New Noise Magazine Issue #53

ISSUE 53

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THE NEW WHAT NEXT 10 YEARS OF THE FLENSER MURDER IN THE FRONT ROW PITY PARTY STEVE VON TILL REIGNING SOUND BULLY JAYE JAYLE BAD COP BAD COP MIKE PARK ZOMBI AMERICANA BROADWAY CALLS STRIKE ANYWHERE

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JOE BANSUELO 42 44 46 47 48 50 52 54 66 58 60 64 66 68 70 72

CRO MAGS DROPDEAD RAMALLAH REBELMATIC XIBALBA DAN SEAGRAVE PHOEBE BRIDGERS IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT BAD RELIGION LAMB OF GOD ZOOM WALL OF DEATH FRANKIE STUBBS MUSHROOMHEAD KING BUZZO THE SHORTLIST ANALOG CAVE

BY NICHOLAS SENIOR PHOTO BY FRANKX STUDIO

JUSTICE FOR THE DAMNED Hometown: Sydney, Australia Album: Pain Is Power out now via Greyscale Records RIYL: Resilience. Emotional Rawness. Power.

PHOTO BY CATARINA ROCHA

GAEREA

Hometown: Oporto, Portugal Album: Limbo, out July 24 via Season of Mist RIYL: David Lynch. The Void (film). Claustrophobia.

There were a lot of records that took on new meaning when the pandemic and protests “This is black metal in its purest form, because it is capable of taking our breath away started, but few that feel as prescient and powerful as Pain Is Power (perhaps the latest and just releasing it towards the void right before light glimpses away from our eyes.

Run The Jewels wins that award though). Between the vulnerable lyrics and some of the Black metal is a beautiful form of torture, a bleak vision of what is truly beautiful and a best metallic hardcore in a very long time, Justice For The Damned are here to wreak constant ascension to our inner fears and horrors.� havoc on the status quo. While END harness the most extreme aspects of the style, JFTD employ a bit more nuance and consistency of approach. In fact, Pain Is Power might be Those words from Gaerea summarize the singular beauty and fear inherent in the stunthe poster child for explaining the difference between metalcore and metallic hard- ningly theatrical Limbo. Much has been and will always be said about the limitations of core – JFTD bring some of the best death metal riffs in the business, but it’s all done in black metal, but that’s typically lazy criticism or the result of lazy songwriting. Gaerea the framework of a violent, vicious hardcore band. Both sides of the coin are equally embodies the opposite – an almost spiritual connection to the creation of the music important to explain the appeal and success on display here. Vocalist Bobak Rafiee and to the stirring catharsis contained within. Limbo specializes in horror, but this is reflected on the album’s aspirations: gorgeous aural terror, wrapped in a transcendent blackened death metal package.

Nietzsche has that famous quote about staring into the abyss, but if Limbo is the abyss that stares back, my God is it beautiful. Wretched, terrifying, and stomach-roiling, but “We were aiming to make the album as angry as possible, but we also kept in mind the advantages of vulnerable lyricism and storytelling. The underlying theme is of course fucking gorgeous. ‘pain’ and how it can teach and change who you are as a person, which then evolves to how you affect and influence your community.�

Music like this starts as a mental film before Gaerea put nightmares to paper: That sense of transformation is on powerful display throughout – revealing a band at the height of their powers. đ&#x;’Ł

“I knew exactly what would be the next Vortex chapter right before writing any new riff.

It’s completely obsolete for me to pick up the instrument and write hollow riffs with no emotional context in my head. In the end I felt like ‘orchestrating’ a soundtrack, a score for this film, these visions who kept tormenting me while crafting this new piece.â€? đ&#x;’Ł

BARFBAG

Hometown: Edmonton, Alberta Album: Plastic Age EP out July 13 via Stay Gold Records RIYL: Nausea. Anger. Protesting.

Befitting their chosen name as a receptacle for violent spewing mouth noise, Barfbag’s debut is chock-full of bitter bile that is over and done in a goddamned hurry. Plastic Age will likely also leave a bitter taste in your mouth if you’re reading this with a MAGA hat on. That said, even with two four-second songs, there’s a surprising amount of musical depth beneath vocalist David Bason’s lyrical venom. Written long before our current calls for equality, Barfbag’s musical puke is throwback protest punk with sludgy riffs and shouted anger, but bits of melody and humor (I guess the undigested corn in this analogy?) can be spotted by eagle eyes. Bason’s aim was to rant, but not to prosthelytize. “Nothing is worse than some preachy punk dude on a high horse. This is meant to feel like we’re all down in the muck together and we can get out together. That’s why the humorous side of the record was so important.â€? đ&#x;’Ł

4 NEW NOISE

END

Hometown: New Jersey/Canada Album: Splinters From an Ever-Changing Face out now via Closed Casket Activities RIYL: Destruction. Catharsis. Taking Advil after Head-banging.

FAST FRIENDS

Hometown: Los Angeles, California Album: HI T LO IQ out now via Dine Alone Records RIYL: ALL CAPS ENERGY. Quiet Confidence. Humor.

END put the “super-fucking-duperâ€? in super group. This is heavy music that goes hard in Fast Friends are the sonic equivalent to a happy buzz – whether it’s that euphoria that’s every conceivable way – some of the heaviest riffs in the past decade, the most dark one drink, one long smoke, or even one long-distance run, this is music that simmers with and despairing lyrics in recent memory, and a mammoth performance behind the the energy of being content, a little woozy, and definitely louder than necessary. HI T LO IQ is drum kit. When you’ve got members of Fit For An Autopsy, Misery Signals, and The bombastic yet charismatic dance punk that is guaranteed to bring a smile to your face. It’s Dillinger Escape Plan in your ranks, expectations are high – but somehow Splinters... like a mix of Arkells, early Weezer, and The Bloody Beetroots, but with every mastering knob takes everything that ruled on their EP and ups the ante. To be fair, there is no silver turned up all the way. The fact that musical nuance is aplenty here is the shocking cherry on lining, no hope or happiness found within. This ain’t an inspirational record, but if top. That bit of absurdist logic plays out in the band’s lyrical process: you are the type of person who is fucking angry at the state of the world and curious to revel in this extreme progressive/technical metallic hardcore, then boy howdy will “Mostly we’re trying to make each other laugh,â€? they say. “If a lyric makes all of us laugh you have a great time. If you’re older than 25, just take a couple Advil – your neck it’s going in the damn song. But then also, oh my god, how weird is it to be alive? Like far will thank you later. As guitarist Will Putney notes, “I think it’s a fitting soundtrack for and away the weirdest thing there is in the universe. To be aware that you exist and then the misery that is 2020.â€? đ&#x;’Ł perceive time and then have this fleshy mess that we move around? And then the way we treat each other? And then the way we treat ourselves? I mean what is any of that? I’m never going to be able to wrap my head around it.â€? đ&#x;’Ł PHOTO BY JAMES REXROAD

PEEL

Hometown: Chicago, Illinois Album: No Pain, out now via Self-Release RIYL: Dark Sense of Humor. No Gain. Hives.

2020 feels a bit like a time-traveler keeps coming back to the past to fix shit, only to make things worse with each effort. The fact that it’s July now is an impossible truth, when this half-year has resulted in more greys than eight years of marriage. I’m not one to counter the idea that the world has gone to shit with, “hey look at this art, movie, music, etc.,â€? but the collective frustration of the past few years have resulted in some insanely amazing music released this year. Count PEEL among the tippy-top of that excellence, as their Thin Lizzy/Replacements/Hives hybrid is magnificent – and that’s just their astoundingly fun “Kill the Kahluaâ€? jam. The sheer joy in these seven songs is impossible to quantify. Talent, fun-factor, and a sense of humor – PEEL have it all. So, where did this group come from? “PEEL is a collection of four individuals who are pretty fucked in the head, just like the rest of humanity,â€? the band acknowledge. “You can't have humor without darkness, and there's been a fair amount of that for us lately, both individually and collectively as a society. So, that's some of it, but you have to be able to laugh at the dark shit.â€? đ&#x;’Ł

ILS

Hometown: Portland, Oregon Album: Self-titled out now via self-release RIYL: Fat. Hot Temps. Hotter Riffs.

HOT KNIFE

Hometown: Brooklyn, New York Album: Dread EP out now via Black Numbers RIYL: Hooks. More Hooks. Weed.

Summer is honestly the best time to eat fat – whether Hot Knife cut through the bullshit quickly on this startlingly you’re eating brisket, pork butt, pecan pie, or even gua- fun and terrified EP. Their brand of jams recalls pop-punk camole, fat is on the menu when the weather warms up. from the ’90s (think MxPx and Lagwagon) when there was There’s something uniquely tasty about that which is not still grit behind the hooks. Part of that grime comes from good for you. That said, sometimes you gotta trim or cut the band’s sharp and cutting lyrics, as there’s a pervasive that shit out to get to the meat of it all. The best part of a dread that’s more like an old slasher movie (there’s somesteak isn’t the gristly fat, it’s the medium rare-to-medi- thing behind that door!). That said, this is no dour pity um juicy meat (sorry vegans, remember guac?). ILS take party – Hot Knife are clearly trying to have a good time. that idea to the extreme. While their punk-y noise rock It’s just that they can’t help but be honest about how shitty isn’t easy to classify (they self-label as “disaster chic,� things can be. It’s that sweet spot between hummable which, hell yeah), it is satisfyingly efficient in dosing out melodies and relatable lines that hits the hardest. That’s bursts of noise and angular riffs. It never wears out its clearly the idea that was the spark to the band, according welcome, leading to a record begging for seconds and to vocalist/guitarist Luke Taylor: thirds. That ethos was clear from the beginning, notes bassist Adam Pike. “I definitely like hooks, and try to write songs that are approachable and memorable. We don't outstay our “I think the songs are immediately arresting [my words, welcome, either - the songs are short by design. And we not his] because we like to get to the point quickly, love to rip, also.� prove said point, then end it. No need to keep the fat.

That fat can be a whole new song. It’s either that or Well, at least until drummer Matt Ferraro chimes in. “I we’re just lazy... or we all have short attention spans.â€? đ&#x;’Ł think it was the weed that sparked this idea. The guys just don’t like to admit it.â€? đ&#x;’Ł

NEW NOISE 5

TITHE

NOS DA

Hometown: Portland, Oregon Album: Penance out now via Tartarus Records RIYL: Hypnosis. Extremity. How I Learned To Love Certain Terms.

Hometown: Chicago, Illinois; Los Angeles, California; Wales Album: Self-titled out now via Recess Records RIYL: Andy Warhol. Misfits. Simplicity.

Two terms I really hate are “power trioâ€? and “extreme metal.â€? Apparently, every damn While you may not immediately connect Nos Da to Andy Warhol, their aims are similar, and grouping of three musicians is powerful, which is dumb and weird. Bands aren’t superheroes. their appeal is not far off. While I tend to prefer the surrealism of Dali or Magritte, someAlso, extreme metal makes sense as a blanket term, but honestly it doesn’t really say any- times we all need a little more directness and less what-the-fuck-was-that. Indeed, Nos Da’s thing about the music itself. Thankfully, we can retire those terms for good because Tithe brand of punk is delightfully straightforward and punchy, recalling the classics from the ’80s bring new meaning to both. How do three individuals put this much focused, nuanced noise more than anything more modern. Sheen is not the name of the game, but earnest energy into something as excellent as Penance? Goodness, this is fantastic, arresting, and terrifying and head-bobbing good times are the name of the game here. So, how does Warhol fit in stuff. That brings me to extreme. Mixing death, black, sludge, psychedelic, grind, and prog, here? Vocalist and guitarist Issac Thotz explains: Tithe’s musical maelstrom seems like it may actually grab and shake the listener. The resulting concoction is surprisingly smoothed out and cohesive, but it’s never not playing to the “Simple music, and simple art, for that matter, is boring when it fails. When it succeeds extremes of what you’d expect from heavy music. It’s brilliant. though, it’s the best. When I think of an example of how simplicity is effective, I think about this time I walked into a room in the MOCA in L.A. I just sort of looked around the room and Guitarist and vocalist Matt Eiseman talks about this intensity and focus and how it fuels saw Andy Warhol’s old-timey black and white Telephone, and I thought, ‘I don’t want to look at anything else in here.’ Telephone was like a punch in the face, and the rest required me to the band: think about it. It’s visceral. It’s more about reaction than the intellect. I think that’s what we “Once I come up with a good riff or two, I hyper-focus on writing the song like a crazy person wanted to try to achieve: tight, fun, visceral music.â€? for a week or two. I wake up thinking about it and go to sleep thinking about it too. It is generally kind of a slow process. I’ll bounce the ideas off of [the band] and figure out what It's a huge credit to the band that those words ring so damn true on this delightfully tight release. đ&#x;’Ł works and cut out what doesn’t.â€? đ&#x;’Ł PHOTO BY MATT CARTER

COURT ORDER

Hometown: Brooklyn, New York Album: Self-titled EP out this summer via self-release RIYL: Blue Collars. Breakdowns. Community.

SORGE

Hometown: Washington, DC Album: Self-Titled EP out now via Self-Release RIYL: Dungeons & Dragons. Philosphy. Fuzzed-out Riffs.

Objection your honor, there aren’t enough bands that What if a stoner doom band had amazing focus, but that sound like Poison The Well anymore. In support of my clarity was clouded with just enough LSD to vibe out on? objection, I present Exhibit A, the earth-shattering new The result wouldn’t be far off (far out??) from SORGE, who EP from Court Order. Sure, these New Yorkers are a embody the spirit of doom’s obsession with fantasy and little more NE metalcore (think early The Acacia Strain fuzzy riffs. There’s something utterly, wonderfully transcenor Hatebreed), but what’s both immediately arresting dent about this very long EP (what is time anyway?), such that and leaves a lasting impression is the little flourishes of even those of us who don’t consume mind-altering drugs weirdness throughout this short and sweet first impression. can be grabbed and taken to another world with just the Court Order nail the concept of eerie vocal melodies that press of the play button. What’s maybe most impressive – You Come Before You specialized in, and there’s a haunt- aside from the promise on display here – is how well SORGE ingly tribal element to the drumwork that is reminiscent have already carved out their own niche in a crowded and of Sepultura’s classics. Court Order are clearly a band clouded space. When the dust settled, bassist Christian intent on proving themselves through blood, sweat, and Pandtle explains what to make of this eponymous debut EP: tears, and that’s apparent from drummer Ace’s expression of the band’s ethos: “We had this unruly monstrosity of a sound to tame and bring to life with arrangement and compelling song structure. “Court Order is a working-class band that believes in work- [Guitarist/vocalist] Joshua [Gerras] and I come from a westing hard to achieve your goals, and working towards living ern philosophy background and initially wanted to express the life you want to live. We want to bring that message the concern for our reality which is found throughout the to our fans and the community that with the right focus, canon. Sorge is a German word meaning ‘angst, or concern’ strategy, and consistent pursuit, anything is possible. and can refer to the concern you feel for all beings, and That’s what this project, to me at least, has always set out thus for yourself. We wanted to talk about the brute reality to prove.â€? đ&#x;’Ł of living, and also our [Dungeons & Dragons] characters.â€? đ&#x;’Ł

6 NEW NOISE

PHOTO BY VDPICTURES

DIE KREATUR

Hometown: Germany Album: Panoptikum out now via Napalm Records RIYL: Gothic art. Industrial Revolution. Chimera.

I mean zero disrespect when I call Die Kreatur a weird thing to exist. Does the world need a new band that mixes European Gothic metal with Neue Deutsche Härte? What if I told you said band infused this dance floor-ready goth with tales of the Industrial Revolution? Wait, come back!

There really are two reasons that Panoptikum is glorious.

One, the duo really do let their freak flag fly by going all-in on what makes emotionally devastating metal and German electronic rock interesting, and fusing it in an unholy Chimera. Rammstein and Type O Negative, but weirder and more wonderful, is what we have here. Secondly, when you take talent from two excellent German bands (Land Of The Lost and OOMPH!), the execution is the cherry on top. So how did this peculiar creation come to be?

Dero Goi answers, “Simply our love for music and the curiosity if we could create a few songs together, without any pressure or limitation. We’ve known each other for quite a while and wanted to collaborate right from the start when we met for the first time, because we appreciate each other’s work very much! There was no certain goal or direction, we just let it flow without any brainfuck!â€? đ&#x;’Ł

10

YEARS

PHOTO BY GEOFFRY SMITH

OF

INTERVIEW WITH FOUNDER JONATHAN TUITE

BY CALEB R. NEWTON

S

an Francisco-based record label The Flenser celebrates their tenth anniversary in 2020 as they continue to release a steady stream of boundary-breaking records.

Ranging from the fierce black metal of the Minnesota-based project Panopticon to the shimmering post-punk of Connecticut’s Have A Nice Life, The Flenser seems to specialize in finding releases that share a certain contemplative mood, no matter the precise style. That contemplative yet forward-pushing spirit runs through the mood and the content of the music itself.

“I think it's important to challenge people, especially when it comes to music,� label founder Jonathan Tuite explains. “I mean, the last thing I want to do is release a lot of kind of nostalgic projects, because I don't want to look backwards.�

The richly immersive melodies set a memorable scene alongside other recent releases from the label, like the industrial punk of Texas duo Street Sects, and the expansive, intensely shifting post-metal of the San Francisco-area group Mamaleek. “When I started the label, I was intending it to be very much focused on black metal,� Tuite explains. “There was sort of a black metal scene that was happening in the U.S. at that time. And that was sort of done by the time the label got going. I mean, it had changed forms and kind of diversified a little bit.�

So, Tuite expanded his label’s sonic horizons and began exploring other styles. Fans have certainly latched onto the experience that The Flenser has to offer. A selection of artists from the label were set to perform at the 2020 edition of Roadburn Festival in the Netherlands before the high-profile event joined the ranks of COVID-19-induced postponements.

Fitting in with these aims, some of the more recent releases from The Flenser include 2020’s Forever by the Denver-based artist Midwife, who crafts what’s been described as “heaven metal,� and Tuite be- “One thing that I really like to look lieves is “going to be remembered.� at is when people go back and

8 NEW NOISE

revisit particular releases and re- thing changes,� Tuite notes – and discover them, or discover them that’s the kind of experience that for the first time,� Tuite explains. he is attempting to capture via “I mean, it's constant with Have A The Flenser.

Nice Life’s Deathconsciousness. It feels like it's almost like a step- “I want to kind of be viewed as a ping-stone, a coming of age in unique voice in the world of music music fandom is that you discover that can be trusted – at least for that record and it's like – wow.â€? some weirdos that like some kind of stranger music,â€? he quips, pon“There's nothing like that expe- dering the road ahead for the rience of when you listen to a label and noting that his focus record like one of these kind of frequently remains with releasing classic releases and it finally hits records that “people come back you and it just feels like every- to over and over again.â€?đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł Over the course of ten years, The Flenser has been part of a large number of records, with a common spirit of sonic adventurism tying the music together. Label founder Jonathan Tuite explains that one of the releases that stands out among The Flenser’s catalog as especially encapsulating what’s “very importantâ€? to the label’s operations is 2017’s Below the House by the Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania-based doomgaze artist Planning for Burial. “The record that I always point people to is Planning for Burial’s Below the House as being kind of very important to the label, and I think that that record sort of ties a lot of things together for me. The Unnatural World by Have A Nice Life is a big one, and pretty important to me. This year, the Midwife record is, I think, huge, and it's going to be remembered.

End Position by Street Sects is another one that kind of helped define the label, and last year's Nocebo by Elizabeth Colour Wheel – they all kind of tie everything together, and then of course there’s Have A Nice Life’s Deathconsciousness. Those are the ones that I see as kind of the classics, off the top of my head, that really defined the label and that people really go back to.�

INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR ADAM DUBIN

BY NICHOLAS SENIOR

T

he meteoric rise of thrash is chronicled beautifully by director Adam Dubin in Murder In The Front Row. Those old enough (like me) to remember the ’90s may know Dubin’s name as the director of some of the Beastie Boys’ classic videos, as well as working with Metallica on the documentary, A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica. However, what's fascinating about Murder in the Front Row is Dubin’s ability to make these larger than life folks feel like humans, as well as shining a light on some of the lesser-known folks who really made the Bay Area scene tick. While most music documentaries are all about drugs, sex, and rock ’n’ roll, this is sleeping, running, and driving up the coast and hanging out with friends. There’s also wild parties and killer tunes, obviously.

It’s sometimes difficult to remember that these musical heroes were just frustrated kids trying to find an outlet. Dubin reflects, “I think for a lot of people at that time, it wasn't

out. Some people were even from broken homes, as was Kirk. But nonetheless, that coming together and finding their fellow souls really brought out the best in everybody.�

PHOTO BY TAYLOR JEWELL

10 NEW NOISE

“A scene needs artists,� Dubin concurs. “And it needs supporters, and it needs people who are going to lend their best abilities to a scene, whether they're booking clubs or managing, or maybe that's the person that drives them to the gig, or helps load the gear, whatever it was, it needs all those people. And I think all the folks that I interviewed brought their best. And if anything comes through, it's that emotion of this collective memory that all of them share. It was obviously a very powerful time for all of them. It's there on screen. I just kind of helped bring it out.� “Now, these folks aren't actors,� he continues. “They may be performers, but not actors. I can't put emotions in them, and they certainly are not reading lines. I try to be honest to them, and tell them I will treat them with the utmost respect. I really did that with everybody, whether they were famous or not. It kind of goes back to the original thing, I'm working off of a book that has these fabulous pictures in it, the book

by Brian Lew and Harald Oimoen. In those pictures, I saw an emotional honesty in the pictures. They're very powerful.�

The documentary really starts when [Exodus and Metallica guitarist] Kirk Hammett looks at the camera and says, “death to posers,� while the film ends with him basically crying through reminiscing.

