Set within the aftermath of The Last Light, Horizons Demise follow the story of SIGNAL — the band’s enigmatic frontman and the voice chosen to carry a transmission from the ruins of humanity. Guided by the sentient archiver known as The Algorithm of the Collapse, SIGNAL is forced to confront a brutal question: was mankind destroyed by chance, or was extinction always the inevitable consequence of human nature?

“The World Deserves To Die” explores that moment of judgement. It is not simply a song about destruction, but about blame, consequence and the uncomfortable realisation that the end may have been earned. The track combines the band’s 2000s-inspired metalcore foundations with a darker, cinematic edge, pushing the lore of Horizons Demise further into focus.

Following their debut EP The Last Light and singles including “Dead and Buried,” “In Her Eyes” and “The World Deserves To Die,” Horizons Demise continue to build their identity as one of the UK underground’s most distinctive emerging metalcore acts. With a growing live presence and narrative-driven visuals, the band are now preparing for the release of their next EP, Calibration Protocol, due towards the end of 2026.

“The World Deserves To Die” Single is available on all platforms and will be accompanied by the music video on 18th September.

• “Beauty in Darkness” follows “Far From Home,” which featured a full orchestra. What led you to move away from that setup this time, and how did you approach building the album’s scale without it?

So, first of all, thank you very much for this interview and the wonderful review that goes with it! Actually, the way the album was put together was the same as for *Far From Home*, because I worked very closely with Thomas Kubler on the arrangements and orchestrations right from the start! He took my complete compositions (songwriting = Strings/Piano…) and orchestrated them, incorporating strings and pianos! The decision not to use an orchestra is, of course, a question of cost, as it’s really expensive to hire one – even though the Budapest orchestra offers more reasonable rates. I’ll now reserve that for film scores, depending on the directors or producers who place their trust in me/us, and perhaps for certain shows in the future – if possible, for a DVD or Blu-ray release, why not as Devin Townsend for the Moth ! Furthermore, I find that Thomas’s orchestrations, performed naturally without an orchestra, have a more massive sound than a standard orchestra, and I prefer that. It’s also simpler to weave all the elements together with the electric sounds! As for the vocals, I’ve actually recorded them – and asked the guest vocalists to record theirs – on the orchestral tracks rather than the electronic ones, which, in my view, gives a much more consistent result than on *Far From Home*. It’s a step forward. Some shows will also be performed using the orchestral tracks (acoustic) to create an even more cinematic feel, à la Hans Zimmer, but with my own artistic touch!

• You’ve said you’ve been the main songwriter and composer since “Far From Home.” How has that shift in role changed the way you write compared to the Constellia and Secret Garden era?

So you should know that for about 20 years now, I’ve composed around 500 improvisations on the electric guitar (my first instrument), where I’ve developed a good level of technical skill, and especially on the keyboard, which – like Hans Zimmer – allows me to escape to other realms and pick up on frequencies and vibrations that come from elsewhere! Interpretations of books such as Stephen King’s *The Shining*, and so on… Anything is possible across all genres, and it is this variety that I hope to bring to my future projects and creations! Each one will be a quite different world! I’ve sung in various ensembles before , choirs younger and across different registers, which has allowed my singing to evolve from album to album and reach a professional standard – according to renowned coaches and sound engineers – now more than ever before! For *Constellia* / *Secret Garden*, I enlisted the help of a French composer to assist me in to work through the various stages of creating an album and feel more confident about future projects! I’d written about twenty very epic pieces that I regularly played on the keyboard in preparation for concerts! I wanted to use massive orchestrations – or even a full orchestra – right from the start, but in the end things turned out differently! I always maintained my artistic vision throughout, though; in the end, I decided to go for radio-friendly compositions. My themes, composed on the keyboard and piano (not the full epic compositions), were therefore used and retaken for 12 tracks, and he then wove melodies over them, incorporating some contemporary elements! We then recorded the vocals over the various compositions, which were generally based on piano and strings, and he added elements on top as appropriate! I oversaw the process and ensured things aligned with my vision whenever they didn’t. Then, gradually, ideas for music videos, lyrics and other elements came to me. So that’s what’s different – it’s co-composition, or rather co-songwriting! I then gained a better understanding of the artistic world and what I did and didn’t want! Given that there are often ego clashes amongst the musicians I’d previously brought on stage, I wanted to opt for a broader vision that was entirely personal and unique, even though there were already significant elements of it in Secret Garden under Constellia.

