- Stellar Circuits – Phantom::Phoenix (Director’s Cut) [9/1]
- Alvaro Archaic Ruiz – Hypersigil [9/2]
- President – Blood of Your Empire [9/4]
- Showing Teeth – A Fate Worse Than Loneliness [9/4]
- 156/Silence – From a Distance [9/4]
- Airbourne – Airbourne [9/4]
- Split Lilac – Sonder [9/4]
- Innocents Torn – Severance [9/5]
- Metaphoria – The Pact [9/8]
- Rubur – Fig_ment 幻果 [9/8]
- Lucifena – Warzone [9/11]
- RØRY – Bloodletting [9/11]
- Lake Malice – I Wanna Know If It’s Real [9/11]
- Green Lung – Necropolitan [9/11]
- Stickman – Scream Into the Void [9/14]
- Jane and the Killer Queens – Best in Show [9/16]
- Insect Skin – Remove the Silence [9/17]
- vasthearts – The Color of Collapse [9/18]
- BLiTZ – Bitter Me [9/18]
- The Vacuous Touch – Tethers [9/18]
- Bak Water Hollow – Bak Water Hollow [9/25]
- Die Kammer – Season VI: We Destroy What We Love [9/25]
- Rival Malice – Splitting [9/25]
- Victims of Contagion – Egregore [9/25]
- Scattered Hamlet – Nothing to Prove [9/29]
- Ashes Reign – Awakening [10/1]
- To The Grave – Liberation Front [10/1]
- Escape the Fate – The Last Goodbye [10/1]
- Miss May I – No Place For Me [10/2]
- Shades of Violette – Evernear [10/2]
- Helen – Linda’s Head [10/2]
- Wishy – Nature’s Pill [10/2]
- The Black Watch – The Fuzzy End of the Lollipop [10/2]
- The House of Mars – III [10/3]
- Tyler Gilbert – Monster [10/5]
- Siilk – Visceral Images [10/8]
- Sunny Hallow – The Florist’s Son [10/9]
- Stunning Rayguns – novalunosis [10/9]
- Red Red Sun – Just for a Goodbye [10/9]
- Dormer. – Old World, New Ghosts [10/14]
- sphere – Circumstances [10/14]
- Holy Motors – Heaven’s Night [10/16]
- Dummy – do you love the color of the sky? [10/16]
- A Shoreline Dream – Waiting [10/16]
- SAVE US – Death to Something [10/16]
- Unteachers – Under Bright Sadness [10/16]
- Coal & Crayon – Coal and Crayon [10/16]
- Defects – Artificial Icons [10/16]
- John Diva & the Rockets of Love – Your Favorite Drug [10/16]
- Eau the Music – Light in the Dark [10/16]
- Firestations – International Dust [10/16]
- Sidewave – Dispel [10/23]
- Priest – Altered State Police [10/23]
- Nicotine Dolls – Nicotine Dolls [10/23]
- Killed By Sorrow – Empire of Excess [10/23]
- Somehow Still – Still Somehow [10/23]
- Various – Ligerhawk Records Presents Wingspan, Vol. 1: Expansions and Horizons [10/23]
- soft siren – 4AM [10/23]
- Eli Howard & the Greater Good – Lo-Fi Lowlife [10/30]
- DeathbyRomy – Teenage Fever Dream [10/30]
Priest
Five Songs I’m Obsessed With [10/26 – 11/1]
Stabbing Westward Shares Summer 2026 Dates
Industrial band Stabbing Westward has announced a summer run with synth-pop act Priest and fellow industrial outfit Acumen Nation. The tour is in celebration of the 30 year anniversary of Wither Blister Burn & Peel, which was Stabbing Westward’s second studio album. Tickets are on sale now at stabbingwestward1.com!
