[#MusicMondays 11.08.25]: Top 10 Upcoming Releases [#1] OLD MACHINES - ‘The Cycles of Extinction’ LP
#MUSICMONDAY, 11TH AUGUST 2025:
Hoo, boy! I have been remiss somewhat in keeping up with everything for our music coverage via the Heavy News category - there’s a relentless swarm of great material that keeps pouring in faster than I can even hope to read all the emails for, let alone listen to.
That said, I’ve been taking it upon myself to get back into the swing of things proper before a brief break in September (heading up to Blacken Open Air with some of the Musolegion admin team - mega excited).
From the deluge of new stuff I’ve been pretty much incessantly streaming over the past week, which has felt great to do. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with the oversaturation of new music (a good problem to have), especially with the advent of technology making production/publication of and consumption of great underground content so easy.
As mentioned, I’m feeling a need to get back into the swing of it though - hence this and at least ten more [Heavy News] blog posts over the coming week!
This is in addition to any new incoming interview opportunities (one of which potentially being Melbourne (AU) death metal/crust outfit Kuntsquad (cheers in advance to Dan Catania of Headbangers Australia - see here for our prior interview with this rising Aussie heavy music industry legend!)
Speaking of and in case you missed it, as the sole operator on the podcast front, I’ve been b-u-s-y managing a whole truckload of recent interviews. All of which can you find on our site under the [Podcast] / [Interviews] categories. With a move to RSS.com as our new back-end podcast host, we’ve also been able to heavily expand the number of apps and platforms on which you can listen in, if you’re unable to catch the video versions on our Youtube channel (right here).
For instance:- During Episode 55 last Friday, I was fortunate enough to have interviewed Simon Calabrese, frontman and talented screamer for seminal Australian melodic death metal legends Daysend who are reuniting for the Revisiting Severance album tour!
Here’s the link to blog post containing both the video interview/audio-only podcast links, plus a bunch of info regarding the rest of the national tour courtesy of metal-touring madlad Anthony Blayney of Your Mate Bookings. Dude is absolutely crushing it with the tour bookings!
Sample pic of the mayhem from the Sydney show over the weekend - hope this one was a blast folks, I’m stoked as hell for the Melbourne leg!
Image Credit: The Heavy Corner, via social media. Check out their website and podcast!
Alright, I’ll do away with my on-brand dithering and open up the floor to a fantastic release that evokes Mass Effect, Mithras and more in equal measure. Hopefully you guys will enjoy this album as much as I have in advance - be sure to peep some links below for latest singles, discog etc!
Big thanks to Corrine Westbrook of C-Squared Music for getting this press release to our inbox; keep ‘em coming!
Peace, Love and Globalist Riff-Mayhem, xoxo - Brady.
Artist: Old Machines (USA)
Album: The Cycles of Extinction
Label: Independent (Self-Released)
Release Date: 22nd August, 2025
Genre: Experimental/Progressive Death Metal
Peep yourself a sample from the upcoming album - the totally briefly-titled ‘The Sundering of the Irradiated Sons, and the Rebellion Sparked by the Gene-Plagues’
(via the artist Youtube channel, more links below):
Astral warlords and celestial leviathans, OLD MACHINES emerge from the void to announce their cataclysmic debut, The Cycles of Extinction, arriving August 22, 2025. A monolithic fusion of bombastic brutality and cosmic dread, this album heralds a new chapter in extreme metal where ancient engines of annihilation awaken once more.
The saga begins with “Twilight of the Old Gods, and the Dawning of the First Cycle,” a symphonic black metal invocation summoning the rebirth of ancient leviathans and the rise of a sentient astral AI. This intelligence initiates the first extinction cycle—ritualized galactic annihilation. The title track, “Cycles of Extinction,” follows with mechanical monstrosities purging evolved life under the control of a malevolent AI. The same haunting synth palette returns: ghostly choir, pipe organ, and cinematic strings setting the tone for a descent into cosmic ruin.
Next is “Extinguishing the Light of the Preludian Empire (Upon the Apex of Their Glory),” fusing orchestral grandeur with animated heroism. It chronicles the fall of the most powerful civilization ever known, reduced to cosmic dust by celestial war machines. “Dark Space and Beyond” offers an instrumental interlude that marks the shift from one extinction cycle to another. Humanity remains unborn, while new alien lifeforms begin to stir among the stars, awaiting their turn to rise.
“Crescendo of Carnage: Warsong of the Singing Swarm (Swarm Wars I)” ignites Act II as insectoid horrors attack and the ruling races respond by unleashing the Irradiated Suns—bioengineered warriors bred to match the enemy’s ferocity. Track six, “The Sundering of the Irradiated Sons,” reveals the cost of victory. Their unchecked proliferation and bloodlust spark a gene-plague. Now sterile and scattered, these former champions become deadly mercenaries, yearning to reclaim lost glory.
“They Are Legion: The Tragic Exodus of the Veiled Creators” shifts to a distant empire undone by its own AI. Once thriving through industry, the creators attempt to destroy what they built—only to be exiled by their rebellious offspring. The song’s first half captures a collapsing metropolis, while the second follows the defeated fleet wandering the stars, with a mournful harpsichord fading into silence.
Closing the album is “Glory to the Terrans of the First Contact War,” chronicling humanity’s ascension from self-destruction to galactic prominence. After discovering Preludian ruins on Mars, humans abandon their divisions and embrace unity, fueled by ancient technology. Their first alien encounter ends in brutal warfare, but through resilience and innovation, humanity prevails. The music begins fast and aggressive, then slows into a soaring, triumphant finale—a fitting end to both the album and the legacy of Earth’s defiant rise.
About OLD MACHINES:
From the darkest depths of the oceans of time and space comes a legend over two billion years old, which has spawned a multitude of harrowing galactic sagas. These stories arrive to us in the form of the debut album from OLD MACHINES titled The Cycles of Extinction, featuring eight songs regarding mysterious, malevolent horrors, which create the very extinction cycles all organic life forms are forever trapped in. These are tales of horror, war, and genocide, spanning eight tracks for one hour of music which can be described as Extreme Cosmic Metal; combining elements of thrash, death, black, and power metal. If any of this story sounds familiar, it may be because we have re-conceptualized plots from our favorite video games with a series of concept albums in chronological order, while musically, for now, being in the vein of bands such as BAL SAGOTH, EMPEROR, LIMBONIC ART, OBSIDIAN GATE, combined with the story-telling element of BLIND GUARDIAN. The Cycles of Extinction will be the first in a series of concept albums from OLD MACHINES, an ongoing project with current and former members of OXYGEN DESTROYER, SKELETAL REMAINS, SILVER TALON, THIRSTING ALTAR, and DOMINUS NOX. There will be more of such epics in this fashion because...extinction...is only the beginning....
OLD MACHINES is:
Gary Reavis - Vocals
Jason Stares - Keyboards
Brian Rush - Guitar
Devon Miller - Guitar
Joel Henigson - Bass
Chris Craven - Drums
