Exile On Mainstream Records are responsible for putting out a wide variety of releases over the years, and more recently their catalogue couldn't be more eclectic. From the psychedelic doom of Obelyskkh and the math-rock/sludge of Beehoover to the glacial compositions of A Whisper In the Noise and the celestial drone of Darsombra - to name a few. The label also released the powerful collaborative work of Wino and Conny Ochs, and of course their respective solo albums. In 2014, Exile On Mainstream will venture into sonic territory unknown for something very special indeed…

Inspired by sufi-music, mali-blues, western lo-fi pop and avant-garde, Kristian Harting composes songs using his guitar, voice, circuit-bending and effects - pushing to create sounds that are gritty and noisy yet beautiful and pretty - culminating in diverse electronic and acoustic trips. He positions his attitude and approach as “a spiritual journey as well as a physical one", Harting continues to embellish, "it is my way of communicating freely and truthfully and articulate the ever-changing waves of confusion, emotions, ideas, people, power and surroundings, that is my life.”
 
Exile On Mainstream are proud to release Kristian Harting's profoundly personal debut solo album "Float" which channels this approach into a genre-bending form, exorcising the demons he had to battle in his most recent past. In a very personal approach the title refers to what he describes as survival-strategy in a period of his life characterised by an extreme personal, emotional and financial turmoil, so chaotic and exhausting that it almost devastated him: “I had to be like water. Just float. Not think, not try to organise nor control the chaos, the perpetual beats to my chest and slaps in my face. I had to be like water or I would break. Just float around and away. Not crack like a rock or blow out like a fire. It was a spiritual journey. A test.”
 
The work on this album was a free harbour where he could unload the harvest from a furious sea by creating, playing and arranging each part on his own – writing, producing, recording, mixing – finding his own true place. By listening to the intimate recording you can feel the tensions inside it's creator, grabbing, shaping and channeling true emotions into music – an archaic approach but representing what Kristian believes music is made for. Whilst these songs come from a chaotic, dark and desperate place, for Kristian, they remain full of hope and love…“My wish is that anyone listening to them will feel this too.”…he sums up the attitude behind the release. 

Exile On Mainstream urge you to give this music a spin and find yourself drawn into one of the most emotional and challenging albums the label has ever put out, opening a new world, even for them. Label owner Andreas Kohl remarks "the ever changing wish to explore new territories, geographically and musically brought us here and we are truly celebrating one of the finest moments in the label’s history with bringing you this album. Enjoy."

Kristian Harting - Feathered Ghosts (Exile On Mainstream)

Father Murphy are a powerful sonic force comprising Rev. Freddie Murphy (vocals, guitar) and Chiara Lee (vocals, keyboards, percussions). Born nearby Venice, Northern Italy, Father Murphy, with three albums and a plethora of EP’s and limited releases, have over the years become one of the most mysterious and enigmatic musical entities coming out of Italy, part of the community that Simon Reynolds called the new "Italian Occult Psychedelia”.

They are back again, and this time their sermon is delivered in an even more bewildering manner. Pain Is On Our Side Now, due for release on Aagoo Records/Boring Machines, is straddled across two single-sided 10"'s, each containing two movements and intended to be played simultaneously - or maybe not. Father Murphy are not the types to preach the rights and wrongs of participating in their immersive ceremony

For those who haven’t yet delved into Father Murphy's fold, prepare yourself for a brisk stroll on the wild side, where tortured vocals, magmatic drones, sudden outbursts of the blackest chamber music and tangential bursts of childlike melodies find themselves contentedly holding hands.
 
Recorded in a Medieval castle at Itri (the same extraordinary place where Zola Jesus and Gary War have recorded), the EP is a concept of sorts, tackling the many virtues of failure, and the chances we may or may not choose to take at all times, every day.

Pain Is On Our Side Now is bolstered by a cast of characters comprising of, amongst others, Gowns' Ezra Buchla, who sings on 'They Will All Fail You', as well as Italian occult Psych master Gianni Giublena Rosacroce who provides clarinet on 'Let The Wrong Rise With You', with Greg Saunier from Deerhoof on mixing and mastering duties.

Father Murphy keep wandering off the beaten path in to the undocumented dark, following their personal, almost incommunicable quest for truth and meaning – one foot in the grave, or tongues firmly planted in their cheeks? It is difficult to interpret. You decide.


Father Murphy - Pain Is On Our Side Now - album sampler

Martyrdöd have completed recording their fifth album, Elddop, at Studio Fredman - the follow up to the powerful declaration of political rage that was Paranoia in 2012.

