Ivan The Tolerable returns with Chromophobia, an expansive new double album and his fourth for Riot Season after ‘Water Music’ & ‘Vertigo’ (both 2024) and ‘An Orphan Form’ (2025) Chromophobia carries with it a deep personal history. The earliest recording sessions date back to 2018 at the IDI in Middlesbrough, engineered by longtime collaborator Nigel Crooks over the course of three weekends. The material was left unfinished for years, shelved for reasons that accumulated and compounded - until the tragic passing of Crooks in 2023. His unfinished work lingered, and the desire to complete it became a mission.

“In the end, I finished this record for Nigel, above all else,” says Oli Heffernan (Ivan The Tolerable). “It always annoyed him that it never got done.”

To bring the album to completion, the original stems were passed to producer Hugh Major (formerly of Benefits) in early 2024. Across a year of meticulous experimentation - countless versions, radical reconstructions, entire songs torn down and rebuilt - the album transformed into something wholly new. The final collection spans 14 tracks, reimagined from the ground up yet still anchored to the spirit of the sessions that began it.

“It’s a very different beast from where it started,” Heffernan adds, “but I think Nigel would really like it - and be glad it was finally finished.”

Chromophobia stands as both a reinvention and a tribute: a document of persistence, creative overhaul, and the enduring impact of a lost collaborator.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Pale Dogwood (4:21)
A2. Field Drab (5:14)
A3. Ceda Chast (5:10)
A4. Wild Blue Yonder (8:39)
B1. Inchworm (6:23)
B2. Vetiver (3:50)
B3. Orange Crayola (7:37)
C1. Black Olive (5:19)
C2. Wild Strawberry (4:00)
C3. African Violet (6:39)
C4. Deep Sky (4:52)
D1. Permanent Geranium Lake (6:23)
D2. Carnelian (4:09)
D3. Helltrope (7:56)

We’ve purged the Acid Mothers Temple archives once again, resurrecting another classic album ‘Electric Heavyland’.

Originally released in 2002 on CD only (via Alien 8 Recordings), ‘Electric Heavyland’ is presented here for the first time on vinyl, remastered and with a whole bonus live side!

Housed in a beautiful gatefold sleeve with heavy use of the original black and metallic silver ink artwork

“Suddenly, my world explodes as the band pounces on the joint with some hell-blues, laced with sci-fi laser transmissions. Jesus H. Fuck, this is loud. There comes a point when heavy jamming and pure noise meet, and that point is tearing shit up at this very moment.” Pitchfork

Of key note for AMT diehards/collectors. Side D was recorded live at at the 2nd Acid Mothers Temple Festival December 13th 2003 with Yamazaki Maso (Masonna) as a guest.

Makoto says "we have played this song, Atomic Rotary Grinding God live only once, this is that recording"

Produced, engineered and mixed by Kawabata Makoto live recorded by Takayama Manabu (original source is VHS video tape)
Remastered by John McBain 2025

In November 2024, Japanese quartet Hibushibire flew into the UK for the third time. Heads were banged, minds were blown and a new legion of fans were made.

During the tour, the band recorded several shows with the idea to release another of their legendary live bootleg albums if the performances were up to scratch.

They were! This is a trimmed down version of their set, recorded in both Glasgow and London with no overdubs and no fancy production . It's 100% raw/live Hibushibire as God intended. Crank it up and freak out!

Changchang (Guitar/Vocal/Electronics/Melting Eye Spectacle)
Tetsuji Toyoda (Bass/Vocal/Mermaid Mountain)
Aoi Hama (Drums/Vocal/Santour/Gockenspiel /Percussion/Cat Tongue Queen)
Kohei Katsuma (Conga/Vocal/percussion/God Dog Family)

TRACK LISTING

A1. Snow Sniffing Matador (Glasgow) (10:13)
A2. Tomorrow Never Ever Knows (Glasgow) (8:19)
B. Ayahuasca Witch Abduction (London) (24:19)

Two fields of existence collide as Nolla (Finnish psych/space rockers) & Mike Vest (Maximalist guitar guru, Bong, Blown Out, Drunk In Hell, Artifacts & Uranium, Modoki, Tomoyuki Trio, Mienakunaru etc) merge their creative visions for the third time.

Creating a steady and surreal exploration through astral planes. Nolla improvised the ground layer in their signature minimal space-rock style and MikeV wrapped everything up in lavish layers of fuzz, phased and U-Wah layered guitars.

