Mortal Realm – “With a Heavy Heart”
Photo courtesy of The Dark Channel
Industrial melancholy reborn — Mortal Realm’s Adam V. Jones bridges darkwave nostalgia with modern electronic intensity in his new single, “With a Heavy Heart.”
Seattle-based artist Adam V. Jones (known for his work in Haex and Sterling Silicon) returns under his solo project Mortal Realm, unveiling a new single, “With a Heavy Heart,” out November 7th via Negative Gain Productions. The track continues Jones’s trajectory of weaving industrial, goth, and post-punk textures into emotionally charged, melodic frameworks—an evolution that began with his 2024 debut album Stab in the Dark.
Dark, romantic, and powerfully nostalgic, “With a Heavy Heart” channels the essence of early goth luminaries like Bauhaus and Sisters of Mercy, while grounding itself in modern production. Reverb-drenched percussion, spectral synths, and mournful minor chords wrap around Jones’s somber baritone—an echo from a darker age of underground music, now resurrected through contemporary eyes.
“You burned like a dying star, and I chased it like a lie...”
— With a Heavy Heart
The lyricism is introspective and cinematic—haunted by loss, longing, and spiritual erosion. It feels like an elegy for connection in a fractured world, heavy both in tone and in truth.
The song’s release arrives amid a wider resurgence of goth and darkwave, a cultural movement merging 1980s melancholy with 2020s innovation. Artists across scenes are blending industrial tension, haunting melody, and emotional vulnerability into new hybrids of electronic and alternative music. Mortal Realm stands among the few who manage to bridge that divide authentically, refusing to abandon the raw mood and shadowed romance that defined the genre’s roots.
Recorded and mixed by Jones himself, and mastered by Krischan Jan-Eric Wesenberg (Studio-600), the single carries an air of craftsmanship and precision that amplifies its emotional gravity. The artwork and photography, both handled in collaboration with Motornerve Photography, complete the worldbuilding—one of neon ghosts, concrete dreams, and fading lights.
Following “With a Heavy Heart,” Mortal Realm will continue expanding this evolving sound with the upcoming single “Rot (and Decompose)” later this fall, further cementing Jones’s place among the new generation of artists redefining dark electronic music.
Upcoming Show:
🕯 November 22nd – Real Art Tacoma (with Nuda, Ceremony Shadows, Sombre Lux) — Tacoma, WA
Follow on Facebook | Instagram and don’t miss the release on November 7th!
Listen to Mortal Realm at Bandcamp