That's what I mean when I say it’s human and beautiful. “Kirk, maybe more than some others, was absolutely prepared and really took himself back into that time,� Dubin says. “And because he's so central to it, it's like after about an hour of conversation with me, he was at a very emotional place from reminiscing. And when I just asked him to reflect back on the legacy of what the Bay Area's thrash scene meant, you talk about Kirk Hammett, he was there right at the beginning moment. [In] 1979, ’80, he starts Exodus. I think for him, all that remembrance just kind of caught him [off guard], you know what I mean?�

some clinical documentary. It very much embodies the soul of, a genesis of, not even just a music scene, but a landmark music moment.

a perfect time in their lives. People had a lot of problems. They didn't get into thrash metal because they were happy-go-lucky kids. They were there because there was some teenage angst that they had to work

In essence, Murder in the Front Row is like a metal campfire story where you're getting a bunch of people together to joke, laugh, reminisce, and cry. What's neat is the film doesn't come across as

He pauses. “But I saw a bunch of young people having this incredible time, not just fun, but emotionally invested in this music.

Which essentially, at that moment in time, a lot of people weren't listening to. It certainly wasn't commercial, in the sense of what commercial is. So, I found that honesty there. I found that to be tremendous and powerful.

It was there in the photos, I just had to get it out so that people could talk about it. That's what I did.â€? đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł

PHOTO BY HAROLD OIMOEN

INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR ADAM DUBI

BY NICHOLAS SENIOR

PHOTO BY BRIAN LEW

PHOTO BY BRIAN LEW

NEW NOISE 11

WHAT’S THAT SMELL?

STINKY O

INTERVIEW WITH BASSIST AND VOCALIST ANTOINE COPPI

BY ADDISON HERRON-WHEELER

ut now via M-Theory Audio, the latest from Stinky, Of Lost Things, is melodic punk at its finest and most memorable. Hailing from France, Stinky’s new album has been much anticipated and is now getting a lot of love. We chatted with bassist and vocalist Antoine Coppi about their latest record, life, love, and missing music festivals.

discussed and tested to get the best out of these new songs, and to be sure that everything worked perfectly together.�

Lyrically, the band explores topics that are the norm for pop punk, like relationships, friendships, growing up, confidence, love, and growing apart.

But they don’t do it in the typical, lighthearted way. There’s a seriousness to the record that makes them stand apart from other, similar acts. And they were looking forward to previewing these new, special songs for audiences, but COVID-19 had different plans.

“What got us very excited about the new record is that we are eager for everyone to listen to it, because we put a great amount of work into it, and we tried a lot of different stuff this time, like new sounds, some instrumental parts, or different types of song structures “We had a fair share of plans that have than we are used to play,â€? he explains. been disrupted by the whole pandemic situation,â€? Coppi says. “We were plan“For the writing process, a whole bunch ning to play multiple music festivals of songs and riffs were written by one of during the summer, mainly here in our two guitar players and by the previ- France, but unfortunately, most of them ous bass player. This is mainly how the have been cancelled or postponed by band functioned thus far. But everyone now. We also were supposed to do our could put out their ideas and have been first Japan tour in April, but we were involved at some point during the writ- forced to postpone it. We hope to be ing process, and everything has been able to do it in fall 2020.â€? đ&#x;’Ł

PHOTO BY INSANE MOTION

WITCH TAINT INTERVIEW WITH GUITARIST LANCE THE KING OF BLACK METAL

BY ADDISON HERRON-WHEELER

H

umor is missing in a lot of metal, often to the genre’s detriment.

While the badassery and brutality of riffs and blast beats can’t be ignored, taking yourself too seriously is never a good thing. And Witch Taint know that. Their latest album, Sons of Midwestern Darkness, out now on Tee Pee Records, is the perfect example of their no-holds-barred humor mindset.

“Humor and satire are needed in black metal cuz—duh—Satan! Who's funnier than that guy?� says none other than Witch Taint guitarist, Lance the King of Black Metal himself. “He's like Don Rickles and then another Don Rickles all rolled into one or something. When black metal is all serious, we are letting Satan down, and that's just not cool—he gets super pissed, and next thing you know, you're stuck with shitty tickets next time the Scorpions roll through town. And then they don't play anything off In Trance either, which is basically insane.� “As far as why we should all make fun of ourselves, we, as humans, totally deserve it,� he continues. “We are pathetic and relatively hairless compared to most other species on earth and pretty much deserve nonstop mockery. Why do you think goats laugh at us all the time? They see our bullshit coming a mile away. Don't even get me started on cats. They're just like, ‘Don't even’ and then they shit on the rug even though the litter box is, like, right there. I can’t stay mad at them.�

12 NEW NOISE

For the past 12 years, the band didn’t do much. Then, in 2017, Lance and bandmate Matthias Backwards started adding more songs to their repertoire and decided to make a full-length record. “Most of the songs came to us in a pizza-flavored-Combos-induced fugue state,� Lance adds. “Matthias Backwards and I recorded most of it in my basement and also his van, which was admittedly parked right outside my basement, even though my mom asked him to move it like nine times. Almost all the guitars on the album were played on a Dean Razorbolt guitar I bought on the internet while hammered, and I really think you can hear the difference.� “Our resident opera diva La Sinistra added some amazing vocals too, and then we had our drummer Markus St. Bastard redo all the drum machine bullshit we had with real and very extreme drums, recorded on an empty stomach in a damp room with unflattering lighting at our other guitar player Tomas Guillotine’s bunker in the south of France. We gave Markus the finger the whole time he was recording the drums, just so he would be filled with extreme irritation when he played. It worked. Then we went out and got pizza.�

But all kidding aside, the record really is good. It may be made with a very heavy slant toward the joke side of metal, but the music shows that Witch Taint really are all in when it comes to metal, even

if they take a humorous approach. And, also like other metal bands, they’re completely bummed about the fact that they can’t tour on the new material. “Like most performers, COVID basically torpedoed our whole operation, in terms of playing live and then hopefully enjoying some nice chips and dips backstage after the show in between

makeout sessions with literally whomever,â€? Luke says. “But, we are crafty and also wily in nature and have figured other ways of spreading the Taint disease, which—for the record—is totally different from COVID, and the only real side effect is your hands get frozen in the devil horns position during sex, even when it’s just by yourself.â€? đ&#x;’Ł

DECENTRALIZED DISTILLATION

BAD MOVES Everyone is finding ways to adapt to this new world, including Bad Moves. In the music video for their single “End of Time� from the album Untenable, released on July 3 on Don Giovanni Records, the band members used Zoom-style calls to record the video while social distancing.

It certainly wasn’t ideal—as guitarist and vocalist Katie Park notes, shooting music videos in person is usually a fun experience.

INTERVIEW WITH DRUMMER AND VOCALIST DAOUD TYLER-AMEEN, GUITARIST AND VOCALIST DAVID COMBS, GUITARIST AND VOCALIST KATIE PARK, AND BASSIST AND VOCALIST EMMA CLEVELAND BY JOHN SILVA "

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e were gonna be on tour at the beginning of June with our friends Martha from England. Obviously, that’s not the case any longer,� sighs drummer and singer Daoud Tyler-Ameen of the power pop group Bad Moves. Like most bands all over the world, their music careers and goals for 2020 have drastically changed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I feel like when we shoot music videos in person, it is usually a pretty busy atmosphere, and that is kind of a fun way to hang out together,� they say.

However, in taking the social distancing approach to the “End of Time� video, the end result is both creative and relatable. In contrast to many groups that have a designated lead singer, Bad Moves' approach to songwriting doesn’t single out one specific voice. “It’s easier for people to relate to the music because there’s so many different voices that it isn’t as clear,� bassist and vocalist Emma Cleveland says. “One benefit of this is that maybe that person is more like you in some way.�

Tyler-Ameen explains that this was intentional in the formation of the band. “Part of the founding ethos was, is there a way that we can approach putting a band together that does not center any person or any voice? And if we try to build that into the songwriting and the arrange-

ments, will we discover something a little bit different that comes out in the art?"

Bands like Bad Moves are refreshing because they’re using their talents to make a positive influence in their community.

The band members volunteer at Girls Rock and other youth rock camps to give young people the tools to express themselves and share their stories through music. When the band appeared as animated versions of themselves on the Cartoon Network show Craig of the Creek, they were able to extend that impact to a broader audience. “The story of that episode wasn't that [the kids] meet some cool, grown-up rock stars and just geek out about how cool they are,� Tyler-Ameen explains. “It’s that the grown-ups recognize and welcome the kids’ curiosity, and they don’t talk down to them. It’s about the kids’ characters coming to realize that their own lives are interesting enough to make art about, which is awesome. It’s not the sort of thing that you count on when you do a project like that, but it’s so rad that that’s the idea they had.�

The show did a great job of capturing the love and care that Bad Moves puts into their community, and much like their involvement in rock camps, the band’s appearance on the show encouraged many young people to get involved in the DIY scene. “I think the impact of it is kind of long-lasting,�

Cleveland explains. "We still get Instagram DMs from kids telling us, ‘You inspired us to start a band!’ That is the actual gift that keeps on giving. It’s very cute and a lovely side effect.â€? đ&#x;’Ł

ADVERTISEMENT INTERVIEW WITH MULTI-INSTRUMENTALISTS RYAN MANGIONE-SMITH AND CHARLIE HOFFMAN BY J POET

PHOTO BY KRISTINA DAWN

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One element of punk that survived was an n their debut album, American honest examination of American culture Advertisement, the seven members and consumerism, infused with a historiof Advertisement take a critical look at our country’s musical and political his- cal, humorous, and poetic attitude. “Our main issue with punk was the tendency to tory. They distill their observations into 11 be verbose and overly critical,� they say. hard-hitting tracks that wash over you like a tidal wave of wailing guitars, ambient “That can fall flat. We want to be realistic keyboards, punishing bass lines and crisp, in our lyrics, but more literary. You don't have to be direct to be honest. You can dynamic drumming. leave things more open ended without being escapist. We keep away from being “We feel like we’re evolving and devolving too self-righteous.� at the same time,� guitarist and songwriter Charlie Hoffman laughs.. “We’re always movAs promised, the dense arrangements ing in several directions at once, even within on the album explore a lot of musical our songs. We try to be consistent in terms of territory. The guitars of Hoffman, Manmusical quality, but as far as our style, the gione-Smith and Carl Marck, Jesse music is always growing and changing.�

Rosenthal’s jazzy keyboard work, and the inventive rhythms supplied by drummer Guitarist and main lead singer, Ryan Mangione-Smith, agrees. “After we start- TJ Main and bass player Matt Kolhede, aled the band, we put out a couple of tapes, ways supply unexpected twists and turns. between distorted washes of noise and The track “Days of Heaven� has a country clusters of gentle, ambient notes, all drivtrying for a specific sound and style, but we soon threw all that away,� he says. feel, with its twangy guitar fills, slide guitar en by the relentless pulse of the band’s asides, and mellow vocal harmonies. rhythm section. “We all liked punk, but everyone in the There’s a surrealistic slant to the lyrics of band has a wide range of influences. We wanted to show them all off. The writing “Always,� a tune that could be about the “Everyone in the band contributes to the writing and arranging,� Mangione-Smith end of a relationship, the disintegrating has gotten a lot more interesting since biosphere, or the nightmare of our cur- says. “We went into the studio with we jettisoned our ideas of what a band is fleshed-out ideas for most of the songs, rent political situation. Guitars alternate supposed to be.�

14 NEW NOISE

but we have a lot of fluidity when we write. We have six people in the band. It would be hard for one person to write all six parts, but we have a lot of trust in each other, even though we’re all bad at taking directions from each other. We’re all a bit stubborn, but something always makes it all fit. It’s a real collaboration.â€? đ&#x;’Ł

LIVE ENERGY, CAPTURED

KATIE MALCO INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST, SONGWRITER, GUITARIST, AND PIANIST KATIE MALCO BY J POET

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she said. “I was in a weird, reclusive phase of not wanting to play shows or see anyone. When I made Ventricles, I felt the songs carried their own power in their pared down state of piano and voice. To add more would have muddied the waters. With the album, I wanted the songs to be powerful in a different way. After years of playing the songs solo on tour, I wanted them to be as big as they could be.�

atie Malco sings with a voice that sounds like it was born in your dreams. It’s warm and inviting, able to spin a delicate web of welcoming emotion, even when she sings about life’s darker moments. Her mixture of passion and vulnerability allows the songs on Failures, her debut album, to slip under your “That said, we didn’t go into a fancy studio and record with a big producer,� she defenses and touch your heart. continues. “The band—me, drummer Andy Jenkin, and bass player Stephen “It’s a coming-of-age record,� Malco said Davidson—recorded the whole thing by from her home in the English Midlands. “It ourselves. We basically got into a room documents my life growing up. Each track and played. We recorded the bass and expresses a pivotal time period, or an event, that I felt was a failure. Sometimes, drum parts first, then I spent a few weeks those failures led to something positive, in the studio with Andy working on guitars, pianos, accordion, vocals, backing to growth and a better understanding of vocals, and other flourishes. I was so myself. Sometimes, they became painful exhausted by the end of it, I couldn’t even regrets and lessons to be learnt.� see straight, never mind hear whether it Malco began performing as a solo artist, was actually any good or not.� accompanying herself on piano or guitar. sound as natural and ‘real’ as possible.

She put out one EP, Tearing Ventricles, sing- “I play everything [on the album] except That said, we certainly weren’t overing her songs with only her piano for ac- bass and drums. The sound was thought thinking anything. We wanted it to sound out—I didn’t just plug in and play. We companiment. It captured the intensity of live, almost ramshackle in places. I didn’t messed around with amps and gain on her live shows, but in the seven years since want that highly polished, clean, overly every track before we laid the guitar it was released, she’s gone through some produced sound. It just doesn’t suit me.� parts down, and we’d change the sound emotional and musical transformations. for overdubs. We were trying to create a “The arrangements I did alone,� Malco “I stopped writing for a couple of years,� different acoustic space on each part, to concludes. “I always have an idea of what

CABLE TIES Fortunately, Far Enough makes a strong statement on its own. In eight tracks, the Melbourne, Australia trio stretch a raw and upfront punk sound into 43 minutes of expansive musical trips that capture the sound of a band together, live.

PHOTO BY LISA BUSINOVSKI

INTERVIEW WITH BASSIST NICK BROWN

BY CAMERON CARR

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able Ties were 48 hours from leaving for Los Angeles for their first U.S. tour and appearance at SXSW when the pivotal music conference was cancelled. In the days to come, the bandand the world- would watch a global pandemic bring the concert industry to a screeching halt. Not great circumstances

for a band praised for fiery live performances, days away from the release of their sophomore album. “I always see the records, the flyer for the show, and that’s the thing we most want to be doing right now,� says bassist Nick Brown. “It’s really lovely that the record’s connecting with people and it means something to them, but it just feels like one side of the equation.�

PHOTO BY CATHERINE MASKELL

the drum part will be, but for the album, Stephen, Andy and I got in a practice room and worked through each one as a band, figuring out what made sense for each song. I perform solo usually, though I’m hoping a full band tour happens at some point, if venues survive this pandemic.â€? đ&#x;’Ł

recordings marks a more difficult part of the process. “You’re trying to replace all the feelings of the live show with your mobile phone speaker playing it back to you,� Brown says.

Which makes the loss of opportunity to perform all the more challenging for Cable Ties. But the release of Far Enough still marks a milestone for the band. The album is their first release with renowned indie label, Merge Records, and has seen their global audience expand due to both the label’s reputation and the band’s hard work.

Vocalist and guitarist Jenny McKechnie powers the songs with pointed and fierce lyrics, but it’s the band together, completed by Shauna Boyle on drums, “It’s kind of amazing for people who have been doing such a great thing for such a that take that intensity and drive it home.

Try out the track “Anger’s Not Enough,� long time, who started from being a DIY bedroom label to becoming this beloved where an ambient beginning gives way indie icon, to kind of just get it,� Brown to tumbling tom drums and McKechnie says. “For these people who’ve been howling, ‘We don’t live in a paradise making and releasing great records for waiting for the fall / but a palace built their whole adult lives to turn around of blood and theft and war / so I must start by tearing down its walls and unrav- and go ‘yup, it’s there’ is a wonderful and elling all the lies that we’ve been taught.’ validating feeling.�

And that only ignites the flame for a Even with its initial intentions squashed, nearly three-minute feedback-laden Far Enough remains an accomplishment crescendo. for the band and something to be proud of despite the circumstances.

Most of the songs on Far Enough began At the album’s beginning, McKechnie as jams (“if you can play the same riff for half an hour, that’s the first hurdle,â€? lays out a case for the importance of hope, a theme that helped inspire her Brown says, with no apparent sarcasm). lyrical process. At a time when nothing Together the band built up tracks in seems to have gone as intended and rehearsal, with McKechnie typically the future feels entirely uncertain, it’s a adding vocals later. Performing the fitting mantra for the moment: “It might songs live plays an essential part in the be hopeless but if I lose hope, I bring development process as well. Translaton that ending.â€? đ&#x;’Ł ing that ‘in the moment’ energy to the

NEW NOISE

15

ROCK WITH A TWIST

EXECUTIONER’S MASK INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST JAY GAMBIT AND GUITARIST CRAIG

BY ADDISON HERRON-WHEELER

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xecutioner’s Mask are a contradiction in terms. They jive with the underground metal crowd, but they aren’t afraid to appeal to post-punk and goth sensibilities. Like many other good things in 2020, they are beyond genre and classification, and the result is stunning.

“For me it’s dark guitar pop, or just a rock band,� says vocalist and lyricist Jay Gambit. “None of us started this group with the intention of as many people enjoying it as currently are, so we’re just having fun with it. It’s nice to do something that appeals to metal fans, postpunkers, goths, and people who listen to indie rock music alike.�

The band focus on atmosphere and guitar-driven hooks to make a statement with their music. The new record will be exciting live, but it’s also perfect for quarantine, as it can provide the soundtrack to angst, pain, and self-reflection.

other project I've been in, most of the material has been written with four or five people in a room shooting ideas off each other until something stuck, so this process for me was a bit nerve-wracking.�

nator 2, so Ryan played off that to make a base that I slowed down and everyone added onto.�

“All of these tracks were written remotely from San Antonio, Houston, and Philly,� explains guitarist Craig. “Ryan [Wilson, “It’s essential to note Jeff Zeigler did an indrums and synth] wrote all of the bones credible job at elevating our sound, as did for every track. They were sent to Jay, “The first track on the record was written Ryan Schwabe. It was a dream to work with then sent to me. I have a subpar home last, as it needed an introductory song,� both, and that was the only concrete plan recording set-up and just kind of winged I had for this project in terms of recording. adds Gambit. “One of my favorite lead-in some weird riffs over what was already It can’t be understated what an influence tracks is ‘Miseria Cantare’ from Sing The there, then sent it back to Jay so he could Sorrow by AFI. That in and of itself is just Jeff’s sound had on me, as a musician and record vocals and mix the tracks. Any an interpretation of the theme to Termi- on the record as a direct result of his work.�

THE CHEATS INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST TODD CHEAT

BY ADDISON HERRON-WHEELER

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n the complex world that is 2020, sometimes you just need good old fashioned rock ’n’ roll with a dirty, punk twist. And that’s what The Cheats offer.

Their next record, Cussin, Crying N Carrying On (bumped back once already due to COVID), will be out on August 14th on Screaming Crow Records and the band can’t wait to show it off.

“We have a whole new lineup, and this is the first record with the new lineup,� explains vocalist Todd Cheat, who has been with the band since the beginning. “The new guys bring a whole new sound to the record.�

Switching up some of the key players in the band seemed to be just what the doctor ordered when it comes to a renewed and refreshing sound from The Cheats. Some of the previous members were fed up with playing in dirty rock clubs and touring all the time, but Cheat took the opportunity to put together the dream team.

16 NEW NOISE

“This new album is different than the last record, but it’s good. I like being different,� Cheat adds. “It’s nice to have new blood in the band, and in addition to this record, we already have seven more songs ready to go for another record. It’s like a marriage. With the old lineup, we were all together too long.

I guess we got sick of each other and needed to have an affair, but it worked out well.�

Of course, despite this victory, The Cheats are in the same boat with every other band across the world, bummed that they can’t play any shows to support the exciting new record. “Everything is up in the air right now, and Pennsylvania is weird, so we don’t know what’s going on,â€? Cheat says. “They let the bars open, but they aren’t allowed to have any entertainment. They don’t want people dancing too close or mingling, and they’ve cut the capacity.â€? đ&#x;’Ł

Still, despite how stoked they are on the new record, Executioner’s Mask ache to tour and play live music again. “It would be so rad to just get back on the road and play these songs for people,â€? says Gambit. “I’m already someone who doesn’t really go out unless it’s to do music stuff, so I have just been working from home and fostering a kitten in the meantime.â€? đ&#x;’Ł

INTENSITY AND ANXIETY

GREEN CARNATION KATIE MALCO INTERVIEW WITH GUITARISTS / SINGER JON MILLER AND RICH CARBONE

BY ADDISON HERRON-WHEELER

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reen Carnation are a band that can’t be confined to just one sound.

Ranging from melodic death metal to doom, prog metal, and metal with atmospheric and psychedelic tinges, the world has been watching them to see what they bring to the table with their 2020 release, Leaves of Yesteryear, released May 8 via Season of Mist. What they brought is their most intense album to date.