Blending octaval tones, around an array of electronics & vocal harmonies. Resulting in a constant trance like psychedelic drone rock.

It's time to join the extraterrestrial communion, beyond the skies, convert into the mode of light and pay homage to his mighty eminence.

TRACK LISTING

A1. As We Convert (8:48)
A2. The Chariot (10:03)
B1. His Eminence (12:30)
B2. Dispersion (7:27)

Die Young, Die Broke. A new mantra for the most depraved connoisseurs of Psychedelic Punk. For fans of Mainliner, Brainbombs, Les Rallizes Denudes, Stooges, Motörhead, MC5 ...

A critique and embrace of self-destruction, esoteric vanity and inevitable ruin. The molten-red LP on Riot Season Records plunges deep into an abuse of distortion, existential doom and primal Stooges-like chaos. LA’s Acid Punk Power Trio returns to its mark 1 line up, now wielding a second addition in twin-drum assault
OVER-GAIN OPTIMAL DEATH are :Jasso : Guitar/ Vocals, Luna : Bass, Backhaus + TJ : Twin Drums

Jasso (guitar/vocals) is seemingly out for blood on this 4 track studio album, leading a violent dive into the abyss, Japanese Underground fury meets Hendrix’s wreckage, fuzz-drenched wah freak-outs compete against raw punk vocals caught in an endless slap back delay…

OVER-GAIN OPTIMAL DEATH are an Acid Punk power trio formed in 2008 hailing from Los Angeles, and now currently hiding out somewhere in the South of France.
Fronted by guitarist/ vocalist Jasso (Psychedelic Speed Freaks, Antarcticans), they push a special niche product of blown-out extreme psychedelic noise rock. Their sound is enveloped in a total nihilist

"No Hope" atmosphere of heavy lyrics and distortion, mating intoxicating pulsing repetition, hyperactive improvisations and out of body guitar solos.

Resurrecting US 60s punk and acid-riffage from the likes of Blue Cheer, the Stooges, MC5 and live Hendrix Experience, OVER-GAIN OPTIMAL DEATH also draws greatly on the in-the-red sound aesthetic and high energy of the Speed Freak Underground and Hardcore scene of 80s/90s Japan. 

TRACK LISTING

A1. Die Underground (5:49)
A2. No Lord (10:28)
B1. Oversleep (4:56)
B2. Fallen Woman (14:07)

More brutal sounds from the thriving UK scum/noise rock underground.

LOUSE: purveyors of the finest cellar-dweller scum rock since 2020; a disgusting cocktail comprised of 4 parts Foot Hair (Box Records) and 2 parts The Shits (Rocket Recordings), served over a capsized cruise-liner.

Described as wielding “damp and sticky instruments”, being “rotten from the inside” and sonically “stinking drunk, shirtless with no shoes, crawling around in your head”, LOUSE gleefully pummel one riff into oblivion, deranged howls & punishing buzzsaw guitars growl over driving disco beats and slide bass. A carnival in an open sewer.

Creep Call – LOUSE’s debut LP, after various tapes, live recordings and a split 10” lathe cut with The Shits – is a true statement of intent. Presented by the magnificent Riot Season, the record is the result of a (wasted) life’s work honing and toning the platonic ideal of single-riff noise rock, all wrapped up in a grindhouse, Giallo-flick package.

Briefly elevated from the basement, Creep Call was recorded with James Atkinson at The Station House Studio in 2023 and mastered by S. Bishop, so the carnage has never sounded better. Perfectly balanced ugliness drenched in feedback, pumped up with Stooges keys and sax (honk honk) - the closest thing to experiencing the deafening, goofy, beer-soaked-undergarment chaos of a LOUSE show first hand.

Creep Call features wholesome ruminations on perpetual home invasion, road-side pornography addiction, perfecting a cannibalistic diet, and an unmistakable cowboy/line-dancing anthem. Do the wrong thing, and answer the call. 

TRACK LISTING

A1. Worm
A2. Suffer
A3. Material
A4. You Don't Eat The Bull
A5. Phrogging
B1. Wishlist - Slave Morality
B2. Camel Blue
B3. Wet Work
B4. The Good Life

O-Mandroid is Kawabata Makoto’s new trio with the Acid Mothers Temple drummer Satoshima Nani (voice, drums, sampler) and bassist Hamachang from a Kobe based post punk band BLONDnewHALF

All music and words were improvised though, the sound is like composed psychedelic & progressive rock / late 70’s - early 80’s post punk / Japanese underground experimental, etc.

