Tuesday, December 15, 2020

DEAF CLUB - "The Wait" Killing Joke Cover/Benefit

As described by BrooklynVegan, "Deaf Club -- aka Justin Pearson (The Locust, Retox, Head Wound City, etc), Brian Amalfitano (ACxDC), Scott Osment (Weak Flesh), Jason Klein (Run With The Hunted), and Tommy Meehan (The Manx, Chum Out!) -- have followed their debut EP and remix EP with a cover of Killing Joke's 1980 post-punk/industrial classic 'The Wait' to help raise money for Stacey Abrams' Fair Fight initiative, who are working to help flip Georgia blue in the runoff Senate election on January 5, which would enable the Democrats to gain back control of the Senate."

Read more, including a statement from Justin Pearson, and check out the accompanying music video at BrooklynVegan, here.

Purchase the track, here: https://deafclub31g.bandcamp.com/album/the-wait-killing-joke-cover

Accompanying video for “The Wait” by Displaced/Replaced.

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, the band approaches music as an opportunity to confront our collective sicknesses. Last October, the band released their debut EP, Contemporary Sickness, as well as a Remix cassette EP of bonus remixes. A new, full-length album is in the works with an intended release in 2021.

DEAF CLUB Facebook

Instagram


Friday, December 11, 2020

CEVIN KEY - Resonance


CEVIN KEY: Skinny Puppy founder to release fifth solo album via Artoffact Records; new track streaming, featuring Edward KaSpel (The Legendary Pink Dots)

As co-founder of Skinny Puppy, cEvin Key is renowned worldwide for his contributions to industrial music. Through Skinny Puppy, solo work, and numerous other projects, Key has dozens of releases to his name, spanning almost 40 years, and bears a reputation as one of the leaders who has shaped the genre.

A 2019 Pitchfork article on industrial music states: 

"Vancouver’s Skinny Puppy are the germinal group of 1980s industrial music, a revolutionary band that pushed the limits of their voices, bodies, and instruments in ways that are still fruitful 40 years later. Their sound came from two gems of 1970s UK underground, new wave synth pop and industrial experimentalism, and offered forth a string of jagged, lo-fi groovy singles that dominated alternative ’80s dance floors. Skinny Puppy also delivered to the masses two iconic musician/performers, cEvin Key and Nivek Ogre, whose powerful, shocking stage shows would define industrial of the decade."

Resonance, to be released February 19th on Artoffact Records, is Key's fifth solo album. Key explains the album's significance amidst his massive body of work: 

"It's a statement based on many life experiences. It's probably the closest I've felt to making an 'old school'-style album, as far as just working alone and zeroing in on what means something to me. I guess they say you make music for yourself first. So in some ways this album may be my most personal."

Stream new single "Night Flower" from Resonance, featuring haunting guest vocals by Edward KaSpel of avant-rock heroes The Legendary Pink Dots (and a longtime collaborator of Key's in the band The Tear Garden): 



KaSpel is one of a handful of highly notable guests to appear on Resonance, including IAMX, Otto von Schirach, and Tuvan throat singer Soriah. With such voices adding color, the album cruises through cinematic, industrial-techno soundscapes of Key's creation, ranging from the cold and ominous, to the soaring and ecstatic.

The album is inspired in part by the true story of Xwayxway, a largely forgotten Indigenous village located in what is now Stanley Park in Key's hometown of Vancouver. 

Pre-order the album, here: https://brap.bandcamp.com/album/resonance

• All tracks written and produced by cEvin Key
• Recorded at Subconscious Studios, Vancouver, Canada
• Mixed by Greg Reely (tracks 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 10), Omar Torres (track 4), cEvin Key (tracks 5, 8, 11, 12)
• Mastered by Greg Reely

Tracklist:
1) Thirteen
2) Night Flower (ft. Edward KaSpel)
3) Anger Is an Acid (ft. IAMX)
4) Orange Dragonfly
5) Thunderbird
6) Dark Trail (ft. IAMX)
7) Tomahawk (ft. Traz Damji)
8) Kullakan (ft. Soriah)
9) Watching You (ft. Edward KaSpel)
10) Sorry, I'm Going to Think Positive
11) Third Eye (ft. Otto von Schirach)
12) Resonance