⇒ Don’t miss checking our album review on “Far From Home” here.

After that, I wanted complete independence, so I chose to carry on under Max Enix, managing everything myself from start to finish and working with a team of efficient collaborators! So that’s the big difference: from *Far From Home* onwards, I composed all the songs on the keyboard (sometimes strings, sometimes piano, sometimes both), and Thomas fully respected the complete structures I wanted for the tracks from start to finish, before taking them on and orchestrating them, rearranging certain parts. Just like Hans Zimmer, who has various collaborators and bases his vision on instinct and the sacred! So in the orchestral version, you can see the work we’ve accomplished together for film scores, games, TV series, etc… A whole range of artistic worlds are possible! Then I hired musicians for the electric versions, giving them my instructions on placement and other details – or not – and they followed the music, adding and composing their own parts on top! *Far From Home*, then *Beauty in Darkness*, followed by the upcoming *Ocean of Light*, *Tears of Africa*, *3049*, *Halloween Ghosts*, *Love Letters*, *A dragon at the top of the sacred mountain*, *From the Other side of the mirrors*, *The black cat in the magic street*, *The Pale Blue PhoEnix*, etc… Dozens of projects in mind!

This will always be the case from *Far From Home* onwards, which allows me to express myself fully and to create works that reflect who I am in every respect, enhanced by the orchestrations and the musicians – whether they are involved or not – because the evolution of my art is vast and can open up vast universes and dimensions of the soul. Epic, radio-style, purely instrumental compositions that will blend various genres – contemporary or otherwise – depending entirely on the stories I write, which may also be purchased for films (screenplays)! From *Far From Home* onwards, there will always be an original and an orchestral version (as a bonus or additional Album)!

• The album is built like chapters in a single story, ending on a short, delicate piano piece. Was that narrative structure planned from the start, or did it take shape as the songs came together?

Yes, quite right – it’s not a concept album in the strict sense of the term, with songs that follow on from one another without a break, but rather a concept album with chapters that make the character question things and take him on a journey; he eventually realises the horror of certain aspects of society and the dead ends in certain areas, and ultimately commits the irreparable because he knows that another path and spiritual awakening exist! A reflection on life, death, suffering, but also on beauty both here on earth and beyond! In this sense, *Ocean of Light* will be a sort of heavenly ascent towards the Heavens, with compositions that are mainly radio-friendly (with a few exceptions) leading up to a 20-minute apocalyptic finale, where the Angels of Darkness and Light, united after the battle, will put a stop to human Machiavellianism and the diabolical system spawned by false, fallen angels and Judas who lead to the cliffs clinging to unwholesome interests! What will remain is pain and Love! A new age of souls and new universal languages!

• Thomas Kubler returns to handle orchestrations on this record after working on “Far From Home.” What does that collaboration look like in practice, and how much does he shape the final sound of a track?

As explained in one of the previous replies, Thomas does an absolutely masterful job and, to me, is one of the best orchestrators working today – and he’s only 27! He has a brilliant future ahead of him in this field! I entrust him with my keyboard compositions (strings, piano or various sounds, particularly for future projects); he takes the complete structure (songwriting) that I’ve created – including demos – and orchestrates them with a few re-arrangements to elevate the whole piece using the latest technology, whilst staying as true as possible to the intended atmosphere!

• Niklas Kvarforth and George Kollias both appear on some of the album’s heavier, more apocalyptic tracks. How did those collaborations come about, and what did each of them bring to the songs?

These choices came naturally as a way of staying rooted in the present day and the society in which we live! They’d already collaborated on *Far From Home* on one or two tracks, but I wanted to bring them back here to add that apocalyptic feel and sense of the end of an era, whilst remaining grounded in the current social malaise. Some very powerful messages are emerging, and they’ve written their own lyrics to add a personal touch alongside the ones I’ve written. I wanted the vocals to be placed very precisely, and Niklas was clever enough not to overdo it or shout as he does in his own projects! He managed to capture the very essence of the album without overdoing it, sometimes whispering the words to create an extra layer of emotional and otherworldly impact! Michael has done an absolutely remarkable job and is always at the cutting edge when it comes to rap and R&B vocals! He deserves far greater exposure and many more contracts ! We’ll certainly be collaborating on a number of shows in the near future, amongst other things! There may well be opportunities for further collaborations, including on various side projects where we’ll join forces!

