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Elan Release Day

April 25, 2025

Happy release day! We’re thrilled to announce that ELAN’s Elan Vs Elan album is officially out in the world.

You can buy the CD or tape here on the APF website. Find it on the streaming service of your choice here: https://linktr.ee/APFRecords 

Born from the creative minds of Shane Miller (A Horse Called War) and Joseph Woodbury (ex-William English), Elan Vs Elan captures the raw, fractured energy of two personalities colliding in glorious chaos. Recorded across two separate sessions at Bomb Store Studios, it’s a powerful testament to the band’s split-yet-cohesive identity.

From the heart of Norwich, ELAN deliver ferocious sludge metal and noise-rock, drenched in dark atmospheres and cult cinema influences. With Shane on vocals, guitar, and bass, and Joe behind the drums, the duo’s sound is sharpened further by their surreal alter egos — Billie and Dianne — rabbit-masked figures born from the unsettling visions of David Lynch.

If you're into APF’s heavier side (think Corrupt Moral Altar, Swamp Coffin, Tides Of Sulfur, Praetorian, early Mastiff), you’re absolutely going to love this.

Elan Vs Elan is a monstrous, 8-track, short sharp shock. For fans of angular, downtuned nastiness: Helmet, Unsane, Big Business, Whores.

We think you're going to dig it.

Goblinsmoker – The Toad King Trilogy: Final Chapter Coming Soon

April 20, 2025

Goblinsmoker – The Toad King Trilogy: Final Chapter Coming Soon

The third and final chapter of the Toad King trilogy is nearly upon us. Goblinsmoker are ready to complete the story they began deep in the goblin-infested forests of their imagination. The King's Eternal Throne is the climactic instalment: the King’s fate revealed, a long-buried plan uncovered, and the final reckoning drawn in smoke and haze.

Pre-orders commence at the end of April on the APF website and on 2nd May on Bandcamp. Keep your eyes peeled.

Goblinsmoker began in late 2016 as a one-man project out of Durham, with a mission: to fuse the bleak, atmospheric weight of black metal with the fuzz-drenched riff worship of doom — and to build a full-blown mythology to go with it. From the outset, this wasn’t just music. It was a world.

At the centre of that world: the Toad King, a discontented ruler of goblins whose subjects willingly sacrifice themselves to be smoked by their monarch in a twisted act of loyalty and transcendence. That tale — part folklore, part fever dream — would come to life across a trilogy of concept releases.

With the debut instalment nearly written, Goblinsmoker became a duo and entered the studio. The result, Toad King, was released in 2018 and sold out within days, driven by word of mouth and a mere 20-second music clip. A second pressing sold even faster.

Live shows followed. The band expanded to a trio and brought the Toad King to the stage, translating the thick atmosphere of the records into a slow-burning, immersive live experience. While gigging, they began work on part two.

A Throne in Haze, A World Ablaze pushed the story forward: the Toad King, led astray by a goblin shaman, wages war on his own kind. The album was recorded in late 2019 and released in early 2020. That same year, Goblinsmoker played Fall of Man in Munich, and in 2021 shared stages with Conan and headlined shows at New Cross Inn and Fell Foot Wood.

In late 2021, the Toad King wrote to APF Records. We were summoned. We answered. That letter led to the band’s first APF release, the Sweet Paravoid EP, released in September 2022 — a cult hit that laid the groundwork for what comes next.

Goblinsmoker – The Toad King Trilogy: Final Chapter Coming Soon

The Final Chapter

Now, the trilogy concludes. The goblins have seized power. The forest burns with secrets. Every move the Toad King made is exposed for what it really was. This is the end of the path — the final fog-drenched chapter in a saga six years in the making.

Goblinsmoker’s physical releases tend to vanish quickly, with past editions selling out in under 24 hours. So if you’re drawn to the smoke, keep your eyes sharp — these spoils of war won’t last long.

Worship Him.

Spider Kitten Return

March 30, 2025

 

SPIDER KITTEN ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM – THE TRUTH IS CAUSTIC TO LOVE

OUT 27TH JUNE 2025 VIA APF RECORDS

Watch the video for new single The Dose here: 

https://bit.ly/skthedose

There are bands that set out to be heard. Spider Kitten never really cared if anyone was listening. 

For over two decades, they’ve been moving in the shadows — ugly, beautiful, loud, quiet, always real. Never chameleons, never sell-outs. Just a band doing their own strange, stubborn thing. On 27th June 2025, they return with The Truth Is Caustic To Love, released through APF Records. 

It’s a 14-track album that burns through in just 38 minutes. No bloat. No indulgence. Just an unrelenting stream of raw, emotional weight, shifting between sludge-soaked heaviness and fragile acoustic introspection. It doesn’t sprawl. It strikes. And it leaves a mark. 

