tangerine

★ 9.5

album

URGH

Mandy, Indiana

“Ever since hearing Pinking Shears, Mandy Indiana is a band that has fascinated me with their abrasive and uniquely chaotic sound. However, not everything on their debut had me fully on board. So my expectations for URGH were to be entirely convinced by the record. Mission accomplished successfully. Their sophomore is thicker in sound and more consistent in tracklist. There’s basically nothing to skip here. If anything, “Sicko!” with billy woods (Armand Hammer) should’ve been a standalone single and not be released with the rest of the album. It disrupts the flow, just give me back the pissed french woman. Still an amazing track though. Anyway, “Sevastopol - A Brighter Tomorrow” is maybe the first perfect run of 2026. And 5 tracks back to back, that’s really something. Far from being the only outstanding tracks on this however,“ist halt so” and “I’ll Ask Her” should not be overlooked under no circumstances.”

★ 9.2

album

Luchtbegrafenis

Aufhebung

“Aufhebung dwells somewhere between Russian Circles’ precise riffing, and Amenra’s ability to create dark and heavy atmospheres. For 48 minutes, this record holds your arm and doesn’t let go. But it doesn’t hold it gently, no. Rather it grips your skin with its claws, sinking them deeper with each thunderous riff. I say hold and grip because it’s a record that demands to be listened to as a whole. The tracks live very well on their own, don’t be fooled, but once you’ve heard it in full, you’ll want to hear it in full again and for every next listen. Afterlife really caught my ear on the first spin. The screeching riff around the 4min mark physically made me recoil in my seat. And that’s how I picked up, on subsequent revisits, that one of their strengths (for me) reside in the way they layer a heavy and low riff with a dissonant higher pitched one, hence creating the atmosphere I was talking about. The title track brought forward a different aspect I love about this record. 2min25, they begin building a slow, palm-muted riff, which then evolves in a wall of sound that must be truly exhilarating to hear live.”