Rise Against Release New Music Video "Damage Is Done". #riseagainst @riseagainst

https://slrmagazine.com/2026/02/25/rise-against-release-new-music-video-damage-is-done/

With the same swirling whammy lick opening “Moonbelt Immolator” gracing the opening minute of “Cryogenically Frozen,” Cryptic Shift have returned. Visitations from Enceladus was a monolithic record that rocked my world in 2020, taking me to the most vile reaches of the universe in a technical death/thrash expedition of cosmic horror. Six years later, the group from Leeds, UK aim to expand on their already expansive debut regarding both their sci-fi theming and musicality with their sophomore. They didn’t skimp out on us either: Overspace & Supertime is one track greater than Visitations and nearly twice as long, boasting two twenty-plus-minute epics.1 A feature film’s runtime of borderline avant-garde extreme metal is no small feat, but if designed and shaped with singular vision, patience and skill, then anything can happen. And in the strange aeons Cryptic Shift occupy, anything happens all the time.

An undertaking like Overspace & Supertime demands top-notch performances to survive: Cryptic Shift couldn’t have done much better. Keeping true to the mix of Atheistic death, Vektorian thrash, and King Crimsonian progressive sensibilities that made the debut a knockout, Cryptic Shift have opened another wormhole of technical death/thrash immensity. But if you’re imagining Visitations II: Eldritch Boogaloo, stop. Overspace takes what made Visitations great and kicks it into warp speed. The guitar duo of Xander Bradley and Joss Farrington (Cryptworm)2 tear through an embarrassment of mind-bending, neck-breaking riffs across Overspace, bending across their whole fretboards, soloing on “Stratocumulus Evergaol” and putting their entire asses behind the chugged-up “Hyperspace Topography.” Drummer Ryan Sheperson pummels his kit in time I can only guess at on “Overspace & Supertime” while bassist John Riley fretlessly glides over “Cryogenically Frozen” into solos traded off between the guitars, amounting to a finessed, yet relentless attack. Topped off with Bradley’s cavernous bellows, Overspace & Supertime is a tour de force of musical expertise.

Overspace & Supertime by Cryptic Shift

What carries Cryptic Shift’s longform songwriting is that their music is always in flux. Whenever the band seems lost in their own prog-sauce—like in the effect-heavy openings of “Hexagonal Eyes (Diverity Trepaphymphasyzm)” and “Cryogenically Frozen”—they always swing back with a bruiser riff that helps keep Overspace more approachable than it ought to be. Like on Visitations, Cryptic Shift employ clean guitar passages and eerie atmospheres to outline the heavy bits. But on Overspace, they are woven smoothly into the distorted parts to create dynamic passages, like the shimmering clean strums between monstrous death hits on “Stratocumulus Evergaol” or the blackened surf-rock tremolos of “Hyperspace Topography.” But Cryptic Shift’s greatest dynamic on Overspace is that of light vs. dark. While their debut was a pitch-black exploration of space-born horrors, Overspace injects a healthy dosage of awe into their mix, including strangely bright conclusions to “Cryogenically Frozen” and “Overspace & Supertime” and a passage at ~16 minutes into “Stratocumulus Evergaol” that’s so boppy that it could pass for Rise Against. It’s in the name: Cryptic Shift change in some strange ways over the course of Overspace & Supertime, and I’m here for it.

And this leads me to the true wonder of Overspace & Supertime and where its immensity is most benefited: the beauty of the off-kilter. This is an album of purely aggressive, dissonant, esoteric, and oddly-timed stuff; Cryptic Shift made no obvious move, and they’re clearly not gunning for radio play. So why is it so beautiful? Solos that effortlessly slide from Slayer-like chromatic bullshittery into soaring melodicism. Patient ambiances both tranquil and unsettling, belligerent thrashing as exhilarating as it is hostile. The brilliant production best described by Dolphin Whisperer as “tone porn,” where all cleans are crystalline, and everything dirty is disgusting. How easy it is to fall under Cryptic Shift’s spell and let the freeform journey take you on its many twists and turns. The fact that Overspace & Supertime gets weird and takes its precious time doing so allows the listener to immerse themselves in Cryptic Shift’s world, making for a simply sublime experience.