Musical guests (a.k.a. The Electronic Subconscious Orchestra):
Edward KaSpel - vocals (tracks 2, 9)
IAMX - vocals, 
electronics (tracks 3, 6)
Traz Damji - electronics (track 7)
Soriah - vocals (track 8)
Otto von Schirach - vocals (track 11)
Dre Robinson - drum machine (tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11)
Guilherme Pires - 
electronics (tracks 1, 5)
Omar Torres - electronics (track 4)
Eric In Quantum - electronics (track 1)

cEvin Key solo discography:
Music for Cats (1998)
The Ghost of Each Room (2001)
The Dragon Experience (2003)
Brap and Forth Vol. 8 (2018)
Resonance (2021)

Skinny Puppy discography:
Remission (1984)
Bites (1985)
Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse (1986)
Cleanse Fold and Manipulate (1987)
VIVIsectVI (1988)
Rabies (1989)
Too Dark Park (1990)
Last Rights (1992)
The Process (1996)
The Greater Wrong of the Right (2004)
Mythmaker (2007)
HanDover (2011)
Weapon (2013)

Wednesday, December 9, 2020

KANGA - "Godless" video


KANGA: Treble premieres industrial-pop songstress' "Godless" music video; livestream performance announced

Los Angeles-based artist/producer KANGA has teamed with Treble to premiere the music video for her new single, "Godless."

Stream the music video, here:
https://www.treblezine.com/kanga-godless-video/

"Godless" is the first single from KANGA's forthcoming sophomore album, You and I Will Never Die. The album will be released March 26th on Artoffact Records. Written and performed entirely by KANGA, the album was mixed by Justin McGrath (Nine Inch Nails) and Brett Romnes (Brand New), and mastered by Nick Townsend (Dr. Dre, Garbage).

KANGA gives this statement about the new video: "Venturing out to the unforgiving desert to film this continuous shot in the heart of darkness was an adventure greater than anything I could have dreamed of. Thank you to our brilliant director MJ Bernier (One of Many documentary, Boy Harsher's "Motion" music video) who brought this to life and thank you to our cinematographer Gemma Doll-Grossman and assistant camera Kendall Edwards for executing the shot. Special thanks to Kris Esfandiari for being an integral set of eyes, hands, and brains, Michael Mendoza for the on set photography, and our grip Jonathan Velazquez. This project is very special to me and I couldn’t have done it without you all. And thank you to everyone at home, I hope you like the video."

As displayed on "Godless," KANGA's dark, danceable pop is marked by her commanding, ethereal vocals, and an undercurrent of industrial elements. An article at The Brvtalist humorously described the style as "Elvira meets Robyn." In KANGA's own words: "Nine Inch Nails and Skinny Puppy are probably my biggest influences and in terms of artistry I am a huge Fiona Apple, Cyndi Lauper, and Kylie Minogue fan. I like to exist somewhere between a dance floor and a brooding cityscape."

You and I Will Never Die follows KANGA's much acclaimed, self-titled, debut album, released in 2016. She states that the new album's lyrics illustrate "the emotional journey through a toxic relationship."

KANGA has toured the US, UK and Europe with Gary Numan, The Black Queen (Greg Puciato of Dillinger Escape Plan) and more. In addition to making her own music, KANGA is a producer and remixer whose credits include mixing the new Dalmation single (Kristina Esfandiari of King Woman) and creating remixes for 3TEETH, clipping., Danny Blu and more. She also composes for film, notably assisting horror composer Joseph Bishara on scores for the Insidious and Conjuring films.

