Tag Archives: history of guns

Max Rael shares new video for ‘Pressing Against The Glass’

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History of Guns man Max Rael has delivered one of 2025’s most interesting albums. By taking all of his electronica influences and fusing them with the spoken work aesthetic of his experimental project Decommisioned Forests, Max;s solo debut ‘The Enemy Is Us’ fuses a world of synth pop with strong 80s influences with touches of Kraftwerk which, joined by a world of slam poetry and introspective thoughts, to create a deeply personal record.

Personal it may be, but never in an exclusional way. There’s a real appeal in the material’s honesty. …And never more so than in the current single ‘Pressing Against The Glass’.

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MAX RAEL – The Enemy Is Us

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Barely three lines into the opening number of his solo debut, experimental musician Max Rael has already embraced differences not being like anyone else and told his audience he feels exhausted. The frankness in which the artist’s neuro divergence is discussed throughout ‘Slightly Less Than Human’ is a signifier of the album’s honest approach as a whole. ‘We Are The Enemy’ isn’t so much a collection of songs; more a world of personal statements, shared with a heart and disarming honesty, but also with the hope that Rael will attract kindred spirits. Obviously, this doesn’t aim for a broad commercial potential, but as albums go, it’s never less than interesting.

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MAX RAEL – Slightly Less Than Human / When The Only Winning Move Is Not To Play

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Max Rael’s debut single ‘Brighter Future’ pushed the alternative envelope by applying spoken word passages to bleak sounding synth backdrops, creating an almost dystopian musical landscape. The number’s darker side was effectively offset by the History of Guns man offering listeners a positive lyric, where he suggested we can look to the past and learn from mistakes to forge a brighter future. Issued at a time when the world seemed incredibly negative with seemingly little escape from a political turmoil, Rael’s optimism – no matter how obtusely applied – offered fans of less mainstream music a small beacon of hope.

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MAX RAEL – Brighter Future / The People Have Won (Persistence Is All)

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A key member of industrial project History of Guns and also the experimental band Decommissioned Forests, Max Rael has been a strange enigma within the underground of the UK’s electronica and industrial scenes for a number of years. This solo debut finds him taking a few familiar past traits and twisting them into new shapes, creating something that preaches positivity but contrasts that with a cold, almost bleak backdrop for the world’s entertainment. It’s a contrast that really works.

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HISTORY OF GUNS – Little Miss Suicide (25) EP

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At the tail end of 1999, round about the time conspiracy theorists thought the turn of the millennium would trigger the end of the world – or at the very least, stop everyone’s computers from working – an independent band from England masquerading under the provocative name History of Guns released their debut EP ‘Little Miss Suicide’. It presented some fairly rough around the edges alternative sounds, drawing from goth, industrial and rock, and would lay the foundations for future endeavours. For those keeping a close ear to the alternative underground, HOG would continue to make interesting musical waves. At their peak of the first part of their career, they were even invited to remix a track by ex-Marillion frontman Fish, bringing together two disparate musical words, proving that – at least to those with open minds – music knows no boundaries.

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