Xiphos are a three-piece project that creates an atmospheric and epic mix of martial industrial and neo-classical music, focusing on the tales and legends of Ancient Greece. Formed in the year 2022, it brings together three key/ important figures from the genre, Miklós Hoffer (HERR/Donderdag), Troy Southgate ( HERR/Seelenlicht), and Simon Shelmerdine (Dark Awake, Schatten Muse). To date, the band have released two albums- 2023's The Rise And Fall of Athens, and this year's The Age Of Alexander. All three of the band members kindly accepted our invitation for an email interview

Formed in 2005, London-based Third Window Films has been one of the key film labels releasing Asian cinema in the West. Their catalogue touches down in a lot of genres, going all the way from moody dramas, bizarre comedies, wacky ‘n’ weird horror films, pumped up cyber punk, Arty Pink films, creative sci-fi,  cool/ sleek action films, and beyond. Adam Torel- the label head honcho/ man-of-many-hats kindly agreed to give M[m] an email interview.

An event completely dedicated to harsh noise wall (HNW), with Uitgeschakeld as the headliner. It’s not that I thought David López Saludes (of Soma, Barrera and Impur fame) was lying to me when he proposed this. As a matter of fact, it sounded awesome – but with HNW being as underground as it gets, being a sub-genre within noise music, I feared this would be too obscure to pull off as a live event.

Raté is a Bordeaux-based project that creates searing, at times subtle, unsettling wall noise. It’s been active since November 2024, releasing around thirty releases to date, so a fairly prolific wall venture. I’ve reviewed a few of Raté’s releases now, finding it (largely) a consistent wall noise project, and a worthy addition to the French wall noise scene, which over the years has birthed some great acts such as Vomir, Chier, and all the projects connected to Julien Skrobek. So, I tracked down the mind behind the ‘walls’, Gabriel Berteaud, for an email interview.

It’s fair to say the Sharksploitation genre is often tried, tested, and to be honest, tired. Fear Below is a 2025 Australian film that tries to do something different and original with the form. It’s set in the 1940s and focuses on a van full of stolen gold at the bottom of a large river, with a bull shark circling & darting through the murky water.  The film manages to mix gangster thriller tropes with shark-bound action very well, with a pace that barely lets up. It features moments of real-looking gore attacks, and the shark itself is only fleetingly seen, so it never feels like you're looking at either CGI or a model. It’s been released by Signature Entertainment on VOD, with a Blu-ray appearing shortly. Matthew Holmes- the film's Australian director/ co-writer kindly agreed to an email interview, discussing Fear Below, and his career in general.

2025 sees the release of The Residents' most sonically contrasting release Doctor Dark- the project's forty-seventh studio album.  It blends sad and swooning strings/piano keys, with blunt 'n' crude heavy metal, and a side order of electro beats, off-Broadway theatricality, mocked-up news reports, and twittering bird field recordings/uneasy ambience. Lyrical/theme-wise, the album blends 80’s heavy metal influenced shotgun suicide, and a creepy doctor involved in euthanasia. We were lucky enough to get an email interview with the project's Homer Flynn- key graphic designer, spokesman & manager. We discuss the new album, the compilation Buy Or Die- Ralph Records 1972-1982- looking at the project's label, their late 2024 EP Dookietown, and much more.