PLANET B + Alternative Press

PLANET B (THE LOCUST, RETOX, DEAD CROSS) REVEALS "MIRROR, MIRROR, ON THE WORLD" MUSIC VIDEO VIA ALTERNATIVE PRESS

Alternative Press has premiered the music video for Planet B's "Mirror, Mirror, on the World." Directed by Dark Details, the clip is a cinematic slice of sci-fi/horror fun, starring Planet B members Justin Pearson and Luke Henshaw.

Watch the video, and read an in-depth new interview with Planet B, here:
https://www.altpress.com/features/planet-b-mirror-mirror-on-the-world-video/

AP editor-in-chief Jason Pettigrew describes the video thusly: "Fans of electroshock therapy, psychological horror movies and neurosurgeons screaming at paranoia’s poison door should delight at director Dark Details’ ability to convey some high-level techno-fear."

In Planet B, Pearson (known to many as a member of such bands as The Locust, Retox, and Dead Cross, and as the founder of Three One G Records) belts out electrifying vocals over producer Henshaw's sonic feast of hip-hop, industrial, and film score influences. The sound transcends genres: dark, heavy, urgent, and anthemic, it is equally relevant in the contexts of hardcore punk and hip-hop.

Planet B's self-titled debut album is out now on Ipecac Recordings and Three One G. Guests on the album include hip-hop pioneer Kool Keith, Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Martin Atkins (ex-PiL, Killing Joke, Ministry, Pigface), Gabe Serbian (The Locust), Sonny Kay (The VSS, Angel Hair), and more.

Buy, here:
http://smarturl.it/PlanetB

"Planet B, the collaboration of forward-thinking hardcore lifer Justin Pearson and sonic hip-hop alchemist Luke Henshaw... Henshaw’s beat science and ear for sound are a perfect match to accompany Pearson’s incessant need to bulldoze the accepted boundaries of whatever genre he chooses to work in."
–Alternative Press

"Not many groups could fit abstract rap vet Kool Keith, industrial vet Martin Atkins (Ministry, Killing Joke, Public Image Limited, Pigface, Nine Inch Nails, etc), and Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner on the same album (besides maybe Planet B’s Ipecac labelmates Dalek), but Planet B do it and they make it sound incredibly natural. The album is sort of like a more psychedelic, more punk version of rap rock, and it sounds a hell of a lot better than most music that gets called that..."
–BrooklynVegan

"Justin Pearson has made his name with spazzy, noisy weirdo-rock outfits like The Locust, Retox and Dead Cross, but his project Planet B – a collaboration with hip-hop producer Luke Henshaw – might be his most left-field yet. The duo smashes together strains of hardcore, hip-hop, industrial and old-school horror movie scores... It's head-spinning and head-splitting in the best way possible." 
–Revolver

"No less punishing than anything the Locust ever put out, only this time it's the sound of a hardcore-infused drug rave... Planet B better get used to being compared to Death Grips, as well as fellow freaks Ho99o9... Luke Henshaw deserves special credit for making Planet B work. Few hip-hop producers could have harnessed [frontman Justin] Pearson's bizarre tendencies, but he's managed it and did so without losing sight of the chaos."
–Exclaim!

Video still, courtesy of Dark Details
Photo of Planet B, by Becky DiGiglio

QUITS + BrooklynVegan

BrooklynVegan has premiered the music video for Quits' song "Worm Burden," off the band's self-titled debut album.

Watch it, here:
http://www.brooklynvegan.com/14-new-songs-out-today-3/

Tense and noisy, Quits emerges from Denver, Colorado with a sound in the vein of Metz, or forebears like Drive Like Jehu and Circus Lupus. As BrooklynVegan puts it, "it’s a crushing, attitude-filled blend of noise rock and post-hardcore in the AmRep/Touch & Go tradition."

According to the band: “Quits formed while Denver was exploding with entrepreneurs and young money. Rent prices skyrocketed and an influx of pretty people disrupted our artist community that we had taken for granted. It's become increasingly tough to afford to live while exploring creative endeavors. Then, the Ghost Ship fire happened and DIY spots everywhere were shut down overnight. With songs titled 'Boom Town,' 'Debt Rats,' '8 Cranes,' and 'The Measure,' we delve into these topics."

