
ANELLA
Anella Herim is an artist from Trinity, NC. Popularly known for his upbeat music and personality.
Anella Herim is an artist from Trinity, NC. Popularly known for his upbeat music and personality.
Brand spankin new
sometimes your knight in shining armor. thank you and welcome and enjoy
Rin Peisert is a conceptual and performance artist whose work disorganizes the relationship between performer and audience, favoring unscripted interactions that challenge societal norms and reconfigure connections to objects, spaces, and behaviors. With a background in visual art, butoh, and theater, her practice rejects representational modes in favor of direct engagement, often breaking the fourth wall to examine the reciprocal gaze between artist and audience.
Her approach avoids traditional performance contexts by operating in public and pedestrian spaces—street corners, tunnels, rooftops, and markets—where the work interrogates its own role within everyday environments. These site-responsive performances frequently involve sound, improvisation, and spontaneous collaboration, prioritizing process over outcome and dismantling conventional hierarchies between artist, viewer, and place.
Rin is the creator and director of Relative Intensity Noise, a durational performance series that situates multiple artists in shared spaces, generating unpredictable interactions and emergent dynamics. Her projects have been presented in institutions such as the Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Power Station of Art Shanghai, Defibrillator Gallery, and The Momentary, as well as bomb shelters and basements.
Rather than prescribing specific interpretations, Rin’s work allows for multiple contextual readings, relying on the chance engagement of audience interaction to determine its evolving significance. Her work emphasizes the relational and contingent nature of performance, situating meaning as a reciprocal process shaped by the conditions of its presentation.
CV
Chicago-based QT industrial rock DIY band. Can’t wait to see us? Book us! We want friends 🙂
Connect with Kid Bode on various platforms, from his electrifying live performances to his social media updates. Stay in the loop about upcoming shows, releases, and initiatives that continue to define his dynamic presence in the music scene.
Named after a line in a poem by Soviet poet Vladimir Mayakovsky, Goldy Head is a multi-genre artist operating in several dimensions.
schrachee is a collaborative studio project based in chicago and led by schrachee. hitmakers for singers, rappers, and soloists.
the debut album “red flags”. 8 songs. 8 dives into the psyche. they’re your problem now.
featuring seth on vocals, which have been described as “unique” and “so, so him”.
Moore is an emcee, producer and multimedia artist from the northwest Chicago suburbs – Elgin, IL. He got his start as a founding member of the Hip Hop collective Watch City. Since the groups inception, Moore has released a vast catalog of music as a solo artist and toured the United States multiple times. His mission as an artist is to create innovative music that stands out in the Hip Hop community and beyond, and to promote peace, love and prosperity within his works. Moore blends elements of modern and golden age rap music with his background in rock, electronic and jazz music to create a sound that is both nostalgic and undeniably fresh.
Since the release of his debut album, Moore has kept expectations high through collaborations with MillerCoors and Vans and a slew of high-profile appearances including:
-Performances with Twista, Slick Rick, Layzie Bone and Flesh-n-Bone, Trevor Daniel, Manic Focus, Lyrics Born, Mac Lethal, Masta Killa, MC Eiht, PMD and more
-Festival appearances at Milwaukee Summerfest, South by Southwest, Elgin Fringe Festival and more
-Tours with GLC, Jeru The Damaja, Security Culture, DJ Risky Bizness and Mic One
-Collaborations with Gift Of Gab (Blackalicious), Blake Rules, Watch City, KASZ, Low Key Beats, Banks The Genius, Coolout Chris, Blue Future and many others
Find videos, tour dates and more at http://moorewatchcity.com
Chicago Hip-Hop & Boom Bap
Earth Tongue is a heavy psych rock two-piece from Wellington, New Zealand. Guitarist Gussie Larkin is a master of the fuzz-smothered riff, and along with Ezra Simons’ off-kilter drumming, they’ve been sending punters into transcendental states since their emergence in 2016. Their debut album ‘Floating Being’ (Stolen Body Records, 2019) quickly became an underground hit, seeing them embark on multiple tours across Australasia and Europe in the years since its release. Along the way they’ve picked up high praise from BBC Radio6, Bandcamp and headbangers all over the world.
After touring with American multi-instrumentalist Ty Segall, the duo caught the attention of iconic Los Angeles based rock’ n’ roll label In The Red Records – an imprint that has released albums from the likes of Thee Oh Sees, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Wand and Ty Segall himself. In The Red promptly signed them, and released their second album Great Haunting in June 2024. Written during the pandemic lockdown era while holed up binging on 1970’s and 80’s horror movies, the nine-track album is a doom-soaked overload — conjuring vast sonics from just guitar, drums and yowls.
Earth Tongue have hit the road time and time again, playing over 50 shows throughout Europe and the UK in 2024 and sharing stages with the likes of Queens of the Stone Age, IDLES, Ty Segall, Acid King, Brant Bjork and Kikagaku Moyo. Earth Tongue’s live show is a powerful, cult-like experience – the perfect mix of throw-your-horns-up heavy, and can’t-stop-listening catchy. Their third studio album is set for release in September 2025.
Cricket! is your favorite Chicago based DIY folk punk bug themed musician. Performances are loud, energetic, and deeply emotional; especially for a solo performer. Cricket! is a proud mental health awareness advocate, and his song writing brings catharsis to those struggling with social seclusion, self hatred, and all those other nasty things. In his spare time he enjoys long walks on the beach, rogue-lite RPGs, and dragging himself against the grain of cultural normality. Cricket! started his musical career with his release of the album Thinking About Bugs (2021), took a long break, then came back for a massive step up with the punchy yet heartfelt album Lucky Cricket (2023). He is most well known for his song Simple Science off his latest and most successful album Self Sufficient (2024) which all explore the complexities in self seclusion, different vices used to escape reality, and the dangers of thinking you don’t need help. While taking much inspiration from classic fast paced folk punk bands (Such as Days N Daze, Wingnut Dishwashers Union, and AJJ) Cricket! takes the raw energy from full band folk punk acts and compresses in nicely into one single explosive performer.
