We Speak Rock

DIGITAL NEGATIVE Gather Five Years of Industrial Noise on Collected Assets, Out Today

Published

2 days ago

November 13, 2026

DIGITAL NEGATIVE, the industrial project from Richard Johnson and Daniel Euphrat, pull their first three EPs together on Collected Assets — 18 tracks including two live recordings and a new song, out today on JR Hayes of Pig Destroyer’s Mold Dominion label.

Stream DIGITAL NEGATIVE’s Collected Assets HERE.

Collected Assets, the comprehensive compilation of all material to date from industrial/electronic project DIGITAL NEGATIVE, is out today on Mold Dominion, the independent record label operated by JR Hayes of Pig Destroyer.

DIGITAL NEGATIVE is the project from Richard Johnson (Drugs Of Faith, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Enemy Soil) and Daniel Euphrat (Person918x, Timmy Sells His Soul, Bodied). Over the past five years, the band has played live around the D.C. Metro area while releasing three five-song EPs, now amassed on Collected Assets. The compilation features the complete discography of DIGITAL NEGATIVE to date, encompassing the three EPs the group released from 2021 to 2025, plus two live tracks recorded in Washington, D.C. and a new song exclusive to the collection, recorded this year, with 18 total tracks. The live tracks and brand new song included showcase the continuing dystopian, glitched-out, sample-heavy noise, electronics, and industrial sounds the band employs.

Speaking about the new track “Outgroup,” Euphrat says the song “uses a variety of sample sources, including a field recording of a metal gate reverberating in a stairwell that functions as a bass and a swarm of drones that functions as a synth.”

About the live tracks, Euphrat continues, “Our live sets have an added element of improvisation,” with the backing tracks “run through a multi-effects unit manipulated on the fly, as well as an added noise feedback loop and percussion sample pad that are played live.” He concludes, “The performances have a raw immediacy that is captured by the recordings.”

Collected Assets is out today on CD and digitally via the Mold Dominion on Ampwall HERE and DIGITAL NEGATIVE on Bandcamp HERE.

DIGITAL NEGATIVE continues to play sporadic live shows across the East Coast, including a show tonight in Alexandria.

DIGITAL NEGATIVE Live:

11/13/2026 Galactic Panther – Alexandria, VA w/ EU1OGY, Centigrade 2

Collected Assets Track Listing:
1. Outgroup
2. Strange Loop
3. Self-crash
4. Stock Fetish
5. Corporate Body
6. Tense Motion
7. Drop
8. The Floor
9. March Onward
10. Industrial Scraps
11. Monochromatic
12. Extensions
13. Growth
14. Oligarchy
15. The Blanks
16. Trapped
17. Strange Loop (live)
18. Industrial Scraps (live)

EMPATH, Built From Volbeat, Rising And Anti-Ritual Members, Drop Their Self-Titled Debut Album

Published

17 hours ago

November 14, 2026

We Speak Media

EMPATH's four members in a black and white portrait against a dark background

Copenhagen has a new heavy rock band with serious pedigree. EMPATH, formed by members of Volbeat, Rising and Anti-Ritual, have released their self-titled debut album today, November 13th, on Indisciplinarian — a dark and dreamy take on heavy rock built on atmosphere, melody and crushing dynamics.

EMPATH is the sound of a new, dark and dreamy heavy rock band from Copenhagen, Denmark — one that revolves around atmosphere, presence and empathy. The constellation may be new, but the four members carry solid experience from bands such as Volbeat, Rising and Anti-Ritual.

In a digital and efficiency-driven age, where humanity is increasingly giving way to mechanical coldness, EMPATH — as the name suggests — is about presence, empathy and humanity. This ethos runs like a common thread through the band’s self-titled debut album, released today, November 13th, 2026, on LP, CD, cassette and digital formats via Indisciplinarian.

Across nine songs, EMPATH blends elements of progressive metal, doom, sludge and post-rock into a sound that is as dreamy and melodic as it is heavy and riff-driven. The music was recorded live with producer Lasse Ballade (Halshug, Slægt, Eyes) at Ballade Studios in Copenhagen, with vocals tracked at Grapehouse Studios by Morten Grønnegaard. Ballade also handled mix and mastering, while the artwork was created by illustrator Jon Gotlev (Nohr).

The album was first introduced by the single “Waves,” followed by “Vessel,” both pointing toward the band’s balance of melodic clarity and dense, riff-driven weight. EMPATH plays its debut show on December 11th at Hotel Cecil in Copenhagen.

EMPATH Track Listing

1. In Absence
2. Waves
3. Vessel
4. In Formation
5. In Bloom
6. In Thought
7. In Dissent
8. In Memory
9. In Return

Before forming EMPATH, guitarist/vocalist Morten Grønnegaard played with Volbeat on the albums Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies and Seal the Deal & Let’s Boogie. Bassist Christian Qvortrup played in the epic doom metal band Rising, while drummer Jakob Krogholt toured and recorded with Anti-Ritual.