While the track “Worm Burden” aligns with this tone, the video appears somewhat lighthearted by contrast, featuring an unlikely star in the portrait of a wild-haired pup.

The band’s self-titled debut album will be released as a limited edition cassette on December 14th via Sleeping Giant Glossolalia, home to music by artists such as Multicult, Vaz, Microwaves, and Martin Bisi. The album was recorded by Bart McCrorey at Crash Pad Studio in Denver. Buy cassette and digital, here:
https://sleepinggiantglossolalia.bandcamp.com/album/quits-quits

Quits' newest member, bassist Neil Keener who joined after the album recording, is a member of Planes Mistaken For Stars and Wovenhand.

A tour of the West kicks off in January.

Tour:

January 8 - Albuquerque, NM @ Moonlight Lounge
January 9 - El Paso, TX @ Monarch
January 10 - Tuscon, AZ @ Cans
January 11 - Phoenix, AZ @ Lunchbox
January 13 - San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar
January 14 - Hesperia, CA @ C47
January 15 - Riverside, CA @ Romano's
January 16 - Long Beach, CA @ Que Sera
January 17 - Los Angeles, CA @ Silverlake Lounge
January 18 - Ventura, CA @ The Garage
January 20 - Oakland, CA @ Elbo Room
January 21 - Reno, NV @ Loving Cup
January 22 - Salt Lake City, UT @ The Underground
January 23 - Denver, CO @ Mutiny

Tracklist:

1) Boom Town

2) Debt Rats

3) Taste Good Like a Cigarette Should

4) Bee vs Spider

5) 8 Cranes

6) Worm Burden

7) The Measure

Lineup:
Luke Fairchild - guitar, vocals
Doug Mioducki - guitar
Neil Keener - bass
Darren Kulback - drums 

Tiana Matsuko Bernard - bass/vocals on the album

ANEURYSM - Awareness

Aneurysm announces the February 1st, 2019 release of debut album Awareness.

Stream first single, "St. E's," here:
http://www.noecho.net/features/aneurysm-st-es

After three seven-inches and roughly 200 shows, the Boston 5-piece has finally immortalized its sound and spirit in full-length fashion. Recorded at GodCity Studio in Salem, MA, by Chris Johnson (bassist of Deafheaven and Doomriders), Awareness is ten tracks' worth of swaggering, melodic, noise-rock that charges forward through the same sewers as Nirvana, Unsane, and Turbonegro. 

Burly drums and distorted bass pound out frantic punk rock rhythms, as dual guitars weave ragged blankets of noisy melody. Vocalist Michael McGee (who spent much of the '00s fronting noise-core blasters the_Network) snarls, screams and croons, with lyrics that are raw and poetic – world-weary reflections on sex, drugs, cops, death, and rock n' roll.

A 2015 review in SPIN accurately declared Aneurysm's sound to be "a solid approximation of the Jesus Lizard’s seediness, but with a muscular locomotion that’d make the Toronto scuzz-punks in Metz proud... But what separates them from their heavy forebears and cleaned-up contemporaries is the delicate balance they strike between melody and chaos." Aneurysm have perfected that balance on Awareness, an album that rages wildly with a sneer on its face, yet also melts the heart.

Awareness was mastered by Will Killingsworth (The Body, Magrudergrind). The artwork and layout were created by Mark McCoy, whose work has graced the covers of albums by Pig Destroyer and Full of Hell.

The album's release is a joint effort between Tor Johnson Records (vinyl), Constant Disappointment Records (vinyl and CD), and Suspended Soul Records (cassette).

