In summer 2023, death metallers Blood Incantation decamped to Berlin’s Hansa studios to record groundbreaking new album, Absolute Elsewhere. Isaac Faulk talks to Dan Franklin about how pushing at the boundaries of what a band can be and a near-disaster with an untied shoelace went into creating their most mind-expanding music yet
Solo and as part of Sun City Girls, Sir Richard Bishop has spent three decades refining a singular style of guitar playing that draws inspiration from across the globe. With several of new releases arriving this year, he speaks to Richie Troughton about filmmaking, Freemasonry and secret manuscripts
After building a home studio the SMD musician and Arctic Monkeys and Depeche Mode producer James Ford picked up no less than 18 instruments – and a microphone – in order to make his beguiling debut LP. Words by Jeremy Allen. All portraits by Pip Bourdillon