The Chicago Tabletop Gaming Association (CTGA) proudly presents its inaugural Artist Spotlight, featuring an exclusive screening of Perception Check – a documentary by local filmmaker Nick Garcia, recently honored as an official Feature-Length Film Nominee at the GenCon 2025 Film Festival!
Perception Check follows the journey of several first-time players as they embark on a campaign that stretches over 3+ years. From beginning initiates to seasoned adventurers, you can follow the group as both they and their characters develop over the course of their campaign!
Attending this event is a great way to connect with fellow artists, designers, and TTRPG enthusiasts who are shaping Chicago’s vibrant gaming culture. Critically, 100% of proceeds will directly support our featured artist and will support their work on future projects! This will be a great opportunity to prove your support for local artists and filmmakers in our ttrpg community!
As the first in CTGA’s Artist Spotlight series, this event embodies our commitment to uplifting local creators. Space is limited for this event – get your tickets while they last and help us support creators in our community!
Live performance and live shows. Sleazy, snotty, and catchy as hell — The Oxys, formed by Ginchy (Dead Boys, Sylvain Sylvain) and Phil D., blast out late-70s gutter rock, punk, and power pop with sharp hooks and raw energy. Known for explosive live performance and live shows, they’ve hit the road hard behind A Date With The Oxys and Generation Irrelevant.Get addicted to the Oxys infectious sound.
somewhere in chicago
Hardcore punk from Chicago !
Chicago metal
Melodic Death/Doom metal from Austin, Texas.
Casey Hurd – Guitar/Vocals
Erik Shtaygrud – Guitar
Daniel Vieira – Drums
Michael Anstice – Keyboard
Matt Bius – Bass
emo band and also butt rock band.
Since forming in 2020, every single second of music recorded by Koyo has been completely and utterly genuine. Formed in Long Island, New York by five childhood friends who grew up together—vocalist Joseph Chiaramonte, guitarists Harold Griffin and TJ Rotolico, bassist Stephen Spanos, and drummer Salvatore Argento—Koyo’s music is the sound of Stony Brook summers flipping between Taking Back Sunday and Silent Majority while driving to the beach, living in songs that feel just like home.
Three years after their formation—and hot on the heels of a slew of acclaimed EPs—Koyo is now taking their next step in the hallowed halls of Long Island hardcore with Would You Miss It?, the band’s debut album. Following in the footsteps of the giants of hardcore, pop-punk, and emo that came before them, Koyo are aware of the weight a debut album carries, and they’ve been slowly crafting it since the band’s earliest days. “We really slow-cooked this record,” says Chiaramonte. “There are songs on it that go back as far as being written just after Painting Words Into Lines came out. Even as we were writing for Drives Out East, we knew certain songs had to be allocated or certain things. We’d just keep them in the bank and develop them over time.”
Despite all the planning and tinkering, there’s nothing contrived about Would You Miss It?, because there’s nothing remotely manufactured about Koyo. Every element is a genuine representation of the people creating it, and the album was concocted in the most authentic way possible: with five friends, all together, writing songs. “We have great chemistry as a band and as songwriters,” says Griffin. “That’s the beautiful thing about Koyo, that we can sort of fit into everything. We never try to box ourselves in, because no matter what we do, it will still be us.”
To fully immerse themselves in the recording process, Koyo decamped to a barn in rural New Jersey with producer Jon Markson (Drug Church, Regulate, One Step Closer) and spent six weeks digging into every detail of the record. The product is songs like “You’re On The List (Minus One),” “Message Like A Bomb (ft. Daryl Palumbo),” and “Anthem,” tracks that build upon Koyo’s established foundation, but feel sharper, stronger, and even more singalong ready. “This record was a labor of love,” says Chiaramonte. “Not just because of the work that went into it, but because of all the life experiences that shaped it. The record was a life-fulfilling, life-affirming thing to make, but it hurt a little bit to make, too.”
That’s no metaphor. Nearly every day working with Markson was a marathon 10-hour session with the band poring over every single detail to ensure their debut album met their expectations. Meanwhile, Griffin was learning how to walk again after an onstage accident precipitated a major ankle surgery. “The first week we were at the studio, I was in a wheelchair with my foot up and could not do anything,” says Griffin. “Three of thesongs on the album were written from that wheelchair. I had a physical therapist a mile away from the studio, so I learned how to walk while living at this farm for six weeks.”
For Chiaramonte’s part, the lyric writing process forced him to dig deep into himself. Musically, Koyo’s songs flow out of Griffin and Rotolico as naturally as a conversation at an all-night diner but, for Chiaramonte, writing lyrics proved to be a deeply introspective experience. He’d drive somewhere remote and sit for hours with a notepad until what filled the page was an honest, open-hearted sentiment. “Life’s A Pill” is a prime example, and a perfect encapsulation of the range of emotion Koyo captures throughout each of the tracks on Would You Miss It?.
“‘That song is about a family member of mine passing away from a drug overdose when I was on my first full U.S. tour,” says Chiaramonte about “Life’s A Pill.” “Ultimately, I chose to stay on that tour. I didn’t want to grieve. I didn’t want to think about it. It was all so overwhelming that I just opted to shoulder how I was feeling, finish the tour, and deal with it another day. I found that I started to do that with a lot of things because I started to tour full time that year. There were so many interpersonal problems that I was just smothering. That song dives into that. The loss, the avoidance, and what I was doing mirrored what some people turn to drugs for. It’s a giant song about loss and escapism.”
