Deathrock, doom, and deterioration: In Covert’s debut album »Bleak Machinery« emerges; out now via Dune Altar!
Los Angeles, California based industrial/doom/post-punk outfit In Covert presents their debut album, »Bleak Machinery«, which was just released on May 9th, 2025 via Dune Altar.
Tracklist:
01. Blood Moon Rises (Intro)
02. Blood Moon
03. Nowhere To Turn
04. Shivers Down The Spine
05. The Truth Is Out There
06. Night Captivity
07. Dead Weight
08. Gates Of He//
09. Darkfields
10. Ominous Dreams
11. Death Embers
12. Cemetery Nights
Courtesy of Dune Altar:
“Raw collision of gothic punk, industrial clatter, and doom-laced noise – a sonic reflection of existential dread wrapped in fuzzed-out guitars and pounding rhythms.” – Decibel Magazine
“A fascinating blend of schlocky horror-punk and genuinely frightening industrial doom-metal.” – FLOOD Magazine
“What’s to be found within these twelve tracks is an absolute laundry list of intricacies that all play off each other magnificently.” – Head-Banger Reviews
“An imposing record with layers of exciting and interesting music, liable to impress just about everyone who hears it.” – GBHBL
Friday, May 9th – Beneath the flickering lights of Los Angeles, where decay dances with desire, industrial noise-punks In Covert release their long-awaited debut album »Bleak Machinery« via LA label Dune Altar.
The band’s long-gestating vision – a genre-blurring, horror-soaked sound born of solitude and sharpened in collaboration – reaches its fullest form yet. »Bleak Machinery« is 12 tracks of pure dread alchemy: part deathrock séance, part industrial catharsis, part shoegaze spiral, stitched together with threads of eerie sci-fi and cathartic exorcisms of personal grief.
Photo credit: Joseph Padilla
Emerging in 2019 as a solo project by guitarist/synth artist Wes Lopez, In Covert evolved through pandemic-induced isolation and various augmented lineup shifts before locking into place with drummer Oscar Ruvalcaba (The Warlocks, Flaamingos, All Your Sisters), vocalist Kris Balocca (Phaeic), and bassist Victor Gutierrez (Phaeic). Together, they summon a dense, visceral energy that’s drawn comparisons to Christian Death, Godflesh, Thou, Nine Inch Nails and My Bloody Valentine – a sound that lives comfortably in the fog between genres.
Extending the band’s dread-soaked vision beyond the music, Lopez has crafted homespun videos for »Dead Weight«, »Death Embers«, and »Darkfields« – each one a grimy, analog hallucination. Shot on videotape with hand-built props and a DIY ethos steeped in rot and resilience, these visuals feel unearthed from a lost era of public access cult horror. They aren’t just music videos – they’re dispatches from a flickering world held together by static, grief, and grit.
Tracked at Moonpalace and Paradise Recorders with engineer Chris King (Cold Showers, Kai Tak) and punctuated with interludes from East LA home sessions, »Bleak Machinery« is both lo-fi and cinematic, intimate and apocalyptic. It’s a record of emotional spiral and existential overload, scored for VHS ruins and collapsing futures.
The album’s lead singles offer a glimpse into the controlled chaos:
»Death Embers«, hailed by FLOOD Magazine, pays homage to The Crow with a chilling video tribute wrapped in fuzzed-out doom and haunted vocals.
»Darkfields« premiered via Decibel, a feral post-punk assault laced with industrial grit and nihilistic fury.
»Nowhere To Turn«, which debuted with Ghost Cult Magazine, is a suffocating dirge of emotional stasis and mechanical unease.
To mark the release, Dune Altar is issuing »Bleak Machinery« on limited edition “Quantum Wound” colored vinyl (translucent red with black splatter), housed in hand-numbered, hand-printed heavyweight tip-on jackets. Pre-orders are live now.
»Bleak Machinery« is available on all streaming platforms now!
Pre-order the vinyl at dunealtar.com!
More on In Covert:
Beneath the neon haze of Los Angeles, In Covert emerged – not with a bang, but with a pulse. Formed in 2019 by guitarist/synth artist Wes Lopez as an outlet for ambient loops and drone experiments, the project began as a solo ritual before evolving into a full band. The pandemic halted early momentum, but also catalyzed a transformation: the sound turned darker, more mechanical, more haunted.
By late 2022, Wes reconnected with long-time collaborator and drummer Oscar Ruvalcaba (The Warlocks, Flaamingos, All Your Sisters), and their chemistry reignited the project. In 2023, the addition of vocalist Kris Balocca (Phaeic) – bringing range, fury, and magnetic presence – helped In Covert find its voice. Rounding out the live lineup in 2024 with bassist Victor Gutierrez (also of Phaeic), the band quickly solidified its presence in the LA underground.
Describing In Covert’s style is like trying to catalog a fever dream. It’s part deathrock, industrial metal, post-punk, and shoegaze, filtered through a VHS tape of The X-Files and scored by Godflesh and The Cure. Touchstones range from Christian Death to Ministry, from Celtic Frost to My Bloody Valentine. Add to that a love of ‘70s–’90s horror and sci-fi – Hellraiser, The Crow, Blood Cult, Return Of The Living Dead – and you begin to get a sense of the band’s cinematic vision. Lyrically, Kris channels overstimulation, grief, capitalist collapse, and A.I.-era dread with searing intensity.
Their debut album »Bleak Machinery« was recorded across sessions at Moonpalace and Paradise Recorders with engineer Chris King (Cold Showers, Kai Tak). The result is an album that feels both ancient and future-bound – a scorched vision of cultural collapse rendered in noise and atmosphere.
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well