The Bay Area based psychedelic band, Golden Void is preparing to release their sophomore album, Berkana. The new record features Isaiah Mitchell (of Earthless) on lead guitar along with Camilla Saufley-Mitchell on keyboards and vocals, Aaron Morgan on bass, and Justin Pinkerton on Drums.

Golden Void has perfected the psych-metal crunch they’ve been crafting since their 2012 debut. Recorded by Tim Green of The Fucking Champs, Berkana is full of muscular riffs, soaring melodic leads, swirling organs, and a gliding groove - a guitarist’s playground which lead shredder Isaiah Mitchell fully takes to task with an electric energy. The band also shows a remarkable level of restraint and maturity here, patiently adding layer upon layer as the songs develop into thick slabs of sonics well worth digging into.

The album is due out in September 18, 2015 on Thrill Jockey Records. Golden Void will be celebrating their album release at The Chapel on September 19th with Mermen and Kehoe International!

Sometimes all a straight killer music video needs is a good fuckin’ setting, a cool ass scene of folks into the shit in front of them, and a few dicks, fart clouds, battle axes, demon tongues and horns ’n skeletons drawn all over the frames. That, at least, is the winning combo for the new vid by long-hair havers and dive-bar rockers Sweat Lodge, who (in conjunction with Kash Powers) used to make the visual accompaniment to the deeply early metal of track “Bed of Ashes.” Speaking of the young days of the big-chord, reverbed-up, psych-on-edge version of metal, this video reads like the music-and-quick-cuts intro to a movie about metalhead kids in those simple, patched denim vest loving days, being slammed full of fuck-off attitude, booze and weed and characters aplenty partaking in both of ‘em and what’s obviously a show that everyone is pretty fuckin into, all with hair a’bangin’ in the dingy, slightly-vomit scented air of one of Austin’s least 6th Street bars, The Grand on Airport Boulevard. All stories I know of and have been part of that take place at The Grand are on the “what even is sobriety” end of the debauched scale, and from the looks of things, Sweat Lodge and their crew of merry friends are there these days makin’ damn sure the place doesn’t go and do somethin’ dumb like getting more respectful or whatever.

Looked at as a peak into a very different kind of scene than that which you’ll typically find at the more mainstream venues in town, this video ain’t just a hell of a track to throw one back to and get raucous with, it could also be taken as an invitation to a scene in Austin that doesn’t give a fuck about flannels or manscaping, if of course you can find it and you ain’t an asshat. The Deli wants more of this, and Austin’s soul kinda needs it. Please keep it up Sweat Lodge, and the rest of y’all turkeys need to switch out some of those quiet ass records you got for somethin’ louder ASAP, ya hear? This is a hell of a good place to start.

A brand new single from the San Francisco based experimental black metal band, Mamaleek has emerged. The new track is entitled, Nothing But Loss and is the very first single to be released from the musical duo's (who are also brothers) upcoming full length album, Via Dolorosa (which Vice kindly defined as "Way of Suffering" in Latin, a reference to the street in Jerusalem down which Jesus supposedly dragged himself to his death).

The exciting thing about Nothing But Loss is that it is not normal at all. It's an intense metal track that sounds like the guitar riffs are being guided with a slide (if you're not sure what is slide is or what slide guitar is, it would behoove you to look it up for reference) and has almost a country, honky tonk style to it. It's pretty cool to hear the guitars wail and whine beneath death metal vocals. The graveling screaming is almost romanticized because of the slight sweetness of the music, as Mamaleek chose to write the song in a higher octave, so it's not the usual creepy black metal style that's played in the lowest tones of E or A. The unique choices the band makes in regards to how they interpret black metal makes them all the more relevant as a ground breaking band.

At the end of the song, it slows down and breaks down a bit to create a dramatic tapering off of strangeness. The song is surprisingly pleasing to listen to and has a lot of character. They have a scary band name and an even scarier album name, but don't let that put you off. Mamaleek's new album is due out on May 26th via The Flesner Records

 Richmond's metal scene is already legend, and it just keeps gettiing better. Case in point: Sinister Haze. The members have been around the scene for quite some time, but Sinister Haze itself is relatively young, having dropped their first demo in 2013. It promised something for old and new fans of metal alike, digging deep into classic heavy psychedelia to mix with the Doom. They've kept us waiting for more, and they're finally releasing an EP, Betrayed By Time, through Heavy Stab Records on vinyl next month you can pre-order it now at the link). 

Check out the track below, "Change My Ways," premiered on Noisey, and catch them on their national tour, starting Tuesday April 28th at Strange Matter in Richmond.   

The Lifts are full throttle rock n’ roll fusion. Their music contains elements of progressive rock, metal and blues; a strong combination of muscle, imagination and weight. Their self-titled EP has what it takes, hitting us hard, endowing us with wit and an artistic certainty. Showing off their biceps, you are instantly satisfied. “What’s Her Face” is pure rock n’ roll with an ambitious sound. “The Sky is Peeling” sinks its teeth into you with grunge grit, heavy guitars and a luscious delayed vocal. “Darling” beats a drum with a heavy bellowing bluesy backbone and a vocal that “doesn’t let us down”. The last track on the EP “Mescal Blues” knocks on your heart with an unforgettable melody, as if you have known it forever; pulling its weight of heavy combinations of dark and light sounds. Don’t miss The Lifts this Friday March 20th @ The Cameron House.