March 2023 – Page 4 – 1st 3 MAGAZINE

CLIFTON 2.5 – A Sense Of Optimism

18th March 2023

CLIFTON 2.5 – has unveiled “Outskirts of Nowhere”, the second single and title-track of her debut EP due 14 April via Leafy Outlook.

A lush slice of opulent and airy alt-pop, “Outskirts of Nowhere” sees Clifton 2.5 find a shimmering synergy between gentle acoustic melodies and fluttering electronics, served with a side of crystal-clear vocals and an ethereal sense of optimism.

Standing as the first song she ever recorded, it is also one influenced by the evocative settings depicted in Delia Owens’ celebrated coming-of-age novel ‘Where The Crawdads Sing’. As Clifton 2.5 explains:

“”Outskirts of Nowhere” was written after I finished reading the book ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ as I was inspired by the landscapes painted in the book, especially the marshes and the imagery of a lonely, heartbroken girl who had been left behind. The song just landed in my head in about 20 minutes and I knew it would be the first song I recorded.”

STREAM ON ALL SERVICES HERE

“Outskirts of Nowhere” follows Clifton 2.5’s glimmering recent release “Under Attack” and arrives as the title-track of her forthcoming debut EP.

Spanning a wide range of both genre and influence, the ‘Outskirts of Nowhere’ EP includes Clifton 2.5’s two recent singles alongside “Crossed Lines”, a song about “how it feels to let love go” that was recorded using a half-broken electric organ found in the studio, and “Are you singing to me?”, a retro-tinted cut about “standing in the audience watching someone sing and believ[ing] that their message is meant for you alone”.

Set to land on 14 April via Leafy Outlook, the four-track release was produced by Ross Dorkin (Beatenberg).

CLIFTON 2.5 – RELEASES NEW SINGLE: “OUTSKIRTS OF NOWHERE”

STREAM ON ALL SERVICES HERE

DEBUT EP: ‘OUTSKIRTS OF NOWHERE’ OUT 14 APRIL VIA LEAFY OUTLOOK

London-based singer-songwriter, saxophonist and guitarist Clifton 2.5 only started pulling together her solo project in 2021, but songs have been pervading her thoughts since she was a child. A self-professed nerd, she spent her formative years singing choral music and translating A.A Milne into Ancient Greek, before later releasing that pop music could be cool too.

With a musical language that spans ‘70s soul, rock, R&B, folk and pop, Clifton 2.5 refuses to be tightly labelled. Her vocal style has been moulded by years of singing in choirs, with inflections reminiscent of The Cranberries and Joni Mitchell set against a modern backdrop.

Clifton 2.5 also quotes Tierra Whack, HAIM, Beatenberg, Phoebe Bridgers and Ethan Gruska as major influences, taking particular inspiration from how these artists combine acoustic and electronic sounds to create an unidentifiable magic.

With the ‘Outskirts of Nowhere’ EP ready for release this April, the singer-songwriter is also gearing up to announce live shows soon.

https://www.instagram.com/clifton2.5/

ELDER – Still Pushing

17th March 2023

Music News

Following their latest, much-acclaimed studio album, Innate Passage, prog- and psych rock masters, Elder, have announced an extensive European tour, with support from up-and-coming, Norwegian desert rockers Slomosa and UK’s finest Steak on selected dates!

Innate Passage, the band’s sixth full-length, was released on November 25, 2022 via Stickman Records in Europe HERE and in North America via Armageddon Shop at THIS LOCATION!

It finds the mostly-Berlin-based band in the post-pandemic era as veterans at the forefront of a league of progressive and heavy groups working in large part under their influence; a stately presence as reliably forward-thinking as they are unpredictable in sound. They are among the most important acts of their mostly-still-emerging generation. Genuine leaders in style and expressive intention. Innate Passage is further proof why.

While The Guardian said “…its masterful, slow-building might recalling forebears and fellow-travellers Mastodon and Cave In. Throughout Innate Passage, Elder prove themselves those bands’ equals“, Chicago Reader praised “Innate Passage as a milestone from musicians who’ve proved themselves unafraid of reinvention.” Powerplay Magazine in the UK is convinced “This could well be the band’s masterpiece“, Metal Injection agrees that “These guys know exactly how and when to take their songs to the next level, and they capitalize every time.”, while JJ of The Obelisk says “To call it one of 2022’s best albums is underselling it.”

