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Puerto Rican Doom Metal Force MOTHS Crown a New Chapter With Wrestling-Inspired Single “Crown Jewel”

Eric Alper
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Puerto Rican Doom Metal Force MOTHS Crown a New Chapter With Wrestling-Inspired Single “Crown Jewel”

MOTHS have never been a band that thinks small, and “Crown Jewel” is their most theatrically ambitious single yet. The Puerto Rican doom and progressive metal outfit created the track in direct collaboration with Puerto Rican indie wrestler Gema, a former AEW performer, as her official entrance theme, and the result is dark, commanding, and unapologetically grand.

The single was mastered by Alan Douches, known for his work with Mastodon and Baroness, and it channels spectacle and fire without sacrificing the depth and heaviness that define MOTHS’ sound. Built around themes of dominance and self-mythology, the track portrays its narrator as an untouchable force, part ruler, part deity, embracing ambition, ego, and self-destruction under the spotlight.

The band describes the creative challenge with genuine enthusiasm. “As Gema reached out to us to write her entrance song, we were excited about the challenge of making sure that it was a good fit for a wrestler entrance without trying to sound or be different, and I think we nailed it. This is definitely MOTHS’ take on this kind of musical approach.”

Vocalist Mariel Viruet’s lyrical contribution drives the single’s character. “This is also Mariel’s lyrical contribution to the band, and it really applied what the overall ‘Gema’ character is: a spoiled ‘queen,’ the one that deserves everything, without scaling back her intensity and showing that she clearly deserves to be considered the best.”

“Crown Jewel” arrives in the wake of MOTHS’ critically acclaimed 2025 album ‘Septem’, a visceral journey through the 7 Deadly Sins that landed on multiple Album of the Year lists and drew coverage from Metal Hammer, MetalSucks, Metal Injection, and Decibel. Earlier this year the band supported Avenged Sevenfold at the Coliseum of Puerto Rico, performing in front of one of the largest audiences of their career.

Formed in 2018, MOTHS have built their reputation by blending progressive, stoner, doom, jazz, and extreme metal into a sound that is both cerebral and crushing. They’ve shared stages with The Ocean Collective and Circus Maximus, performed at festivals across the Americas, and toured the US and Mexico, becoming a defining force in Puerto Rico’s heavy music scene in the process.

Metal Legends Sepultura Release Farewell EP ‘The Cloud of Unknowing’ and Head to Europe for Final Shows

Eric Alper
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Metal Legends Sepultura Release Farewell EP ‘The Cloud of Unknowing’ and Head to Europe for Final Shows

Sepultura are saying goodbye, and they’re doing it on their own terms. The Cloud of Unknowing EP is out now via Nuclear Blast Records, a 4-track farewell release that captures the full spectrum of the band’s creativity across more than 4 decades, and it’s one of the most emotionally resonant things they’ve ever committed to tape. Listen here.

The EP arrives as the band continues their ‘Celebrating Life Through Death’ farewell tour, currently heading into a massive European summer run. With over 40 years of history, 14 gold records, and performances across more than 80 countries, Sepultura stand as one of the most important and influential metal bands ever to take a stage, and ‘The Cloud of Unknowing’ serves as their bittersweet final creative statement.

New track “The Place” is out now alongside an official video, with vocalist Derrick Green explaining the song’s driving idea. “This song deals with immigrants who have come to a place seeking refuge and start a new life. Once assimilated into a false sense of security and relentless propaganda they began to act out against what they hate about themselves. The transition begins to escape from the self hatred and the lashing out against people who believed in the same ideas. I feel the lyrics truly follow the transitions of the song. Starting with disappointment and arriving at anger.”

That lyrical depth and moral clarity have defined Sepultura’s best work throughout their career, and “The Place” demonstrates those instincts remain sharp and uncompromised right to the end.

The EP is available in multiple vinyl formats including Oxblood, Transparent Petrol, Crystal Clear, and Transparent Red variants, each accompanied by a CD of the EP in a card wallet. The European farewell run covers festival appearances at Hellfest, Graspop, Rock in Rio Lisboa, Wacken Open Air, Bloodstock Festival, Copenhell, Tons of Rock, and more, running through August 9 in Dublin.