“It’s an important album for us, obviously, because there were so many years since the last album,� explains vocalist Kjetil Nordhus. “It’s been 14 years since we released new music, which kind of puts a little bit of pressure on it as well, but I think it's the band who puts the most pressure on ourselves. “We do have this proud history, and we have done some really nice records in the past. For us to come back and make a mediocre album wouldn’t make any sense, so we’ve been taking a couple years now to make the album we really wanted, one that was a quality that could add something to our history. We disbanded in 2006 and got back together

in 2016, and from then, it’s been rolling.�

With this record, Green Carnation’s goal was to celebrate the band’s history and go through the past, present, and future of the group. They also wanted to develop their signature and sound a bit more but still keep the same energy that has drawn so many to the band. “We wanted to have the right balance between everything and develop our sound,�

Nordhus adds. “From the first to the last song, we wanted it to sound like all the songs belonged together.�

As far as lyrical themes, the band touch on loneliness and the fear of being alone, something very timely in 2020. “It’s also about the fear of having something alien, something that is outside of your control, coming in to control your life, which is actually happening in the world right now,� Nordhus explains. “So, that’s a big coincidence, but still, it could be a virus; it could be a disease; it could be politics or things of that nature as well.

It’s basically the fear of having something take control of you.â€? đ&#x;’Ł

PHOTO BY PETTER SANDELL

SPICE INTERVIEW BY CALEB R. NEWTON

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n their self-titled, debut full-length “Our circle of friends is fairly tight and album – which dropped on July 17 usually in cahoots musically in some via DAIS Records – the California-based way or another,� they explain. “We’ve all cathartic punk group Spice capture a shared members of bands and been in brisk musical portrait of dealing with a bands together or else filled in. Much of wide array of real-life anxieties, deliver- the songwriting takes place with a spark, ing prominent flashes of melody with an the spark being a riff, or a drumbeat, or occasionally aggressive punk spirit. At the a bassline. This usually begins in solitude same time, those melodies frequently feel with one member at home, then we meet very anxious, which feeds back into the up at a practice space and try to create free-flowing confrontation with tension something around that first initial spark.� that the group so memorably captures.

The band cite the violin performanc“All we really knew was that we were going es from member Victoria Skudlarek to work off a distant feeling – call it nos- as a standout part of their overall talgia from beyond,� the band members presentation. explain. “We knew we were coming from, and at the heart of, a rock ’n’ roll feeling. “The violin is our most distinctive asset,� they Meaning, we wanted the songs to have note. “This is the thing we feel sets us apart pop sensibilities and for anyone to be most from other rock and indie bands. Tori able to vibe with them, but to also draw a – Victoria – takes center stage when we play deeper connection to the music – some- live, and we like to see her as our keystone thing darker or complex. The record is – the thing that holds everything together. both bright, musically, but it has a dark And on top of that, we’re all very in love with richly personal – album closer “I Don’t Wanna Die in New York� captures that undertone, too, that we hope will affect her, platonically that is.� part of the vibe in the title alone. Farrar people on an emotional level.�

Besides Skudlarek, the band also features was actually in New York at the time of the Spice, the album, seems founded on the Ross Farrar on vocals and Jake Casarotti album’s writing. band’s own life experiences and rela- on drums – both of whom are also in the tionships. For starters, although Spice is a Northern California-based punk group “We’d send him songs after they were relatively new project, the band members Ceremony – Cody Sullivan on bass, and completed, via voice memo, then he’d meditate on them for a bit, trying to parse all grew up together in the area north of Ian Simpson on guitar. what the song [musically] was saying,� the San Francisco and have performed music together in the past.

Thematically, Spice’s music also feels very group explains, noting that the singer was

actually “in the midst of recording music for two other bands, and also finishing two separate theses� at the time.

Ultimately, the band has dialed into their personal experiences for their new album, and that’s where they leave listeners, too, explaining: “We hope that people will connect to the songs in whatever way that may be. The themes are many. We say, listen and pull from it what you may.â€? đ&#x;’Ł

NEW NOISE

17

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CAM EVANS

the feeling of playing it at practice, and we wrote this song with them, and I had these lyrics that were what I had wanted to tell them.� Sexual assault survivors often feel voiceless; it’s like there’s duct tape covering our mouths. We feel this way for a lot of reasons: shame, guilt, and fear of repercussions, to name a few.

But in that moment, at one of the most intense band practices of her life, Levy was able to rip off the tape and say what needed to be said. “It felt like us playing that song was me finally getting to tell that person all of the things I needed to tell them,�

Levy says. “And it was one of the most emotional band practices I had had, because I finally felt like I had gotten to have some solace.�

In sharing these songs, Levy hopes listeners can find a moment of solace too, and know that they are not going through this on their own. “Whatever anybody can take from it to find any piece of closure or solidarity or comfort or just feeling less alone,� she says. “’Cause that’s the hardest part of getting through it, right? The hardest part is getting through the days where you’re screaming in your head. And you’re sometimes, like, ‘what the fuck happened? What’s going on?

What’s real?’ If something can get you through those hardest days when nothing makes sense, then that’s the smallest thing that we can do.�

INTERVIEW WITH SARAH LEVYÂ

BY JOHN SILVA Content Warning: This interview deals with sexual assault and trauma recovery

fair expectations I put on myself for recovery led to frustration. Levy encountered similar frustration while writing Concrete.Â

“When it came time to record, I was have flashbacks nearly every tells of her own experience with sexual like, 'damnit this shit’s still here!' We all day to when I was 16 years old assault – and writing about that pain know trauma recovery’s not linear. And and two guys sexually assaulted was no easy task. putting expectations on it, like how I me at a youth group event. I ofhad initially, wasn’t helpful towards my ten disassociate from present reality, “I had full intent moving forward that experience in healing.� and suddenly I’m back in that place. writing about it would be therapeuSometimes it replays in my mind exact- tic,� Levy explains. “I had this great, But after the record was written, Levy had ly as it happened. Other times, I replay romanticized idea that it would help a moment of consolation. In the powerful the situation in search of some solution, me overcome trauma if I was able to title track to Concrete, Levy addresses fighting my way out of it or saying the put it into words and finally have a her rapist directly. Since the person who “right thing� to get them to stop. That was place to house it instead of just hav- assaulted her was a bandmate who was 14 years ago, and I haven’t seen either ing it muddled in my head. And then it still in the band at the time the song was of my abusers in over a decade, but the turned out that wasn’t the case.� written, she had a chance to scream the flashbacks never stop.  lyrics to them at band practice, before I know this feeling, as I’ve spent the they or any of the other bandmates knew This is what I was dealing with when I past couple years in therapy, search- the context of the song. came across Pity Party’s new record, ing for closure and the ability to move Concrete. In the album, lead singer Sar- on from my own trauma. Therapy “That was the last song we had written ah Levy honestly and unapologetically has been mostly positive, but the un- with them,� she says. “And I remember

I

18 NEW NOISE

I still have flashbacks to that moment 14 years ago. But lately, in a lot of these flashbacks, the events play out differently. I’m back in that moment, but this time, I scream the lyrics to Pity Party’s “Concreteâ€? at my abusers.Â

YOU DIDN’T ASK, YOU TOOK. NOW I’M SITTING SHOOK. OF ALL THE THINGS I’VE OVERLOOKED, THEY’RE STARING BACK AT ME. I’M DROWNING IN YOUR GREED YOU DEVOURED ME. I close my eyes and sing these lyrics in my head, and for the first time, I feel something resembling closure.

The pain is still there, and I’ve made peace with the fact trauma recovery may be a lifelong journey. But at least now I’m free of the tape that once covered my mouth. đ&#x;’Ł

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“IT SEEMS LIKE ANCIENT EARTH-BASED CULTURES HAD MORE OF THE SIGNIFICANCE TIED TO THE LITTLE THINGS AND THE LITTLE MOMENTS. AND WHEN YOU HONOR LIFE IN THAT WAY, EVERYTHING BECOMES MORE MEANINGFUL.�

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BOBBY COCHRAN

Cathartic Meditations with

INTERVIEW BY MIKE GAWORECKI

T

o you and me, he’s Steve Von Till, the gravel-voiced singer and guitarist from the almighty Neurosis. But to a group of nine-year-olds in rural Idaho, he’s Mr. Von Till, fourth grade teacher.

The challenges of teaching kids remotely during a global pandemic weigh on Von Till, just as they do for so many elementary school teachers around the world right now. “Yeah, that's the worst, trying to teach 28 nine-year-olds online with zero preparation for it to happen.

You know, you're basically using the internet to try to teach children and their families, really. We're a rural area. Some people are tech-savvy and some people are not, and to try to teach 28 families how to use the internet on the internet is difficult.� Von Till feels that the lack of personal connection in particular is a barrier to educating his students. “I mean, to me, education is still books,

20 NEW NOISE

paper, pencil, and connections and relationships with students, and it's hard to keep that connection. So, we've mostly spent our time connecting and just making sure they're still reading and writing and doing math and responding, but most of all just staying connected.�

While many of his fellow educators surely share these frustrations, Von Till is probably the only teacher anywhere in the world trying to figure out how to keep their students engaged while also promoting a fifth solo album and first book of poetry. Both No Wilderness Deep Enough, the latest album to be released under the name Steve Von Till, and the standalone book of poetry, Harvestman: 23 Untitled Poems and Collected Lyrics, are due out on August 7. Just as he is currently doing in his teaching life, Von Till grapples with disconnection, loss, and longing – or what he’s called “the great disconnect� – in both works.

“I think that's been one of the overarching themes of everything I've done,� he says. “It’s exploring our relationship to ourselves and our own minds, our relationships with people we know and with greater society, and our lack of connection in the microcosm and the macrocosm, our separation from nature since the age of industrialism, our disconnection from spirit, our disconnection from those things which seem so much more meaningful than all those aspects that dominate most of the minutes of our days.�

He adds: “I feel that there's always a kind of longing in my music and my writing for a deeper connection, for finding meaning, for giving significance even to the little things. Because so many things matter more than we realize they do. Our actions and our thoughts, they ripple throughout our lives and throughout all of us. And so, to recognize that, to act with a little more intention, and to bring the sacred to the profane, or to bring some sort of meaning into the smaller gestures, I think goes a long way. It seems like ancient Earth-based cultures had more of the significance tied to the little things and the little moments. And when you honor life in that way, everything becomes more meaningful.�

No Wilderness Deep Enough is composed of six tracks that feature Von

Till’s distinctive hard-bitten vocals over gothic Americana soundscapes that merge his interests in ambient and neoclassical music – he mentions specifically the output of Brian Eno and modern Icelandic minimalist composers as inspirations. Von Till describes the songs themselves as “cathartic meditations.� Catharsis and meditation are two aspects of his music that “have always gone hand in hand for me, and I think the further I go on this journey, the tighter that relationship becomes. They are examples of when you look to that other side, and you take a hard look at the uncomfortable aspects of things, when you journey into the darker aspects of your own thoughts, your own thinking, and you come out the other side with some positive revelations, some self-reflection, some things that you can take with you and walk forward with from that point on. To gain wisdom, knowing that it's all just part of the process of living life.�

For those prepared to fully dive into these heady concepts occupying Steve Von Till’s mind, Harvestman is an unparalleled boon. In addition to 23 brand new, untitled poems Von Till wrote specifically for the book, Harvestman collects all the lyrics from No Wilderness Deep Enough and the rest of his solo records. đ&#x;’Łđ&#x;’Łđ&#x;’Ł

NEW NOISE 21

record store in Memphis and moved to Asheville, North Carolina with my family, and I was kind of in limbo. I was without a band, and the record had just come out. People were liking the record, and so I scrambled to put a version of the band together that could go out to support Too Much Guitar.�

PHOTO BY DAN BALL

“YOU DON’T WANT TO WRITE A BUNCH OF SONGS ABOUT THE PANDEMIC, BUT YOU CAN WRITE SONGS ABOUT ISOLATION. YOU CAN WRITE SONGS ABOUT HOW MUCH YOU LOVE OTHER PEOPLE AND HOW MUCH YOU MISS THEM.�

“Once I did that, I still wasn’t sure what I was going to do as far as, was I going to put a new lineup of the band together or put the whole thing to bed and start over again?� He continues. “As a stop-gap measure, I went back through the previously unreleased material that I had and put together an album to hold everything over until I figured out what I was going to do. That was what the album was about.�

These days, Cartwright is writing new songs in quarantine. “I’m currently writing more material,� he says. “It’s been a great time for woodshedding and trying to hone your skills as a songwriter or a player right now.�

He’s also tapping into the present moment of the lockdown as a source of inspiration. “You don’t want to write a bunch of songs about the pandemic,� he says. “But you can write songs about isolation. You can write songs about how much you love other people and how much you miss them.�

REIGNING SOUND INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST AND GUITARIST GREG CARTWRIGHT BY DOUGLAS MENAGH

T

his year marks the 15th anni- Roberson, and organist Alex Greene. versary of Home For Orphans, Then, the planet-wide lockdown from a compilation by Reigning COVID-19 put their plans on hold.

Sound. Ahead of the June 26 reissue through Merge Records, sing- “As soon as we got out on the road, er and guitarist Greg Cartwright was people were getting a little spooked playing concerts with the band’s re-as- because it was towards the end of Febsembled Memphis lineup, including ruary,� says Cartwright of the early 2020 bassist Jeremy Scott, drummer Greg shows. “By the time we were done with

22 NEW NOISE

the tour, it was a little freaky.�

In addition, Cartwright has his own radio shows. “I do a radio show every Friday,� he says. “When the lockdown came, it meant that either I had to stop doing the radio show because I couldn’t go into a shared space, or I had to figure out how to do the radio show from home, and I don’t even have a computer. Luckily, my wife has a laptop, and I bought a digital, audio transfer component called a Focusrite, and with that, I slowly figured out how I could basically record an entire set. I have a mixer and turntables and everything at the house. Plus, my whole record library is here. I figured out how I could do a radio show pre-recorded and then send it to the radio station, and I got proficient enough at it that I got a request from another radio station to do another radio show.�

Cartwright hopes to continue playing shows after lockdown.

The anniversary of Home For Orphans prompted Cartwright to reflect on “I’m hoping that once things start to making the album. “It definitely made calm down, we can book some more me think about when I put the record shows with that lineup and continue together, right after Too Much Guitar,� to promote this record,� he says.

Cartwright says. “As the record was “We’ll just have to see what the lay of about to come out, I moved. I sold my the land is in a couple of months.â€? đ&#x;’Ł

BREAKING BOUNDARIES AND LETTING GO

PHOTO BY ANGELINA CASTILLO

INTERVIEW WITH GUITARIST / SINGER / SONGWRITER ALICIA BOGNANNO

BY CAMERON CARR

P

raised as much for her band Bully’s angsty songwriting and gloriously grungy guitar work as her upfront and roomy sounding recordings, Alicia Bognanno could have stuck to the script. But after two albums handling both songwriting and recording duties, Bognanno embraced change for Bully’s new full-length Sugaregg, a fuzzy blast of indie rock that strays just far enough from the band’s ’90s-remniscent sound. That started with finding effective treatment for bipolar II disorder, which opened up her perspective and redefined the ways she wanted to work.

“Before, I had so much paranoia, and it just was crippling,� Bognanno says. “I had no self-confidence. I didn’t really know when I felt like I was being realistic and when I felt like my brain was just being fueled by paranoia. I couldn’t tell, so as a result my self-confidence just totally plummeted.�

24 NEW NOISE

The songs of Sugaregg, the Nashville band’s second full-length for Sub Pop, trace those feelings as Bognanno worked through a yearslong process of finding appropriate treatment. “Prism� seems to capture the mood at the brink of falling back out of control. “Come Down� slow burns through falling apart, as Bognanno sings of peeling off skin and “burning from the inside out.� A strength of Bully songs is their confrontational nature that often blurs the distinction between fighting with oneself or someone else, and that’s well on display here.

While the writing process served as an outlet for that turmoil, finding some success in treatment empowered Bognanno to find new confidence in her work and decisions.

After self-recording the band’s first two albums at Chicago’s Electrical Audio, where she had previously interned with

owner and famed producer Steve Albini, she allowed herself to forego that responsibility to more fully dedicate herself to the writing and performing. “I kind of feel like the music was being sacrificed a little bit, just because I felt a responsibility as a woman to engineer it because I could,� Bognanno says. “I guess I felt like if I didn’t do it, I was letting other women in the field down, which is not the case at all. I’m confident knowing that I can do it, and whether or not I have that proof for everyone else to see just doesn’t matter for me anymore.�

sion with Graham Walsh—where she made a number of firsts, everything from switching to digital from tape recording, to bringing along her dog Mezzi (“I’ll never record again without her,� she says).

It worked. Like the releases preceding it, Sugaregg manages to feel both poppy and raucous, with choruses meant to be screamed and riffs one could singalong with.

But largely because of Bognanno’s willingness to change, the album becomes a more dense and adventurous release: the sounds venture off, occasionally wildly, guitars pile on thicker, and tones vary more throughout.

From there, Bognanno rewrote her approach for Sugaregg. Enlisting producer John Congleton (St. Vin- “I just figured the whole thing was cent, Angel Olsen, Explosions In The kind of a fresh start, so I might as Sky), she ventured to Pachyderm Re- well just go all out and break whatcording Studio—two of the album’s ever boundaries I had put on myself 12 tracks were later recorded at an before, and it was great,â€? Bognanno originally unplanned follow-up ses- says. “I’m so glad I did it.â€? đ&#x;’Ł

T HE I NSPIR ATIO NS O F

INTERVIEW WITH SINGER / SONGWRITER EVAN PATTERSON

BY DOUGLAS MENAGH

O

n August 7, Jaye Jayle will return with Prisyn. Out through Sargent House, Prisyn is a darkly poetic and transgressive follow up to No Trail and Other Unholy Paths. For this electronic, industrial release, Jaye Jayle singer-songwriter Evan Patterson collaborated with Ben Chisholm (Chelsea Wolfe).

Patterson was touring with Young Widows when designer Ashley Rose asked him to write a song for her runway show soundtrack.

Composing electronic and industrial music came naturally to Patterson. “Transitioning to programing beats and programming music wasn’t too far off my radar,� he explains. “I perform on a keyboard.

We have three synthesizers live. It wasn’t that big of a transition.�

Patterson incorporated poetry into the lyrics. “I printed out and had probably 40 or 50 pages of poems and stories from tour,� he says. “I had no idea which song I was going to sing what on, and just went in and improvised until something hit.�

“WĂźrzburg [Germany] is actually where I remember working on the “A Cold Windâ€? emerged on tour while “I remember being there working on Patterson. “That was what I was first song for Ashley Rose,â€? says away from partner Emma Ruth ‘Guntime,’â€? he says, “trying to make feeling, like I was levitating on this Patterson. “It actually was the song Rundle. something sound like the tires on highway, going kind of upwards into ‘I Need You.’ That was the first piece I the highway.â€? nothingness.â€? made and had sent to Ben.â€? “I was actually writing love poems while being apart from Emma,â€? says The lyrics on Prisyn took shape in “The River Spreeâ€? lyrics, however, are Patterson and Chisholm continued Patterson. “I was reading a book of one place while the music emerged based on the time Patterson was exchanging music. poetry, it was a love poem book by elsewhere. For example, the instru- in Berlin, on acid after a concert, Pablo Neruda, The Captain’s Verses, mentation of “The River Spreeâ€? was separated from his bandmates, and “I would make a song on my iPhone and I was reading that while on tour inspired by Kansas. with a dead phone. The lyrics dein GarageBand,â€? says Patterson. and kind of stopped.â€? scribe Patterson’s journey through “The first six or seven pieces I gave “I don’t know if you’ve driven through the city, crossing a bridge, and him, he would give them back within On “Guntime,â€? Patterson wanted to Kansas, but it’s a very straight, very ending up in a bar to charge his a day or two.â€? capture the feeling of New Mexico. boring, monotonous drive,â€? says phone to discover he had found his hotel. Patterson sings, “I was lost so I stopped for a drink/ Do you know PHOTOGRAPHY BY A. F. CORTES where this hotel is? I asked the man tending the bar/ You are in this hotel.â€? “I wouldn’t have expected that this song that I made in Kansas would have this lyrical narrative that is from Berlin,â€? says Patterson. “Everything about that song is just as true as can be.â€?

Jaye Jayle have no plans for a tour to promote Prisyn. “It’s kind of going to be a very traditional release,� Patterson says. “I don’t have to stress about touring right now either. I enjoy touring, but it is extremely hard work, and I can just be home and draw.�

On collaborating with Chisholm, Patterson says: “This is a really exciting, shared release for both of us, and I look forward to maybe one day actually performing some of it with him.â€?đ&#x;’Ł

NEW NOISE 25

ever went to—my mom and dad took me to go see them on their Beauty and the Beat Tour in 1981 at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley. I was six. I fought my way up to the front of the stage by myself and put my head on it, watching Jane Weidlin play guitar.� “It was then I thought, ‘That is what I’m going to do for the rest of my life,’ and it was,� she adds, laughing. “So, I guess punk rock has always been in my veins.�

INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST AND GUITARIST STACEY DEE BY GEN HANDLEY

T

hese days, it’s easy for a reflection, including a stint in detox as punk band to be angry. Rac- well as a scary breast-cancer diagnoist policies, regressive civil sis for singer and guitarist Stacey Dee. rights, a global pandemic shitstorm—it would be difficult for “My example in life was to party,� exany artist not to be outraged by what plains Dee. “Nobody really taught is taking place around the world. With me I was worth having a great life. the exception of a couple of songs, Now, I’m really, really interested in San Pedro, California’s Bad Cop/ having a great life, and I do the work Bad Cop have managed to resist the that makes sure that I do. Meditation, omnipresent dark cloud, channeling journaling, gratitude lists, yoga, affira more empowering energy into their mations, self-love, and pushing myself solid new album, The Ride, out now via to see that I deserve good things has Fat Wreck Chords. changed everything. Now, life seems magical at times. I am the one that Whereas their previous release, War- chooses my perspective, and I choose riors, was politically charged and fi- to be happy. I’m really grateful to be ery, the band shifted their attentions Stacey Dee in this lifetime.� inward for the new record, focusing on self-love and acceptance as the The title of the album is a metaphor for central theme for its 12, well-crafted life, something that Dee and her bandsongs. This theme was influenced by mates have been contemplating since some recent turmoil and personal their last album, particularly because of her life-changing health scares.