Lauded by international music critics and fans alike, Innate Passage is a culmination of everything ELDER has done before, and after more than 15 years, they’re still pushing forward to places where neither they nor anyone they’ve influenced have yet gone. In support of Innate Passage, the band is not only gearing up for a run with live dates in Mexico, in North America and Canada with Ruby The Hatchet and Howling Giant, but they will also hit the road for an extensive European tour in 2023! Guitarist/vocalist Nick DiSalvo comments:

“After an incredibly busy year back to touring in 2022, we don’t plan on taking much time off to catch our breath in 2023. We’re looking forward to presenting our latest album Innate Passage live to audiences in as much of the world as we can reach! It’s especially exciting to be joined by another awesome crew of support bands this year – in North America Ruby The Hatchet and Howling Giant, in Europe Slomosa and Steak – not to mention the crazy festival bills we’re taking part in this summer. We’re busy preparing now for the year, so get a ticket if you want to see what we’ve been cooking up!”

Make sure to catch ELDER live at the following dates this year, tickets are available at:
https://beholdtheelder.com/tour.html

09.04.23 Oslo (NO), Inferno Festival

20.04.23 Portland, OR (USA), Stumpfest
26.04.23 Tijuana (MX), Black Box
27.04.23 Guadalajara (MX), Anexo Foro Independencia
28.04.23 Morelia (MX), La Suavacita
29.04.23 Mexico City (MX), Sangriento
03.05.23 Buffalo, NY (USA), Mohawk
04.05.23 Cleveland, OH (USA),Grog Shop
05.05.23 Indianapolis, IN (USA), Black Circle
06.05.23 Rock Island, IL (USA), Wake Brewing
07.05.23 Kansas City, MO (USA), The Record Bar
09.05.23 Denver, CO (USA), The Bluebird Theater
10.05.23 Salt Lake City, UT (USA), Urban Lounge
11.05.23 Las Vegas, NV (USA), The Usual Place
12.05.23 Los Angeles, CA (USA), Lodge Room
13.05.23 Santa Ana, CA (USA), The Constellation Room
14.05.23 San Diego, CA (USA), Brick By Brick
16.05.23 San Francisco, CA (USA), Great American Music Hall
17.05.23 Fresno, CA (USA), Strummer’s
18.05.23 Sacramento, CA (USA), Harlow’s
20.05.23 Seattle, WA (USA), Substation
21.05.23 Vancouver, BC (CAN), Modified Ghost Festival
23.05.23 Calgary, AB (CAN), Palomino
24.05.23 Edmonton, AB (CAN), Starlite Room
26.05.23 Winnipeg, MB (CAN) The Park Theatre
27.05.23 Fargo, ND (USA), The Aquarium
28.05.23 Minneapolis, MN (USA), Fine Line
29.05.23 Milwaukee, WI (USA), X-Ray Arcade
30.05.23 Grand Rapids, MI (USA), Pyramid Scheme
31.05.23 Toronto, ON (CAN), Lee’s Palace
01.06.23 Montréal, QC (CAN), Les Foufounes Électriques
02.06.23 Providence, RI (USA), Alchemy
03.06.23 Hamden, CT (USA), Space Ballroom

05.08.23 Beelen (DE), Krach Am Bach
09.08.23 Val de Bagnes (CH), Rocklette Festival
11.08.23 Âncora (PT), Sonic Blast Festival
13.08.23 Kortrijk (BE), Alcatraz Festival
17.08.23 Compton Martin (UK), ArcTanGent Festival
20.08.23 Carhaix (FR), Motocultor Festival

27.10.23 Erfurt (DE), Bandhaus†
28.10.23 Hamburg (DE), Lazy Bonez Festival*
29.10.23 Copenhagen (DK), Pumpehuset*
31.10.23 Amersfoort (NL), Fluor*
01.11.23 Oberhausen (DE), Kulttempel*
02.11.23 Nijmegen (NL), Doornroosje*
03.11.23 Leuven (BE), Het Depot*
04.11.23 Paris (FR), La Maroquinerie*
05.11.23 Lille (FR), Black Lab*
07.11.23 Bristol (UK), The Fleece*
08.11.23 Brighton (UK), Patterns*
09.11.23 London (UK), Electric Ballroom*
10.11.23 Glasgow (UK), Slay*
11.11.23 Leeds (UK), Brudenell Social Club*
12.11.23 Manchester (UK), Gorilla*
14.11.23 Frankfurt (DE), Nachtleben†
15.11.23 Düdingen (CH), Bad Bonn†
16.11.23 Munich (DE), Hansa 39†
17.11.23 Dresden (DE), Chemiefabrik†
18.11.23 Berlin (DE), Hole 44†