In retrospect, Visitations from Enceladus feels like Cryptic Shift’s proof-of-concept for Overspace & Supertime. Yes, this is an exhausting record. Trying to catch everything on it during your first listen could make you go blind. Maybe 80 minutes is too damn long. But Overspace & Supertime is a better record than my wildest expectations, six years in the making, ever dreamed up. Like Frank Zappa at his best, Cryptic Shift on Overspace left me frequently confused, sometimes just plain tickled, but never unmoved before their showcase of the bizarre and the otherwordly. In the stranger aeons Cryptic Shift occupy, anything has happened.

Rating: Excellent
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 256 kbps MP3
Label: Metal Blade Records
Websites: cryptic-shift.bandcamp | facebook.com/crypticshift
Releases Worldwide: February 27, 2026

Rise Against Launch Fan-Driven Community Initiative The A.R.T. Project (All Rise Together) 

Chicago-based alternative punk rock band Rise Against announce the launch of The A.R.T. Project (All Rise Together), a fan-driven creative initiative celebrating community, collaboration, and expression in support of their tenth studio album, Ricochet, out now via Loma Vista.

At its core, The A.R.T. Project is about bringing people together through music and creativity during divided times. Built on Rise Against’s long-held belief that music is a collective experience, the initiative invites fans into the band’s creative process to celebrate the community that has grown alongside them for over 25 years.

The short-form, sit-down conversation with the band was filmed on-site during an immersive art activation in Los Angeles to kick off the campaign. On that day, Rise Against invited dozens of dedicated fans to help shape a new visual world for Ricochet by creating original posters to serve as the backdrop in their new music videos. As the band performed standout tracks off the album, fans were featured alongside them and their artwork that was inspired by the record’s lyrics, themes, and emotional urgency.

https://youtu.be/g7HzQ3bCcuE?si=uaYsW22mSOKU6SLP

Few bands have built a connection with their fan base as lasting as Rise Against. The band has remained a steady and unifying presence, creating music that resonates across generations and brings people together through shared emotion and experience. Rise Against have cultivated a body of work rooted in empathy, urgency, and connection, balancing intensity with melody while reflecting the world around them and the communities that listen.

With Ricochet, Rise Against delivers what may be their most visceral, urgent, and high-stakes body of work to date. The album received praise from the likes of Billboard, Clash, Classic Rock, Consequence, Dork, The Guardian, Line of Best Fit, Metal Hammer, Rolling Stone, Vice, and more for its immediacy and emotional weight.

The A.R.T. Project launch marks the beginning of a series of new music videos from Ricochet rolling out in the coming weeks, ahead of the band’s upcoming headlining spring tour. Rise Against will kick off their headlining North American Tour on March 3 in Providence, RI with special guest Destroy Boys. They will be bringing the band’s signature sound and socially conscious music to stages across North America, including Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Pittsburgh, Madison, Spokane, and more.

Most recently, members of Rise Against joined Tom Morello in the “Defend Minnesota” benefit that took place this month. Tim discusses the event with 93xhere and The Current here.

A full list of tour dates can be found below. Tickets are on-sale now and available at https://riseagainst.com/tour

Rise Against Launch Fan-Driven Community Initiative The A.R.T. Project (All Rise Together). #riseagainst @riseagainst

https://slrmagazine.com/2026/02/19/rise-against-launch-fan-driven-community-initiative-the-a-r-t-project-all-rise-together/

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RISE AGAINST Launches Fan-Driven Community Initiative The A.R.T. Project (All Rise Together)

https://blabbermouth.net/news/rise-against-launches-fan-driven-community-initiative-the-a-r-t-project-all-rise-together

#RISEAGAINST #LaunchesFan #DrivenCommunityInitiativeThe #album #announcement #Blabbermouth #metal #music

I have to read about good people, otherwise I'm going crazy.

https://metalinjection.net/news/tom-morello-joined-by-bruce-springsteen-and-rise-against-at-anti-ice-minneapolis-protest-show

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TOM MORELLO & RISE AGAINST Rally Minneapolis With Solidarity & Resistance Benefit Concert

https://627e81c5fee2d202a5df846c.paas-p.smehost.net/news/tom-morello-rise-against-rally-minneapolis-with-solidarity-resistance-benefit-concert

#TOMMORELLO #RISEAGAINST #RallyMinneapolisWithSolidarity #ResistanceBenefitConcert #concert #MetalInjection #metal #music

Tom Morello contra el fascismo: el guitarrista dará un concierto benéfico en Minnesota | #RollingStoneES

https://es.rollingstone.com/arg-tom-morello-contra-el-fascismo-el-guitarrista-dara-un-concierto-benefico-en-minnesota/

#alexpretti #donaldtrump #ice #rageagainstthemachine #riseagainst #tommorello