New Noise Magazine Issue # 54

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ISSUE 54

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THE NEW WHAT NEXT BOTANIST THE ATOMIC BITCHWAX EXHALENTS HEATHEN FIRSTBORNE I'VE GOT THE P.M.A! USA NAILS ANNA VON HAUSSWOLFF BALL OF LIGHT CLASSICS OF LOVE THE HOUSE THAT BRADLEY BUILT GREG PUCIATO PALLBEARER THE OCEAN TOUCHÉ AMORÉ UNIFORM NAPALM DEATH NECROT GET DEAD THE MENZINGERS

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LYDIA LOVELESS METZ

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DEVILDRIVER THE MOUNTAIN GOATS L.A. WITCH KATAKLYSM JOHN SNODGRASS PIG DESTROYER SILENT ERA DEAFBRICK BELL WITCH THE SHORTLIST ANALOG CAVE

REST IN POWER

RILEY GALE LYDIA LOVELESS COVER ART BY GEORGE HONDROULIS METZ COVER PHOTO BY NORMAN WONG TABLE OF CONTENTS PHOTO BY JOE CALIXTO

RETRACTION - ISSUE 53 PHOTOS OF PHOEBE BRIDGERS WERE BY DANNY O' DONNELL

BY NICHOLAS SENIOR PHOTO BY ELLIS MARTIN

PHOTO BY FRANKX STUDIO

PHOTO BY KATRIN ALBERT

BODY DOUBLE

BIKE THIEFS

The idea that you aren’t what you think you are is a central tenet in so many mysteries, thrillers, and horror fiction.

The psychological terror that comes from the fear of the unknown and the sense of recognition clashing with new sensations can create a host of fun plot threads to play with. In a musical manner, that’s exactly what Body Double are able to accomplish with their Siouxsie And The Banshees-like debut.

In so many ways, Milk Fed is a pop album masquerading as a weird new wave/goth/post-punk dreamscape (or is it the other way around?). There’s a push and pull, in the sense that these songs morph with your expectations, only to reveal unexpected beauty at each turn. That odd sense was the whole point.

Good post punk sounds either urgent or weird. Great post-punk aims to do both. Bike Thiefs take both extremes to the, uh, extreme by putting some of the oddest jams to tape in recent memory. There’s this constant “off� quality that the band intentionally pursue, but it fucks with your brain to create some of the most pleasing new wave-y sounds since the ’80s. Leaking is jam-packed with just about every style of punk in the past four decades, but in the careful Canadian hands of Bike Thiefs, the result is beautifully cohesive. That emphasis on everything-butthe-kitchen-sink dichotomy worked its way into the lyrics as well.

“All the albums I love have pop songs, but the structures are mutilated enough and the references are diverse enough that the end result is no longer a recognizable descendent of what came before,� vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Candace Lazarou states.

“I like the thin veneer of reality, and just under that, fiction. Leaking is what you get when you fall into a hole of depression and addiction. It’s about fading relationships, self-harm, and agoraphobia, but it’s also about hope, finding the good in people, compromise, and acceptance of both others and living through the situation you’re in. The album is very suburban. I think there’s a lot of interesting, weird and ugly stuff — and pretty stuff — in the suburbs,â€? notes guitarist and vocalist Marko Woloshyn. đ&#x;’Ł

Hometown: Oakland, California Album: Milk Fed out now via Zum RIYL: Plot Twists. Mutilation. Psychological Horror Films.

“But I don’t want people to just feel unpleasant and confused listening to Milk Fed. If they felt unpleasant the whole time, then the uneasy listening sections would be less impactful. It’s much better to tell someone that they're safe in the first verse, and then say, ‘I lied, no such thing as safe,’ in the chorus.â€?đ&#x;’Ł

PHOTO BY DEAN GORDON

Hometown: Toronto, Canada Album: Leaking out October 30 via Stomp Records RIYL: Butchered Plurals. The Maple Leafs. Mixtapes.

BOOTBLACKS

Hometown: New York, New York Album: Thin Skies out October 9 via Artofact Records RIYL: Crying on the Dancefloor. Empire State of Mind.

Neon.

Despite the monochrome colors their name evokes, everything about Bootblacks is beautifully colorful and resplendent. Their music brings visions of basement neon dance clubs, where the lights are just low enough so that every dancer’s colorful outfit feels like a unique shade of grey. In so many ways, Bootblacks find unique and delightful ways to both surprise and innovate. Rarely can a band combine ’80s synthpop, new wave, the best parts of U2, and modern house. Thin Skies is awash with this NYC mindset of knowing you are surrounded by so many people and massive architecture that creates this liberating, unifying, yet lonely feeling. Vocalist Panther Almqvist concurs: “It's a place where you're always visible and invisible at the same time. That is to say, you have to tread a lot of water here to stay above the surface. The city’s energy can just carry you along or wash you out to sea. To exist here is to be fighting against that powerful tide. I think all New Yorkers are shaped by that struggle, and that’s why you don’t have to necessarily be born here to be a New Yorker, you just have to be dedicated to the city’s manic energy and your resilience to it. I think there is definitely some frenzy and urgency in our music that’s gotten baked in from living in the city.â€? đ&#x;’Ł

CATHOLIC GUILT

Hometown: Melbourne, Australia Album: This is What Honesty Sounds Like EP out now via Wiretap Records RIYL: Habits. Honesty. Hooks.

“I grew up in a Catholic family. I attended Catholic schools,� vocalist Brenton Harris notes. “To this day, I could probably recite the entire Mass from start to finish. I’m definitely not a practicing Catholic now, but that experience left me with a lot of cultural conditioning that is there for good. Some good, some bad, some in-between. The biggest of those, though, is definitely the omnipresent sense of wrongdoing that we call ‘Catholic guilt.’ That fucks you up.�

So, it’s no surprise that the band dabble in what they call “honest rock,â€? since they would probably have to recite a half-dozen Hail Marys if they did anything else. Jokes aside, Catholic Guilt’s latest batch of punk psalms really does perfectly mix punk, folk, and alt rock in a way that is immediate, heartfelt, and an excellent vessel for impressive sonic storytelling. The band do a better job than most priests’ homilies of hitting home with relatable messages that ring true. Indeed, for lapsed Catholics looking for a new sense of community, Harris and company offer up quite the honest hook. đ&#x;’Ł

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PHOTO BY SAMANTHA CARCASOLE

PHOTO BY DAVID DOULLIO

COLD YEARS

GARGOYL

There’s something about U.K. punk bands writing Springsteen rock that just clicks (see Deaf Havana), but Paradise really takes the cake in this genre that only exists in my mind. Few bands can meld punk mindsets, hooks screaming for stadium shows to happen again, and genuinely interesting songwriting the way that Cold Years can. There’s a clear disillusionment with the state of the world and the seemingly unending evils around us. However, Paradise revels in small victories that can keep even the most pissed off punks carry on.

Whether it’s births, weddings, or rekindled friendships, celebrating individual moments is at the heart of what Cold Years offer. They are the beachside drink at dawn with friends – a moment to savor. Vocalist Ross Gordon shares more about the album:

Gargoyl feel like a Lovecraftian entity for a host of reasons, but chief among them is this idea that they are so overwhelming to experience. On paper, this blend of grunge, death, prog, jazz, and thrash should sound like Mr. Bungle, Alice In Chains, and Cynic. On the record, that’s sort of what’s happening, except there is so very much more. Rhythms and notes are swirling in harmonies and polyrhythms. The closest I can come to describing the experience is going on an acid trip at a ’70s traveling circus performance. The more you take in Gargoyl, the more beautiful and terrifying the experience. Meanwhile, the carnival barker is Luke Roberts’s haunting Layne Staley-evoking voice, telling emotionally wrecked tales that bring you one step deeper in. In short, if the Twin Peaks Red Room were a prog grunge band, it would sound like Gargoyl.

Hometown: Aberdeen, Scotland Album: Paradise, out now via Inside Job/eOne RIYL: My Generation. Storytelling. Happy Endings.

Hometown: Canada and Boston, Massachusetts Album: Self-titled out October 9 via Season of Mist RIYL: Twin Peaks Red Room. Drugs. Circuses.

“I think we really wanted to capture the disillusionment with the generation we’ve grown up “I think music is always the most compelling when it can make you feel a variety of emotions at once,â€? in. My youth was deeply rooted in punk rock, and I think that’s finally surfaced on this record. guitarist Dave Davidson states. “But even though there are a wide range of dynamics and moods I wanted to convey the misery I was in at the time of writing it. Terrible relationship, career on the album, [I hope] that you feel the cohesion throughout the record as a whole. I appreciate overtaking my life, no money, a country in a mess. That feeling of wanting to break out and when a band is hard to label, so it was extremely important for the both of us to give Gargoyl its own find happiness. And I did. With everything we have now as a band, what I have personally, unique voice that was different from our other projects [Revocation, Ayahuasca]. I think the syntheand the incredible people I now have in my life. I found someone to share it with. I re-es- sis of those different elements creates a very unique musical atmosphere that can feel familiar but tablished friendships I thought were lost, and I get up every day excited to be alive!â€? đ&#x;’Ł also bizarre and unnerving.â€? đ&#x;’Ł

PHOTO BY DARREN PLANK

PHOTO BY LOUIS KNIGHT

PHOTO BY FARRAH SKEIKY

ERA BLEAK

Hometown: Portland, Oregon Album: Self-Titled out now via Dirt Cult Records RIYL: Protests. Humor. Jam Bands.

Is it possible to have fun anymore? Can we experience joy during a year with seemingly insurmountable mountains of poo to climb over? When our era is as bleak as this, it’s time to seek solace in the musical arms of a punk jam band.

A punk jam band? Doesn’t the very concept of righteously furious punk seem antithetical to long-winded, drug-infused jam bands? Well, Era Bleak don’t really sound like a jam band–there’s is more of a mix of ’80s hardcore, post-punk, and doses of art punk. However, their sci-fi-tinged tales of despair and paranoia were the result of a rather peculiar songwriting process, as bassist Justin Schramer notes: “This band is funny in that we don’t write songs as much as we stumble into them. Each song is kind of a result of an ‘instant jam’ session. I had never played bass in a band before. I’d be so psyched the second I plug in, that I’d start playing right away. The next thing I know, everyone's playing, and it sounds sick. The whole band just kicks in. Lyrics, beats, everything. It’s wild. I think we have maybe two songs that were actually written whole before we were all in the room. We joke sometimes that we are really a jam band.â€? đ&#x;’Ł

KNOWSO

PILAU

Sneakily, Cleveland has become somewhat of a hotbed for excellent punk, and the cream of the crop (the Polish Boy?) are Knowso. This brand of know-it-alls specialize in a frantic hybrid of oddball post-punk, melodic hardcore, and another heaping serving of delightfully bizarre. While some bands get away with being weird by throwing in jarringly catchy choruses, Knowso are instead imbued with the spirit of Devo. This is purposefully punchy and peculiar punk, and all the better for it. It doesn’t hurt that the band not only have something to say but have the wisdom to understand being angry isn’t enough anymore. Coming from the Rust Belt, there’s quite a bit of frustration spewing from the speakers during Specialtronics/Green Vision, as bassist and vocalist Nathan Ward shares:

The funny part of the word “extreme� is how subjective it is. When you’re an angry, Midwestern teenager, P.O.D. and MxPx sound like extreme noise to you and your parents.

For some of us, we choose to continue pushing to the edges of extremity, searching for a new boundary. Eventually, a happy middle ground is found where excess and accessibility are allowed to co-exist. While Pilau sound nothing like what I listened to in middle school, there’s that sense of extremity that fuels this fiery EP. Most of these eight songs hover around the one-minute mark, and all of them aim to stuff as many excellent ideas into 60 seconds as humanly possible. The fact that the resulting tunes are both tightly focused and astoundingly executed speaks to the band’s songwriting prowess and power. As guitarist Mough notes, this quality is part of the process.

“With our new songs we’ve been releasing, I’m trying to translate apathy and hopelessness into direct calls to action and being productive. I’m not sure if there’s enough room in society for another angry person yelling into the ether.

Environmentalism, racism, labor rights, income inequality ‌ all this stuff needs to be met with action and mobilization.â€? đ&#x;’Ł

“Every musician will tell you they listen to a million bands, and we're no different. Every week, I want to start a band of a different genre. So, I guess we're figuring out a way to do all that in one band without it sounding too inconsistent. However, it all revolves around the crust, grindcore, and hardcore realm.â€? đ&#x;’Ł

Hometown: Cleveland, Ohio Album: Specialtronics/Green Vision out now via Drunken Sailor Records RIYL: LeBron James. Hope. Mobilization.

Hometown: Stuttgart, Germany Album: Pilau EP coming soon via Capsule Records RIYL: Blenders. Moshing. Mayhem.

NEW NOISE 7

PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER STURM

PHOTO BY SONYA ALFANO

REPTOID

TEENAGE HALLOWEEN

Jordan Sobolew is clearly an alien. One listen to Worship False Gods will impress anyone with even the faintest appreciation of noise rock or industrial. However, the more you listen to Reptoid and realize this is one damn dude doing it all, you have no choice but to stand in awe. It’s not just the amount of chaos and noise contained within, it’s how cohesive and freaking catchy this record is. You won’t be surprised to learn that Sobolew is a drummer by trade, as his kitwork is both impressive and immersive, but the rest of the resultant noise is no slouch either. In fact, Worship False Gods is one of the best records in recent memory, revealing a man possessed with an immense amount of talent. As someone who has been completely exhausted throughout the past few months, the amount of energy needed to do this is insane. Sobolew, not surprisingly, is fueled by just that:

Interesting and good aren’t always synonymous–there are a whole lot of bands that are good but not interesting, and vice versa. Teenage Halloween are both immensely interesting and exceptionally good. Predominantly a queer-identifying band, their debut full-length is dripping with layers of subtext and musical density. Featuring a beautifully haunting album cover, Teenage Halloween wrestle with learning to define a true sense of self, purpose, and working to make the world a better place. It’s also clever, pissed-off, and transgressive. Musically, lovers of gruff punk will be in heaven, but layers of ska, power pop, folk, and classic indie rock reveal themselves with subsequent listens. In both music and words, Teenage Halloween refuse to be categorized as anything other than what makes the band’s members happy. Thankfully, the results are astounding. Guitarist Luke Henderiks reflects on some of the record’s themes:

Hometown: Oakland, California Album: Worship False Gods out now via Learning Curve Records RIYL: Give The Drummer Some. Aliens. Beauty In Chaos.

Hometown: Asbury Park, New Jersey Album: Self-titled out now via Don Giovanni RIYL: Costumes. Identity. Inclusivity.

“The goal in my music overall is to convey a large amount of energy and make the listener or observer feel that energy in a way that incites an energy within them. I don’t want to make “I am an emotional and sensitive person, so I am always writing down things. I kind of like to music that you can passively listen to in the background. It must demand your attention and leave the band to interpret how a song is going to go, I just write basic chords and words. in turn make you feel something as a result. The format that my music is truly meant for With this record, I genuinely want to talk about how we are all individual in our struggle and has always been the live performance. The excitement and thrill of playing in front of how the perception of others doesn’t matter to your true sense of self. I have always had an audience and creating a feedback loop of energy between myself and the audience intense trouble with self-esteem, so I hope this record gives people hope and purpose members is the main element that drives me to continue to make music.â€? đ&#x;’Ł during a really horrible time in this world.â€? đ&#x;’Ł PHOTO BY GEORGIA MOLONEY

PHOTO BY BRANDON DAZA

TITAN TO TACHYONS

Hometown: New York, New York Album: Cactides out now via Nefarious Industries RIYL: Science Fiction. Surrealism. Jazz.

TOMORROW’S RAIN

Hometown: Tel Aviv, Israel Album: Hollow out now via AOP Records RIYL: Goths. Gothic. Matches Made in Heaven.

In name, sound, and style, everything about Titan To Tachy- What’s more goth than goth? Goth metal influenced by ’80s ons literally screams sci-fi, in the best ways possible. For goth rock. It’s like the perfect distillation of what made the starters, a Tachyon is a hypothetical particle that travels ’80s and ’90s so grim, but performed with authenticity and faster than light. Thus, it’s no surprise that these speedy little passion that can’t be faked. Most will take a look at the things are littered throughout science fiction (Watchmen, truly incredible guest list on Hollow (Arch Enemy, Rotting Star Trek, Dune, etc.). Musically, there’s a pervasive eerie Christ, My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost, Septicflesh, and quality to the wonderfully odd proceedings here. The trio’s more) and think Tomorrow’s Rain needed talent to buoy excellent pedigree (Imperial Triumphant, Gigan, John empty sonic vessels. However, that couldn’t be further Zorn, etc.) harness their ability to truly vibe off each other, from the truth. The pain, the aching for a better life that creating some of the smoothest long-form jazz metal in ages. is at the center of the best of the style is augmented with Thematically, while this is an instrumental work, it’s clear that music that will make even the most stoic among us turn Titan To Tachyons aimed to create compositions exploring into Niagara Falls. Vocalist Tishai Sweartz notes his inspitheir favorite surreal and/or sci-fi worlds. Guitarist Sally ration for the album: Gates confirms that notion: “When we wrote Hollow, I had two important things in my “Musically, I wanted to create the visual worlds that inspired mind all the time: one was to be true to myself and to talk me, namely the unsettling and seemingly abstract surre- openly about my life. All lyrics are personal, all reflected alities created by the likes of Lynch, Kubrick, Phillip K. Dick, my life. I don't write about other people. I don't write etc. Sci-fi storylines were often used as a device to map out about fiction or fantasy. I write about myself instead of song-structures and dynamics, and I wanted to let those going insane. I create art because it saves my butt from ideas dictate where the music flowed, regardless of genre, falling into depression, so it was very important to talk timing, or whether something ‘fit’ or not.â€? đ&#x;’Ł openly from my heart.â€? đ&#x;’Ł

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YOURS TRULY

Hometown: Sydney, Australia Album: Self Care out now via UNFD Records RIYL: Salutations. Zoom Hugs. Comfort Food.

Yours Truly are musical comfort food (but definitely not junk food!) in a time when we need all the damn joy we can get. Their brand of heavy, pop-punk feels indebted to the New Found Glory Easycore Family Tree. but these sonic apples have a sweet taste all their own. Indeed, so much of Self Care feels like an honest conversation among friends, the kind that has been missing from our lives since COVID started. Remember that warm and fuzzy feeling in your soul when you could unwind and connect with people who just get you? Remember how fulfilled and uplifted you felt? That’s the sensation that permeates every note of Yours Truly’s excellent debut. According to vocalist Mikaila Delgado, that sentiment was intentional: “With Self Care a lot of it was the feeling. We really wanted it to feel warm. That was the main idea for the album, was to be something that gave you that virtual hug. Each song came to us a little bit differently, whether it would be some lyrics or a chord progression. I think because a lot of the songs came from different origins; that is also why they all have a different feeling.â€? đ&#x;’Ł

>> MUSIC OF THE EARTH

A R C H A E AS

known surface on Earth, and possibly beyond. Simple and inescapable, their primitive resilience is matched only by Violet’s crude but honest approach to garage rock.

on, especially my debut, that’s got to be the one!� she says. “Goner is legendary! They fight the good fight, and it’s undeniable that what they’re doing is for the betterment of rock ’n’ roll as a whole.�

Any conversation about Violet’s influences will necessarily take a turn down the sinkhole of Guitar Wolf lore, particularly their starring performance in the 1999 grindhouse extravaganza, Wild Zero.