‘The Cloud of Unknowing’ EP Tracklist:

  1. All Souls Rising
  2. Beyond the Dream
  3. Sacred Books
  4. The Place

Remaining ‘Celebrating Life Through Death’ Tour Dates:

June 6 – South Of Heaven, NL

June 7 – Metalfest, CZ

June 8 – Zagreb, Croatia @ Tvornica Kulture

June 9 – Milan, Italy @ Circolo Magnolia

June 10 – Rome, Italy @ Eur Social Park

June 12 – Greenfield Festival, CH

June 13 – Novarock, AT

June 14 – Würzburg, Germany @ Pothalle

June 17 – Saarbruecken, Germany @ Garage

June 19 – Hellfest, FR

June 20 – Graspop, BE

June 21 – Rock in Rio Lisboa, PT

June 23 – Oberhausen, Germany @ Turbinenhalle

June 24 – Potsdam, Germany @ Waschhaus Potsdam

June 25 – Copenhell, DK

June 26 – Huskvarna, Sweden @ Folkets Park

June 27 – Tons of Rock, NO

June 30 – Release Festival, GR

July 31 – Wacken Open Air, DE

August 1 – Helsinki, Finland @ Tavastia (SOLD OUT)

August 2 – Tallinn Rock Festival, EE

August 5 – Leyendas Del Rock, ES

August 7 – Bloodstock Festival, UK

August 9 – Dublin, Ireland @ 3Arena

Swedish Power Metal Force Metalite Sign to Perception and Launch a New Era With “Our Time Has Come”

Eric Alper
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Swedish Power Metal Force Metalite Sign to Perception and Launch a New Era With “Our Time Has Come”

Metalite have a new label home and a new single, and both announcements land with the kind of momentum that suggests the Swedish modern power metal outfit are about to reach a significantly larger audience. The band has signed a worldwide contract with Perception, a division of Reigning Phoenix Music, and unleashed “Our Time Has Come,” a high-energy anthem that kicks off their upcoming concept album ‘Discovery’. Listen here.

The single delivers everything Metalite does best: soaring vocal lines, a pounding rhythm section, cinematic synth layers, and an arena-ready chorus built for maximum impact. Guitarist, producer, and founder Edwin Premberg frames the track’s role in the larger story the band is building. “This song kicks off a powerful new chapter for METALITE and marks the beginning of our upcoming concept album ‘Discovery’ where the story continues on a new planet and humanity begins a new life. It’s a classic METALITE track, full of high energy, soaring melodies, and that unmistakable METALITE sound.”

‘Discovery’ continues the narrative thread established on 2024’s ambitious concept album ‘Expedition One’, set in the year 2055 and following a renegade team searching for a new world across themes of human evolution, technology, and survival. The band has been building this sci-fi universe since their 2017 debut ‘Heroes in Time’, and each release has pushed the vision further.

Formed by Premberg and vocalist Emma Bensing in 2015, the band entered a new era in 2019 with ‘Biomechanicals’ and the debut of vocalist Erica Ohlsson, embracing electronic elements and pulsating rhythms that elevated their futuristic sound. Drummer Erik Junttila joined in 2024, bringing fresh energy to a lineup that has since toured alongside Pain, Leaves’ Eyes, and the Night Flight Orchestra and appeared at Sweden Rock and Masters of Rock.

With millions of streams and a growing global fanbase, Metalite are one of melodic metal’s most consistently inventive acts, and “Our Time Has Come” signals that the best may still be ahead.

Finnish Winterwave Band Rain Diary Release Emotionally Charged Single “Fire” From New Album ‘Night Church’

Eric Alper
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Finnish Winterwave Band Rain Diary Release Emotionally Charged Single “Fire” From New Album ‘Night Church’

Rain Diary have been playing “Fire” live for years, and the crowd reaction has always told them everything they needed to know about the song. Now the Finnish electronic rock outfit has released it as the final single from their new album ‘Night Church’, out now, and it’s a beautifully aching piece of music that represents the softer, more vulnerable side of everything the band does.

