GNAW - Barking Orders

Sleeping Giant Glossolalia presents the January 31st release of Barking Orders, the new EP by Gnaw.

SGG is renowned for releasing challenging music from across genres and from around the nation (and beyond). The label is by no means limited to its hometown of New York but, that said, it has been releasing some of NYC's grimiest output as of late – music that waves the flag for the city's darkest corners and most nefarious characters. Following releases by New Yorkers such as Nastie Band and Couch Slut, Gnaw's Barking Orders is the next great slab of music to embody all the potential horror the city has to offer.

With three full-length albums released in the past 10 years, Gnaw has made a name for icy sounds, an avant mixture of metal and noise elements, exploring the extreme depths of existence. Of the new EP, Barking Orders, vocalist Alan Dubin states: "These four songs are based around decay... The world, cities, the mind and body, all falling apart. Kill or be killed, or wither alone."

Barking Orders kicks off with an absolutely electrifying cover of Einsturzende Neubauten's 1981 song "Kollaps." In Gnaw's hands the song marches forward unstoppably, like a plague advancing across a landscape. Dubin's urgent shrieks (honed through decades of next-level screaming as the frontman for Khanate and OLD) lead the way: "Collapse! Our wandering destroys the cities! Our wandering destroys the cities!"

From there, the EP melts into what Dubin calls, "noisy, experimental, electronic songs." Standout "Rid the City" is nearly 9 minutes of nonstop tension, featuring Dubin's whispers, falsetto cries and screams, inspired by the 1977 Son of Sam murders. Perhaps better than any other band of today, Gnaw is able to conjure the paranoia of that particular chapter of NYC history.

Stream the horrific animated video for "Rid the City," created by multi-media artist The Deletist, exclusively via Revolver, here: 

https://www.revolvermag.com/music/ex-khanate-singer-faces-son-sam-see-gnaws-creepy-new-animated-video

UK magazine The Wire has championed Gnaw as "unsettling but vital listening" which "raises goosebumps, instills despair, and suggests fruitful future paths for metal in the process." A Pitchfork review warns: "actual destruction seems just beyond the door."

The band's current lineup consists of Dubin, Carter Thornton (Enos Slaughter), Brian Beatrice, Dana Schechter (Insect Ark, Angels of Light, Swans), Robin Fowler (Pants Exploder, Drownyard), and Adam Morosky (Time Ghost). Founding member Jun Mizumachi (Ike Yard), while no longer touring, is still a contributing member.

Barking Orders was mixed by Gnaw's Brian Beatrice at Haven Vault, NYC, and mastered by James Plotkin at Plotkinworks (Jesu, Merzbow).

The artwork was created by Dax Van Alten; layout, by Sébastien Hayez.

Tracklist:
1) Kollaps
2) Cry Louder
3) Rid the City
4) Then the Sunrise

Discography:
Barking Orders (Sleeping Giant Glossolalia, 2020)
Cutting Pieces (Translation Loss, 2017)
Horrible Chamber (Seventh Rule Recordings, 2013)
This Face (Conspiracy Records, 2009)

Photo by Adam Morosky

SPECTRES - Nostalgia

SPECTRES: Vancouver post-punk revivalists reach great new heights on Artoffact Records debut

Artoffact Records announces the March 13th release of Nostalgia, the new album by SPECTRES.

Founded in Vancouver in 2005 by vocalist Brian Gustavson, SPECTRES is commonly cited as one of the bands responsible for kicking off the renewed interest in the post-punk sound in Canada.

Inspired initially by the original UK anarcho-punk bands of the late '70s and early '80s, SPECTRES mixes the ethics of that scene with the stylings of post-punk and an incredible knack for writing catchy songs. Though rooted in sounds of confrontation and ire, SPECTRES has evolved to where they make absolutely glorious songs that will convert listeners on both ends of the punk/new wave spectrum. As a review on CVLT Nation put it, the band is "firmly rooted in punk, but it weaves dreamy melodies into the angst and frustration."