Starting out as a one-woman production (Archaea), she eventually requited “It’s like the best musical you’ll ever see!� she Chyppe on bass and Chase on drums says. “It’s something that everyone can reto form The Archaeas proper. While she late to when they’re young, me specifically enjoys playing with a full band, she still with Tobio [played by Kwancharu Shitichai] has an affinity for the aesthetic rawness the transgender character. I related heavily of many one-musician garage acts, like to her.�

Mark Sultan, aka BBQ, and Ty Segall.

INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST/GUITARIST VIOLET

BY MICK R.

T

he first thing you should know “And I just heard that prefix, ‘Arche,’ and it about Louisville’s fuzz czar congre- can mean old as in archeological, but the gation, The Archaeas, is where they got way that I really liked it after researching it their fabulous name. was in terms of archaea bacteria.�

“When I was like 15, I was sitting in AP U.S. History and having a bit of an identity crisis,� guitarist and lead vocalist Violet explains.

Ancient organisms that homestead in your guts as well as the deepest trenches of the ocean. Universal beings, who occupy every

“Ty Segall’s songwriting tendencies are very sound, and some of those things have rubbed off on me,� Violet divulges. “I think he’s such a fantastic song crafter.�

You can hear Segall’s jigsaw-like influence rippling throughout The Archaeas’ debut self-titled record, released through Goner Records. Of course, being signed to Goner is something that Violet is not shy about. “If there is one label I could have my music

As for the universal themes of a film that pits humans against zombies against aliens, Violet unpacks the archetypal roles of the film’s central protagonists. “"[That film] released me!â€? she says. “I feel like Tobio, Ace [Masashi EndĂ´], and Guitar Wolf are the archetypal pieces of one great character. The feminine, the masculine, and the truth.â€?

A trinity of ass-kicking, rock ’n’ roll fury, not unlike the one Violet finds herself helming outside of the world of celluloid. đ&#x;’Ł

BOTANIST INTERVIEW WITH PROJECT FOUNDER OTREBOR

BY CALEB R. NEWTON

S

an Francisco’s intense, avant-garde metal project Botanist dedicate their work to the natural world.

On their new album Photosynthesis, project founder Otrebor and his latest co-creators have crafted an eight-track journey that lyrically explores the title process. The album drops on October 30 via San Francisco label, The Flenser. There’s a sense of awe-inspiring majesty that runs through the album’s melody-centered-yet-magnificently-intense tracks—which seems fitting, considering the essential nature of photosynthesis itself.

like an ethnic population that exists simultaneously over unconnected geographies.�

The music of Photosynthesis runs on intricately propulsive drum rhythms, grounding basslines, and the simultaneously wistful and richly immersive contributions from the hammered dulcimer, an instrument which consists of a series of strings that are struck when performed. Otrebor handles the dulcimer, keyboards, and some vocals on the album.

The album, which like all other Botanist music does not include a guitar, feels both staggeringly intense and invitingly breathable thanks to the elements like the earthy dulcimer tones and the album’s sometimes ethereal vocals.

In a way, the music feels like it captures an experience of stepping out into a scene of richly vibrant nature—the sound’s thickness and propulsion relate to the magnanimity of the natural world, but there’s also a space for life itself. Photosynthesis seems beautifully melody-driven, not chaotic.

Photosynthesis was composed around the same time as Botanist’s 2019 album Ecosystem. Otrebor explains that the albums’ guiding lyrical principles “were both chosen for having simple, strong themes that could offer broad interpretations.�

Those broad interpretations were partly meant to facilitate lyric writing from the PHOTO SIREN SEA MEDIA project’s then-singer Cynoxylon, but they “moved on from the band to start a family.� point, and in that time, environmental Otrebor explains that he himself finished “I'm a metal kid and have been obsessed awareness seems to have only grown—alwith metal my entire life,� Otrebor shares. though botanically focused, avant-garde writing the lyrics and tracking the vocals “Heavy metal, power metal, black metal, metal albums may still be a rarity. while on tour in Europe in 2017. death metal, doom metal, grindcore—these have always interested me, and I drew inspi- “I can't control what others will be aware of Photosynthesis offers a sonically powerful ration from them in wanting to pay tribute or what they focus on,� Otrebor shares. “Botjourney. to the hundreds of artists I was inspired by. I anist focuses on the beauty of the natural wanted to make my own page in the book of world and go so far as treating it as divinity. “‘Verdant alveolus diaspora’ is the lyric that heavy metal. In Botanist, I emotionally mar- I believe that the most tangible aspect of most singularly encapsulates the album's ry the aforementioned with my reverence romance,� Otrebor shares. “Forests are the divine we humans can be aware of is for the classical in both art and music.� seen as being the lungs of the world. Lungs through what exists in the natural world. are made up of alveoli, and these floral inBotanist are about a decade old at this “The aesthetics of Botanist are equally carnations are spread throughout the world

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inspired by classical, botanical art and nomenclature as well as art and literature produced during the Romantic period.

These aspects are channeled with a strong desire to pay tribute to all the music that has moved me through my life, lovingly taking various aspects of that immense library to suit the needs of the project. I'm so humbled by how many people have been inspired or assuaged by Botanist— how many have connected or re-connected with plants either in appreciation or application. I, in turn, am re-inspired by these accounts. Thank you all.â€? đ&#x;’Ł

>> STILL RIFFIN AFTER ALL THESE YEARS

THE ATOMIC BITCHWAX pandemic messing up the hoped-for plans of a normal release and touring schedule.

riffs out and recording, like, 50 different things and filtering out what we don’t like.�

They “whittle it away� until they have “a good, solid, 10 songs.� The band have a penchant for keeping “everything lean and mean.�

“Even three months ago, we were talking about touring in September,� he relates. “But we’re really happy about the record.

I can’t wait for people to hear it. It really came out great.� “We like doing short records, 35 minutes, nothing longer than that,� he laughs, “And The band had a big touring agenda if a song happens to be too long, we just planned for the record, including a U.S. speed it up.� tour and hitting Australia and Japan.

They have played Australia before (“It’s And if you think things are fun and intense brutal getting there. But beautiful. Maybe and hyper on their albums, Pantella says the next year in the fall,� the drummer men- live experience is on a whole other level. tions), but haven’t played Japan yet. “We’re fun and ridiculous,� he laughs.

As for potential future plans, Pantella “When we’re playing live, of course everysays: “We’re hoping for June of next year thing is triple. Our whole thing was, let’s in Europe. That was supposed to be this try to keep it together. If it’s right on the year. We postponed it a year, so hopeful- edge of flying apart, perfect. Right on the INTERVIEW WITH DRUMMER BOB PANTELLA ly that comes together.� edge where everything’s going to blow up.

BY JANELLE JONES Just teeter-tottering.�

Scorpio marks the third record the band n late-August, New Jersey-based bassist Chris Kosnik, drummer Bob Reminiscing about the aspects of touring, progressive, hard-rocking trio The Pantella, and guitarist Garrett Sweeny, have crafted since they discovered a formula that really works for them. Pan- Pantella says: “When we’re on tour, it just Atomic Bitchwax released their eighth have started working on the material full-length album, the blistering and for Scorpio around August of last year. tella says that now, it’s “a lot less scatter- gets better and better every night because brained. We basically get together and we’re playing so much. We have fun when insanely fun Scorpio, a 10-track bruiser They recorded in November and mixed start playing riffs.� Sometimes Kosnik will we play. We’re laughing at each other, like, on Tee Pee Records. it in December. just bring in a chorus and verse, and then ‘I can’t keep up.’ Sometimes I’m going so fast they’ll all add to it together, while other and I get ‘the look,’ like, ‘I’m skipping notes.

The band, which first started in 1992 “So, great timing,â€? Pantella jokes in light of times, it’s “just us three in a room hashing I’m not gonna make it!’â€? đ&#x;’Ł and are now comprised of vocalist and what was to come in early 2020, with the

I

SHADES APART

track “Turn It Back Around,� from Seeing Things, Shades Apart are moving forward—not towards a particular destination, but because they are free. They’re free to create in the basement and home studios, collaborate with old friends, involve family, and make great tunes.

INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST AND GUITARIST MARK “V� VECCHIARELLI

BY JOSHUA MARANHAS

E

ternal Echo is the latest release on Hellminded Records from veteran melodic hardcore trio Shades Apart.

This record takes them back to where they came from more than 25 years ago—literally, metaphorically, and in the spirit of old friends. This is rock music pounding forward from memories wrapped in present thoughtfulness and wisdom. On vocals and guitar, Mark “V� Vecchiarelli hasn’t lost a minute of his life being dispassionate about art or music and has a ton to say about Shades Apart’s journey. “We started recording just for fun,� he says. “And as an experiment to get back into songwriting, probably two or three years ago. And we started getting more and more into [it]—got better equipment, better microphones, and we're making our own demos, basically. And from that, we said, ‘Well, you know, that sounded decent.’ And we were building songs that way, sending riffs, or sending song ideas to each other.�

The album leads off with the track “So What Now,� about Dave Franklin of Vision and his death three years ago. With the melody and progression written primarily by bassist Kevin Lynch, drummer Ed Brown added the words that were hard to speak.

12 NEW NOISE

“95� is such a connector song—midway through the record, a chorus, “Some things never change.� They’ve built a record full of daily life values the scene in 1995 would see as essential today. “When those things happen, it brings a continue the relationships formed long lot of people together that you haven't ago at hardcore shows, including with seen for a long time,� Vecchiarelli says. his bandmates, and forge new ones, too. “There was a memorial show that we played for him. We actually did write “I would say that was always my favorite a song for the service and everything, I part of being in a band was making origthink that was kind of like a catalyst for inal music,� he says. “That part of it doesn't us to kind of say, ‘Maybe we should be feel different to me. I mean, I'm not going writing some more songs.’ Dave Franklin, to record stores and combing, trying to we came up with him from high school, find new music; that part is different. But and we used to practice in his mom's now more than ever, I do enjoy playing basement in the neighborhood. I guess music with my kids; it’s more home-based it just made us start thinking about than anything. I feel like you can definitely those times, and when we did start writ- feel the same way about the process, making ing songs, a lot of that came out.� a song that you really love, or like the way the way stuff comes out. And you're just happy Vecchiarelli is thankful to Hellminded with it. That part definitely doesn't change.

Records for making things happen and That part is exactly the same, and it's the pushing the band to get out their next same guys. We figured out what works for us, chapter of new music. A great deal of obviously, after all this time.� the process goes back to their roots, 25-plus years ago, and the bonds that Eternal Echo is full of original thought. were formed back then. He’s grateful to Maybe evolving the meaning of their

“I feel like the whole project was something that we kicked around for years and years but never really got around to doing because of so many things happening in our lives,� Vecchiarelli says. “To finally have it happened is fun. I mean, hopefully people like it. I don't know that we were ever super concerned that people were loving our music, but we were just wanting to do what we liked and hopefully connect with people. I can say that hopefully this goes well, and then I wouldn't mind making some more songs after this.�

Shades Apart have reconnected with the internal core, the heart, the things that raised their scene from the Mid-Atlantic states and brought it to the world.

It’s a long way from playing in a friend’s basement to recording on your own— with Eternal Echo, they’ve navigated that road masterfully. đ&#x;’Ł

>> PROPELLANT REACTIONS

EXHALANTS

working at a long-running, Austin-area music venue called Beerland that closed after employees were left unpaid and went on strike.

Guitarist and vocalist Steve takes inspi- “The loss of that club really left a huge hole and a lot of anger and frustration,� Steve ration from groups like post-hardcore explains. “It’s stuff like that, and also outtrailblazers Unwound and Fugazi to more doom-and-sludge-oriented bands like Su- side—current affairs, world events, and even just looking in our own backyard in mac and Kowloon Walled City. Crucially, he Austin and kind of seeing the problems explains, he doesn’t want to simply emulate with that, seeing the frustration with that.� either the greats who have come before, or the previous output from Exhalants themThe music reflects a lot of that tension, selves. Rather, he and the band would like but the members of Exhalants—including to make their own, fresh imprint.

Tom on the drums and Bill on bass, who “The older I get, instead of trying to emu- Steve notes are his best friends—don’t late their sound so much, it’s like—alright, stop there. The swinging dynamics across obviously I’m influenced by these people, the always energetic Atonement give the record a somewhat contemplative feel, but what can I do? How can I push myself as Steve explains. as a player?� Steve comments. “People throw us under the noise-rock or the post-hardcore tag all the time, which is “[The record is] kind of going through the experience that we did and processing easy to do, and it’s a really easy, quick it, but at the end of the day, when you way to describe our band, but it’s also come out of it, it’s a release. That’s what been done so many times, no matter how music is for us. It’s an emotional escape. successful any of these bands are. How It’s an emotional release, and at least can we push ourselves as musicians and for us and some of the fans that we talk as artists to create music, and how do we to, it’s like, yeah, they connect to it on an push the boundaries of our sound?�

INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST AND GUITARIST STEVE emotional level. And to me, that’s, like, the

BY CALEB R. NEWTON whole goal of this band is to connect with For Exhalants, Steve explains that some people through music, whether it’s soniof the emotional sentiments that course captured an especially heavy brand of xhalants are an Austin, Texas-area noise rock with rattling drum rhythms, through Atonement come from “strifeâ€? cally or emotionally, and if we can do that, noise rock band united by friendship that the band members were experienc- then I think we’re doing our job. We want super-heavy bass groove, and propulsive and love for the music that they sprung to create music for everybody because ing in their own lives around the time of up amidst. On their new album Atonement, guitar riffs, all of which helps whisk listeners that’s how music is supposed to be.â€? đ&#x;’Ł the album’s creation. He himself was off into the band’s creation. out now via Hex Records, the group have

E

CHAMBER PHOTO BY JOSH VEGA

Chamber,� drummer Taylor Carpenter states. “So, I think that is why we are adept at playing with each other and reading each other years later. We also all look up to most of the same bands and figures in music to gain inspiration from. During the writing and recording processes for Cost of Sacrifice, our main goal was to push ourselves creatively and musically. We will always sound like Chamber, but with each release, we want there to be an obvious sense of growth and reform.�

Chamber have really honed in on a brand of metallic hardcore that pulls no punches but isn't afraid to play around with other styles (metal, industrial, prog).

So, what did they want to do with this first full-length? “We all love so many different types of music,� Carpenter answers. “So, the genre mold has never really been our sical weaponry is impressively dynamic, comfort zone when writing. As stated shapeshifting as the record plays on. This above, our main goal was to push ourselves as individuals and as a unit with is all killer, no filler or fluff. this record. Cost of Sacrifice is our first LP, so we did not want there to be a single Chamber carry the sound of a group who know each other’s strengths and dull moment on it. Instead of focusing on if our songs fit a certain subgenre that play to those very well. It’s especially people associate us with, we wanted to impressive given how dense and furious make a paradox record that we could be these songs are while also being very entirely confident in.� clear in their vision.

INTERVIEW WITH DRUMMER TAYLOR CARPENTER

BY NICHOLAS SENIOR

I

n a classic revolver, you have six chambers to fill with bullets. If you are a certain Nashville, Tennessee metalcore act, you have a debut album loaded with ten bullets in one very powerful Chamber. Cost of Sacrifice, due out October 23 via Pure Noise, is about as powerful an opening statement as any in recent memory. Specializing in a ferocious style of chaotic metalcore (think Botch or Converge with some hints of Gojira and Godflesh), Chamber’s potent mu-

“We all played in bands together before

Cost of Sacrifice was the result of intense

struggle. Chamber found solace in this record and let it become a literal sounding board. That comes across beautifully in the chaotic and venomous songs, but there's almost a triumphant feeling to the songs. So, did this sacrifice bring the band closer? “It definitely has,� Carpenter concurs. “We were touring so much before and after recording that most of us did not have a home at the beginning of the year and crashed with friends or family. We have given up on relationships, jobs, and other opportunities to stay focused and committed to moving forward in a direction that we see fit. This year has been an intense period of trial for us, as well as an insane year for everyone, obviously. Three of us live together now, and we are in a secure place that we are very comfortable in and excited about, so I am happy to hear there is a sense of triumph in the songs.�

The record's themes of frustration and empowerment seem even more meaningful now than when they were written (art has a way of being especially meaningful during times of darkness and tragedy, doesn’t it?). So, what did the band want to talk about with this record? “[The album] ties into the concept of a ‘self’ and how easy it is to forget who you really are,� Carpenter explains. “Everyone has their own identity, and that is more empowering than people realize. That concept has stuck with all of us this year through our tribulation.

We hope that the record will resonate with anyone who feels lost as a result of this tragic year.â€? đ&#x;’Ł

NEW NOISE

13

>> BRUTALITY FOR A NEW ERA

HEATHEN

INTERVIEW WITH GUITARIST KRAGEN LUM BY TOM CRANDLEÂ

O

ver the course of their long career, Heathen have sometimes struggled with their timing. Hopefully, that will all change with the release of their fourth album, Empire Of The Blind. The 12-track effort was released on September 18 via Nuclear Blast Records.

benefit show for Chuck Billy, who was suffering from cancer at the time (Death Angel reformed for the same cause). They have been cranking out their signature brand of thrash ever since.

Now, Heathen find themselves releasing Empire Of The Blind during a worldwide pandemic. Still, guitarist Kragen Lum thinks the timing is right.

to reach people at this time.�

Heathen had to overcome some logistical issues to get Empire Of The Blind made. Their members are spread out across the country, in California, New York, Arkansas, and Florida. To further complicate things, founding guitarist and sole original member Lee Altus is also a full-time member of Exodus. “It was certainly a different process than previous records,� Lum explains. “We did several things to sort of help the process.

One of them was to kind of go in groups. I was actually the only one present for all of the recording. It was good, though, because in a way, we got to do little bits of collaborative stuff. Lee came up with some great ideas for adding to the songs that really took them to a different level.� “This is the fourth Heathen album, so it's obviously going to be an evolution of the sound,� he says. “Each one of the records has been very different from the other ones, but I don't think that's a bad thing.

This record, we're certainly taking some chances. We're doing things that the band has touched on before, but we're pushing them to the extreme. The fast stuff is faster.

The melodic stuff is more melodic. The heavy stuff is heavier.�

Heathen formed in the Bay Area in 1984 and were a big part of the legendary thrash scene that also included bands like Death Angel, Exodus, Forbidden, and Testament. “Unfortunately, a lot of bands that recorded Lum has a logical explanation for why so and even finished their albums at the same Their debut album, Breaking The Silence, was many thrash records have aged so well. time as the Heathen record have decided a minor hit in 1987. Lineup changes delayed to hold them and are not releasing them," their follow-up, Victims Of Deception, until “They're authentic. You can listen to them he says.

1991. By then, grunge was sweeping the and know that they’re 100 percent behind nation and momentum was lost. what they're playing and singing about,â€? he “We'll see if that tactic works or if our tactic works,â€? Lum continues. “We wanted to re- says. “They had that depth that we tried to In 1993, after numerous setbacks and lease the record when people were stuck capture on the Heathen records. They've countless personnel changes, Heathen at home and needed entertainment. We got layers of extra parts and things that called it quits. They reunited in 2001 for make you feel something.â€? đ&#x;’Ł thought maybe that would be a good way the now-legendary Thrash of the Titans

VENOMOUS CONCEPT ous Concept are nothing if not honest with you, a policy to which their latest album, Politics Versus the Erection, released through Season of Mist earlier this year, is no exception. Wild, relentless, and aggrieved, the sound and views that pour out of the album are as poisonous to the status quo as an ounce of strychnine in a lime martini.