Pre-order exclusive "crown yellow" color vinyl:

https://bit.ly/2GmHxML

Pre-order exclusive "creamsicle" color vinyl and CD: 

http://constantdisappointment.com

Aneurysm, on tour:

Feb 1 - Florence, MA @ 13th Floor Lounge

Feb 4 - Asheville, NC @ Static Age

Feb 5 - Nashville, TN @ Drkmttr

Feb 8 - Austin, TX @ Beerland

Feb 9 - Houston, TX @ Insomnia Gallery

Feb 10 - Arlington, TX @ Division Brewery

Feb 11 - Memphis, TN @ Hi-Tone

Feb 12 - Atlanta, GA @ 529

Feb 13 - Raleigh, NC @ Slim's

Feb 16 - Waterbury, CT @ Brooklyn Cafe

Feb 17 - Providence, RI @ The Dusk

Tracklist:

1) Sorry Dad

2) National Embarrassment

3) Shell Game

4) Stop This Ride

5) Jerk Officer

6) St. E's

7) Newport

8) Handbook for the Recently Diseased

9) Adrian's Girls

10) West Coast Video

Lineup: 

Michael McGee - vocals

Dan Bahto - guitar

Randy Slavinski - guitar

Archie Doyle - bass

Mark Mustacci - drums

Discography:

Awareness (2019, Tor Johnson Records)

Split 7" w/ Goya (2016, Opoponax Records)

Veronica 7" (2015, Tor Johnson Records)

Stop This Ride 7" (2015, self-released)

Photo by Tyler Hallet

Out today: GRAF ORLOCK: Examination of Violent Cinema, Volume 1

Graf Orlock's new album, Examination of Violent Cinema, Volume 1, is out today on Vitriol Records.

Listen and buy (digital):
https://vitriolrecords.bandcamp.com/album/examination-of-violent-cinema-vol-1

Buy (vinyl):
http://vitriolrecords.bigcartel.com/

More info:

http://thechainworld.blogspot.com/2018/10/graf-orlock-examination-of-violent.html

Live:
Jan 11 - Philadelphia, PA @ Barbary
Jan 12 - Providence, RI @ Al Dios
Jan 13 - Brooklyn, NY @ Saint Vitus

"The premise of Graf Orlock is simple: grindcore about movies. The reality is a lot harder to describe — with heatstroke-tinged riffs, spit-flecked bellows, and frenzied drumming, the Los Angeles quartet express hidden torment and angst buried at the core of your favorite films..."
–Kerrang!

"The SoCal outfit has been kicking around for more than a decade now, dubbing its music "cinemagrind" — a mutation of grindcore based on ridiculous action-film samples and soundtracks. They've been copied a few times over the years, but make no mistake that Graf Orlock are the original, and one of the most entertaining bands in heavy music."
–Revolver

"Sarcastic and groovy cinegrind... Glimpses and flashes of classic rock wailing, short training sequence bursts, southern sludge, near-Fat Wreck melodic punk, classic Metallica guitar-crunching, and doom..." 
–Decibel

"For this new album, Graf Orlock say the album is exclusively based on films released in 2017, and are 'rumored to range from John Wick 2 to Blade Runner 2049'... It’s raw, ripping, and a lot of fun. It’s also got metallic breakdowns and grindy blasts and other moments of heavy fury thrown in to shake things up. As far as unpolished, unpretentious hardcore goes, this is basically as ideal as it gets."
–BrooklynVegan

"The 12-track album... captures Graf Orlock's distinct brand of chaotic grind and fierce hardcore, along with their use of perfect, confrontational samples... ["Examination of Violent Cinema, Volume 1"] is yet another completely unique offering from the band and exudes all of the dry humour and DIY aesthetic that they have become known for over the past 15 years."
–Exclaim!

"Guitarist/co-vocalist Jason Schmidt is one of extreme music’s most underrated riff machines. He picks a starting point and delivers a dynamic bevy of choppy flourishes, single-note parries and power chord migrations that eschew repetition and often resolve like classical music pieces..."
–Metal Injection

"The movie geek gods of grind... While an appreciation of film – particularly blood-soaked, R-rated fare like 'Aliens' and 'Heat' – will always likely bolster your appreciation of Graf Orlock, it is 110% not necessary to enjoy their brand of raucous grindcore."
–MetalSucks

"If a year’s worth of action and heist movies were boiled down, the product would sound like Graf Orlock... Wildly noisy, exciting, and ultimately unique."
–No Echo

"Grab the popcorn and first-aid kits because Graf Orlock have returned... 'Examination of Violent Cinema' shows the band in top chaotic form, delivering their signature blend of cinephile nerdiness, humor, and hyperactive hardcore and grind."
–Svbterranean

"Another notch in the belt of a band that defines its own genre."
–Nine Circles

"It’s like Quentin Tarantino directed a Dying Fetus album."
–Everything Is Noise

CHAINLINKS: December 2018

For our final Chainlinks of the year, we bring you recommendations from Justin Smith (guitarist of Graf Orlock, Ghostlimb, and Dangers, and founder of Vitriol Records) and Jon Nix (film/video director and founder of Turnstyle Films).

