It’s with great excitement to bring you the second episode of Audioeclectica Interviews with James Hammontree of the very awesome, Black Magnet! Their album Megamantra, is one of 2025’s best albums and is for sure in my top ten of the year. You can check out the review of this great album HERE! Black Magnet is one of the best industrial bands out today! I very much look forward to what’s to come from Black Magnet! Make sure you put them on your radar! Enjoy this very fun conversation and remember to “Listen Eclectically”
Over the last couple of years, Black Magnet has been a band I’ve become quite fond of. Each album has upped the ante of not just creating great industrial music but, has breathed new life into the genre. Which brings me to the album of the week, Black Magnet’s new record, Megamantra. If you are a fan of classic industrial a la Ministry, Godflesh, Broken/Downward era Nine Inch Nails then you will absolutely love Megamantra.
Black Magnet’s Megamantra is an album not for the faint of heart. This album is a hard charging, pummeling piece of work. The dark yet lush dynamics found on this record really captivate the listener. While the subject matter on the album is chock full of heavy and harsh realities, the songs are layered with an anthemic sensibility that packs obscene amounts of energy into each track. The guitars are razor sharp and the riffs hit you like a ton of bricks. The synth work on this album is on par with the likes of Nine Inch Nails and it creates an additional mood that compliments the hard driving riffs and thunderous drums (which are live- thank you Noah!!!). Throughout the 9 songs on the album, you can most definitely sense that this is a “complete album.” The whole album is a standout track. I implore you to listen to this album from start to finish.
James Hammontree, the bands founder, guitarist, and vocalist has put together a lineup for this album that truly explodes upon first listen. Compelling is a great way to describe this record. After listening to this album, one, you’ll more than likely want to start it over, because it’s that good, and two, you’ll really want to go see Black Magnet live. The way these songs flow into one another as well as the very direct approach in writing makes Megamantra one of the best albums of 2025. Black Magnet is a band for now and the future so make sure you connect with this one!
Reigning Cement is an artistic testament to really intriguing collaborations. This audio/visual project is definitely something that will peak your curiosity and give you chills at the same time. This project is quite interesting. Each collaborator was given the same 34 sonic elements with which to make a song. These sounds were recorded on an iPhone in an industrial area outside Jesse Draxler’s studio, compiled over a few years. Among the sounds captured: concrete saws, jackhammers, trains, trucks, building alarms, construction sites, and general noise. This is where is gets interesting.
There are 22 tracks on the album and features the likes of Chelsea Wolfe, Vowws, Greg Puciato, Jaye Jayle, and many others in the underground circles. A lot of these “songs” are pretty out there but there is a real honesty to what the end result is. Very few of these have vocals, which makes these sounds come to life even more. There’s a real eerie sense to a lot of these and it would make for some really interesting soundscapes for a horror film.
Through my listens to this album, some of the ones that really stood out to me were the ones that featured Chelsea Wolfe, Greg Puciato, Vowws, Lisa Mungo (of He Whose Ox Is Gored/Fucked & Bound), Street Sects, Dylan Walker (of Full Of Hell), and Jaye Jayle. Those tracks in particular first hit me with what they evoked and emitted. This isn’t an easy listen but, it has so much depth to it and when you mix it with the visual components, it all makes sense.
If you are looking for something out of your comfort zone and a bit artsy, this is the album for you. The more you listen, the more you get out of it. There is something new to discover with each listen. This project is a great example of how collaboration through music and art can really be impactful and everlasting. It would sure be interesting to hear these pulled off live at some point. I think that would make for one hell of a show.
Visual artist Jesse Draxler has put together a pretty damn awesome array of different artists to create an audio/video project that is sure to make your head spin (not in the Linda Blair Exorcist way). The forthcoming album Reigning Cement, is based upon using solely environmental sound recordings to create some very interesting and introspective songs. This new one in particular “Valerian,” which features Chelsea Wolfe and Ben Chisholm, is super eerie and haunting. It feels more like a piece you’d find in a score to a film (maybe even a David Lynch or David Fincher film). Without a doubt though, this project is definitely one of the more innovative things I’ve heard in a long while. A few other tracks have been released as well featuring the band Vowws (another favorite of mine), and Full Of Hell. Definitely keep an eye and ear out for this when it’s fully released on September 4th via Federal Prisoner Records.
Chelsea Wolfe, Ben Chisholm & Jesse Draxler- Valerian:
Jesse Draxler- Reigning Cement:
Participating artists include:
Chelsea Wolfe & Ben Chisholm
Dylan Walker (Full of Hell)
Eric Ghoste (Ghostmane)
Exploited Body
Gendo Ikari
Greg Puciato
Intensive Care
Jaye Jayle
Lisa Mungo (Fucked & Bound)
O Future
Planet B
Portrayal of Guilt
Reeko
Shifted
Street Sects
Surachai
Thirst Church
Trentemøller
TR/ST
Uniform
Seb Alvarez (Meth.)
Vowws
On October 23, 2020, Greg Puciato will be unleashing his debut solo album, Child Soldier: Creator Of God via his Federal Prisoner Records label. Today, “Do You Need Me To Remind You” the next single/video from the album was released and it is one hell of a killer track from the record. Poison The Well/Dhani Harrison drummer Chris Hornbrook lends his skills on this song. This track along with the two others already released (“Fire For Water” and “Deep Set”) have definitely made this one of the most anticipated albums of 2020. Child Soldier: Creator of God was recorded in L.A. between 2019 and early 2020. It was produced by Nick Rowe (Vampire Weekend, Haim) and mixed by Steve Evetts (the Dillinger Escape Plan, the Cure). In addition to Hornbrook, the featured drummers are Ben Koller (Converge, Mutoid Man, All Pigs Must Die, Killer Be Killed, etc.) and Chris Pennie (the Dillinger Escape Plan, Coheed and Cambria). Pre-Orders are already underway over at the label’s bandcamp HERE.
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