PHOTO BY MADOKA MOTOSHIMA EMBURY

INTERVIEW WITH SINGER KEVIN SHARP

BY MICK R.

K

evin Sharp is working outside, building a deck with his construction company somewhere in Georgia. When asked what the weather is like where he is, his singular response says it all: “Inferno.�

“I must have hit my head this year, man,�

Sharp continues. “Usually, I book a bunch of indoor work during the summer. It’s a million degrees by 4 p.m., and the sun just kills me. I work all the time. I built shit, or tour, or manage bands. I'm like everyone else, just scrambling to pay the bills.�

Sharp’s band Venomous Concept is an old-school hardcore band in the vein of NOTA, SSD, and Poison Idea, the latter literally

14 NEW NOISE

UNDERRATED THRASH

BY TOM CRANDLEÂ

Even casual headbangers know about the “Big Four� of thrash: Anthrax, Megadeth, Metallica, and Slayer. More serious metalheads know all about the next four biggest thrash bands too: Death Angel, Exodus, Overkill, and Testament.

But what about the legion of other bands that have been toiling away since the ’80s and never quite had that commercial breakthrough? Here are three underrated, classic thrash bands who have recently released new albums that deserve your attention..

Flotsam and Jetsam - The End of Chaos (2019) Flotsam and Jetsam formed in Phoenix, Arizona way back in 1981 and have been active for nearly 40 years. Unfortunately, they’re best known for being the band that Jason Newsted left to join Metallica (see also Kirk Hammett and Exodus).

They deserve much better based on their own merit. In 2019, they released their 13th studio album. The End of Chaos finds the band continuing to pound out their razor-sharp Iron-Maidenmeets-Overkill magic.

Psychosomatic - The Invisible Prison (2020) Psychosomatic are part of thrash’s second wave, having formed in Los Angeles in 1988. They’re also not afraid to break out of the traditional thrash mold by incorporating elements of punk and even death metal. Their seventh full length, The Invisible Prison, should elevate their status among metalheads. The cool thing about Psychosomatic is, they should appeal to old-school thrash fans as well the younger Municipal Waste/ Toxic Holocaust/speed metal punx crowd.

Sacred Reich - Awakening (2019) Sacred Reich formed in 1985 and also call Phoenix, Arizona home. They ended 23 years of studio silence with the excellent Awakening and have spent a ton of time on the road promoting the album. Even 35 years into their career, they seem as inspired as ever. Sacred Reich are one of the more political thrash bands out there, and their lyrics are often as barbed as their riffs. Sacred Reich are for headbangers who enjoy intelligent debate as much as heaviness.

on a slab of ham. However, Sharp explains that the commentary made by the image doesn’t mean to be partisan, or supportive of other politicians. “It’s the devil and the ding-dong,� he says. “The two faces of a one-sided coin, overlapping.

Red or blue clown shows. Take your pick.�

“I wrote a song years ago called ‘Kill All Poli- In times such as these, Sharp has a particuticians,’ and my opinions have not changed,� lar axe to grind with social media.

Sharp states firmly when asked him about his political views, in the run up to this year’s “It trains people to hate each other,� he exclaims. “I think most people would agree presidential election. “Vote them all out! with this statement to one degree or another.

They've proven themselves to just be brands For my part, I've certainly experienced my that sit on top of the respective parties. They inspiring their name. He is joined in the band fair share of vitriol online.� spend ten minutes out of their day thinking

by Danny Herrera on drums, Dan Lilker on bass, John Cooke on guitar, and Shane Em- about policy and the rest of it marketing to Sharp points out that the conversations taktheir next campaign.� bury, also of Napalm Death, on guitar. Sharp’s ing place on social media platforms today former band, Brutal Truth are a household Regardless of whoever is in charge, the ma- are an order of magnitude worse than the name in the world of extreme music, as one of chinery of greed and graft that undergirds ‘scene feuds’ back in his day. the pioneering acts in the nascent grindcore the system doesn’t change, Sharp says. scene of the late ’80s and early ’90s. Pushing “[It] is pure fucking hatred,� he explains. “The music to its limits in terms of amelodicism, speed, and unvarnished truth, Brutal Truth “Look at the campaigning going on right now,� purest form of anger. It's weird.�

Sharp says. “You're campaigning during cemented their place in the pantheon of On whether Americans have a right to be gruesome, god-eating heavy metal with their a pandemic and their idea of marketing is: ‘Well, the other guy is more evil than me!’ angry at someone and who they should genre-defining debut, Extreme Conditions direct their anger towards, Sharp makes his That's not really a good sales point.�

Demand Extreme Responses. point clear.

Venomous Concept were never meant to be The cover of Politics Versus the Erection shows Donald Trump’s face perversely melding “Save that for the rich people, the mega-bilas groundbreaking sonically, but do in fact lionaires,â€? he says. “Save that anger for with that of Alfred E. Neuman of Mad magmanage does pull its weight, both in terms of fucking Bezos. He's fucking earned it.â€?đ&#x;’Ł aggression and brutal honesty. And Venom- azine fame, like an apple pie that’s fallen

>> EXPANSIVE EXPRESSIONS

H ALE Y BL AIS “I’m such fans of them,� says Blais. “When they came on board, it was like a dream come true. They’re such a great team, and I felt like they were taking me under their wing.�

On the impact of Tennis on her album, Blais says: “They have such great ideas, and Pat [Riley] is a producing genius. They took songs that were really slow ballads and turned them into more pop or upbeat kind of cruising songs, especially ‘Too Good,’ which was originally an organ ballad only that was 30 seconds long, and it was just this idea I had and they really expanded on it. Now, it’s this kind of synthpop song.�

INTERVIEW

BY DOUGLAS MENAGH

B

elow the Salt is the debut album from Vancouver-based singer/songwriter Haley Blais. Her gorgeous, dreampop album is lush and lovely with elements of bedroom pop and hints of nostalgia.

spired by Carole King and Kate Bush.

“We channeled Carole King a lot in the studio with Tennis,� Blais says. “We had a mantra that was just like, ‘Carole King, bitch. What would Carole do?’ She’s a huge inspiration for me as a songwriter, and that whole era of ’70s singer/songwriters that are women. I’ve grown up listening to her music, so using her as inspiration for a lot of these tracks was kind of inevitable for me.

Kate Bush. A lot of drum percussion [was] Kate Bush inspiration.�

As far as promoting the album, Blais says: “Normally, we’d be revving up to go on tour, or have already been on tour to help promote it, but I’m kind of excited to let it live and not do too much in terms of promoSome of the songs on Below the Salt are tion. Just kind of let it go, and people can collaborative endeavors between Blais listen to it and enjoy it. Now, it’s finally out and Tennis.

PHOTO BY LINDSAY ELLIOTT of my hands because it feels like I’ve been “We had Tennis in on a couple of songs,â€? sitting on this album for years. To me, it’s been out for two years because it’s been she says. “I liked having Alaina [Moore] in my head as this whole for so long, and “All the music I have written up to now, in the booth with me sometimes. You now I’m like, ‘When’s the next one coming there is, like, this twinge of nostalgia,â€? can hear [her] doing really high, kind of out?’ I’m ready to start moving on.â€? says Blais. “I think this album kind of vampy vocal moments in "Be Your Own Muse" at the end. She just hopped in and caps that off.â€? “I’m excited to just become a hermit and started singing, and I didn’t stop her.â€? write music for the next little while,â€? she Below the Salt features production from On the album’s influences, Blais was in- says. đ&#x;’Ł the band Tennis.

SPRAIN INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST/GUITARIST ALEX KENT

BY CALEB R. NEWTON

O

n their new album As Lost Through Collision, available September 4 via The Flenser, Los Angeles-area group Sprain have musically captured a striking expression of deeply set malaise and, crucially, the churning tumult that may accompany that state of being.

thing that differentiated heavily from [2018’s Sprain EP], which was constantly and annoyingly—and fairly—compared to the artists it was inspired by.�

Besides Kent, Sprain includes fellow co-founder April Gerloff, who plays bass, along with Alex Simmons and Max Pretzer, who handle guitar and drums, respectively. Kent explains that while Some of the band’s foundation is in the slowcore vibe, with drawn-out riffs, writing their new album, the creators pensive vocals, and songs that overall “just wanted to be emotionally intense.

If things were going to be sad, they had deliver a feeling of contemplative to be crushing. If they were going to be melancholy. But Sprain also feature angry, they had to be furious.� elements like segments of blistering intensity that are strewn across album That effort shines through—among opener “Slant,� pre-release single other examples, “My Way Out� slows “Worship House,� and elsewhere. down to a whisper before bursting forth with a geyser of sound. Thanks to the “I think that we were just straining our we'll work on it until it until the sound consistently churning dynamics and complishment. I know for a fact we were actual anxiety and uncertainty into the paints that picture in my head.� precise musicianship threading the all really excited to tour this record, and music,� the band’s vocalist and guitarist songs together, the album’s particular because that's not happening anytime Alex Kent explains. “All the songs were Sprain, like many other groups, had emotional grounding definitely weighs soon, the music has to stand on its own. kind of written in less-than-comfortable touring plans thwarted by COVID-19.

The compositions have to stand on their scenarios, so I suppose that it just trans- heavily on the listening experience. own. That's kind of a scary thing.â€? lated naturally into the recording and “Sometimes I will just describe, in “You can't really put out a record without performance processes. non-musical terms, how I want some- it, in some way, affecting your life,â€? Kent Still, the band in forging ahead. observes. “I think it has been a groundthing to sound, and we will all interpret “The most primary, common thread that ing experience. Some of the songs were “Hopefully, we will be able to constantly the description until it resembles what I stitched this particular batch of songs really difficult to record and play, so hear in my head,â€? Kent shares. “I'll say evolve as a project and continue to together was the notion that every when I listen back to them, despite ridiculous things like ‘I want it to sound release music that we feel deserves piece of music had to support the kind the innumerable flaws I detect in the like your car just broke down in the to be listened to,â€? Kent shares. “That is of artistic framework we were trying to performances, there is a sense of ac- the goal.â€? đ&#x;’Ł achieve. We wanted to create some- middle of a blizzard in rural Idaho,’ and

NEW NOISE 15

>> EXCEEDING AND SUCCEEDING

FIRSTBORNE

“This is the first time where I was like, ‘Wow, this guy can do a lot,’� Adler recalls. “Amazing things that I had not heard out of one guy.�

Unorthodoxy quickly became a key trait in the genesis and future of the group—after the rhythm section’s collective decades of experience with record labels and album cycles, they were happy to do something new with Firstborne—both in their approach to releasing music and a more rock-oriented sound than Adler and LoMenzo’s previous bands.

“Everybody already has lives in play, so that does take time and energy,� LoMenzo says. “In order to have the ability to just get to it when you can, and that is your focus and your time, that’s the only way a band of us older guys can actually do that efficiently because we can fit it into things.�

Although the technology to produce high-quality recordings at home has been around for many years, Adler admits that there was a lag before many veteran musicians realized the full capability of home studios, as well as the comfort they afforded those with busy lives outside of music.

“We can do those things that used to cost $100,000 a day in the studio in our own rooms with our real instruments,� he says. “I INTERVIEW WITH DRUMMER CHRIS ADLER AND BASSIST JAMES LOMENZO “I think that there’s something really unique, do think that was a bit of a learning curve

BY VINCE BELLINO for me personally and for the other guys, for everybody that’s been used to it and and something really exciting about putting major label budgets, to have the confihen Chris Adler left Lamb of shred� style of guitar playing provided an together a band where we have to instill dence to be able to do it yourself, and to God after 25 years, the veteran unexpected backdrop for LoMenzo and enough trust in what we’re doing,� rumi- learn those things, and to put the time into drummer was looking at a whole world of Adler to work with. The collaborative project nates LoMenzo. those things because that’s just not what possibilities. That experience, coupled with between these three friends would become we’ve done before.� a Grammy award for his performance on known as Firstborne. “I think we see this as a weird opportunity, Megadeth’s Dystopia in 2016, gave Adler the in that the shackles are off,� he elaborates. Much to the delight of the members of the freedom to do what he wanted.

It would’ve been easy to go the supergroup route and select a well-known singer to “We can just make music without constrain- band, writing songs via the internet hasn’t ing to anything in particular except what we come at the cost of live energy. Adler and LoAdler joined up with the touring cover band bolster Firstborne’s popularity, but the can do together.�

Menzo agree that the recordings don’t resemHail! who perform around the world. It was best choice was easy. Adler met vocalist ble demos to them—despite home recording there that he reconnected with old friend Girish Pradhan last year in India, where he The emergence of COVID-19 wreaked hav- being a different style to their usual method, and bassist James LoMenzo, best known for performed a series of cover shows with the his time with acts like Ozzy Osbourne, Black vocalist following drum clinic appearances. oc upon an untold number of plans for art- it’s brought the same excitement to them. ists, causing the cancellation of everything Label Society, and Megadeth, although The first time Adler heard Pradhan sing, he from studio time to one-off gigs to months’ “That’s really what ends up being contagious during a different period of time than Ad- knew the vocalist was the perfect fit for his about the whole thing, when you’re not realler’s stint with the thrash giants. fledgling project with Myrone and LoMenzo. worth of touring. Being an international group puts Firstborne in a unique position— ly strapped to expectations or someone else the quartet’s entire experience writing and calling you up saying, ‘Where’s this? Where’s At the same time, Adler was in the early As soon as Pradhan sent his vocals to the rest recording has been long-distance, so they that?’â€? Adler says. “We’re able to do this as stages of writing music with guitarist of the band, it was immediately clear that were able to get right back to business. we want and make it the way we want it.â€? đ&#x;’Ł Myrone—whose self-described “soft Firstborne had found their lineup.

W

U N L E AS H T H E A RC H E R S Abyss is actually part-two of the story that started with Apex, with some of the former written during the Apex sessions. Vocalist Brittney Slayes helps take me through how the band followed up their magnum opus: “As for where I came up with the story itself, it was very much inspired by the two main characters, The Matriarch and The Immortal. The Immortal is our tragic hero, and The Matriarch is our all-powerful villain. They were both inspired by some of my favorite fantasy and science fiction films, comics, books, and video games.

INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST WILL CANNING AND GUITARIST REMY VESELIS

BY CALEB R. NEWTON

W

hen you’ve released the best record of your career—literally entitled Apex—the opportunities for a letdown are infinite. When that follow-up is also a sequel, you’re just asking for disappointment. For Unleash The Archers, failure is not an option. The Victoria, British Columbia-based metal group have come out swinging with their fifth album, Abyss, out now via Napalm Records.

16 NEW NOISE

The Immortal was visually inspired by a character from the comics East Of West called Wolf, who is very much your typical lone wolf type. The Matriarch was conceptually inspired by Queen Bavmorda from the movie Willow, with a bit of the ’80s-power-suit-wearing corporate powerhouse women, and a dash of Robocop thrown in [laughs]. I just let the way these two would interact and react to one another determine the story!�

Their recipe for success? Instead of releasing a Interestingly, Abyss takes place in space, sequel that plays the same notes, Unleash The and if the ’80s references didn’t clue you Archers understand the spirit of what makes in, the band utilized an unexpected, synththeir particular brand of melodeath-infused wave influence to help tell this tale. power metal tick and improve on their already stellar songwriting. Much like the now-legendary Soilwork, these Canadians allow the music “The synth was extremely important to the to echo the themes and moods of the story— story of this album,� Slayes states. “Not just few bands can touch Unleash The Archers for because it helped with the ‘space’ vibe, but also because this album was meant to be emotive, cathartic metal.

much brighter and more positive. I think the synth was a great way to express that as well.

Not to mention we are huge into synthwave right now. It is what we listen to the most when we are together it seems, so it was important to us that one of our most-loved genres be present in our own music.�

That positivity is reflected in some inspirational themes, as Slayes is happy to explore: “The main theme is really the lesson that The Immortal learns, which is that he had the power to fight for freedom within himself all along; he merely had to put the demons of his past aside and focus on the future he wanted to have, instead of accepting the fate others had dealt him.

Too often we allow the opinions and expectations of others to define our own happiness, and we put a pressure on ourselves to be something that we really are not. Only when we truly embrace and adore our true selves will we ever understand that the opinions of others don’t actually matter, and then we can start doing things for ourselves instead of to look a certain way or to come across a certain way. Living that life is exhausting; why do we do that to ourselves? It’s time for all of us to introspect and discover what we truly want to be and do rather than just follow the lead of outdated, archaic social norms.â€? đ&#x;’Ł

BOOK NOOK

promoted P.M.A or "positive mental attitude" in their electrifying music, transforming a scene that was about violence and vulgarity into one that was about the opposite.

Before Minor Threat, before the Beastie Boys, before Rage Against the Machine, and before a multitude of well-known bands that you love and care about, there were the untouchable Bad Brains who ignited a fire that continues to blaze in 2020 through the immeasurable number of artists influenced by their music.

Bad Brains dramatically terraformed the sonic landscape into a place where you could find hope and happiness amidst the grit and grime of punk rock and hardcore.

I'VE GOT THE P.M.A!

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ANTHOLOGY OF EMO VOLUME 2 INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR TOM MULLEN BY JOHN SILVA

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he plan was always to do multiple “I get frustrated, and I get angry, and I get volumes,� says Tom Mullen, the cre- sad. And emo is none of those things to ator of the Washed Up Emo blog and me. It’s positive; it’s happy. My calling in podcast, and the author of the Antholo- this world is, when people hear the word gy of Emo books. “It’s just, work, life, ev- [emo], they don’t laugh; they don’t snickerything got in the way. So, I wanted to er; they don’t make a joke,� he says. do the second volume a year after [the first]. I just got caught up in some other Among the interviews in Volume 2 is the things that happen in life. But, the plan final interview that Jon Bunch gave was to do multiple volumes.� before he passed away in 2016. Bunch, who played in seminal emo bands such Anthology of Emo Volume 1, which as Further Seems Forever and Sense was published in 2017, sold out in Field, was an important and beloved less than a year. So, of course, emo member of the scene. This interview fans have been clamoring for a will help preserve his legacy, and that's second volume of the series, which, what Mullen is most proud of in publishlike the first, is a collection of tran- ing Volume 2. scribed interviews from Mullen’s Washed Up Emo podcast. Mullen “Jon’s family said, ‘Jon would have loved hopes that with these books, he this, and I can’t wait to give this to his can help educate people about the son.’ So, I’m just like, I’m set. I want his genre in a way that brings more re- son to be like, ‘My dad’s in a book!’ spect and appreciation to it.

That’s important.â€?đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł

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The seeds of this collaboration were planted in 2019, when members of HE Creative met H.R. at Rebellion Punk Music Festival where he was performing. A year later, H.R. reached out to the U.K. group about this project, which is the first in a new series that turns well-known punk songs, in this case, “Attitude,� into vibrant, illustrated books for children.

While they haven’t released anything “We loved the idea of a book spreadsince 2012’s Into the Future, legend- ing the message H.R. has been ary Bad Brains vocalist Paul “H.R.� spreading for the last 40 years—posiHudson is finally giving the world tivity,� says He Creative. “Which, right some more, much-needed P.M.A with know, is something everyone needs.� a new children’s book titled I’ve Got The P.M.A!—a partnership with HE This idealistic and worthy doctrine inCreative, a U.K.-based group of il- fuses all of H.R.’s music, which can be lustrators and graphic designers who traced back to memorable Sundays at have released a number of unique, places of prayer, growing up wherever punk-rock-inspired books. the Navy stationed his father.