* = with Slomosa

† = with Steak

www.facebook.com/elderofficial
www.beholdtheelder.bandcamp.com
www.instagram.com/elderband
www.stickman-records.com
www.armageddonshop.com

photo: Maren Michaelis

Quiz Show – An Electrifying Collection

16th March 2023

Music News

Quiz Show releases debut album with Guided By Voices, Shudder To Think & The Dambuilders members. Preview ‘Almost Famous’ and ‘Sound of Kissing’.

American indie rock trio Quiz Show – involving members of legendary DC alternative rock band Shudder To Think, Guided By Voices and The Dambuilders – present their eponymous debut album, released via Montclair, NJ-based Magic Door Record Label.

Ahead of this, two new powerhouse tracks are streamble – ‘Almost Famous’
and ‘Sound of Kissing’, having earlier previewed the tracks ‘Dime A Dozen’ and ‘What If?‘.

This electrifying collection of 12 tracks involves Shudder To Think‘s Chris Matthews and Jesse Krakow, together with drummer Kevin March (Guided By Voices, The Dambuilders). Earlier, bassist Jesse Krakow had taken over from the original bassist Frank Gibbons and, more recently, Joe Billy has replaced Kevin March, whose drumming features throughout this album.

The ‘Quiz Show’ LP brings together the singles the band recorded with award-winning producer Ray Ketchem (Guided By Voices, Luna, Versus, Elk City, Gramercy Arms) between 2017 and 2020 at his Magic Door Recording Studio in Montclair, NJ. Ketchem also re-mastered these tracks for this release. Interesting fact: through this process, Matthews discovered that he enjoys singing as much as playing guitar.

Quiz Show songs are full of protest, friendship and frustration. Tapping the energy of punk rock with its loud guitars and driving rhythms, the vocals strive to capture the emotional fervour of punky garage rock. Pushing boundaries with rhythms, arrangements, chord structures and vocals that expand from straight-ahead power to music, they weave together different influences, including classic rock, prog and alternative, to create complex and beautiful in unexpected ways.

TRACK LIST
01. Sound of Kissing
02. Almost Famous
03. Dime a Dozen
04. Monumental Shade
05. Pom Pom Boy
06. Withstand
07. Sell the Scene
08. Big Bank Theory
09. The Construct
10. What If?
11. Always Waiting
12. Mannequin Sun

“This is our first album! Quiz Show has been making music since 2017 and put out most of the songs on this release as singles between 2017 and 2020. We are releasing them now after remixing and remastering all of the songs to freshen them up and so they can document the origin story of Quiz Show in a single package. This release also brings these songs under the amazing umbrella of the Magic Door record label,” says Chris Matthews.

Chris Matthews – guitar, vocals
Kevin March – drums, vocals
Frank Gibbons – bass

“Quiz Show songs come together when ideas voiced through the guitars are set to rhythms constructed on the bass and drums. Lyrics come after the melodies, which themselves often emerge while Chris is driving around. These songs were created in the in-between spaces of complicated lives. We cherish this work and the feelings it describes. ‘Sound of Kissing’ was built this way and, like most of our songs, it uses lyrics to reflect a dissatisfaction with the limits on love, money, and time.”

As of March 17, the ‘Quiz Show’ LP is available via Apple Music, Spotify and Bandcamp, where it can be ordered directly from the band.

Eater – A New Incarnation

16th March 2023

Music News

Originally formed in Finchley, North London in 1976 by Anglo-Egyptian singer and guitarist Andy Blade, just in time for the punk rock explosion (much to the chagrin of Blade’s strict Muslim headmaster father), Eater were the youngest band on the scene with an average age of fifteen.

Their first gig had Buzzcocks as the opening act, while several shows at the legendary Roxy Club in 1977 saw them supported by the likes of The Damned, Johnny Thunders and Generation X. They were also lauded by the likes of Lou Reed and Marc Bolan, while Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy even offered the band a song he had written.

Their 1977 singles ‘Outside View’, ’Thinking Of The USA’ and ‘Lock It Up’ are often cited as early punk classics, while among the sixteen songs included on ‘The Album’ in November that year (exactly a month before Abba nabbed the title) were covers of songs by David Bowie, Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground, plus their version of Alice Cooper’s ‘I’m Eighteen’ altered to ’Fifteen’.