“This record is more self-reflective and filled with self-awareness and selflove,� says Dee. “It’s a subject Jennie [Cotterill, singer and guitarist] and I talk about a lot. After my cancer, I found I needed to learn to love myself or that shit was going to come back.

Jennie has a brilliant lyric in her song, ‘The Mirage,’ that says, ‘There’s no destination, there’s only the ride.’ How beautiful is that? It really summed the whole record up for us—it’s life!�

For Dee, the punk and music community has always been a part of her life.

Both of her parents were in the business, and Dee, who started playing guitar when she was 20, found inspiration in rock music at a very young age. “The first band I got into as a little kid was The Go-Go's. They were the first band I chose as my own outside of what my parents listened to,� Dee recalls. “They were the first concert I

Dee is clearly grateful to the community and what it has given her. A few years ago, after getting off of drugs, Dee found a way to give back, helping found the Sidewalk Project, an initiative that enriches the lives of the houseless communities around the world through art, music, and film.

They also provide food, masks, hygiene kits, fem-care kits, and well-being kits, as well as harm reduction in the form of needle exchange, condoms, and marijuana. “The three of us knew we wanted to do something,â€? she says. “And, because we're all artists, we decided we wanted to provide art and music to our houseless communities. Knowing that there are so many houseless artists who may not have the ability to create anymore, we wanted to bring that ability back to them. A full Sidewalk Project event is filled with creating art on the streets together and creating connection and well-being, singing songs together, playing guitar together.â€? đ&#x;’Łđ&#x;’Łđ&#x;’Ł

“NOBODY REALLY TAUGHT ME I WAS WORTH HAVING A GREAT LIFE. NOW, I’M REALLY, REALLY INTERESTED IN HAVING A GREAT LIFE, AND I DO THE WORK THAT MAKES SURE THAT I DO.�

26 NEW NOISE

PHOTO BY ALAN SNODGRASS

In particular, Park was drawn to the anti-racist message of ska. “The whole idea of the name ’two tone’ is about black and white coexisting. So, it is very political,� he says. “If you go back to the roots of Jamaican ska, I mean, it’s not all political, but it’s all working-class music from the Jamaican skinheads. “When I saw Fishbone when I was in high school in the ’80s, it was just interesting to see a band of people of color. Every band from that generation that played alternative music, it was just white people. So, for me as an Asian American, I never saw any Asian Americans in any kind of successful alternative music. It was just, like, classical music. Even though Fishbone were African American, it was still something that resonated with me.�

THE MANY LIVES OF

MIKE PARK

BY JOHN SILVA

F

ew people have made as big an impact on the DIY music community as Mike Park. Playing in bands like Skankin’ Pickle and The Chinkees, his music has been both widely enjoyed and hugely influential for ska from the ’90s until today. But, in addition to his own music, Park has also had an influence on the scene by helping other bands get their start.

He founded Dill Records and eventually Asian Man Records in the ’90s.

Over the past 24 years, Asian Man has been a home and sometimes a launching pad for many seminal punk and ska bands from The Alkaline Trio to Less Than Jake, from Bomb! the Music Industry to AJJ, and countless others. In addition to putting out some of the best music in the punk and ska scene, Park has fostered a community around Asian Man Records of like-minded, active musicians.

“For Asian Man, the criteria for signing bands is just: a). I have to like the music, b). nice people, c). active—the band is active in some capacity in their DIY community,� Park says. “So, it’s not just

Like the bands that influenced him, Park didn’t shy away from these topics when he began writing his own music. “When I started writing, even though Skankin’ Pickle had a lot of silly songs because we were a democratic band with a lot of songwriters, a lot of my songs were very political,� he says. “I parlayed that into The Chinkees, which was an overtly political ska band made up of Asian Americans, where we can kind of talk about our struggles growing up in the United States.�

The Chinkees recently put out an EP titled K.A. Music, the group's first new music in 18 years. Park describes the new EP as “Unapologetic ska punk that’s poppy, aggressive, has some chill vibes here and there too.� “It’s only four songs,� he continues. “But I think it’s a cool little sample of what the Chinkees sound had developed years ago, and hopefully something we can keep coming back to and putting out new songs here and there throughout the future.�

THE CHINKEES

Mike Park’s impact on the scene is undeniable, yet he still isn’t tired of the work he’s doing. “Right now, we’re on year 24, so next month we’re on year 25,� he says, regarding the longevity of Asian Man Records. “And, it still feels really fresh to me! It singers was just so pleasing to the ear.� still doesn’t feel like a job, per se.�

a band that’s like, ‘hey we wanna get signed!’ They’re actually doing cool stuff in whatever city they’re from.� “Once I got into high school, I start- Perhaps Park’s passion and love ed getting into punk,� he continues. of both music and the community Park discovered music the same way “Like early Black Flag, early D.R.I. 7 surrounding it is the reason he has many of us do: through his parents.

Seconds was a big one. And then ska. been such a powerful voice in DIY. I didn’t really know what it was; I knew “It’s exciting, and I think that’s what “When I was a little kid, I remember the bands like Madness, The English I’m most proud of,â€? he says. "It’s having the Simon and Garfunkel Beat, [and] The Specials because never become a labor-intensive Bridge Over Troubled Water LP. I used they had hits on the radio or on MTV. job; it’s been a labor of love rather to listen to that a lot,â€? he says. “That But, I thought it was just new-wave, al- than having to do this because it sense of harmony between the two ternative music from the U.K.â€? pays the bills or whatever.â€? đ&#x;’Łđ&#x;’Łđ&#x;’Ł

NEW NOISE 27

2 0 2 0 : A

R i f f

O d y s s e y

INTERVIEW WITH MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST STEVE MOORE

BY LUCY BRADY ombi’s 2020 drops half-way through the eponymous year of its release like something out of an alternate timeline. Assembled over the five years following their last venture, Shape Shift, the record was conceived in a spirit of far greater optimism than its title would evoke.

Z

the album’s nine movements come together to create a sense of something vast, a unique and mysterious happening ambivalent to any subjective interpretation.

The only thing specific enough to Google (besides “Earthscraper�) is the title of its fourth movement, “XYZT,� after Kristen Alvanson’s novel of the same name (published on Urbanomic’s K-Pulp imprint last year) - a reciprocal tribute to the author, whose protagonist Estella is a confirmed Zombi listener.

“We actually came up with the title,� says band member Steve Moore. “We had the title and everything set before the outbreak - we thought 2020 was just such an iconic sounding year, and the whole idea, 2020 was supposed to be the future, you “We like to come up with titles that know? The year 2020 is gonna be an don’t lead you too specifically in infamous year, so it kind of changes any direction,� Moore says. “Someit in a way.� thing that’s open ended, because we don’t want to impose what we Indeed, it’s only the opening track, think this music means on you, be“Breakthrough & Conquer,� that cause it might mean a completely feels anything like an anachronism. totally different thing. So, we intenThe tone of its 38:28 duration still tionally go for titles that are a little seems apt for the 2020 that would, more conceptual.� in-fact, materialize. With imagery drawn from ’80s action movies, vast This sentiment is perhaps best rehypothetical architectures, invoca- flected in the choice of artwork: a tions of occult magic and pulp sci-fi, photograph by Austin-based pho-

tographer and friend of the band, - 2020 was the result of protracted, Curt Gettman. The oblique image long-distance collaboration. of a rooftop scene at dusk was one Moore knew of long before 2020 “Shape Shift was all about us trying came into being, but provided a key to maximize what we can create with thematic guide. just the two of us,� Moore elaborates. “So, we have synthesizers sequenced “When we were putting the music in the background that we play bass together, I just kept thinking about and drums over the top of, but for this that photo,� he explains. “And I just record we wanted it to be just more thought that it’s really very provoc- of a manual thing, where nothing is ative, but without demanding that pre-recorded, nothing is sequenced, you feel a certain way.’ everything is being performed and it’s all a little bit more riff-based.�

On a more literal level, the album itself stands as a permanent sim- While 2020 is, in many ways, an ulacrum of a year that never was. evolution from the rock ethos of After the half decade that the duo Shape Shift (itself a break-away (Steve Moore and Anthony Pater- from the ponderous space-opera ra) spent in collaboration with a vibes of earlier work), this new fodizzying array of projects - includ- cus allows the album to operate ing Relapse label-mates Miracle on multiple different levels. The re(with Daniel O’Sullivan of Guapo sulting vision reflects the diversity and Grumbling Fur) - Moore cites of the musical territory Moore and the guiding ambition behind its Paterra have explored during that creation was to get out of the stu- time, at turns heavy and reflexive, dio and onto the road. Yet, unlike promising a unique live experiShape Shift - notable for being their ence when the band do eventually only album since 2006’s Surface to tour again - whenever that may be.

Air recorded in the same location đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł

PHOTO BY MATT DAYAK

28 NEW NOISE

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AMERICANA There have been a handful of times since the early ’70s founding of the Outlaw Country movement when the country genre was not considered a punchline to the rest of the world. Austin’s Armadillo World Headquarters, thanks to folks like Willie Nelson, Jerry Jeff Walker and Doug Sahm brought together rednecks and hippies for a shared love of booze, weed, and country music stripped of all polish, posturing and pretension.

In the decades since, there have been aftershocks, like the ’80s Cowpunk movement, blending in classic punk influences (Jason & the Scorchers, X, the Blasters) and the early ’90s Alt Country scene (Whiskeytown, Uncle Tupelo, BR549).

DAN SARTAIN

Which leads us to the current Country offshoot, going under the increasingly growing umbrella of Americana (despite the fact the genre has been around long before any of these bands). The term, much like post-punk and emo before it, is clunky and has ever-evolving characteristics, but, for lack of a better substitute, it has come to define a current collective of musicians with influences that range from folk and country to rock and R&B. Musicians like Jason Isbell, Margo Price, American Aquarium and Sturgill Simpson are pulling in fans across the globe with little to no radio promotion, mainly based on strong word of mouth and remarkable songs.

PHOTO BY CHARLIE WILSON

morphed into a full-blown movie.

“The movie was never intended to be more than promotional material for the album,� Sartain says. “That mindINTERVIEW BY JOHN B. MOORE set changed when Sarah and I started assembling and editing the video. It an Sartain has always been took three years to make. This is not a fan of old Westerns, but no due to lack of interest or inability to one really knew how much until he produce music or movies. Sarah and decided to record an entire album’s I were mostly working on this project worth of songs from and about fake between trying to figure out how to be cowboys. new parents—our daughter Audrey is featured in the film. We were navigat“I have always been fascinated by the ing an entirely new lifestyle while still American cowboy,� Sartain says. “I'm trying to create new content.� kind of a low-level history buff when it comes to North America in the 1800s. It was during editing that the duo realThis album isn't about that, or any of ized they had more than an assembly of the ugly, brutal history that comes with vignettes and in-studio music videos; they it. This album celebrates the fake cow- had a full-on documentary. After three boys. The Hollywood cowboy, and later years of casually recording and filming, the European ones. The end of the they had a proper story with an arc.

1800s and the birth of Hollywood are one and the same. Cowboy pictures “We were different people by the end of will never stop being made as long as the filming/recording process,� Sartain California has desert.� says. “That's the stuff that makes a good movie, folks!�

The album Western Hills is currently available for free streaming and The movie is available for free on download from Sartain’s Bandcamp YouTube. page. In the fall, Earth Libraries will release the record on vinyl.

Sartain has already started working on more music, this time heading to the The album was recorded in the legendary Sun Records to record.

Woodlawn section of Birmingham, Alabama, close to where Sartain lives “Whenever I record an album, I use and runs a barber shop. whatever tools I have at my disposal,â€? he says. “I don't limit myself when it “I've never recorded anything of this cal- comes to fully realizing songs on reiber or scale locally,â€? Sartain says. “I've cordings. I'll use synthesizers, horns, done a lot of home recordings here, and strings, a full mariachi band. WhatI've asked audio favors from everyone ever it takes to get the songs as I hear in town, but I've never been given near them in my mind is what we will do. unlimited access to one of the nicest Sometimes I reach that goal; somestudios in town. Communicating Vessels times I don't, but it's never because I and their engineer Brad Timko were put limits on anything.â€?đ&#x;’Ł integral when making this album. Communicating Vessels, Earth Libraries, and Here are just a handful my barber shop are all located across of Americana albums the street from each other. It all felt very coming out this summer that communal and natural.â€?

D

deserve your attention.

During the process of recording Western Hills, Sartain decided to make a promotional video to go along with it. That collaboration with his partner, Sarah Orr, who served as director, eventually

30 NEW NOISE

Sammy Brue – Crash Test Kid (New West Records). American wunderkind (he put his debut out at 14), follows up his 2017 LP.

Sarah Shook – 7 (Bloodshot Records). This storied Chicago country/punk label is re-releasing Shook’s brilliant 2012 debut EP on vinyl for the first time.

Daniel Donato – A Young Man’s Country (13J Productions/Cosmic Country Music).

This 25-year-old Nashville guitar ace blends americana, outlaw country and Deadhead-worthy psychedelia.

Gasoline Lollipops – All The Misery Money Can Buy (Soundly Music). On their fifth record, this Colorado alt country/americana band show exactly why diehards from Denver to Belgium cram into dank clubs and onto muddy fields every year to hear their inspired take on the American Dream.

PAISLEY FIELDS

Electric Park Ballroom, the follow up to Glitter & Dust, came out June 5 on Don Giovanni. Â Â Â

“I titled our second album Electric Park Ballroom because that’s the first place where I felt a true and deep connection to country music,� Fields says. “The Elect first blush, Don Giovanni Re- tric Park Ballroom is where my family and cords—the New Jersey-based I would go every week as a kid for their indie label known for releasing records line dancing lessons.� for a slew of punk bands from Screaming Females to The Ergs!—doesn’t seem Fields says he didn’t feel much pressure like a natural fight for Paisley Fields, a following up his debut, and even though Midwest-bred country musician. But he goes into the studio prepared, he oddly enough, the marriage works. also enjoys some spontaneity when recording. “I was booking a tour with Lavender Country last year and Patrick [Haggerty, “I trust the process,� he says. “Writing, of Lavender Country fame] put me in rehearsing, and recording is all fun and touch with Joe [Steinhardt, Don Giovanni exciting. The scary part for me is when co-founder] to schedule a date at Stoop we actually release it.�

Fest,â€? says Fields. “Joe was involved with organizing and booking the bands. We Before branching out on his own, Fields met at the festival and hit it off right away. spent years touring with Lavender Country and Haggerty, the grandfather “I gave him a copy of Glitter & Sawdust of gay country. and told him that we were working on a Even before Electric Park Ballroom was new record. He liked Glitter & Sawdust “Patrick is a master storyteller,â€? Fields released, Fields was already working on and asked to hear the new record when says. “I learned a lot about our queer it was ready. Don Giovanni has so many history on that tour. I met so many in- new music and planning his next move forward. great artists on their label and releases credible people on that tour and made groundbreaking music. They were at the some wonderful friendships. Patrick is a top of my list of labels I wanted to work brilliant artist, and I’m happy to call him “I’ve been slowly working on music for another album,â€? he says. “I’ve also with, so I’m really thrilled it all worked out.â€? one of my closest friends.â€? Â

PHOTO BY DREW BOTCHERBY

INTERVIEW

BY JOHN B. MOORE

A

been writing a musical that’s been on the back-burner for a while. We had planned a big release party [for Electric Park Ballroom] at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn. It seems really unlikely that shows will be happening, so we may end up taking that party online.â€? đ&#x;’Ł

“The board game idea came out of a ing visuals.� They gave him the general record in this time around. conversation that Nik [Lee, guitar] and idea of what they were looking to create.

I were having while we were at The Echo Over a six-hour, initial meeting over pizza “Recording at FAME is always a thrill Lab working on overdubs for the album,� and cocktails, they worked on the basic for us,� Creamer says. “We love the Creamer says. “Like most of our ideas, it layout of the game. folks who run the place. Engineer John INTERVIEW WITH PIANIST was part of a rambling, stream-of-conGifford is an absolute gem of a human DANIEL CREAMER sciousness diatribe that we probably “What he ended up sending us met and being, and you can’t help but feed off

BY JOHN B. MOORE weren’t taking very seriously at the time, far exceeded our expectations for the leftover energy from the countless he Texas Gentlemen’s 2017 debut but as time went on, we kept marinat- basically an adult, Candyland-esque legends who have recorded there. The LP, TX Jelly, seemed to exist in a ing on it, until we decided it was really drinking game set in the Floor It!!! uni- Echo Lab, where we recorded the madifferent timeline entirely, one where something that we could bring to life verse,� Creamer says. jority of the album, is in a lot of ways Cosmic Cowboys and folks like Leon with a little help.� our version of what FAME was to the Russell and Willie Nelson regularly Because a lot of the band’s influenc- swampers, so to have tracks that were attracted both the rednecks and hip- They brought in Matt Cliff, who de- es are rooted in the swamp-country partially recorded in both places was pies to their shows, drawn to the mix of signed their first album cover as well as rock sound of Muscle Shoals, it seems a really exciting opportunity to mix the psychedelic and country music. Their a lot of their shirts and posters, a man only natural that the band chose the past and the present.� follow up, Floor It!!!, has that same Creamer dubs “our go-to guru of amaz- FAME studio as one of the settings to vibe—full speed ahead.

Admittedly, there are some challenges with releasing the album in the time of “To be honest, I don’t think any of us COVID, but the band has been workreally thought about this as a ‘foling on backup plans to the traditional low-up’ album while we were making release and tour cycle. it,â€? says pianist Daniel Creamer. “The process behind TX Jelly was extremely “Obviously, we had no idea when we loose and unplanned, and while we started planning for a summer release retained some of that spontaneity in that live performances would be off the the performances on this album, from table, and that has definitely changed a production standpoint, it was much things in a major way,â€? Creamer says. more refined with significantly more “But honestly, things never go exactly attention to detail. I would say that our as planned, and the reality about this excitement about showing what we year is that artists are going to have to can do eclipsed any worry about how really buckle down and get creative to it would compare to the first album.â€? mitigate the loss of the main source of money for most bands. Luckily, people Floor It!!!, like its predecessor, is being rehaven’t got much better to do than sit leased by New West Records. In a creative around and listen to music! It’s certainly stroke of genius, possibly aided by drink a setback, but we’re not letting it get us and smoke, the vinyl version of the album down, and we have some exciting ideas also comes with an actual board game. to work around the situation.â€? đ&#x;’Ł

TEXAS GENTLEMEN T

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THE SINCLAIRS INTERVIEW WITH RAT SCABIES

BY JANELLE JONES

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et’s take a walk on the wild side. Get random.� That’s what drummer Rat Scabies advised his Sinclairs partner in crime, Billy Shinbone (nee Jesse Budd) when the veteran musicians first started their two-man, instrumental ensemble.

What resulted from that open-minded approach is Sparkle (Cleopatra Records), a wild, stoner-esque, ten-song album that’s an adventurous, surfy, rock ’n’ rolldrenched cross between otherworldy, outer-space sounds and spaghetti Western.

Scabies, who was a founding member of The Damned, and Shinbone, of Flipron fame, first met when the drummer owned a recording studio and the guitarist recorded there. They struck up a friendship which, these few years later, culminated in The Sinclairs.

(Scabies mentions Shinbone coming to his house “with a 30-quid synthesizer and some old bass organ pedals he found in a swap meet or a junk shop or something.�)

What ensued were songs that had “an unnerving quality,� Scabies says. “All of a sudden, we had this sort of direction that emerged. We were kind of quite sweet and melodic and ’50s sounding, but with a kind of a tip of the hat to synthesizers and discordancy.�

And perhaps because of all the freedom and creativity that went into shaping these songs, Scabies says, the material was a lot of fun to craft. “We laughed a lot while we made this record,� he says.

Still, despite all that, it’s unclear as of now if this will be a one-off project or if more albums will follow.

“We were just sitting around one day, and “We enjoy working together,â€? says Scabies. he said, ‘I’ve always wanted to do a kind “We love the record. We’ve got loads of other songs and things we wanna do. It’s kind of of instrumental guitar kind of surfy record with you,’â€? Scabies recalls. “So, it was, ‘Sure, likely we will carry on. But, it’s about money and how much it costs to make a record.â€? let’s give it a go.’ At first, it didn’t really work. It was weird. It sounded just like two blokes who could play a bit, which was all “We don’t really wanna be vanity publishing,â€? it was, and then we kind of started intro- he reasons. “We’d rather be able to make ducing weird synths and other instruments.â€? enough money where it’s self-sufficient.â€? đ&#x;’Ł

ROADSIDE GRAVES INTERVIEW WITH MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST JEREMY BENSON

BY JOHN B. MOORE

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t’s been about four years since Roadside Graves last put out a record. During that time, they’ve been raising kids, holding down jobs, and essentially living life. But there was never any doubt that the band would be back with another record.

