Features / Music

 We've rolled out an extra-special feature for this year's Fest: that's right, it's FEST LIBS. You've played it before, but not like this – fill in our interactive form here, then sit back and read your customised FEST LIBS. The results may surprise you. But before you go generate your own FEST LIBS, we've asked some friends in bands performing … Read more

While I want to say that Scene Point Blank went big this year with so many interviews in this feature, the truth is that it's barely a fraction of the bands that play at FEST 22, taking place in Gainesville, FL from Oct. 25-27. The artists featured are just a small sample who we've asked to talk about why they … Read more

Formed about one year ago, Massive Nightmares started life first as a trio and now a quartet. The band members (Tom Ciesluk, Myke Doyle, Alex Heinz, and Pat Lavalle) have played in a variety of bands previously, including Great Lakes USA, No Trigger, Save Ends, and David New Joy. That experience shows on the band’s new album, a self-titled and … Read more

Making something out of nothing every year. FEST 22 takes place in Gainesville, FL this October 25-27. It’s rare for any musical venue to last that long, be it a festival, a venue or even a band. Obviously, a lot has changed in the world in that time, from band cycles to new technology to changing venues. And that doesn’t … Read more

Two decades of independent music coverage All the way back in 2003, a scrappy new webzine was born. It was a different era: guitar music was undergoing something of a revolution—or so it felt at the time—and the internet was a burgeoning place for music fans to discover new artists, find news about the bands they loved, and even download … Read more

It's been a year of intense, crazy events. Assassination attempts on former presidents. European governments overthrown in waves of unexpected left-wing landslides. Tenacious D imploding. Hold on, that was just the past few weeks. Yep, we're midway through this thing called 2024 and it only promises to get more interesting / terrifying / Jack Black-esque, depending on your perspective. Thankfully, … Read more

Do you ever go through phases of listening to the same music over and over and over again? Why would I listen to something new when I could listen to X ten times in a row, or that song off Y a couple of times a day? Sometimes something new and cool does fall through the cracks in the brain … Read more

Panopticon may be more widely known as a "metal" band - I use that term loosely because Panopticon is a lot more than the black metal base genre it derives from - yet founder Austin Lunn finds his inspiration from many different genres, punk and hardcore being one aspect of his sound that doesn't manifest in the most obvious of … Read more

Twenty years is a long time – much longer than many relationships last. So it’s an accomplishment when a band can stick together through life and social changes. DeeCracks, a poppy punk band from Austria, threw a two-day festival last year and released a 28-track retrospective to mark their anniversary in late 2023 (20 Years: A Frantic Effort, Pirates Press). … Read more

Acathexis – Immerse (Amor Fati/Extraconscious Records) Acathexis’ self-titled debut from 2018 is one that still bears repeated listens, personally, many years later. With some of the best known and hardest working musicians within black metal behind the band, it was always clear that this is a band to watch. Featuring Jacob Buczarski, Déhà and Dany Tee (each with a list … Read more

Hello, this is Kepi Ghoulie (formerly of the Groovie Ghoulies) and I have been asked to submit a number of Anti-Valentine songs, since I have been recording an annual audio Valentine for at least the last 15 years! With this year's Valentine release we come full circle with the first "new" Groovie Ghoulies recordins in years: a 7" featuring an … Read more

Arkhtinn – 三度目の災害 (Prava Collective) The mysterious Prava Collective release music by a handful of artists (who may or may not be in every band or at least more than one), each digital drop containing a plethora of music that encompasses the entire label’s roster while Amor Fati handle the physical side of things. Arkhtinn were the first to come … Read more

Another year is over. You yawn wearily as January beckons, trying to remember what your job is and clinging onto those hastily-made new year's resolutions. Maybe one of them was to listen to more new music this year? Better slow down there, buddy. Before you start diving into 2024, you need to catch up on what you missed last year. … Read more

As we've done every year since 2004 (except, for some reason, in 2017), SPB's hard-working staffers have beavered away around the clock to deliver you a set of lists to help you review the year just finished. Not a list of our favorite albums—you can peruse that here—but all kinds of other things we discovered in 2023. Read on to … Read more

It's been a long year, right? You may well find yourself examining the last twelve months and trying to remember what music got released so you can include it on your "2023 best of" and still look cool. But—disaster! You can't remember anything! Thankfully, SPB has got you. We've reached out to our friends in the music community: bands, labels … Read more