Splitting in early 1979, the group reappeared sporadically from the mid-1990s with line-ups put together by Blade to play dates with the likes of Fugazi, Dinosaur Jr. and, notably, Buzzcocks for a 30th Anniversary celebration of their live debut.

’The Album’ was remixed and remastered for released on the US label Cleopatra in 2022 with the title ‘Ant’, gaining Eater a legion of younger fans on both sides of the pond. The year also saw Blade combine forces with London-based glam/art-rockers Jo Jo & The Teeth to launch a fresh incarnation of the band, playing sold out shows around the UK, writing new songs and re-recording old favourites. “We got together by chance when I met some musicians at a gig,” he explains. “We chatted about music and got on. It turned out that they were already in a group, who are great and very different to Eater, but somehow the schizophrenic existence of two bands at once works. It might be the same people, but they are entirely different entities.”

EATER

Eater’s new single, ‘Ann’, was originally on ‘The Album’, but in unfinished form and entitled ‘Anne’. It has been newly re-recorded for this release. Blade points out that “it should never have been released and was wasted on that record, plus I had always intended it without the ‘e’. Actually. it was going to be called ‘Ant’, until I was reminded that it isn’t a girl’s name.” As for its flip, ‘Point Of View’, he adds that “we recorded a demo back in 1978 but split up before it was recorded properly, so now it is getting the airing it deserves.”

Aiming to please life-long followers of the group as well as attract new fans, Blade nevertheless concludes by venting spleen at “a small amount of haters amongst the punk purists, who would prefer corpses of dead ex-members rather than something worth going to see, but they are outnumbered by converts, so whatever. Eater is very much a band, not just me and whoever. With any other musicians, possibly it might have felt like that – but only I can make that call.”

Facebook

bexx – Be A Part Of It

15th March 2023

Music News

bexx is a seriously exciting new talent in the UK pop scene.

Her eclectic, euphoric alt-pop sound unabashedly draws from influences within 80’s synth-pop, pop-punk, classic rock, and current artists like Rina Sawayama and Lady Gaga.

Taking inspiration from subjects including queer dating, body image, mental health, and her favourite romcoms, bexx uses her songwriting to carve out space for fans to feel accepted and hopeful even in their lowest moments.

Her latest single “Stupid” narrates missing someone who clearly doesn’t miss you, and being furious with them about it. Featuring fun, playful lyrics, bouncy melodies and an energetic beat, the single shimmers with colourful synths. Inspired by the likes of Fickle Friends, Valley and Carly Rae Jepsen, bexx sings, “Hate your stupid eyes in the morning light, your stupid mouth when you kiss me right, how your voice notes made me feel like home, I feel kind of stupid waking up alone.”

“Stupid” is off of her upcoming EP, SUCKER, which is a collection of songs that shows the songwriter admitting to being an idiot when it comes to dating. These are all anti-love songs, trying to deliver something cathartic for people in the midst of the horrible world of dating.

bexx has headlined Nottinghamshire Pride and supported the likes of Fickle Friends and Deco on tour, as well as being featured in the likes of Wonderland, Earmilk, and Rolling Stone. bexx in 2021-22 was about experimenting and finding her style – bexx in 2023 is fully cooked and ready for world domination. With her debut EP due in the first half of 2023, bexx is rapidly heading towards an exciting future, and it’s one you’ll want to be a part of.

Lumberghast – Into The Nightmare

13th March 2023

Mainly Metal

Emerging like a murderer from the mist, draped in a foul miasma of dark electronics and vicious riffs comes Lumberghast.

The creation of a demon of sound, a mind flaying, soul stealing enchanter who goes by the name of Otto Von Lumberghast.

Fuelling his creativity with an elixir of misanthropy and violence, he inhales the essence of human negativity and exhales black shadows and nightmares. His first weapon against the world is here…an unholy, unnerving entwining of dark synthwave and extreme metal, industrial sound palettes and overloaded circuitry…this is First Person Shooter.

Spawned in the unspeakable horrors of Zebadiah Crowe’s immoral laboratories Otto has known only darkness and madness. Little wonder that his musical witchcraft should be so steeped in blood. Opening with the subterranean rumble of ‘Hello Decimator’, First Person Shooter proceeds to invade your mind and body, its thumping beats dancing through your veins, its insidious malice blackening your heart. A bleak vision of a dystopian future armed with the shocking despair of tracks like ‘Arcade Bloodbath’ and ‘Kaizu Headache Flowers’ First Person Shooter will shake you to the point of disintegration.

