Author: goldleafmedia

  • Happy Sad Unveils Cinematic Visuals for New Single “Changeable”

    Happy Sad Unveils Cinematic Visuals for New Single “Changeable”

    Ambient folk project Happy Sad has released the music video for “Changeable,” a track from the album The World Is Grand When We See, out now via Epictronic.

    Built as a post-classical piece, “Changeable” moves through Eastern-inspired scales and instrumentation, unfolding with constant variation in mood and structure. The composition reflects a clear focus on contrast and movement, with musical ideas shifting rapidly rather than settling into repetition.

    The track was originally developed under the working title “NHK Taiga Drama Style”, inspired by the orchestral openings of Japanese historical dramas. These themes, known for their intricate arrangements and frequent shifts, shaped the piece’s structure. Each section was designed to evolve quickly, creating a sense of changing scenery within a short runtime.

    Happy Sad describes the writing process as a long-held idea that remained unused for some time, originally envisioned for potential external projects. When no fitting context emerged, it was eventually developed independently into its final form, keeping the original concept intact: a composition built around transition, motion, and emotional variation.

    The result is a focused and cinematic work that connects ambient folk sensibilities with post-classical orchestration and subtle Eastern influences.

    Watch “Changeable” :

    About the Artist: The Architect of Sound

    Happy Sad is the solo project of Hiroaki Kusano, a Japanese artist and sound professional based in the game industry. He began making music during his student years, playing café bar gigs and recording demos. His influences take in soul, British rock, folk, trip hop, neoclassical, world music, and film scores, alongside a strong connection to literature. His recordings balance live instrumentation with programmed elements. To date, Happy Sad has released seven albums and 19 EPs.

    Outside of music, Hiroaki has around 14 years of experience as a Sound Designer and Sound Director in the games industry, having contributed to over 60 projects at companies including NetEase Games, FunPlus, NHN PlayArt, and Noisycroak Inc. His work spans music composition, sound design, audio direction, and promotional video production. In 2013, his track “Everyday” won the domestic DJ category and reached the finals of MTV and Lenovo’s CO:LAB contest.

    In recent years, Hiroaki has travelled across ten countries in search of sounds and traditional instruments. Encounters along the way with displaced communities have shaped his approach to music as a form of shared human expression.

    The World Is Grand When We See is out now via Epictronic.

    Stream here:  orcd.co/twgwws

  • epoimóriròmiope Revisit “ricordi di un tempo mai esistito” With A New Studio Live Set

    epoimóriròmiope Revisit “ricordi di un tempo mai esistito” With A New Studio Live Set

    Italian alternative rock trio epoimóriròmiope has released “ricordi di un tempo mai esistito” (Studio Live Set), a new performance-driven take on their 2025 album, available now on all digital platforms via Epictronic.

    Stream the Studio Live Set: orcd.co/rdutmelive

    Rather than simply recreating the original record, epoimóriròmiope approach these songs from a different perspective, bringing their dynamics, atmospheres, and emotional intensity to the forefront. Recorded in the studio, the live set captures a more immediate and instinctive side of the material, preserving the identity of the original album while allowing its raw energy to take center stage.

    For the band, the project was an opportunity to reconnect with the songs through performance, rediscovering their most visceral elements and exploring the spontaneity that emerges when music is played live. The result bridges the gap between the studio album and the live experience, offering a fresh interpretation of a deeply personal body of work.

    Originally conceived as an act of catharsis, ricordi di un tempo mai esistito explores distorted memories of a lost love, the pain of separation, regret, anxiety, and the fleeting nature of existence. Its blend of Alternative Metal and melancholic electronic textures draws on industrial, darkwave, IDM, and cyberpunk, combining distorted riffs, electronic beats, aggressive synths, and glitch-driven noise. Influences ranging from Nine Inch Nails and Deftones to Bring Me The Horizon and Massive Attack inform a sound that moves between aggression and introspection.

    With this new studio live set, epoimóriròmiope return to these themes with renewed immediacy, inviting listeners to experience the album from another angle.

    ABOUT EPOIMÓRIRÒMIOPE

    Formed in Bologna, Italy, in 2021, epoimóriròmiope combines Alternative Rock, Metalcore, and electronic music into a sound that continues to evolve. Initially conceived as a solo project, the band has developed through different musical phases, moving from the dark trap influences of Vincoli (2021) to the electronic experimentation of kabukimono (2023).

    Their 2025 album, ricordi di un tempo mai esistito, marked a defining chapter in this evolution. Blending Alternative Metal with industrial and electronic influences, the record confronts the emotional aftermath of a love that exists more vividly in memory than in reality. Its songs navigate fractured recollections, unresolved feelings, and the tension between what happened and what might have been.

    Now, with ricordi di un tempo mai esistito (Studio Live Set), the trio revisits this material through a more immediate, performance-focused approach.

  • Red Code Release “Checkmate” Music Video

    Red Code Release “Checkmate” Music Video

    TRIESTE, ITALY — Italian prog/alternative metal band Red Code have released the official music video for “Checkmate,” taken from their debut EP “Traces of Unease and Discomfort (Episode 1)”, out via Epictronic.

