With all the madness surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic, multitudes of bands that we all love and support have been cancelling tours, album release shows and future plans. Some have been doing what they can to allow fans to view their live shows – see Code Orange’s excellent Twitch stream of their album release show – but for many, especially the smaller, underground, unsigned or those on independent labels, their income stream from gigs and merch sales is now uncertain. In order to help support these artists, the Bandcamp platform is waiving its usual fee for all sales today (Friday 20th March). Their co-founder and CEO Ethan Diamond stated:
“The Covid-19 pandemic is in full force, and artists have been hit especially hard as tours and shows are being canceled for the foreseeable future. With such a major revenue stream drying up almost entirely, finding ways to continue supporting artists in the coming months is now an urgent priority for anyone who cares about music and the artists who create it. The good news is that we’re already seeing many fans going above and beyond to support artists across Bandcamp.
To raise even more awareness around the pandemic’s impact on musicians everywhere, we’re waiving our revenue share on sales today (Friday, March 20th, from midnight to midnight Pacific Time), and rallying the Bandcamp community to put much needed money directly into artists’ pockets.
For many artists, a single day of boosted sales can mean the difference between being able to pay rent or not. Still, we consider this just a starting point. Musicians will continue to feel the effects of lost touring income for many months to come…”
Now, this is where we can all help. This is a list of bands that The Moshville Times staff recommend. If you can spare a few quid during these times, you know what to do.
John’s recommendations:
A mixture of local to me and current favourites from further afield. I could spend all day listing recommendations but here’s 10.
Endless Swarm A powerviolence/grind band from Edinburgh. Their 2018 Imprisoned In Skin album is great and currently name your price (NYP):
https://endlessswarmpv.bandcamp.com/album/imprisoned-in-skin
Allfather I raved about And All Will Be Desolation a couple of years ago, and their politically astute metal is no less relevant today.
https://allfather1.bandcamp.com/
Coffin Mulch Filthy old-school death metal from Glasgow. Their demo is NYP
https://coffinmulch.bandcamp.com/releases
DVNE Prog-doom-post-metal band from Edinburgh. Get into Asheran before their new album drops later this year.
https://songs-of-arrakis.bandcamp.com/album/asheran
Cartilage Hugely enjoyable noisey duo from Glasgow.
https://cartilage666.bandcamp.com/releases
Gendo Ikari Glasgow grindcore, NYP
https://gendoikari.bandcamp.com/album/unit-2
Ithaca Metallic hardcore from London. Lovely people. Go get The Language of Injury and have a thrashing spin-kick around your house.
https://ithacauk.bandcamp.com/album/the-language-of-injury
Trespasser Trashy anarcho blackened punk from Ukraine.
https://trespasserxvi.bandcamp.com/album/-
Frontierer Edinburgh’s favourite pan-Atlantic techy math metallers. (Limited LP copies of Unloved remain, get them while you can)
https://frontierer.bandcamp.com/album/unloved
Telepathy Tempest is a post-metal/sludge gem and with their (frankly astounding) new album Burn Embrace out in a week, now’s a great time to preorder.
https://telepathyband.bandcamp.com/
Jim’s recommendations
Venomwolf I assisted in tracking the first Venomwolf EP in less than ideal circumstances. It’s Old-school metalpunk/speed metal/black metal and recommended for fans of Bathory, Venom, and Midnight.
http://venomwolf.bandcamp.com/
Eneferens Hailing from Montana, these guys create some amazing atmospheric/post black metal with their latest album being amazing.
https://eneferens.bandcamp.com/
Persefone Persefone are amazing people and write amazing music. Need more be said?
https://persefone1.bandcamp.com/
Rachy’s recommendations
God Damn Unhinged noise rock from The Black Country.
https://goddamntheband.bandcamp.com/album/god-damn
Table Scraps Raw, dark and fuzzed out garage rock from Birmingham.
https://table-scraps.bandcamp.com/album/autonomy
The Hyena Kill Ferral hard rock from Manchester.
https://thehyenakill.bandcamp.com/album/atomised-3
Metz Explosive, hands down best and loudest noise rock band I’ve ever seen.
I could go on…..and on!