At the same time as he launches the spite missile of First Person Shooter at the world, Otto Von Lumberghast is beginning a career in professional wrestling with UBW – Ultimate British Wrestling. He will walk to the ring with the Lumberghast track ‘Splatterhouse’ sending tremors through venues and turning his opponents’ blood to water. And Lumberghast will be coming for you on May 1st, ready to infiltrate every aspect of your being and repaint your world in shades of black and neon. The nightmare is about to begin.

Visit Lumberghast on Facebook
Visit Lumberghast on Instagram

MÉLANCOLIA – A Torturous Tale

13th March 2023

Mainly Metal

MÉLANCOLIA deliver foreboding new single and announce debut album ‘HissThroughRottenTeeth’.

Melbourne-based blackened deathcore group MÉLANCOLIA deliver the second chapter of their story with new single, “[Inure]”, releasing as the sophomore single from their debut album, HissThroughRottenTeeth, out Friday, April 21 via Greyscale Records (AUS/NZ) and Nuclear Blast Records (Rest of World). Album pre-order’s live now.

“[Inure]” invites listeners into MÉLANCOLIA’s world of unease and doom, thematically inspired by sadomasochism and how it is often used as a tactic to feel after experiencing a sense of numbness for so long. The video clip presents a sinister backdrop to accompany the sonic horror.

The new single becomes the second offering from MÉLANCOLIA’s debut album, HissThroughRottenTeeth, which will see its release this April. Immersing listeners in a torturous tale of birth, life and death, HissThroughRottenTeeth follows a fallen deity, cast down from a godly realm and met with the punishment of reincarnating as a human with a wealth of knowledge yet stripped entirely of power.

“Essentially the album is about the pain of existence and how we get no say in coming into this world,” says vocalist and songwriter Alex Hill.

HissThroughRottenTeeth:
1. Horror_Ethereal
2. Dread Will Follow
3. GOD TONGUE
4. When Shovels Drag On Concrete
5. The Hands That Tied The Noose
6. [Inure]
7. HissThroughRottenTeeth
8. …a cold static eulogy

The album traverses different stages of the deity’s miserable existence, doomed to repeat a painful cycle for all of eternity. MÉLANCOLIA sink their teeth into their monstrous storyline with eerie passages, guttural deliveries, and grotesque visuals, dispensing pure dread through their music.

After establishing themselves just last year with their leading single “Horror_Ethereal“, the band announced this February their signing to both Greyscale Records for Australia and New Zealand and Nuclear Blast for the rest of the world. Mélancolia may be fresh out the gates but they’re miles from the start line as the four-piece have crafted a unique sound that has already catapulted them to new heights.

The quartet will take their place as main support for Gravemind on Friday, April 14 at Stay Gold, Melbourne. Presented by What We Did On The Weekend, Mélancolia will be joined by Vilify and Body Prison, where they’ll showcase a collection of relentless unreleased tracks. Tickets are on sale now!

MÉLANCOLIA echo a tormented entity trapped within the claws of despair, angst, and unnerving melancholy. Like messengers of darkness, Alex Hill takes his place at the forefront as vocalist, Joshua Taafe and Billy Morris join the fold as guitarists with Mason Page on drums.

Storming through the gates of 2023 with a vengeance, MÉLANCOLIA played their first-ever show with THY ART IS MURDER on their Decade Of Hate Australian Tour in January alongside Starve and Justice For The Damned.

(3) Mélancolia (@melancolia_exe) / Twitter

www.facebook.com

The Carolyn – Taking The Wheel

13th March 2023

Music News

The Carolyn has spent the last few years crafting songs perfect for highway driving in the rain.

The upcoming release, Harmful History, is in some ways more of what one could expect from the band, but it also foreshadows where they’re headed.

Those who cut their teeth on the melodic punk bands from the late 90s and early 2000s will certainly feel at home, but might also be pleasantly surprised by the band’s choice to embrace poppy hooks and unorthodox song structures while wasting no time in the process. Look no further than the bands previous two full lengths, Rhythm of My Own Decay (59 X Records/Gunner Records) and This Will Begin To Make Things Right (59 X Records) to find songs filled with catchy choruses and lyrics about sleep deprivation, obscure pop culture references, and existential crisis.

