#MusicMonday 18.08.25]: Upcoming Release Radar.
Good evening, folks!
It’s been quiet on the ISC front over the past week in terms of posts published, aside from our recent coverage of The Dillinger Escape Plan’s frantic Melbourne show last Wednesday - you can check out said review right here. I’ll also be putting out a Gallery of Brewicide article with additional photography care of Richie Black later tonight!
Until then, there’s been a number of interesting promos I’ve caught via our perpetually-overflowing inbox. As usual, these are releases I/we have personally vetted, with a focus on emerging/underground international acts.
If the music video/streaming links pique your interest below, be sure to check out the artist links - you never know when you’ll find a surprise or even a new musical fixation! Enjoy.
Peace, Love and Music as Anti-Mondayitis - Brady.
Release Radar: Upcoming Albums/EPs, Mon 18th Aug 2025
Sundrowned (NOR) - Higanbana (out September 2025 via Independent Release)
Four long years after the release of their critically lauded debut album "Become Ethereal", Western Norway’s Sundrowned are set to return later this year with "Higanbana", an album that pushes their unique blend of post-metal power and shimmering ethereal melody into more striking new horizons.
Known for weaving dense, atmospheric soundscapes without ever losing sight of melody, Sundrowned stand apart from many of their post-metal and blackgaze peers. As Metal Trenches noted, “Compared to other bands that have been given the post metal and blackgaze tags, Sundrowned doesn’t try to drown you with a wall of abrasive sound that leads into melodic passages, instead letting the melodies drive the foundation of their songwriting.”
On "Higanbana", the band continues their conceptual exploration of the human condition through the lens of classical alchemy. This time, their focus is on the cycle of life itself, on how death feeds the earth and, in turn, gives rise to new life. It’s a theme that finds its mirror in the album’s musical journey: opening with the barren stillness of Barren, then gradually unfolding into lush, melodic, and playful passages that evoke rebirth, wonder, and introspection.
Drawing comparisons to Rosetta and Cult of Luna, yet steeped in the shimmering textures of Alcest and classic shoegaze, Sundrowned create a sound that feels both immense and intimate, a sonic landscape rooted in the rugged beauty of their homeland.
Their 2021 debut earned praise from outlets across the globe, with Echoes and Dust calling it “post-black metal perfection, where the harshness of pain contrasts beautifully with the joy of catharsis.” "Higanbana" looks set to build on that reputation, offering listeners a deeper, more expansive vision of the band’s creative world.
The album was written by J.A. Piscopo & G.L. Innocent, produced alongside Ørjan Kristoffersen Lund and Morten Fjeld, and recorded at Bridge Burner Recordings in Stavanger, with vocals tracked by Tom Poole Kerr at Green Engine Recording. Morten Fjeld handled the final mix and mastering, ensuring the album echoes with clarity and power.
Drown Your Local Star, Via These Links:
2. Falling Leaves (UAE/Jordan) - The Silence That Blinds Us (out Sept 5th, via Independent Release)
After more than a decade, Falling Leaves returns with their second full-length, The Silence That Binds Us, featuring guest appearances by Paul Kuhr (vocalist – Novembers Doom) and renowned session musicians like Fabio Alessandrini (drummer – Bonfire, Annihilator), Ariel Perchuk (keyboards – Kenziner, Roger Staffelbach). Mixed by Alessandro Comerio at Daemon Star Studio in Italy and mastered by the incomparable Dan Swano, the album stands as a mature and emotionally charged testament to the band’s growth and perseverance. The Silence That Binds Us will be out on September 5th.
Now based in Dubai, UAE, Falling Leaves originally emerged from Amman, Jordan to carve out a distinctive niche within the melodic death doom metal genre. Their sound is a tapestry woven with themes central to doom metal—despair, existential dread, and the passage of time—offering heavy yet melodic soundscapes that transcend genre confines to deliver introspective intensity.
The band got their start in the same year with a self-released demo, introducing a sound that was both ethereal and crushing to an emerging fan base. In 2012, they released their debut full-length, Mournful Cry of a Dying Sun, under Endless Winter. Mixed and mastered at Clintworks in Hamburg by Dennis Israel (former assistant to Jens Bogren, famed for work with Opeth and Amon Amarth), the album was enriched by contributions from Paul Kuhr, Pete Johansen (The Sins of Thy Beloved, Morgul, Tristania), and Olof Gothlin (Draconian), surging with waves of emotional and sonic depth.
The upcoming album, The Silence That Binds Us, is a powerful continuation of the band’s legacy. “This album marks an important chapter for us,” the vocalist Bashar Haroun affirms. “After so many years, it feels great to finally share something we truly believe in. Every song reflects a piece of who we are today — honest, emotional, and real.”
The album opens amid the shock of broken trust and memories that wound as deeply as they comfort. It travels through solitude and regret, where absence settles like a weight growing heavier with time. Wounds remain open, and the blur between reality and memory grows until even pain feels like a distant echo. It concludes with Re-Silence (Silence Pt. III), the third and final installment in a long-standing tradition within the band’s discography, where silence once filled with anguish settles into something enduring and unshakable.