Rooted in Finnish melancholy, the imagery of evergreen forests, nightless nights, and snow-covered wilderness, Rain Diary have always drawn from a deeply specific emotional and geographic landscape. But they’ve consistently refused to be boxed in by the HIM and Nightwish comparisons that come easily to Finnish dark rock, injecting urban energy through drumming electronics and clever pop elements that place them closer to Depeche Mode and Placebo in spirit and sound. They’ve even coined their own genre tag for it: winterwave.

‘Night Church’ arrives as the band’s most fully realized collection of that sound, and “Fire” earns its place as the album’s closing statement. The song has always connected live, a testament to the kind of direct emotional communication Rain Diary build into their songwriting. Concert footage from their 2022 Huxleys Neue Welt Berlin performance, captured during their support run with Lord of The Lost on the Ensemble Tour, accompanies the release and shows exactly what the song does to a room.

The band consists of Joonas Verho on vocals, Tytti Toppari-Pellikainen on keyboards and vocals, Teemu Rantanen on guitar, Joni Bitter on bass, guitar, and programming, and Lauri Kujasalo on drums, a lineup that brings real depth and texture to music that lives and breathes in its own distinctive world.

Florida Metal Outfit Wage War Drag You Into the Swamp on Brutal New EP ‘It Calls Me By Name’

Eric Alper
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Florida Metal Outfit Wage War Drag You Into the Swamp on Brutal New EP ‘It Calls Me By Name’

Wage War have always known where they come from, and ‘It Calls Me By Name’ is their most direct declaration of that yet. The new EP is out now via Fearless Records, a 5-track collection rooted in Florida, the swamp, and the relentless aggression of nature, and it’s the heaviest thing the band has released in years.

Lead single “SONG OF THE SWAMP” arrives with an official video, and it sets the tone immediately. Bloodthirsty screams, deadly riffage, and pummeling percussion build a track that rages from start to finish without a moment of compromise. The band frames it plainly: “Driven by Florida and the raw aggression of nature, it’s a heavy track built on tension and hostility.”

The EP as a whole operates with a clear sense of identity. “It Calls Me By Name is about being drawn to your roots. Five tracks shaped by Florida, the swamp, and the relentless aggression of nature. Built heavy, but still driven by the hooks that have defined us. It’s our signature sound amplified and pushed further into metal than we’ve ever taken it.”

That push is audible across all 5 tracks, from the opening assault of “SONG OF THE SWAMP” through “4X4,” “BLINDFOLD,” “KARMA,” and closer “PURIFY.” The EP doesn’t wander or experiment for its own sake. It commits to a sound and a world and stays there with full conviction.

Briton Bond on lead vocals, Cody Quistad on rhythm guitar and clean vocals, Seth Blake on lead guitar, Chris Gaylord on bass, and Stephen Kluesener on drums have built something focused and unrelenting here, a release that knows exactly what it is and delivers it without apology.

‘It Calls Me By Name’ Tracklist:

SONG OF THE SWAMP

4X4

BLINDFOLD

KARMA

PURIFY

Beartooth Sign to Fearless Records and Launch a Bold New Era With Crushing New Single “Free”

Eric Alper
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Beartooth Sign to Fearless Records and Launch a Bold New Era With Crushing New Single “Free”

Beartooth are back, and they’ve arrived with a new label home, a new single, and a statement of intent that leaves no room for ambiguity. “Free,” out now on Fearless Records, is the band’s first new music since 2023, co-written and co-produced by Jordan Fish, and it’s a seismic, crushing track that marks both a turning point and a beginning.

Frontman Caleb Shomo frames it directly. “‘Free’ is the start of the next chapter of my music and my life. The emotional roller coaster that is living can be very complicated at times. In one day you can equally experience pure fear and pure joy. This song shows a glimpse of what is to come from the next Beartooth album, which is the most honest depiction of my soul I will most likely ever make.”

Where past Beartooth records documented survival, “Free” captures a moment of clarity inside the chaos, a subtle but significant shift that points toward whatever comes next. The official video, directed by Meg Gamez, brings the track’s emotional core into sharp visual focus.

The signing to Fearless Records adds another dimension to the announcement. Shomo is enthusiastic about the new partnership. “Fearless has empowered me as an artist like nothing I’ve ever experienced. They all truly love what they do, and it shows in the work. They go about their business with humility and a hunger for joy.” Fearless President Andy Serrao responds in kind, calling “Free” the perfect start to this next chapter.