• Michael Herrington Onetwenty’s rap and R&B contribution stands out as a genre departure. What made that the right fit for this particular album?

As explained earlier, it embodies the evolution of society in a certain sense, featuring rap and R&B vocals, amongst others, but integrated here into a broader, more emotional concept! These styles of music, much like Linkin Park’s, when well-integrated with fused elements, can be very enjoyable and catchy without falling into the narrow-mindedness of some people on either side of the spectrum! Not here to talk about barbecue or in an humoristic way ! It helps to attract audiences who might not necessarily have listened to this sort of music and to shift attitudes towards an even broader future! The same will hold true for the Enix Records label, which I’ll be setting up later to showcase all kinds of transcendent and emotional music, with an extra touch of soul across all genres and origins! This label will be affiliated with another established label so that we can build a fantastic team and push the boundaries together and reach new audiences!

⇒ Check out our review for “Beauty in Darkness” here.

• Much of the core lineup, including Xavier Boscher, Simon Johansson, Jean-Jacques Moréac, and Leo Margarit, carries over from “Far From Home.” How important is that continuity to how the band’s sound has developed?

So, yes, I do think it’s important to maintain consistency from album to album since *Far From Home*, and this will remain the case in the future, whatever form it takes! This time, Vikram Shankar isn’t on piano because I wanted to keep my own piano parts more personal, and these have been integrated into the orchestrations in the best possible way! The same will apply in the future too, apart from certain collaborations – such as with Calixte Fischer, an incredible young french pianist, on a more acoustic album I have in mind (similar to *Ashram* Band but more personal and with an other Vision) which will be called *Love Letters*, for example. Lots of ideas! It’s worth noting that Simon Johansson wasn’t on *Far From Home*! He was brought into the album’s line-up to add further variety to the sound and pave the way for future shows where we’ll have one guitarist handling the leads, solos and acoustic parts, and another for the rhythm parts. Everyone involved have made again a wonderful work. Thanks for them. I think it’s important, as far as possible, to maintain consistency, much like the Devin Townsend Band did in its day. But we’ll see how it all develops. And I need musicians and people who respect the work they’re involved in! Not the others – and I’m very selective in that regard!

• The album’s lyrical themes deal with apocalypse, transcendence, and the body giving way to light and spirit. Where did that concept come from, and how did it guide the writing?

The process is deeply spiritual and comes from beyond! Everything is guided by the Love from another sacred place, both here and beyond! Body and mind are one, and the soul is the vessel for all manner of emotions! Interdimensional journeys depending on the different souls incarnations through times ! Reminders of the deep and universal connections that are bound by other threads, whether invisible or not! The transcendence of a single moment and the delight of celestial caresses and pleasure that carry us towards nirvana and well-known spiritual realms! The source and reminder of our bonds, beyond the false ones that some try to create or interpret! A reminder of our origins and the fusion of our hearts, emotions and spiritual forms, both here and beyond! In Sanguine Veritas and Beyond, through life, death and far beyond. The storms of emotion that penetrate and haunt us!

• You said the tracks on the album would be presented in orchestral versions together with the originals. Why did you want to present the material in both forms?

The original version is ultimately the main one, but the orchestral version forms the basis of the work, bringing a different, transcendent approach to the whole and allowing the composition and songwriting to come through more clearly! In my view, this one complements the original! Unlike *Far From Home*, this time there are no additional sound effects grafted onto the story! I reserve that for true concept albums with a scenario, maintaining continuity wherever possible! Here you have a pure, distant, deep sound that takes you on a journey to different places – some accessible, some inaccessible, and some that only the soul can feel when remember definitely not under pression of the saboteurs/parasites/Apophis ! Anubis is watching a said and the weight of hearts and souls ! Unlike *Far From Home*, which featured an orchestral version released on three CDs that could be purchased separately from the original two-CD album, here in *Beauty in Darkness* you have the original on one CD and the orchestral version on another CD, which will only be available as a bonus in the digipak edition! But I strongly advise you to get this one so you can listen to whichever version suits your mood and preferences, as both are equally good in my opinion! This will always be the case for future albums under the Max Enix label!

• You spoke of a cyberpunk vibe live show with visuals and lighting. What do you envision for “Beauty in Darkness” on stage?

