For quite a while now, I’ve been heavily into the band Black Magnet. I absolutely love the way the industrial, punk, metal, and bits of post-punk are put together. The last two albums, Body Prophecy and Megamantra are modern industrial classics. What I have to share with you all today is the first of two new Black Magnet songs. “Room Full Of Hammers” was written as an outlier song during the Megamantra sessions. After working and focusing on a full length, James Hammontree wanted to write in a more free-form way without any lofty goals or in the focus of an album. The end result is bone crushing and pummeling. This song is very loose sounding but full of attitude and bite for days. There’s even a really fun punk energy to this song that feels like it’s straight out of Ministry circa 1988-1991. Make sure to crank your volume up loudly for “Room Full Of Hammers!”
Welcome to 2026 and another fantastic year of Audioeclectica! While 2025 was quite the interesting year for the world, musically it was a solid year of great albums from bands new and older. The amount of new music I heard, the shows I saw, I’m pretty stoked on what 2025 was for music. That being said, 2026 is already shaping up to be a great year for music. Before we start the fun of 26, here’s the results from the 2025 Readers Poll. Thank you to everyone that reposted, shared stories, told friends, and of course voted at the end of the day! Below are the results based on comments left and messages sent.
Cheers To A Wonderful 2026!!
See you all on here or at a show! Brian
And Now The Results Of The 2025 Audioeclectica Readers Poll:
Best Bassist: Sunny Faris- Blackwater Holylight
Best Drummer: Art Quanstrom- The Owling
Best Guitarist: Kal Michael- The Owling
Best Guitar Duo: Mike Repasch-Nieves/Joel Reynolds- SOM
Best Vocalist: Sean Ingram- Idle Heirs
Best Producer: TIE: Josh Barber- Idle Heirs and James Hammontree/Sanford Parker- Black Magnet
Best Album: TIE: Idle Heirs- Life Is Violence and The Owling- You Don’t Bow, You Will Learn
What a great year 2025 has been for music. So many great albums, tours, songs, you name it. And now the time has come for…
The 2025 Audioeclectica End Of The Year Lists begin with the list for Best Producer. As always the stipulation for this is that an Album or EP had to be released in 2025.
Vote for your favorite in the comments section. At the end of the month, I will release the results of the readers poll.
This list is also in NO PARTICULAR ORDER!!!
01) Josh Barber- Idle Heirs 02) Jade Puget- AFI 03) Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross- Nine Inch Nails 04) Sanford Parker and James Hammontree- Black Magnet 05) John Rojas- Machinekit 06) Steve Evetts- Deadguy 07) Jordan Olds- Blood Vulture 08) McKeever and GOSTEFFECTS- Heavy Halo 09) Sonny DiPerri- Blackwater Holylight 10) Pete/Sam Loeffler and Kemble Walters- Chevelle
What a great year 2025 has been for music. So many great albums, tours, songs, you name it. And now the time has come for…
The 2025 Audioeclectica End Of The Year Lists begin with the list for Best Guitar Duo. As always the stipulation for this is that an Album or EP had to be released in 2025.
Vote for your favorite in the comments section. At the end of the month, I will release the results of the readers poll.
This list is also in NO PARTICULAR ORDER!!!
01) Mike Repasch-Nieves/Joel Reynolds- SOM 02) Cassidy Fleeman/Isabella Broersma- The Anti Groupies 03) Josh Graham/Dan Hawkins- Guiltless 04) Chris Traynor/Gavin Rossdale- Bush 05) Chino Moreno/Stephen Carpenter- Deftones 06) Claudio Sanchez/Travis Stever- Coheed and Cambria 07) Chris Corvino/Keith Huckins- Deadguy 08) James Hammontree/Ryne Bratcher- Black Magnet 09) Patrick Jensen/Ola Englund- The Haunted 10) Jesper Stromblad/Niclas Engelin- The Halo Effect
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!