More than a decade into their career, Beartooth have accumulated over 1.3 billion streams worldwide, 1 RIAA-certified platinum single, 1 gold single, and back-to-back number 1 singles at Active Rock radio. 2023’s ‘The Surface’ debuted at number 1 on Billboard’s Hard Rock Albums chart. Forbes called them a band “inching towards a tipping point of becoming the latest arena headliner.” With “Free,” that tipping point has arrived.

Metalcore Heavyweights ERRA Push Into Darker Territory With Punishing New Single “i. the many names of god”

Eric Alper
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Metalcore Heavyweights ERRA Push Into Darker Territory With Punishing New Single “i. the many names of god”

ERRA have never shied away from ambition, and “i. the many names of god” is one of the most deliberately constructed singles they’ve released. Out now via UNFD, the track opens the closing trilogy of their forthcoming album ‘silence outlives the earth’, a 3-part sequence that includes “ii. in the gut of the wolf” and “iii. twilight in the reflection of dreams,” and it marks a distinct tonal shift from everything that precedes it on the record.

The band frames the trilogy’s role with precision. “The trilogy represents a distinct shift in tone from the previous songs on the record. The record transitions to a darker place at this point, and many names serves to take the heaviest moods expressed in the preceding tracks and visceralize them.” That visceralization is immediate and unrelenting, seething with brutal discontent from the first note to the last.

The single follows “further eden,” which Revolver described as “full of synth-glossed melodies and breakbeats, but likewise concrete-smashing breakdowns and tense, effects-explosive guitar riffs.” Together the 2 singles sketch the full emotional and sonic range of ‘silence outlives the earth’, a record that clearly has something serious to say and the musical architecture to say it.

Genre-Bending Internet Icon Oliver Tree Takes Flight on Wild New Single “Flowers”

Eric Alper
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Genre-Bending Internet Icon Oliver Tree Takes Flight on Wild New Single “Flowers”

Oliver Tree has never made anything ordinary, and “Flowers” keeps that streak firmly intact. The new single is out now via Atlantic Records, the latest preview of his highly anticipated fourth studio album ‘Love You Madly, Hate You Badly’, and it arrives with a music video that is exactly as unhinged as his fanbase has come to expect, featuring Tree dancing atop an airplane wing in full pilot uniform before meticulously vacuuming the cabin. Equal parts absurd and artful, the visual captures his unique ability to blur performance, parody, and pure pop spectacle into something that works on every level.

“Flowers” follows “Superhero,” his first single in 2 years, and the genre-blurring “Joyride,” continuing Tree’s fearless push across pop, alternative, and experimental territory without apology. The upcoming album was recorded across 7 continents and 80 countries over the past 2 years, from Africa to China to Afghanistan, resulting in a record that promises to be both genuinely adventurous and deeply personal. For an artist who has built an entire creative universe on his own terms, ‘Love You Madly, Hate You Badly’ looks like his most ambitious statement yet.

British Pop Star Mimi Webb Deepens the ‘Confessions’ Era With New Deluxe Album and Single “Ends In Y”

Eric Alper
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0
British Pop Star Mimi Webb Deepens the ‘Confessions’ Era With New Deluxe Album and Single “Ends In Y”

Mimi Webb isn’t done with the ‘Confessions’ era, and ‘Confessions: An Unexpected Turn of Events’ makes a compelling case for why it deserved more room to breathe. The deluxe album is out now, anchored by new single “Ends In Y,” a country-inspired track about heartbreak, longing, and the particular exhaustion of missing someone every single day, accompanied by a western-tinged official music video.

The new material traces a clear emotional progression alongside previous single “Eyes Closed,” which explored the push and pull of a rebound relationship. Where “Eyes Closed” reaches for self-protection, “Ends In Y” confronts what remains once the distraction fades, a more vulnerable, more honest reckoning that reflects Webb’s continued growth as a songwriter.

The deluxe edition builds on the original ‘Confessions’ release with new tracks including “Ends In Y,” “Eyes Closed,” and “That Girl,” while revisiting key moments from the album including “Mind Reader” featuring Grammy Award winner Meghan Trainor. Webb’s honest, detail-driven lyricism remains front and center throughout, set against polished pop arrangements that earned widespread praise from Rolling Stone, NPR, Billboard, NME, Clash, and more on the original release.

