurprisingly), Celtic Frost’s foray into the mainstream, AKA the album Cold Lake. Johnny originally had planned on chopped and screwing, under the c0ld l▲k3 moniker, but that never really worked out and he has since gone on to recording this stuff under the name.

A little over a week ago, c0ld l▲k3 dropped their third release, Funeral Jah…which yet again, is a free download. Despite being yet another solid release, Funeral Jah actually shows some striking progression in a short span of time by the band. While it’s still built upon loads of drones and noise, c0ld l▲k3 opted to use synths and dubstep elements much more heavily on this release and take the project to rhythmic terrain they’d yet to go.

Johnny’s impetus to recoding Funeral Jah came from reading an argument online about Skream using a midi file from the forum dubroom to make one of his tracks. As Johnny recalls it:

Y’know, it was some long winded authenticity argument. I was of the opinion that all dub music was based on stealing other people’s shit, so I made some of the Funeral Jah tracks, the remix ones, based on midi’s from that site (into the dubroom, natty know, zionic skank and jerusalem connection). All of c0ld l▲k3 is based on pilfering, slowing down and fucking with – most of it is really amateurish, especially the metal one, the only one i like personally is “Cold Lake Jazz.”

Despite Johnny’s own depreciating assessment of his own work, he has created something incredibly interesting with c0ld l▲k3 and especially  Funeral Jah. The fusion of Post-rock droning with downtempo electronics, are impeccable. And unlike most releases of the sort, which can feel dark and heavy, Funeral Jah creates a bright and ambient dreamscape. And it does so with a little social commentary on creative ownership… I guess that’s where the Witch House element comes in. If you’re either a fan of experimental or ambient electronic music you will in no way be disappointed so download both releases.

I told you all I’d be writing about Ðose in more depth! I’m really pretty enamored with this band… there is something distinct and yet altogether familiar about their sound. On one hand they’re clearly influenced by late 80s to early 90s pacific northwest grunge (particularly the guitar sound) and yet there’s this aspect to it that feels very at home around Witch House and the “Grave Wave” of modern Goth and Post-Punk in the digital age. But mostly, it really takes me back to being a teenager in my bedroom armed with a guitar and a DS-1 wishing I could write a songs half as good and terrifying as anything on Bleach. Ðose are living out my bedroom Nirvana fantasy and acting as limbo’s resident bard of apathy.

France just seems to be killing it of late with great bands, from the whole Metz scene and now Ðose who is based out of a small countryside town just outside of Paris. The very personal odyssey known as Ðose is really just a moniker for 23 year old John Katsav who writes and records all of the music on his own. Having played in and out of a number of  bands in the past, Ðose is John’s first solo venture as a musician into some rather dark and grimy territory.

“The band’s name was born after coming across 4 needles and a spoon at the foot of some trash in a village near my hometown.. a very quiet one…”  says John. That sort of dark and morbid backdrop to rural life informs a lot of the bands sound and aesthetic… a living and breathing negative of Larry Clark’s Tulsa, the music and the imagery it induces is both troubling and intriguing.

Earlier this year Houston’s Diasro issued Ðose’s debut CD-R EP, Teenage Basement basement to their typical super limited run of a 100 copies. The EP drowns you in warm barbs of fuzz that mask some really melodic, albeit noisy tunes. They’re beat centric yet mostly informed by everything from U-Men, Killdozer and the Melvins. However the best part about it all is that it feels very singer-songwriter. Not an easy thing when you sound this sludgy, but Ðose have a bit of a Kurt Vile sound anchoring all of the noise and it’s really quite enthralling.

John was kind enough to give the Bloglin a short preview file for his Teenage Basement EP… give it a listen and grab a physical copy of it before it’s a collectors item. Up next for Ðose is “a sort of box set” on Clan Destine records. Can’t wait to hear that (Carl please send me one)!

In addition to Ðose, John also has what he describes as “a blues goth and experimental/collage project” under the guise of Jonny Teardrop. John also has a YouTube channel and keeps a Tumblr with all sorts of regularly updated audio and visual goodies, ensuring you all keep coming back for a daily Ðose.

