NMS returns to my speakers with "Thermal Narrative Report", a self proclaimed 'culmination of everything (he) wanted to do with this alias'. Heavily based on sampling and tape manipulations, the album delivers a familiar dose of post-internet psychedelia - this time with a more pop-leaning spin, which makes the record sound like vaporwave on acid. I love it.
You can purchase the album here. Stream it after the jump.
Album of the year so far. Dött Ljus' debut project "Bottna" has been on a constant rotation ever since Johan shared the promo with me back in December. It is an incredible organic capsule that alchemically blends house, ambient, and leftfield vibes, managing to make you want to dance while awakening new levels of aural consciousness. It's impossible not to hear lush Old Amica influences as well as Tired Tape Machine's sound design, but ultimately, it's a record that's serves the best of both worlds and stands on its own. Perfect summer chill album.
You can purchase cassettes here. Stream the whole project below.
My man Drew is back with his project Cursewords and a new album "Back 2 The Mud". Cursewords started back in 2011 as a vessel into the witch-house scene, before gradually morphing over the years into a more electronic outlet that channeled Drew's eclectic and expanding taste. As the album's title suggests, "Back 2 The Mud" is a return to his grassroots - a witch-house album powered by influences gained through years of experience producing in other genres. While most of the tracks here ebb toward the witchy realm, glitchy IDM deconstructions ("Pondering" or "RU&UD"), hard-kick breakbeats, and jungle breaks ("2 GR8", "Final Boss") also take the reins of the record, turning it into an Arkham asylum for the dancefloor. It is, however, the ultimate occult banger "Spirit Candle" that stole my heart, taking me back to 2011 once again.
Get the album here, and stream it in full down below.
Ourobonic Plague dropped "Currents" a few months back, as a prequel to "G.A.: Zero: Crystallisation". We're still in dark and gloomy territory, but now charged with faster tempos that point toward industrial witch-house, deconstructed glitch breaks, and mutated techno. "Saucerer" is my jam.
Buy the EP here, and stream it below.
First we had a memeable 2011 banger "Real Is A Feeling", now Travis comes through with a new goth-rom-pop single "Heaven Is A State of Mind", inspired by Depeche Mode. Download the track here.
Sick remix of Okkvlt Katt's "Dorsal Vagal" single from German producer Pepsy. The original came out on Seance label a few months back (and I totally missed it).
Chi-town synth-rockers Replicant return with their third studio album "Daybreaker", promoted with a new single "Voids". The album is now available for pre-order on their Bandcamp page, and it will be released on June 13th.
Isolation Cult / Team Sweden hitmaker Pale Palace delivered one of the hottest mixes in the Mutant Zones series so far, smoothly blending the banging hip-hop, dipset trance, Northern trap and post-witchy electronica into a 100% ethereal hardstyle. A ton of unreleased gems throughout. Stream and download here.
The Streetwise sample about flying has a soft spot in my heart thanks to How To Dress Well who used it in his song "Say My Name Or Say Whatever". Thirteen years later, For Lunar Dust takes it to the next level, inviting the listener to zone out into his liminal world centerd around the quote - now stretched it into an incredible ambient piece called "I Love To Fly". I'm floored, so good.
I††'s "Caput Mortuum" was originally released on CDR back in 2011 by the German witch house label Black Bus Records (founded by Silver Strain). After 14 years, the band decided to share a digital version of the EP and uploaded it to their Bandcamp. This may be my favourite reissue of 2025 so far! I†† found a perfect spot between otherworldly drones, tons of reverb and pulsing beats. It's hard not to pick up some of their influences, ranging from Angelo Badalamenti to MSV, but these are tastefully translated into original and haunting compositions. The opening "Zombie D△nse" is a such a joyful intro, slowww zombie rave, simple yet super catchy and melodic. The middle of the EP is way gloomier, faded and menacing, like a dazed stroll through hell, ending with pulsating dubs of the underworld in "St△nd". There's also a bonus tracks "Satanis", which cleverly completes the EP, coming full circle by once again invoking dragged zombie rave vibes. Really awesome release.
Download / buy the EP here, and stream it all below.
Nine Inch Nails cover by Suffer Ring, this came out last year but I somehow missed it. Download here.
Bflores is the alias of Austin-based electronic producer Ben Ford, who debuted on Vertigo Cult today with a captivating EP "In Absence". It's a short but powerful project that transported me back to the early 2010. Think oOoOO meets DJ Screw and The Caretaker - Ben manages to channel similar dragged trip-hop energy that has this uneasy and almost haunted mood. His tracks ebb toward witch house and vaporwave, but ultimately stay in their own little universe. Really digging this, especially "Looks" with it's Twin Peaks vs OG dubstep vibe.
The EP can be downloaded here, and streamed in full below.
Greg returns with my personal favourite project of his - Yemen Civil Servant. The new album, "Hush Bribes", was released on CD by the purveyors of all-thinks-dark Black Artifact and delves deep into the harsher and noisier corners of the unique Middle Eastern ecosystem YCS build over the last years. Sonic PTSD flashbacks haunt the record throughout, serving a glimpse into the bleak reality of war machine. It's a ruthless, jarring and uncompromising pursuit of battlefield truths through noise and power electronic methods.
You can order CDs here. Stream all the tracks below.