Would You Miss It? is the kind of album that could only be made by a group of self-proclaimed genre-obsessives. It’s why Koyo can seamlessly transition from playing the This Is Hardcore festival to opening for Bayside, because they make perfect sense no matter what bill they’re on. That natural musical dexterity is what fostered collaborations with Glassjaw’s Daryl Palumbo (“Message Like A Bomb”), Vinnie Caruana of The Movielife (“What’s Left To Say”), and Vein.FM’s Anthony DiDio (“Flatline Afternoon”) on songs where each part was written specifically with the guest vocalist in mind. Each person fits right into Koyo’s musical language, and expresses the range of sounds and feelings the band can express at any given time.
Taken in full, Would You Miss It? is the coming-of-age tale of five friends joining together to take on the world. Fueled by a love for music, and a shared creative bond, Koyo sets the bar for the new wave of Long Island bands. As Chiaramonte notes on “Anthem,” a lyrical love letter to Long Island scenes of the past, present, and future, “the best is yet to come.” Pay attention, because you won’t want to miss it.
INTERCEPTOR is THE heavy metal band. With the barreling sonic might of traditional metal, black metal, speed metal, thrash metal, power metal, and straight rock ‘n roll, headbangers find their hunger satiated by the old-school, raw, and true sound that the band lives by.
Ron Rinehart – vocals
Eric Meyer – guitar, backing vocals
Laura Christine – guitar, backing vocals Mike Gonzalez – bass, backing vocals
Gene Hoglan – drums, guitar, bass, backing vocals
There was a time in the mid-‘80s when “thrash” was the fastest, heaviest, most extreme form of metal. That said, a handful of bands thrashed a liKle harder and with more feral abandon than their peers. Those chosen few inadvertently led the genre towards an even more brutal style of music that gained underground acceptance a few years later – death metal.
Before that critical point in time, however, ultra-thrash band Dark Angel stood on the precipice of devastation and innovation. Too fast and noisy for some, jawdropping and groundbreaking for others, Dark Angel led a prickly, poisonous path beyond the evil riffs and whirlwind rhythms pioneered by Slayer. And Dark Angel drummer and songwriter Gene Hoglan was right there at the center of the storm (even coaching Slayer’s Dave Lombardo how to play double-bass beats for the breakthrough EP Haunting the Chapel).
Forty years, and multiple seismic shakeups later, Dark Angel have returned with the spine-shattering Extinction Level Event, their first album of original material since 1991’s colossal Time Does Not Heal. “Musically, lyrically, and vocally, I’m so stoked about this album,” says Hoglan, the veteran drummer-of- all-trades and ;meclock behind almost too many influen;al metal groups to count – Testament, Dethklok, Strapping Young Lad, Fear Factory, and Death graduate tribute band, Death To All. “I’m really excited about Dark Angel right now, and everyone who’s heard the new album is losing their minds. Every time I’d finish a song and send it over to the guys, everybody was, ‘Gene, this is my favorite song!’ ‘No, this is my favorite song!!’ ‘Dude, this is totally my favorite song!!!” That’s never a bad sign.”
Extinction Level Event features new guitarist Laura Christine, and a new level of production, thanks to the advancements in technology since the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Yet, the album follows the twisted barbed-wire path and innovative approach of fan favorites, Darkness Descends and Leave Scars, which remained landmark extreme thrash records decades after their release. That’s hardly a surprise since the majority of the lineup for the album is the same as on the aforementioned releases.
The title track of “Extinction Level Event” was written by guitarist Jim Durkin, a decade ago, long before he suffered from severe liver disease, and, to the surprise of everyone, passed away in 2023. “Jim Durkin left us with this badass tune,” Hoglan says. “It is so Dark Angel and I’m just so excited about it. We made it the lead-off song on the record, not as a tribute to Jim or because of sentimental reasons – like, here is the song that Jim left us – but because it’s just a totally killer song. He wrote it ten years ago, and by today’s standards it’s still ball-crushing.”
Fast and aggressive, “Extinction Level Event” is as fierce and infectious as Dark Angel’s best songs and features the band’s heralded bombastic riffs and vocal structures. Hoglan and guitarist Laura Christine wrote everything else on Extinction Level Event, each song rivalling the ferocity and musicality of the title track; Christine co-wrote five songs, and her writing style rubbed off on Hoglan. “Atavistic,” for example,
is a full-on three-minute thrash metal barrage. “It’s primitive, it’s raw, and it takes you right back to the days of super-aggressive thrash metal,” Hoglan says.
Other songs are a little slower, but no less incendiary. “Woke Up to Blood” is a tangled rollercoaster of jagged riffs and syncopated beats, the title of which stemmed from a dog attack. “[Guitarist] Eric Meyer came in with a big, nasty cut on his arm,” Hoglan says. “We asked him, ‘Eric, what happened?’ and he told us about how his wife’s dog attacked him in the middle of the night. He said, ‘Dude, I was lying in bed asleep and then I was just bleeding profusely. I woke up to blood.’ And I went, ‘Hey, wait a minute. I gotta write that down in the ‘notes’ section of my phone real quick.”
Another track Gene describes as a “total onslaught” is “Terror Construct,” which he wrote about the way the media and corporations team up to spread fear among the masses so they can continue to fill their pockets. “There’s no question about it,” Hoglan says. “We are force-fed fear. It definitely comes at us from all sides – the left and the right – and it’s everywhere, you can’t escape it because it comes from all angles. It’s terrible, but that’s how our society is gemng wired. People are forced to live in fear all the ;me because, for the networks and the big corpora;ons, fear means big money. If you put fear into the audience, they stay glued to the television and they watch all the commercials.”
The seeds of Extinction Level Event were planted in late 2013 between the time when Testament stopped touring to work on their new record and Hoglan was scheduled to work on his next major project.
“I finally had some time, so I said to Jim and vocalist Ron Rinehart, ‘Hey, I kinda have some time now. Would you guys be interested in trying Dark Angel again?,’ Hoglan recalls. “Because every time I’m over in Europe or some other country, the promoters of all these festivals and journalists are always asking, ‘You ever want to bring Dark Angel back? Let us know. We’d love to get some Dark Angel over here.’ Jim and I had spoken about it, and he said, ‘Hey, it sounds like fun. Let’s see what we can do.’ That’s when we put a toe in the water to find out if this would even work.”
