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DLC Week of 8/17: Arctic Horror and The Black Cheers!

Music discovery doesn’t just happen as a one and done. We’re back again with more local bands, and they’re pretty dang local, with both bands coming from our very own office here at Harmonix! It’s a little heavier than last week, so we’ve got some good variety across these two weeks for everyone. Check it out below.


Arctic Horror and their song “Black Seas” is the heaviest DLC we’ve released in a while. That’s a fancy way of saying it’s brutal speed crust (Jeff wouldn’t tell us what that meant). “Black Seas” is in the middle of their GOATIST EP, which is just over 20 minutes of straight metal. Screaming vocals throughout talk about the post-apocalypse landscape, while guitar and bass have chugging riffs throughout. Drums keep up an ever-changing tom pattern through the whole song, placing them as the toughest part. All of GOATIST can be found here.


Mike Cunniff, Guitar/Vocals
Black Seas is a scorched-earth hymn that describes a future where, through our own doing, sea levels rise, consume cities, turn black from pollution, leave the lands barren, and threaten us to extinction, a future we fear our children may face in their lifetimes. The track was recorded in a basement in Somerville, MA called Black Mark Studios in 2015 and was released on the GOATIST EP the following winter.


“(You’re) Breakin’ Up” is a straight punk track brought to us by The Black Cheers. With some members of The Acro-Brats involved, The Black Cheers is that classic Boston punk sound. Coming off of their 2015 album Sick Gun, “(You’re) Breakin’ Up” is an almost but not quite break-up song that instead pivoted during creation. A low, low bass intro opens the song on its own, before bursting into a heavy guitar riff and pounding drums. The guitar moves away from chords to whine over drum fills as the song moves into the chorus, where harmonies join in to layer on the lead line. At under three minutes, it’s a quick, intense play that’s easy to run back. Check out more of their music here.


Dan O’Halloran, Guitar/Vocals
When I first sat down to write this song, it started out as a song about missing something that you used to do or someone you used to know. Over time, it became more of a "diss track" (as the kids say). You know, purposely not listening to someone's BS. At the same time, it's also about growing tired & bored of something that you once loved doing. I purposely added the (You're) to the title, as clunky as it makes it, to distinguish it from being a "break up" song. Which I guess it is. Life is full of ironies!


Both songs are free exclusively to Rivals owners. Users without Rivals cannot download these tracks.

  • Arctic Horror - "Black Seas"
  • The Black Cheers - "(You're) Breakin' Up"


VIDEO: Rock Band 4 DLC Week of 8/17: Arctic Horror and The Black Cheers!



We’ll be showing off this week’s newest DLC on our Twitch stream today starting at 5PM ET. Tune in here!


Buy Rock Band 4 DLC on Xbox One


Buy Rock Band 4 DLC on PlayStation®4


* Please note that this week’s DLC tracks will be available for purchase on Thursday, August 17th.