Ready to hear Nxmad’s The Second Fall album? It lands on Friday, but as is APF tradition, we’ve dropped it in full on the APF YouTube a few days early.

Watch and listen here: https://youtu.be/0Ot80Suk7vE

8 years on from debut full-length Feral, you’ll get to hear for yourself how they’ve leaned into a harder sound. Think High On Fire having a brawl with early Mastodon after a night on the lash with Black Tusk. Listen out for a guest appearance by Taz Corona-Brown (Undersmile / Coma Wall) on closing belter Actus Reus.

The Second Fall was recorded and mixed by Joe Clayton at No Studio, whose credits include Bossk, Pijn, Wode, Leeched and Conjurer, and mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege, known for his work with Sleep, Obituary, Yob, Nails and Corrosion of Conformity.

The Second Fall is available to buy here on the APF website. Limited edition vinyl, digipak CD, t-shirt bundles. 

I’m sorry to say that shipping prices for EU orders have had to go up.

This is because of the EU’s new small parcel levy, which applies to goods under €150. Royal Mail collects this charge from us when we post the items, so it has to be built into the shipping price at checkout. It is not APF adding extra money on top, and it is not something we can avoid or absorb across every order.

I know this is frustrating. It is frustrating for us too.

APF Records has always had brilliant support from European fans. You buy the records, wear the shirts, share the bands, come to the shows and help keep this label alive. The last thing I want is to make it harder or more expensive for you to order from us.

Unfortunately, small labels like APF are being caught up in a rule that seems mainly aimed at huge low-cost ecommerce platforms. We are not shipping millions of cheap throwaway items. We are sending records, CDs and shirts to people who genuinely care about underground music.

We have updated the EU shipping rates so that the levy is covered as fairly as possible. We are not using this as a way to make extra money. We are also looking at what we can do to reduce the impact.

For now, the best advice is to order items together where you can, rather than placing several smaller orders. It may not remove the levy completely, but it should help spread the postage cost.

We are genuinely sorry about this. APF exists because people support heavy music directly, and we never take that for granted. Thank you to everyone in Europe who continues to order from us despite the extra barriers being thrown in the way.

Andrew Field
APF Records

Today marks the release of A Tranquil Void, the long-awaited second album from Bristol progressive sludge quartet Urzah, available now via APF Records on vinyl, CD, digital download and streaming platforms worldwide.

Following the critical acclaim of their 2024 debut The Scorching Gaze, Urzah return with a record that expands every aspect of their sound. Across eight ambitious tracks, A Tranquil Void balances crushing sludge and doom-laden heaviness with soaring post-metal atmospherics, intricate arrangements and moments of genuine beauty and reflection.

Conceived as a companion piece to The Scorching Gaze, the new album explores themes of grief, healing, memory, renewal and humanity's place within the vast cosmos. Where its predecessor burned with volcanic fury, A Tranquil Void finds power in contemplation, transformation and rebirth.

Recorded at Stage 2 Studios, Bath, and produced, mixed and mastered by Josh Gallop, the album sees Urzah pushing their creative boundaries further than ever before. Cello contributions from Luke Clemenger and guest vocals from Dave Cook (Empire of Dust), Chris Wilson (Row of Ashes) and Victoria Bourne (The Spark's Desire) add further depth to an already expansive sonic landscape.

Since emerging in 2020, Urzah have steadily built a reputation as one of the UK's most exciting progressive heavy bands, sharing stages with the likes of Bongzilla, Mastiff, Tuskar, Greenleaf, OHHMS and Dopelord while developing a sound that draws inspiration from Neurosis, DVNE, Mastodon, Elder and Russian Circles without ever losing its own identity.

A Tranquil Void is available now from the APF Records store, including the stunning limited-edition 'Supernova' vinyl variant.

To celebrate the album's release, Urzah will host a special launch show at Exchange, Bristol, on 25th July, joined by Hundred Year Old Man, Mountainscape and Dead Space Chamber Music.

Stream the album, order your copy and immerse yourself in one of the most ambitious and rewarding heavy records of 2026.

NXMAD have today released “Amber”, the second track to be taken from their upcoming album The Second Fall, out 5th July via APF Records.

Following the release of first single “Vertigo”, “Amber” pushes further into the band’s newer, more aggressive direction - a full-throttle blast of choppy riffs, relentless momentum and frantic double-pedal drumming. Drawing from the same strain of sludge-fuelled aggression as High on Fire, the track captures the sharper, faster-edged approach running throughout The Second Fall.

The album marks NXMAD’s first full-length in eight years and was recorded and mixed by Joe Clayton at No Studio, before being mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege.

The Second Fall is released on 5th July 2026 via APF Records.

Listen to “Amber” and pre-order the album here: https://linktr.ee/APFRecords

Bristol progressive sludge quartet Urzah have released their powerful new single ‘The Call Beneath’, the third track to be unveiled from their forthcoming album A Tranquil Void, due for release on 5th June via APF Records. 

A full-force progressive sludge rager, ‘The Call Beneath’ showcases Urzah at their most intense and emotionally charged, combining crushing riffs, shifting time signatures and cathartic atmosphere into one of the heaviest tracks the band has released to date.

Speaking about the song, guitarist and vocalist Tom McElveen explains:

“This track is about dealing with grief for the first time, and letting yourself be pulled into its depths so the earlier version of yourself can die and a new one can be reborn and ‘rise to the surface’. This process can only happen when you stop resisting it.

We play with dynamics and moving time signatures to build and rebuild tension, taking us through to the final cathartic stage of rebirth at the pinnacle.”

Following previous singles ‘Infernal Star I’ and ‘Hunter in the Veil’, ‘The Call Beneath’ continues to reveal the scale and ambition of A Tranquil Void. The album expands Urzah’s distinctive blend of sludge, doom, post-metal and post-hardcore into darker, more atmospheric territory, while retaining the raw emotional weight and colossal heaviness that defined their acclaimed debut The Scorching Gaze.

Recorded at Stage 2 Studios, Bath and produced, mixed and mastered by Josh Gallop, A Tranquil Void promises to be Urzah’s most ambitious release yet.

Listen to ‘The Call Beneath’ via this link: https://linktr.ee/APFRecords

You can pre-order A Tranquil Void (LP/CD/tee) here on the APF website: https://apfrecords.co.uk/albums/a-tranquil-void