†††

Justin Smith of Graf Orlock

1) Free Solo

This is about Alex Honnold's 2018 free climb of El Capitan in Yosemite. This means with no ropes, harnesses or anything going up 3200 ft of sheer granite. Not only am I a fan of extreme outdoor activity and punishing hikes/climbing, but also find inspiration in the complete insanity that surrounds doing something that no person has ever done before. This day in age there are few spots on the planet unexplored by the Shackletons of the world, so this is something that I find amazing, pushing the strangeness and fragility of the human body against the mercilessness of nature.

2) Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska

I am reminded of this every year because I made it a point to listen to this thing every Thanksgiving twice. There is no reason for this except that I like it and revisiting it regularly reminds me of the trueness of a well written song and a fucked up story. This record came out the year I was born and is situated between the super depressing, The River and the somewhat overdrawn Born in the USA. I love the imagery and the torn down perfection of four track songs. To me this is something that very clearly depicts the internal plight of people struggling in the US, without bowing to the trajectory of a bullshit arc in what was ostensibly the glory of Reagan’s America. Top ten for sure. 

3) Revolutions Podcast: The Mexican Revolution

https://www.revolutionspodcast.com/

By a dude named Mike Duncan who has been doing this for a number of years, covering the French, English, American, Haitian, Bolivarian and now Mexican Revolutions. He formerly trudged through 170 some odd highly exacting episodes in the History of Rome podcast. Excellent. Very direct, informed and hyper detailed. Being from California, our state essentially avoids that this was ever part of Mexico and does its best to wipe it clean from the curriculum of youth. As a historian this is right up my alley, perhaps a bit much for the casual listener, but sick as hell and full of stabbings and gnarly demographic disasters. 

†††

Jon Nix of Turnstyle Films

1) Old Souls - Hey, How Are You?

Old Souls’ new album blew me away instantly and is without a doubt my favorite Ohio release of the year. It perfectly captures the moment we’re living in. Chock full of anxiety about substance abuse, settling, and the end of the world. Hey, How Are You? is a highly political album but approaches the issues facing Cleveland, and the surrounding areas, from a completely subjective and emotional point of view, making the subject much more penetrating and resonant. If you want an understanding of what it’s like trying to function creatively in the rust belt then this is a great gateway.

Best Tracks: Bred in a Breadline, Circe Berman, Die Quiet

  

2) Hunchback ‘88 - Christopher Norris

https://deathwishinc.com/products/christopher-norris-hunchback-88

Hunchback ‘88 is the new-ish debut novel from Christopher Norris (formerly of Combatwoundedveteran). The novel is ostensibly a simple slasher story but it’s presentation is what makes it great. This novel is probably the most formally daring work I’ve read in years. Revolting and erotic in equal measures. Norris finds his own rhythms in obstructing the reader’s understanding of what exactly is going on page-to-page. Hunchback is thrilling to read in the same way that novels like A Clockwork Orange and Trainspotting were in High School.

3) First Reformed

In a less than stellar year for film it’s looking like First Reformed sits high above most others for me. Ethan Hawke gives the best performance of his career as a pastor who has his worldview thrown into question after meeting a congregant on the verge of a breakdown. Every year you can see themes emerge in the work artists are putting out. Films like First Reformed, You Were Never Really Here and The House That Jack Built all point toward the dark interiority of isolated men. Not shocking, in a world of mass shooters, incels and proud boys. This has always been a sub-genre of film I’ve loved, with Taxi Driver as it’s most well known example. Men cut off from the world, with too much free time for their minds to wander are terrifying. Men on the edge of doing something terrible for a sense of purpose are terrifying.