You’ll be able to find The Carolyn on the road throughout 2023 including appearances at SXSW and return to Europe in support of Harmful History.

Tour Dates:
3/15 @ The Drafting Room – Austin, TX
6/16 @ Obenuse Fest – Zurich, CH
6/17 @ Beard Attack Fest – Leipzig, DE
6/22 @ AJZ – Wermelskirchen, DE w/ Jughead’s Revenge
6/23 @ Booze Cruise Fest – Hamburg, DE

Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

Left to Die (Live Review) – A Thunderous Rebirth

11th March 2023

Mainly Metal, Music Reviews

The first review of Gustav Holst’s Mars- the Bringer of War, a little over a hundred years ago, spoke of a ‘temptation to make discord the goal of music/ the machinery wholly work of the devil”.

It was yet another early start at The Garage and Corpsing were bursting with this copious, repetitive temptation as they growled, seethed and raged their way through their mesmeric, spine-chilling, discordant set of songs and like many planets, they were hard to make out through any earthly lens.

Their sound is trance-like, boldly warmongering and essentially complex, with a message that “we represent the dark parts of every heart in this reality…”

Black Ocean is visceral as it slices through the steadily enlarging crowd. Like a preacher delivering a dark prayer, lead singer Kyle Austin calls us to follow him with an intense fervour; sudden dramatic breaks in drumming and guitar solos punctured by guttural utterances leading back to frenzied drumming and 8 bar sections repeated until the end in a repetitive, rhythmic hell. Very fast strumming characterised their next number, Cunt, as the same notes are repeated again and again in an ominous ostinato. The crowd have answered the call to prayer and communal worship has begun tonight, here in Highbury, characterized by mass head-banging, emerging emotion filling the room. The song slows to a rallentando, the music dying away, signalling the end of Corpsing’s stage time tonight.

This sound? This sound is pure war"

London-based metal band Damim begin their writhing, animalistic set with Eyeballing, an assault on all the senses, and the crowd absolutely love it. Made of Beasts follows, the fans becoming one with simultaneous whole body movements, bowing down low, leaning into the first of many moshpits this evening. Their dark, searing, blackened sound incites a physical release in the crowd: limbs flailing with abandon and souls given up to the all-encompassing onslaught of the ears. This sound? This sound is pure war.

Rising of the Lights starts with a driving bass riff and cymbals, lead singer’s Dalek-like vocals on a monotone, his multisyllabic insistence pervading The Garage. This is rawness- a blistering, crackling sound depicting fury and chaos, with beats so fast you can feel the collective heartbeats racing higher and higher. The Difference Engine and World Turned Hell have the fans raising their hands in collaborative devil signs to signify collegial belonging.

Damim play a new song from their recently released EP, All I Want to Know is How it Ends and the emotions are exposed and bloody. There is a tangible communication in this building, a belonging, a sameness accepted by all. Mirror Image is the final deliverance with chromatically laden bar chords overlaid with intricate, complex fingering. This is a scorching finale with a syncopated, edgy compound time beat throbbing to big chords as the stage is lit like a flame.

Waiting for the big guns, Left to Die, we meet Justin, by day an accountant, by Friday night part of this awesome death metal tribe. Justin tells us;

“This is the best kind of music- my mum and dad gave me freedom to find out what I like, what spoke to me. This is real belonging; a sub-culture that I most identify with- it’s my tribe.”

Left to Die begin their ferociously fierce set with chimes signalling the start, followed by a blood-curdling scream as the drumming and strumming are so fast it sounds like rapid gunfire. Unbelievably, this band are even louder than the previous two. Metallic riffs, angry roared vocals and crunchy beats characterise this deathcore sound. Left to Die start with Leprosy, with its frenetic, synchronised guitars which is followed by Born Dead and Forgotten Past. Their sounds is ultimately professional; tight, together and super slick.

“Left to Die are absolutely what they purport to be; pure death metal”

Roared, raw vocals, frightening speeds and raging drums are evident in Mutilation and Baptized in Blood as the fans are fully invested now, their head-banging ever more insistent and cult-like.

Possessed by the music, the release and relief is palpable. Interconnection is evident as the band rage along through Open Casket, Primitive Ways and Choke on it, the unrelenting audio bodily harm continuing to dominate and enthral us.

