NETHERLANDS - Black Gaia

On the eve of its North American tour with Mastodon and Dinosaur Jr, and hot on the heels of latest EP Hope Porn, Brooklyn band Netherlands presents its brand new full-length album: Black Gaia.

Netherlands' fifth release in all, Black Gaia is set for an August 24th launch on Records And Tapes Records.

Stream Black Gaia's first single "Army!" here:
http://www.metalsucks.net/2018/07/24/exclusive-track-premiere-army-by-netherlands/

Mastodon handpicked Netherlands to join them on the upcoming September tour and it is a perfect match. Netherlands' style, honed to excellence in the years since its beginnings in 2010, is a wild-eyed, metallic version of rock. Black Gaia finds the band at the pinnacle of its very own mountain – a place of lurching grooves, psychedelic lava-spewing, and sugary hooks that infect the ears. Rabid-ape drums, plate-shifting synthbass, kaleidoscopic guitar, and transcendent vocals (a range from gentle falsetto to soaring howl) converge in a singular psych-prog-sludge-pop sound sharing DNA with The Beach Boys, Earth Wind and Fire, Van Halen, Dio, The Melvins, The Boredoms, Torche, and Mutoid Man.

A shrewd cultural critic whose lyrics reflect his increasing alarm and disillusionment, frontman Timo Ellis gives this description of Black Gaia's message: "The record is a scream of anger and grief, and maybe a call-to-arms to do whatever it takes to avert the coming civilization-collapsing environmental mega-catastrophe. It represents the almost-last fumes of hope I have for humanity's ability to undergo any sort of mass voluntary transformation toward sanity. It is about the desperate need for everyone to wake up in order to disrupt the ongoing orgy of openly nihilistic, capitalist, consumer-based ignorance and delusion... to wake up from the myth of endless progress."

Black Gaia was recorded by Ellis and Rich Crescenti at Metrosonic Studios in Brooklyn, mixed by Tom Tierney at Spaceman Sound, and mastered by Ron Shaffer at Atlantic West Studios.

The album closes with a cover of Blind Faith's "Can't Find My Way Home."

The album artwork was created by Alley Weber and Todd Kancar.

Ellis' past credits include stints playing in Cibo Matto, collaborations with Yoko Ono, and much more. Having clocked in more than 25 years in the New York scene, Ellis is at the center of a wide circle of musicians and artists. In 2017 he launched Shame Party, a surreal "talk show" where he interviews his friends in absurd one-minute clips. Recent guests/victims include members of TV On The Radio, SZA, KMFDM, Candiria, and Mutilation Rites: http://shameparty.tv

Black Gaia record release show:
Aug 17 - Brooklyn, NY @ Saint Vitus w/ Couch Slut, Haan, Throat

Mastodon, Dinosaur Jr, Netherlands:
Sep 1 - Edmonton, AB @ Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
Sep 2 - Calgary, AB @ Grey Eagle Resort & Casino
Sep 4 - Saskatoon, SK @ O'Brian's Event Centre
Sep 6 - Winnipeg, MB @ Burton Cummings Theatre
Sep 7 - Duluth, MN @ Duluth Heritage Center
Sep 8 - Sioux City, IA @ Anthem @ Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Sep 11 - Milwaukee, WI @ Eagles Ballroom
Sep 12 - Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theatre
Sep 14 - Fort Wayne, IN @ Clyde Theatre
Sep 15 - Gran Rapids, MI @ 20 Monroe Live
Sep 16 - London, ON @ London Concert Theatre
Sep 17 - Kitchener, ON @ Elements
Sep 19 - Hamilton, ON @ FirstOntario Concert Hall
Sep 20 - Port Chester, NY @ Capitol Theatre
Sep 21 - Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore

Black Gaia tracklist:
1) Arp Jam '74
2) Ton
3) The Countdown
4) Fangorn
5) Nite Nite
6) Army!
7) Deep Fuck 9
8) Crabs
9) Black Gaia
10) Wo Man
11) Can't Find My Way Home (Blind Faith)

Netherlands lineup, 2018:
Timo Ellis - vocals, guitar
Ava Farber - synthbass
Chealsea "Thee Chuq" Wierbonski - synthbass
Joel "Moon Boy" Willis - drums

Discography:
Black Gaia (2018, Records And Tapes Records)
Hope Porn (2018, Records And Tapes Records)
Audubon (2016, Prosthetic Records)
Silicon Vapor (2013, self-released)
Fantasmatic (2011, self-released)

"Dio-inflected yowling over Drive Like Jehu overridden-in-the-red propulsion... Glammed out Highway Star vocals running wild and free over distorted bass chaos."
–Noisey

"Gritty, high energy punk/metal, anchored by a huge distorted synth bass tone; the effect is something like Future of the Left banging out one of Torche's more rambunctious tunes."
–BrooklynVegan

"Trance-inducing, leaving your mind in a perpetual state of wubwubwubwaaaaahhhhh..."
–MetalSucks

"Totally whacked out." 
–PunkNews

Photo by Nathan West