ADAM GNADE + Self-titled

"The lyrics from the record I did with Demetrius Francisco Antuña, Voicemails from the Great Satan, and its new video excerpt, 'Ghost Ship,' are a direct product of life in a Red State. It’s about the things I saw and felt after the election—the predatory vibe and the building tensions, the collective breakdown a lot of us had."

-Adam Gnade

View the video for Adam Gnade and Demetrius Francisco Antuña's talking song, "Ghost Ship," as well as read Adam's essay and accompanying photo journal about rural farm life, via Self-titled Magazine, here. 

With this year's release of the record Voicemails from the Great Satan, Gnade and Antuña made a kind of slowed-down, deconstructed doom metal with all elements of metal removed and replaced by oft-times harsh noise and drones, inspired by bands such as Daughters, Moss Icon, Bastard Noise, and EMA. 

Video is directed by Hunter Seaton, and features a track off of the EP Voicemails from the Great Satan, released February 16, 2018 by Three One G Records. It is available through Three One G on limited edition pink cassette, as well as digitally on iTunes.  Order here.

GRAF ORLOCK + Kerrang!

"The premise of Graf Orlock is simple: grindcore about movies. The reality is a lot harder to describe — with heatstroke-tinged riffs, spit-flecked bellows, and frenzied drumming, the Los Angeles quartet express hidden torment and angst buried at the core of your favorite films..."
–Kerrang!

Kerrang! has premiered new Graf Orlock track "Alternate Route to Mexico," off upcoming album Examination of Violent Cinema, Volume 1, out December 7th via Vitriol Records.

Stream the song, here:
https://www.kerrang.com/the-news/exclusive-premiere-graf-orlock-bare-their-claws-on-new-track-alternate-route-to-mexico/

Pre-order the album, here:

https://www.vitriolrecords.com/webstore/

Graf Orlock will hit the East Coast in January:
Jan 11 - Philadelphia, PA @ Barbary
Jan 12 - Providence, RI @ Al Dios
Jan 13 - Brooklyn, NY @ Saint Vitus

No band of the past decade embodies the spirit of DIY hardcore punk in a more creative or relentless way than Graf Orlock. Releasing music via their own label, touring to nearly every continent on earth without a booking agent (repeat trips to Japan, Australia, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, the Caribbean, and beyond), and designing their own implausible artwork and packaging (one EP cover was riddled with real bulletholes and another folded out into the form of an actual-size boombox), the Los Angeles band is a self-made powerhouse that keeps on trucking, year after year.

At the core of all its output is one very specific vision: to create music inspired entirely by Hollywood's best and worst action movies. Fueled equally by a sincere love for cinema and by an utter disdain for the current state of the industry, Graf Orlock's vision is arguably a ridiculous one – guitarist Jason Schmidt himself has referred to the band's work as "basically moronic fan fiction" – yet Graf Orlock executes it with dead seriousness, pouring into it more creativity and dedication than most bands ever muster, going on fifteen years now.

For its fourth album (and eleventh release in all), Examination of Violent Cinema, Volume 1, Graf Orlock claim to have narrowed their focus exclusively to films released in 2017 – films referenced on the album are rumored to range from John Wick 2 to Blade Runner 2049. A statement printed inside the LP describes it as "a testament to the rigor mortis of the vapid film industry..."

Fittingly, Schmidt describes Examination's packaging as "a body bag containing a fully-sealed LP jacket with perforations in a triangle like an autopsied corpse... you have to rip open the perforations to get into the record and get it out."

Though the conceptual stuff might threaten to overshadow the music, Graf Orlock's music stands on its own: an instantly recognizable sound built on fragmented hardcore punk and bursts of thrash and grind, held together by lyrics that are in fact dialogue from films. Freedom is the name of the game: songs twist and turn, a mix of blastbeats, breakdowns, and sweet-ass riffs, unfolding without structure but designed for maximum impact, and administered in a raw fashion that is more in line with Black Flag's later recordings than with most modern-day perfectionism. "Visceral, life-affirming violence" is how the band likes to classify it.

Photo by Alexis Acosta