- 7/9 – Flint, MI – Machine Shop
- 7/10 – Grand Rapids, MI – Pyramid Scheme
- 7/11 – Indianapolis, IN – Hi-Fi Annex
- 7/12 – Columbus, OH – The King of Clubs
- 7/13 – Lakewood, OH – The Roxy
- 7/15 – Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall
- 7/16 – New York, NY – Gramercy Theater
- 7/17 – Baltimore, MD – Baltimore Soundstage
- 7/18 – Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts
- 7/19 – Amityville, NY – AMH
- 7/21 – Millersville, PA – Phantom Power
- 7/22 – New Kensington, PA – Preserving Underground
- 7/23 – Asheville, NC – Eulogy
- 7/24 – Nashville, TN – Exit/In
- 7/25 – Atlanta, GA – The Loft
2025 Covers You May Have Missed
I am working on the Top 50 of 2025, and I realized that there were quite a few covers released last year. I don’t include cover songs on that list, so I thought I’d share them here.
- Amerakin Overdose: “Genie in a Bottle” (Christina Aguilera cover)
- Næŕok, Steeno: “3” (Britney Spears cover)
- Boze: “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” (Charlie Daniels cover)
- Gillsaw: “The Beautiful People” (Marilyn Manson cover)
- Priest: “Wicked Game” (Chris Isaak cover)
- Waiting at the Bridge: “Love Gun” (KISS cover)
- Kings County: “The Beautiful People” (Marilyn Manson cover)
- Damned Anthem, Lola Rhodes: “Heart-Shaped Box” (Nirvana cover)
- Silent Theory, Crispin Earl: “Pardon Me” (Incubus cover)
- Lift the Curse: “Love is a Battlefield” (Pat Benatar cover)
- RedPrint: “Stranglehold” (Ted Nugent cover)
- Rise to Ruin: “Paranoid” (Black Sabbath cover)
- Cirkus: “Crazy Train” (Ozzy Osbourne cover)
- P.O.D.: “Don’t Let Me Down” (The Beatles cover)
- Blackjacket: “Grenade” (Bruno Mars cover)
- Nick Nasty: “Seven Nation Army” (The White Stripes cover)
- Feverlust: “That’s So True” (Gracie Abrams cover)
- We’re Wolves: “Bark at the Moon” (Ozzy Osbourne cover)
- 9th Evolution: “Cry Little Sister” (Gerard McMahon cover)
- Kissing Candice: “Bodies” (Drowning Pool cover)
- Kings of Karma: “Run Rudolph Run” (Chuck Berry cover)
- Lift the Curse: “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” (Harry Reser and His Orchestra cover)
- Shallow Side: “Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting)” (Elton John cover)
- Amerakin Overdose: “Feliz Navidad” (José Feliciano cover)
- ENMY: “Incomplete” (Backstreet Boys cover)
- KillDevil Theory: “Tom Sawyer” (Rush cover)
- Kalamity Kills: “Help!” (The Beatles cover)
- Nail Bite: “Nutshell” (Alice in Chains cover)
- Vampires Everywhere!: “Welcome to the Black Parade” (My Chemical Romance cover)
Also – Crispin Earl of The Veer Union released Covers Collection, Vol. 2 on December 5th, which includes his renditions of “The Kill” by Thirty Seconds to Mars, “Even in Arcadia” by Sleep Token, and more!
Aesthetic Perfection: Suckers For Punishment Tour 2026
Industrial pop outfit Aesthetic Perfection is coming back to the U.S., and they’re bringing some friends. With support from Priest and Julien-K, the band will be trekking from coast to coast throughout April and early May. Tickets are on sale now at aesthetic-perfection.net!
- 4/2 – West Hollywood, CA – Whisky A Go Go
- 4/3 – San Diego, CA – Brick By Brick
- 4/4 – Pomona, CA – Flyway
- 4/5 – San Francisco, CA – DNA Lounge
- 4/10 – West Chicago, IL – The WC Social Club
- 4/11 – Cleveland, OH – The Foundry Concert Club
- 4/12 – Harrisburg, PA – Capital City Music Hall
- 4/14 – Clifton, NJ – Dingbatz*
- 4/16 – Rochester, NY – Photo City Music Hall
- 4/17 – New York, NY – The Meadows
- 4/18 – Hartford, CT – The Webster
- 4/19 – Manchester, NH – Jewel Music Venue
- 4/21 – Raleigh, NC – Chapel of Bones
- 4/24 – Austin, TX – Come and Take It Live
- 4/25 – Houston, TX – Scout Bar
- 4/26 – Dallas, TX – Trees (New date!)
