A [Heavy News] Singles Triple-Decker, 05.08.2025.
The music press is absolutely ablaze at the moment! It’s a veritable unyielding torrent and there is much to catch up on.
You can check out our most recent album review (Bruxist (AU) - Self-Titled LP) from myself here, posted for our Music Mondays segment.
There’s so many great releases that I’m having trouble even listing them all, so let’s take a bunch from an even bigger bunch and get stuck into a wide smorgasbord of alternative/heavy music news! There’s a ton of links below, from music videos to streaming links and album preorders etc - a reminder that if you dig what you hear, consider following those musical rabbitholes!
Peace, Love and New-Tunes Mountains, Brady.
Recent Single Releases (as of 5th Aug 2025):
BREATH (US) unveils their first single ‘AWEN’ from upcoming new album releasing this Fall on Argonauta Records
Having recently signed with Argonauta Records, Portland, Oregon’s BREATH release ‘AWEN’. The first single and official music video from their much-anticipated new album BRAHMAN, releasing this Fall.
Watch the video for ‘Awen’ here:
The beginnings of Breath can be traced back to childhood friends Steven O’Kelly and Ian Caton. Their bond allowed a drive of songwriting and spiritual seeking to coalesce into a unique foundation that continues to evolve. It's losing themselves in the woods or meditation, and transmuting those experiences into the vibrational space their musical fingerprint holds. Longtime Breath collaborator and engineer Rob Wrong (Witch Mountain & The Skull) was quickly inspired by their new release BRAHMAN, writing and performing guitar for the entirety of their album. Along with Guitar came Keys, which further elevated the sound with the addition of Lauren Hatch.
In the fertile environment of new instrumentation, “AWEN” expands the boundaries of Breath to new places.
The band comments:
“Crawling out from their hermitage, the Druid begins anew in rays shone through the prism of AWEN. Harnessing the addition of guitar, we seek to translate the immutable voice of Mother Nature calling from depths of emerald sanctuary. A song honoring the unspoken confluence, and creative spark between Bard and woods. AWEN binds the overarching metaphysical spirit of our new album BRAHMAN with transformation lifted on the wings of the Morrigan. AWEN emerges in the light of this Goddess, and the transitory half Moon on July 17th .”
Stay tuned for more details on BRAHMAN, coming this Fall on Argonauta Records.
2. Australian Cinematic Experimental Project SEIMS Announces New Album V. First Single Online!
Single press download | Single stream | Pre-order
Australian cinematic experimental/ math rock project SEIMS will release ‘V’ this October, a new full-length album featuring their signature blend of complex rhythm, memorable melodicism and sonic exploration, out October 10th on Bird's Robe Records/ dunk!records.
The brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Simeon Bartholomew, SEIMS has evolved into an explorational and formidable band over the course of several records, including their most recent release Four which saw them pick up a sizeable underground audience and launched them on tours around the world, including performances at ArcTanGent (UK), Dunk! Festival (Belgium) and supports for And So I Watch You From Afar (Northern Ireland), sleepmakeswaves (Australia) & Delta Sleep (UK).
The new record V expanded on themes explored on Four with exquisitely crafted arrangements of tracks ranging from complex odd-meter timing to standard rhythmic feels. Preoccupations picks up where Showdown Without A Victim left off, evoking 65daysofstatic’s Wild Lightera mixed with Stranger Things. Chaos Within A Construct continues a similar vein, infused with the relentless energy of contemporaries like And So I Watch You From Afar, but blended with the clean tones and beguiling precision of a mid-west emo math rock band (or Delta Sleep, if you’re more that way inclined). But then you have tracks like the Rush-meets-Oasis-with-a-hint-of-Moby melodic pop-prog ofForever The Optimist which maintains SEIMS unique ability to straddle parallel universes. It’s the perfection of the experimental side that is most appealing with SEIMS. These are sonic explorations, but conducted with compositional mastery by monster players and performers.
The first single ‘Flowing Upstream’ can now be streamed on Bandcamp:
Listen + share:
https://seims.bandcamp.com/track/flowing-upstream
The album was written & produced by Simeon Bartholomew himself, engineered by Tim Carr (We Lost The Sea), mixed by Alex Wilson (sleepmakeswaves) & mastered by Jeff Lipton and Maria Rice at Peerless Mastering, Boston. As well as Simeon performing bass, guitars, synths, piano & vocals himself, it also features blistering performances from Plini drummer Chris Allison, Sam Sheumack (Fangz) on slide guitar, Mark Owen (We Lost The Sea) on guitar, Nataliya Lukich on violins, Monique Turner on violas, Tangents/FourPlay member Peter Hollo on cellos, Tom Botting (Scoredatura) on double basses, Paul Murchison on trumpet & flugelhorn & Luke Bartley on tuba and sousaphone.
Simeon says: "The only true thing I care about in the world is growth. If we’re not trying, we may as well not be trying at all. SEIMS has always had this at the core - try and do something I can’t. Play drums. Play piano. Mix an album. Sing lead vocals. Arrange an entire orchestra. Cross-pollinate as many genres as possible. Write a concept album. Play something in 14/8 but make it groove as if it were 4/4. Try to be a better musician. Try to be a better composer. Try to creatively push myself, and my skill set, with every release. Try to make the uncomfortable, comfortable.
And now being a father to a gorgeous, independent, witty joker - “trying” has so many new meanings. It’s about being able to be on the same plane as someone who has literally only experienced this planet for a mere four years. It’s also about dealing with your own inner demons in a mature manner - trying to role model not just who you are, but helping your child see who they could be.