Appearing as an endearing, younger “As a child I was shy but very driven version of himself, H.R. says that he has to music because my father used to wanted to create a children’s book for take me to church, and it was there, The one thing that the human race a long time, a book that would help where I was influenced to do good could use right now is a healthy dose open young minds to the P.M.A mes- gospel music,� he explains. “Later on, of positivity, a hopeful mindset to sage and philosophy.

I took those influences and formed a deal with an unpredictable, and at rock band called the Bad Brains.â€? times dire situation. Since tossing the “I wanted to do the book to spread đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł punk scene on its head in the late '70s, P.M.A to younger generations,â€? H.R. Washington D.C.’s Bad Brains have explains about this collaboration, for

INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR H.R. BY GEN HANDLEY

e’re not through yet, and so far, 2020 has been an emotional one, with an invisible, viral enemy sweeping the globe and painful-but-necessary, civil unrest burning in the U.S. and out to the rest of the world.

which he wrote the catchy words, and HE Creative created the vibrant illustrations. “The boy of today is the man of tomorrow, making it important for me to write a children’s book because we see the child of today being the child of tomorrow. It is important for me to send joy and blessings, and by putting out this book for the youth, we are doing that together.�

USA NAILS INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST/ GUITARIST GARETH THOMAS AND VOCALIST/GUITARIST STEVEN HODSON

BY CALEB R. NEWTON

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he London-based group USA Nails have captured a marvelously vibrant mash-up of noise-rock abrasion with punching melody Ă la classic-feeling post-punk on their new album Character Stop, which drops October 23 via Hex Records.

In the music, the vibe of the rainbow that’s splashed across the cover shines through quite brightly, but not to the exclusion of the album’s grimier undercurrent. There’s a free-flowing tension in the lyrics, the sometimes-shouted vocals, and the sharp music. “As well as the overarching, middle-aged man still trying to be in a punk band, there’s songs that are a bit more personal,� the band’s vocalist and guitarist Steven Hodson explains. “I think, in the past, my lyrics have been a bit more tongue-in-cheek, but

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Fighters, probably. Having said that, I am up for working with you, Rick, if you are reading this, which you definitely are.�

Even if Rick Rubin happens to hit up the band soon, USA Nails will always be rooted in the bustling DIY heavy music community.

I’ve started to reflect a bit more Behind that accomplishment, Thomon my experiences and my per- as explains that he “wanted to exsonality. I’m quite an anxious pand on the more melodic ideas� character but cover it up a lot that cropped up on the band’s 2019 “Things are so vibrant at the moment through having one too many record Life Cinema. The production in the underground, and it is great beers to build confidence. I have from Wayne Adams, who has han- to hear what’s coming out at the recently become a father too, dled all five USA Nails albums, also moment, but the fact that even the which is great, but it has brought figures prominently in the latest re- DIY scene is still dominated by white, some mad experiences up from cord’s construction, as Thomas sees it. cis, het men is telling,� Thomas obmy past. I lost my dad when I was serves. “We try to be more mindful of quite young, and certainly don’t “I don’t think we are that similar that these days, like doing what we want my daughter to have to ex- to any singular noise rock band, can to make sure bills we appear on perience what I did. It’s made me or any band, really,� he observes. are inclusive and diverse, and that think about my lifestyle a lot.� “Having said that, I don’t know if gigs provide a safe environment for Wayne has go-to references when everyone to enjoy.

The band members have “all played we’re making records with him. Ofin bands for years,� fellow vocalist ten, when we’ve tried to give him “Not saying that we are perfect, of and guitarist Gareth Thomas adds, our own references, he’s come course, and there’s always more but he personally reached a mile- back and said stuff like, ‘Nah, your that can be done. But thankfully, it stone with Character Stop. drumming isn’t crap enough; this feels like most people share the idea won’t work.’ that more needs to be done to make “I think this is the first recording sesthe scene more inclusive and more sion where, as soon as I stepped out I’ve always thought a large part safe. There are so many generous, of the studio, I immediately thought, of genre comes from production. progressive, wonderful, and talent‘I really love what we’ve done here,’� Imagine how we would sound if Rick ed folk who are part of it; it makes he shares.

Rubin produced us. Like the Foo me excited for the future.â€? đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł

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INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST/GUITARIST JOHN MCENTEE BY ADDISON HERRON-WHEELER

lways the powerhouses of quality output and production, it’s no surprise that Incantation not only came out with an awesome record during COVID, they are also using the downtime to focus on creating. And after taking their time with the last record, they’re excited to see it come out into the world, pandemic or no pandemic.

more. It’s definitely satisfying to hear the final product.�

Incantation are tentatively planning to do a European tour in November with Belphegor, but are well aware that cancellation is a possibility.

They’ve also done livestreams and tried to get into the digital spirit. But most of all, they’ve been focusing on keeping busy with new material.

Incantation unleashed Sect of Vile Divinities on August 21 via Relapse Records, and 2020 is better for it. “I'm just excited to get it out there.

We've put so much work into it, and we actually recorded the drums, like, two years ago,� says vocalist and guitarist John McEntee. “We were trying to do the rest of the recording in between touring, but we ended up doing so much touring that we didn’t have time to work on it. Finally, we got together and said, ‘We have to get this thing done with.’�

between intense, classic blast beats and catchy riffing. It’s an Incantation record at its best.

And the wait was definitely worth it. “There were certain things we felt Dark themes that interweave religious like we wanted to express or elablegends and horror folklore dance orate a little bit more on with our

“We've been working on new material, so we have about nine new songs pretty much finished,� McEntee says. “We have been keeping really productive as far as writing goes, and we have some other plans in the works as well.

We have some videos coming out, and then we’re doing a live, rehearsal video of us playing some of the songs. Right now, it kind of feels like everyone’s just trying to figure out what is going to be style, and I think overall, the album the best idea, and no one knows what has more harmonies on it and a lot that’s going to be since no one’s had to more double-guitar work,â€? McEn- deal with craziness like this before.â€? tee adds. “Some of our earlier albums like Diabolical Conquest had Get Sect of Vile Divinities now, and be a lot of guitar work and stuff that on the lookout for more music and I kind of wanted to revisit a little tour announcements soon. đ&#x;’Łđ&#x;’Łđ&#x;’Ł

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INTERVIEW BY BY MARIKA ZORZI

PHOTOGRAPHY BY GIANLUCA GRASSELLI

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hen Anna Von Hausswolff visited the famous Sacro Bosco [Sacred Grove] garden in the center of Italy, she never forgot the experience. All Thoughts Fly, von Hausswolff’s new album, out now via Southern Lord, radiates a melancholic beauty and is distinguished by fluid transitions of contrasting elements, much like the sacred grove that inspired the music.

“Sacro Bosco, with its mysterious shimmer, really triggered my imagination, and once I was outside the gate, it felt as if I never really left,� von Hausswolff says.

The incredible location contains grotesque, mythological sculptures and buildings overgrown with vegetation, situated in a wooded valley beneath the castle of Orsini. The sculptures include fantastical animals, colossal figures, mythological characters, grotesque heads, pseudo-Etruscan tombs, and fake ruins. “It’s a labyrinth of symbols,� von Hausswolff says. “The path between the monuments is equally as important as the monuments themselves because it presents a wild nature that overgrows the path, stairs, and even the sculptures. It adds a contrast of stillness to the

22 NEW NOISE

grotesque drama you find in the living rock. The calm songs on the album act as the paths, leading the way between and towards the more intense and absurd scenery, a labyrinth of sounds. Yet, in the making of the music, it was important for me to let the imagination wander and not to intellectualize it too much.

The park inspires a free open mind, and I wanted to honor that both in Hausswolff says. “Its location, near the making and in the presentation.� my home, and its tuning—it’s the biggest quarter comma, meantone-temTo channel these feelings and tell pered organ in the world. The instruthe story of this place that inspired ment sounds like no other instrument her to write new music, von Hauss- I’ve ever heard. It has both an angelwolff embraced a solo instrumental ic, crystal-clear sound and a beautimode. The entire record consists of fully ugly, discordant sound. You can just one instrument, the pipe organ, easily create interesting tensions by which represents absolute libera- just making very basic chords.� tion of the imagination.

Von Hausswolff was pleasantly “Ever since 2013, I've been thinking surprised during recording by the about making an entire album only organ's ability to create beautiful with pipe organ,� she says. “But, time pitching notes through its stops and wasn’t on my side. Due to COVID air supply system.

-19, I managed to find the time and solitude to make this album. I wrote “The final sound of the album is defimost of the parts in my home and nitely determined by the mechanics some at the church.â€? of this organ,â€? she explains. “The process of creating was a combiThe organ on All Thoughts Fly is situ- nation of preparing pieces at home ated in the Ă–rgryte New Church, in and then adding texture and parts Gothenburg, Sweden, a replica of during the recording. Because I the Arp Schnitger organ in Germany. didn't have a meantone-tempered, pipe organ or synth at home, I had “I chose it for two reasons,â€? von to change the pieces radically, both

“THE CALM SONGS ON THE ALBUM ACT AS THE PATHS, LEADING THE WAY BETWEEN AND TOWARDS THE MORE INTENSE AND ABSURD SCENERY, A LABYRINTH OF SOUNDS.� in sound and structure.�

All Thoughts Fly was recorded over seven days in January 2020. “It was a very still and calm recording process,� von Hausswolff says. “For the organ, we used eight microphones for close recordings of the pipes, so you can hear the mechanics of the instrument and the airflow, and we used two mics for the room in case we wanted to steer away from the body and into the room.�

Realizing an album in 2020 is not easy with all that is going on in the world right now, and All Thoughts Fly is a uniquely beautiful story that von Hausswolff hopes can help people set their minds free. “I truly hope so. It helped me, so maybe it can help others,â€? she says. “I wouldn’t make music if I didn’t think it has the power to change things.â€? đ&#x;’Łđ&#x;’Łđ&#x;’Ł

PHOTO BY DAN BALL

INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST CHARLIE WILLIAMS, GUITARIST/VOCALIST GARED O’DONNELL, AND DRUMMER PATRICK COST BY DEREK NIELSEN

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all of Light started 2020 “I mean, they haven’t officially invited on an upswing. Still a trio me into the band, but I am on the sevwhen they released Flux en-inch,� O'Donnell clarifies. “But, I last year, the Cincinnati would love to do so much. I adore metal band’s debut LP was heavy what these guys do. It reminds me enough to catch the attention of very much of why I still do what Planes Mistaken For Stars frontman I do, why I started doing what I Gared O’Donnell. do, and why I want to continue to do what I do. But, it’s nice to not “We were opening for Weedeater, be the one steering the ship. Not and we were at the club really early,� to complain about what I do in describes drummer Patrick Cost. “I Planes or [Hawks and Doves], but was looking at my phone, and Gared it’s nice to just be like, ‘Alright I'm randomly hit me up about Flux. He was gonna stand in the corner and do like ‘Hey, I've been listening to this a this weird, creepy thing, and you'll

Yup, everything was looking rad for about the first song, ‘Under Red Ball of Light—and then, of course, Skies’; the riff has kind of a Discharge COVID took the piss a few months feel. But Discharge was never like later. But, aside from having their ‘Fucking Gorbachev!’ [laughs]. It’s not tour schedule cleared out indef- talking about specific people or speinitely, Ball of Light—along with cific things, but the forces that are at O’Donnel—remains intent on press- work behind them. COVID is—knock ing forward. After all, the current on wood—going to go away; Trump state of the world has presented is going to go away. But the situations are going to pop up over and over. If plenty of artistic fodder. you write about the feeling, that will Rest assured, the band’s new materi- last forever.� al will tap into the river of discontent that all of us are currently experi- “For me, the idea of writing songs about encing (after all, they are a metal the world right now sounds nightmar-

lot. I'm not blowing smoke up your ass; I really like this.’ That’s kinda how the conversation started.�

find out about it later.’ It’s their baby, but I don’t mind changing its diaper! [laughs]�

After a brief courtship with the boisterous frontman, things got serious, and the band recruited O’Donnell into their ranks as second guitarist and backup vocalist. Eager to test the waters, Ball of Light entered the studio in January with producer Jeffrey Dean to record their self-titled EP, which dropped last month on Rad Girlfriend Records.

The new songs have an eerie and sinister thread woven through the driving riffs and punishing rhythm section, with O’Donnell’s haunting backup “If someone happens to listen to it vocals adding new dimension to 10 years down the road, they’re not Charlie William’s guttural screams. gonna be like, ‘I don’t know what the In many ways, the EP is reminiscent fuck they’re talking about,� Williams of when Mike Patton joined Dillinger elaborates. “I want you to be able to Escape Plan. relate to it in a way. Gared was talking

24 NEW NOISE

band—it can’t all be high fives and bong rips). But Ball of Light are less interested in whining about quarantine and more in unearthing the roots of all this unhappiness. Isn’t that what being an artist is all about?

ish,� confesses O’Donnell. “The English Beat had this song called ‘Stand Down Margaret’ about Margaret Thatcher.

My 13-year-old loves the English Beat, but he’s like, ‘What the fuck are they talking about? Margaret? Is she a music teacher?’ I get tackling things topically.

But, at the same time, you want to make art that will last. The best sci-fi books are 100 fucking years old. But they land in whatever time they’re in. H.G. Wells, you can read fucking The Time Machine, and it’s literally a time machine!â€? đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł

I

INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST JESSE MICHAELS BY JORDAN WOLFE

t’s been some time since we’ve heard the emotional aggression of Jesse Michaels’s unmistakable voice, but 2020 has brought an unexpected dose of fond and familiar relief. On July 29, Michaels posted a Bandcamp link to a brand new five-song EP from Classics of Love.

Of course, there continue to be endless requests for an Operation Ivy reunion. When asked about the possibility, Michaels is not totally dismissive—but don’t expect it to happen anytime soon. “It is not absolutely out of the question, but not in the works,� he says. “Especially given the current state of live music for the foreseeable future. If it ever were to happen, a lot of things would kind of have to fall into place, and I am not even sure if it's really possible.�

Immediately noticeable is a much harder, faster, and stripped– down approach than when we’d last heard from the band in 2012.

This is with good reason, as Classics of Love now consists of a whole new lineup of musicians.

Michaels had planned on starting another band.

Michaels is as humble as he is a recognizable name that thousands have thanked at some point in their life, whether for inspiration or for simply improving a record collection. But he is not immune to reality and its sometimes-unavoidable circumstances in terms of mental health.

“[It was] an unnamed death rock project, which got canceled because of the pandemic,� he says. “It was spooky punk, kind of like TSOL or 45 Grave. This stuff was not originally going to be called ‘Classics of Love,’ but I couldn't think of a name. The guys in the old band Classics of Love, that I played with from 2008-2012, gave me their blessing to use that name.�

Jesse Michaels, Sharif Dumani, and Peter John Fontes used a Tascam MS-16 to record the new songs inside a practice space in Los Angeles. The updated sound was a welcome change, judging by the reaction of fans online, who said they’d missed the more oldschool sound of Michael's vocal delivery. Most often known or referenced for being the frontman of Operation Ivy, Michaels continued making music after they broke up in 1989, playing in bands such Big Rig and Common Rider.

“I have crushing depression and mental illness, so my life has no orderly productive flow, and is often just about survival,� Michaels says. “I do not go into heavy detail about my personal life in public, but essentially it is an illness that my entire family has.�

Thankfully, Michaels is as strong as he is aware of his inner workings, and he goes on to explain another delicate balance, between perseverance and defeat.

PHOTO BY ALAN SNODGRASS

with the lyrics,� he says. “Mostly, I His lyrics have been cited as works tried to go for an approach simof timeless inspiration, being ref- ilar to the old hardcore bands I erenced in other songs and im- grew up listening to. Specifically, mortalized in tattoos. There is a bands like The Fix, Negative Appassion and rage on these songs, proach, The Necros, Minor Threat, creating a truly beautiful balance and so on. Direct, honest, simply of empathy and aggression. In expressed feelings, and very agterms of what inspired the new ap- gressive.� proach, Michaels says he didn’t go to his usual sources. “I do have a lot of rage inside because I think most people are “I tried to take a different approach blind, dogmatic, deeply unchari-

26 NEW NOISE

table frauds,� Michaels says. “And that very statement that I just made conveys the fact that I have a bit of judgment in my own heart.

But this music is not about trying to be a saint. It is about communicating totally honestly, or as honestly as possible, and the hope is that through that directness, it reaches something in the heart that is beyond language, that everybody can relate to. Including people that don't agree with what I think.�

“With serious depressive mental illness, my experience is that it is an illness that eats the soul and turns a person into a fuckhead,� he says. “And there is not that much you can do about it except get punches in when you can. Exercise and so on.

Fight as hard as you can every day, and try to be of service. And that’s life. Life says, ‘Fuck you, depression,’ eat it and fight.�

Since this interview, Michaels has gone on to say the Classics of Love lineup has once again disbanded, but there are still plans to release a seven-inch version of their EP through Asian Man Records. đ&#x;’Ł

remember why we love music and remember why we love hardcore.�

The album truly is delightful, teeming with “hard, fast ragers,� as Smalley says, while also incorporating some other unexpected elements with songs like the reggaefied “The Wreckage� and the acoustic closer, “December.�

PHOTOGRAPHY BY VINCE SADONIS

INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST DAVE SMALLEY BY JANELLE JONES

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feel really great about this album coming out now because it reminds us all of our common humanity, just what we all bond over in life,� says vocalist Dave Smalley of Don’t Sleep’s latest release, Turn the Tide, out now on Mission Two Entertainment. “Because a lot of times, whether it’s stories, or music, or whatever else, movies, what kind of bonds this human family together is art. I think this will be one of those albums people can really believe in.�

In any case, as for this album and all Don’t Sleep stands for, the vocalist asserts: “This whole group is like a call to arms,� adding, “It’s got a certain chemistry to it that is very unique.� He hopes this album “will make people feel good and

About how extremely powerful the songs are both musically and lyrically, Smalley explains: “I think really there’s two things about hardcore that have made I think people like you or me, have helped shape us, which obviously the music—the music is fast and powerful. And it feels good by the way to be back in a hardcore band. I gotta tell you, it feels great. But, the other side of the coin is the lyrics. This isn’t—and I love the Carpenters—but this isn’t a Carpenters, love song genre.

This is where there’s a lot of passion and pain and determination and overcoming odds. Those are things that are part of hardcore.â€? “You can’t divorce the lyrics from the music in hardcore,â€? he concludes. đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł

Turn the Tide marks the second release Smalley has put out since we’ve all been affected by shutdowns and disruptions amid the pandemic. In April, with the Bandoleros, he released the Ignited EP, and in the works were tours with the Bandoleros, DYS, Down By Law, and, of course in support of the upcoming Don’t Sleep album, but all have been canceled.

And the live experience is something Smalley lives for, laying it all out there every show.

