Artist: Hex A.D.
Title: Delightful Sharp Edges
Format: 2xLP, CD, Digital
Label: Apollon Records 
Distribution: Plastic Head Distribution
Genre: Heavy Metal
Release Date: 12/05/2023

Hex A.D. returns with their most epic project to date! The upcoming double LP Delightful Sharp Edges is a concept album that deals with genocide. The record is a three-part narrative that takes the listener on a musical and lyrical journey into the horrors and tragedies of organized liquidation on a massive scale. Musically speaking the band has ventured into new melodic territories inspired by Thin Lizzy and Wishbone Ash, as well as having gone deeper into their doomy and progressive roots. The stories told through the lyrics have dictated much of the musical expression on this massive piece of work, and it’s safe to say that this album sees Hex A.D. show their most larger-than-life tendencies.

Never has a Norwegian band gone this far in creating a proper concept album in the proud tradition of the masters from the 1970s, and this one truly hits the mark. It has become a roller-coaster ride of emotions, from the haunting, sweet and the epic to the doomy and spine chilling. To be able to reproduce this grand new sound in a live setting, the band have added a second drummer and an additional guitar player. Both musicians go back decades with the members of Hex A.D, either as stand-ins or from associated past projects. 

Artist: Kodiak Empire
Title: The Great Acceleration
Format: LP, CD, Digital
Label: Bird’s Robe Records
Distribution: MGM
Genre: Progressive/ Experimental Rock
Release Date: 02/06/2023

Australian progressive/experimental rock group Kodiak Empire will release their new record The Great Acceleration on Friday 2 June.

The record continues their successful partnership with Australian label Bird’s Robe, which began in 2021 with the international release of their Silent Bodies record.

Featuring their acclaimed singles The Difference and Animist which blend influences as diverse as The Mars Volta, Silverchair and Circa Survive, the record reveals the young group’s potential as one of the most truly exciting prospects on the world progressive music scene.

Mike Solo, Director of Bird’s Robe, says this of the record: “When the guys showed me the makings of this record a few years ago, I found myself completely immersed in the world they created. I’m so excited to share this with as many people as possible, it deserves to be heard and appreciated. They’re a lovely group of guys and have done such a great job putting these songs together. Please give it a share and a listen if you like it!”

Kodiak Empire have earned plaudits for their live shows, including performances alongside COG, sleepmakeswaves, Caligula’s Horse & more.

Tracklist
1. The Difference
2. Within the Comfort 3. Animist
4. Maralinga
5. Marcel

Links
Order: https://kodiakempire.bandcamp.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KodiakEmpire
Label: https://birdsrobe.com

Download press assets here

Artist: Lars Fredrik Frøislie
Title: Fire Fortellinger
Format: LP, CD, Digital
Label: Karisma Records
Distribution: Plastic Head Distribution
Genre: 70’s Prog
Release Date: 02/06/2023

Debut solo album from Wobbler’s Lars Fredrik Frøislie! Fitting perfectly into the 70s prog-rock tradition where the keyboardist makes a solo album between the band albums, this is music Frøislie has been doing, mostly alone, during the pandemic. Had it not been for the pandemic, much of the material would probably have ended up on a new Wobbler album – but then run through the Wobblergrinder and with English lyrics. In other words, this is unpeeled and raw, as spontaneous as possible without going through too many rounds of processing. Trying to preserve the impulsive – much of what you hear is improvised, and one-takes (preferably with playing errors and piano strings that break and the like). Trying to preserve the human aspect to a large extent, avoiding click tracks, auto-tune, MIDI or too much technology. Expect lots of old analogue keyboards such as cembalo, Mellotron, MiniMoog, Yamaha CP70 andHammond organ.

Four tunes; Four stories. The first song Rytter av dommedag is themed around Ragnarok, when King Rakne awakens in his large burial mound outside Romerike and, together with the old gods, creates real mischief. 

Artist: Klidas
Title: No Harmony
Format: LP, CD, Digital
Label: Bird’s Robe Records
Distribution: MGM
Genre: Experimental Rock
Release Date: 02/06/202

Italian experimental rock group Klidas will release their debut record No Harmony on Friday 2 June through Australian labelBird’s Robe.

The band originally came together in 2014, before expanding to a lineup incorporating guitars, bass, drums, saxophone, keyboards & synth. They cover a wide array of genres, from jazz to psychedelia, alternative rock & prog.

The band’s name is a Czech word meaning ‘giant of silence.’ In the band’s words: “silence is a prerequisite and indispensable pillar of every listening experience. Every act of sound, however chaotic, gives way to silence.”