“We’ve never worried about stopping,� says Jeremy Benson, multi-instrumentalist for the band. “We’re all people who depend on creative activity for our psychic survival, and we do it best and are most sustained emotionally by it when it’s done collectively and collaboratively. The friendships that comprise the band really give it the power to last.�

The band’s latest, That’s Why We’re Running Away, was released by Don Giovanni Records in May. “There are a few main reasons why there’s so much time passing between albums,� Benson says. “The main one

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is that it is very difficult for us all—we are a five-piece—to get together to write and rehearse songs. I live in Providence, Rhode Island; the rest of the guys are scattered throughout New Jersey.

ey. In fact, we don’t tour much anyway these days because of work and family, though I miss it so much. I hope we’ll get out on the road again soon.�

a Google doc with ideas on it. We’re pretty high-tech.�

On the upside, the self-isolation may lead to more music sooner than expected.

In the meantime, Benson says that the band is trying to figure out a way to put together some version of a streaming concert.

“In our isolation, John [Gleason] and I have begun writing songs for our next album, a follow-up to our album inspired by The Outsiders—this one based on S.E. Hinton’s Rumblefish, a tragic little story. We send audio files of demos back and forth. There’s even

“It will be a performance of our album about The Outsiders, We Can Take Care of Ourselves, for a special event through a local library. We’ll probably have to film ourselves separately, then get someone smart to put it all together and hope it’s not a mess.â€? đ&#x;’Łđ&#x;’Ł

We work full time jobs; some of us are raising kids. So, busy lives and geographical distance definitely slow things down. But nonetheless, over the course of those four years, we are writing, rehearsing, and playing occasional shows. We stay in regular touch, as we are all close friends.�

And, despite most of the country being on strict lockdown as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, plans for the album’s release were never altered. “We have not been disrupted by it the same way some artists have,� Benson says. “We are fortunate to have other sources of income, to work from home, and we don’t rely on touring for mon-

PHOTO BY TRAVIS HUGGETT

“WE SET OUT TO JUST WRITE A LAWRENCE ARMS RECORD, AND IT JUST HAPPENED TO BE A PLAGUE RECORD.”

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PHOTO BY BEN PEIR

INTERVIEW WITH BASSIST AND VOCALIST BRENDAN KELLY

BY JOHN SILVA

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are opposed to that somehow,” says Brendan Kelly, bassist and vocalist of Chicago’s The Lawrence Arms.

hen I was just trying to come to grips with this, Kelly and his bandmates have I wrote these sentenc- been supportive of the Black es and I read them Lives Matter protests that back after I wrote it emerged in the aftermath of and it was like – there’s peo- the murder of George Floyd. ple on the streets fighting for Whether they’re in the streets their lives, there’s people on protesting or donating prothe streets fighting for other ceeds from their merch store peoples’ lives, and then there’s to support the cause, they, like a third group of people who many bands in the DIY scene,

are taking direct action rather than just writing music about the subject. Kelly notes that the act of writing and recording a song isn’t going to be enough to create real change.

“The reason that the world is doing what it’s doing right now is because things like music and art don’t do shit,” he says.

He then shifts to a less cynical perspective, explaining that “the thing that music can do is be a soundtrack for people.”

He continues, “The thing that art can do is inspire people to want to keep going. The thing that art can do is inspire people to want to do the things that actually make a difference.

But you’re really not doing anything just writing a song. In a different year, in a different time, I might have answered this question very differently.”

If music can be a soundtrack for people, The Lawrence Arms’ new record, Skeleton Coast, out

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July 17 on Epitaph Records, “The songs were basically writcame at a perfect time. The ten before we had the studio album was written last year, time,� Kelly says. “I think there before the global pandemic was an understanding, probcompletely changed the world ably, going into some of the as we know it. Yet thematically, latter songs, that we were gonna be doing this in the desert. it is eerily relevant.

And we had already decided “I think there’s a lot of that re- that the record was gonna be cord that sounds like it’s about called Skeleton Coast. So, all this time, right now,� says Kelly. of a sudden a few aesthetic “And it was all written before choices sort of coagulated this. We didn’t set out to write around the idea that we were a plague record. We set out to gonna be laying this down in a just write a Lawrence Arms re- very remote, very desolate sort cord, and it just happened to of location.� be a plague record.�

In fleshing out the record’s Skeleton Coast was record- theme, the band used imagery ed at a studio 20 miles east in their lyrics of animals wanof El Paso, Texas, a remote dering alone through a barren location in the middle of the wasteland. desert, which fits the album’s “Those are the four animals on aesthetic flawlessly.

PHOTO BY KATIE HOVLAND

the record: the fox, the wolf, the coyote, and the whale,�

Kelly explains. “And those are the sounds that you hear between some of the songs. I think they started out as lite metaphors, but the way Chris [McCaughan] and I work is I hear his stuff and it triggers something in my head. And he hears my stuff and it triggers something in his head. And those themes became more and more pronounced as we realized we were writing a record about scavenging through a wasteland. There’s a romance to those particular creatures and the sort of desolation that they arrive in. And that’s a little bit of the theme of the record, searching for your own brand of dissatisfied satisfaction in the fuckin’ aftermath.�

When writing music, lifelong friends Kelly and McCaughan are incredibly in sync, almost on a telepathic level. Along with drummer, Neil Hennessy, they’ve been playing in The Lawrence Arms for over two decades, and the chemistry they have with one another is what makes The Lawrence Arms such a special trio. “This happens all the time,� Kelly says. “Whenever me and Chris write together, it’s just like, wait a second, did you just write two songs about wild dogs and I just wrote two songs about wild dogs? It just kinda goes there. We’ve been friends since we were ten years old.

And we’re very different people but our souls come from the same place, and we process a lot of things in shockingly similar ways even from a non-intentional distance.�

Skeletal Coast is the band’s first LP in six years – The Lawrence Arms don’t like to rush new music.

But that doesn’t mean the group is tired of going on this journey together. The trio of best friends still have an undying love of one another that keeps them going when other DIY bands have thrown in the towel. “I’m in a band with the two

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BRENDAN ON THE FLEXI TRACK COVER OF DAVE VAN RONK’S “LUANG PRABANG� “It was so unbelievably powerful,�

Lawrence Arms bassist Brendan Kelly says of the first time he heard Dave Van Ronk’s 1985 folk song, “Luang Prabang.� “It’s got that same flair of being kinda cheeky and a little bit crass, but at the same time very impassioned and also kind of sweet, which is sort of what I strive for when I write songs.

I don’t know if I succeed or not, but that’s my sweet spot that I try to hit.�

The band recorded a cover of the song while they were demoing their new record, Skeletal Coast, but ultimately it didn’t make the final cut for the record. “It wasn’t like a throwaway thing that we just did,� Kelly explains. “We had it, along with everything else, recorded. Then it just wasn’t for this album.�  Kelly notes that he also likes protest songs that don’t necessarily seem political on the surface. “The thing is, for me, the greatest protest songs are the songs that are about you struggling with what’s going on,� he says.

One of Kelly’s favorite protest songs of all time is “Clay Pigeonsâ€? by Blaze Foley. ““Clay Pigeonsâ€? is just a song about a guy that’s very sad, and he goes and sits by a woman on the bus and pretends that he’s her husband for a while, because he’s so sad. And it doesn’t seem like much of a protest song, but it is. The thing about being so fed up that you can’t take it anymore.â€? On the other hand, if a song is going to directly address a specific social issue, Kelly thinks it should go all out. Which is what makes “Luang Prabangâ€? so powerful: it is a blunt anti-war song that doesn’t beat around the bush. “If you’re gonna be fuckin’ overt in a protest song,â€? says Kelly. “I want Dave Van Ronk, ‘Luang Prabang.’ I want 'Fuck The Police' [by N.W.A.]. I don’t want some art thing, I want visceral fury.â€?Â

best fuckin’ musicians I could ever hope to be in a band with,â€? Kelly says. “And we’ve been friends for‌ like, Neil’s the ‘new guy,’ I’ve only been friends with him for like 25 years [laughs]. Chris and I have been friends for almost 35 years. That’s what I’m the most proud of.â€? đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł

HARDCORE 2020: THE VETERANS

PHOTO BY DAN RAWE

INTERVIEW WITH BASSIST HARLEY FLANAGAN

BY CHRISTOPHER J. HARRINGTON

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ike some rumble from a “I got the line ‘no one’s coming’ from distant warzone, Harley when I was listening to these veterans Flanagan’s opening bass giving a talk,� Flanagan says. “And line in “No One’s Coming,� one of them was talking about his (off In The Beginning, the Cro-Mags’ friend. One time they were pinned first record in twenty years), sets the down under enemy fire, and heavily tone for a four-and-half-minute outnumbered, and they know they excursion into the mind of an artist weren’t getting any backup support. who’s seen his share of battles.

And you know, he looked at his friend

42 NEW NOISE

and he said, ‘no one’s coming, we’re “Well, I’m not a veteran, but my life has on our own.’ I was just like ‘damn.’ That been kind of like a war,� Flanagan was such a heavy realization, and it explains. “My man Jocko, you know just reminded me of so many situa- he’s a Navy Seal. He had been in my tions in life when you have to face life neighborhood back in the ’80s, and and death on your own.� he was a big fan of my band and stuff.

He was actually the person who told Raised in the trenches of NYC’s me I had PTSD. I never even thought Lower East Side during the ’70s about it really, until he verbally, put and ’80s, Flanagan’s life has been it into my head and explained why. about survival: personal, artistic, And one of things he said was, ‘I saw and spiritual. He’s taken his lumps, where you lived and I know what made sure to give them back, and your life was, and you lived in a war found peace through solace. He’s zone.’ And I was like ‘I’ve never been listened and learned. A lesson that to a warzone so I can't tell you,’ and is vital to continuance. he was like, ‘well I have, and you did.’ And that made me go, ‘OK,’ you know, “I don't know if you listen to Jocko Will- this is a guy who knows.â€? ink’s podcast,â€? he asks. “But Extreme Ownership, that book he wrote, it’s like Thirteen songs weave through a maze yeah man, extreme ownership, you of physical and metaphorical trenchhave to take ownership of it all. Even es. Uplifting bangers (“Don’t Give Inâ€?), the bad, especially the bad, you have soulful doomers (“The Final Testâ€?), and to learn from that too.â€? rich instrumentals (“Between Warsâ€?), walk a Buddhist path straight to the In The Beginning, released June 19 heart of things: peace and tranquility, via Mission Two Entertainment (from the ability to pick one’s self up from the the same team that founded Victory ashes and create meaning. Through Records), is a well-greased, hardcore art, through music, through communionslaught. A linear explosion of con- cation, Flanagan has survived. crete and poetry, the record showcases all the intangibles that made “You know I have a lot of friends who Cro-Mags the defacto NYC hardcore are combat veterans,â€? he says. “And band. friends of mine who are like, you know, gangbangers and ex-gangbangers, “A lot went into it, you know,â€? Flanagan and ex-convicts, and you know, we explains. “A lot of thought went into kind of help each other through some the songs themselves, arrangement of these times when we feel like we’re wise. I really wanted to capture what going to lose our shit. Talking to them, I feel are the best elements of Cro- and talking to Jocko, has made me Mags songs throughout the entire realize a lot of things, and until you span of the catalog.â€? confront those issues, until you know that they’re there and confront them, A portrait of a distinct character ex- you’re never going to get past them. pressed through energy, the new re- And you’re never going to be able to cord is Harley Flanagan incarnate. A really live life.â€? time capsule into the soul of a grizzled warrior, a reckoning, a look back In The Beginning rides hard the beauty at a life born of struggle and pain, of of existence, in all its disparate forms. rebirth and calm. đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł

HARDCORE 2020: THE NEW FACES

BE WELL INTERVIEW WITH SINGER BRIAN MCTERNAN

BY JOSHUA MARANHAS

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he Weight and the Cost gets Equal Vision Records back to the hardcore sound of its roots in the ’90s, back to the head and the heart of what hardcore meant in the minds of so many young kids.

It’s how so many old punks still feel now, pain and healing. Be Well has created a very meaningful album.

Each record McTernan has produced, played guitar for, or sang on is a vertebra holding a community strong — the bands on his resume have held the backbone of hardcore together. From Texas Is The Reason to Cave In, Converge, Thrice, Hot Water Music, Circa Survive, Senses Fail and Turnstile — just to name a few — McTernan’s work ethic is enormous. “When I started recording, I came from the same world that all of the bands came up in,� McTernan says. “I knew exactly what it should sound like and feel like. We were all young and on the same page and it was cool. I literally worked seven days a week, 12 to 14 hours a day, and didn't take days off for maybe ten years. It was record after record, but I loved it and I loved the bands. It was great.�

Hardcore punk is full of themes that hold people together, like muscles in the body, and McTernan and Be Well can be considered part of the connective tissue of hardcore music. They’re steadying the contemporary meaning of the genre with The Weight and the Cost, refining the music to peak performance. “The thing that's really cool for me about the Be Well record is that I never had a record of my own music that was made with the kind of care and thought that the records I had made for other people’s work had,�

McTernan says. “The Be Well record is really like the first thing I ever played on that is like, ‘wow, this is what it would be like if one of my early bands had gone with a producer.’�

Back almost half a decade to 2013, with the downturn in the music industry and PHOTO BY ADAM PARSHALL changing trends in music, McTernan let go of his Salad Days recording studio Jump forward, after touring the world and and moved on for a minute. Selling the working with Battery, McTernan was ready building that held Salad Days and taking to do something new. He was looking for a job as construction manager for a big something that filled his soul. company, he quickly became Chief Operating Officer – but the job was providing “I had reluctantly agreed to do some Bathim with little more than a paycheck. tery re-union dates, and it was the best thing I ever did,� he says. “It was like ‘holy “I had a pretty rough childhood, and there shit,’ having something to look forward to, was a lot of mental illness in my family,� having a reason to be talking to people McTernan says. “I have had pretty severe every day, and having something to think depression throughout my whole life. I about that isn't dark and awful was totally think that when I was doing the studio stuff, cathartic for me. We did those tours and I I poured all that energy into the records. was literally like, ‘oh my god, I need someWhen I didn't have anything like that to thing like this in my life that I can pour my pour it into, the depression drastically heart into.’� worsened. I just kinda woke up one day and I was literally in such a dark place The result is the first record by the veteran that, I mean, it was scary.� musicians of Be Well.

“It was really hard to actually find band members at first,� McTernan says. “Because, I don't want to say I'm a snob, but I've been around some pretty fucking good musicians in my life. It's like, if it wasn't going to be on that level, I didn't want to do it.�

McTernan is a very private person who gets an extreme sense of joy and pride from knowing he made a very honest record. “What having this and kind of reconnecting with music meant for me, I can't even quite totally remember some of those feelings anymore,â€? he says. “It's funny because at times I'll listen to it and it will make me feel like sad, it's almost hard for me to imagine feeling some of the things that I was feeling at the time.â€? đ&#x;’Ł

YEAR OF THE KNIFE INTERVIEW WITH BASSIST MADISON WATKINS AND VOCALIST TYLER MULLEN

BY ADDISON HERRON-WHEELER

K

nown for their intense and brutal Converge fame to make this masterlive shows, like most hardcore piece a reality. Through workshopping heavy weights, Year of the Knife have the songs with him and each other, the been hurting with the current lack of result is an honest, raw record. live shows and pit energy. Luckily, the depth of their music goes beyond just “Each song deals with different topics live shows. But we have to admit, their related to suffering within, things like forthcoming record Internal Incarcer- karma, consequences, and reaping ation, out August 7, is going to sound what you sow,� explains Mullen. “There are also songs about persevering over ripping in the pit. your fears. I read a book called The “We really can’t wait to play for live Four Agreements, and I wanted to write crowds again, just see people lose about what I learned from it. It talks their minds to it,� says vocalist Tyler about how we’re domesticated from Mullen. “But we don’t really have an ETA a young age by our patents. We learn on when that will be. Still, I think this is their values and beliefs. I wanted to my favorite material that we’ve put out, write a song about that, which is “Get it and it’s definitely our sound more than Out�at the end of the album.� anything else we’ve done. We’re excited Definitely a timely message in a day to see people finally react to it.� and age where many millennials and This time around, Year of the Knife dug gen-Zers are challenging the racist, deep to come up with the best material sexist, and homophobic ideals of their for the record. Some songs were several parents. years old, and the band worked together to cut down the material to the most “We’ve been trying to do everything we stand-out tracks they wanted to put on can to raise awareness on any platform the album. Year of the Knife also got that we have,� bassist Madeline Watkins to work with legendary Kurt Ballou of says of the recent protests and Black

PHOTO BY KAT NIJMEDDIN

Lives Matter movement in support of increased police regulations and protecting black lives. “I think it’s one of those things that we’ve all been really passionate about. It’s just crazy because I feel like some people have become very numb to seeing violence and police brutality. It just doesn't surprise people anymore. But you can’t just become numb and let things like that keep happening.�

As a band, in addition to protesting, signing petitions, and posting in support of the movement, they created a collaborative Black Lives Matter shirt

with other supportive hardcore bands in order to try and “boost the signal as much as possible� and raise money for communities in need.

Internal Incarceration is the perfect self-reflection record for 2020. Dealing with everything from the opiate crisis to confronting internalized racism, there’s something for everyone on this record, though much of it may not be easy to hear. And, until we can all meet in the pit again and celebrate this new record, let’s keep listening, reflecting, and trying to build a better tomorrow. đ&#x;’Ł

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HARDCORE 2020: THE ACTIVISTS

INTERVIEW WITH SINGER BOB OTIS AND GUITARIST BEN BARNETT BY MARIKA ZORZI

“

For the past 30 years, the legendary band from Providence, Rhode Island, have been playing aggressive, no bullshit

44 NEW NOISE

hardcore punk thrash with personally political lyrics, embracing a strong “Do It Yourself” ethic. In July 2020, 22 years after their last release, Dropdead are back with a new record out via their own Armageddon label.

“It’s just the right time,” singer Bob Otis says. “We've never really been a band to force it.

There have been times when we were incredibly prolific and creative, and then there were great gaps when our lives took precedence. I think the current state of the world with the rising of fascism, the era of Trump and his racist cult, the state of the world environment and climate change, the billions of animals dying in factory farms. All of these things channeled into

the energy that both fueled the music and lyrical content. On my end, the lyrics practically wrote themselves. I had all this great angst and need to revolt against what I see and feel going on.”

coura g e to fight Dropdead's lyrics have always for it. I think seefocused on a strong criticism of you're all kinds of social and political ing some of it now injustices, and this record is no through the BLM protests and people standing up exception. against fascism and oppres“There is a lot of dark content sion around the world. People on this record, as we live in an are standing together by the unprecedented time of suffer- hundreds of thousands in the ing and strife for both humans streets to fight for equality and and animals, but there is an un- a better world where hopefulderlying message of hope also,” ly we can all stand together as Otis explains. “One that we can one. That gives me a lot of inrise against the forces that are spiration.” destroying the world and make a better life, if we have the “Everyone in the band has sim-

PHOTO BY HILLARIE JASON

care to how the vocals are delivered, in a style that gives the words a bigger impact than just raw screaming would.

a particular form of dissidence and rebellion in our music, and these extremely troubled times have done nothing but increased our resolve to have our “I think the music and vocal say about and against it,� Otis style has had 30 years of evolu- says. “I find it extremely cathartion, and this record represents tic to be able to have a way to what we sound like and who we voice our outrage and hopefully are at this stage of our lives,� share our thoughts to like-mindOtis confirms. “Each record has ed people who support what we been a snapshot of the time represent. I truly believe music they were recorded in. This cur- can break down walls and bring rent record couldn't have been people together, I’m hoping we written until now.� are a catalyst in that.�

ilar p o litical and ethical beliefs, and playing and being ‘punk,’ we wanted to have something meaningful to say that was truthful in its anger and commitment to wanting to make a change.

The whole thing has been a slow evolution to the people we are now and the music you get This sense of community of the “We talk about how important it is from us today.� underground punk scene and [to use our voice] at practice and the support between musicians when we’re hanging out,� Barnett Musically, this album sounds a and people is something has agrees. “We have the option of bit different to previous Drop- always been part of Dropdead. singing about nothing, but that dead recordings, style wise and isn't our thing. We all believe and vocally. There’s a particular “We've always held steadfast to live the stuff we present.�

“It is always something we espouse on our records and at our shows,� Otis continues. “Use your voice, use your numbers and the fire of your youth and anger. Make a change, change yourself, change the world. To stay silent is to be complicit in the destruction of our world.

Rise.â€? đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł

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RAMALLAH

INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST ROB LIND BY JORDAN WOLFE

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t’s been fifteen years since Ramallah released a proper fulllength album. Their 2005 album, Kill A Celebrity, was an album of scathing review towards society, celebrity worship culture, and the turmoil of global politics. With subjects ranging from unforgiving cynicism to apocalyptic visions, it was not meant for those living their best life.

Ramallah’s early sound was a hodgepodge of fringe musical elements of previous works. The hardest ends of Blood For Blood added to the hardcore fury, while the softer confidence found in Sinner and Saints gave breaths of pop within the onslaught. The band toured relentlessly, but unfortunately came to an end in 2007, after they were forced to hire a fill-in vocalist to complete tour dates. It was later revealed that this was due to singer Rob Lind’s ongoing drug issues.

Just under two decades later, Ramallah has finally released a physical version of The Last Gasp of Street Rock ’n’ Roll, a collection of streetpunk anthems about rage and re- “In many ways, 2007 is the year my life flection. At a time when honesty is truly began, in the sense that it’s the front and center, during the death year that I finally began living life rattle of the old-times mindset, it’s on life’s terms,� Lind says. “I stopped a perfect moment for Ramallah to running and I was forced to face myself. I gave myself an ultimatum re-enter the battlefield.