Guitarist Zach Batalden states: "The band was started as a way to creatively explore 1980’s British anarcho-punk, and while creatively we have drifted in new directions this core influence still holds a lot of inspiration for us. Bands like The Mob, Crisis, Crass and Zounds are all still very important for us. From there we took a deep interest in '80s post-punk and new wave, with bands like The Sound, The Chameleons, Theatre of Hate, and Modern English, central to the way our sound has developed. For the new album, Nostalgia, we were listening to a lot of Flying Nun bands like The Bats, The Verlaines, and The Clean as well."

On Nostalgia, Gustavson's gorgeous melodic vocals cruise over chiming guitars and tense beats. His lyrics explore the alienation of modern life and the search for hope in an increasingly terrifying world. "Deepening political partisanship, aging, and finding one's own way through alienating times are common themes on the Nostalgia LP," says Batalden.

Nostalgia was produced by ACTORS frontman Jason Corbett at Jacknife Sound in Vancouver. It follows three independent albums (all reissued by Artoffact Records in 2019).  

SPECTRES has toured Canada, the US and Europe, and will embark on a West Coast US tour in March.

"Firmly rooted in punk, but it weaves dreamy melodies into the angst and frustration..."
–CVLT Nation

"Steadily, confidently, and compassionately, Vancouver's dark dreamers are bringing their vision for the future into sharper focus."
–I Die:You Die

Tracklist:
1) The Head and the Heart
2) Dreams
3) When Possessed Pray
4) Pictures from Occupied Europe
5) Years of Lead
6) Fate
7) Insurgence
8) The Call
9) Along the Waterfront

Lineup:
Brian Gustavson - vocals
Zach Batalden - guitar
Mitch Allen - drums
Adam Mitchell - guitar
Jason Renix - bass

Discography:
Last Days, 2009 (reissued by Artoffact Records in 2019)
Split w/ Arctic Flowers, 2010, Man In Decline Records
Nothing to Nowhere, 2012 (reissued by Artoffact Records in 2019)
Utopia, 2016 (reissued by Artoffact Records in 2019)
Provincial Wake 7", 2017, Sabotage Records
Nostalgia, 2020, Artoffact Records

Tour:
Mar 6 - Portland, OR @ Blackwater Bar
Mar 7 - Oakland, CA @ First Church of the Buzzard
Mar 8 - Los Angeles, CA @ Part Time Punks
Mar 10 - San Diego, CA @ The Whistle Stop
Mar 11 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Rec Room
Mar 12 - San Francisco, CA @ The Eagle
Mar 13 - Chico, CA @ Naked Lounge
Mar 14 - Portland, OR @ Lovecraft

"Northern Towns" music video, from the 2017 "Provincial Wake" 7":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uq5B8WzZLc

Band photo by Lindsay Wallace
Cover art by Ryan Kostel

SOLO ANSAMBLIS - Olos

SOLO ANSAMBLIS: Lithuanian innovators mix anthemic techno and moody post-punk on Artoffact Records debut

Artoffact Records announces the February 21st release of Olos, the new album by Lithuanian band Solo Ansamblis.

From Vilnius, Lithuania, Solo Ansamblis describes its sound with the understated tag of "sad dance" – in fact, it is a unique and intense mix of styles, falling somewhere between stadium-sized EDM and moody post-punk. Using a combination of live instruments and electronic elements, the quartet conjures thumping energy and monotone melancholy, masterfully playing with the tension between these two extremes. Anthemic one minute, mournful the next, Solo Ansamblis' music references Kraftwerk, Joy Division, Underworld, The Knife, and much more.

"Of course, huge influences are embedded in us from childhood," the band members state collectively. "From The Beatles and Pink Floyd, to Lithuanian underground rap music of the '90s. Now we listen to all kinds of music, from synth pop to Indian ragga, from techno to ambient."

With all lyrics sung in its native language, Solo Ansamblis is an important new voice in an emerging Lithuanian scene which the band members describe as "vibrant and alive." The band exploded onto the Baltic scene in 2016 with its debut album, Roboxai, spawning several singles including "Moteris," the video for which is nearing one million views on YouTube. The upcoming Olos is the band's second album.