Continuing with ultimate brutality, Left to Die perform Denial of Life, Left to Die and Zombie Ways before the encores finish this savage, excoriated evening of death metal. The pure intensity experienced leaves us feeling as if we have been bathed in a scalding oil, had a layer of skin scrubbed off; a cathartic cleansing; in opposition to death, a rebirth; peace trumping war.

LEFT TO DIE

CORPSING

DAMIM

Left to Die played The Garage, Islington Friday 03rd March 2023

Support from Corpsing and Damim

Words and live photography Copyright of 1st 3 Magazine

Not to be reproduced without prior permission. Social media use only for persons depicted, event organisers and venue. Not to be cropped or altered in any way.

Harlis Sweetwater – Hard, Dirty Rock ‘N’ Roll

11th March 2023

Music News

Southern California – Rock N Roll / Blues / Soul Musician Harlis Sweetwater has released a new single titled “Won’t Be Satisfied.”

The gritty rock n roll tune features some punk and rock n roll heavy hitters featuring David Hidalgo of the iconic Los Lobos on guitar, and John Doe of the legendary punk band X on bass.

Harlis says, “I wanted to write a real rocker. A song that had an old school rock n’ roll vibe but with a more aggressive kind of punk rock feel to it…something that had a lot of movement. David was recording at the same studio in Santa Ana that I was and of course I’ve loved everything he has done with Los Lobos, so I thought, why not take a shot and ask him if he would rock a guitar solo on ‘Wont Be Satisfied’. It blew my mind when he said “Yes”! Lee Rocker of the Stray Cats was recording his new album at the same studio as well, so again, I decided to just take a shot and asked him if he would play bass on it. He agreed to do it but had to fly back to New York. I was, at the time, in a hurry to get it done, so being on a roll with David and Lee, I decided to reach out to John Doe who agreed to rock the bass on the song and absolutely killed it! Its an amazing bass part that really push the song!”

“Won’t be Satisfied” is now available on all streaming platforms via My Grito Industries.

Spotify

Apple Music

Amazon Music

Upcoming Shows

Apr. 13 @alexsbarlbc Long Beach

Apr. 27 @themint Los Angeles

Jun. 17 Alpine Country Blues Fest Arizona

www.harlissweetwaternow.com

www.instagram.com/harlissweetwater

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Monthly Archives: March 2023

CLIFTON 2.5 – A Sense Of Optimism

CLIFTON 2.5 – has unveiled “Outskirts of Nowhere”, the second single and title-track of her debut EP due 14 April via Leafy Outlook.

ELDER – Still Pushing

Following their latest, much-acclaimed studio album, Innate Passage, prog- and psych rock masters, Elder, have announced an extensive European tour, with support from up-and-coming, Norwegian desert rockers Slomosa and UK’s finest Steak on selected dates!

Quiz Show – An Electrifying Collection

Quiz Show releases debut album with Guided By Voices, Shudder To Think & The Dambuilders members. Preview ‘Almost Famous’ and ‘Sound of Kissing’.

Eater – A New Incarnation

Originally formed in Finchley, North London in 1976 by Anglo-Egyptian singer and guitarist Andy Blade, just in time for the punk rock explosion (much to the chagrin of Blade’s strict Muslim headmaster father), Eater were the youngest band on the scene with an average age of fifteen.

EATER

bexx – Be A Part Of It

bexx is a seriously exciting new talent in the UK pop scene.

Her eclectic, euphoric alt-pop sound unabashedly draws from influences within 80’s synth-pop, pop-punk, classic rock, and current artists like Rina Sawayama and Lady Gaga.

Lumberghast – Into The Nightmare

Emerging like a murderer from the mist, draped in a foul miasma of dark electronics and vicious riffs comes Lumberghast.

MÉLANCOLIA – A Torturous Tale

MÉLANCOLIA deliver foreboding new single and announce debut album ‘HissThroughRottenTeeth’.

The Carolyn – Taking The Wheel

The Carolyn has spent the last few years crafting songs perfect for highway driving in the rain.

Left to Die (Live Review) – A Thunderous Rebirth

The first review of Gustav Holst’s Mars- the Bringer of War, a little over a hundred years ago, spoke of a ‘temptation to make discord the goal of music/ the machinery wholly work of the devil”.

Harlis Sweetwater – Hard, Dirty Rock ‘N’ Roll

Southern California – Rock N Roll / Blues / Soul Musician Harlis Sweetwater has released a new single titled “Won’t Be Satisfied.”

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