Spider Kitten’s sound has always been hard to box up. The new album draws from the slow-burning menace of Killdozer, the desert swagger of Queens of the Stone Age, the narcotic haze of Alice in Chains, and the haunted gravel of Mark Lanegan. But it never mimics. It absorbs, twists, mutates - until what you’re left with is something uniquely Spider Kitten: heavy but not just for heaviness’ sake, melodic but never sweet, ugly in a way that’s sometimes... oddly moving. 

The guitars go where they please. One minute they're dragging you through thick, syrupy sludge, the next they’re stripped back to bare-boned acoustic fingerpicking, then erupting into feedback-drenched howling. Chi Lameo plays like he’s got unfinished business with every note, as if he’s trying to bend sound into confession. And when the volume’s dialled down, what’s left is stark and affecting - acoustic laments where his vocals turn delicate, emotionally resonant, and heartbreakingly human. 

Then there are the big tracks. The ones that hit like a concrete wall. But even here, Spider Kitten aren’t content to just bludgeon. Laced between the riffs are unexpected hooks - catchy, smart, and gone before you know it. Some come with full three-part harmonies that swell, crest, and vanish, leaving you aching for their return. Nothing is overplayed. Nothing lingers longer than it should. These are moments that flash like headlights on a lonely road — brief, bright, unforgettable. 

Chi’s voice remains the band’s emotional engine. Worn, bruised, cracked in places, it moves between broken croons and desperate howls with the kind of honesty that can’t be faked. 

There’s no hiding here. No layers of production to shield what’s really going on. Just a man telling you exactly how it feels to come apart slowly, one piece at a time. 

Chris West’s drumming provides the weight - not just in decibels, but in soul. He doesn’t just hit hard. He feels hard. There’s groove when it’s needed, space when it matters, and impact when it hurts the most. It’s all muscle and restraint. Nothing wasted. 

Rob Davies, once the band’s lead guitarist, now commands the low end with purpose. His basslines aren’t just structural — they’re emotional. Dirty, inventive, and unpredictable, they give the songs motion, mood, and menace. His return completes the circle in a way that makes the whole record feel fated. 

The Truth Is Caustic To Love isn’t a concept album, but there’s a thread running through it. If there’s a message, it might be this: things fall apart. People do too. And there’s something strangely beautiful in the wreckage. The album doesn’t offer redemption. It doesn’t try to rescue you. It just lays everything bare. 

It’s not for everyone. And Spider Kitten have never wanted it to be. 

But if you’ve ever felt the bottom drop out beneath you and found yourself laughing in the dark — then you’ll get it. You don’t just listen to this band. You let them in. And once they’re in, they don’t leave. 

Elan Drop My English Tongue, Announce Debut Album

March 06, 2025

APF will be releasing sludge-noise duo ELAN's debut album Elan Vs Elan on 25th April.Pre-orders are open here on the APF website.

Elan Vs Elan showcases the distinct creative duality of its founding members, Shane Miller (A Horse Called War, William English) and Joseph Woodbury (William English, Armed with Books).

The album is divided into two halves, both recorded at Bombstore Studios, but at separate times - emphasizing the band’s fractured yet cohesive musical identity.

Hailing from Norwich, Elan is a two-piece sludge metal and noise-rock project built on raw energy, dark atmospheres, and a deep love of film and TV. With Shane handling vocals, guitar, and bass, and Joe on drums, they craft a sound as intense as their inspirations. The band's alter egos, Billie and Dianne, add another surreal layer—rabbit-masked figures born from the unsettling world of David Lynch.

Each song on "Elan Vs Elan" draws inspiration from cult cinema and television, weaving together the band’s love for savagely experimental soundscapes and visual storytelling.

First single, "My English Tongue", drops tomorrow, but you can watch the video for it today over at Outlaws Of The Sun. Get some filth in your ears.

Hope you dig it! 

Video link:

https://outlawsofthesun.blogspot.com/2025/03/exclusive-songvideo-premiere-of.html

Elan Sign to APF Records

February 15, 2025

 

APF Records is thrilled to introduce you to ELAN and announce their upcoming release, Elan Vs Elan, a split album with a twist—two personalities, one band.

The album highlights the creative duality of founders Shane Miller (A Horse Called War) and Joseph Woodbury (ex-William English). Recorded at Bomb Store Studios in two separate sessions, it underscores their fractured yet cohesive musical identity.

Hailing from Norwich, Elan crafts sludge metal and noise-rock built on raw energy, dark atmospheres, and a deep love of film and TV. With Shane on vocals, guitar, and bass, and Joe on drums, they deliver an intense sound, enriched by their alter egos, Billie and Dianne—rabbit-masked figures inspired by the unsettling world of David Lynch.

Originally formed in 2015, Elan paused when Joe moved to the US. His 2019 return revived the project, culminating in the recording of eight tracks in 2023. Each song on Elan Vs Elan draws from cult cinema and TV, blending savagely experimental soundscapes with visual storytelling.

First single My English Tongue drops 7th March. Prepare for something truly heavy and unpredictable.

Read more about Elan on their band page here on the APF website.

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