The band played a number of dates in Europe and South America. Then, in late 2014, Hoglan and founding guitarist Jim Durkin got together to write a bunch of riffs. Since Durkin had established a lucrative career outside the music industry and Hoglan was busy touring with Testament and working with Dethklok, Death To All, and other projects, it was difficult for the two longtime Dark Angel members to coordinate their schedules. “It didn’t help that Jim was living in Los Angeles and I was in San Diego,” Hoglan says. “But we did as much as we could, and it was really fun to be jamming again. And the thing that put the cherry on top was that we’d all grown up as human beings a little bit. So, we had really good communication. We weren’t just a bunch of 20-year-old kids yelling at each other or getting pissed off over stupid things. It was just such a fun vibe. And we’ve always been a family. We’ve always felt like one. So, we were like, ‘Hey, let’s book some more shows.”
After the first batch of writing sessions for Extinction Level Event, Hoglan had to put writing for Dark Angel on hold until late 2022. With other obligations behind him, Gene laser-focused on Dark Angel, listening back to the jams he and Durkin made earlier, and writing more than 10 new songs over the next three months. With a full album of pummeling new songs, Hoglan flew to Vancouver to track the album at the Armory. There, he and his bandmates worked with Rob Shallcross and Mike Fraser, and over a few sessions, Dark Angel had recorded everything but the vocals.
“Mike and I have worked on a number of occasions before, da;ng all the way back to the Strapping Young Lad, The New Black, Hoglan says. “He mixed all the last AC/DC records and some classic Aerosmith stuff. We laid down all the drums and as soon as that was done we got right into the guitars. Everybody came up and laid a liKle bit down and it was an amazing experience. Then, all we had to do was get time with Ron to do the vocals.”
While Extinction Level Event is informed by all the playing and recording experience Hoglan has gained over the decades, it’s deeply rooted in skull-bashing thrash and easily could have slotted into the band’s catalog after their fourth album 1991’s Time Does Not Heal. It’s more than a tremendous comeback from well-respected thrash pioneers, it’s a new chapter for the band – despite the tragic death of founding guitarist Jim Durkin in 2023 – and represents an authentic tribute to the foundations of extreme thrash, while puttng a foot forward to a future where anything is possible.
“One thing Dark Angel was really, really good at was reinventing ourselves from album to album,” Hoglan says. “None of our four records ever sounded like each other, and that’s why this album will fit perfectly in with the rest of our catalog. It’s another reinvention for Dark Angel, but it’s still really, really heavy.”
No one but Gene Hoglan could keep the heart of Dark Angel burning over the decade like an industrial furnace. Even though he has ventured into multiple styles of thrash, extreme, and experimental metal, he will always cherish thrash, the music form that launched his multi-faceted career. As a teenager, Hoglan was already a dedicated drummer and a diehard headbanger who was a fixture of the LA metal scene. Before he joined Dark Angel, he was the lighting tech for Slayer and other underground metal bands and traveled with Slayer on their first tour.
Durkin and bassist Rob Yahn formed the band Shellshock in 1981 and recorded the demo “Into the Inferno” in 1983 before they were hit with a cease-and-desist from another band named Shellshock and changed their moniker to Dark Angel. Three demos later, Dark Angel landed the song “Welcome to the Slaughter House” on Metal Massacre VI, which also featured tracks by Possessed, the Obsessed, Hallow’s Eve, Nasty Savage and others. They followed their compila;on with their first full-length We Have Arrived in 1985. Dark Angel con;nued working on new material, including the scorching “Merciless Death,” “Perish in Flames,” and “The Burning of Sodom.” That’s when the Jack Schwartz, the band’s drummer from 1983 to 1984, lea and Hoglan happily took his place.
“When I joined, they were already a killer band and they were on the cusp of things,” Hoglan said. “And when I came in, Jim finally had a partner in musical crime. We both wanted everything to be really heavy and brutal. Like, the sky’s the limit for heaviness. Even with Jack in the band, the members of Dark Angel had five different direc;ons they would’ve liked to see the band go in. When I joined, we finally had a majority of two guys who wanted the same thing. We wanted to be a smack to the jaw, with music that was as savage as we could make it. We wanted to cut heads off with our music.”
Durkin and Hoglan wrote the vast majority of the band’s second album Darkness Descends, which included the blazing title track, the face-scorcher “Death is Certain (Life is Not),” and the eight-plus minute epic “Black Prophecies.” And Hoglan’s demon-crazed performances on “Merciless Death,” “Perish in Flames” and “The Burning of Sodom” brought Dark Angel to a new level of brutality.
“We were already bros, we were pals, so it was a pretty seamless transition for me to step in and work with Jim to make the band way heavier,” says Hoglan. “Our vocalist had some outside interests that
didn’t blend with what we wanted to do, so we really had to work hard with him to get a great performance. I wouldn’t call it coaching. It was more like threats and hazing from me and Jim. We were preKy brutal with him in the studio to get him to perform the songs with the right kind of savagery and anger that they needed. But he definitely stepped it up. You can’t say that We Have Arrived had the same kind of vocals as Darkness Descends.”
In search of new ventures, Yahn left Dark Angel after he tracked the bass parts for Darkness Descends, which paved the way for Mike Gonzalez. The vocalist’s decision to quit less than a week before the band was scheduled to launch a tour for Darkness Descends led to a far more complicated situation. “He started getting into some things that didn’t blend well with the band’s touring schedule,” Hoglan explains.
“Meanwhile, Darkness Descends was blowing up and we were scheduled to tour with Possessed in early ’87. So, Jim Drabos, a friend of ours from a band called Death Force stepped in to grab the mic for us, and he did a great job.”