Flowing Upstream is exactly this. Getting thrown into the deepend of the worst, and trying to embrace it - ending up somewhere new. Abandonment is Expected is all about dealing with the unintentional abandonment of thought from a child - constantly having the stream of consciousness change right before your eyes - and trying to make sense of the why. My Memories Retain Nothing is all about trying to undo the faults of our parents and grandparents. And Forever the Optimist - well, it’s all in the name, isn't it?”
Director of Bird’s Robe Records Mike Solo says: "We’ve been sitting on this for a long time and here it is: the brand new SEIMS album ‘V.’
As always, it’s a stupendous effort from Simeon and his legendary team. I’m still a major fan of the last record FOURand this one takes it up a notch. One louder, if you will. Please check it out and feel the spirit of post-math-experimental-rock take you on a journey."
Initially conceived as a one-man studio project in 2012, the band has expanded into a ferocious live act with some of Sydney’s most talented musicians. SEIMS has shared stages with a diverse array of acts including Tortoise, Regurgitator, We Lost The Sea & Jean Jean. They performed at back to back Progfest events in 2018 & 2019 and have toured Japan twice, featuring at Tokyo’s iconic math-rock festival Bahamasfest.
For the release of V SEIMS have again partnered with Australian label Bird’s Robe and European vinyl label dunk!records.
Pre-order it on limited edition vinyl right here:
Artist: SEIMS
Title: V
Format: LP, CD, Digital
Label: Bird’s Robe Records/ dunk!records
Distribution: MGM
Genre: Experimental Rock
Release Date: 10/10/2025
Tracklist:
1. Double Standards
2. Chaos Within A Construct
3. Forever The Optimist
4. Flowing Upstream
5. Preoccupations
6. Abandonment Is Expected
7. My Memories Retain Nothing
8. Ends Tether
9. A Moment Never Returned
SEIMS - Links:
Official: https://seims.net
Bandcamp: https://seims.bandcamp.com
Instagram: https://instagram.com/SEIMSmusic
Facebook: https://facebook.com/seimsmusic
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@SEIMSmusic
Label: https://birdsrobe.com
3. PERTURBATOR Shares New Atmospheric Single 'The Swimming Pool' From New Album AGE OF AQUARIUS
Credit: James Tegner
PERTURBATOR – the Paris-based composer/producer/multi-instrumentalist James Kent – today released 'The Swimming Pool,' the third single previewing his new album Age of Aquarius due out on October 10th via Nuclear Blast Records. 'The Swimming Pool' is a serene instrumental piano ballad that evokes video game music, fittingly as PERTURBATOR first broke through via the soundtracks to the beloved Hotline Miami shooter games in 2012 and 2015. The track’s gorgeous, moonlit ambiance is vaguely surreal, hinting at a dream that inspired the composition. "'The Swimming Pool' is a little moment of respite in an otherwise mostly aggressive album,” Kent explains. “It's simple, minimalist, and intimate. Inspired by a dream I had years ago in which I found myself stuck in a huge hotel, searching ever so unsuccessfully for the swimming pool.”
'The Swimming Pool' follows album singles 'Apocalypse Now,' featuring lead vocals by Norwegian metal titan Kristoffer Rygg (Ulver), and 'The Art of War,' which earned praise and support from Brooklyn Vegan, Metal Injection, Exclaim!, Metal Sucks, The PRP, New Noise, MXDWN, and more.
Age of Aquarius is available for pre-order HERE
On Age of Aquarius, PERTURBATOR offers up a more propulsive spin on his moody early work, showcasing his most confident, plainly beautiful, and thematically refined music to date. Where his previous album, 2021’s Lustful Sacraments, was about bad habits and addiction, his sixth LP - mastered by Jaime Gomez Arellano (Ghost, Opeth) and also featuring Alcest, Author & Punisher and Greta Link - explores how individualism, conflict, and war are interrelated and dominant societal forces. Both brutal and sublime, Age of Aquarius feels like the musical equivalent of a scream into the existential void.
Kent intentionally chooses very evocative song titles since most of his tracks lack lyrics and primarily convey mood through instrumentals. “I like to think of every album as a movie,” he says. “The tracks are all scenes from that one big movie.” The most brutal scene, then, is 'The Art of War,' which ranks among Kent’s hardest-hitting songs; its vivid, forceful production attests to the two and a half years he spent tirelessly mastering and elevating his signature style (he wrote, recorded, performed, produced, and mixed the record himself, minus the guest vocals and lyrics). The track embodies the very sound of going into battle, and it could well be the album’s thesis. “It's more of war as an idea than a concrete event,” Kent says about the LP’s subject matter. It’s no surprise his distinct style of electronic body music (EBM)–built on a DNA of post-punk, goth, and techno influences–has widely appealed to fans of new wave, industrial, and metal alike (his recent collaborators and tourmates HEALTH are an apt comparison).
We might always be in conflict as a species - with others and ourselves - but with Age of Aquarius, Kent provides its fantastic score.
PRE-ORDER / PRE-SAVE AGE OF AQUARIUS:
https://perturbator.bfan.link/age-of-aquarius
STREAM 'THE SWIMMING POOL':
https://perturbator.bfan.link/the-swimming-pool
WATCH THE VISUALIZER FOR 'THE SWIMMING POOL':
https://youtu.be/aRrITE1m92o
Age Of Aquarius Tracklist:
01. Apocalypse Now (Ft. Ulver)
02. Lunacy
03. Venus (Ft. Author & Punisher)
04. The Glass Staircase
05. Hangover Square
06. The Art of War
07. 12th House
08. Lady Moon (Ft. Greta Link)
09. The Swimming Pool
10. Mors Ultima Ratio
12. Age of Aquarius (Ft. Alcest)