Beyond the music, Webb has expanded her creative world through a collaboration with Disney and Primark, ‘The Mouse and The Muse: Mimi Webb Collection’, a limited-edition capsule featuring graphic tees, hoodies, and relaxed silhouettes reimagined with iconic Disney imagery, available now online and in Primark stores. Backed by over a billion global streams and a BRIT Award nomination, Webb remains one of contemporary pop’s most compelling voices, and ‘Confessions: An Unexpected Turn of Events’ is the fullest picture yet of what this era has meant.

Dance Music Phenomenon John Summit and Julia Wolf Blur Genre Lines on Haunting New Single “WITH ME”

Eric Alper
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Dance Music Phenomenon John Summit and Julia Wolf Blur Genre Lines on Haunting New Single “WITH ME”

John Summit has never been content staying in one lane, and “WITH ME” is the clearest proof yet of how far he’s willing to push. The new single is out now via Experts Only/Darkroom Records, featuring alt-pop provocateur Julia Wolf, and it trades peak-time euphoria for something darker, more intimate, and emotionally charged, haunted by lingering memories, unresolved desire, and the ache of absence.

The track is the third single from Summit’s forthcoming album ‘CTRL ESCAPE’, due April 15, and it arrives as one of his most sonically adventurous releases to date. Built on layered synths, pulsing low end, and ghostly chopped vocals that blur the line between release and restraint, the production is both seductive and unsettling. Wolf’s raw, emo-tinged delivery pulls the listener under, “you stay up all night, you don’t say what you mean / I drink down my mistakes, I almost feel you with me,” before the track drops into an irresistible bassline.

Summit explains how the collaboration came together. “I’ve been a big fan of Julia’s voice and indie alternative sound for a while so I asked her if she’s ever been on a dance record and she said no. So I invited her to my Miami studio and we merged our sounds to make something I think is truly unique. I really don’t know what genre to call this but whatever it is there’s no rules and that’s what I love about dance music.”

‘CTRL ESCAPE’ pushes further across the electronic spectrum, fusing tech-house with dubstep, drum and bass, and broader influences, functioning as a portrait of Summit’s life right now, the relentless touring, the stadium shows, and the intimate club nights he keeps booking to stay connected to his earliest fans.

A massive summer lies ahead. Summit makes his Ibiza residency debut headlining 9 Mondays at UNVRS, makes his UK summer headline debut at Labyrinth Events’ Tofte Manor, and appears at Tomorrowland before returning to New York in September for the highly anticipated second Experts Only Festival following its sold-out 2025 debut.

Upcoming Tour Dates:

June 1 – Ibiza, Spain, UNVRS

June 8 – Ibiza, Spain, UNVRS

June 15 – Ibiza, Spain, UNVRS

June 22 – Ibiza, Spain, UNVRS

June 29 – Ibiza, Spain, UNVRS

July 6 – Ibiza, Spain, UNVRS

July 11-12 – Bedford, UK, Tofte Manor (Experts Only UK)

July 13 – Ibiza, Spain, UNVRS

July 19 – Boom, Belgium, Tomorrowland Week 1

July 20 – Ibiza, Spain, UNVRS

July 19 – Boom, Belgium, Tomorrowland Week 2

July 27 – Ibiza, Spain, UNVRS

August 1 – Las Vegas, NV, LIV Beach

August 8 – Las Vegas, NV, LIV Beach

September 19-20 – New York, NY, Experts Only Festival NYC

September 26 – Las Vegas, NV, LIV Beach

November 20 – Las Vegas, NV, LIV Nightclub

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That Eric Alper

Eric Alper is a 6-time nominee for Publicist of the Year during Canadian Music Week and has overseen the publicity campaigns for over 183 JUNO Award-nominated albums (and 16 in 2025), 45 Grammy-nominated albums, including 47 JUNO Award, 58 Canadian Folk Music Award, 126 Maple Blues Award-winning albums and is also truly honoured to work with some of the biggest and most important artists of our time.

Contact me: eric@thatericalper.com

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