And people need something to be- “I love performing for crowds and lieve in during these hard times. Like connecting with crowds and inspirthe rest of us, Smalley, who’s been ing crowds,� he says. “Just putting involved in the hardcore and punk my arm around sweaty people and scenes since the early ’80s with bands screaming in a microphone tolike DYS, Dag Nasty, and Down By Law, gether. I don’t know what’ll happen and more recently Don’t Sleep and to my way of performing. I’m very Dave Smalley & the Bandoleros, is well-known for grabbing people by feeling cooped up and missing going the shoulders and screaming into to shows and playing out. the microphone with them. That’s a beautiful part of the hardcore ex“I miss going to concerts; I'll tell you pression, that physical connectivity.� that,� he says. “As a fan and a player.

I miss both sides of it. I’ve been in this Smalley wonders when he can go perpetual thing of weirdness since back to that way of performing and March, no touring and no playing. when we can all get back to going to It’s a minor complaint because there crammed shows, but as is his wont, are people who’ve gotten really sick he remains positive. or who have even died from COVID, so my complaining is not meant to “I hope it’ll be able to come back,� he be even in the same conversation as says. “I’m sure it will. We’re humans; that. But it has been weird.� we get through stuff. We do.�

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PHOTO BY ALAN SNODGRASS

COMPILATION FOR A CAUSE:

THE HOUSE THAT BRADLEY BUILT K

INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR ADAM DUBI BY GEN HANDLEY

ellie Nowell remembers the last time she spoke to her older brother well.

“It was the night of the reception, and he thanked me for helping with the wedding—he was clean and really happy,” she says. “The next morning, when I brought his son back who had stayed with us that night, I just waved to him across the room. And six days later, he was gone.”

Along with LAW Records, the foun- One of these artists is Milo Auker- pilation are California ska-punk dation are releasing The House man, lead singer of punk rock pillars heavyweights Mad Caddies, who That Bradley Built, an eclectic, 24- Descendents. Aukerman contrib- were heavily influenced by Sublime song compilation made up of a uted a ukulele version of the song back in the day. Mad Caddies covnumber of talented and notable “Hope,” interestingly, a Descendents er “New Song,” a lesser-known track artists performing acoustic rendi- song that Sublime covered on their also off the first album. tions of Sublime songs. The profits 1992 debut album 40 Oz. to Freedom.

“We’re just really proud to be a part from this album will go towards the construction of Bradley’s House, a “When the self-titled Sublime record of this,” says Mad Caddies lead vosix-bed, opioid recovery center came out, posthumously, I thought calist and guitarist Chuck Robertson. for struggling musicians provid- it was such an utter tragedy that he “There are so many great artists on ing potentially life-saving services was taken from us before they could this album; it’s a great tribute and free of charge. play that record live—it's such a it’s also for an amazing cause.” masterpiece,” Aukerman says. “It’s Kellie, who is the executive direc- just a great, great record, and the Robertson says he shares the Nowell Foundation’s passion of helping tor of the foundation, says she was band was cut short in their time.” “blown away” by the enthusiasm of Another noteworthy act on the com- musician struggling with addiction— artists to contribute to the record.

The sibling whom Kellie remembers so happily was Bradley Nowell, the late singer of legendary Long Beach ska band Sublime. On May 25, 1996, Bradley tragically died of an overdose just months before his band released the album that would make “I was really touched by all of the them a household name. In his people and artists who wanted to honor and memory, Bradley’s kin participate and contribute their created The Nowell Family Founda- voices to the album,” she says. “A lot tion, which provides a wide range of of these people are artists I love and addiction recovery services for the listen to, and it’s really a trip to hear them singing my brother’s songs.” music industry.

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“A LOT OF THESE PEOPLE ARE ARTISTS I LOVE AND LISTEN TO, AND IT’S REALLY A TRIP TO HEAR THEM SINGING MY BROTHER’S SONGS.”

PHOTO BY JOSHUA MARANHAS

an issue that is very personal for him. before conceding “Rivers of Baby“I’ve struggled with addiction my lon,� which was sung by her father, whole life,� he admits. “I’ve lost so Jim, with her nephew and Bradley’s many dear friends to opiates, and son Jake. it’s the devil—so it really hits home.

We want to help people in any way “That song is so special. I’m glad I we can because there is a way out.� talked my dad into doing it,� she says, quietly laughing. “Brad and When posed with the difficult ques- I grew up listening to him sing and tion of what song on the compila- play guitar. We come from a very tion resonates with her most, Kellie musical family, and that was just thinks about it for a few seconds a normal thing for us. I know Brad

PHOTO BY ALAN SNODGRASS

PHOTO BY BRIAN LEW

would be super stoked that his dad and son are doing a duet together.�

When they created the foundation three years ago, Kellie says they had a clear mission in mind to not only celebrate Bradley’s memory but help the music community struggling with addiction, an issue that, unfortunately, has plagued the industry for as long as it has existed and a problem that seems to be getting increasing more deadly and dire. “We want to honor his memory and help other families avoid all the pain we’ve had to go through,â€? she says adamantly. “And we wanted to somehow have an impact on this crazy opioid epidemic sweeping the country, if not the world. We’ve seen the challenges that musicians face in trying to get clean and stay clean—we thought this would be a good way to do that.â€? “I think he would be proud of the way we have taken our pain and tragedy and turned it into something potentially really positive.â€? đ&#x;’Łđ&#x;’Łđ&#x;’Ł

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PHOTO BY JIM LOUVAU

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INTERVIEW BY THOMAS PIZZOLA

reg Puciato, the former The songs on Child Soldier range frontperson for the Dillinger from wildly aggressive to more conEscape Plan, who wowed templative, and everywhere in beaudiences for 16 years with tween. They are exciting, dynamic, his insane vocal gymnastics and in- and allow Puciato to utilize every tense stage presence, is finally going facet of his wide-open vocal range. solo. When the DEP called it quits There was no set direction, except back in 2017, he focused on The for being true to thine own self.

Black Queen, his darkwave project, which showcased another side of his “This is just how it turned out,� he exmusical persona. plains. “I didn’t have any rules as far as genre or emotion. It’s a feeling But that wasn't enough, so now, the man thing; it’s not a thinking thing. When widely considered one of the best mod- you’re writing a story, you just go ern metal vocalists is set to unleash Child where it goes, and if you go someSoldier: Creator Of God, his first release where that doesn't feel right, you say under his own name, on Federal Prison- ‘nah,’ and go a different way.� er Records, a label that he co-owns and runs, with his friend and collaborator, Putting out music and running the label artist Jesse Draxler. has helped Puciato deal with the insanWhy now? Well, it just felt like the right time.

ity of the times we are currently living in.

“I’m so busy with all of it, the releases, the label, I'm so deliberately “A bunch of different stuff just lined involved in every, single facet of up,� Puciato says. “Releasing under everything, that I don’t have much my own name, with so many things downtime, really,� he says. “You play happening stylistically on the album, on the hand you’re dealt, and this is the a label that I co-own, it just feels symbol- one that we’re all dealt, so there’s ic of me fully owning myself and every- not too much sense in complaining thing that makes me ‘me.’ It's a decla- about the weather. Also, I’m realration of integration and actualization ly introverted, and by that I don’t and ownership for me. I'm 40; it feels mean shy; I just mean that I’m very, correct. It feels like an important point very internal. I charge from being on the timeline for me.� alone, and I pass time easily. I don’t lose too much energy from not seeOn Child Soldier, Puciato takes to ing people or not doing social things. owning himself and his music by If I didn’t have these records already playing all the instruments on the done, I would be losing my mind album—except for drums, for which from having something external he enlisted the aid of friends Chris slow my output down, but that didn’t Hornbrook (Poison The Well), his happen, so I’m fine.� former DEP bandmate Chris Pennie, and his Killer Be Killed band That said, Puciato also has a premate Ben Koller (also of Converge). scient take on dealing with the world This was his way of getting closer to as it exists in 2020. source of his inspiration. “As far as the 'madness of our times,' “Someone else’s feel isn’t going to meaning the state of the world as be yours, even if they play the notes far as idiocy and inequality, yeah, you tell them to play,� he says. “If it pisses me off,� he says. “I feel emI can play guitar and bass, what’s barrassed for the fucking species a the point of telling someone else to lot of the time, but ultimately, I think play the thing? It’s not gonna feel like this giant, slap-in-the-face, wakeme, it’s not gonna be the tone I want, up call will do us some good collecor the exact same expressiveness. tively. Like, the car broke down, and With solo output, you’re trying to get now everyone’s like, ‘Wait, how the something to feel the most like you fuck did we end up here? Not only is possible, and the more hands you put the car broken, but I’m in fuckville?’ on the thing, the more you corrupt Yeah it is, and yeah you are; time to that sentiment. I can’t imagine being sort it out.� a painter and signing my name in the corner if other people painted three So, maybe it is the perfect time for a quarters of the painting.�

Greg Puciato solo record. â€? đ&#x;’Łđ&#x;’Łđ&#x;’Ł

30 NEW NOISE

LP/CD/DIGITAL OUT NOW NEW NOISE 31

INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST/GUITARIST/SYNTH PLAYER BRETT CAMPBELL BY ADDISON HERRON-WHEELER

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allbearer are holed up in their ber 23 via Nuclear Blast. cess and created this album, with home studio, working on musome songs left over. sic and waiting ’til they can go “We figured we would just write out and tour again. They’ve songs that we’d enjoy playing live, “I wanted to have nothing to do with written some really heavy, really sad that would go over well,� Camp- music,� Campbell says. “I didn’t songs, possibly opening themselves bell says. “So, it’s got elements from want to listen to music or make up more than ever before. all of our previous material kind of music. I was just so tired, and then wrapped in a pretty direct package.� one day that passed, and I started “We’ve done some pretty aggressive writing loads and loads of materiand heavy songs that would work The album is the result of an emo- al, so we ended up with a surplus of really well live, and we’re still kind tional and musical outpouring af- music. We put together the ones we of experimenting with structure, ter pain and heartache. Campbell thought would make the most cobut it’s way less of an overall ex- went through a period where he herent album into Forgotten Days.� periment than our past album was,� didn’t want to listen to or make musays vocalist, synth player, and gui- sic, and bassist, vocalist, and synth “I think a lot of the lyrics on this one tarist Brett Campbell. player Joseph Rowland was deal- were a kind of self-reflection and ing with losing his mother. Then, coming to terms with a lot of the Pallbearer’s forthcoming album, when the time was right, the band personal, emotional, how we’ve Forgotten Days, will be out on Octo- came back to the songwriting pro- dealt with that for the past ten

years,� he adds. “A lot of it was rumination from Joe on the person he’s become and his personal growth, and a lot of the songs were inspired by the various people in our lives. So, there’s a lot of reflection.�

Pallbearer hope to get back out on stages, at least in Europe, next year, but have resigned themselves to the idea that touring could be a way off. They’re excited about what comes next, though, and fully ready to unleash the force of Forgotten Days on eager listeners.

Stream the new record this October via Nuclear Blast. đ&#x;’Łđ&#x;’Łđ&#x;’Ł

PHOTOGRAPHY BY GIANLUCA GRASSELLI

32 NEW NOISE

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INTERVIEW WITH GUITARIST ROBIN STAPS BY NICHOLAS SENIOR

O

ne of the most noteworthy Some of that has been the eternal aspects of The Ocean’s im- search for the perfect partners for pressive career is how their this particular collective. For this itmusic so majestically mirrors eration of The Ocean, Staps feels like the themes presented within each the pieces are perfectly in place: album. It would be something if this German band were traditional, but “There's always been a quest of findwith albums centered on geological ing the right people that share this eons, a scientific critique of Christian- vision, and now it seems like I've really ity, and a descent into the bottom of found them. That's also the reason the ocean, each album treads new why they're much more involved in thematic and sonic territory. Their this new record than anyone ever was upcoming eighth output, Phanero- in the past. There are three tracks that zoic II: Mesozoic|Cenozoic, out now [drummer] Paul [Seidel] wrote on this via Metal Blade Records, manages record, and I’m no longer writing all to both outdo and reference every- the basslines myself. I just leave that thing before it. up to Mathias [Hagerstrand].�

The Ocean take patterns seriously, “It's been a long journey to get to this as so much of Phanerozoic II feels stage now,� he continues. “But I think like a reimagining of the band’s with this record, I'm happier than early albums with all the experience with any previous Ocean record, or and wisdom that decades brings let's say with these two records, Phawith it. It’s like a rebirth for the band nerozoic I and II. They both cover in a way. Guitarist and main song- entirely different territories, and it writer Robin Staps notes that this was meant to be like that from the was very intentional and related to beginning. But, as a whole, both of the album’s themes. them really represent where this band stands right now, and like I “That's eternal recurrence right said, where I've always seen it when I there,� Staps says. “I mean, going started it 20 years ago. And that feels back to something from the past, good. That feels like coming home but trying to make it work in a con- and closing the cycle, so to speak.� temporary way is something that has been a challenge, of course, Everything about this album—well, always ever since the inception of both albums in this Phanerozoic sethe band. But now I feel like we're ries—revolves around one of Friedreally at the stage where anything is rich Nietzsche's famous ideas (no not possible. The vision that I had of this that one). band when I started it 20 years ago was there, but it was rather blurry. “The idea of eternal recurrence is the Now it’s becoming clear where it’s thread that goes through both realways been headed. With this line- cords, actually,� Staps states. “It's the up that we have now, everything is idea that everything happens over just falling into place.� and over again in infinite time and

34 NEW NOISE

space. It's a cyclical concept of time.

And you can apply that to your own personal life and any experiences that you have that recur.�

He elaborates: “There are parts of the album of that reappear throughout. It’s all cyclical. There are always references to something we've done before, and actually also some songs

have riffs or lyrics that were on previous records, but I don't think many people have noticed that. The idea to do that musically also unfolded and developed while we were already quite late into the process of making this record. Otherwise, we could have probably done even more with that [laughs]. But, I think it worked out pretty nice.â€? đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł

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Life, Loss, and Lament

INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST JEREMY BOLM BY MICK R.

T

here is no telling how loss is going to affect a person. Most of us are familiar with the stages of grief as they are popularly enumerated. Denial. Anger. Bargaining. Depression. Acceptance. An orderly, linear path, with an assured destination. You accept the loss and move on. Or maybe you don’t. Perhaps you'll skip a step and loop back around, or experience stages out of order. You may even experience multiple stages simultaneously, or none of them at all. There is no timeline for this process. Your emotions don't keep a calendar or take days off. There is no hourglass to watch. There is no way of knowing when the wheel of emotions will stop its mutilating grind.Â

Ultimately, your experience of loss is your own, and no one can tell you when what you’re feeling is right and how you will proceed to heal.

TouchĂŠ AmorÊ’s Jeremy Bolm wrote an entire album about the loss of his mother to cancer, and many of the emotions he felt while writing that record, he still feels to this day. The experience of living with these emotions and processing them publicly is the emotional cog that turns the entire apparatus of TouchĂŠ AmorÊ’s latest album, Lament, out on Epitaph Records. “Lament is about what my life is since [2016’s] Stage Four came out,â€? Bolm explains. “The issues that come with being so direct and honest about my own grief and how that has affected my life, with an audience responding to it, and the connections that I’ve made with people through that suffering.â€?

Understandably, having one’s emotional state during a vulnerable period of their life serve as the focal point for an entire record can be taxing. “Writing Lament was a way to get out my feelings on how Stage Four has affected me,� Bolm says. “And the guilt that I have for not really being able to be there for people, but also me expressing that shit is hard to navigate.�

To Bolm, being able to cultivate a communion of experience and emotions with his fans through his work, and sharing a common journey of grief with them, is one of the things he appreciates the most about being in TouchĂŠ AmorĂŠ. “I’m just lucky to have the platform that I have to express my grief this way,â€?

36 NEW NOISE

Bolm says. “This band has always been sort of my therapeutic way of dealing with stuff.�

Unfortunately, drawing a map of his emotions for others to follow has made Bolm a sought-after navigator of the rough seas of anguish for fans experiencing loss in their own lives. These moments hit him hard. “It kind of hits me out of nowhere,� he says. “I’m on tour and walking to get a coffee, or in a record store flipping through records, someone will approach me, and I’m more than happy to talk to anybody. I'll take a headphone out and be like, ‘Hey, what's going on?’ And it seems like it’s going to be just a nice conversation, but more often than not, they say, ‘Just want to let you know my sister died of brain cancer, and your record was really there for me.’ I’m realizing that it can be, for a lack of a better word, triggering ..."

Bolm confirms that moments like these occur on a near-daily basis, if not in person, then through social media or email. “It's a position that I didn't realize I would fully put myself in releasing [Stage Four],� he admits.

The role of impromptu therapist is one that he is not comfortable playing, and the expectations placed on him by fans in this regard can feel inappropriate and painful at times. Still, Bolm doesn't begrudge fans for wanting to give voice to their grief when they meet him. “I totally get it,� he affirms. “There are so many bands in my life who have put out records that have meant something to me, and I have had the opportunity to tell them that. I guess as a younger person, I never thought about how if a record is deeply personal to that artist, me telling them how the record made me feel could potentially affect them.�

So, why Bolm is still open to these interactions, as painful as they can be? “It's because I live with being so appreciative of anyone ever giving a shit about what we do and continuing to listen to what we do,â€? he says. “I feel like I owe them my life.â€?đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł

PHOTO BY ELENA DE SOTO

“I’M JUST LUCKY TO HAVE THE PLATFORM THAT I HAVE TO EXPRESS MY GRIEF THIS WAY… THIS BAND HAS ALWAYS BEEN SORT OF MY THERAPEUTIC WAY OF DEALING WITH STUFF.”

NEW NOISE

37

PHOTOGRAPHY BY SUREN KARAPETYAN

38 NEW NOISE

INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST MICHAEL BERDAN BY MARIKA ZORZI

T

his album is my attempt to take an honest look in the mirror and see just how often I’ve been the architect of my own misery,� says Uniform singer Michael Berdan.

For the first time, Berdan made a conscious decision to include lyrics, which focus on the static state of an antihero as he mulls over his life in the interim between major events, just existing in the world. The hardboiled literature and the characters of Raymond Chandler, James Ellroy, and Dashiell Hammet’s books were a major inspiration for Shame.

Over the past decade, Berdan and bandmate Ben Greenberg have bulldozed a path to the forefront of the underground. Now, with Mike Sharp on drums, Uniform are ready to fight their inner demons “I feel like a lot of the themes of the with the new album Shame, out via record can be traced to things PhilSacred Bones. ip Marlowe [a fictional character created by Raymond Chandler] has “Shame, as the title would indicate, said or mused over,� Berdan says. is a bit of a self-indictment,� Ber- “The line, ‘You talk too damn much dan explains. “Like most people, I and too damn much of it is about have a way of blaming others for you’ played through my head a few all of my problems, or feeling like times while processing my thoughts a victim of circumstance. This way to put to songs. All of those characof thinking has caused me a great ters revel in their suffering and what deal of pain over the years. It isn’t they think of as justified anger, and about how fucked up the world is this record is very much a catalog of insomuch as how my actions and suffering and what I’ve thought of attitudes have made the world as justified anger. The real, common around me more fucked up. If I can thread is that so much of the pain accept the pain and darkness in in these stories is self-made, based my heart for what they are; I have around frustration at the inabilisomething to work with.� ty to control the free will of others.