Artist: Lumsk
Title: Fremmede Toner
Format: 2xLP, CD, Digital
Label: Dark Essence Records
Distribution: Plastic Head 
Genre: Folk Prog Rock
Release Date: 05/05/2023

Fremmede Toner takes its name from a collection of poems by Norwegian author André Bjerke and his translations of the most famous poets in Europe and North America like Nietzsche, Goethe, Swinburne etc. This record is based on some of these poems and the idea to compose music to the Norwegian versions, and then try to mirror these songs using the original poems. The songs are not the same, but in a way similar. Musically, Lumsk continues on the path which earned them international recognition in the past; A unique blend of metal and Nordic folk music bound in rich textures and clever arrangement, this time delivering their most varied and intriguing album to date.

Artist: Leagus
Title: Flora Eallin
Format: 2xLP, CD, Digital
Label: Is it Jazz? Records
Distribution: Plastic Head Distribution
Genre: Contemporary Experimental
Release Date: 28/04/2023

Leagus is a contemporary and experimental musical duo from Sápmi, Norway, whose music alternates between formal composed parts, open structures, and free improvisation, and ranges from subdued, minimalistic, psalm-like pieces, to more rock-oriented improvised parts.

Consisting of pianist Herborg Rundberg and guitarist Kristian

Svalestad Olstad, Leagus was originally formed in 2013 by Herborg, as part of her Masters degree in Rhythmic Music at the Tromsø Conservatory, where Kristian had also received his Masters degree in the same subject two years earlier.

Artist: Mushroom Giant
Title: In A Forest
Format: LP, CD, Digital
Label: Bird’s Robe Records
Distribution: MGM
Genre: Instrumental Rock
Release Date: 28/04/2023

Mushroom Giant have announced the release of their highly anticipated new album In A Forestthrough Australian label Bird’s Robe.

They will celebrate the release of the record with their European debut at Belgium’s Dunk Festival in May, alongside WE LOST THE SEA, MAYBESHEWILL, GOD IS AN ASTRONAUT & AND SO I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR.

Before they depart, they will also perform with Japanese post-rock legends MONO in Melbourne in March, as well as co-headlining at The Vanguard in Sydney on May 6 with SEIMS & SOLKYRI.

Artist: Svntax Error
Title: The Vanishing Existence
Format: 2xLP, CD, Digital
Label: Bird’s Robe Records
Distribution: MGM
Genre: Psychedelic Post-Rock 
Release Date: 21/04/2023

Australian experimental rock group Svntax Error will release their second album The Vanishing Existence April 21, 2023 through Bird’s Robe Records. The Vanishing Existence follows their well-received debut record Message.

Svntax Error will also make their debut international performances in May, performing at Belgium’s Dunk Festival on 19 May and The Black Heart in London on 22 May.

Artist: Edredon Sensible
Title: Montagne Explosion
Format: LP, CD, Digital
Label: self-released
Distribution: L’Autre Distribution
Genre: Free Jazz/ Improv
Release Date: 31/03/2023

Trance music, minimalist jazz almost primitive. Explosive. This is the Edredon Sensible quartet, from Toulouse, France on their new album Montagne Explosion.

In their music we find ardour and faith, body and mind. Two relentless polyrhythmic drummers and two tenor and baritone saxophonists take an insane pleasure in stretching out attacks and playing them in infinite loops, refreshing lovers of an elementary but wild jazz, focused on trance, with their roots set in every continent.

Artist: The Black Cat’s Eye 
Title: The Empty Space Between A Seamount And Shock-Headed Julia 
Format: LP, CD, Digital
Label: Tonzonen Records
Distribution: Soulfood Music
Genre: Psychedelic Rock
Release Date: 24/03/2024

The Black Cat’s Eye is glaring fuzz, bass and drum riffs, interwoven chord pickings and lead guitars rooted in the blues – sometimes screaming, singing or rough. And above everything, the instrumental and song melody hovers almost like a hymn. With their musical style, the band, founded in Frankfurt am Main in 2018, is directly linked to the ’60s and ’70s – the great era of psychedelic rock.

In this way, the five-member musician collective approaches their songs with a keen sense of experimentation. The result is a world of sound lands into which you can completely immerse yourself. Time plays no role here, which is why a single piece can last 13 minutes.

The band commnents: “Our music does not describe concrete processes and is not inspired by such. It should and can stand for itself. If our listeners are inspired to their own imaginary journeys via the sound of the music, if films, landscapes and atmospheres arise in their mind’s eye, then the music has developed its best possible effect.“