Impressed by how quickly and easily Drabos vibed with the rest of the band, Dark Angel asked him to step onboard. Hoglan was already writing songs for the next album and was hoping the singer he was working with would embrace the opportunity to take part. However, he wasn’t interested in singing on a new album or even playing any more shows.
“It was kind of strange,” says Hoglan. “He said, ‘Thank you very much, guys. It was always my dream to tour the United States. I just did it, and now I’m gonna quit the music industry. My dream was just fulfilled, and now I’m done.’”
For the next 10 months, Dark Angel searched long and hard for a new vocalist. Frustrated, they tried to make the band work again with “the old vocalist,” but after a few shows together, it was clear that they needed fresh blood. They auditioned many singers but couldn’t find one who would fit the band. As it turned out, the perfect match was Ron Rinehart, a guy Hoglan had seen before singing in the LA band Messiahs. Hoglan and Durkin thought Rinehart was a great vocalist, but weren’t impressed by his band, which lacked the ferocity he sought in a vocalist. Jim reached out to Rinehart anyway to ask him to audi;on for Dark Angel, and as soon as the band started playing, Rinehart picked up the mic and started to roar.
“Jim went, ‘Man, I wish we had this guy all along,’” recalls Hoglan. “I felt the same way ’cause Ron was so enthusiastic, so into it. He was the polar opposite of our other vocalists. He had a good work ethic. He was ready to put the time in. He was a cool guy, and he had a great look. So, we threw Ron right into the mix and started recording.”
The first Dark Angel album to feature Rinehart, Leave Scars upped the ante on Darkness Descends, featuring more complex rhythmic shias and longer songs, while retaining the speed-thrash lacerations that pushed the band into the next level of extreme metal. Within the nightmarish firestorms lie welcome experimentations, such as the creepy “Worms,” the cinema;c instrumental “Cauteriza;on” and a wild take on Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song.” But while the album was full of strong material, the lo-fi produc;on marred the overall sonic impact a bit.
“We were all used to hearing bad-sounding thrash records, and that’s okay when you’re first starting out, but when you’re on your third record you got to step up the production, and that didn’t happen,” says
Hoglan. We should have had a more cohesive sound happening and we take all the blame for the sound of Leave Scars. And that’s why we brought in Terry Date for our next album, Time Does Not Heal. We said, let’s just mitigate the issues and work with someone great. That way, we know it’s gonna sound killer.”
Dark Angel released Time Does Not Heal, in 1991, and along with the upgrade in production came a revised approach to songwrti;ng. The band proved it could still lock it’s foot to the gas pedal on the titlle track, “Trauma and Catharsis” and “The New Preisthood.” But “Pain’s Inventionon, Madness” and “Act of Contrition” are slower and more melodic, giving Rinehart more of a chance to belt out actual notes instead of just bark. Too busy with outside projects at the time of its release, Durkin sat out the album cycle, leaving Hoglan to tackle more rhythm guitar and almost all of the songwriting. He was joined by the new guitarist Brett Eriksen, who contributed to the songwriting, but ultimately left before the band finished touring.
“Time Does Not Heal was a different kind of album for us partially because Jim left, and we got Brett. Before, Jim and I each wrote about 50 percent of the songs, and now I’m suddenly doing 65 or 70 percent of the writing, which added more rhythm changes and complexity because I get bored easily. But also, I did not know how to self-edit songs back then, which is why they were so long.”
By the time the band finished touring for Time Does Not Heal speed-thrash was no longer the most extreme game in town, having been replaced by death metal. Fans who had latched onto Dark Angel because they were the bridge to the next heaviest thing, stepped off the bridge and embraced bands like Death, Morbid Angel, Deicide, and Napalm Death for an even more punishing aural assault than that of Dark Angel.
“Before death metal came along, thrash metal was the heaviest thing around,” Hoglan recalls. “Everyone was like, ‘Oh my God, this is so psychotic and heavy. Nothing’s gonna get heavier than this! Oh, wait…’ And all of a sudden you’ve got Morbid Angel, Death, Obituary, Cannibal Corpse — all these kick-ass death metal bands that definitely took the spotlight away from a lot of thrash bands.
“Kids went, ‘Hey, thrash metal is not so extreme anymore. Check out grindcore. Check out death metal!’ And all these thrash bands were kind of left in the dust. So Dark Angel kind of dissolved for a while, and I got into this more extreme death metal stuff. But I always knew speed wasn’t everything and that thrash would come back because everything happens in cycles. And if there’s one cool thing I heard straight from the horse’s mouths over the last 30-something years, it’s that Dark Angel had a major influence on all the death metal bands, the grindcore bands, and the black metal bands. And it feels good to know I played a role in all of that.”
As Hoglan says, music – especially metal – is a cyclical style of music, and about 20 years after the dawn of thrash, the old-school fans started turning their cousins, nephews, sons and daughters to the music and suddenly The Big Four were big business, Testament, Exodus and others were major tour attractions, and Dark Angel were back in demand. The band officially reformed in the 2010s and played select shows in 2014, 2015, 2018, and 2019.
Durkin took the stage with the band, and everyone had a blast playing influential speed-thrash songs for newcomers and old-school fans alike. But while Durkin was dedicated to the band, there was a point where he started dealing with personal issues and he made it clear that he would always be there in
spirit, but there would be times he wouldn’t be able to perform. He handpicked Laura Christine (Warface, Meldrum, Nukem, Zimmer’s Hole) to fill in for him when the band returned to the road in 2022.