“IF I CAN ACCEPT THE PAIN AND DARKNESS IN MY HEART FOR WHAT THEY ARE: I HAVE SOMETHING TO WORK WITH.�

This record was built with empathy “We wanted this record to be an actoward the anti-hero, but also a de- curate portrait of where we are as sire for that person to deal with their a band at this very moment,â€? Berown shit.â€? dan says. “I’d like to think that we’ve developed a great deal through When it came time to pen Shame, the years of nonstop touring and Berdan decided to set about the task recording. It’s a hazard to say that of writing everything down, without this is a more ‘mature’ record than holding himself in any longer. we’ve made before, but whatever. It’s a more mature record than “I lived on whiskey and amphet- we’ve made before.â€? amines for a long time, and during that period I oscillated between With this fourth album, Uniform conbarking out edgelord garbage tinue their path into darkness. But, and general self-pity,â€? he confesses. unlike the other albums, throughout “Getting clean meant getting serious Shame it is possible to see a small, about my life and the role that I play faint light at the end of the tunnel. in the world. I want for my work to be self-analytical, and I want for those “Even if humanity wipes itself from who can relate to it to hopefully feel the face of the earth, the planet will less alone. I’ve gone from a desire to heal, and life will go on,â€? Berdan push everyone away to a yearning says. “Hopefully, it doesn’t come to connect with others. These senti- to that. We’re a constantly evolving ments very much feel like two sides species, at times symbiotic or parato the same proverbial coin.â€? sitic. I feel that anyone who chooses a life of dignity and kindness has Since their inception in 2013, Uni- already won. If you want to see the form have grown up a lot as a light in this fucked up world, try livband. Following Perfect World ing for the moment. Try to fill the (2015) and Wake in Fright (2017), moment with just a little bit of love, the group’s third offering, The Long compassion, and empathy. I promWalk (2018), represented a critical ise you will not be disappointed with high-water mark. the result.â€?đ&#x;’Łđ&#x;’Łđ&#x;’Ł

NEW NOISE 39

INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST MARK “BARNEY� GREENWAY BY MARIKA ZORZI

“

I

want people to listen,� says Napalm Death singer Mark “Barney�

Greenway. “What we have to try and do is talk about stuff that has some semblance of basis in the here and now, because they’re also experiencing that, so they can relate to it more.�

Napalm Death have always tried to shake consciences, from back in the first days of their formation in 1981.

After almost 40 years, that attitude hasn't changed at all. The band from Birmingham, U.K. are back in 2020 with a new album, Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism, out via Century Media. According to Greenway, the album has only one message: a plea for humanity and compassion to prevail over selfishness and fear. “What the album talks about is generally the treatment of the other,�

Greenway says. “First of all, I use the example of people fleeing dangerous situations, commonly known as refugees or migrants. The dehumanization of those people is nothing new,

40 NEW NOISE

but it has been accentuated, even at try now.’ [They] put about the idea neo-Nazi activity around and about. a governmental level. We know the that LGBTQ+ people, because their If I’m somewhere and it’s going on, it obvious person across the Atlantic makeup might be different because does fucking anger me. But to a point, who enjoys using this to his own end, of their sexuality, that somehow that is I think constantly fighting with people but we also have it in Europe. We have a threat to the biological makeup of in the physical sense, it doesn’t help. it in Poland. We have it in Hungary. We rest of the population. It’s fucking nuts. It just perpetuates the cycle of violence rather than trying to get to the have people that use this kind of language against fellow human beings. “We’re not only presenting those endpoint, and the endpoint is quality This is really dangerous stuff because scenarios that are very real, but we and dignity for all. Me, as an individthese are the tactics of—for example— are also trying to be the antithesis. ual, but more importantly as Napalm the fascist regimes in the past.�

Napalm Death is standing up and Death, as it’s chosen to be, we’ll just saying, ‘No. These are our fellow keep putting the ideas on the table “They would pick out groups within the human beings. This nonsensical and hope that they resonate with population, and they would tell the treatment of other human beings is people, which they have done with a general population why these people not acceptable.’ It doesn’t need to be, lot of people that follow us.� shouldn’t be trusted, and they’d dehu- and it shouldn’t be.�

Since the beginning, Napalm Death manize them, and eventually, it builds up to a point where the rest of the pop- As with everything Napalm Death have been synonymous with both ulation becomes so afraid, so paranoid, have recorded since the early ’90s, proudly-held ethical principles and so hateful, that they start to use violence Throes Of Joy In The Jaws Of Defeatism the relentless pursuit of new ways to against these groups,â€? he continues. digs deeply and insightfully into all terrorize people with riffs and noise. manner of historical and contempo“Napalm Death is about the collec“Sometimes, as we know, it can lead to rary horrors and injustices. tive,â€? he says. “It’s about what we can mass murder. So, it’s quite significant that refugees are being dehuman- “Over the years, I’ve seen a lot of do to contribute to the promotion of ized, but also look how at the LGBTQ+ things,â€? Greenway continues. “I’ve humanity. I know that sounds a bit of community are being dehumanized been involved in a lot of things over a grand idea and a little band makby Poland, which just declared, ‘Oh, the years. I still get really disappoint- ing all these grand pronouncements, we have gay-free zones in the coun- ed and angry when I see that kind of but I think it’s very true.â€? đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł

PHOTO BEN PEIR PHOTO BY ALANBY SNODGRASS

INTERVIEW WITH BASSIST AND VOCALIST BRENDAN KELLY

BY JOHN SILVA

“

NEW NOISE

41

NECROT INTERVIEW WITH GUITARIST SONNY REINHARDT BY NICHOLAS SENIOR

S

o, what blood offerings did Necrot have to give to release back to back death metal classics? The Oakland-based act’s 2017 debut, Blood Offerings, was quite the first impression, but their sophomore record, Mortal, out now via Tankcrimes, takes the (gory?) cake, sweetening everything about Blood Offerings

per tight playing those songs over and over again, and played with so many amazing bands. It upped the bar for us in many ways, and we wanted to progress onto more grandiose sickness in the death metal game.

“The scene we come from in Oakland has had so many different kinds of heavy music over the years. There's so many different players and styles in the melting pot here. We’ve played all kinds of shows here too. DIY punk gigs in warehouses, basements, and bars, to bigger metal and thrash shows with huge national acts. I feel like because we come from more of a DIY background, we can play with lots of different kinds of bands.”

in the process. Necrot’s vision of in the water in Oakland to create “As far as the progression from the throwback death metal style is so many amazing bands?). Guitarist Blood Offerings to Mortal goes, it perfection to these ears, with bits Sonny Reinhardt takes me through was a pretty natural progression of punk fury, thrash energy, and the band’s thoughts of following up to want to have sicker drums, some of the best riffs in the game. Blood Offerings. more solos, heavier, more intriIt’s equal parts cavernous sludge cate riffs, and deeper, darker “We offered our blood by touring lyrics,” Reinhardt continues. “It's and melodic menace. that album a whole bunch on the a next-level Blood Offerings that Necrot came together from various road for the last few years after makes you realize your absolute bands in Oakland (what the fuck is its release!” he says. “We got su- MORTALity [laughs].”

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALAN SNODGRASS

42 NEW NOISE

“WE WANTED TO SHRED AND DESTROY EVERYTHING AROUND US! WE WANTED TO TURN IT UP FROM 11 UP TO BROIL!�

Offerings and jokes aside, there’s an impressive care and understanding of craft that helps elevate Necrot from the host of OSDM styled acts.

For one, the songs themselves are never without a sense of pace and space—never has an album cover been more apt to the chaos within.

Riffs, solos, and bridges are a bigger focus here than just simply a flavoring agent. We haven’t entered prog territory (Horrendous has that pretty locked down), but Necrot aren’t just here for the bludgeoning. So, what did the band want to do with this album? “We wanted to shred and destroy everything around us!� Reinhardt says. “We wanted to turn it up from

11 up to broil! But honestly, we felt like we were ready to make the step up from the last album and bring on some more technical stuff mixed with heavier and even some darker, more melodic stuff. Basically, just bringing out more aspects of our sound in a more complete and mature way without sounding like a different band or straying from our real true sound.�

The record’s themes are also perfectly aligned to Mortal’s haunting cover, as Reinhardt explains: “The way I see it is that we are highlighting the fact that we create all of this chaos and destruction, this division between people. That, in

fact, we are giving up our humanity live here, we had so many different to that void and darkness in a strug- types of venues to go hang out at. gle to gain power over each other It was cheap enough to get by and and the world. It's making things see amazing music every night if you worse, and we will kill ourselves in wanted to. It was easy to be inspired the process. It's not happy subject and meet like-minded people who matter, but it matters because we were down to do shit together. It was are all caught up in it together. It's a fucking fun as hell! sink-or-swim situation for all of humankind. And it seems like the ship “Now it's been pretty challenging, as times have changed. A lot of the is sinking ...â€? spaces are gone, so it's a really difGetting back to an earlier issue, Re- ferent vibe. Luckily, we've been able inhardt helps answer what exactly to get out on the road and have lots is in the water that has allowed the of great experiences. We can't wait Bay Area to be so fertile to death until that opens up again. Perhaps metal blossoms. all the rich tech people will move away, and the Bay Area will become “Before the pandemic, and when cheap and awesome again.â€? đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł it started getting so expensive to

NEW NOISE 43

INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST SAM KING BY GEN HANDLEY

W

hen Sam King wrote the song “Pepperspray” more than two years ago, he had no idea how prophetic the song would be.

sonic and lyrical areas that Get Dead has never ventured before. In the case of the album’s title, the “curse” is a reference to self-destructive behavior—both individually and “I swear we’re not psychics,” as a society. says the Get Dead vocalist. “But, it is a little strange. The whole “You’ve got to navigate this teralbum is like that, and it’s this rain the best that you can and trippy thing. But, people have dance with it,” King explains. been feeling this way for a very “You do what you can to make long time, and we could kind yourself happy and help those of see it coming—we were just you care about. I hope this retapping into that. That's the cord gets people through these only way I can explain it.” rough times, but I also hope it pisses people off enough to go Pause. out there and stand up against this shit.”

“Or, maybe I should start reading palms or something,” he adds The surprising album kicks off with a sad chuckle. with the surreal, hip-hop-punk track “Disruption.” This song sets The now-poignant song is from the bar for the rest of the album, the band’s latest release, Danc- opening the door for other moing with the Curse, is coming out ments like genre-challenging October 9 on Fat Wreck Chords. electronic elements on “Glitch,” “Confrontation,” and “Take It.” It’s the caliber of music that While it's a fitting opener for the is needed right now—urgent, rest of the album, “Disruption” rallying, and optimistic. King wasn’t originally intended to be steps up his game and sto- the first song. rytelling, elevating his raspy vocals to new cadences and “I grew up in the ’90s; skateheights while the rest of the boarding and hip-hop has althree band members play ways been a big influence on with an intense, different en- me,” King says. “From when I ergy, pushing themselves in was 16 until about 20, I would

44 NEW NOISE

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALAN SNODGRASS

make hip-hop music. Since I Much to the chagrin of their was about 16, I've been doing growing number of fans, it hip-hop on the side, and it’s took the San Francisco band like an exercise for my brain. more than two long years to So, I accidentally sent one of make this album. When asked those tracks over to Fat Mike why it took so long, King does – I thought I was sending him wax romantic in his completerough demos for the album. ly honest response.

And on the second draft of the album, he told me he loved it, “I think the label will attest this,� and it’s was going to be the he admits. “We’re probably the first song.� most unorganized group of hu-

man beings on the face of the earth. It just took us that long to get our shit together. But, I’m glad we didn’t rush it because I think it’s a really good record.�

Chris Dugan. King says they wanted to make a more positive album than the memorable, darker-themed Honesty Lives Elsewhere.

That unhurried care is evident in the quality and creativity of these songs, which were produced by D-Composers (Fat Mike, Johnny Carey, Baz Bastien, Yotam Ben Horin) and

“The last one was about a friend's suicide,â€? he says. “For this record, we wanted something more positive but still realistic about all the shit that's going on. This album is a step forward." đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł

NEW NOISE

45

PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEITH BAILLARGEON

PHOTO BY HEATHER WILLIS

46 NEW NOISE

INTERVIEW WITH DRUMMER JOE GODINO AND VOCALIST/GUITARIST TOM MAY

BY BEN SAILER

M

arch 14, 2020 was a grim night in Melbourne. As the lights went off at the Croxton Bandroom following a tense set from the Menzingers on the final night of their Australian tour, news of the COVID-19 pandemic reaching the United States forced the band to find the first flight back to Philadelphia. What followed was a frantic, two-day trip navigating packed airports while the Western world prepared to face a viral threat it was only beginning to understand, one that would eventually slow society to a halt and shut down live music for the foreseeable future.

up as a full-band effort. No ideas were considered off the table, and with no real deadline to turn the record around, they took their time producing something that can stand on its own while offering a new perspective on the record.

That process wasn’t necessarily easy, though. Despite living close to one another, social distancing forced the band to work together remotely deviating from their usual process of jamming together in a room and vibing off each other’s ideas to piece together songs.

Finding new ways to collaborate had some positive knockon effects.

“Those 48 hours were some of the weirdest we’ve ever gone through on tour,� says drummer Joe “There was a new element that Godino.

I think really helped us grow as musicians and even as people Hunkered down in their homes and as friends,� guitarist and as future tour dates were can- vocalist Tom May says. “And that celled and the gravity of the sit- was that we had to decide what uation sunk in, the band began we were going to do before we discussing what their path for- started to do it, meaning that we ward might look like. That led to had to be able to describe what From Exile, an acoustic reimag- we're doing or what we wanted ining of their fittingly fatalistic to do, and then we had to come late-2019 full-length Hello Exile. to an agreement on it.�

With the songs still feeling fresh, it gave them an opportunity to Without much collective recontinue exploring new tones cording expertise, the band and textures within their struc- turned to the internet to learn tures while staying creative and how to cut their tracks and productive under lockdown. combine them into something that producer Will Yip could “It's important to note that we polish into a finished product. had just cracked into the cycle The results feel remarkably like of touring for Hello Exile,â€? Godino a studio album, and it’s likely says. “That album had come out listeners otherwise would have in October, and at that point in little idea that the tracks were March, we were right in the thick stitched together in bedrooms, of it. We had just done a U.S. tour, basements, and attics. Thanks European tour, and Australia, to DIY ingenuity and sheer and we had plans to repeat them force of will (no pun intended), all this year. It was just like the the band turned a commercarpet getting pulled out from cial death blow for the songs that whole album cycle.â€? on Hello Exile into something unique that otherwise might If From Exile was a slapdash not exist. collection of acoustic renditions played verbatim from their “Will really knocked it out source material, it may have felt hard,â€? May said. “He absolike something intended to satisfy lutely fucking crushed it at a contractual obligation rather his house. He brought some than a specific creative vision. equipment back from his studio However, such a description and did an incredible job of couldn’t be further from the truth. very quickly and fantastically Instead, the songs were stripped making it sound incredible.â€? down to the studs and built back đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł

NEW NOISE 47

PHOTO BY NATE REBOLLEDO

p i h s r e n w O t u o h t i W y t i l a qu E

48 NEW NOISE

INTERVIEW WITH GUITARIST BRIAN ORTIZ BY JAMES ALVAREZ

PHOTO BY MEGAN TOENYES

I

n 2016, alternative country singer Lydia Loveless was sailing to new heights. She released her third studio album, Real, to widespread critical acclaim.

She made television appearances and gained hype even outside of alt-country circles. But, the past four years have brought a lot of change for Loveless, from leaving her record label to leaving her hometown. In possibly the biggest change of all, Loveless went through a divorce which also affected her lineup, as her now-exhusband played bass in her band.

This whirlwind contributed to the longest gap between albums in Loveless’ career.

“I was transitioning out of my marriage and living on my own for the first time, which was weird,” she says. “So, I probably got way too depressed around then. And then, I moved to North Carolina from Ohio, so that put me even further away from being ready to start recording something.”

Loveless says she also felt winded from the previous three album cycles.

“I think I just had mega burnout,” she explains. “Which was hard for me to realize, because I didn’t feel like I worked particularly hard as a musician. And then, I realized I probably was super exhausted and burnt out from touring and emotional distress and fallout there. I think I just needed some time.”

Four years after Real, Loveless is finally gearing up to put her fourth studio LP out into the world. Daughter comes out now on Loveless’ own label, Honey, You’re Gonna Be Late Records. It’s a perfect album for the isolated time we’re living in, as it was written in a lonely manner, giving a bedroom-pop glaze to Loveless’s twangy, country songs.

“I had a lot more time to myself,” Loveless says. “I didn’t have my band to pop down the street and work on stuff with. So, it was a mixture of new groups of people and being isolated, and also having to put songs together myself.”

In contrast to Loveless' previous records, which blend traditional, country music with a punk-rock tinge, Daughter is a much more intimate release both musically and lyrically. Loveless has always had a knack for making listeners feel like she’s right there, spilling her heart out to

NEW NOISE 49

them.

what was on my mind. Because obviously, with the current administration, it’s just become a more popular topic to be the woke, feminist guy. And sometimes, it was irritating to see people still not get it [laughs].

Like, ‘I worry about my daughter in this world.’ Like, what about worrying for everyone?

I’m just hoping that people can learn how to appreciate things that have nothing to do with them and still respect it.�

“I think I’m always known as a love-song, relationship-song person,� she says. “There’s actually so much of my family on this record, which, it’s not easy for me to write about my family or talk about them, because I don’t feel like it’s my place to parade my family members around. But, there’s so much of that on this, and the mental health issues in my family, including my own.

It was interesting to tap into that without being as blatant as I would normally be when I was writing about the relationships that I’ve had.�

Loveless left Bloodshot Records after her contract expired in 2016. Now, she has a new sense of freedom, releasing Daughter through a record label she created rather than signing with someone else. She did this partially out of necessity.

There’s added pressure that comes with releasing an album on her own label, but Loveless leans into pressure.

Perhaps that’s what makes her an indestructible machine.

“I think it was a lot more subdued and a lot more personal, which, I think made me improve in a lot of ways as a songwriter and lyrically,�

Loveless says.

Thematically, the album centers around the title track, “Daughter,� which calls into question men who become interested in feminism only after they become fathers, uninterested in equality until they feel they have some stake in it.

“I think there’s more excitement as well,� she says. “If it fails, it’s all on me. So, all I can do is be super proud of it and put my all into it, instead of it being like, if someone thinks it’s kinda lame, they can just stop promoting it or not talk about it that much.

It’s mine to fuck up or succeed at, which is great.â€? đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł

“It’s hard to explain the whole process of people being able to appreciate equality without having ownership,� Loveless explains. “So, that was mainly

If you want alittle more country-tinged heartbreak check out

LAUREN NAPIER

INTERVIEW BY JOHN SILVA

evolved to touring, recording, and happily sharing nomadic space.�

The songs the two artists made together combine Ruggiero’s reggae with Na- While Napier and Ruggiero come from pier’s twangy voice, and these sounds different musical traditions, country blend like sweet tea and a hot summer and reggae are more similar than day. Alt-country fans will love “Some- many people realize. thing About Cowboys,� an old-school country song that introduces people to “The reggae is admittedly out of my a side of cowboy history that is often overlooked in popular western films.

