There are not a lot of rules here at VoS when it comes to what we publish and what not - but one of these rules is pretty clear: We do not have a “news segment” and we do not want to have one. But sometimes - as with our book specials - we need to break way from that rule a bit because the announcement involves something dear to our hearts and we give you a bit more. This time this little bit more is an interview with Chris Enriquez on the upcoming documentary by On the Might of Princes!

It’s not as if we are trying to become an outlet for literature, no. But when something as intriguing as an attempt at a compendium of something as vast as the US Metal Underground comes around, we are all ears (in this case, rather eyes, ay?). When Alex Anesiadis is the author with all his knowledge of said topic then we are giving it an even closer look and if it’s as good as his book Heroes of the Metal underground then we cannot resist giving you an excerpt of it and announce that we’ll be doing an interview with him that you can be a part of!

Is it a good idea to write a review about a record called Void when being on a positive, near-ecstatic swing? Well, we‘ll see, right? What is pretty clear is that KEN mode have done it again and are seemingly unable to deliver some shitty shit, as theirs is always awesome! Void is no exception to this!

There is something in the waters of Berlin that makes for a very good and very diverse underground scene - come on, remember that the German capital is home to acts as diverse as The Ocean, Nadja, Ursular or Isoscope. Iso-who? Isoscope - a still young and mighty fresh act in between Joy Division and Don Caballero. VoS presents their new video today - so bookmark the guys!

How often do we wonder where certain genres or trends come from, but cannot find a real answer? Well, it’s nearly impossible, right? But surely one can find some of the earliest roots if just looking for it? Yes. For example with Blackened Hardcore, one of the earliest examples is Spread the Disease from Ontario. The Canadians have a new record out soon and we are happy to present the previously unreleased song!

One can say a lot about the Deftones and the quality of their live-performances, but their songwriting craft and Chino’s vocal style (as influenced by 80s shoegaze as it is) have surely left their mark on the music scene. Another project that surely listened to a fair share of the Sacramento-quintet is somei, a side-project of Breaths. We are proud to present their new video!

A new heavy sludgy Post-Metal band rises from the undercurrents of the underground: Helve will release their first full-length album, To be Forgotten on September 29th via Ripcord Records and we at Veil of Sound are premiering a brand new song from the album, “Guns Heal the Sick”.

When a track is named “Thanatophilie” one should not expect nice, pleasant Pop-stuff. When the band behind the track is a six-headed monster called Azimut, one should expect that even less. However, we are happy to give you today’s premiere of Azimut’s latest single with their video for said song! “Enjoy”!

What is that for a sound during this new premiere here on VoS? It might be a shrutibox, it could be an organ, it might even be simple synths. Whatever it is, it creates an atmosphere that draws you in. Captures your soul and thinking and leaves no space for any other though. Welcome to the music of ChiaraOscuro, welcome to “In the Manner of Serpents”.

With bands like The World At A Glance the usual FFO’s are just useless because who can imagine the middle between SubRosa and Pianos Become The Teeth? Or Minsk and Cult Leader? This might be labelled as Post-Hardcore but that would lack the importance of one classical element that is quintessential to the sound of The World At A Glance.

It is always a fascinating thing to see bands squeeze into niches that you hadn’t noticed even existed beforehand; with Tired Minds from Newcastle (Australia, mind you, not from soulsellers’ town!) this niche is the one between Touché Amoré and Cult Leader!

With this review and premiere VoS comes full-circle in a way. We reviewed 夢遊病者’s last record Noč Na Krayu Sveta very shortly after our launch, five days later, to be precise! And then they were one of the earlier interview partners back in October 2021. That we are now able to present their new record SKOPOFOBOEXOSKELETT a day ahead of its release tomorrow is more than an honor.

The Dutch Whatever-Metal-Protagonists of Dead Neanderthals are back with another rambunctious record between them and Scott Hedrick (Skeletonwitch). Once again, the guys push the limits of what is possible to another limit, a record that convinces at first spin and enamors even more with every next session!

