[Heavy News] ABRASIVE TREES, HECATE ENTHRONED (UK), DEUS SABAOTH (UKR), FRANKENBOK, PSYCROPTIC (AU).
Hi All,
Been a while since we’ve done a release roundup as part of our Heavy News coverage, with a heavy focus on the many, many tours doing the rounds in Australia/New Zealand presently and in near future. It’s chaos!
Speaking of chaos, why not indulge the weekend with a whole bunch of fantastic new heavy/alternative music releases from across the globe? A pretty fine way to kick the work-week into riff-induced dust, I say. Also sneaking in an upcoming release - up the ‘Croppers, new single’s sounding great!
Major thanks to Grand Sounds PR, Maric Media and
As Always,
Peace, Love, Green Eggs and Grindcore-Spam - Brady.
Tonight’s ‘Where Did All The Vyvanse Go?’ Writing/Stimming-Helper Album is:
Nevermore (US) - Enemies of Reality (2003 Remixed/Remastered version - Andy Sneap)
Genre: Progressive Thrash Metal
Full-Album Stream Link (via Nevermore on Youtube Music):
(p.s. get HYPED for new Nevermore in the future!)
Release-day roundup: Friday, 29th may 2026:
ABRASIVE TREES (UK) - Light Remaining (out now via Argonauta Records)
Genre: Experimental/Post/Noise-Rock
Blending experimental rock, post rock and dark psychedelic textures, Abrasive Trees craft immersive soundscapes built on layered guitars, hypnotic rhythms and powerful dynamic shifts. “Tao To Earth” pushes further into the band’s cinematic and spiritual dimension, delivering a track that feels both intense and transcendent.
For fans of: Swans, Bark Psychosis, Psychonaut, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Slint, Crippled Black Phoenix, Gutter Twins.
Light Remaining captures the band at their most focused and expressive, exploring themes of loss, transformation and inner reckoning through a balance of instrumental passages, evocative vocals and atmospheric tension.
Tracklist:
No Solace
Star Sapphire
Tao To Earth
Flickering Flame
Carved Skull
I Didn’t Mean To Hurt You
Formed in 2018 and led by Matthew Rochford alongside Jay Newton, Will Tyler, and Georgia Swallow (plus visual arist Jess Wooller) Abrasive Trees have steadily built a reputation within the UK underground for their intense and evocative sound, drawing praise from outlets such as BBC Introducing, Louder Than War and The Big Takeover.
With Light Remaining, the band take a decisive step forward, delivering a work that is both deeply personal and sonically expansive, now set to reach a wider audience through Argonauta Records.
Abrasive Trees - LinkTree
(See above for: Social Media, Artist/Light Remaining Bandcamp links, Merch, Mailer List Signup (Free Album Included!))
argonauta records - Facebook
HECATE ENTHRONED (UK) - The Corpse of a Titan, A Lament Long Buried (out now via m-theory audio)
Genre: Symphonic Black Metal
The Corpse of a Titan, A Lament Long Buried is once again produced by HECATE ENTHRONED and Dan Abela (Akercocke, Bleed From Within, Annal Nathrakh), who also mixed/mastered the album with cover art created by Erskine Designs (Inanimate Existence, Bleed The Sky).
Regarding the new HECATE ENTHRONED album Dylan says, “Our first release since 2019, these are huge, epic, hard-hitting songs carved in the traditional Hecate Enthroned way with a menacing veil delivered with a crisp punch. Lyrically based around ancient British myths and legends.”
One of the UK underground's longest-running and most respected acts, HECATE ENTHRONED has been praised by the likes of Terrorizer for their “mixture of death metal aggression with black metal atmosphere” while New Noise Magazine declares them “an absolute must for fans of extreme gothic metal.” Originally co-founded in Wales by guitarist Nigel Dennen in the mid-1990s, the band is dedicated to delivering their own brand of evil metal with little regard to politics or the trends of popular demand.
The group's 1997 full-length, the Andy Sneap-produced The Slaughter Of Innocence, A Requiem For The Mighty (Blackend Records), was a seminal release in the then-burgeoning orchestral black metal movement, and since then, five more studio outputs including their M-Theory Audio debut in 2019 with the Embrace Of The Godless Aeon (HECATE ENTHRONED's first recording with vocalist Joe Stamps) and numerous live performances have firmly established the band as one of extreme metal's most important voices.