So yes, the shows will indeed have a distinctive, unique approach with different set-ups! There’ll be cyberpunk and goth elements in the styling to create a contemporary, futuristic feel that fits with my broader vision! You’ll sometimes see me with a fleeting light blue hue and matching clothing elements that will help create a unique universe! Although in everyday life I’ll keep my natural dark blonde hair tied back, with strands that will sometimes fall loose (letting it grow out to naturally evoke the poetry of *Ocean of Light* and counter the cold, shaved look of *Beauty in Darkness*)! I’m also working on my physical and mental condition to be ready! The first shows and tours are set to take place in England (UK) and, in certain venues – bars and clubs – will feature a unique, acoustic set-up where I’ll be singing solo or sometimes with a female singer (powerful, varied, emotional, sensitive, professional…) over orchestral arrangements and a few accompanying samples! Lights will come on, and the venue will sometimes be plunged into darkness when I’m not singing, to let the music speak for itself (Yin and Yang, Light and darkness, Creations, Cosmos…)! Then, there will sometimes be a video screen or projector showing striking images of the world’s beauty, the horror and Beyond ! This set-up will be replicated with the electrical elements in larger venues, and sometimes session musicians will join me for the bigger shows or festivals! The entire *Beauty in Darkness* album will be performed, and occasionally a few tracks from *Far From Home* or even *Ocean of Light* tracks will be played exclusively! Purely instrumental and orchestral interludes may also feature! There are plenty of possibilities with this innovative vision!

• Looking ahead, you talked about a number of future projects in the pipeline. How does “Beauty in Darkness” fit into that longer-term vision for your work?

I think *Beauty in Darkness* is a sort of exorcism of the thoughts of the moment, the pervasive stress and the anxiety caused by the sentinels in the Matrix, as well as a scathing critique of a society turned upside down – the system in which we live! Just as with a film role, I had to incorporate this feeling into my everyday life and bear the weight of this condition – a burden that many people will be able to relate to! ‘Ocean of Light’ will be a source of solace and wonder, hope after the descent, deep and indestructible Love connected to the divine and the sacred, steering clear of the false labyrinths where one gets lost. Natural evolution! And the next pieces in this vein will be lighter or more intense depending on the emotions of the moment, but always there to convey messages and push the boundaries towards the transcendence of a moment—here and beyond! The echo of our souls in unison, connected to another dimension of the soul where we feel completely in tune, without frills or false paths! Emotions that make us feel alive and immortal together!

• Thank you for taking the time to speak with us. “Beauty in Darkness” is a dense, ambitious record, and it’s clear Max Enix is still building out a larger world around this material. Stream “Beauty in Darkness” and keep an eye on Enix’s socials for upcoming news.

Thank you so much for everything! Anyone wishing to collaborate with me in general, or for film projects (in various roles), who would like me to feature as a guest vocalist on one of their albums, to perform at certain shows, or who would like me to write songs or compose music for them (Bands, Artists, films, TV series, games, etc.), amongst other things, can contact me here: maxenixmaxenix@pm.me! Thank you for your time and support! See you soon! The Future is here & Now! Max Enix

I’d been following the band for a few months on Instagram and TikTok, and their online presence had already caught my attention — but seeing them live confirmed the talent behind the hype.

• Hagar — Rhythm guitar & lead vocals
• Mostafa — Lead guitar
• Amer — Bass
• Salma — Drums

This year has given me the chance to check out several new bands, many fronted by artists still in their early twenties, and Elegy to the Moon stood out. Their stage presence and ability to command the room was clear from the first track — the audience was locked in, responding to every song, original or cover alike.

The show ran across two sets, totaling 15 tracks. The cover selections were a highlight in themselves — pulling from Muse, System of a Down, Soundgarden, and Brutus — showing a band with wide-ranging taste and the chops to pull it off.

But it was the originals that really made the case for this band. Tracks like Big Machine, Death Defying Bird, Call, Crescent, and Killing Honor were genuinely well-crafted and stood confidently alongside the covers.

Even as a young act still finding their footing, the band’s chemistry was obvious. Hagar’s charismatic stage presence anchored the performance, and her synced headbanging with Mostafa and Amer added a real sense of unity to the set. Amer’s basslines were tight and locked in perfectly with Salma’s energetic drumming — she spent much of the set jumping and interacting with the crowd without ever losing the rhythm. Mostafa, meanwhile, brought strong riffs and impressive solo work throughout.

The show wasn’t without its hiccups — sound issues, which are somewhat typical for the venue, tested the band mid-performance. But Elegy to the Moon didn’t let it throw them off. They stayed composed, adapted, and still delivered a show that had the audience feeling the music and living in the moment.