Kawabata Makoto : guitar, synthesizer, voice
Satoshima Nani : drums, synthersizer, voice
Hamachang : bass, voice

TRACK LISTING

1. Proto Sapiens (7:09)
2. Stone Age Second Stage (11:29)
3. Cyborg Primitive (6:33)
4. Cannibal Bag (13:07)

Ultra limited edition release from Taiwan’s psych-rock heroes Dope Purple, joined here by fellow Taipei resident, noise musician Bei San Q Nan.

“Dope Purple's most ferocious noise psychedelic live album with a whole lot of harsh noise and amphetamines added to the music of "Grateful End".

Recorded in September 2018. Taipei's noise musician Bei San Q Nan joined Dope Purple to begin the album with over 10 minutes of harsh noise and continued to bring the noise psychedelic tinnitus hell”

This double vinyl set includes the remastered version of the cassette album, in addition to a super-heavyweight drone song recorded in 2022.

One for the die-hards.

TRACK LISTING

A. Curse / The Last Day Of Humanity (20:58)
B. C Chord / C.R.I.N.D (13:54)
C. Your Evilness / D.P.H. (18:18)
D. The Last Waltz (21:32)

For fans of scuzzed out space punk rock n roll, Stooges, Gong, Hillage, Skullflower, Japanese psych rock.

Quick return from the Japanese/UK power trio MODOKI with album number two, 'Luna To Phobos'

Composed around the same time as their sold out debut ‘Atom Sphere’. However, this incarnation explores the darker shades of psychedelia & experimentation.

WHO ARE MODOKI ?
Mitsuru Tabata, Japanese underground rock guitarist, vocalist and composer (Zeni Geva, Leningrad Blues Machine, Boredoms, 20 Guilders, Green Flames, Acid Mothers Temple & The Cosmic Inferno)

Mike Vest (BONG, 11Paranoias, Drunk In Hell, Blown out, Lush Worker, Downtime, Neutraliser)

Dave Sneddon (Gruel, Threads, Flat Earth Records)

‘Second album from this prolific outfit, this album explores further into psychedelic realms, elements of twisted Steve Hillage, MC5, Skullflower and Gong' 

TRACK LISTING

A1. Sick Starliners (3:02)
A2. Mud River (4:09)
A3. Those Disruptors (5:29)
A4. Luna To Phobos (5:30)
B1. Non Telepaths (3:23)
B2. Multiplied From The Old Days (2:53)
B3. Benefit Of Control (3:20)
B4. Zenith (8:18)

For fans of psych rock, space rock, psych-prog, noise rock etc.

Their journey started a long time ago, some say on Saturn, some say in the subconscious of the human psyche, coming out in different manners through the ages, channelled by mystics, witch doctors, shamans, free thinkers, free spirits. But we do know that what has become Codex Serafini travelled here from their home world on Enceladus in 2019 and crash landed into the music scene of Sussex.

Invoking many styles of psychedelic rock from the recent human musical history to open the minds of their human audience to the other world, and higher plane.

After releasing two EP’s, ‘Serpents of Enceladus’ in 2020 and ‘Invisible Landscape’ in 2021 Codex Serafini embarked on their most immersive journey so far creating what would become ‘The Imprecation Of Anima’ an exploration of the self, the duality of the human existence. The album is heavy, much heavier than their previous output and the albums longest song, ‘Animus in Decay’ is longer than either of the bands previous EP’s.

It snakes and weaves an epic motif through the wilderness of the sometimes barren lands of the unconsciousness, focusing the mind with it’s almost heavy metal mantra and using this to open up the third eye to the realisation of our mortal existence. The whole album is a pilgrimage into one's inner self and its relationship with its own shadow in its truest form, two parts coming together as a whole.

TRACK LISTING

1. Manzareck’s Secret (9:40)
2. Mujer Espiritu (15:33)
3. I Am Sorrow, I Am Lust (3:02)
4. Animus In Decay (17:15)

Falling Floors is a psych-rock three piece, formed in the pandemic out of a desire for distraction from dark times and an unending stream of shit news (seriously, what the fuck is going on?) There’s no master plan, no grand ambition, no product-market fit, just a shared love of 60s psych, 70s rock, and the fearless, genre-less experimentation of Krautrock and early prog to get us through.

Riding the trans-Pennine underground (up the hill and out of the crags, down there, you know?), you can hear magical sounds coming out of the Valley. On a cold and wet Calderdale winter, the band recorded their self-titled first album, DIY, live, in two days in Hebden Bridge. Rawness not perfection and feel over finesse were the aims. This album, a trans-Atlantic joint release by Riot Season (UK) and Echodelick (US), lives by slips, fuck-ups, and simple, joyous expression.