HECATE ENTHRONED is:
Joe Stamps – Vocals
Nige Dennan – guitar
Andy Milnes – guitar
Dylan Hughes – bass
Pete White – piano/keyboards
Matt Holmes – drums
Link to Lyric/Music Video for ‘Gallery of Rotting Portraits’ (via M-Theory Audio on Youtube):
DEUS SABAOTH (Ukraine) - Distortion of Lies (via Paragon Records)
Genre: Melodic Black Metal
Ukraine’s Melodic Black Metal band DEUS SABAOTH sign to Paragon Records to release their highly anticipated second full-length album, Distortion of Lies. The album will see the light on May 29th, 2026.
The band comments on the album:
"“Distortion of Lies” drifts through the fragile architectures we build to protect ourselves from reality. It traces the quiet seduction of belief — whether wrapped in sacred language or stitched together from desperate hope — and exposes how easily comfort becomes deception. And beyond the longest night, there will be a dawn, when every distortion fades, leaving nothing but what was real all along."
Link to Single ‘Worship’, via Youtube:
Tracklist:
1. Worship
2. Distortion of Lies
3. Last Gleam
4. Imperishable Script
5. Tree of Knowledge
6. For There Will Be Dawn
7. Wooden Box
Deus Sabaoth is a Ukrainian melodic black metal project formed in 2023. The lyrical themes explore religious criticism, existentialism, nihilism, and solitude.
The debut album, Cycle of Death, was recorded in 2024 and released in January 2025.
Distortion of Lies is the band’s second album.
Current members:
N-Exul – vocals
Ercld – drums
Alyona Neith – bass, piano, music composition, lyrics
Session musicians on Distortion of Lies:
Anton Vorozhtsov – guitars
Sofia Konstantynova – violin
Dmytro Kim – drum recording and partial composition
FRANKENBOK
Australian Metal Legends Release New Album
The Arriba War Honkle
Drop New Video for ‘Geppetto's Scarecrow’
Frankenbok’s music embraces heaviness, humour and brutality!
This Australian legacy metal band boasts a diverse sound, unafraid to try anything and are ALWAYS impulsively applying that to their craft. Since their inception in 1997, they’ve defied boundaries, constantly evolving, yet never losing their core.
The path they have been carving for close to 30 years without a break proves they are a force of raw power with infusions of playfulness, colour, and a fearless spirit.
With a broad spectrum of influences, Frankenbok seamlessly weaves together alternative, punk, funk, metal, and death metal, creating a sound that is as versatile as it is intense. Something like nude wrestling in a maxium security prison wing!
HEAVY Magazine recently summed up their sound too: “The wild love child of Faith No More and Red Hot Chili Peppers, with a healthy dose of metal and pure madness.”
Following years of lineup changes, 2024 saw the triumphant return of original vocalist Adam “Hutch” Glynn. Founding member Azza Bok (guitar), Tom Rossell (drums), and Owen Spratling (bass) complete the current line up.
Since Glynn's Return, the band have wasted no time. They have toured with SNOT, Alien Ant Farm and Drowning Pool and have played numerous festivals and diverse live shows with a wide array of bands. With each show slowly reintroducing them back to a new world, a fresh fan base has been drawn in consisting of both longtime devotees and a new generation.
The establishment of a new partnership with label XMUSIC saw Frankenbok launch their explosive 2025 album, Irrepressible, capturing nearly 30 years of evolution, while still feeling fresh.
Now, Frankenbok return to their origins with their boldest work yet: The Arriba War Honkle.
To celebrate release day, the band have released a new single and video for the track, ‘Geppetto's Scarecrow’.
“Geppetto's Scarecrow” is a shadowy folklore, exploring a scarecrow’s self-awareness in a ceaseless battle against its mortal enemies: the crows, and against time defending its’ only purpose - the corn in a farmers’ field.
Listen to the track here.
Geppetto's Scarecrow follows their raw single, “FAFO,” which laid bare the consequences of disposable modern intimacy.
The Arriba War Honkle is available on streaming platforms, Bandcamp, as well as on CD and 12-inch vinyl, this album is a love letter to the band’s roots, a full-throttle ride of savagery, amusement, and boundless versatility.
Fans will be swept back to the BOK's golden era of what once made them appealing in the first place but carried forward by a limitless musical vision. The Arriba War Honkle is a defining moment, nostalgic for the old guard, electrifying for the new.
After 30 years of existence, it is clear that this band will never go away! For the nature of Frankenbok is, and always will be, irrepressible….