Solo Ansamblis shines in the live setting. With 3/4 of the lineup also working as actors in theater and film, it is no surprise their shows are spectacles of sight and sound. Hometown shows have become a go-to event, and the band is making waves across Europe’s festival circuit (Tallinn Music Week, Eurosonic, Reeperbahn, and more.)

Olos was recorded at the band's own studio in downtown Vilnius, then mixed by Andrius Kauklys of the band Happyendless. The cover artwork is an intricate pencil drawing by Lena Klyukina.

Tracklist:
1) Intro
2) Fosforinis Baseinas
3) Baloje
4) Piligrimai II
5) Neturejom Dainos
6) Bydermejeris
7) Oro Balionu
8) Netildai
9) Nepabust

Lineup:
Jonas Šarkus - vocals, synths
Vytautas Leistrumas - synths, vocals, bass guitar
Giedrius Kiela - guitar, bass guitar
Sergejus Ivanovas - drums

Discography:
Roboxai, 2016
RBX (EP), 2017
Dansingas (EP), 2018
Olos, 2020

Band photo by Laura Vanseviciene

BODY STUFF - "On the Run"

"On the Run," the third single from Body Stuff's upcoming EP, Body Stuff 3, is out now.

Stream the single and pre-order the new EP, here:
https://bodystuff.bandcamp.com/track/on-the-run

Stream the song on Spotify, Apple Music, and other major platforms, here:
https://ffm.to/bodystuff

Body Stuff's Curran Reynolds says: "'On the Run' is a Christmas song, of sorts. I am not a Christian, but I like the tradition of rock bands recording Christmas songs. For me it goes back at least to 'A Very Special Christmas,' with U2 and Madonna and the Keith Haring artwork. But what really sparked 'On the Run' was Jeffrey Lee Pierce's lyric in 'The Lie' about scoring drugs on Christmas Day. It's that wonderful and terrible sense of being utterly out of step with the world. In 'On the Run' I am singing about isolation versus connection; individualism versus the collective. The hero of the song is a self-proclaimed outsider who has discovered that perhaps there is no outside or inside at all. The world's a grain of sand and he's everywhere, he's everything."

Body Stuff streamed a demo version of "On the Run" in December 2017 and Metal Injection called it: "Eerie, intoxicating, and artful... This might actually be one of the best Christmas songs I've ever heard."

Guest vocals on the song are by Polly Watson and Al Huckabee of New York power-pop band 1-800-BAND.

Body Stuff is the duo of Curran Reynolds and Ryan Jones. Reynolds, the songwriter and vocalist, began the project in the early part of this decade, when both he and Jones were members of Today Is The Day. Body Stuff 3 will be released January 10, 2020, via The Chain, the multi-faceted company co-founded by Reynolds in 2016. It is the third in a trilogy of EPs: the self-titled Body Stuff (2013), Body Stuff 2 (2016), and Body Stuff 3 (2020).

Reviews of the first two EPs singled out a few aspects of the Body Stuff sound. On the surface, there were crooning vocals, simple hooks, and an earnest spirit, nodding to the rousing rock songs that filled late-‘80s FM radio dials. Underneath, something heavier: programmed drums and thick guitars conjured industrial-metal power. And deeper in the mix was a dreamlike ambience that evoked the places the music was conceived – namely, the streets of New York City and a lake in rural Maine.

Featuring the most highly developed music the duo has created so far, Body Stuff 3 consists of five new anthems that take the Body Stuff style to the next level. The EP was recorded and mixed by Jones and Reynolds at Jones’ studio, Growlhouse, in Queens, NY, and mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege (Torche, Full of Hell).

Upcoming shows:
Dec 27 - Brooklyn, NY @ Gold Sounds (w/ Plaque Marks)

More info: 
http://thechainworld.blogspot.com/2019/10/body-stuff-body-stuff-3.html

Artwork by Curran Reynolds
Band photo by Justina Villanueva

DEAF CLUB + MetalSucks

"...a disgustingly sick projectile of punk entropy..." - MetalSucks
Watch the video for "Days of Amusement Are Over", a track off of the band's recent EP, via MetalSucks, here.