Falling Floors is Rob Herian (ex-feral stoner rockers Early Mammal) on guitar and vocals, Harry Wheeler (no ravers The Family Elan) on bass and keys, and Colin Greenwood (ex-shoegaze folk rockers No Sorrows) on drums. It’s no one’s project, and no one’s in charge. But there’s enough in common to keep it honest.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Infinite Switch (8:05)
A2. Interlude 1 (Making A Scene) (0:58)
A3. Ridiculous Man (4:41)
A4. Interlude 2 (Negotiations) (1:16)
A5. Flawed Theme (4:50)
A6. Interlude 3 (Going Quietly) (2:00)
B. Elusive And Unstable Nature Of Truth (18:48)

"I don't remember now"

It's hard to say how Mummise Guns actually came to be a thing. What is certain is that Tracy Bellaries and Matt Ridout had shared a flat for a while and were often speaking about forming a group to have an outlet for some music that Tracy had written, but above and beyond that initial idea the rest is slightly hazy, or perhaps murky is the better word.

Also very much a fact rather than a fiction is that the name was cooked up at Supernormal Festival in 2016 when Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs bassist Johnny Hedley uttered the phrase 'Look at these guns, Mummise Guns' when everyone was hanging around a tree swing (this sounds like we're making it up now, but honest it happened, we think). Tracy and Matt immediately adopted it despite protestations that it was a completely daft thing to do. Thus, the band Mummise Guns was born.

Where, why and how the rest of the group got involved is not 100% clear, but the initial lineup of Tracy, Matt, Adam, Cleaver and Al prepped three of Tracy's songs and three of Matt's into something solid enough to record by early 2017 and the band dropped into Wayne Adam's (Petbrick, Big Lad) Bear Bites Horse Studios in East London to track their debut self-titled LP Mummise Guns (Riot Season REPOSE094LP), with Al and Adam adding further recordings at Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs guitarist Sam Grant's Blank Studios in Newcastle.

After that, it's safe to say things got busy. Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs took over the airwaves with a series of incredible LP's on Rocket Recordings, Luminous Bodies wrote and recorded an absolute belter of a second album for Box Records, Casual Nun dropped a couple of full-length smashers and a split with Bruxa Maria on Box Records and Hominid Sounds, Ghold released a killer LP on Crypt of the Wizard, and Black Shape and Michael both dropped some classics on Hominid Sounds and Cracked Ankles respectively.

Yet, throughout all of this intense activity, the Mummise Guns LP lurked in the shadows like a malevolent beast just waiting for the right moment. That moment was early 2019 when everyone regrouped at Bear Bites Horse, including new addition Gordon Watson, for some final overdubs and mixing. And here it is, 2020, and the proof of all this hard graft is finally available to you.

So here are six tracks of noise-fuelled amphetamine that is perfect to drive all the right people from your house and attract all the wrong ones in.

Play LOUD.

TRACK LISTING

A1 Flattened Earth
A2 Glitter Balls
A3 Forever Triggered Forever
B1 Bipolar Brain Transmitter
B2 Dog Cocked
B3 End Of Days

Scotland's favourite space-psych-rock-gods return with a new album 'Psych Is Dead' before heading out on a lengthy UK/European tour including appearances at all the key genre festivals such as Safe As Milk, Wrong Fest, DesertFest, Raw Power Festival and Karma Fest.

Formed in 2010, The Cosmic Dead are a quartet from Glasgow, Scotland who share their music through good vibes and better vibrations. Known for their improv, chaos strewn, Buckfast smashed against the wall take on space music, they have roamed from Roadburn to Las Vegas, Dundee to Bangalore with each album offering a meditative window into a certain time and space.

'Psych Is Dead' is the sixth full length album from the band, the glowing embers of a a few days spent recording in a sweaty Sardinian kitchen overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Soon to be available on LP and CD via Riot Season Records, 'Psych Is Dead' is an aural exploration of their tumultuous universe.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Cosmic Dead have once again opened our minds with an expansive and hazy vision of reality. Chugging guitars and swirling synths mix with thunderous drums and all-round heavy vibes. It's a wonder their hearing is still ok with riffs like this going down.

TRACK LISTING

A. Nuraghe (21:54)
B1. Psych Is Dead (8:23)
B2. #FW (15: 28)