“I was not part of that decision one iota,” Hoglan says. “I found out later that back in 2018 when we played a show in Oakland, California at the California Death Fest. At the end of the night Jim took Laura aside. I was in an elevator going up to say goodnight to everybody and Jim steps in the elevator and announces to Laura, ‘Tonight was my last Dark Angel show, and I want you to be my replacement.’ Laura was looking at me, and then at him, and then she says, ‘Hey, I’m honored but did you guys talk about this?’ I said, ‘This is the first I’m hearing about any of this.’ And Jim goes, ‘Well, you’re my favorite guitarist and if I’m not gonna play any shows with the band, I want you to replace me.’ “As time went on, it wasn’t Jim’s last show with the band. He came back and played more shows. But for whatever reason, at that moment, right then and there, he had decided, this is it for me. He later relented and Laura was great about it. She said, “This band should be with Jim Durkin. He’s the founding member.”
The rest of the band were aware Durkin had some health issues, but they didn’t seem incapacitating. It seemed like he just didn’t want to tour anymore, and the decision was made that, with his blessings, Laura would take his spot on the stage with the caveat that he could return at any time.
“We did a festival in April of 2023, in Texas called Hell’s Heroes. It was to be Laura’s first show with the band. As go-time rapidly approached, Laura rehearsed with Dark Angel, but she also reached out to Durkin to reiterate that he was Dark Angel’s lead guitarist, not her. “She reached out to him right before the gig, and said, ‘Jim, I just want you to know that I’m merely just stepping into your shoes for this gig. If you decide three days before the show that you want to jump in and play the show, that’s great. I’m all for it.’ And he explained to her, ‘Look, that’s not gonna happen.’”
At the time, Durkin was suffering from liver problems that were far more serious than anyone in the band knew. They were completely shocked and utterly unprepared when they found out he died from liver disease on March 8, 2023.
“We knew he had a couple of medical issues, but we didn’t expect him to be taken from us – any of us,” Hoglan says. “We knew Jim had something that was going to keep him from playing shows with us, but we did not know that it was something that was gonna take his life. We had no idea. That’s why it was so crushing to hear that our brother passed. Because even though he might not have been a part of the live portion of Dark Angel at that point, we were still writing together. He told me, ‘I might not be playing live with the band as much as I used to, but I still wanna write.’ And I was fine with that.”
Hoglan is pleased that the title track of Extinction Level Event isn’t just 100 percent Durkin, it’s completely unrelenting, bursting with speed, excitement, and Durkin’s knife-slash riffs. Beyond that, Hoglan insists that the rest of the songs on the album – which he and Christine composed before the full band contributed their input in the studio – are heavily inspired by Durkin’s spirit and performance style.
“Before the end of everything, I told Jim, ‘Yeah, let’s keep writing together,’” explains Hoglan. “It didn’t happen, and I ended up with just one full song from Jim. But Jim’s presence is felt all over the record because Jim’s songwriting was a really big influence for me. I had only played guitar for a couple years before I got into Dark Angel, and being around Jim day aaer day, year upon year, had a huge impact on my songwriting and I have Jim to thank for that.”
Having passed away two years ago, Durkin’s sudden death is still traumatic for Dark Angel and especially Hoglan. At the same time, he takes bittersweet pride in knowing that Jim’s playing and performances live on through him and Dark Angel, not only when the band plays his old riffs, but also in the continued influence Durkin has on the band’s new songs.
“One of the last things I told him was, “Jim, dude, you’re my original guitar hero,” Hoglan recalls. “My eti;re guitar style is based on your style because you are who I really learned how to play guitar from.” So, my guitar approach with Dark Angel is Jim Durkin’s approach. When I write for the band, I’m thinking, ‘What would Jim do here?’ That’s why his presence is massively all over this new record. Every single song. I wanted to make it to where people are like, “Yeah, Jim wrote that riff. Oh, there’s another Jim riff” because Jim wrote all the best riffs in the band, forever.”
explosive no-wave post jazz with an ever-rotating lineup
Simply put, Wynton Existing is Wynton Existing due to the fact that Wynton exists to make art. Rather then identify as a specific genre, Wynton Existing is an exploration of sounds, vibes and emotions, generally which finds itself swimming around Garage, Psychedelia, Progressive, Punk, Stoner, Indie, and countless other subgenres.
The mission of Wynton Existing isn’t to highlight Wynton alone, but to remind the listener they exist too. The band invites us to live in the moment and open the audience up to the opportunity of feeling something. You too are alive and can exist just as brightly as the talent on stage.
The live show is a high energy splendor of noise experimentation, jams, and crowd participation, inviting the audience to join the madness with psychedelic breakdowns in songs such as “Tomtom Song”. The lyrical content ranges from wonder, perseverance, anguish, curiosity, hopelessness, inflection, and varying levels of acceptance, all generally with enough vagueness for the listener to takeaway their own meanings. Wynton Existing wants to pull the safety net off the music industry. They can make a big hit single, but don’t want to limit themselves to just making pop songs, they can play a consistent genre, but don’t feel they should be defined by a singular style. As Andy Warhol said:“Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.”
Chicago Alternative Hard Rock
nineteen year old artist / producer from london, uk.
Al’s Hwy50, a project by Al Laughlin, an original founding member of the iconic Colorado band The Samples, will be performing select shows throughout 2025… Al’s fusion of reggae and ska rhythms is sure to get you dancing all night long.
A Chicago-based, blues-gospel band playing music that is good for the soul.
Questionable Decisions is an exciting new ensemble consisting of four of the Chicago Jazz scene’s most unique musicians. All four of these musicians have played in myriad situations across multiple genres, and their flexibility is on full display whenever they start playing. They’re a band upholding a tradition of Jazz as subversive party music. Drawing inspiration from Eddie Harris, Medeski, Martin & Wood, The Bad Plus, and Lester Bowie, they fuse Pop melodies, Jazz harmonies, Brazilian, Afro-Cuban and Funk rhythms, jammy improvisations with punk ferocity.
Or, as one friend once said, “someone’s going to have to invent a whole new genre just to describe you guys.”
Experimental no-wave band with a revolving lineup of musicians. Praise the Orb.