The songs unfold with emotive leads and dark, bending chords layered over rich keys and steady, precise drumming — mostly slow, but sometimes breaking out into fierce blast beats. Those rare moments of intensity, paired with pulsating riffs and restless melodies, prevent the sound from slipping fully into funeral doom’s bleakest corners, even though it borrows from that style.
Travis Smith’s haunting tableau of faceless figures tied by invisible threads fits perfectly with Murad Juneydi’s lyrics, which explore anonymity, isolation, and the quiet connections between presence and absence — where silence is both the scar and the solace.
WATCH the Promo Video:
STREAM the Lyric Video for “We Are Alone”:
Track Listing:
1. Carvings
2. The Angel on My Shoulder
3. We Are Alone
4. Ashes of My Mind
5. Shattered Hopes
6. The Everlasting Wounds
7. The Visions of the Forsaken
8. Re-Silence (Part III)
Band Lineup:
Bashar Haroun – Vocals
Ala’a Swalha – Guitars
Fadi Stanboulieh – Guitars
Ali M – Bass
Pre-Order/Pre-Save The Silence That Binds Us:
https://fallingleavesband.bandcamp.com [starts August 15]
https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/fallingleaves/the-silence-that-binds-us
3. Hebephrenique (Australia) - Decathexis (out 23rd August, via Gutter Prince Cabal)
Hot on the heels of their psychotic, delirium-inducing debut EP Non Compos Mentis, Australian death-metal outfit Hebephrenique returns with another dose of mental disintegration in the form of their first full-length album, Decathexis.
Out August 23rd, via Gutter Prince Cabal and Brilliant Emperor Records, the album expands their warped fusion of dissonant death metal, industrial black metal, and sheer emotional chaos. Think Gorguts by way of Mayhem, filtered through Anaal Nathrakh’s violent theatrics and a heavy dose of dystopian dread.
Decathexis is a whirlwind of spite-fueled vocals, mechanical precision, and hypnotic ambience, anchored by songwriting that hurts as much as it surprises. It’s more technical, more aggressive, and somehow even more unstable than their acclaimed EP, a deeper dive into madness and alienation.
Decathexis Yourself via These Links:
Hebephrenique:
Gutter Prince Cabal:
Brilliant Emperor Records:
4. Electromancy (USA) - Visions of Utopia (out 10th September, via Independent Release)
ELECTROMANCY is thrilled to announce their new album, Visions of Utopia, arriving September 10th, 2025. Blending the frostbitten chaos of black metal, the crushing weight of doom, and the visceral ferocity of death metal, this seven-track journey dives into the emotional landscape of composer and multi-instrumentalist Steph Tranovich’s experience with chronic illness and disability. From searing despair and cathartic rage to fragile hope, Visions of Utopia is both a sonic onslaught and a testament to perseverance—turning pain into power and offering light to those navigating their own darkness.
Steph shares, “Visions of Utopia doesn’t lose sight of my struggles, but it sees a future that’s bright and hopeful and right over the horizon. These past few years I’ve seen a lot of progress in my health—and also some intense relapse. But I’ve grown again and have been finding ways to really thrive given my disability. This album takes you through that journey: hope, relapse, recovery, and a renewed appreciation for life.”
The album opens with “Intro,” a stark spoken-word track that lays the foundation for ELECTROMANCY’s story. Against a backdrop of haunting ambience and mechanical drone, it unflinchingly recounts the band's origin, their use of robotic instruments as assistive tech, and Steph’s personal evolution through illness. It sets the emotional tone for the record’s fusion of blackened intensity, doomy heft, and experimental death metal edge—grounding listeners in the human experience behind the cybernetic sound.
“Utopic Visions,” the second track, is a defiant incantation for a better world. It acknowledges the crushing weight of personal and collective suffering, but refuses to stop there—choosing instead to conjure something brighter. Downtuned guitars bring weight; piercing highs give shape; glitching synths and swirling textures enhance the hypnotic pull, while Shaun Gallagher’s commanding vocals slice through with clarity and conviction. It’s a dream of Utopia cast in distortion and dissonance, built for those ready to imagine—and fight for—something more.
Track three, “Brief Moments of Total Collapse,” captures the brutal volatility of chronic illness: one moment you’re rising, the next you’re falling harder than before. Its short runtime mirrors the rapid descent into relapse, while sharp dynamic shifts and death metal ferocity channel the whiplash of losing control. It’s a violent flash of vulnerability—a sonic snapshot of how quickly the ground can disappear beneath you.
At the emotional core of the album lies “Nonlinear Healing,” a sweeping ten-minute epic that embraces the messy, spiral-shaped nature of recovery. Weaving between grief and hope, open harmonies and bitter dissonance, it acknowledges that healing isn’t linear—it’s a process full of backslides, slow climbs, and moments of quiet resilience. Blackened textures, mournful doom, and layered melodies mirror this ebb and flow, settling not in triumph, but in steady perseverance. Sometimes, as Steph says, “the only thing we can do is keep moving forward.”