- 4/29 – Glendale, AZ – The 44 Sports Grill & Nightlife
- 4/30 – Las Vegas, NV – The Dive Bar
- 5/1 – Salt Lake City, UT – Liquid Joe’s
- 5/2 – Denver, CO – Ritual Noize Festival 2026+
* Aesthetic Perfection + Julien-K only
+ Festival
Albums Released From October to December 2025
- Daughters of Mara – I Am Destroyer [10/3]
- Bullet to the Heart – Echoes: The Final Chapter [10/3]
- Linx – Annihilation [10/10]
- Living Dead Girl – Conspiracy [10/10]
- Batchelor – Shadow Protocol [10/14]
- Heartsick – Break the Curse [10/14]
- Julien-K – DRK|MODE [10/17]
- Dead Deceased – Chasm of Radiant Despair [10/17]
- Starver – The Silent Letter [10/17]
- The Thing With Feathers – So Electric [10/24]
- Anaria – Piercing the Veil [10/24]
- POET The Band – Night Era (Nightcore) [10/24]
- Buried Beneath Me – The House of Ash [10/24]
- Parhelyon – From Dark to Light [10/24]
- Dark Moon Spirit – Sacrificial Moon [10/31]
- Wraithlurk – Engraved [10/31]
- MethodOne – Novus Initium [10/31]
- Armchair Cynics – The Lost Tapes [11/7]
- Soulhound – The Divine Purge [11/7]
- Citizen Soldier – Family Heirlooms [11/12]
- Stellar Circuits – Phantom::Phoenix [11/14]
- Suicide Queen – Crowned in Blood [11/14]
- The Malt – Weeping Red [11/15]
- DENIGH – Sleep With No Sound [11/17]
- Falls for the Elderly – Insomnia [11/20]
- Never Enough – Aurora [11/21]
- Moonscape – Entity, Chapter III: A Sudden Glimpse of Clarity [11/21]
- The Pretty Wild – zero.point.genesis [11/21]
- Ghosts Are Here – Under [11/21]
- RedPrint – Beyond Reality [11/26]
- Sleeper Signal – Tales of the Misguided Souls [11/26]
- Jungle Dream – We Are Legion [11/28]
- Black Dog Moon – Hell and Back [11/28]
- Excide – Bastard Hymns [11/28]
- Distant Legacy – The Lighthouse’s Fate [11/28]
- Devil-M – Titanomachie [11/30]
- Michael Botte Band – Demos & Diamonds, Vol. 1 [12/5]
- the OWLiNG – You Don’t Bow You Will Learn [12/5]
- Immunosuppressed – Lilith [12/5]
- Set For Tomorrow – ARCS [12/5]
- Crispin Earl – Covers Collection, Vol. 2 [12/5]
- Stain the Canvas – Honey Rot [12/12]
- Eye of Atlantis – Eye of Atlantis [12/13]
- Severed Skies – Oblivion [12/15]
- Vagabond – Ode to Isotopia [12/17]
- Priest – Live in Hollywood [12/19]
- Dark Enchantment – Fragments of Faith [12/20]
- Matti Hoffman – Ascend [12/20]
- SouthsideFerris – Dying Light [12/23]
- The Further I Get – Life [12/25]
- Libricide – Kismet [12/26]
- Cirkus – Still Remains [12/27]
- Damnum – Obsidian Machine [12/30]
EPs Released From April to June 2025
- Hand of the Tribe – Makinas, Vol. 1 [4/4]
- Wraithlurk – Suffering [4/4]
- Rise to Ruin – The Alchemy EP [4/4]
- Once Unnoticed – Forever Again [4/5]
- In Passing – In Passing [4/11]
- postdrome – Postdrome [4/15]
- Jutes – The End [4/23]
- Traverse the Abyss – Memento Mori [4/25]