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of exactly one year to abstain from all drugs and alcohol, and to better myself with therapy. Shit, at that point I’d have joined a nude drum circle if I thought it would help. And if it hadn’t gotten any better, I planned to eat a bullet. But it did get better. It wasn’t easy. In fact, it was the most daunting thing I’ve ever done. But as a result, 2007 to about 2017 were the best years of my life.�

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stance. Fuck all that shit.�

Rob’s voice has a reinvigorated confidence to it. There are familiar riffs from previous bands’ albums, and lyrical quips dropped in like callbacks for those that have clearly been paying attention the whole time. It’s reminiscent of hip-hop records that sample old works, mixing nostalgia with wisdom-gained new phrasing. “Some folks were taken off guard by the swerve in sound and style on the new Ramallah compared to the previous recordings,� Lind says. “I can understand this, since without context, the swerve is dramatic. With context however, I think it’s much more intuitive.�

Each song feels like a fight between two classic bands whose styles are all mixed into this ‘something new from something old’ album of much needed musical proportions. An alAlthough it's a cringe-level clichĂŠ to bum of both remembrance and desuggest The Last Gasp of Street Rock ’N’ cree, there are lines celebrating the Roll is an album of full circle gravity, previous eras while also proclaiming, there’s just no better description. The ‘we haven’t gone down, but if we must, record pulls together the best parts we’re going down swinging!’ of each member's musical history to create a truly representative catalog “Someone mentioned that 2019 was of songs, encapsulating their entire the 20 years anniversary of Exile and that we should commemorate scope of talent and influence. it in some way,â€? says Lind. “So, rath“I’m not sentimental or nostalgic by er than a caricature of something I nature,â€? Lind says. “For me, the good did in the past, it turned into a muol’ days weren’t all that fucking good. sical reflection on the past 20 years.

I wouldn’t want to relive those days, During that time, I’ve buried a lot of except maybe to make some dra- friends, I’ve lived through a lot hell matically different choices. So, fuck and I’m not the same person I was the good ol’ days. Jello Biafra said two years ago, never mind 20 years ‘retro is poison.’ I agree with that. Liv- ago. But I have to admit, there ending in the past is a form of cowardice ed up being a bit of a sentimental and reality denial. The past is gone, vibe to a couple of the songs on whether you like it or not. Retro is there. Maybe I am not as ruthless about style and aesthetics over sub- and cold-hearted as I thought after all!â€?đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł

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INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST CREATURE

BY CHRISTOPHER J. HARRINGTON

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he energy that comes from NYC hardcore band Rebelmatic is perpetual, non-simulative. It is art reflecting life, a transference that is permanent, a swift kick in the ass.

“Our stuff is not a nostalgic trip; our stuff is now,� says vocalist Creature. While you can feel the influence of ’80s hardcore and some of its various offshoots, that resonates as affinity, the best kind, and the group builds a direct and unique impression. “We’re not trying to rehash anything; we just play what we like,� Creature continues. “That’s why our album is so diverse. We’re not trying to remake some hardcore record from ’82; we’re not trying to remake a hip-hop album as a hardcore band. We have no path of what we do; we

just do what we do. And what we’re doing is setting our own lane.�

lor have forced many people to confront a reality they typically shy away from.

And that would be a slick and resourceful one. The group’s newest “We’re in a pandemic,� Creature says. record, Ghost In The Shadows, drops “So, you throw that with the protests, August 28 via Red Right Recordings. and everyone is forced to deal with It’s an attack of variety, a soulful ex- it. Black people have been screamcursion with aggression and truth at ing and yelling this forever. So, I the center of it all. Ten songs of pure think, yeah, white people are now expression burn into your heart, a forced to at least look at it and have journey through a genuine path. a dialogue. Whereas before, I think Punk rock has historically tackled it’s kind of easy to say, ‘Alright, that political and societal realities, but doesn't affect me,’ but know, it’s like, Rebelmatic goes where few bands ‘Oh wow, it’s so blatant and so brago: right to the heart of America’s zen; it’s unavoidable.� racist construction.

Ghost In The Shadows has a spirit like “I think the thing is, punk is political,â€? a comet blazing in the sky. From the Creature explains. “But, Black peo- raging punk of “Blood and Gold,â€? to ple have a tendency to have to ne- the transcendent “Avenger,â€? this is a gate their Blackness to be into punk, record that fills one’s musical soul, you know, because there’s the fear capturing a moment in time through of offending potential white people pure expression. Anger, love, and or whoever else is into punk. And dexterity forge a hardcore classic, a that’s been the case. But for us, when timeless piece of art that comes at we make our music, it’s unapologet- a most crucial time. It’s easy to get ic; we’re not thinking about who’s not swept away in the music—it’s that going to like it. It’s like, ‘Yo, this is who good—but listening to it and hearing likes it.’ I’m not going to not be me; if the words is its praxis. you don't like it because it’s too funky for you, it’s not for you. If you don’t “People have to check their privilege like it because I’m talking about po- and look and see what’s going on, ablice brutality, or if it’s too Black for solutely,â€? Creature relays. “This is more than just individual people that have you, it’s not for you.â€? to do the work, that have to unpack “Insult to Injury,â€? the first single and a lot of shit. This is a system that has first video of the record, deals with been here long before me.â€? a reality that Black people deal with on a daily basis: being chased Rebelmatic holds nothing back, a for simply living their lives. The band of the present, the truth-tellers COVID-19 pandemic and murders of our time.đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł of George Floyd and Breonna Tay-

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PHOTO BY NATE REBOLLEDO

INTERVIEW WITH GUITARIST BRIAN ORTIZ BY JAMES ALVAREZ

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he landscape looks Their last album, 2015’s Tierra Y fierno,â€? that are genetically de- stuff, even before the pandemic, bleak. Chaos engulfs a Libertad, was a career highpoint signed to get skulls cracking. The when we would play shows, someonce-proud civilization, for the Pomona, California-based heavy jams on this record sound times that would be the only time as nature tears down wrecking crew. They began work like they were discovered in a time we could see each other and kick man made institutions left and on their follow-up album shortly capsule of early, ’90s death metal, it,â€? Ortiz shares. right. It looks like hell on Earth, after, before an onslaught of life’s they pack that much of a wallop. with no foreseeable end. This is responsibilities crept up on them. “We definitely want to play for our harsh state of existence in Then, there’s the new, people, but it’s extra bumming the year 2020, grappling with the “We were basically in the process head-scratching, heart-tugging, because it’s also our time to hang mind-boggling ramifications of of writing our full-length,â€? Xibalba ‘where the hell has this been all my out and party and travel. We all COVID-19. guitarist and musical mastermind life’ sounds, explored on the al- love playing shows, traveling, havBrian Ortiz explains. “I don’t want bum’s epic closing tracks, “El Abis- ing fun outside of home. We had As fate would have it, this also de- to use the term ‘taking our time,’ moâ€? parts one and two. These songs some shows planned for our alscribes the album art for Xibalba’s because we weren’t lollygagging capture absolutely haunting guitar bum release and we never even fiery new record, AĂąos en Infierno, or whatever. It’s just, you know, melodies and utilize clean vocals got to announce those, because out now on Southern Lord. Volca- work schedules and availability from both Rebolledo and Ortiz. they’re not going to happen now, noes rip through ancient Mayan come into play. We were slowly They sound like an ancient funeral obviously. It sucks, but at the same temples with the band’s logo piecing this album together, and pyre, which, given the album’s cov- time, you just gotta suck it up and sprawled above clouds of ash, and before you know it, it’s been al- er art, kind of makes sense. ride the fucking wave and hope the album title, translated into En- most two years.â€? for the best. Hopefully next year, glish as Years in Hell, below, adjaOf course, getting together and we can go back to playing live. In cent to a gaping river of lava.

Although some aspects of society jamming has got a whole lot more the meantime, we’ll do what we are melting away before our eyes, difficult recently. The global pan- can for people with regards to For the record, the Xibalba crew AĂąos en Infierno is finally here, and demic has put a stop to pretty merch, keeping people engaged did not set out to make AĂąos en it’s safe to say the wait was defi- much all forms of close contact and interested. We’re doing what Infierno the most prescient album nitely worth it. Xibalba’s new al- socializing, including concerts we can, but it’s kinda hard doof 2020. For the last decade, Xi- bum sounds and feels like nothing and even band practice. That ing shit from your bedroom you balba has been in the business else the band has released before. definitely sucks for a band drop- know?â€? đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł of merging frenzied hardcore There’s absolutely bruising songs, ping a long-awaited new album. with pummeling death metal, not like album opener “La Injusticiaâ€? “It’s a bummer, because like I said, prognosticating a bleak future. and the titular track “AĂąos en In- due to our work schedules and

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opportunity to create a sort of ongoing collection of original paintings, which were like an art series all connected by music,” says Seagrave. “I thought that although very different, the death metal music scene as it was evolving back then could be as important as the punk era of the ’70s, and that “By 1990, there were a few la- I therefore needed to invest bels offering me record cover myself fully into the art side as work, and for me, it was an much as I was capable.”

1980s when he offered to provide free artwork for local thrash metal act Lawnmower Deth after they signed a small record deal. From those seemingly inauspicious beginnings, word of mouth soon spread, and the scene soon started to take notice.

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been designing death metal album art since the scene first emerged from the uneath metal’s aesthetic derground, making his mark has long been defined with a distinctively detailed by detailed depictions approach that went beyond of depravity and destruction. stereotypical, gross-out gore.

While its vile visions of hellish worlds may make casual Borrowing inspiration from observers and the artistic es- cinema and the historic surtablishment squirm, beneath roundings in Nottinghamshire its grim veneer often lies a where he grew up, his serlevel of technical refinement vices have been in-demand and narrative depth that the for much of the past three faint of heart may miss. The decades for good reason, genre certainly isn’t above and the genre’s visual evolureveling in some amount of tion would not be the same fun-loving stupidity, but to without his inimitable touch. dismiss it entirely as puerile “Early on, I was fascinated fantasy would mean doing with filmmaking and espea disservice to its power for cially any films that were uspoignant social commentary ing imaginative set pieces and observation of the natu- or themes, so that informed ral world. my art as much as anything,” INTERVIEW BY BEN SAILER

Few visual artists have had more impact on the genre’s look than Dan Seagrave.

Once called “metal’s great landscape painter” by Kerrang!, the British-born and Toronto-based painter has

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Seagrave says. “The main drive for me is to visualize something that didn't exist before.”

Seagrave’s first forays into visualizing metal’s twisted underbelly came in the late

“THE MAIN DRIVE FOR ME IS TO VISUALIZE SOMETHING THAT DIDN'T EXIST BEFORE.”

That intuition into death metal’s potential proved prescient and his commitment to his craft paid off. By the time Seagrave entered his 20s, he was getting commissions from bands like Morbid Angel, Suffocation, and Entombed, helping to shape its artistic development while working on records that would become influential cornerstones for extreme music. Just as the genre’s early era pushed heavy music’s sonic boundaries into increasingly extreme territory, Seagrave and his peers did the same for its appearance, unencumbered by good taste or commercial expectations.

ered and composed, doing ample justice to the genre’s boundary-pushing brutality while sliding subtle storytelling into the work.

Flip through his portfolio pieces from that era on his website, and what stands out are how many pieces are accompanied by brief backstories hinting at dark tales lingering beneath their surface-level veneer, taking inspiration from the hidden histories within his surroundings and turning them into something otherworldly and grimly fantastical.

strange places you can visit either, pushing through the which leave an impression. COVID-19 pandemic undeterred with the same sense Old ruins. Old, local stories.â€? of creative curiosity that’s After helping lay the foun- fueled his work since the bedation for death metal’s vi- ginning; for as much as he’s sual identity, Seagrave took accomplished, the end is “I just follow my interests an extended absence from nowhere yet in sight. and naturally observe the working with bands in 1994 world around me and take before picking up where he “Even though I’m happy with things in,â€? Seagrave says. “I left off in 2000, with recent what I’ve done so far, the grew up in a couple of vil- clients including modern idea of gnawing potential is lages in England, so there's heavyweights like Rivers of the thing that keeps me from always things like ancient Nihil, The Devil Wears Prada, feeling like I’ve done enough,â€? history to think about that and Xibalba. He’s not show- says Seagrave. “I don’t feel exists there in layers, or ing any signs of slowing down like I have.â€?đ&#x;’Łđ&#x;’Łđ&#x;’Ł

S E AG R AV E While for some that may have meant leaning on over-thetop violence and comic-book caricatures for pure shock value, Seagrave’s work was more often carefully consid-

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THE DARK STORIES OF

INTERVIEW BY MARIKA ZORZI

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tiny blonde girl “It is true that there is something for me to empathize with people with the body cathartic about being open,� who aren’t from my sitting and of a skeleton is she says. “It’s like you’re hav- my exact position in life,� Bridgwatching the stars ing therapy with the world. It’s ers continues. “It’s easy to identify in the middle of the desert while wild to play a show and have with women, it’s easy to identify a strange red light illuminates people sing back your trauma with people my age, but it’s takher. This could be the beginning to you. It’s totally like an expo- en a lot of work to – if an old of any dark book or movie, and sure therapy. It forces people man is super rude to me, I’m just somehow it is - the artwork on the album cover represents all the stories told by Phoebe Bridgers on her new album, Punisher.

“Like Tim Burton, I’ve always loved dark but still cozy movies,� Bridgers says. “Not too scary or psychologically torturous, but cartoony, like Halloween stuff and ghost stories. And so, yeah, to reframe something kind of dark in a lighter tone is nice to me.�

Bridgers is the rare artist with enough humor to talk about love and pain, giving a strange joy to her music.

writing. I’m the narrator of all of it, even if I’m talking about someone else.�

Punisher is Phoebe Bridgers’ follow up to her internationally lauded debut, Stranger In The Alps, which she released as a relatively unknown singer-songwriter living in Los Angeles. A little over two years later, she’s become an internationally-recognized musician with three acclaimed bodies of work to her name. “Writing music just makes me feel like I’m not drowning in the world,� says Bridgers. “I have something to share with people or my friends. It just feels so much more productive than staring at my phone for hours or something. It’s something to show, which I think is a very millennial way of looking at life.

Like, ‘Look, I did something with my time.’ It can be distracting, but right now it’s really fun, because the world is freaking out.�

“I listen and watch and read a lot of sci-fi books and stuff,â€? Bridgers admits. “And I think that a through line of those – there will be some through line romance “We don’t necessarily have to do going on while people are going anything right now,â€? she contininto battle, and after the world ues. “So, it satisfies some itch in has ended and humanity is dead. me. Also, I’m not writing music I think there are these things that to understand you too. I’ve had like, ‘fuck off and die!’ I have no about a pandemic or whatever. we kind of can’t get rid of, and arguments with people and patience for what that person’s I have no moral obligation to that’s kind of how it feels to exist they’ll not sympathize with me life has been like to lead them reference what’s going on. It’s in the world right now.â€? because I don’t feel very artic- to that moment, and I feel like just like I get to talk about my ulate, and then they’ll hear a the minute I find something out feelings and it's my only selfish Bridgers’ singular talent lies song and it’ll be a perfect rep- like‌ oh, abusive childhood, or moment. Whereas when I inin bringing intense curiosity to resentation of what I was trying his friend just passed away or teract with the world or when I painful things, interrogating to convey, almost like making a whatever, it always just chang- go online, I want to be bringing them until they come up with little short film of how you feel.â€? es my perspective so much. So something real to the table. But deep and absurd answers, or I think I filter the world through when I’m just writing something reporting the reality that, some- “I always think about the way my eyes a little too much and it for myself, it’s just like a little times, they are neither. things relate to me, and it’s hard definitely comes out in my song- time away.â€? đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEITH MARLOW

“IT’S WILD TO PLAY A SHOW AND HAVE PEOPLE SING BACK YOUR TRAUMA TO YOU.” NEW NOISE

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INTERVIEW WITH BASSIST STEVEN BLANCO

BY THOMAS PIZZOLA

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t has often been said that a band is a product of their surroundings. In the case of Imperial Triumphant, they give you a true, New-York-City experience in all its darkness and grit, offering a sobering look at their hometown, one that you wouldn't find in any tour guide.

This is the proverbial “naked city” where everything is broken down into harsh truths.

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Like their hometown, Imperial Triumphant are a melting pot of sounds all coming together to form something unique, grand, and very dark. Genre tags be damned.

“There are so many ways you could describe us, and genre descriptions tend to be very narrow,” bassist Steven Blanco says. “There is black metal in the foundation, but you can also hear death metal, classical, and jazz in there, too. We’re very difficult to fit into any one genre. Yet, you still need to describe it for people who might be interested in listening to us. How about avant-black metal/jazz/soul? I just say we're a rock band."

Well, this “rock band”—which also features guitarist Zachary Ilya Ezrin and drummer Kenny Grohowski— are about to release their definitive, aural statement in Alphaville, which comes out July 31 on Century Media.

Alphaville takes a lot of the elements of 2018’s Vile Luxury and fuses them with new ideas that transform their sound in new, exciting ways. It is definitely a “bigger” sounding album, as the band employs all sorts of offbeat instrumentation such as taiko drums, choirs, and even a barbershop quartet to get their sonic point across.

In order to capture what they heard in their head, the band had to turn to an outside set of ears, one that would help them produce something truly epic and ground-breaking.

Enter Mr. Bungle guitarist Trey Spruance, who was a fan of the band. Getting him on as a producer

WE'RE A FILM NOIR METAL BAND. NEW YORK CITY IS WHAT WE USE AS OUR MAIN SOURCE OF INSPIRATION, BUT YOU CAN APPLY THESE IDEAS TO ANY MAJOR CITY.

INTERVIEW WITH COVER ARTIST ZBIGNIEW M. BIELAK

BY THOMAS PIZZOLA “It was certainly the architectural legacy of New York City,� says artist Zbigniew M. Bielak, on the inspiration for his stunning cover art to Imperial Triumphant’s Alphaville. “Many artists have expressed their fascination with the city through their art. Most of you are probably familiar with HR Giger’s New York cycle, but that’s just tip of the iceberg. I think it's natural to artistically explore this archetypal metropolis; you can't help but bow before its grandeur and vibrance.�

wasn't as difficult as one might think. “Kenny works with Trey in Secret Chiefs 3, so they already have a business relationship,� Blanco says. “We thought he would be perfect because he would understand our eclecticism and what we were striving for.�

“Regarding stylistics,� Bielak continues, “I love original, art-deco skyscrapers, but at the same time, I wanted to pay homage to late Syd Mead or Lebbeus Woods styles, whom I always adored for their focus on architecture as the base of their visual language. We started off thinking of the cover art as monochrome artwork, following in the footsteps of iconic drawings by Hugh Ferris.

apply these ideas to any major city.

There is darkness in those places.

Film noir deals with the contrast between dark and light, which is what we do through our music.�

Their new album shares its name with a classic slice of 1960s French, New-Wave Cinema from master diImperial Triumphant are a New rector Jean-Luc Godard. Godard's York City band through and through. film is a classic of film noir, science fiction, and dystopian society cine- The city affects them in a myriad of ways that is reflected through the ma. The band felt this was a perfect twisted prism of their music. title for the album, since their music shares many thematic similarities “Living in New York City is a big influwith this film. “Alphaville is a classic and Godard ence on us,� Blanco says. “Just walk is a big inspiration for us. It's right outside and you're bombarded with in line with what we do, and it in- all kinds of noise, both positive and forms our aesthetic," Blanco says. negative. How you react to these sounds affects you. It’s a struggle “We're a film noir metal band. New to live here. It can be a shitty place York City is what we use as our main to live. It's a center point of evil, source of inspiration, but you can

because of all the different types of business that takes place. You see the struggle every day. People working below the ground to have enough money to pay rent and provide for their families, right up to the people working high above it all in the skyscrapers. You see this pyramid structure of society on display every day. We have a bleak view because we're from here. It would be different if we lived somewhere else. Where you live influences your music.â€? đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł

“Since we dropped the black-andwhite idea along the way and decided to go full color, I moved to Mead's vivid palette, still trying to retain the lush, art-deco feeling which was important to the band. Initially, I wanted it to be discernibly based on Frank Lloyd Wright's gargantuan rendering of The Illinois—a never-built, one-mile-tall skyscraper designed for Chicago in 1956. In the end, only the colored squares in the corners of the cover hint at that intention. I feel [the cover] also subliminally conveys the feeling of HR Giger’s Samurai—possibly my favorite piece of his.�

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in an ever-changing musical landscape and perseverance, despite ups and downs in their careers and personal he world would be a lives. Sprinkled throughout better place if more are truly interesting tidbits people listened to Bad and anecdotes about how Religion,” posits Jim certain songs were derived Ruland, co-author (with vo- and formed, how they apcalist Greg Graffin, bassist Jay proached and shaped each Bentley, and guitarists Brett of their 17 (!) albums, and deGurewitz and Brian Baker), tails about specific tours and of the new book Do What You shows they’ve played around Want: The Story of Bad Religion the world.

(Da Capo Press). And the man knows a thing or two about Bad About how this whole literary Religion, having been a long- endeavor came about, Ruland time fan and after conducti- says, “The band was thinking nag “tons and tons and tons of about their legacy, and they interviews” with the band while were interested in working with putting together this real treat somebody to tell their story.” of a book that is coming out in conjunction with Bad Religion’s He had just finished a mem4oth anniversary. oir, My Damage, with Keith Morris of Black Flag, Circle This engrossing tome offers Jerks, and OFF! a deep dive into everything Bad Religion, laying out the “I guess maybe because of Bad band’s history, analyzing Religion and Circle Jerks runtheir musical output, and ning in a lot of the same circles, discussing their staying power when they were asking around, INTERVIEW WITH CO-AUTHOR JIM RULAND

BY JANELLE JONES

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everyone kept recommending me.” He explains that he met with the guys in the band, each on their own, as they all live in different cities, and then started the interviewing process.