Elegy to the Moon are shaping up to be a band with real staying power — the kind of act the local rock scene has been waiting for. Between their songwriting, their stage presence, and their ability to hold a crowd despite technical setbacks, they’ve made a strong case for themselves. Now, it’s just a matter of waiting for their next show — and their next release.

The album is high-quality and follows the standards of progressive concept records in the best sense, with the narrative built like chapters in a single story, closing on a short, delicate piano piece that serves as a genuine resolution rather than a tacked-on coda. Where it really shines is in that narrative cohesion and in how well the harmony is used to reinforce it. This isn’t a record leaning on scale alone to sell its epic ambitions. The composition holds up structurally, and the orchestral versions included alongside the originals make that clear, showing arrangements sturdy enough to survive being reworked rather than depending on one specific sonic treatment to land.

The guest list adds real texture without overwhelming the record’s identity. Niklas Kvarforth of Shining and Nile drummer George Kollias both appear on the album’s heavier, more apocalyptic tracks, while Michael Herrington Onetwenty brings a rap and R&B presence that pushes the record’s genre-blending further than “Far From Home” attempted. Thematically, “Beauty in Darkness” is built around apocalypse and transcendence, bodies giving way to light and spirit, and that concept gives the record’s guest spots and heavier detours a reason to exist beyond novelty.

“Beauty in Darkness” is an ambitious, carefully constructed record, and the harmony-first approach to its bigger moments is what separates it from records that chase scale for its own sake.

Melodically, this is very well executed, with a real call-and-response between the melodic layers and the harmony, giving the song a conversational quality that fits its subject matter well. Rhythmically, it stays very straightforward, and that’s clearly a deliberate choice, creating room for the vocals and the story being told lyrically to actually be heard rather than competing with a busier arrangement. It’s a song that trusts its own writing enough to get out of its own way.

That restraint fits the song’s central idea, too. Rather than a straightforward grief song, it’s closer to a meditation on presence, the way people we lose keep shaping who we become, showing up in unexpected moments rather than simply disappearing. That’s a more generous idea than a typical loss song reaches for, and the arrangement’s patience gives it room to land.

With reference points like Counting Crows, The Wallflowers, and Tom Petty clearly in the DNA here, “Ghost of You” carries that familiar, lived-in warmth without leaning on nostalgia as a crutch. Coming from an artist who’s spent decades performing other people’s songs before finally telling his own, it’s a genuinely moving way to open this new chapter, a song built less to impress than to actually connect.

This is very edgy theater kid energy, in the best possible way. As someone who doesn’t really listen to this genre regularly, it was a genuinely fun listen, cheeky in a way that lands rather than feeling try-hard, funny and self-aware without undercutting the real emotional stakes the rest of the project is building toward. That balance, lust and humor sitting right next to self-awareness, is exactly what the song sets out to do, and it pulls it off convincingly as both a standalone track and a first chapter.

What’s most interesting here is how theatrical the whole thing is. Toledano’s project blends live music with spoken word into something closer to a one-woman confessional than a straightforward album, and while Ivy’s story is fictional, it’s rooted in real experiences with trauma bonding and manipulation, giving even this comedic entry point a bit of weight underneath the fun. Knowing where the character is eventually headed adds dramatic irony to a song this playful on the surface.

For a project that’s still actively developing, with a full concept album and theatrical production in the works, “I Wanna F*** My Roommate” is a strong, attention-grabbing entry point, funny and messy exactly the way it wants to be, while quietly setting the stage for everything that’s about to go wrong.

Theatrical Horror & Psych influenced duo bridge genres of Goth, Pop Punk, Dark Cabaret, Metal and Alt Rock in fiery fusion of eerie melodies balanced with upbeat angsty energy with catchy pop vibes.

Fiona’s Phobias is the collaborative HUMAN effort between multi-instrumentalist Nikki Line and vocalist Krisanna Marie. They are an alternative rock, gothic-metal, pop punk and dark cabaret fusion. The duo draws heavy influences from the macabre, theatrical vaudeville, horror and anime. Formed in 2022, they debuted in 2024 with their 1st track “Imaginary Sins,” which featured a quirky, fast-paced fusion of heavy guitars, haunting melodies and introspective lyrics that dove right into psychological fears and inner demons. They are known for their signature quirky and spooky style reminiscent of the TV show “The Munsters” and “The Addams Family” as well as their Broadway musical flare and symphonic atmosphere style. They self-identify as “anxious introverts”.