A couple weeks back the very awesome Black Magnet released “Endless,” the first single from their upcoming new album, Megamantra (out July 25 via Federal Prisoner). “Endless” was just the beginning though as Black Magnet have released another song, “Better Than Love.” If you thought “Endless” was a kick to the teeth, “Better Than Love” expands upon their already punishing industrial sound and adds a great left turn to their style that immediately pulls you in and doesn’t let go. I’m quite stoked for this new album. 2025 looks to be a great year for Black Magnet!!
The other day I heard a song that was absolutely pummeling and punishing and it put a giant smile on my face. That song is called “Endless” and it’s by the mighty, Black Magnet. If you aren’t familiar with Black Magnet you should change that. Black Magnet have been a favorite of mine since I heard them a few years back. Their 2022 album Body Prophecy, is an unsung masterpiece and they are one hell of a band. Black Magnet are one of a handful of industrial metal bands that have really put the genre back on the map. This new song “Endless” is as relentless as it is raw. It reminds me of Broken era Nine Inch Nails and Psalm 69 era Ministry. It’s heavy and chock full of electronic goodies to discover with each listen. Black Magnet’s new album, Megamantra, is set for release on Federal Prisoner June 27th, 2025. I know I will be picking this up for damn sure!
Last November I had the pleasure of seeing the debut solo show for Greg Puciato. After that show was over, I knew that the next time he came through I had to go, it was one of “those shows.” Both his solo albums, Child Soldier: Creator Of God and Mirrorcell have yet to leave my musical rotation since they came out. Live these songs take on a whole new life and the end result is precisely why I had to go see Greg live again.
Before Greg though, there were three openers to get the night going. I arrived as the last 2 songs of Trace Amount’s set was ending. The mix of industrial and noise made for a very tension filled and intense performance. It’s really interesting to listen to Trace Amount and pick out certain little nuances in the programming.
Next up was Deaf Club who I was really stoked to see having been into their albums. Their set was on fire from the get go. One of the things that I really like most about Deaf Club is that while they are a punk band through and through, they add a more technical element to it with odd time signatures and interesting arrangements. Then when you add in a frontman like Justin Pearson, it’s the right recipe for chaos in the best way possible. During their set they did a cover of Nirvana’s “Tourette’s” with their drummer, the drummer from Escuela Grind and Ben Koller of Converge. It was pretty damn cool to see and hear and the topper was all three drummers were in total sync so that sound bellowing through the El Rey was thunderous!
Following Deaf Club was up and comers Escuela Grind. I wasn’t too familiar with them but, a friend of mine who I was there with was and he got super into it. The band combines grindcore, death metal and a bit of hardcore. Their energetic set was heavy and brutal and at the same time quite fun. Their “singer” had so much energy on stage at one point I was half expecting her to breakout into a full gymnastics routine with how much she was running and jumping. Solid set from this band and just the right amount of fire to get the crowd ready for what was to come next.
When Greg Puciato and band took the stage it was ON! From the moment they ripped into “Reality Spiral” you knew this was not going to be just any show. The way the set was constructed was absolutely pummeling in both the way that it was intense and pulled at your heart strings. When you have songs like “Do You Need Me To Remind You,” “Absence As A Presence,” and “Fire For Water,” all within minutes of each other, it still has me without the right words. As the set continued, the crowd got even more into it and the next thing I knew I was right up front for my favorite song “Never Wanted That.” I stayed up front for the rest of the night feeding off the energy that was permeating off stage and next to me. One of my other favorite moments was during the end of “Evacuation” Greg broke out part of INXS’s “Need You Tonight” which was totally rad. Ending the “set” for the evening was the always great “September City.” I believe the crowd was singing as loud if not louder than Greg by this point. This night was special in more ways that one. For the encore it was in the words on Larry David “pretty, pretty, pretty good.” Starting it off was Haex joining Greg for a remix version of The Black Queen’s “Secret Scream,” followed by A Perfect Circle’s Billy Howerdel joining Greg for The Black Queen’s “The End Where We Start” which was absolutely great. Then you had Tyler Bates and Gil Sharone join the fun for “Now You’ve Really Done It” from a compilation for DC Comics. Then it was Ben Koller jumping on the stage for “Roach Hiss” which definitely got the crowd screaming along. And to end it all was an absolutely cool and different version of The Dillinger Escape Plan’s “One Of Us Is The Killer.” It was part acapella in the verses and straight up fire during the chorus parts. I also have to mention the band Greg had on this run. What a killer and tight band. Joining Greg was James Hammontree on guitar of Black Magnet (another band you should really check out), Nick Sadler of Daughters on guitar. It was really great to see Nick up there and hearing that monsterous tone he’s had for years. Jeff Geisser on bass manhandled the low end with such tenacity and finally Noah Taylor on drums right in the pocket!