Sometimes I like to spend time a few hours on Soundcloud clicking around looking at who follows who as a good way to discover new bands. A chance click here and another there lead me to Brooklyn’s Mercitron & The Galactic Foxx who has just posted their 9 song debut album, Don’t Panic to their account.

Every so often a trip to Soundcloud is a lot like the dungeon levels of Zelda… where if you push around long enough you’ll discover some secret room with some weapon or gem. Finding Mercitron & The Galactic Foxx was just like that. In essence it’s just bedroom synth-pop, but it’s really quite sweet and earnest and worms it’s way into your heart and head, well it did for me but I’m just a sap like that.

All of the music was written and recorded by Luis Granda AKA Mercitron in the winter of 2o09 through to the summer of 2010 in his basement armed with his laptop, some software presets and electric and acoustic guitars. You’ll find shades of the obvious like Depeche Mode (which they sample on “Everybody Breakdown” ) along with a lot of Joy Electric. I’m sure Luis would agree that they aren’t exactly pushing any boundaries here, but the simplicity really works especially in showcasing the vocal talents of Keri Florence AKA The Galactic Foxx.

Keri Florence isn’t the only vocalist on this album, she’s joined by a bevy of backing vocalists and Roger Mason who handles most of the male vocals you’ll hear. But it;s Florence’s voice that really got to me and caught me off guard. There’s lot of Hayley Williams of Paramore undercut by healthy dose of Cocteau Twins’ Elizabeth Fraser. There’s just something about that combination of ethereal meets pop-punk sheen that not only really works over the music, just really does it for me.

Right now the band hasn’t ever played a show or really has any plans to… I get the sense that they just wanted to get this material out there. I’m not sure if they consider this an album per say or demos to future project, but it’s really enjoyable nonetheless. The more and more I listen to it I can’t help but think that the simple yet catchy structure of these songs along with Florence’s voice fleshed out in the hands of the right producer and engineer and these guys are destined to eventually grace the cover of AP Magazine.

I kind of feel ashamed that it’s taken me 2 years to discover Diamond Vampires. I’m just going to have to chalk it up to being over hear in the U.S. and well you can’t keep track of every band, especially when they’re overseas. I bet our resident expert on all things dark, Fokkawolfe is probably reading this and going “Oh yeah them? Pshhh I knew about them years ago.” Sigh.

The best way I can describe Diamond Vampires is to liken them to Chicago counterparts Gatekeeper. They mostly make really fucking creepy synth music that can double as a soundtrack score for an 80s horror film. Incredibly icy synths and beats combined with either film dialogue or way atmospheric and distorted vocals that just keep whatever imaginary slasher narrative you have running in your head going and going through foggy city streets.

Take a listen to “Hungry Wives” up above. It’s fantastic… like some demonic bastard hybrid of John Carpenter scores, My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult and a little bit of Skinny Puppy and Haujobb. It’s all purely evil, somewhat seductive and impossible to stop listening to. Gah! I love this shit so much! I wish I knew who the hell was behind Diamond Vampires. They’ve taken the Witch House route and have no pictures of themselves available, haven’t played any live shows and give no clues as to how many members are in the band.

What I do know about the band is that they’re based in the UK and have done remixes for Telepathe, Glass Candy and Faux Fox (all of which are available for download via their website) in addition to the handful of original tracks they have written and recorded, most of which are on their Myspace and can be downloaded here.

A few months back, the band actually got their first official 12″ release for Friday Nights via Amateur Recordings. That vinyl also included “Lumiere” and a remix of “Friday Nights” by the Telephones (video up above). Get that shit and drop it in the mix at your next hipster party and you’ll score that hot pseudo-goth chick you have your eye on. I’m talkin’ to you Toilet Cobra!

So the big question now that I’ve discovered Diamond Vampires and burned through everything they’ve released a few times over, when will we get some new stuff or a full-length? In addition to their remixes and original material the band did make one mix way back in 2008 called Night Operations but I want some more original material! Hopefully these guys resurface from the shadows again soon, I need to be bitten.