DEMOns presents 6 Tracks that don’t stick to any one genre or cookie cutter mold, but rather a sampler hybrid of various metal undertones, pop punk, goth, surf, vintage vaudeville and alternative heavy rock.

Following American Cosmic Revival Vol. 1: Back At Home, the second volume expands the series beyond the International Submarine Band material that defined its predecessor. The result is a broader and more emotionally varied journey through the traditions that shaped Cosmic American Music. Yet despite the different origins of these songs, they seem to arrive at remarkably similar destinations: heartache, loneliness, regret, resilience, redemption, and the elusive idea of home.

There is something fitting about beginning that journey with “Wheels.” Written by Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman, the track immediately establishes the album’s restless emotional geography. Acoustic and electric guitars move alongside rich vocal harmonies, while pedal steel introduces that familiar sense of distance, the sound of something beautiful already slipping away. The performance is polished without becoming overly pristine, preserving the song’s character while allowing the musicians to inhabit it rather than merely reproduce it.

That balance becomes even more apparent on “Brand New Heartache.” The Boudleaux and Felice Bryant composition, forever intertwined with the Everly Brothers’ vocal tradition, is treated with an impressive understanding of restraint. Parker and Cleary allow the harmonies to carry the emotional tension, resisting the temptation to overinterpret the heartbreak. There is almost something conversational about the delivery, which makes the song’s pain feel less theatrical and more lived.

If “Wheels” gives the album its road, “Train Leaves Here This Morning” gives it one of its clearest images of departure. Written by Gene Clark and Bernie Leadon, the song captures that peculiar emotional space between leaving and being left. It is not necessarily the dramatic moment of goodbye, but the quieter realization that something has already begun moving beyond your reach. The band’s treatment preserves that ambiguity, allowing the song to remain wistful without becoming sentimental.

That same emotional restraint shapes “So Sad.” The Everly Brothers classic receives a beautifully measured performance, with Patrick Cleary leading the vocals and Parker reinforcing the harmonies. Stevie Blacke’s strings add atmosphere without drowning the song in melancholy. The result is striking precisely because it doesn’t try to make sadness bigger than it already is. Sometimes the simplest delivery leaves the deepest mark.

Elsewhere, the album’s road widens. Bob Dylan’s “I Threw It All Away” brings a different kind of regret into the collection, its Nashville Skyline-era country sensibility sitting naturally alongside the surrounding material. “If We Make It Through December” takes that introspection into harsher territory. Merle Haggard’s portrait of hardship and endurance feels particularly resonant here, with Earl Poole Ball’s piano providing warmth and movement beneath the song’s underlying vulnerability.

Then there is “There Must Be Someone (I Can Turn To),” which deepens the record’s preoccupation with isolation, and Gene Clark’s “Hear The Wind,” whose poetic atmosphere gives the album another moment of quiet reflection. Even “Wild Horses,” the Jagger-Richards composition, fits the journey more naturally than it might initially appear. Its inclusion reminds us that Cosmic American Music was never a closed system. Country, rock, folk, blues, and Americana have always existed in conversation, borrowing emotional languages from one another as freely as musicians crossed geographical and stylistic borders.

The presence of Earl Poole Ball and JayDee Maness makes that conversation particularly tangible. Their histories are embedded in the very musical world being revisited here, connecting the album to the artists and recordings that helped establish country-rock’s vocabulary. Yet Miles From Nowhere never turns their participation into a museum exhibit. Ball’s piano and Maness’s pedal steel are living elements of the arrangements, surrounded by Gary Jacob’s steel work, Michael Rinne’s bass, Ron Keck’s drumming, Stevie Blacke’s strings, and the guitars and vocals of Parker and Cleary.

And perhaps that is the album’s greatest strength: it understands that preserving a musical tradition does not require freezing it in time.

These songs have already travelled through other voices, decades, places, and interpretations. What Parker, Cleary, Ball, and their collaborators offer is another stop along that journey. There is reverence here, certainly, but not the kind that turns familiar material into untouchable relics. The performances remain warm, direct, and sufficiently individual to remind us that every generation hears an old song from a slightly different place.