    “Checkmate” uses a game of chess as a framework for manipulation, control, and emotional conflict. The track pairs heavy riffs with a tense atmosphere and builds toward a point where winning and losing stop being distinct outcomes — in a game built on destruction, both sides lose.

    The video is one of three chapters in An Archive of Us, a sci-fi/thriller short film that uses a dystopian setting to examine the need for control. The other two chapters are built around the tracks “Quarantine” and “Toxic Karma.” The project was produced by S@NGIORGIO 2020, with technical support from Infinity Digital.

    Watch “Checkmate” here:

    About Red Code

    Red Code was formed in Trieste as a live act, founded by vocalist Lenina, drummer Ivo and bassist Andrea Bossi, who later passed away. Lenina and the rest of the group decided to carry on. The sound is built around her vocals and the four instruments, with no backing tracks or studio sequencing live.

    Over the years, the band have played small clubs, festivals, and motorcycle rallies, opening for Cristina Scabbia (Lacuna Coil), Exilia, Nicola Manzan (Bologna Violenta), Pierpaolo Capovilla (Il Teatro degli Orrori), Underwaves, Tystnaden, Logical Terror, and Break Me Down. They’ve also been featured on Radio Rai.

    “Traces of Unease and Discomfort” is the band’s first studio release after years of live performance. The sound combines the aggression of alternative metal — with reference points like System of a Down and Godsmack — with the structural influence of prog acts like Dream Theater and Fates Warning.

    Stream Traces of Unease and Discomfort (Episode 1) here: orcd.co/touad

  • US Rock Veterans Mad Painter Announce New Album “Island Poetry”

    US Rock Veterans Mad Painter Announce New Album “Island Poetry”

    Boston-area rock quintet Mad Painter will release their third studio album, “Island Poetry,” on October 9th, 2026 via Epictronic. The album follows 2023’s “Splashed” and marks the band’s heaviest and most cohesive work to date, with the current lineup writing the bulk of the material specifically for this record.

    About the Album

    Where “Splashed” drew on a wider vault of older and newer material, “Island Poetry” is more focused, shaped by the current Mad Painter lineup as a unified group effort. The album’s concept centers on the image of island inhabitants gathered around a campfire on a tropical beach under a full moon, chanting and meditating in a shared communal and spiritual ritual. That imagined setting is where the album’s “poetry” originates, echoing the romantic idea of withdrawing from ordinary pressures to create freely — in the spirit of artists such as Kevin Ayers, who retreated to an island to make music at his own pace.

    Musically, the album is rooted in 1970s British rock, built around Hammond organ, guitar, bass, drums, and layered vocals. Across its twelve tracks, “Island Poetry” moves through Deep Purple-inspired hard rock, Status Quo-style boogie, Rainbow-esque drama, Queen-like theatricality, Wishbone Ash-style roaming textures, Motörhead-inspired heaviness, Moody Blues / Barclay James Harvest-style art rock, and the space-disco flavor of “Nektarized.” The focus track, “Spin Your Ventilator,” delivers an energetic, unruly, double-entendre-driven hard rock attack in the spirit of Brian Johnson-era AC/DC.

    The album was recorded track by track by Tom Hamilton at Lowell Street Sound in Peabody, Massachusetts, where Hamilton also handled production and mixing. The Pro Tools-based sessions were built to achieve a warm, natural, analog-style sound rather than a sterile digital polish. Six of the album’s twelve tracks feature lyrics by writer and music journalist Dmitry M. Epstein, and the record closes with a faithful interpretation of Uriah Heep’s “Circle of Hands” — a fitting finale for a band whose identity is closely tied to Hammond-driven classic rock.

    Get a taste of the heavy, unruly energy of the new album and check out the single & Video “Spin Your Ventilator”.

    Watch the visualizer:

    About Mad Painter

    Mad Painter is a Boston-area rock band devoted to the weight, color, and melodic ambition of classic 1970s rock. Led by vocalist, keyboardist, songwriter, and concept creator Alex Gitlin, the group builds its sound around roaring Hammond organ, hard-driving guitar, muscular rhythms, layered vocals, and warm analog-style production.

    The band’s music draws heavily from the golden age of British hard rock, progressive rock, glam, boogie, and blues-based album rock, with Deep Purple and Uriah Heep as central reference points — particularly in the use of Hammond organ as a lead instrument rather than background texture. Elements of Rainbow, Queen, Status Quo, Wishbone Ash, Motörhead, Nektar, Moody Blues, Barclay James Harvest, AC/DC, Spooky Tooth, and Atomic Rooster also run through the band’s vocabulary.

    The current recorded lineup features Alex Gitlin, drummer Al Hendry, bassist Kenne Highland, guitarist Al Naha, and backing vocalist Julie Gee, with Sharon Crumrine appearing as additional backing vocalist on “Island Poetry.” Together, they make vintage-minded music: dramatic songs, heavy riffs, melodic hooks, and expansive arrangements, played with conviction.

    Follow Mad Painter’s musical odyssey:

    Website: madpainter.co.uk
    Facebook: www.facebook.com/madpainter1
    X: x.com/painter_mad
    Instagram: instagram.com/madpainterband
    YouTube: www.youtube.com/@madpainter4010
    Spotify