“THE ARRIBA WAR HONKLE” is out now:
Follow Frankenbok:
Facebok | Instabok | WebBok
PSYCROPTIC (AU)
Technical Death Metal Juggernauts To Release New Album,
The Pulse Of Annihilation
On July 17 via Metal Blade Records
Photo by Rae Chatten
For over two decades, PSYCROPTIC has operated at the vanguard of technical death metal, defined by instrumental precision, structural intelligence and an uncompromising creative ethic. From their Tasmanian origins to commanding stages worldwide, the band have built a reputation on rhythmic complexity, exacting musicianship, and a refusal to plateau.
On July 17th, PSYCROPTIC enters a decisive new chapter with The Pulse Of Annihilation, their first full-length release for Metal Blade Records. The partnership marks a strategic alignment between one of extreme metal’s most technically formidable acts and a label whose history is intertwined with the genre’s evolution.
At the core of this next phase is guitarist and principal songwriter Joe Haley. Over time, Haley’s compositional voice has evolved from pure technical density into something more architecturally deliberate. On The Pulse Of Annihilation, riff construction feels sharper, transitions more fluid, and thematic motifs more intentional. Haley’s writing demonstrates a seasoned understanding of pacing—knowing when to constrict, when to expand, and how to weaponize silence and space within otherwise relentless arrangements. Experience has not diminished intensity; it has refined its delivery.
“The Pulse Of Annihilation is the culmination of everything that has come before,” remarks Haley. “We never force anything stylistically and just let the songs manifest of their own accord – maintaining progression while remaining very much PSYCROPTIC. I feel this is our most epic, thrashing, technical while grooviest release yet.”
The record features the dual-vocal assault of Jason Peppiatt and Jason Keyser (Origin), a partnership that debuted on PSYCROPTIC’s previous full-length, Divine Council. Peppiatt’s commanding growl intertwines with Keyser’s razor-edged articulation, creating a dynamic vocal interplay that adds dimension and contrast to the band’s dense instrumentation. This twofold approach heightens the record’s impact, featuring layered, confrontational elements that remain tightly synced with the band’s intricate foundation.
The album’s first single, “Gathering A Venomous Herd” serves as an immediate declaration of intent.
“This one’s a tricky one and total wrist splitter,” Haley notes, “It’s a mega non-stop riff fest.”
“It’s a knuckle-dragger,” agrees bassist Todd Stern, “I love when we can just cool out at this tempo. All my favorite PSYCROPTIC songs have this kind of ‘bounce’ to them that allows for just endless head-banging and leaves room for massive vocal passages, plus there’s that noodley section in the middle with the guitar ring out… Meathead Monday.”
Listen to “Gathering A Venomous Herd” Here:
Watch The Video At:
Produced once again by Haley at his Crawlspace Productions studio, The Pulse Of Annihilation reinforces PSYCROPTIC’s commitment to sonic autonomy. The production balances clarity and weight. Haley’s brother and co-founder, Dave Haley pounds the drums with surgical precision, bass frequencies anchor the harmonic movement, and guitars cut through with controlled aggression. The mix allows complexity to breathe while preserving crushing force.
The Pulse Of Annihilation features cover art by Belial Necroarts (Gaerea, In Aeternum).
Find all preorders at:
metalblade.com/psycroptic
The Pulse Of Annihilation Track Listing:
1. Ashes Of A New Dawn
2. Gathering A Venomous Herd
3. A Sword Of Me
4. No Time For The Weak
5. Our Pillars Fall
6. Annihilation Pulse
7. No Blade Of Grass
8. To Embrace This Curse
9. Forging The Crown
This August, Psycroptic join like-minded-and-saxophone-wielding US progressive death wizards Rivers of Nihil for a co-headline tour of Australia that brings together two elite bands operating at the highest tier of modern death metal.
Joining them on all dates are Melbourne’s psychologically charged Growth who are on the eve of releasing part two of their highly anticipated album trilogy, Under The Under, and Sydney’s uncompromisingly brutal, Slaughtercult, rounding out a bill that is equal parts precision, atmosphere and outright savagery.
TOUR DATES
Thursday August 13: Magnet House, Perth
Friday August 14: Lion Arts, Adelaide
Saturday August 15: Max Watts, Melbourne
Friday August 21: Manning Bar, Sydney
Saturday August 22: Necrosonic Festival, Brisbane
Tickets On Sale Now at
https://daltours.cc/psycroptic-rivers
inner-strength check - links:
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Peace, Love and Grindcore - Brady & The ISC Team.