- Death Valley High – U DON’T KNOW WHAT UR ASKING [4/25]
- Bad Valentines – Memory Tattoos [4/25]
- Valtozash – Sundered Synapses [5/2]
- The Journals Kept – Strike the Match [5/2]
- Anaria – Spark of Life [5/9]
- I Was the Crown – Broken Wings [6/1]
- StarrShine – As a Kid [6/5]
- Kumiko – The Space Between [6/7]
- Atomic Fate – Try It… You Might Like It!!! [6/10]
- Eayondig – Ivory Eye [6/11]
- L.O.U.D. – FM Broadcast [6/13]
- Traverse the Abyss – Memento Mori (Instrumental) [6/13]
- Lucretia Death – Half Dead [6/20]
- Priest – Chaos EP [6/20]
- Stain the Canvas – Gattini [6/27]
- Have I Weather – Porch Sessions [6/27]
- splinter kid – Control Freak [6/27]
- The Lucidia Project – The Twilight Affliction [6/30]
The Mostly Music 2025 Playlist, Pt. 5 (Updated 5/31/25)
The second half of May has come in as strong as the first! Check out these tracks that have been released since May 16th.
- Animate Experience: “Onyx”
- The Modern Kollective: “Dreams and Nightmares”
- Azarene: “Memories”
- Falling in Reverse: “God is a Weapon” (ft. Marilyn Manson)
- Lady Strange & the Rites: “High Strangeness”
- Razorwire Halo: “As Good As” (ft. r3nrut)
- A Beautiful Scar: “Never Break”
- Shadow Reborn: “Grave of Roses”
- SKNN: “Bow Down”
- obli_x_vion: “Bird to Prey” (ft. Tyler Noxwind)
- Dark Divine: “Make Me Disappear”
- A Killer’s Confession: “Hollow”
- Ballyhoo!: “Swim”
- Them Damn Dogs: “Weirdo”
- Seethe: “Banshee”
- 40 Below Summer: “King Ghidorah”
- Priest: “My Lonely Heart”
- No Trees Touch The Sky: “3 Visits”
- Third in Theory: “Clay”
- Bleeker: “Self-Made”
- Heartsick: “Break the Curse”
- Cirkus: “Know Yourself”
- Danny Worsnop: “Harder Than the Hard Stuff”
- Sick Century: “Demon Inside”
- Wider Eaves: “Half the Way Undone”
- Shape: “Husk”
- Left to Suffer: “Anon” (ft. King 810)
- Above Snakes: “Forsaken”
- Beauty is Betrayal: “Devil Said”
- Painted Lines: “Better Off”
- Moonfall: “Light Blue Flowers”
- Closed City Terror: “Teflon Idiot”
- Storm Kingdom: “Raindrops Fall on Stained Glass Petals” (ft. Joe Booe)
- Stain the Canvas: “554th”
- Citizen Soldier: “Life Support”
- Voltaire’s Ghost: “Alix Street”
- Anchor & Braille: “Sweet Jesus Knows”
- Midnight For Now: “Friends”
- Host of Nightmare: “Diamond”
- Carbonstone: “Standoff” (ft. Jonny Santos of Spineshank)
- Caelum Wraith: “Are You Still You?”
- Hooked Like Helen: “Quote Unquote Life”
Be sure to visit the other installments of The Mostly Music 2025 Playlist. You could discover your new favorite song/artist!
The Mostly Music 2025 Playlist, Pt. 4 (Updated 4/30/25)
Hey, y’all, and welcome to another playlist update! April has been a very weird month for me on a personal level, but at least the soundtrack was fire!!! Here are the songs that have been added to part four since April 16th.