MADAM RADAR is an Americana rock band that punches hard with its explosive harmonies, soaring guitar solos, and eclectic original tunes. The band is a tangled web of family and friends; Jace Cadle (rhythm guitar/vocals) is married to Kelly Green (lead guitar/vocals), the sister of Kody Lee (drums/vocals), married to Violet Lea (bass/vocals).
Fronted by the trio of Kelly, Violet, and Jace, MADAM RADAR is a revolving door of high-energy singer-songwriters, each with their own perspective and style that magically seem to overlap like the layers of a kaleidoscope. With all four band members providing harmonies, MADAM RADAR is a wall of colorful sound that changes shape, demanding your undivided attention.
The Reverent Few don’t chase trends or polish their edges. They play like it matters—because for them, it does. Rooted in gospel shouts, blues grit, and rock ‘n’ roll soul, their music isn’t just heard—it’s felt, deep in the chest.
Frontwoman Paige DeChausse delivers vocals that are raw and resonant, the kind that crack you open and stitch you back up in the same breath. At her side, Nick James layers in blistering guitar and grit-soaked harmonies, while Ashlyn Shanafelt and Spanky lock in a rhythm section that hits like muscle and memory.
Their debut record Ain’t No Place to Be dropped April 1st, 2020—into a world that stood still. But the songs kept moving. In small rooms, on quiet stages, and through the headphones of anyone who needed them.
Their newest single, The World Will Be Wood To You, is a rope swing of hope—equal parts tenderness and tenacity. It’s a reminder that beauty still lives in the burn, and resilience is a rhythm worth keeping.
underground death metal band
Formed in the Netherlands in 1987, ASPHYX have always been one of death metal’s most ruthlessly idiosyncratic bands. With a sound that draws from the rawest of materials, they have skilfully blended fast ‘n’ furious extremity with some of the most claustrophobic, suppurating slow-motion doom ever committed to tape. Opening their impeccable account with 1991’s stone cold classic The Rack, ASPHYX have never wavered from their singular vision, delivering a series of legendary albums that have always been considerably heavier than everything else around.
Songs like ‘Scratch & Claw’ feature impactful and introspective rap lyrics and haunting yet passionate vocals over polished, metal inspired, instrumentation, while ‘Going Rogue’ pushes the creative threshold of what a band can excel to be. Dropout Kings, formed in 2016, have already garnered millions of streams from their debut album, AudioDope, which was released August 10th, 2018 through Napalm Records. The group signed to the label before they even performed their first concert, confirming the band’s raw talent and creative fortitude. AudioDope went on to receive rave reviews, being herald for it’s refreshing yet nostalgic sound while blurring the lines between rock and hip hop. In 2019, Dropout Kings signed to Stay Sick Recordings and released the GlitchGang EP. In 2021, DOK signed with Suburban Noize Records and re-released the GlitchGang EP, only further cementing them as a force to be reckoned with. With their latest release and more tours on the way, it is clear that Dropout Kings are on a quest to make the world hear their story.
Since bursting forth from the cosmic ether in 2014, Seattle’s Xoth (pronounced ZOTH) has evoked fan and critical acclaim for their innovative approach to extreme metal. 2019’s Interdimensional Invocations has become a cult classic, blending technical death metal, black metal, and thrash in a novel synthesis that eludes categorization.
In partnership with Dawnbreed Records, their third triumph Exogalactic is an ambitious leap forward. It’s as if they’ve excavated musical relics from Earth’s core and melded them with sounds from the far reaches of the universe. Each song is an event horizon, stirring subgenres into a timewarp of past and future sonic chaos.
Amidst the vortex of sound, the mixing sorcery of Joe Cincotta at Full Force Studio (Obituary, Suffocation) manifests an auditory odyssey and the artwork of Shindy Reehal at Shindy Design sets the tone for the voyage. Xoth is not just music; it’s a journey across the celestial landscape led by interstellar luminaries.
“Through four years of trials and tribulations, we are thrilled to finally unleash an album that has demanded immense dedication, fortitude, and sacrifice. The results of our experiment have surpassed our wildest imagination!”
Xoth is: Tyler Sturgill – Guitar & Vocals Woody Adler – Guitar Ben Bennett – Bass Jeremy Salvo – Drums
WE CRAWL ON OUR BELLIES !! WE SLITHER IN YER EARZ !! DEEP FRIED 3 PIECE WEIRDOS FROM ORLANDO FL !!
Like a molotov cocktail hurled at the new millennium’s bland alt-rock scene, The Briefs exploded onto the punk landscape 25 years ago with their debut “Hit After Hit.” Now, these bleach-blonde Seattle troublemakers continue to set stages ablaze from Vegas to Berlin. Fresh off a European tour and armed with forthcoming 7″ “High Society b/w You Move Me,” they’re proving punk’s not dead—it’s just getting weirder, baby. To cap off a momentous 2024, the Briefs have reissued their sought-after first single “Poor and Weird b/w Rotten Love” while simultaneously gearing up for a US West Coast tour this fall. Five albums deep and countless bottles of peroxide later, these idiot savants continue to urge a new generation to grab a junk guitar, a pair of second-hand shades, and join the punk rock mutation!
Labyrinth is a Thrash Metal band based in Houston, TX. Influenced by classic Thrash Metal [83-94]
How do I drive this thing?
We’re detached one-car garage rock.
for the late nights and red eyes, bleached out is a two piece bedroom project born out of boredom as most things are. please enjoy <3
We are a Hi-NRG, Disco Goth band from Chicago, IL.
Roster: The Law of HUEY, Stark of HUEY, DJ Cymba of HUEY, LOCKWOOD, King Vo of HUEY, KaydoeXO°, John Jones, Jefe of HUEY, STEEEVE
Originating from the Pacific Northwest, Tory Ward combines her amiable, light hearted personality with sardonic humor creating an experience that is singularly hilarious. She’s performed in festivals across the country including Limestone Comedy Festival, SF Sketchfest and 10,000 Laughs. She’s opened for comics such as Louis Katz, Kyle Kinane and Marc Maron.