It is also why the album’s title feels particularly apt. Miles From Nowhere suggests movement without necessarily promising arrival. The songs themselves are populated by departures, consequences, memories, and attempts at reconciliation. They understand that sometimes home is not a destination at all, but the place we keep measuring ourselves against after we’ve left it.

Perhaps that is what makes these songs endure. They were written in another America, shaped by another musical landscape, yet their emotional coordinates remain strangely recognizable. The road changes; the scenery disappears; the people move on. The feeling remains.

And so American Cosmic Revival Vol. 2: Miles From Nowhere by CHRISTIAN PARKER, PATRICK CLEARY & EARL POOLE BALL becomes more than an exercise in musical preservation. It becomes a collection for anyone who has ever looked back at a place, a person, a version of themselves, or simply a time that cannot be returned to. These are songs for the roads we left behind; and for the parts of ourselves that, somewhere along the way, may still be travelling them..

That world — nocturnal, emotionally charged, philosophically grounded, and entirely her own — deepens with every new release. “Hallow” is no exception.

Aronieme is a jazz-trained vocalist with an extensive background in performance and recording, now channelling everything she has learned and felt into a solo project that answers to no genre convention and no expectation other than her own atmospheric, philosophical vision. The result is music that exists in its own atmosphere — shaped by darkwave, gothic, and experimental influences but refusing to settle comfortably inside any of them.

NYC music blog Obscure captured the essence of her approach in their review of her debut single, describing it as a “chillingly nocturnal dream-pop aesthetic, shaped by dynamic harmonic layers, stylish electronics, and shadowy rhythmic textures” — music built around “vulnerability, mystery, and an invitation toward the unknown.”

“Hallow” extends that invitation further. Following the emotionally fiery “Cut Me Into Pieces” and the breakthrough debut “Take the Ride,” it marks another step forward from an artist who arrived fully formed and has not slowed down since.

This is not background music. It is a ceremony.

In Sore Bless coaxes its listeners into a ritualistic trance — dark, unapologetic, and entirely singular. Weaving together post-rock, noise rock, art rock, experimental, cinematic, ambient, and trip-hop influences into what the duo describes as a musical mandala, it is a record that carries the spiritual power of speaking in tongues and retreating inward, away from the noise and fury of the outer world, toward something ancient and true. From the very first notes, something is being conjured here that is genuinely difficult to name — and impossible to resist.

For fans of Portishead, Noveller, Blonde Redhead, Chelsea Wolfe, and MONO, In Sore Bless offers both solace and challenge in equal measure.

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“We find inspiration in the entropy of life,” the duo says. “Sometimes we celebrate it and at other times we resist it. Art and music act like a bandpass filter — cut out the sound and fury and focus your attention on what moves you. Creativity is channeling energy to make your own bandpass filter, and inspiration is the motivation to express ourselves and to take leaps of faith when doing so.”

In Sore Bless is that filter made manifest — eight tracks that move through post-noise ballads, distilled jams, fragments of Anatolian trip-hop, and other genre-amalgams, all drawn into the orbit of CECILIA’s voice. She sings in English, French, and Italian, calling to an omnipresent yet elusive love — binding, repelling, fragile, transient, and spiritual. Her lyrics, rich with references and homages to dead artists and writers she loves, unfold over Ali’s background of synth drones, hand percussion, electronic textures, and strings. Olivia Baldi contributes cello on “ICI.”

“To me, writing and singing most often feels like entering into a conversation with invisible forces and the lingering aura of the dead,” CECILIA says. “A dialogue with voices and archives that have deeply resonated with me.”

The album required something genuinely new from CECILIA — a surrender of control that she has not offered in over a decade of solo work. For the first time, she took on strictly the role of singer, leaving all instrumental work to Ali. The voice, more exposed than ever, carries a direct and nakedly human strength.

“This is my first collaboration in more than ten years of working solo,” she says. “The voice is more exposed and in that nakedness, there is a direct, human strength. At a time when my own music is becoming more minimal and stripped down, it was refreshing to work with Ali’s instrumentals that are rich, heavy, saturated and opening up to different energies.”

For Ali, the record is a synthesis of everything — a tribute to a lifetime spent more in the audience than on stage, absorbing music across continents and genres, from a street concert in Frankfurt at the age of seven to a path that led through punk, post-punk, noise, free jazz, and finally into the recording studio.

“Music accompanies us throughout our lives,” Ali says. “It’s a steady drip of inspiration in itself and there’s always so much to learn and explore. CECILIA’s art and singing inspire me.”