The emerging Oakland (USA)-based darkwave/alternative rock band Sword Tongue released a video for "Murder White Noise", showcasing the Bonfire In The Tempest EP, which the band self-released in July this year. The track is a wry commentary on the state of the world and our attempts to soothe ourselves to get through it.
In an increasingly stressful world, this song explores how people try to externalise their anxieties by consuming content that allows them to feel better about their own lives. We attempt to cope with the pressure of maintaining equilibrium by coming together to grieve, worry, and comfort each other, often finding that the only way to feel good about our lives is to reflect on others' misfortunes.
Creating dark music for dark times, Sword Tongue is vocalist Jennifer Wilde and guitarist Gaetano Maleki, a husband and wife who launched this project in the pandemic year of 2020, now joined by renowned drummer-producer Dan Milligan.
Jennifer Wilde comments: "I started consuming true crime content as a way to turn off the thoughts that kept me awake at night and distracted me during the day. One day I told a friend I was a listening to a livestreamed trial where a lady put her husband on a burn pile. She said "WHOAH, what is that, murder white noise?" As I told people about the song, I found many others watch crime stories as a release from their stressful lives. It is important to bring that into the conversation about how we are coping today. Finding comfort in tragedy is new for me; during the pandemic and especially in the last year I find myself needing to look for reassurance that whatever I am facing is not as bad as it could be. 'Murder White Noise' was written as a way to come to grips that someone else's pain is that content, and what that says about where we are as a society right now. Gaetano wrote the perfect guitar line that hooks you in to get to the truth of the song."
Sword Tongue is recommended to fans of A Perfect Circle, KMFDM, Failure, Catherine Wheel, Tool, Cocteau Twins, Holy Wars, The Bellwether Syndicate, Love Spirals Downwards, and Octavian Winters. Link
A.A. Williams has released another video single, "Poison", from her next studio record, Solstice, set to see the light of day on 5 June through Reigning Phoenix Music. Reflecting on...
Original post‑punk icon Peter Murphy first issued "Swoon" in February 2025 as the lead single cut from Silver Shade, his widely acclaimed eleventh long‑player, which was released three...
Moscow‑based post‑DSBM/gothic metal formation Léan emerges as a compelling new coalition of musicians whose combined histories have shaped an arresting sonic identity. The project unites...
German futurepop duo Frozen Plasma have officially returned, and they’ve done so with force. Their new single “Manifest” erupts as a bold, modern club anthem — a track that feels like...
"Art isn't meant to always be pretty and make us feel comfortable and good about ourselves. I'm not afraid to broach difficult emotions and to express the beautiful ones too." - Martin Saint
"There were already bands doing small illustrations of symphonic metal, and I was thinking, why doesn't someone do this all the time?" - Christofer Johnsson
"We go searching for sounds and ideas within ourselves and there in our dreams, in the moments when 'we are not here'." - Elena Alice Fossi
"It's not only about me; everybody deals with identity in a way because the world is asking so much of you all the time. You need to relate to..." - Raven van Dorst