  The band’s fifth LP is the most emotionally intrusive record of the Swedish four-piece yet. Relentlessly forcing its way into the most obscure corners of the human mind, Elddop challenges the darkness by way of confronting it, and thus already pierces its way through the black, towards spiritual release.

   The daring 14 song record allows Martyrdöd to elaborate on some of the musical themes and influences that have long characterised their sound. Securely placed in traditional Swedish hardcore punk such as Anti-Cimex, Martyrdöd stands on the shoulders of giants, seeing further, wanting more. Enchanting melodies and Bathory-esque folk music finds a perfect fit in war charged d-beat mayhem.

   They have also recruited Fredrik Reinedahl on bass, who has stacked up production and engineering credits for bands, Sólstafir, Abandon, Burst, Crowpath, Dimension Zero, Gadget and Memfis to name a few.

  Southern Lord are currently plotting a CD/LP release 21 July, with a special European version of the vinyl coming out on La Familia & D-beat Raw Punk

Martyrdöd Track Stream - Elddop

With current and ex-members of Black Mountain, Saviours, Night Horse and other acts merging their collectively callous talents into a jacked-up and unhinged punk/hardcore delivery in Obliterations, the outcome of their Poison Everything LP resembles a mangled, modernised amalgamation of The Stooges, MC5, Laughing Hyenas, Black Flag and Poison Idea surging with a dangerous and adrenaline-fuelled pulse of a back-alley brawl on the verge of going down.

Poison Everything will see worldwide release on Southern Lord on October 14th. Recorded with producer Chris Owens (Lords, Coliseum, Young Widows) at Dave Grohl’s Studio 606 in only three days, mixed by Kurt Ballou (Converge, High On Fire, Black Breath) at God City Studio, and mastered by Brad Boatright (Tragedy, Integrity, Sleep) at Audiosiege, the end result of Poison Everything is a thirteen-song, twenty-nine-minute record full of raw brutality, darkness and aggression, weaving its way through the annals of punk and hardcore, while still sounding fresh and vital. The blueprint isn’t the point here, it’s the results. The sound is abrasive and raw, driving and aggressive, and fully infectious. Obliterations’ mission is simple a one; write, record, tour, and that’s just what they do.



Obliterations - The One That Got Away

 Vancouver's Baptists share the first new track from their upcoming second album, Bloodmines, which is due for release via Southern Lord on 14th October.
  Arriving at the album's mid point, 'Harm Induction' is a volatile, high speed, turbo-charged rager. As the guitar riffs scale to an ear-splitting climax, the vocals also reach the peak of absolute seething anger. Harm Induction is unrelenting, near suffocating, and highly cathartic.

   Like it's predecessor, Bloodmines is a fast, exhilarating album of rage, oozing with genuine raw emotion and punk rock fury. Shards of feedback make way for fast powerful riffs and savage vocals, whilst explosive drumming pumps blood around the band's beating heart.

   On other album tracks like "Vistas", "Calling" and the title track, "Bloodmines", the pace changes, revealing powerful, almost anthemic, jagged noise rock songs (much like influential San Diego post-hardcore band Drive Like Jehu) which go beyond the two minute mark. Discordant guitar melodies and abrasive vocal passages are elongated, still volatile but perhaps allowing for further contemplation of the band's underlying message.


Baptists - Harm Induction

 Convalescence is over and the suffering returns… Hot on the heels of the Southern Lord re-release of their debut album, Torch Runner are back in no time with news of their forthcoming LP, titled Endless Nothing. On it, the North Carolina trio set off rabid grind, repellent metallic clout and hardline vocal harangue in an uncontrolled explosion, which will surely appease fiends that are into filth like Napalm Death, Converge and Nails. Endless Nothing is due for a 29th September release, available as CD and limited edition vinyl formats on Southern Lord.
 
  Torch Runner strike you as exceptionally foul from the gritty get go, with a turbid yet tightly-knotted hardcore storm at the base of their sound. On top of that crunching stomp, they pour a slurry of crust-infected death metal, powerhouse grind pace, and throbbing harsh noise to further increase the severity of proceedings, and the result is simply terrifying. The band, made up of Rob Turner (vocals + bass), Scott Hughes (guitar) and Josh Platt (drums), already have a staggeringly vicious full-length under their belt in Committed To The Ground, released on To Live A Lie Records in 2012 and rereleased by Southern Lord in May of this year, and prior to that, two EPs and a split 7” with Young And In The Way. Now, on Endless Nothing, the band are reaching new depths of audial violence. 

Torch Runner - Godlust

Trollhättan, Sweden-based GUST, in preparation of the upcoming release of their self-titled second LP, and first with Southern Lord, sets a new track from the album loose.