Behind the project name Cliff Ruin we find Tim Yusupov whom we know from TRNA, Somn and Olhava. His drumming makes the diverse bases of those bands’ energetic and influential music. But as he showed us on Olhava’s last album with the Ambient track “Reflection”, he is also a versatile creative force to be reckoned with in the Ambient genre. Next week he is releasing the Ambient album Glimmer. We at VoS are proud to be able to premiere the first track of this expansive album. The track is called “Aurora”.

Our motto is still a valid idea for us - we want to push bands more into the limelight that have been left standing off-stage for too long and for whatever reason. I said it before and I will say it again - more people need to listen to CMDR RIKR and their very valid and valuable sound somewhere between Porcupine Tree and Dredg, between Oceansize and Radare! Therefore we proudly give you the premiere for a first track of their new album A Future Imperfekt today!

A few weeks we gave you our interview with Oxbow for the release of their new record Love’s Holiday which will be released this Friday via Ipecac Recordings and soon you will also get our review of the record. Nevertheless, there is even more to talk about out there on Planet Oxbow and one of them is the upcoming biography by Eugene Robinson - we had to talk to him!

Another week another set of premieres with some surprises for all you VoSerS out there! Let’s kickstart the week with a premiere for the fresh new single by UK-based Future-Black-Metallers Decoherence! “The Future Behind Them” is as futuristic and simultaneously as clean-cut as a band with that kind of soundscape can get. Give your ears a fresh clean-up to get up this morning!

Do you also vivdly remember the second half of the 00s when we were witnessing a small shift in the Hardcore world with quite a few bands stepping away from Metalcore and into a somewhat more Prog-Core-approach? When we had bands like Dillinger Escape Plan leading a charge of bands that wanted to do more than just hit hard? When using some Mathy scales was not though of as posh but awesome? When bands like The Fall of Troy were “the hot thing”? Well, there’s a new band playing along to these tunes now - Seasons Worn from British Columbia and we are proud to give you their new EP!

A strong, dark rumbling like a crossover of Industrial Godzilla and Aboriginal RoboCop - the strong foreboding intro to this new track by Mairu is more than promising - it is like another proof why the British Post-whatever-scene is one of the most vibrant at the moment.And Mairu are one of the many beating hearts in the middle of that vibrancy tornado! Enjoy “Atar”

Skeletonwitch plus Dead Neanderthals = match made in distortion, heaviness and gigantic walls of sound. Veil of Sound is proud to give you all “Banishment”, one of two h.a.f. tracks on the new collaborative effort Specters. Enjoy

Many other sites give you a kind of short run through the first six months of the year, we want to take it a bit further and give you more records to listen to. These are records that have not been reviewed on VoS, they might but will not necessarily be reviewed by us. Because our day also only has 24 hours - so we cannot squeeze in more music to listen to, even though we do our best and try to! So, most of us will give you five more records and tell you why to listen to them!

When listening to the debut EP by Canadian Post-Metal-outfit Omen Astra one might not think that the band had ties to some modern Hardcore bands like New Day Rising, Spread the Disease or The Black Maria. Those are just three bands that some of the band members mingled in before forming Omen Astra and releasing some might debut songs. Strong enough for us to talk to give it a review and talk to mastermind Dave Buschemeyer about the record and the band’s inception.

As you all know the most important thing for any music blog to deliver new stuff constantly, not only new reviews but also premieres for new music, records, videos, songs and more. This premiere is one the best in that aspect as it is by a band only a few will have heard of: Exit Bags.

There are bands who are often more known for their multitude of mindblowing collabs than for their own which in many cases is not less impressive. Think of bands like The Body or Thou, but also do not forget bands Boris or Uniform, both some amazing collabs but an oeuvre that is as outstanding. Oh, and don’t forget Sutekh Hexen. They have a new collab coming in a few weeks and we present you the next single P:R:I:S:M!

As we got some nice feedback upon the excerpt from Michael Tau’s book we published and the interview we did with him, we figured we could do something like that again every once in a while when something interesting is being thrown our way. So, fast forward to today - we got something for you: An excerpt from Joe Carducci’s latest book called Chicago Stories containing four plays and an introduction.