- EarlyRise: “The Bitter Pill”
- Marilyn Manson: “In the Air Tonight” (Phil Collins cover)
- 50 Meter Icewall: “Purge Me Daddy”
- Rogue Island: “Sweat”
- Curse Inflikted: “Dancing With Shadows”
- Silent Theory: “Swept Away” (Julien-K remix)
- Wraithlurk: “Dimensions”
- Matte Blvck + ALVABEAT: “Pupula Duplex (Your Demise)”
- Aesthetic Perfection: “Fade to Black” (Metallica cover)
- Storm Kingdom + Sonia Hutchinson: “Ninmah”
- No Fly List: “All Lost No Found”
- Priest: “Black Hole Sun” (Soundgarden cover)
- Citizen Soldier: “Better Off Broken”
- A Place i Know: “Freedom Bells”
- The Truth Music: “Heart Issues” (ft. JD)
- Voltaire’s Ghost: “Death Becomes You” (StoneBridge remix)
- Dawn of Ashes: “Hypertensive Crisis”
- Antibody + Binary Division + Czarina: “My Enemy”
- Wind Walkers: “The End Aesthetic”
- obiman: “UNDERTHEWEIGHT”
- Misfire: “Living the Dream”
- The Lineage: “Burn Down”
- Stone Lions: “Bite Your Tongue” (ft. Dani Winter-Bates)
- To The Shores: “Blood in the Water”
- Dal-War: “Run Run Run Away Yeah”
- Heir to Nothing: “Don’t Tell Me”
- Into Ruin: “Godless”
- Traverse the Abyss: “Manifest”
- Priest: “Wicked Game” (Chris Isaak cover)
- Mr. Strange: “X the Eyes”
- Amerakin Overdose: “Point of No Return”
- Adelitas Way + New Medicine: “Rollin'”
- The Funeral Portrait: “Skinny Lies”
- Storm Kingdom: “Children of the Sun” (ft. Makaade)
- Not Enough Space: “Eye 4 an Eye” (ft. Dark Divine)
- Seven Year Witch: “Better Off as Strangers”
- Moonfall: “Rainstorm”
- Sleep Token: “Damocles”
- Archers Gate: “Suffocate”
- The Impulsive: “Echo”
- Seethe: “Reprieve”
- Blackwood: “One Track Mind” (ft. Kameron Jane)
- Alive in Stone: “Comatose”
- We’re Not Doctors: “RAD\\MOD”
- Tyler Griese: “Suffocate Me”
- Nick Nasty: “Systems Don’t Break (People Do)”
- REDWAVE: “Fax Machine”
- The Black Zodiac: “Gallow’s Call”
- Screams of Tranquility: “Frozen Tears of Solitude”
- Metal Charm: “Time to Restart”
- Von Loop: “Stomping on the Demons”
- Linx: “مختلف” (Them)
- Anderson Park Lane: “NEWS”
- AVKRVST: “The Malevolent” (ft. Ross Jennings)
****
And, as always, be sure to check out the 2025 playlist in its entirety!
Three Covers That I Did Not See Coming
I always enjoy hearing artists’ takes on songs they love, and the most fun reimaginings to me are the ones that come from a completely different genre than the original. Over the past week, two such renditions have been released into the world. The third cover… Well, it was always a dark song, so an infamously dark artist sharing his version makes sense.
1. Priest: “Black Hole Sun”
Yes, that “Black Hole Sun.” It’s so Priest, but I think it’s a very respectful nod to Soundgarden and the original. And, let’s be honest, it takes balls to release a song and know everyone is going to be comparing your vocals to Chris Cornell’s.
2. Aesthetic Perfection: “Fade to Black”
Aesthetic Perfection is a self-proclaimed industrial pop act. Hearing them do a Metallica track was unexpected, but I dig it.
3. Marilyn Manson: “In the Air Tonight”
Manson prides himself on shocking people. His entire career is based on it, in fact. He has done odd covers before. However, I just never would have predicted a Phil Collins song. Lol. As stated above, it kinda makes sense. The subject matter of “In the Air Tonight” is rather dark. Who better to reimagine it than Marilyn Manson and Tyler Bates?
