Thursday, February 8, 2024

KONTRAVOID - "Reckoning"


KONTRAVOID: masked electronic antihero drops anime-inspired "Reckoning" music video; Artoffact Records to release new album "Detachment"

Stream the official music video for new single "Reckoning" (out February 9th on all digital platforms), here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT2ea9mFL2Y

Pre-order new album Detachment (out March 1st on Artoffact Records), here:
https://kontravoid.bandcamp.com/album/detachment

Launched in 2012, Kontravoid is the solo project of masked artist Cameron Findlay. Born in Canada and based now in LA, Findlay has perfected his own brand of dark pop that cruises freely through electronic music genres.

A 2021 review, penned by Andi Harriman of Post-Punk.com, states: "[Kontravoid] toes the line between goth and, dare-we-say-it, rave elements. This – alongside the visual impact he has employed with his masked persona – has been why he’s one of the scene’s most treasured artists."

Releasing three full-length albums of new material, on top of an EP, various singles, a live album, and a wealth of remixes, Findlay has honed Kontravoid to its present state over the past decade. Out March 1st on Artoffact Records, new album Detachment sees the project assume its most confident form to date.

Findlay states: "The sound of the new album is definitely influenced by freestyle and electro, and I try to mix those influences with more of a modern EBM sound. I feel like Detachment is an evolution of the type of sound I’ve created for Kontravoid, while still keeping the style fairly consistent with my previous releases."

"The album name, Detachment, is more or less the theme for most of the tracks on the record, referring to being disconnected from reality in some way," he explains. "It’s just a theme I wanted to explore with this era of the project. The new mask is reference to that in a way, with its frayed cabling and ripped wires."

New single "Reckoning" plows forward with a barrage of hard, driving techno rhythms and ominous vocals, evoking cavernous, strobe-lit clubs of the early 1990s. 
Matching the track's intensity is an eye-melting, animated music video, created by Findlay and 3D artist/animator Alec Mackenize (with whom he also teamed up on the excellent "Faceless" music video in 2021.)

Findlay states: "The video for 'Reckoning' was influenced by horror/sci-fi anime and comics that Alec and I are fans of. The film Wicked City and the work of Yoshiaki Kawajiri was a strong influence on the look of the video, as well as Spawn, Preacher and Heavy Metal Magazine. Once Alec and I starting talking about a creative direction for the video we realized that we both share the same appreciation for a style of animation from the '90s and early 2000s, and wanted to achieve something similar with the video."

Kontravoid has toured with HEALTH, Boy Harsher, Drab Majesty, Hide, and more. With select West Coast and Mexico shows booked for February and March 2024, he will embark on a full European tour in April and May.

Tracklist:

1) Awaken
2) For What It Is
3) Losing Game (feat. Chelsey Crowley of Nuovo Testamento)
4) Reckoning
5) Death Shot
6) Sin Walker
7) How It Ends
8) In Reverse
9) Fading
10) Detachment

Tour:

Feb 29 - San Diego, CA @ Casbah
Mar 1 - Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room
Mar 2 - Las Vegas, NV @ The Usual Place
Mar 21 - Guadalajara, Mexico @ C3 Rooftop
Mar 22 - Mexico City, Mexico @ La Mezcalli
Apr 25 - Thessaloniki, Greece @ OSM Tapes
Apr 26 - Athens, Greece @ Death Disco
Apr 27 - Geneva, Austria @ La Gravière
Apr 28 - Marseille, France @ Le Molotov
Apr 30 - Bratislava, Slovakia @ FUGA
May 2 - Madrid, Spain @ The Basement Club
May 3 - Barcelona, Spain @ Sala Upload
May 4 - Valencia, Spain @ Spook Club
May 6 - Glasgow, UK @ Flying Duck
May 9 - Manchester, UK @ The White Hotel
May 10 - Newcastle, UK @ Lubber Fiend
May 11 - London, UK @ Camden Assembly
May 14 - Paris, France @ La Petit Bain
May 17 - Leipzig, Germany @ Wave-Gotik Treffen

Discography:

Detachment (2024, Artoffact Records)
Faceless (2021, self-released)
Live from the Void (2020, self-released)
Too Deep Remixes (2020, Fleisch)
Too Deep (2019, Fleisch)
Undone EP (2018, Fleisch)
Kontravoid (2012, self-released)


Album cover by Nedda Afsari
Promo photo by David Rauch-Batista

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