He says it was cool “the way the Bad Religion and Keith story intersected in different ways. It wasn’t like I was writing about a band from England. It was the same turf.” Plus, it didn’t hurt that he truly loves L.A. punk and hardcore, and has covered the scene for such zines as thenow-defunct Flipside (one of the original L.A. punk zines), and later, Razorcake.

“It was amazing how many times you could find the exact show one of the members was talking about,” he adds. “It’s time-consuming, but a lot of fun.”

Throughout the book, certain key points keep getting reiterated. One in particular is about the band’s mission and direction, something they formed at the earliest point of their being, when it was four Even as knowledgeable as he teenagers coming together is about the music, Ruland ex- in Woodland Hills, a neighplains: “My favorite part of the borhood in the San Fernando whole process, after spending Valley in Southern California. time with the band, was transcribing it and looking up all As stated in the book, “The the things I didn’t know about.” name Bad Religion provided

a framework for the kind of band they wanted to be. It established an organizing principle and immediately made their position clear on a number of issues.� The band was “a reaction against adopting a system of thought.� And their material throughout these 40 years has been cerebral and thought-provoking about personal accountability, thinking for yourself, and all the while has “demand[ed] its listeners think about the world around them and their place in it.�

Religion (who, as Jay Bentley says, “the world had ‌ written offâ€?) really paved the way and brought punk back at a time when it did truly seem dead.

PHOTO BY CHRISTINA WHITE

Along the way, we get the intriguing history of the band to the present day. And, in the end, the book leaves the reader feeling inspired. This is not only because it shows how the band has gone through so many ups and downs and have persisted and created amazing art in the process—the latest being Another major point that 2019’s Age of Unreason—but comes through is about how also because we see, even momentous 1988’s Suffer was. during these tumultuous The album would bridge the times, the guys remain optidivide between early-’80s mistic, despite the fact that, hardcore punk and what was as Ruland states: “It’d be so to come with the explosion easy to be cynical because so of punk in the ’90s. It’s really many of the things that they interesting to read about just talked about 40 years ago, on how monumental this album their very first record, we’re and time was, and how Bad dealing with now.â€?đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł

PHOTO BY STEVE ALBANESE

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INTERVIEW WITH BASSIST JOHN CAMPBELL BY CHRISTOPHER J. HARRINGTON

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omewhere around 1994, Chris Adler and John Campbell wrote a song in the former’s apartment as Burn The Priest. Years later, they became Lamb of God, and the rest is history. “As soon as we got more accomplished songwriters in the band, that song was no longer,� Campbell laughs.

us. It’s great, and he’s incredibly deserving; he’s worked hard his whole life, and is an accomplished and sick drummer in his own right.�

The new album kicks off with the circular “Memento Mori,â€? a chugging, post-thrash number that sets the stage for songs that are hardcore and introspective; some even complex and continThe group’s newest, self-titled re- ually transitioning. And they’re cord dropped June 19 via Nuclear not overt. The compositions are Blast and Epic Records, and its filled with a dynamic circuitry that freshness is distinct. After 26 years, masks their straight-forwardness. this is a group still determined by The fusion can fly by you like a their relentlessness. An eternal boot to the face in the pit. It’s all spirit drives a perpetual energy, so quick. The songs are dense, but pure Lamb of God. “I think the play like they’re simple. energy is there as a result of us just being fucking fired up to be “Well I think that has to do with in this band,â€? Campbell says. “Just the process that they go through,â€? to do this, and to be lucky enough Campbell says. “But, they’re also to do this, and coming up with an starting out coming from Mark album’s worth of material that we [Morton] and Willie [Adler], who all feel incredibly strongly about. are pretty deep songwriters. As a That is, in my opinion, our best group, we listen to many types of work to date. But goddamn, that music and appreciate many difsounds so clichĂŠ saying that.â€? ferent art forms. And, yeah, to me it’s no doubt that Willie is going to Campbell laughs, but he’s on the write these uber-complicated riffs mark. The new album is a speed- with things that will fly by one time ball of form, with angles and pro- in the song and will never repeat. pulsion that takes the best of earlier And, you know, that’s just sort of modes, and forges them with wise one of his strengths.â€? and grizzled totality. A youthful infusion doesn’t hurt. Drummer What you’re left with are numbers Art Cruz replaced Adler behind like “Gearsâ€? and “Reality Bath,â€? the skins, bringing a new, diverse that are punk disguised as progfeel, a groove and simplicity that thrash, always spinning away from enhances the onslaught. “Art had their centers, yet always circling been a huge fan of the band from back. Lamb of God knows the the get-go,â€? Campbell notes. “So, in value of the hook, but also knows a lot of ways, he’s living his dream. the importance of distance and He brings us infectious energy, and traveling within a song. A journey he’s also a little bit younger than takes you someplace, and that’s PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALAN SNODGRASS

what these new songs do: they take you somewhere. At times direct, at times a maze, but always a trip, an experience of transformation.

on this last record, there’s a part that I just couldn’t understand what the hell Mark was playing. I had to slow it down, and I had to just form that neural network at a The building of this sequence can really slow pace, and then try and be brutal, but surely enjoyable as bring it up to speed and make it fit well. “It can be once you nail it,� and flow in there, and until I could Campbell laughs. “I don’t want do that, my brain for some reason, to go to into too much detail, but wasn’t hooking on to this part. It really took some time, and I had to make sure I understood what he was trying to say.�

Lamb of God have many voices, many poets of form and function.

The group coalesce around each member completely. It is a sound of survival and togetherness.

Nearly three decades of extremity, and still functioning at a peak level. Is it determinism at its finest, or something else that defines the continuance? “Shit,â€? laughs Campbell. “Be lucky. Be incredibly lucky, because it takes a lot more than talent that’s for sure. There are a lot of very talented people sitting at home playing guitar on their couches, and they’re phenomenal players. So, I don't know, is it the luck? I don’t know.â€? đ&#x;’Łđ&#x;’Łđ&#x;’Ł

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Zoom Wall of Death 2020 has been an excellent year for metalcore already, which impressive considering how instrumental live shows are to appreciating what the style truly brings. The artists we have featured here exemplify metalcore’s diversity and strength – in both approach, sound, and even substance, these five bands excel at bringing the listener musical and lyrical gut punches. Whether it’s In Hearts Wake’s and Misery Signals’ aspirations for a better world, or The Acacia Strain’s and Sharptooth’s cutting, yet

also a good observation of what func- guitar), and Kyle Johnson (bass)— tions well about the band in being eventually reuniting to begin work on able to kind of take something that’s a new album, those once-discarded pissed and dark and heavy, but also elements left on the cutting room have that nuance where there’s some floor were suddenly given new life. hope, some silver lining to it. All the dark parts and elements of our expe- “When the guys re-joined the band, rience and what we write about are Stu and Jesse particularly, they realthings that may also lead to growth.� ly liked the song as well and kind of bugged me,� says Morgan. “So, that While Ultraviolet represents the first song never really got a fair shake, batch of new material for Misery and it’s something that got a lot Signals since 2013’s Absent Light, the cooler with time. It just took a while group also chose to re-work a rare to get to the spot that it needed to and previously released B-side. get for people to hear it.�

PHOTO BY DANIEL PREISS

INTERVIEW WITH LEAD GUITARIST/BACKING VOCALIST RYAN MORGAN

BY OWEN MORAWITZ

F

Listening to Ultraviolet, it’s an album that radiates optimism and resilience without sacrificing the group’s penchant for crushing dissonance and technical grooves.

or the better part of two decades, Misery Signals have been one of the most influential and “I know he [Zaraska] wanted to come innovative acts in progressive metal- through and write something positive, core. With their forthcoming, fifth LP, and we knew that the tone of the muUltraviolet, the Canadian-American sic was going to have to be like that to outfit are entering a new era, with the make it work,� Morgan explains. “So, I return of their original founding line- think there’s an intentional riding of up from 2004’s genre classic Of Malice that line towards the positive side a little bit more than ever. I think Absent and the Magnum Heart.

Light was riding that same line, but “When [vocalist] Jesse [Zaraska] was maybe more on the darker half of it. considering coming back to the band, And Ultraviolet is kind of the answer to and we were talking about whether that, where we’re still riding that line this is something that was going to be between those two opposing forces a reality or not, that was one of the but it airs on the side of the light.� things that was a sticking point for him,� says lead guitarist and backing Evidence of this sonic duality is presvocalist Ryan Morgan. “He didn’t ent in the band’s newest single and know if he wanted to come back to album opener “The Tempest,� a vital being, you know, a heavy metal singer and energetic call to action focused because he is in such a better place on inner strength, resolve, and unimentally. He’s a father; he has a young versal purpose. daughter now. He wanted to be able to write something that he could stand “I would say that’s more intentional behind as a positive person, as some- on this record than maybe it has been in the past,� says Morgan. “It’s one that wants to leave a legacy.�

60 NEW NOISE

insightful, deconstruction of the world we live in, each of the five acts are united in bringing the god damn house down. World class riffs, breakdowns, and an impressive amount of sonic flourishes abound – and if any of the more renown acts tickle your fancy (do metalcore fans have a fancy to tickle?), Thirty Nights Of Violence will be your new favorite band. Let’s unite in decimating hate, virtual moshpits, and necks together, with these metalcore maestros guiding the way.

“So, yeah, “Sunlifterâ€? was written By putting a new spin on an old faor began during the Absent Light vorite, “Sunlifterâ€? acts as the perfect sessions, where essentially just complement to “The Tempest,â€? fur[drummer] Brandon [Morgan] and I ther developing Ultraviolet’s themes are the consistent members between of dreams, stargazing, and celestial that last record and this record,â€? optimism in the face of darkness and Morgan explains. “When we wrote defeat. that song, we liked a lot of the elements of it and rewrote it a number “I think Jesse’s done a cool job with of times. But, it felt scatterbrained by that, making the songs personal the time we were putting it together; and emotional, but also about kind it didn’t quite feel focused, and we of overarching things,â€? Morgan didn’t get to finish it properly. And, adds. “I think he took a few things you know, to be frank, I didn’t think in a couple of different directions it was a good enough song to be on and experimented at first at the bethe record in the state that it was in.â€? ginning. What ended up clicking the most was revolving around ideas of With the band’s original line-up—in- aspiration, of trying to push yourself cluding Zaraska, Stu Ross (rhythm to be great.â€? đ&#x;’Ł

PHOTO BY ALYSSA BYCHOLSKI

n i a r t a i S c a c e Th A INTERVIEW WITH SINGER VINCENT BENNETT

BY CHRISTOPHER J. HARRINGTON

T

he Acacia Strain released though, with lyrics that are deeply five 7-inches over the last few intertwined with the times we live in months, each one titled with a (“the fire ignites the sky, I never got single letter. Sequentially, they the chance, to say goodbye�), it’s spell out DECAY, which is apt, given hard not to think of Slow Decay as the state of the world today. Slow prophetic, or even hard journalism.

Decay, the LP proper, including all ten songs from the 7 inches plus two “You know, it’s just coincidental that new ones, is out July 24 release via it basically sounds like the record Rise Records. is about what’s going on right now,�

Bennett opines. “The record is actuThe songs as a whole are classic ally about we, as a planet, kind of get Acacia Strain: bleak, mind-numb- sucked into this wormhole, and we’re ingly barren, and eternally punish- all actually living in an alternate reing, but also slick in their sensibility, ality, in this version of hell, and the with new tones and precision cut- Earth as we know it no longer exists. ting more to the point. Which is: the Our reality is slowly melting around earth has reached its boiling point. us, and that’s the explanation to all COVID-19 has certainly heightened the craziness that’s going on, and this, but it’s been in plain sight for a that was even before all the crazilong time now, and lead singer Vin- ness we’re currently living.� cent Bennett has been writing nihilistic, apocalyptic folk tales since the Still, Bennett’s fictional tale is damn band’s inception. terrifying, for it showcases a matrix one can’t unplug from. Just like the “People have kind of come to me and one we’re in right now. been like, ‘Did you just write this a week ago?’� he says. “And I’m like, Acacia Strain records typically have ‘No, I wrote these lyrics like a year a virtual reality-like feel to them. ago.’ And they’re like, ‘I can’t believe They exist alone in some foreign, this’ [laughs].� hard-angled multiverse. The new songs continue that ascent. Linear You can’t blame the skepticism and cold with an almost metallic

naturalism, songs like “The Lucid It’s lighting though, and the writer Dreamâ€? and “Solace and Serenityâ€? must always make a choice: do I stay (both on the E 7-inch) offer little time put, or do I flee? for taking a breath, both continuous in their path to specific point. The “A lot of it I write when my mind is kind nightmare that passes is the reali- of empty,â€? Bennett explains. “You ty that no one wants to accept. The know, like when you have nothing to songs act as unbiased observers, do but think, like when you’re trying simply there to record the reverber- to fall asleep, is when your brain just ations and move on. They mirror our won’t turn off. Or when you’re doing a long drive, or when you’re in the un-reality quite impeccably. shower, and these are the, like, the “It feels like what we’re living right most inconvenient times for when now is fake,â€? Bennett says. ‘It feels you have thoughts you need to write like an alternate timeline. It just so down because you’re driving, and happens that more and more un- you’re trying to fall asleep, and evbelievable crazy shit just keeps hap- ery time you get a lyric in your head, pening, and nothing is balancing out you have to choose: do I write this anymore. We’re just full on a bullet down, or do I try and fall asleep? train to breaking reality.â€? “And when you’re in the shower, Mind versus matter. Where does the you’re soaking wet, you can’t even origin of inception begin, and where grab your phone; you’ll ruin it; you’ll does it end? The Acacia Strain have ruin a piece of paper. So, it’s like you always pushed the limits in terms of have to try and store all this stuff, representation, offering scenarios and if you don’t write it down, it’s that are misunderstood and small gone. Yeah, most of my ideas come portals that are ripe for discussion: at the most inconvenient times. I technology versus the organic pro- think that’s when your brain kind of cess, dreams versus reality, hope wanders, and that’s when the real versus despair. Slow Decay is that creativity comes out, when your intersection, a keyhole into the sub- brain has nothing to do but think, stance that is Bennett’s imagination. and you kind of just spiral.â€? đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł

NEW NOISE 61

THIRTY NIGHTS OF VIOLENCE INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST ZACH WILBOURN AND DRUMMER/BACKING VOCALIST ETHAN YOUNG

BY OWEN MORAWITZ

O

n their newest, six-track release, You’ll See Me Up There, Nashville bruisers Thirty Nights Of Violence are looking to shake things up in a crowded field.

to make it accessible, something for a much broader audience.�

It’s a sentiment that Wilbourn both acknowledges and agrees with wholeheartedly.

“I think originally, our writing process was not dialled in at all,� says vocalist Zach Wilbourn, discussing the band’s well-re- “I think we started with the intention to do something different, and I think some of ceived debut EP, 2018’s To Die In Your the best moments on this record hapPortrait. “In the beginning stage of the pened while we were still in the studio. band, [guitarist/backing vocalist] Kelly [Cook] was demoing a lot of these metal- This was sort of the first time we wrote with a bit more intention, maybe more of core tracks. Then, we started bringing a vision, and more of a collective idea as everyone in, and everyone kind of started opposed to the last record.� putting their own twist on things.�

Listening to You’ll See Me Up There, it’s clear that the Tennessee quintet had a strong desire for experimentation.

Lead single “Marbled Regression� and its accompanying music video takes this attitude and hones it to a razor’s edge, with a visceral live band performance, sharp songwriting, and cutting lyricism.

“We didn’t want to be another, you know, 2000-something heavy band that just has melodic breaks,� drummer and backing “Zack wrote his lyrics, and I had mine in vocalist Ethan Young explains. “We want- there too, but for me, the song is about the unhealthy ways that people can cope ed to have hooks, wanted to have parts with some of their traumas and with their that got stuck in your head. More than just mental health,� says Young. “At the very a melody buried in the song—we wanted

and be stuck in that than be bogged down by the things that are troubling you.�

Striking the sonic sweet-spot between chaos and catharsis, melody and mechanized aggression, You’ll See Me Up There is the product of a young group working together to create something raw and powerful—representative of both the individuals and the whole.

beginning of the video with our dancer “I think another thing that we really unWyatt [Day], who did an amazing job, he’s derstood is that we all have influences that on this bed and wrapped in the sheets. It’s are vastly different,â€? adds Wilbourn. “We a metaphor for confinement, for feeling talk about music, in general, all the time, like you’re stuck in your own head, and, so I think that allowed us to really kind of some days, it’s easier just to stay there develop a more collective environment.â€? đ&#x;’Ł

SHARP TOOTH

PHOTO BY KAT NIJMEDDIN

INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST LAUREN KASHAN AND GUITARIST LANCE DONATI

BY NICHOLAS SENIOR

B

ands are supposed to evolve, imHeavy music by its very nature should make proving with each release through the listener feel something, but there's a experience and wisdom. Few acts embody depth here that allows the musical darkness the spirit of evolution quite like Boston/ Baltimore-based metalcore act Sharptooth. to match the moral greyness in the lyrics.

Their sophomore record, Transitional Forms, Sharptooth are clearly harnessing their collective anger and fury into music that resoout July 10 via Pure Noise Records, is a nates with the cutting, biting commentary. masterclass in watching a young band take Kashan explains how she got comfortable everything that made their debut a success pouring out her soul like this: and exponentially improve in round two. If “Sharptooth have a kind of sound that is hard to pinpoint for me,� Donati acknowledges.

2017’s Clever Girl was a vicious and angry T-Rex, Transitional Forms feels like the mostly “And working with Lauren always has a way of “Getting this personal on the record felt imperative to my own personal and psychological fictional portrayal of velociraptors in Juras- accentuating the character of a piece. She journey at the time. I had a lot of extremely knows how to dive into the spirit of the song and sic Park – fast, brilliant, and deadly. big feelings about some things that run really emotion in ways that I couldn't think of. It's very deep for me, personally, but that were also Kashan laughs and considers a more scientifi- entertaining to witness. We have a relationship being mirrored in the world around me. In where I create instrumentals for her that are of cally accurate comparison to the band’s latest. recognizing those parallels, it was basically pretty decent quality (I even put some mastering mandatory that they were explored. I’m also “Sonically, Transitional Forms has that big, on the demos), and she will just vibe off them dark, looming feel of a big T-Rex, but con- and create lyrics for them and flesh out ideas. just a very different person than the person tent-wise, it feels much more like an Archae- I love that process. I just completely leave her who wrote the songs on Clever Girl. Transitional Forms was written during a time of immense alone. Then, she'll just go off.� opteryx, which was the inspiration for the title upheaval and uncertainty for me in so many of the record. The fact that the entire record aspects of my life and my own psychological Transitional Forms really mirrored Kashan’s is based on the concepts of nuance and own evolution from hopelessness to self-for- state. Purging and parsing through those in-between states really lends itself to being feelings and my own brain at the time was a giveness. It's an incredibly dark shade super fluid, both sonically and lyrically. I super necessity. It’s a record about change, and the of grey painted throughout. It seems like appreciate the acknowledgement of the ties there's an evolution from the vitriol in Clever changes I was experiencing and cultivating we’re constantly creating between science Girl to this harsher, more nuanced explo- as I wrote it. The despair, confusion, and and art, as those things are so intertwined to rage that I was carrying on a daily basis was ration in Transitional Forms. It's impossible me, and each lends itself to the exploration not to be viscerally affected while listening. unprecedented for me.� and examination of the other.�

Thematically, the record explores so many different ideas - racism, sexism, leeches (yes, scientific nomenclature), and even stupid metalcore clichĂŠs. Did putting these words to paper and screaming and singing them out help Kashan cope with this broken world and find something positive in the pain? “Oh absolutely,â€? she answers. “That’s how it’s always been for me. I lovingly refer to myself as a ‘big feelings bitch,’ and the intensity to which I feel things has the potential to be volatile and dangerous. That’s how and why I got into heavy music in the first place.

It was the only place I felt like I could safely embody, express, and heal from trauma, and process those huge feelings. It still is. It also opens up an opportunity for self-exploration. In going to shows, I was able to start that process of expressing these things, but in writing these songs is where I get to really explore the nuances of how and why I am feeling that way in the first place.â€? đ&#x;’Ł

IN HEARTS WAKE INTERVIEW WITH SINGER JAKE TAYLOR BY NICHOLAS SENIOR

T

he idea of spending four days alone in really look at my choices and really realize the wilderness sounds utterly terrifying that everything I do has to matter. And we for a number of reasons: snakes, spiders, as a band feel that way as well. We agree if sunburns, let alone the horror of my own we were going to make another record, let's thoughts and judgements. But that’s exactly make it count. This was about putting all of what vocalist Jake Taylor undertook before our skills really on the firing line to just do the creating his band’s latest metalcore opus. best, not just the best that we could, but reKaliyuga, In Hearts Wake’s fifth album, is ally make some bold decisions and have the due out August 7 via UNFD. The Byron Bay, messages be bold too, as a record for us.�

Australia-based act are renowned for their environmental focus and a keen balance Kaliyuga thematically deals with how we that permeates every aspect of their music. are in this great period of negativity and Nuanced discussions that challenge the how to find the light at the end of the tunnel. listener rather than pass judgement, haunt- Themes of fire and rebirth play into this. Tay- “I do feel that the record really touches on ing melody mixed with curb-stomping riffs, lor reflects on how we can cleanse ourselves, calling out all of these imbalances,� he continues. “These different facets of the human and concept albums that are meant to be by becoming something else: condition. And as we experienced them consumed rather than studied – that’s the In too, as individuals in being accountable for Hearts Way formula in an organic nutshell. “Well, in order to have birth, we do have to have death, right? I'm a believer that, yes, what we've been feeling, and then unpacking The desire to push was central to the band’s that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, those things so that hopefully we can evolve as a species to the next stage. I believe we philosophy going in, and a direct result of but you have to move through the tunnel this wilderness vision quest, as Taylor notes. to meet that light. And through that action, were born into these times for a reason: to experience this and that we can transmute through that doing, through us looking for and evolve towards the golden age.� “It's a very intense and powerful thing to solution, we have to face the death. We do, one of the most challenging things that have to face ourselves in the mirror and So, what does that golden age look like to him? not wallow in self-pity and wallow in the I've ever done in my life. It was also one of the best things I've ever done. Yeah, it did negativity, but really just address it, see it for “It looks like a reconnection back to nature,� create a sense of urgency within me just to what it is.�

he says. “It doesn't mean we are feral, prehistoric barbarians. It's bringing everything that we have learned with our technology and our amazing brains and our ingenuity, bringing all of that back to the fundamentals of how to cultivate gardens, how to make fire with your bare hands, how to have shelter, how to have community and family, how to eat healthy. Because when we look after our bodies, we look after the world.