Self-recorded at Fvck Life Studios, and mastered by Brad Boatright (Warcry, From Ashes Rise, Deathreat, Audiosiege Engineering), who also supplies guest vocals to the album, Gust is a crushing but incredibly dynamic album, displaying a unique style of crust-infused hardcore and talented songwriting from the young act. With ten tracks in just under a half-hour, the members of GUST unleash a maelstrom of cutting edge demolition, with cerebral elements continually emerging from the shadows with an almost ethereal effect. Fans of Cursed, Oathbreaker, Rise And Fall, and now-labelmates The Secret, Baptists and Dead In The Dirt will no doubt find something addictive in the band’s harsh output. 
 
“Humility In Disguise,” featuring guest vocals from Brad Boatright, is also playing http://gustsl.bandcamp.com/track/humility-in-disguise

Continuing to tour in advance of the album, GUST has another run of European gigs being solidified for early October, with more on the way, and plans of playing North America for the first time in the developmental stages for 2015. Stand by for further announcements in the coming weeks, as Southern Lord prepares to release Gust on September 16th. 

Preorders for the album are currently available: http://southernlord.com/bands/view/gust

GUST Tour Dates:
10/02/2014 Nordengården - Gothenburg, SE
10/03/2014 Rota Flora - Hamburg, DE
10/04/2014 Köpi - Berlin, DE
10/05/2014 Kawiarnia Naukowa - Krakow, PL
10/06/2014 Na Pul Cesty - Prague, CZ
10/07/2014 TBA - Bratislava, SK
10/08/2014 TBA
10/09/2014 TBA - DE
10/10/2014 TBA - PL
10/11/2014 T-Stube - Rendsburg, DE
10/12/2014 TBA - Malmö, SE



GUST - REALITY CHOKES

Vancouver's Baptists have completed work on their second full length, following their 2013 debut Bushcraft. Entitled Bloodmines, the album was recorded at Godcity Studios in Salem, Massachusetts with with Kurt Ballou, mastered by Brad Boatright - and shall be released via Southern Lord in the UK/EU in October.

   Like it's predecessor, Bloodmines is a fast, exhilarating album of rage, oozing with genuine raw emotion and punk rock fury. Shards of feedback make way for fast powerful riffs and savage vocals, whilst explosive drumming pumps blood around the band's beating heart.

   On album tracks like "Vistas", "Calling" and the title track, "Bloodmines", the pace changes, revealing powerful, almost anthemic, jagged noise rock songs (much like influential San Diego post-hardcore band Drive Like Jehu) which go beyond the two minute mark. Discordant guitar melodies and abrasive vocal passages are elongated, still volatile but perhaps allowing for further contemplation of the band's underlying message.

   Not ones to rest on their laurels, Baptists have found new ways to express their rage and with Bloodmines they have created a memorable and commanding album.

Baptists - Calling

With nearly fifty minutes of Goatsnake’s most soulful and boisterous material to date, the quartet expands their already mammoth tones and pummeling rock riffs with a variety of additional influences and elements on Black Age Blues, an instant classic, with each one of the nine songs an anthem, and each of its members — vocalist Pete Stahl (Scream), drummer  Greg Rogers (The Obsessed), bassist Scott Renner and guitarist Greg Anderson (Sunn O))), Southern Lord Recordings) — all in top form. With guest contributions from David Pajo (Slint, Aerial M, Papa M) and soul vocal trio Dem Preacher’s Daughters, comprised of Wendy Moten, Gale Mayes and Andrea Merrit, the album was recorded and mixed at Rock Falcon Franklin, Tennessee by Nick Raskulinecz (Queens Of The Stone Age, Foo Fighters, Alice In Chains, Mastodon, Rush) and mastered by Brian Big Bass Gardner (N.W.A., Stevie Wonder, Parliament).
 
Goatsnake Live Actions:
5/20/2015 Complex – Glendale, CA *Black Age Blues Record Release Show w/ Bl’ast, Eagle Twin [info]
5/24/2015 Maryland Deathfest – Baltimore, MD [info]
5/30/2015 Temples Festival – Bristol, UK [info]
6/01/2015 De Kreun – Kortrijk, BE
6/02/2015 Melkweg – Amsterdam, NL
6/03/2015 SO36 – Berlin, DE
6/04/2015 Freakvalley Festival – Siegen, DE [info]
6/07/2015 AN Club – Athens, GR
6/20/2015 Crucialfest – Salt Lake City, UT [info]
  
http://www.southernlord.com
http://southernlord.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/SLadmin 

Goatsnake track premiere - Grandpa Jones

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