This show was definitely one of those that I’ll remember for a long long time. Greg Puciato’s solo albums are some of the best releases in the past few years. If you haven’t listened to them, I highly suggest you get on top of that! It’s artists like Greg that give me hope for the musical future. The whole package was interesting and gave bands from different genres a different audience making for an eclectic show. I’m glad I went and had a great time and to go with a couple friends that I knew would enjoy it too made it all that much better. Plus getting to see some other friends out in the crowd was quite awesome. I’m kind of at a loss for words at the moment when it comes to how to properly describe this show. I will leave it at this (unless I have a total epiphany of what else to say), shows like this don’t happen all the time. When the chance comes to go see one of your favorite bands, go do it! Thank you to Greg, Deaf Club, Escuela Grind and Trace Amount for one hell of a great evening!
Greg Puciato Set List:
01) In This Hell You Find Yourself 02) Reality Spiral 03) Do You Need Me To Remind You 04) Absence As A Presence 05) Fire For Water 06) Don’t Wanna Deal 07) No More Lives To Go 08) Deep Set 09) Never Wanted That 10) Lowered 11) A Pair Of Questions 12) Creator Of God 13) Evacuation (w/ INXS’s “Need You Tonight”) 14) September City
Encore: 15) Silent Scream (Haex Remix) 16) The End Where We Start (with Billy Howerdel) 17) Now You’ve Really Done It (with Tyler Bates & Gil Sharone) 18) Roach Hiss (with Ben Koller) 19) One Of Us Is The Killer
One of the most fun things about discovering new bands is when you hear even just one song and it comes together, it’s almost like this cosmic force of meant to be. A little while back I was introduced to the band Black Magnet and they really knocked my socks off. Upon hearing the record it was as though Nine Inch Nails Pretty Hate Machine/Broken era and Godflesh Streetcleaner/Pure era came together with bits of Ministry and Skinny Puppy to make the album that brought industrial music back. Formed by James Hammontree in 2018, Black Magnet has set the underground industrial scene a blaze with a ferocious force that will get under your skin and give you chills in the way you’d want a horror film to. Not only does Black Magnet posses an industrial sound there is also a post-punk sensibility within that also coincides with metal that drives it all home with harsh precision and tinges of a melodic pulse. On the latest offering Body Prophecy, the onslaught continues with even more depth and tenacity. One of the things I love most about this album is that it is cohesive and full of life. Each song feels like it’s own revelation but keeps you focus and transfixed on everything that is going on. This is one of those albums that you feel compelled to start over once it reaches the end. I’m completely enthralled by the magnitude and intensity on this album. The production, engineering and mixing by Sanford Parker is exquisite and should be a masterclass on how to make proper industrial albums in today’s world. I’m looking at all you wannabe lame “laptop rock” bands. Black Magnet is a band not just for now but for the future! Also I’m just putting this out in the aether, BLACK MAGNET NEEDS TO OPEN FOR NINE INCH NAILS!!!!