We are a mirror for what's happening. So, by bringing all of these things together, I mean, it's this utopian idea, but it's bringing harmony back to ourselves, and our happiness, and our community.â€? đ&#x;’Ł

NEW NOISE 63

TINTYPE PHOTO BY ANDY MARTIN

Most of Leatherface’s Stateside fanbase came to the band through Hot Water Music, who asked them to come on tour 20 years ago. The bands also did one of the first of the famed BYO Split Series together.

Leatherface’s emotional explosions and Stubbs’ gravel road delivery were a prototype of what became the Gainesville sound. “I love listening to Hot Water and Dillinger 4 and all these bands,� says Stubbs. “They influenced me, or we might have influenced them. They are friends for life. If any one of them said, ‘help me,’ I wouldn’t even think twice. I’d just be doing it.�

Eventually we got to talking about the record, a release that came as something of a surprise. Leatherface, considered by some the most important contemporary, British punk band, was finished after the death of founding member and guitarist Dickie Hammond in 2015.

Stubbs had no intention of ever playing again, but when he agreed to do a few solo shows, he didn’t just want to rehash old Leatherface.

FRaNkIe stubbs INTERVIEW BY

BY JON COEN rankie Norman Warsaw Stubbs doesn’t care for interviews.

F

nectivity more so than his new solo EP, Blood Orange Moon, which came out June 12 on Rad Girlfriend Records and Little Rocket Records.

“It’s like a zombie movie,� he says thoughtfully. “I don’t know what it’s like in the States. Both of our countries are run by populists right now.

They’ll say anything that seems popular. I’ll never understand that. I’ve noticed that it has brought out the worst in people—greedy people, buying We free-flowed down a pleasant, toilet rolls, buying up everything. conversational river with the mean- And then there are others where it’s dering discussions that people are brought out the best. having after months of being alone.

Mr. Stubbs prioritizes human con- “Like at 8:00pm on a Thursday night, But, on a May evening, while quarantining in his Sunderland, U.K. flat and Skyping across the Atlantic Ocean, the frontman of the late great British punk band Leatherface, was open to talk about anything.

64 NEW NOISE

“Real music tells the history of its time, everything around you.�

“My favorite thing is making songs up,� he says. “It was always my favorite thing because I was quite shy. It took me about 20 years to get used to playing in front of an audience. But if I was going to do this, I needed some new songs, because I didn’t want to be some crusty, old act. I’ve got more. I will hopefully do a full album or something.�

The lasting solo career of the punk frontman has become a mainstay of the underground music scene of late.

Stubbs believes that folk and punk have a lot in common. “You’re telling a story about the world you live in,� he says. “You can read the history of the world through music, real music, not this shithead pop toss, which is about money, money, money. Real music tells the history of its time, everything around you. Punk rock and folk, to me, are the same. That’s what music is. Wandering minstrels 500 years ago went around singing songs about whatever was going on then.�

every week, everyone in this country walks out on the front porch and applauds the National Health Service [NHS] for the work they do.

And it’s good to see. And you’ve got Boris [Johnson, Prime Minister of the U.K.] talking about our ‘beloved NHS.’ But the government hadn’t given them a pay raise for, The new Stubbs EP is three new songs, like, eight years. Now, he’s grovel- as well as the Leatherface favorite ing to the NHS because they saved “Shipyards,â€? off 1994’s The Last. It’s a his fucking life! Halfway through nice little helping for those starving leaving the E.U., he was ready to for some Stubbs in these times. sell our NHS to American medical companies. So, if anything good “Let’s hope this thing now brings peocomes of this, he will realize that ple back together,â€? he says. “We’re he cannot sell our healthcare to stronger together. We don’t have to Trump’s friends.â€? be selfish fuckers.â€? đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł

brought back J-Mann and basically introduced Jackie on, and it was just a pain to work with that many artists to make something that didn’t sound forced or contrived. That album was really challenging.�

In contrast with those feelings, Felton says that the new album was “very easy to write.�

supportive. They really understand the craft as far as the art involved in making art, and making music, and making videos, and tying that all together. They really have their fingers on the pulse of what it takes. They understand and they’ve been very patient, I can’t thank them enough.�

With so much coming up, fans of music and Mushroomhead alike certainly have a lot to look forward to. Felton himself is very excited for the masses to listen to A Wonderful Life. When speaking on what the fans can anticipate, Felton says:

“A lot of it kind of wrote itself,� he says. “We did a lot of writing on the road because there was a ton of touring in between that five-year span. Over the last two years, we did a majority of the writing from December 2019 to January 2020. That was the whole “I really think, on this album, there span of writing that album and put- truly is something for everyone. If ting that together. We had a lot of you’re not a fan of the more brutal downtime and did that on the road. heavy stuff, wait for the track to end, We did a lot of the recording and because the next will be something writing on the road. In my eyes, I’m different. Truly there’s something really proud of the record. It came for everyone on this. A lot of potenout great.� tial for new fans, or those who’ve listened to Mushroomhead before When it comes to the audience’s who don’t know what it sounds like perception, Felton says he’s “anxious anymore. Let’s face it, this is the new to see� how people receive the new Mushroomhead. No one knows what album, which also saw the band sign it sounds like. I’ve heard people say, with Napalm Records. Touching on ‘have you heard the new Mushroomhis attitude and how it’s been work- head?’ and I think it’s really cool to ing with the new label Felton says: be able to say that, 27 years into it.

It’s not just the new album, it’s the “So far so good. They’ve been really new Mushroomhead.â€?đ&#x;’Ł

INTERVIEW WITH FOUNDER / DRUMMER STEVE “SKINNY� FELTON

BY LOGAN TURNER

M

uch like the world we live in now, Mushroomhead has gone through many changes over the past year. With the departure of band members, a shuffling around of plans due to the ongoing state of the world, and a new album on the horizon, it’s safe to say the band has a lot going on.

pandemic started in early March,� he says. “A few band members were iffy doing video work together, so almost every bit of it, if you really look at those edits, almost every single band member is shot by themselves.

It’s been challenging being creative with such a large group of people.�

Mushroomhead’s previous release, Amid the anticipation for the re- The Righteous & The Butterfly, release of A Wonderful Life, and the ceived both critical and commercial introduction of new vocalist Steve success. It was be the band’s first alRauckhorst, founder and drummer bum to reach the Billboard Top 200’s Steve “Skinny� Felton touches on top 20, claiming the number 20 spot. the elephant in the room – the It also reached the number 1 spot on difficulties the band has faced in the Billboard indie charts. releasing an album in the middle of a worldwide pandemic. He gives “That record was really cool to make,� the example of trying to shoot a Felton recalls. “It was a little more music video for the single “Seen It All� scattered than this one. It was not as during these chaotic times. focused at all. It was actually a little more difficult to put together with so “We started filming as soon as the many people, that was the album we

66 NEW NOISE

PHOTOGRAPHY BY KYLE BERGFORS

NEW E.P. OUT AUGUST 14, 2020

NIGHTMARES OF THE WEST

NEW E.P. OUT NOW

PHOTO BY GREG JACOBS

INTERVIEW

BY MARIKA ZORZI

K

ing Buzzo, the iconic Melvins singer and guitar player, returns after 2014’s This Machine Kills Artists with his second solo album, Gift of Sacrifice, out via Ipecac Recordings.

“I’ve done a lot of records in the 35-plus years we’ve been a band,�

Buzzo says of his time with Melvins. “I thought it was time to do a solo record. Acoustic seemed about as back-to-basics as I could get, so that was attractive. [Being] on my own was the point of the first solo record. It was fun to do.�

Some of the heaviest musicians on the planet can commune beautifully with the quietude of folk, and King Buzzo is the latest to try his luck with the genre. “I suppose just playing an acoustic guitar pushes you towards folk to some degree, but I have yet to tap into the standard folk audience,� he says. “I’m sure I never will. They seem to have just as big a stick up their ass as the jazz heads do. Both

68 NEW NOISE

those audiences are way too stuck “I wrote and recorded a bunch of time ago,� he confesses. “I heard a up for my taste. I never had any de- songs with the idea that it was going professional skateboarder say that the lusions that I’d be headed in those to be just me, but then I changed my reason you quit is because you either directions. I figured rightly that I’d mind at the last minute and added don’t want to do it anymore or that no have to make my way without their Trevor to almost the whole record,� one cares. That seems about right. I’m help. That’s OK; I’m up for the he explains. “It was a good choice. holding up my end of the bargain!� challenge. Inspiration comes from I love the way it came out. At this a lot of sources. Everything from point, I like collaborating with oth- “A lot has changed, obviously, in the bands, painters, movie directors er people because it’s a lot of fun. nearly four decades I’ve been playing to normal, everyday sounds you’d We’ve done a shitload of records, music,� he continues. “I guess I have hear all the time, like a car door so it’s a good fit. I think Trevor and more confidence in what I’m doing. I slamming. Let’s say my main inspi- I are going to do a new record to- think I’m a better musician and a betration these days is the sound of a gether, since this one got fucked up ter song writer. In reality, though, the most important aspect of my life has car door slamming.� because of COVID.� been my marriage of nearly 27 years.

Being a solo artist was a challenge The last Melvins album, Pinkus Everything else seems almost meanthat King Buzzo wanted to face after Abortion Technician, was released ingless in comparison. She’ll still be being with Melvins for over 30 years. in 2018, but that doesn’t mean the here long after I’m done playing music, whenever that is.� band has stopped playing. “It’s totally different,� he confesses. “I don’t have those guys to hide be- “We’re always working on something King Buzzo also has some advice for hind when I’m up on stage or record- new,� King Buzzo says. “Right now, every musician who is reading this ing music. I like the fact that it’s just I’m finishing up a new Melvins 1983 interview. me up there, even if it’s a total success record with original Melvins drumor failure. It’s a good challenge, and mer Mike Dillard. This will be our “Practicing is good, but don’t beat it into the ground. There is such a I want to do a whole lot more of it. It’s second, full-length album.� thing as over-cooking. You don’t simpler, I guess, and at this point, I like simpler. Easier to manage.�

Even after being a musician for want to flog the life out of someover 30 years, King Buzzo has never thing. I’ve seen it done, and the results are horrific and boring. Try to In this nine-song release, King Buzzo thought about quitting. be as peculiar as possible. I guess is not completely alone. He is joined by longtime friend and Mr. Bungle “Thirty-seven years, actually! I must like that’s the best, all-around advice. bass player Trevor Dunn. doing it, or I would have quit a long The weirder the better.â€?đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł

DON’T SLEEP ON THESE SPECIAL RELEASES..

INTER ARMA

COVER ALBUM GARBER DAYS REVISITED REVIEW

BY BEN SAILER

CADY GROVES: BLESS MY HEART EP: THIRTY TIGERS

Cady Groves was just 30-years-old when she passed away earlier this year. Though her career was cut short, she managed to tour with a slew of bands from different genres like All Time Low, Boys Like Girls, LMFAO, Good Charlotte, and Third Eye Blind. Her final recordings are pulled together on this five-track, Bless My Heart EP (5 Songs). The album is available now on Thirty Tigers. - John B. Moore

PAY FOR PAIN: S/T EP: DARK MEDICINE

C

over albums are often obvious filler intended to meet contractual obligations between bands and labels. Alternately, they might be a disposable novelty.

Inter Arma’s pedigree invokes neither of things though, so when you hear they’ve put out a collection of covers spanning their early influences, you sit up and pay a little more attention that you may have otherwise. The band have never been known for making commercial compromises with their music. In fact, going aggressively against the grain has long been their calling card, consistently shunning convention and pursuing their own vision regardless of expectations.

Those who set skepticism aside here will be rewarded for their faith. Sure, hearing a God-tier metal band covering several decidedly non-metal bands might sound strange, but could possibly fit the current vibe right now, in the Year of our Lord 2020, than the weirdest shit possible? You better believe a label like Relapse isn’t risking their reputation on trash, either.

So, maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise that Garber Days Revisited absolutely slays. A genre-hopping collection of eight covers spanning hits and deep cuts inside and out of the heavy music realm, it feels much more like a sincere expression of creative inspiration rather than throwaway filler.

If anyone has ever wondered where the band’s maximalist sound comes from, there are probably plenty of hints across their blistering takes.

The common thread tying together each track here is a genuine connection to the band’s taste and creative roots. There’s

70 NEW NOISE

nothing necessarily safe about several of their choices here, either – covering Prince’s “Purple Rain” takes some cast iron balls and pulling it off successfully requires a level of musicianship not every band possesses.

It’s in close competition with their relatively clean take on Tom Petty’s “Running Down a Dream,” or the triumphant treatment they lend to Neil Young’s “Southern Man” for the most surprising cut on this EP, the latter of which gets a smoky, slow-burning buildup before blasting into the thick-as-hell riffage they’re known for here.

On the heavier end of the spectrum, reaching into early post-hardcore history with Husker DÜ’s “The Girl Who Lives on Heaven Hill” flashes some punk influence, as does their take on Cro Mag’s “Hard Times,” which is mostly surprising because it might be the first and last time the characteristically drawn-out Inter Arma finishes a song in under two minutes.

What’s most interesting about this release is how much insight it shows, both into who Inter Arma are as musicians and the quality of their source material.

If a song can be distilled into a chord progression and taken into a wildly different context without losing its core essence, that’s a mark of sound craftsmanship. Ultimately what we’ve been given here is much more than a vanity project – it’s a daring dose of sonic experimentation that helps illustrate exactly why this band has so successfully transcended metal boundaries, not that they were ever concerned with their confines to begin with.

Well played, gentlemen.

Pay For Pain is a brand new band comprised of Adam McIlwee, the brainchild behind the genre-defying Wicca Phase Springs Eternal, and Dennis Mishko and Pat Brier, both from indie rock’s Three Man Cannon. The trio also once put in time with Tigers Jaw. This self-titled EP is a perfect intro to their new endeavor, which is a cool mix of… well think Wicca Phase Springs Eternal mixed with Three Man Cannon. The EP is out now from Dark Medicine. - John B. Moore

OFF THE CHARTS: THE SONG POEM STORY SOUNDTRACK: BURGER RECORDS

There was a 2003 documentary about the little known song-poem industry, a category of music that finds poets making their writing into songs. Every hear of it? Probably not, but the Song-Poem genre has developed parallel to the mainstream music business, and dates back nearly a century. Burger Records is putting the 23-track soundtrack out on CD and limited edition vinyl.

- John B. Moore

THE YOUNG CANADIANS: HAWAII: PORTERHOUSE RECORDS

Porterhouse Records took great care in reissuing The Young Canadians’ out-of-print, incredibly fun and energetic, four-song debut EP, Hawaii. A limited edition, 250-copy go-round on clear orange vinyl, it offers a great look back at the short-lived band who started out in Vancouver in 1978. About releasing this EP at this moment in time, Porterhouse label head Steve Kravac explains that, outside of just a general love of the record itself, it’s also a very timely release. “[Frontman] Art [Bergmann is] working on a new record, so we’re going to put that out hopefully in maybe the next six to eight months, and there’s a bunch more Art Bergmann catalog we’re going to be releasing over the next year or so. Looking forward to introducing more people south of the border to his songwriting and finding out a bit more about him. There are some folks who know him down here and know of his work, so I've just been trying to connect him with those folks so we can start telling that story and supporting him for this new record.” - Janelle Jones

ANALOG BECAUSE CASSETTES RULE HARD AND NEVER REALLY AGE, T HE ANALOG CAVE IS HERE TO BRING YOU SOME OF THE BEST IN UNDERGROUND TAPES A ND COLLECTED VISION. A CASSETTE IS LIKE YOUR BEST FRIEND, YOUR MOST TRUSTED TRAVEL PARTNER, AND A SPECIMEN OF IMAGINATIVE FANTASY AND OTHERWORLDLY DIMENSION. POP ONE IN AND TRANSFORM. RIDE THE HIGHWAY ETERNAL.

WEEDRAT BESIDES CHAPTER HOUSE

BE PM BEATS & IMPRO MY BAGS Beats & Impro is an organic inversion of technical application. It's a live performance by the quartet Be PM, four musicians from Chile, that lays circular form atop an electronic impulse. Lead by DJ, beatmaker and drummer, Daniel Celso (aka Dacel), and beatmaker, keyboardist, Felipe Palomo (aka Low End), the band shimmers and tails like a vinyl exploration into the grooves of funk, soul and hip-hop, measuring, freeing itself, extending into the lushness of its environment. There is color and stimulus to the sound that is perfectly paired with the record’s cover, a painting by the fluid abstractionist, Theo Lopez. Beats & Impro spins like a cloud on the horizon, the listener driving a freeway alone, water meshing into the elasticity of tomorrow. Bassist Victor “Sacha” Silva and guitarist Gabriel “Gab” Jofre are smooth and effortless, lights sparkling in midair, dancing and becoming one. The recording is a light unto the past, a reflection of the possible future. It reads as a mixtape, taking cues from hip-hop’s elite (Flying Lotus, J Dilla), club fusionists (Thievery Corporation), and krautrock like Can. This is the sort of tape you can flip over and over through that twelve hour drive from NYC to Chicago, and then again, fifteen hours from Chicago to Denver.

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GEE BAG X ILLINFORMED RESPECT YA ELDERS! REVORD RECORDS U.K.-based rapper Gee Bag has a lyrical deftness that is true. A smooth flow that hits hard on the beat, his reach is particular for its inclusion and adaption. His songs speak of reality, of the streets he’s walked, the world he knows. His delivery is old school and contemporary, a bridge of respect and originality, a letter to the past, a demand to the future.

You can sense the old legends’ presence, the desire to continue a formula that is real and honest. Respect Ya Elders! is the new record, produced entirely by Illinformed, and featuring a plethora of dynamos like Rodney P, Doug Sure, The Strange Neighbour, Flying Monk, Big Toast, Downstroke and more.

“Foreigners” is the demand for self-reflection the world needs to hear. A song about the effects racism has on every person that lives and breathes. Gee Bag knows how fast the disease of xenophobia and racism spreads, how it’s a construct, not something natural.

Of those afflicted, he sings, “you’re not holier than that, it just shows you’re dumb.” Respect Ya Elders! is the record of the moment, a soundtrack of truth, of variance, of stark originality and force. We’re all lucky it's here!

Great punk is the morphing of poetry and rage, and the grace to present it authentically. Weedrat is a true practitioner. With songs that are short, driven with oneness, and composed of life (simple, painful and real), the trio’s propulsion melts deeply into your heart. The group is a Diné (in Navajo meaning “the people”) trio from Albuquerque, anchored by singer and guitarist Rebecca Jones’s sly riffing and transcendent vocals. Besides is a collection of songs from 2015 that are seeing the light of the day for the first time: four studio rockers, one demo, and two live tracks. They’re so damn good that after a few spins over, you’d think you’d been listening to them your whole life. “Shifting” is straight forward, a punk classic that feels the cracks of the Earth, a tale of permanence and perseverance.

“Bad Day” is a quick spasm, a hard riff, and an excursion of humor (which is the truth of all things). “Johnny” is an epic about communication, miscommunication, with a chorus that showcases Jones’ captivating pipes. “Noise Ring” is straight angles, a piercing lead, a cry of humanness. Chapter House is a Native American-based collective, which just released a compilation album of amazing Native bands: Smash It Up! A Chapter House Compilation.

Check their catalog out at: chapterhouse. bandcamp.com

JZ REPLACEMENT DISRESPECTFUL RAINY DAYS Disrespectful is a pop record disguised as an avant-garde jazz record. Pop, in the sense that it transforms the boundaries of a traditional approach in the vein of jazz and avant-garde, and glides towards something of a praxis, concerning attention, presentation and oneness. JZ Replacement is the multifarious duo of Zhenya Strigalev (saxes, electronics) and Jamie Murray (drums), both clever and exploratory artists who attack and glide at propulsive speeds. They’re joined on this recording by bassist Tim Lefebvre, creating a circular complexity of fullness, often generating simultaneous emotions, which is why the pop moniker is appropriate. Here, pop is wild and free (“Bee Bee”), doomy and clandestine (“Tubuka”), and linear and hard (“Five Cymbals for Jamie”), but it is always full, in the sense that it’s democratic.

There’s something here for every listener. The pockets of warmth are many, and so are the avenues of distress and abandon. Groups like Happy Apple and various John Zorn incarnations come to mind, but JZ Replacement is its own beast, continually driving (and retracting) to the heart of emotion.

THROES OF JOY IN THE JAWS OF DEFEATISM | OUT SEPTEMBER 18

VREDESVÄVD | OUT SEPTEMBER 18

THE ENTOMBMENT OF CHAOS | OUT SEPTEMBER 11

DAWN OF THE DAMNED | OUT OCTOBER 9

MENACE | OUT SEPTEMBER 25

VIOLENT PORTRAITS OF DOOMED ESCAPE | OUT AUGUST 7