“Repair,” track five, offers a tonal shift—a flash of sunlight after the storm. This short, lively track bursts with playful energy, featuring call-and-response vocals that lift the refrain “up and up.” It’s a reminder that rebuilding can be joyful, even fun; that healing includes laughter, motion, and moments of celebration.
Next comes “Thriving Cyborg,” a groove-laden ode to adaptation and gratitude. Drawing from Steph’s lived experience of thriving with assistive technology, the track celebrates the communities, tools, and creativity that make life possible and fulfilling. Its funk-infused rhythm, bursts of synth, and hands-on manipulation of robotic instruments reflect the seamless blend of organic and inorganic at the heart of ELECTROMANCY’s identity. A brief moment of heaviness nods to continued struggle, but it’s the triumphant, polyrhythmic crescendo that defines this nine-minute track’s spirit—resilient, euphoric, and alive.
Closing the album is “Static Ecstatic,” a meditation on finding joy in the overlooked moments of daily life. Fusing blackened atmosphere, doomy depth, and experimental textures, the song explores the quiet fulfillment that emerges not from grand victories, but from stillness, presence, and the strange wonder of simply existing. It’s a gentle but powerful resolution—a final breath that grounds the listener after a journey of storms. In true ELECTROMANCY form, the record ends not with spectacle, but with hard-won peace.
About ELECTROMANCY:
Forged at the intersection of grief, resilience, and radical creativity, ELECTROMANCY is a boundary-defying black/doom/death metal duo from the Bay Area blending blistering sonic chaos with DIY robotics and raw human emotion. Formed in June 2019 by composer and multi-instrumentalist Steph Tranovich (they/them), alongside co-vocalist Shaun Gallagher (he/him), ELECTROMANCY uses custom-built robotic instruments as a form of assistive technology—enabling Steph to continue making music despite their chronic illness. Their discography, spanning from the brutal Technopagan to the emotionally complex Visions of Utopia, chronicles Steph’s journey through disability and healing, channeling pain, perseverance, and moments of cathartic joy. With influences like THOU, MESHUGGAH, and LITURGY, the band fuses intricate polyrhythms with avant-garde metal, while exploring themes of queer identity, grief, and radical strength. Their live shows are visceral, theatrical experiences—robot guitars and LED-lit mannequins sharing the stage with two unapologetically human voices. ELECTROMANCY isn’t just for metal fans—it’s for anyone searching for something different, something real, and something powerful.
ELECTROMANCY is:
Steph Tranovich (they/them) - composition, robotics, vocals
Shaun Gallagher (he/him) - vocals
5. Haraball (Norway) - Fear of the Plow (out 19th September, via Fysisk Format)
After years of gestation, hibernation, and (probably) procrastination, Norwegian punk outsiders Haraball are back with Fear of the Plow, their most unhinged and gloriously unpredictable album to date.
Following up 2019’s Hypno, this new record dives deeper into the sonic identity Haraball stumbled upon by accident and then decided to keep: a volatile blend of hardcore, 60's psych-rock, post-punk, and whatever else they had lying around that didn’t make them cringe. Somehow, the result is even darker, rawer, and yes, uglier than before. But not without the occasional accidental beauty.
“This time, parts of it almost sound pretty,” the band admits. “Some might even say it sounds mature. And we’ll just have to live with that.”
Recorded at PLEASE! (an actual studio, not just a cry for help), Fear of the Plow was produced, recorded, and mixed by Trond Mjøen, who’s managed to squeeze in so much noise and texture into the mix, you might as well forward all your calls and vanish into your headphones.
Lyrically, the album drifts between brutal honesty and sci-fi absurdity, tackling the heavy themes of turning 40, aging bread, and a 900-year-old man who may or may not be the band’s spirit animal. The title track, “Fear of the Plow,” takes inspiration from Roko’s Basilisk, a terrifying internet theory involving AI and the doom of humanity, which the band wisely recommends you do not Google.
Line-up Note: When bassist Vegard moved to Moss and exited the band, William Øberg took over on bass. Trond now sounds like two guitars (which he insists is no problem). Vegard is still on the album though, which means he can now sip beers at shows and collect royalties from Tono like the rest of us wish we could.
Credits:
All songs by HARABALL
Lyrics by Jon Eivind Eriksen
Cover art by Esra Røise
Recorded at PLEASE!
Produced/Recorded/Mixed by Trond Mjøen
Mastered by Espen Høydalsvik at Oslo Fuzz
Line-Up:
Jon Eivind Eriksen - Vocals
Vegard Holthe - Bass
Daniel Wakim - Drums/Percussion
William Øberg - Guitars/Backing Vocals
Trond Mjøen - Guitars
TIME to play HAR(A)BALL:
Haraball:
https://www.facebook.com/haraballsack
https://www.instagram.com/haraball
Fysisk Format:
https://fysiskformat.no
https://www.facebook.com/fysiskformat
https://www.instagram.com/fysiskformat