“Whilst I was living in Berlin, [Vic Ruggiero] had an artist residency around the "At the end of our U.S. tour in January corner from my office,� explains Amer- of this year, we had set aside a few icana artist Lauren Napier, about the moments to attend the National Coworigins of her recent collaboration with boy Poetry Gathering in Elko,� Napier ska and reggae legend Vic Ruggiero. “I explains. “Someone had hopped us to noticed a sign in the window that said the festival at a show in Tonopah the Vic Ruggiero exhibition as I was out on previous year. And this year, the theme a coffee break. I stopped in one day of the conference was the Black cowand then started going in to converse boy: a history to which I was mostly igon my lunch breaks. And then convers- norant, and that was inspiring to me as ing turned to guitar, and then, once we biracial rider myself. A conversation were both Stateside, we met again in with Myrtis Dightman, the first Afrithe Pacific Northwest and the threads can American to compete at the NFR,

50 NEW NOISE

made us realize we would like to tell a piece of the tale melodically. So, we gave it our best shot."

wheelhouse,� Napier says. “But Vic has encouraged and inspired me to explore these threads. He likens it to asking 'why country and blues work so well together. It’s because they are cousins.

Close ones.' And I think you can see that in the gait of the genres, these syncopated rhythms almost like the gait of a horse’s steady walk. Which I think percussively aligns the two.â€? đ&#x;’Ł

Available 8/16

OUT NOW

owthbegood.com - epitaph.com

METZ INTERVIEW WITH GUITARIST AND VOCALIST ALEX EDKINS, BASSIST CHRIS SLORACH, AND DRUMMER HAYDEN MENZIESBY

BY JOHN SILVA

E

ven before COVID “’Pulse’ is one of the heaviest shook the world and things we’ve ever done, and the the music industry, To- ending is one of the most groronto post-punk trio tesque things we’ve ever done,” METZ made the executive deci- Edkins says. “And then, you get lesion to push the release date of gitimately what we would considtheir new album, Atlas Vending, to er pretty parts, or beautiful parts October 9. The original release that, you know, we dialed down date conflicted with the arrival of the tone or play softer. These are a new family member. all things that are coming along because of the amount of time “I had a baby in May,” explains we’ve spent together playing and bassist Chris Slorach. “We finished growing as musicians. But also, recording in December, and it our interests in music are really was mastered in mid-December. vast, and so, as Chris [Slorach] We didn’t really have a finished said, bludgeoning people over version of it until the first week of and over starts to lose its interJanuary. So, the earliest it would est after a while. We just wanted have come out even with that is it to be more of a dynamic listen May. We pushed it back to Octo- throughout.” ber just because our original release date for this record was the Although the album was recorded exact same date that my daughter last year, in many ways, it feels like was born. That didn’t work for me.” an eerily fitting record for 2020.

Indeed, as the band gets older, family has become a bigger pri- “It’s got a mood to it that is very ority. In addition to these big life fitting for a global crisis,” Edkins changes, METZ have embraced says. “Reflecting on your life and some new directions sonical- reflecting on the life you lead, it’s ly. Their previous work felt like a very much about that. The tenblistering punch to the face. Atlas sion within is something that a lot Vending has those types of tracks, of people are going to be able but it also explores some more to relate to right now because melodic directions. everyone is dealing with this new

52 NEW NOISE

PHOTOGRAPHY BY GREG JACOBS

“IT’S GOT A MOOD TO IT THAT IS VERY FITTING FOR A GLOBAL CRISIS.” NEW NOISE

53

reality. Having to change a lot of the ways they live and the outlook on life. So yeah, I definitely think that’s kind of tied in with it.

But not intentionally! Who could anticipate this clusterfuck?"

The members of METZ now face a world many parents find themselves living in, suddenly having to juggle childcare and teaching responsibilities alongside full-time jobs. And for a group known for their intense live shows, not being able to tour affects more than just the business aspects of their band.

It hits emotionally as well. “It makes you realize how much you depended on that as a source of joy and a source of release,� Edkins says. “You’re like, ‘Whoa, something’s missing; oh yeah, it’s that thing I did 200 times a year with all these people all over the world.� And, on an emotional level, I absolutely am feeling that void.�

Drummer Hayden Menziesby explains that when touring becomes a part of your identity, having that part of your career yanked out from under you can feel devastating. “To devote this much of your life towards something and be privileged enough to be able to share it with people, you can’t help but have it form some sort of identity for you in terms of how you identify yourself,� he says. “So, when there’s a large chunk of that that’s removed it’s a head trip. There are a few positives, where it’s maybe a mental check-in to slow things down for a second. But, the vast majority has been an uphill battle, to not be able to express your identity the way that it seems to have been in the past decade or more.�

Edkins, however, is trying to stay optimistic and is thankful for the time he gets to spend with his family. “The only thing I can do is remind myself that I’m getting time with my kid and my wife,â€? he says. “That I wouldn’t have been able to have that time. So, [I’m] just trying to stay focused on the positive parts of this.â€? đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł

54 NEW NOISE

DEVILDRIVER 56 NEW NOISE

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALAN SNODGRASS

INTERVIEW WITH SINGER DEZ FAFARA BY TOM CRANDLE

D

evilDriver and vocalist Dez Fafara have spent the last 18 years singing about pain, dishonesty, betrayal, anger, loss, and the worst traits of humanity.

This will come to a glorious head when DevilDriver release their epic new double album. The first half, Dealing With Demons 1, arrives on October 9 through Napalm Records.Â

totally different story with me. I went as deep as I could. I hit my own demons and society’s demons. It was uncomfortable to go as close to myself as I could, and then tell people what the songs are about lyrically.�

Like so many other bands, DevilDriver’s best laid plans were derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fafara will attempt to once and for “The album was done, in the can, all exorcise the things that haunt late 2019. We were supposed to rehim so he can begin to take the lease it late 2019 or early 2020,â€? Faband in a new lyrical direction. fara recalls. “The plan was to do a double record, stagger the release “This record is about taking chanc- by a year or a year and a half, stay es for us,â€? he says. “I’ve always kind on the road for three and a half of written about the human condi- years straight, literally straight, then tion—love, hate, and all the rest of come off and take a year and a half it. I just want to write about differ- or two-year break. Then COVID hit.â€? ent things. Here’s the situation, I’ve been writing about the same thing This isn’t the first time in recent since I was 16, and basically, I need memory that Fafara has had to to move on from that. It was going to deal with unexpected adversity. take a double record for me to do that, and I could get everything off “In 2019, my family and I had some my chest.â€? heavy difficulties that we faced as a team,â€? he says. “We had to evac“We wrote almost 30 or 35 songs for uate our house from wildfires, and this thing, and had maybe 50 ideas, we didn’t know if we were going to and narrowed it down until it was all come back to a home. It was insane.â€? killer no filler,â€? Fafara continues. “I know a lot of bands say that, but it “We beat that, got a double record, is the fact with this record. I could got touring coming, and my wife release every one of these songs on had cancer,â€? Farfara recalls. “So, volume one as a single.â€? she had to get two surgeries at once on that, and then we beat that. We “This double record put me out of beat wildfires, beat cancer, got a my comfort zone to the point of this double record, got some touring, and - when you asked me in the last 20 here comes the pandemic, and riots years what a song was about, I would and civil unrest, and all the rest of it.â€? never tell you,â€? he explains. “This is a “We watched a lot of bands pull their records because of this thing, and it was a good business move on their part, but a terrible move towards the fans,â€? he opines. “This is the time when people need a good metal record. And besides, everything that I’m discussing within the record are things that people can identify with. I think this is the time to release it.â€? “It’s like boxing—you’ve just got to stick and move,â€? he says. “You’ve got to punch and duck, and that’s where we're at right now. You’ve got to learn how to make different moves at this point. It’s become all about giving people new music and keeping up on your socials.â€? “I love music. It’s all I do,â€? Farfare concludes. “When it becomes a chore to tour, when it becomes a chore to write, when it becomes a chore to be in this life, I’ll get away really quickly. I still really enjoy what we’re doing.â€? đ&#x;’Łđ&#x;’Łđ&#x;’Ł

NEW NOISE

57

THE MOUNTAIN GOATS

So, it was extremely safe getting the record done.�

The album was recorded during a pandemic, and will be released during one as well.

INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST/GUITARIST JOHN DARNIELLE BY ADDISON HERRON-WHEELER And, like all the other Mountain Goats records before it, it is f you’ll admit nothing else es to keep making new music. The band headed out to tour reflective of the times but also positive about the awesome “Anyone can write. Whether before recording, and then cryptic. Darnielle attributes his folk force that are The Moun- you have writer’s block or not, soon had to abandon tour ability to keep making music to tain Goats, they are prolific. you’ll write something. Now, plans due to COVID. As an ex- the fact that music, and writing, Their latest release, Getting Into you might write for three weeks nurse, Darnielle realized the are his jobs, not some esoteric Knives, out October 23 via Merge and everything is trash—that severity of the situation right calling.

Records, is their 19th studio al- happens to all of us. But I’m just away and decided to shelter bum since 1994, and they still writing all the time. I’m always in place with the band while “For me, the way I think about writing is the same way that I have something to say, even if harvesting lines and phrases making the record. think about performing—it’s that something is about “animals from what I write and coming and knives,� as vocalist, song- up with new material.� “When people are starting to work,� he says. “It’s not magwriter, and guitarist John admits have fears about health, the ic. It’s not a mystical process. is the topic of the new record.

As he is always writing, The best place you can be is in a What I do is write because it’s Mountain Goats had plenty of recording studio because a my work.â€? “I don’t sit around waiting until I material for Getting Into Knives recording studio is a cloister,â€? feel like I’m in some sort of spe- when it came time to record. he says. “The only thing you Stream the new Mountain cial magic mood or anything need to get from outside is Goats album October 23, and because I think that’s nonsense,â€? “There are a ton of songs that I food. Other than that, you’re look out for livestream anDarnielle says of how he, the wrote that aren’t on this record,â€? with your people all day, and nouncements and rescheduled man behind the band, manag- Darnielle admits. nobody’s seeing anybody else. tour plans. đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł

I

PHOTO BY JADE WILSON

58 NEW NOISE

PHOTOGRAPHY BY GREG JACOBS

INTERVIEW WITH DRUMMER ELLIE ENGLISH, BASSIST IRITA PAI, AND VOCALIST/GUITARIST SADE SANCHEZ

“

I

think we’re all doing OK consid- also been keeping up with the wave ering the circumstances,� say L.A. of women speaking out against sexWitch of how they’re holding up ual assault and bigotry in the punk during COVID. “We’re trying to keep community. our heads up and stay busy and creative, which has kind of been a chal- “I feel like right now, we should be lenge for us. We don’t have a rehearsal listening to the victims; right now is space anymore, which has been a big the time to just listen,� they said. “As change for us, and we can’t actually far as musicians being called out, get together to practice.� unfortunately, it’s nothing new; it’s been going on for forever in rock ’n’ Despite these setbacks, L.A. Witch are roll history, which is really important. proud of their latest album, Play With I think it’s important for people to tell Fire, released August 21 via Suicide their stories and give courage to othSqueeze. er women.�

“I feel like with this record, the songs Although this year has been hard, L.A. are more cohesive to each other be- Witch see the new album as a new cause they were written more close- beginning. ly to one another, whereas on other albums, the songs were kind of writ- “We hope people are going to be ten over a longer span of time,� they stoked on this record, and that it added. “I think the music has gotten gives them something new to listen better and has evolved.� to during quarantine. I hope it gives them some sort of inspiration.�

With this new record under their belt, L.A. Witch are brainstorming ways to Stream or buy Play With Fire now and get in front of an audience in the age check the band out via livestream of COVID, even if that means turning or with more announcements soon. to more video channels. And they’ve đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł

60 NEW NOISE

BY ADDISON HERRON-WHEELER

KATAKLYSM INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST MAURIZIO IACONO BY TOM CRANDLE

K

ataklysm might not be the in my teens. It's been going on for first name that comes to mind 30 years.� when you think of death metal, but maybe it should be. What Iacono poured his frustration into they’ve been able to accomplish the songs. over the course of nearly 30 years puts them near the top of the heavy “For me, music is therapy,� he says. heap. They will again prove their “So, I just unleashed on it. It's a way mettle with the release of their 14th more aggressive record than was studio LP, Unconquered. The album previously done by Kataklysm. That will be released on September 25 was the mindset on it. It was just like by their long-time label home Nu- a driven, pissed-off attitude behind clear Blast Records. it. Let's say Pantera when they were most pissed off. I would mix that with While other bands struggle to make some extreme metal. The music just an album or two a decade, Katak- came out the way it did.� lysm have consistently released one every couple of years. “We did songs like ‘Defiant’ on this album that are probably some of “We always have to work harder,� the most extreme stuff we've ever Kataklysm singer Maurizio Iacono made, but at the same time, it's suexplains. “We created this pattern per listenable," Iacono continues. of writing that we're so comfortable “Concept-wise, it's very Machiavelin. We always have to be putting lian. It's about revenge, getting hit stuff out. We can't tour for five years hard, and coming back up to take on the same album.� your revenge. It turns into this crazy, emotional ride. The record's very “I call us working-class bands. We re- diverse. But, it stands together and lease a record; we tour the world for flows into each other easily. That it; we touch every base, and then was the magic about it. It's a jourwe're back into wanting to write a ney.� record," he adds.

Iacono also insisted on releasing “This album was written and record- the album now, during a global ed last year. It was done by about pandemic, when people need muNovember. In December, we were sic the most. checking out mixes, and in January, we delivered it to Nuclear Blast,â€? “A lot of bands postponed their reIacono says. “At some point, they cords until 2021. I personally think were like, ‘We've got to postpone that's un-metal. You don't release this thing to 2021 because the re- records when it's safe,â€? he says. cord’s strong, and we don't want to “This is the time you release metal take a chance with it.’â€? records, in the middle of a pandemic. Everything the bands are Kataklysm fought to get Uncon- talking about is happening. Here's quered out sooner. the zombie land you wanted.â€? “I thought, that's too far. People need “When I grew up, metal was rebelmusic now, and who knows what's lious, and it was tough,â€? Iacono exgoing to happen?â€? plains. “It was about going against the grain. We were the outsiders, Although the lyrics for Unconquered and I've always believed that was were written before COVID-19, metal for me. I looked at Slayer, there's no shortage of desperation. and I was scared. I looked at Deicide, and I would be like, if I meet “I was in a pretty aggressive mood that guy, I'm going to piss my pants. last year,â€? Iacono says. “I was feel- I loved that myth and that craziness ing a lot of anxiety. I think it's be- and that evil. Now, everybody's petcause I really never stopped. I got ting their cats.â€? đ&#x;’Łđ&#x;’Łđ&#x;’Ł signed to Nuclear Blast when I was

NEW NOISE 61

JOHN SNODGRASS INTERVIEW BY JOSHUA MARANHAS

W

ith the release of Tace on A-F Records, Jon Snodgrass has collected his best feelings from the last few years. He’s getting by in a pandemic with a whole lot of help from his family.

Cumulatively, this record adds family to good friends, and the sum is Armchair Martian, Drag the River, and Snodgrass magic.

Each track has a vibe and Snodgrass explains why he gathered together such an eclectic mixture. “I was going to make these seven

 With Tace, you can sing along to Joey Cape of Lagwagon on the opening track “Renaissance Man,� “Don't Break Her Heart� features Stephen Egerton of Descendents, and “BoyzIIMen� has John Moreland. “The Sequel� features Rise Against’s Tim McIlrath and Zach Blair. Stacey Dee of Bad Cop / Bad Cop is on “Bad Newlands.� His kids are all over the record, and “Don’t Break Her Heart� is a song Snodgrass worked particularly hard on. It’s a loose plan to escape to Mexico, if needed. As a father, he’s protective enough of his daughter to set a future suitor on fire is they treat her poorly.

inches with four different labels, from Tace and zags to a recount of put them up for a year, each year, his television screen. and let them go down, which the first one did,� he says. “And then, in “Hang on a second,� he says. “We 2020, I would put them all up in the got bases loaded. Oh, and Dave digital world forever. It was just go- Roberts seems to think something’s ing to be kind of a special thing for going to happen.� He’s referring to a year, for each release, and for the Dodgers’ manager. the people that bought the vinyl.�  Traveling, wandering, and sto- “That’s a song that I really worked It’s classic Snodgrass. An avid rytelling — the addictive joy of on for a long time,� Snodgrass baseball fan, he interrupts ev- Jon Snodgrass’ folk rock point of says. “I mean the melody and stuff, ery thought he has to talk about view will stick to your heart. His you know, that was quick. And that passion.

While talking thoughtful persona is on record the setting someone on fire part. about Tace and music, Snodgrass and floats around your brain like But I worked on the lyrics for a is giving Rockies play-by-play. “Go a night at the Surfside 7 in Fort while. It’s kinda long, though. And Baseball‌â€? the album’s second Collins, Colorado. Grab a beer it got longer when me and Steto last track, is authenticated by and sing along to your stereo. phen [Egerton] did it, I wrote that Snodgrass’ every fiber. He zigs He’s keen to treat everyone kind, kind of intro and outro part to it. and “Backstageâ€? explains that It’s cool. But made a long song ethos pretty well. longer. I think I only think that because I’ve been writing all these “The ‘Backstage’ song is about how short, 30-second to one-minute not everyone knows your name, jingles lately.â€? who you are,â€? he says. Snodgrass    is an excellent seeker of symbiosis Snodgrass’ sense of humor permebetween venues, fans and musi- ates his every word. cians. “It’s pretty self-explanatory, but you know, when you go to “That’s outro music,â€? he says. “That’s a gig and there’s somebody there the sound of me flying to Mexico. and they don't really treat the staff It’s the getaway music, but it’s slow. very well? Not most people, but I’ve And I just kind of picture it hoverseen some people do it, act like ing, like a helicopter splitting. I’ll they’re famous and a big deal. I’m have to leave the country if somelike, you know, not everyone that thing happens, you know.â€? works at the club actually listens to  your band. We’re all working this Snodgrass is working on details to thing, you know? We're all employ- safely play music from the album ees of this place tonight. Let’s be with friends. Follow him on social cool. No one’s any better than the media for specifics. The details inother person, you know?â€? clude a safe staging at a practice space in Los Angeles the second weekend in October, New England in November, and December in Tulsa, Oklahoma. đ&#x;’Łđ&#x;’Łđ&#x;’Ł

PHOTO BY VINCE SADONIS

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INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST, SAMPLER, AND SYNTH PLAYER BLAKE HARRISON

BY ADDISON HERRON-WHEELER

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ig Destoryer’s latest EP, The Octagonal Stairway, out now via Relapse Records, is a study in minimalism. For the first half of the album, if we’re breaking it up into side A and side B on vinyl, we get a straightforward, classic Pig Destroyer album, heavy and punishing as ever. On the second half, we get experimental and crushingly industrial.

PIG PHOTO BY JAY DIXON

“We had a few songs that would be the first half of an EP, and we decided to do something different with the other side,� says vocalist, sampler, and synth player Blake Harrison. “We changed it up to make it a little more Throbbing Gristle-inspired.�

They also joined forces with experimental, dark electronic musician Igorrr on this record, lending even more texture and heaviness to the mix.

However, for a band built on touring and live shows, this is a strange time to come out with new music. “In general, not being able to go out on the road and play shows, not being able to practice and tour, I’m going stir-crazy,� Harrison admits. “We’re trying to come up with new ways to promote stuff, and we did the fan video, which we got a ton of submissions for,� he continues. “I would like to think we’ll be able to get out at some point and play shows, but everything we had booked for this year just got moved to the same time next year. And, as far as livestreams go, I really don’t think it makes sense for us. I see us more as a live band, and I really don’t want to belittle what we have when we play live.�

Truly, anyone who has seen a live Pig Destroyer show knows that the band’s live energy can’t be matched. But, even if it’s only a taste of what we will one day have again with another full-length and live performances, the EP is still an awesome look at what’s to come, and a glimpse into new and experimental normal.

