Crushing Death & Grief

SMOTE
Primal, earthy, folk-infused heavy laments from son of the soil, Daniel Foggin. Once a solo endeavour, Smote has been expanded to a fuller ensemble blending traditional instrumentation — creaking strings, funeral drums, somber winds — with thunderous synth work and desolate guitar to craft drone and dirge. Elemental, sisyphean sounds propel everything downwards into a paranormal underworld of captivating terror. New album, Songs From The Free House is forged from repetition and mantric intensity and possessed of formidable psychic fortitude. The megalithic monomania of 2024’s A Grand Stream set a formidable precedent, and Smote’s live shows in its wake have gradually built a reputation as visionary seers building audial monuments by cranked amplification and atmospheric intensity alike. Yet these five gnostic serenades offer portals and paradigms anew.
https://smote.bandcamp.com/

THE BREEDLING
The Breedling takes the resistance, dread, dampness, the grim, of semi-amphibious Fen life to transmogrify digital sheen into raw, primordial grit. Better known as Chris Spalton, the man behind artwork for notable UK characters like Hey Colossus and Part Chimp, The Breedling is a project of the untamed sounds of now, resulting in a fiery collision of The Bug, Godflesh, and Doom II: Hell on Earth.
https://thebreedling.bandcamp.com/

RACHEL WATKINS
More usually seen fronting Cambridge doom-folk quintet Fuzzy Lights, Rachel is a singer and violinist who draws on the folklore and mythology of England to create beguiling and haunting dronesongs. Combining hazy string loops with ungraspable vocal tones she conjures up curious zones that host tales and tunes that feel like they should have already been archived at Cecil Sharp House.