Deaf Club is a savage sound bath dripping with sardonicism: a blastbeat-centric hardcore punk assault channeling crust, thrash, and grind (un)sensibilities. Succinct  pauses, surreal frequencies and effects, breakneck pace and sharply hurled vocals characterize the band’s aesthetic, which seems as though it is rooted in a sort of nasty-sound-meets-highbrow-message ethos. Fueled by the onslaught of society’s insanity and driven mad by tinnitus, Justin Pearson (The Locust, Dead Cross, Planet B), Brian Amalfitano (ACxDC), Scott Osment (Weak Flesh), Jason Klein (Run With The Hunted), and Leo Ulfelder (Fissure) approach music as an opportunity to confront our collective sicknesses. We’ve got to try to listen, lest we all frolic headfirst towards the bright side of death, dragging this pillaged planet down with us. So whether you think the music is a radical disruption to the airwaves or just headache-inducing noise, you can feel free to tell them the brutal truth-- they can't hear you anyway.

The Contemporary Sickness EP was released October 4th digitally as well as on limited edition, specially printed vinyl through Three One G Records. Mixed and mastered by Brent Asbury (who has worked on albums by bands like Retox, Panicker, Dead Cross, Planet B). Vinyl/cover art by Jesse Draxler (who has done artwork for Nine Inch Nails, Daughters, The New York Times, Dita Eyewear, and MCQ Alexander McQueen, among others). Layout and design by Bran Black Moon. Order the EP, here.

Video by Rogelio Lopez and Alexandre Lopez.

The video for “Days of Amusement Are Over” is comprised of live footage of a set from one of Deaf Clubs’ recent record release shows, taking place in Los Angeles at The Factory DTLA.

Contemporary Sickness EP:

1. Boyfriends of Christ

2. Bright Side of Death

3. Lofi Mono Tombstone 

4. Bounced Reality Check

5. Days of Amusement Are Over

DEAF CLUB Facebook

Instagram

FLIEGE + Decibel

Decibel has premiered the title track off Fliege's debut full-length, The Invisible Seam.

Stream the song, here:
https://www.decibelmagazine.com/2019/12/02/track-premiere-fliege-the-invisible-seam/

Decibel has championed Fliege since discovering its self-titled, 2017 demo, a homage to David Cronenberg's The Fly. Decibel called those six, Jeff Goldblum-ridden songs, "infectious," and proclaimed: "Every once in a while, a band comes along, transgresses all genre boundaries, and cuts a demo that stands as a genuine demonstration of a singular sound."

With the upcoming The Invisible Seam, slated for a January 31st release, the Brooklyn band has graduated from The Fly to more serious cinema: Ingmar Bergman's existential 1957 masterpiece, The Seventh Seal. Guitarist/vocalist Coleman Bentley states: "Our demo tackled The Fly, but we soon realized we had to expand from that universe in order to have anything new to say. So for this one, we chose Bergman’s The Seventh Seal, the story of a Swedish knight returning home from the Crusades to find his homeland ravaged by the plague... Within the framework of that film, we tackle the nihilism of modern life and the paradox of depression – not wanting to live but not actively wanting to die."

Title track "The Invisible Seam" is an anthemic, mid-paced crusher that possesses all the disparate elements of Fliege's singular sound. Blackened screams and '80s heavy metal riffage are propelled by industrialized drum programming, then laced with the kind of melancholy that points to post-hardcore roots. It is a collision of styles that might seem jumbled if it were not delivered so convincingly, and with such hooks.

In discussing the new album, Bentley has referenced Immortal, Nine Inch Nails, Judas Priest, Cloud Rat, and John Carpenter, among others. The Invisible Seam is all that and more. An epic endeavor, in sound and in concept, it is an example of a band transcending its own beginnings to become something awesome.

More info:
http://thechainworld.blogspot.com/2019/11/fliege-invisible-seam.html

Photo by Chris Palermo