Stream The Octagonal Stairway now, and look forward to more announcements coming soon. đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł

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passion and a desire to express hope. It is an even extension. “Silent Era is one of the more collaborative bands I’ve played with,� says Hill. “We all share our insights into arrangement, editing, and texture. Our aesthetic and moral directions are on a fairly common wavelength and collaboration feels very nurturing.�

poignant. Even just the concept of acknowledging people’s potential for transformative growth calls into question the existence of prisons, police, the concept of punishment, and struggles around power.�

The record ends with the expansive “Future Dreams,� a number equal in grief and joy. Silent Era play for each other, and in doing so, play for everyone. “The revolution’s inside you,� Hill sings as the band wraps its support around her. Great bands have a knack of sacrificing themselves, if only for a second.

Eight songs on Rotate The Mirror lay classic in their incantation. Each step of the way, a building of spells and angst, and then a recognition of the space the band has formed.

In this way it is a path. To a new world perhaps, this is a band that enacts a charged spirit, a dose of “I’d like to state the themes at work in reality to the moment we’re living the process of making this record,â€? in. The group asks if we have a say Hill adds. “The search for equilibin our future. Does anyone? rium and harmony, understanding that feelings, however important, “This is the first time I actually am aren’t facts, that stories can be angry about the vote I feel I will rewritten, and that all persons have to cast later this year,â€? Hill carry within them the potential for explains. “And since the personal transformative growth.â€? is political, I’d say the politics of this record feel particularly Sounds like a way forward. đ&#x;’Ł PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRNO

INTERVIEW WITH BASSIST JULIA BOOZ-ULLREY, VOCALIST MICHELLE HILL, DRUMMER GREG HARVESTER, AND GUITARIST MATT BADENHOP

BY CHRISTOPHER J. HARRINGTON

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akland’s Silent Era balance “I’ll imagine the snare drum as message and resonance, a cop’s face, or the cymbals as bouncing around possible the racist Baptists I grew up with,� directions with a heart for togeth- notes drummer Greg Harvester. erness. The band is the thing. And “I think struggle is inherent to all through this thing, an energy is re- music.� leased as the ultimate potion. On their latest record, Rotate The Mir- It’s the noticeable aspect to Silent ror, out September 15 via Nervous Era’s sound, a grouped joy shimIntent Records, the quickness of mering through each member’s their movement parallels the anger particular feelings. The music is through which they show their love. direct and yet abstract. Guitarist Matt Badenhop’s watery riffs sit “I would say most of our songs are linear to Michelle Hill’s loose hopeful and about envisioning a vocals. Ullrey and Badenhop sit better world,� says bassist Julia back as the foundation, a stone Booz-Ullrey, “seeing a way through quarry of two, holding things as and believing in each other.� one. As riffs ring out and compositions counter back, the fullness And the impetus for such commu- and support is clear. There is nion is the ultimate in transformation. anger that is reinforced by com-

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about following through with an idea or direction for each track, so it had a freedom in that we tried lots of ideas, but structured in that we kept focused and moved forward with each piece, so we didn’t get lost.�

INTERVIEW WITH WAYNE ADAMS, MARCELO DOS SANTOS, MARIANO DE MELO, AND DOUGLAS LEAL BY CHRISTOPHER J. HARRINGTON wo becomes one for Brazil’s the place where humans lay vertiDeafkids and London’s Pet- cal to the stars. brick, and thus, Deafbrick, the omnipresent, the culmination of “I think that both bands point to two exploratory bands meeting in a ‘futuristic’ scenario in their own the center, a third eye navigating a way,� Leal continues. “In the sense path towards ascension. Released of exploring new sonic and imagSeptember 4 via Neurot Record- inary possibilities that are evocaings, the quickly recorded and tive, and in the sense of the traninfinitely revealing new album is scendental in relation to time and a journey through five minds, two spirit.� bands, and one central passion: the expression of living not here, The ten songs on Deafbrick are a not there, but everywhere. cubist plant that grows greener and leaner each day. They form a “It was like a culmination of ideas spiraling echo, a transplantation and experiments coming from of mind and matter. The sounds all of us,� says Deafkids’ Douglas are as free as nature, and as strucLeal. “I believe we were guided tured, too. They may sound loose, by feelings and sensations, vibes but are scientific in essence. and landscapes, and pulses and rhythms.� “It was a very focused session, as we only had three days to write and Which is exactly what songs like record the record,� says Wayne Ad“Maquina Obssessivo-Compulsiva� ams, who along with Igor Cavalera, and “O Antropoceno� sound like: forms Petbrick. “It was definitely

e electronic tracks, Douglas’s simultaneous use of futuristic delays and ‘Eastern’-sounding guitars, Marcelo's [dos Santos] distorted bass work, or me and Igor interacting percussively, when we sum all of our efforts together, it becomes this living musical organism, pointing in different directions.�

And yet, lost is what one gets when experiencing the album in full.

Songs conjoin with each another to The voices and scattered shouts form a pattern that extends into a heard throughout the record maze. An overture into an overture, are in some ways sparse, and in an organic drive through a land of other ways, dominant. It is their heat and breeze. There is as much abstraction that sets them as esdynamism as there is counter-re- sential to the very nature of Deafaction. It is the work of exploration brick, a living, breathing organism and trust. In many ways, the two is unleashed. De Melo says that bands mirror each other precisely. in Deafkids, the conscious choice The team-up is seamless, as a car- to limit the verbal content makes avan of imagination swarms over them that much more relevant and the listener. The mind is revitalized. powerful. In Deafbrick, they come It is computerized by technicality, off as monsters. only to be dematerialized by the album’s earthen might. “The same goes for the musical and visual information,â€? de Melo adds. “For us, writing music is a communal “We tend to think there's a certain matter,â€? notes Deafkids’ Mariano sense of corporal heat which is rede Melo. “A communicational ef- quired for it to refuse stagnation as fort, with the industrial part coming well, and as such, we think it’s relfrom the aesthetic specificities and evant to attempt to build anything techniques used, and combined that can make such heat erupt.â€? with the more organic grooves and dirges we also love to explore. The volcano explodes on Deafbrick, That is something we clicked on a fluxing amalgamation that resince the beginning. Whether it’s wards your interest as it explores Wayne's surgical construction of the regions that few dare. đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł

PHOTO BY FELIPE PAGANI

PHOTO BY TAYLOR JEWELL

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BELL WITCH INTERVIEW WITH BASSIST AND VOCALIST DYLAN DESMOND

BY MARIKA ZORZI

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he challenge was basically starting a new band with a sound unique to itself while also having a healthy amount of both Bell Witch and Aerial Ruin elements to it,� says bassist and vocalist Dylan Desmond of Bell Witch.

Authentic collaborations between two sets of artists are rare, but for their new album, Stygian Bough Volume I, the members of doom duo Bell Witch—Desmond and Jesse Shreibman (drums and vocals)—didn’t just team up with dark folk musician Erik Moggridge of Aerial Ruin, they fully integrated the two outfits.

lished a foundation that continued onto the other records. He has sung on each one since.

However, ‘Rows’ was the second song Bell Witch wrote in the early days and had a different feel. Erik’s presence stretched that feeling even further, in my interpretation. We wanted this collaboration album to be as if a separate band started in the direction that ‘Rows’ established.�

Even if Bell Witch’s songs have always focused on the space between life and death, while Erik Moggridge’s work with Aerial Ruin is more focused on a spiritual, sub-personal expression of sorts, they managed to find a meeting point between their musical approaches.

“With this new record we wanted to revert to the style of the Bell Witch song, ‘Rows (of Endless Waves),’ which was the second track on our first record, Longing,� Desmond continues. “Erik Moggridge did guest “I think both concepts meet somevocals on this song, and it estab- where in territory between death

and dying,� Desmond admits. “Aerial Ruin focuses on ‘ego death’ whereas Bell Witch focuses on a sort of space between the two that could be conceptually parallel to ego death in some respects. Erik often sings about a ‘veil’ which is used to represent mortal perception. I think in many ways that perception is no different than the middle ground between life and death that Bell Witch has always focused on.�

gest an inescapable servitude and the closeness of a violent death. As with any mythology, this can be seen as a representation of elements within the human sub-consciousness as whole. I find it quite interesting that people have ultimately changed very little in our history.

There is a great irony illuminated about our nature in this that our greatest aspirations can be our own undoing. This in itself could be the foundation for a metaphor of human life.

Lyrically, the themes explored by Bell Witch and Aerial Ruin are independently from different angles, “I think the story displays several but they come mainly from similar universal elements of all human spaces, in this case mythology. psyches that will certainly be aggravated in certain circumstances, “‘The Golden Bough’ is named after for various reasons,â€? Desmond says. a tree in ancient Italian mytholo- “Our current events are no different. gy where a slave is anointed as a Whatever situation we find ourpriest-king only by slaying the pre- selves in will always have a glimmer vious priest-king after stealing a of it, if not an utter reflection. That branch from the Golden Bough,â€? being said, I think that a wise people Desmond explains. “On one hand, would aim to identify this element in this system allows anyone to rise our nature and work to create sysalmost instantly from a slave to a tems where such destructive and king. This could be seen as a posi- belligerent tendencies can be bettive and inspiration notion. However, ter understood and processed to inherent in that same notion is the encourage a less violent and more knowledge that they too will soon egalitarian world. I do believe this suffer that same fate by the hands is worth working for, and importof another slave. ant steps towards knowing who and what we are. Yet implicit in this myth “This poses many questions that sug- is that history repeats.â€? đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł

NEW NOISE 69

ANNIVERSARY EDITION DON’T SLEEP ON THESE SPECIAL RELEASES...

L7: SMELL THE MAGIC: 30TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION: SUB POP L7's second album, and first for Sub Pop, Smell the Magic, the ferocious follow-up to their 1988 self-titled debut, is hitting its 30th anniversary this year.

And so, at this momentous time, Sub Pop is releasing a newly remastered version of the record. The L.A.-based band, comprised of vocalists/ guitarists Donita Sparks and Suzi Gardner, bassist/vocalist Jennifer Finch, and drummer Dee Plakas, really set the template for their unique amalgam of punk, metal, and rock on this album, and cemented their place as grunge pioneers. The heavy, sludgy, punky album offers up one tough, hard-yet-fun blast after another, starting off with the Gardner-sung “Shove,” and concluding with their take on Eddie and the Subtitles’ classic, “American Society.” In between, they sprinkle in such notables as the hard-hitting, Sparks-helmed “Fast and Frightening,” “Packin’ a Rod,” and “Deathwish,” Gardner’s captivating “Broomstick” and raucous “’Till the Wheels Fall Off’,” Finch’s awesome take of the Sunset Strip glam-metal scene of the times “Just Like Me,” and the bruising “(Right on) Thru.” Yeah, just namechecked all the songs on this nine-track album. What can you do when every song is so notable and tough AF? - Janelle Jones

ELLIOTT SMITH: EXPANDED 25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION: KILL ROCK STARS

Seventeen years after his tragic death, Kill Rock Stars is releasing Elliott Smith’s eponymous sophomore album to celebrate the 25th anniversary of its initial release. The set includes a remastered version of the self-titled album and an unreleased Live at Umbra Penumbra bonus disc - the earliest known recording of Smith performing as a solo act. Both records come inside a 52page coffee table book with handwritten lyrics, reminiscences, and dozens of previously unseen pics by JJ Gonson.

- John B. Moore

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NEW BOMB TURKS: 20TH ANNIVERSARY NIGHTMARE SCENARIO: DIAMOND EDITION

In honor of its 20th anniversary, Nightmare Scenario – Diamond Edition, is being released by punk veterans New Bomb Turks.

This special version of the album actually consists of the raw, original mixes recorded by Jim Diamond, now newly remastered.

Nightmare Scenario, a modern classic originally released in 2000 by Epitaph, is of course drenched in the Columbus, Ohio-based band’s raucous and energetic garage-infused punk sound. And it should be noted that all proceeds from the sale of this 13-song digital release, available on the band’s Bandcamp page, go to Black Queer & Intersectional Collective and Columbus Freedom Fund, two Black Lives Matter organizations. - Janelle Jones

THE LEMONHEADS: LOVEY 30TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION: FIRE

MOTORHEAD: ACE OF SPADES: 40TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

The Lemonheads fourth album, Lovey —their major label debut—gets a proper anniversary celebration this fall. The remastered edition, coming 30 years after its initial release, comes as a double LP or CD with a book of expanded liner notes and unseen photos. It’s accompanied by a second disc with eight tracks, Triple J Live at the Wireless, taken from their Australian 1991 tour. Lovey was the album that tracked the band’s pivot from pop punk to jangle pop, hinting at what would follow. Both formats are out October 24. – John B. Moore

Also coming out in October is the 40th anniversary edition of one of the greatest hard rock albums to do the improbable and bring together both the metal kids and punk rockers: Motorhead’s Ace Of Spades. This anniversary set comes in a slew of varieties including a two CD and three LP 180-gram vinyl version that contains the original album, an unreleased recording of a 1981 Belfast concert, and a 20-page book. There is also a deluxe box set with even more goodies… and a super deluxe box set with EVEN MORE extras.

- John B. Moore

THE DISTILLERS: THE DISTILLERS: 20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION: EPITAPH The Distillers may have only put out three records since forming in the late ’90s, but goddamn those three albums are pretty impressive. On October 30, they are releasing the 20th anniversary of their self-titled debut – 17 (!) years after their last album was released. The remastered, reissued record will be available digitally and on vinyl. The exclusive vinyl will be limited to 2,000 pieces in opaque sunburst, 1,550 pieces in clear with green/ purple/black smoke, and 500 pieces exclusive to Zia in “summer sky wave.”

The band is also apparently back in the studio working on new music, so this should tide fans over until a new record finally surfaces.

- John B. Moore

IN FLAMES: CLAYMAN: 20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION: NUCLEAR BLAST Swedish band In Flames helped pioneer melodic metal with their blistering twin guitar lineup backed by smart lyrics, helping to inspire an entirely new generation of metal bands. Recently signed to Nuclear Blast, the label put out a 20th anniversary edition of their Clayman album on August 28. The set features the original tracks remastered, as well as some bonus ones, including four of the songs re-recorded and a new instrumental track. It’s being released on CD and a double LP colored vinyl trifold with a 16-page booklet and five bonus tracks on a 10” record. |- John B. Moore

GWAR: SCUMDOGS OF THE UNIVERSE: 30TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION: PIT RECORDS In the waning months of the first Gulf War, and a good few years before Bill Clinton would be getting a hummer in the White House, a spunky little start-up from Virginia going under the moniker GWAR released their sophomore effort, Scumdogs of The Universe—and holy shit we were not prepared… Thirty years later, those scrappy kids are a little older, bloodier, and ready to give that classic a formal anniversary party.

On October 20, Gwar will put out a 30-year anniversary re-release that will include a CD, double LP, cassette and digital versions of the classic.

There are also a few limited-edition box sets still available exclusively at www.gwar.net. - John B. Moore

ANTHRAX: PERSISTENCE OF TIME: 30TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION: MEGAFORCE RECORDS Over the decades, Anthrax has put out some shitty records, some great records, and arguably one classic record. On August 21, they celebrate the 30th anniversary of that classic album, Persistence Of Time, with a deluxe edition. Available as either two CDs and a DVD, or a four LP set. The vinyl collection includes revised cover art, while the CD set comes with a 40-minute DVD that was shot when Anthrax was on tour with Iron Maiden in 1991.

- John B. Moore

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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.

DUA SALEH ROSETTA AGAINST GIANTS Dua Saleh is a Sudanese-American artist based in Minneapolis. Their music is direct, almost piercing, and at the same time, distant, like something far away that you can only look at, not touch or connect with completely. This makes for some real, intimate, and revealing art. Dua’s songs are born in the city’s dark and hallucinogenic clubs, and also hidden, as from some corner of a forgotten bedroom, in a forgotten neighborhood, in some forgotten world, that is right around the corner.

It is this duality that carries the songs to a place that is hard to reach. They feel close and distant simultaneously, a stretch that keeps the listener close to the heart of their impressions. Dua’s poetry is anchored by a hybrid of glitch, hip-hop, neo-jazz, and broken genres that fuse purposely, allowing introspection into a unique mind, a complex impression of the evolving universe around us. ROSETTA is a beautiful wave of life. The angles and invisible syntax weave the very attributes of existence. This is the tape of the year!

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BERNARD GRANCHER AVEUGLE ETINCELLE CASTLES IN SPACE Bernard Grancher’s compositions build out of the air without angles, without immediate form. They eventually coalesce, though, into multi-dimensional objects capable of a space that is both psychological and rhythmic: psychological in the electronic sense, cold, machine driven layers of nonlife, and rhythmic in the sense of fullness, real movement, life-centric.

And so, there is a dichotomy that is at the heart of Aveugle Etincelle, and this is its charm, songs that are once alien and obtuse and then warm and panoramic.

“Tu Brises Mon Coeur En Un Millard De Mondes Inhabitables” is a soft incantation, a tape loop that becomes a complex simplicity of air and inhabitance, while “Du Soleil A Perte De Vue” is inverted techno, a poem of industrialization that aims to fit with the natural world. There is much variance to this tape, as it lives within many time zones and performs a function that can be utilized in many ways: introspection, research, hallucination, and wonder. It is like a difficult philosophy, scientific, yet human.

WOVEN IN PROFESS POPNIHIL Profess opens up with the dark and catchy “Sad For The Season,” an electro-goth number that is poetry and punk. It is the ideal portal to enter Mariah Fortune-Johnson’s newest offering. As Woven In, Fortune-Johnson maximizes collage and the human mind. Her approach is both personal and universal, giving the art an extra dimension, one of intimacy and confession.

Profess weaves tragic pop with synth-laden soundscapes, layering function atop function, collecting interaction, morphing it, laying it down as a path to follow. And the listener takes that walk, through short bursts of happenstance (“Stage”), minimal techno (“Spoken From The Heart”), and industrial literature (“I Don’t Love You”), to hip-hop (“Body”) and philosophical dissection (“Complex Body”), a neo-newwave descent into Fortune-Johnson’s direct impressions and being.

Profess is captivating because it manages to present convolution as something magnetic, a continual variation in mood with a specific theme.

ANDREA CORTEZ THE SECRET SONG OF PLANTS AURAL CANYON Human beings are part of nature, not masters of nature. They are subject to the same laws that tigers, cockroaches, and redwoods are.

There is no dichotomy in reality, only a human mind could create such a separation. Andrea Cortez plays the music of reality, the sound of the earth, the oneness of the universe.

The Secret Song of Plants is a tape that could save of all. It is the rejection of fascism, the disintegration of hate, the aural experience of love and connection. Cortez is a music therapist, sound artist, multi-instrumentalist, and meditation instructor whose desire to implement positive change has led her to work with a diverse clientele.

With this tape, she is inviting the whole world to take part in the practice of oneness. Her harp bends to the will of the plants that sustain all life, that create the color and the vastness of the potentiality of the human mind. Five songs offer peace and stillness, movement and life, a gift to an insane world. There are infinite attributes to existence, but only one substance, one center.

This tape is a direct portal there.

TOUCHEAMORE.COM