Starting a review is like picking one of many doors into the world of an album. Sometimes, the door to choose is obvious. For a songwriter known for profound or incisive lyrics, you simply choose the door labeled "lyrics." For an artist known as a next-level guitar player, you take the door labeled "guitar." But what door do you take when there are many that all seem equally exciting? Take, for example, the new album Wasteland by Portugal's Travo. I initially saw this advertised as a heavy psychedelic rock album. There's a lot that fits under that umbrella, but I still have a basic expectation of what that sounds like. But diving into Wasteland, I hear many elements that don't fit neatly into that box. I always find music that colors outside the lines quite compelling - there's no neat comparison here, so there's no obvious place to start with the review. The only way to figure it out is to pick a door and try to find a way back out.  

In the interest of getting myself to write more about fitness, I've decided to add a regular weekly post, Wellness Wednesday. These are mostly going to be quick excuses to post whatever YouTube fitness tip that caught my eye most recently, but hey, fitness content is fitness content. You'll start to see that I definitely have my favorites. One of my more recent follows is Kayce Hollingsworth, who is an absolute monster with calisthenics. His advice on pullups has been an absolute game-changer for me. You can see that simple tip in the video above. 

Not into the fitness content? I've got another review coming in a couple hours. 

One of the real joys of writing about heavy music is its expansiveness. I've written about this before, but there are so many ways to make heavy music, and that freedom allows for a much broader range of sounds than most music genres. With this review of Ohio's Valley of The Sun, I have now reviewed 12 albums, and none particularly sound like any of the others. Click through to that page and you'll see black metal, noise rock, heavy industrial, synthwave, and now, with the addition of The Blacklight Sessions, some good old-fashioned stoner rock.  

Having started a site about music and fitness, it's pretty easy to guess that those are two of my major interests. There's another topic that interests me almost as much, one that has popped up in my writing here from time to time: politics. I am an avid follower of politics. I read political news every single day, I have worked on a few political campaigns, and my day job is in the public sector. While I understand why many people find politics exhausting or disinteresting, I genuinely believe that the world would be a better place if people were more involved in the mechanics of how their communities operate. Given this interest, I was pretty excited to talk to a band with an unquestionably political album on the way. That album is People as Idiots & Idiots as Leaders, and from Austria's hardcore punk band Desolat. Head into the pit to read my conversation with Desolat's vocalist and guitarist, Alfred Satani. It has been lightly edited for grammar. 

Happy Friday, all! We have a really interesting New Music Friday lineup for you today. There's a lot of electronic-based music this week, some of which is fun and danceable, while other releases are about as much fun as a black hole. We've also got some black metal, some sludgy post hardcore, and a couple of very, VERY experimental releases. Into the pit!

Editor's note: My pal and dedicated concert traveler Josh Burke was in Austin, Texas recently and caught a small chunk of the 2026 edition of Ripplefest while he was there. Below is his recap of the Magnetic Eye label showcase. You can read some of his previous Ripplefest coverage here. 

Fitness content! I've been hanging on to this tip for a lull in my metal posting schedule. It's hard to exist in the world today and not hear a lot about protein. As the hot macronutrient of the moment, every company out there wants you to believe that their product qualifies as high protein. Many products genuinely qualify. Many others, however, are faking it. Here's a quick tip to help verify if the food you're considering is actually providing the usable protein claims: the percent daily value on the label should be twice the grams of protein in the product. In other words, if the daily percentage says 40%, then it should have 20g of protein. If the percentage and grams don't line up, then there's protein in the product that your body can't actually use to build muscle. The short video above explains the science. 

A little more than a week ago, I was at a neighborhood festival full of vendor booths for food, clothing, collectables, and political candidates. While perusing, I came across a booth unlike any of the others: a guy sitting on his own with a small box of records and an iPhone connected to a pair of headphones. I stopped to check it out, and discovered it was musician Tommy Ratz promoting his band, Toilet Rats. A handwritten sign declared it synth music for fans of bands like The Cure, New Order, and bands along those lines. We chatted, and I told him that I would check out his album for possible coverage. While the band might not be metal, there's a lot about the album Black Cats that makes it easy to recommend to BKOH readers. 

The Flenser today released a new live album by experimental industrial noise artist Uboa, and I'm singling it out today because this release touches on the intersection of heavy music and wellness. Uboa mastermind Xandra Metcalfe has been diagnosed with some chronic conditions, and sales of this recording will help fund her medical care. Bandcamp link and full background on the recording after the break. 

Pranjal Tiwari is a California-based musician who has played in multiple metal, hardcore and punk bands. Like many of us, he needed to find new outlets to express himself during the COVID-19 pandemic, and during that time his solo synthwave project S.C.R.A.M. (Safety Control Rod Axe Man) was born. Tomorrow, on the Fall Equinox, his new album, Coma Filament will be released. While not traditionally heavy, the album is seeped in dread, pulling from inspirations like John Carpenter's scores and the music of dungeon synth legend Mortiis. 

Over email, Tiwari shared his thoughts about working as a solo musician, his musical and cinematic influences, sobriety, and much more. You can read the full conversation below, which has been lightly edited for grammar.