Known as the Positive Vibe Technician for Perpetual Groove, Brock “The Rev” Butler founded the band with Adam Perry while attending SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) in 1997.
“Adam and I were sequential art students, but I eventually switched to Film, Video and Sound Design. We really put the sound design facilities to work for our own Perpetual Groove purposes.”
After more than two decades, Brock has become a successful solo artist in tandem with the evolution of
Perpetual Groove…
Stay tuned.
CHEZ is an independent alternative pop force on the rise, unfiltered and unapologetic. Known for her blend of raw lyricism and explosive energy, CHEZ has quickly carved out a space of her own – amassing over one million streams on Spotify alone and building a loyal, ever growing community of fans affectionately known as the BADDIES. Championing self-worth, confidence and emotional honesty – especially for young women navigating a complex world – CHEZ makes anthems for those unafraid to stand tall to their own truth. Her undeniable presence has seen her tour nationally across Australia, supporting global acts like Set It Off, Scene Queen, PVRIS and Taylor Acorn. In May/June 2025, CHEZ will head to the UK and Europe with AViVA, marking her first run of international shows. CHEZ is more than just a voice, she’s a movement, making space for a new generation of confident, empowered, emotionally-aware BADDIES.
Cardiff’s HIMALAYAS’ story began when teenagers Joe Williams (lead vocals/guitar) and Mike Griffiths (lead guitar/vocals) started performing in small venues around Wales, and soon captured the attention of hungry fans and music industry tastemakers alike. Later joined by drummer James Goulbourn and completed by Louis Heaps on bass. Sharing a mutual love of Queens Of The Stone Age, Muse, Royal Blood and Iggy Pop, HIMALAYAS quickly honed their unique blend of dark, cinematic fast-paced rock featuring barbed wire riffs and snarling vocals.
The four-piece has been touring consistently, playing key festivals including SXSW, Mad Cool and Reading & Leeds along with high-profile supports with the likes of Stereophonics and Manic Street Preachers.
Newly signed to Nettwerk Records, their highly anticipated debut album, ‘From Hell To Here’ is released in May 2023, it was recorded in Wales with Steffan Pringle and mixed in LA by Grammy Award-winning producer, Dave Sardy (Royal Blood, Josh Homme, Rage Against The Machine). Early singles from the album have picked up enthusiastic support across radio and press and reactions at all their live shows have been incredible, with Louder Than War predicting, “…this is the sound that will fill stadiums.” HIMALAYAS have put everything into making their debut album and they’re only just getting started.
Chicago pianist/producer C3zR blends electronic elements, ear-worm hip-hop beats, vintage lo-fi, symphonic textures, and stylistic jazz instrumentation. A frequent collaborator with local and rising talent, his diverse musical approach has reached a growing fanbase.
Based in Grand Rapids, MI, Candid Antics is a six-piece jazz fusion group rapidly gaining recognition as a top local act. They’ve earned accolades including winners of the 2023 Walk the Beat competition, finalists in the 2023 ‘The Stray’ Battle of the Bands, and official artist performances at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. Playing a style of music dubbed “party-fusion” that combines intricate harmonies with timeless grooves, they breathe new life into the golden era of fusion, bringing it to the modern age.
The premier group in audio based fine dining experiences, please enjoy: The Waitstaff.
Noe Noel is one of Chicago’s most exciting stand up comedians. With six years of professional experience, he has shared the stage with nationally renowned talents like Janeane Garofalo, Sam Tallent, Zainab Johnson, and Nate Jackson. Noe is a regular at some of the country’s top comedy clubs, including Zanies, The Laugh Factory, Comedy Bar, Comedy Works, The Comedy Store, and The Improv.
Beyond Chicago, his curated shows have entertained audiences across the U.S., with productions in Seattle, Las Vegas, New York, Denver, Miami, Atlanta, Memphis, Tulsa, Dallas, and more. While widely celebrated as a local favorite, Noe remains relentless in his pursuit of a breakout moment.
A true creative, he explores multiple artistic outlets, including video art, storytelling, and film, bringing a unique perspective and depth to his craft.
Comedienne…… Im just me, why r y’all so mad #PRIMADONNA Snapchat:shawty _nyce
Comedian Dream Chasing. #TuskegeeUniversityAlumnus. Come join the journey.
In 2025 Soft Blue Shimmer find themselves searching for new ways to push sonic boundaries, both on and off stage. For the past six years, the indie outfit have been creating music that transcends genre definitions. Their latest LP “They Will Leave Us With Nothing” is out now.
Woolworthy is a dynamic pop-punk/power-pop band hailing from the vibrant music scene of Chicago. Formed by members Rudy Gonzalez and Rick Uncapher, the band burst onto the local scene in 1995, showcasing their raw and energetic songs influenced by bands like The Replacements, Goo Goo Dolls, Soul Asylum, and Superchunk.
Award winning multi-instrumentalist Dave Bainbridge joins forces with Lord of the Dance vocalist and fellow multi-instrumentalist Sally Minnear to bring a spellbinding evening of music that will, in equal measure, have you jigging in (or out of!) your seat or bring a tear to your eye. A compelling mix of powerful and ethereal vocal songs (including the occasional emotive Gaelic ballad), instrumental tracks – jigs/reels/slow airs/evolving soundscapes and virtuoso improvisation on keyboards, electric guitar, bouzouki and cowbell! All held together with Dave’s humerous banter.
Matt Dorsey is a singer songwriter multi-instrumentalist from Orange County, CA. He’s played with Beth Hart, In Continuum, Dave Kerzner, Circuline, Simon Collins, ProgJect, and is a founding member of Sound of Contact. This page is dedicated to his original music.
Alberta Death Metal