Stream "Godless" via Spotify, here:
https://open.spotify.com/album/0fUkgjSKEzNdWE7tQzBdLG

Stream "Godless" via Bandcamp and pre-order the new album, here:
https://kanga.bandcamp.com/album/you-and-i-will-never-die

KANGA will be performing "Godless" live for the first time during a special livestream performance on Thursday, December 10th at 5 pm Eastern Time. The cost is "pay what you can." Link to attend: https://www.stageit.com/KANGA/92020

Photo of KANGA, by Michael Mendoza

Friday, December 4, 2020

SPIRITWORLD - Pagan Rhythms vinyl + Godlessness book


SPIRITWORLD: Las Vegas crushers announce "Pagan Rhythms" vinyl and "Godlessness" book

Las Vegas-based metallic hardcore act SpiritWorld turned many heads this summer with the release of debut album Pagan Rhythms –– a feast of Slayer and Sepultura-inspired thrash, hardcore swagger, occult imagery and Western themes reflecting the upbringing of SpiritWorld mastermind Stu Folsom and his Nevada home. Folsom enlisted an ace team of collaborators to help realize his infernal visions, including drummer extraordinaire Thomas Pridgen (The Mars Volta, Trash Talk) and producer Sam Pura (Self Defense Family).

Stereogum's review of Pagan Rhythms declared: "SpiritWorld... rips so hard. Folsom delivers all of his lyrics in a vast demonic bellow, and the music is a fast pummel that occasionally takes on the grisly grandeur of death metal. There’s also any old-timey country song in there."

Folsom described his unique set of influences with this statement: "My great grandmother was Cherokee... My grandfather was a rodeo cowboy and ranch hand... There was a mix of George Jones, Slayer and 7 Seconds constantly blasting in the family car and I fell in love with all of it... I am making the records that I long to hear and I know they will land somehow in the arms of loners, outcasts and working-class folks like me who need them."

Now, at long last, the first vinyl pressing of Pagan Rhythms is available, via Safe Inside Records – a limited pressing of 500, consisting of four color variants.

Also now available: the first edition of Godlessness, a collection of Western/horror short stories penned by Folsom, set in the universe of Pagan Rhythms. "Think equal parts classic Western pulp like Louis L'Amour and the twisted genius of Clive Barker and you are in the ball park," he says. The book was edited in part by the late Riley Gale, vocalist of Power Trip, and Folsom and dedicates the book to his memory.

Pre-order Pagan Rhythms vinyl and the Godlessness paperback, along with SpiritWorld merch (including new shirt designs and limited edition toys), here:

Pre-order two exclusive vinyl variants and an exclusive shirt design from Safe Inside Records, here:
https://deathwishinc.com/collections/safe-inside

"SpiritWorld has been my own DIY effort from the start and I am really excited to partner up now with the great folks at Safe Inside and Deathwish," states Folsom. "Great to have an awesome team to help collaborate and get this record done the right way."

"SpiritWorld is really just one person, the Vegas doomsayer Stu Folsom, though other musicians, like the former Mars Volta drummer Thomas Pridgen, also play on 'Pagan Rhythms'... It rips so hard. Folsom delivers all of his lyrics in a vast demonic bellow, and the music is a fast pummel that occasionally takes on the grisly grandeur of death metal. There’s also any old-timey country song in there. 'Pagan Rhythms' is one more extremely good reason to bang your head today."
–Stereogum

“Slayer-esque riffs are spat out by razor-sharp guitars that wrap around the listener and constrict like barbed wire; the drums, half of which are by Thomas Pridgen (ex-The Mars Volta), half of which are by Adam Elliott (ex-Apiary), hammer the ears with enough force to destroy solid concrete; Folsom’s vocals sound like they’re the product of a child created by a Max Cavalera/Jamey Jasta hate fuck. There’s also some country-western flavoring, a product of Folsom’s admiration for country singers like George Jones, country-punks like John Doe, and bleak Western storytellers like Cormac McCarthy..."
–MetalSucks

"The ability to dodge spinkicks and backfists in venue-encompassing mosh pits will continue to be vital when SpiritWorld begins playing live more regularly, but that’s only the start of the checklist. Revelers will also require loose neck muscles to headbang freely to the black-metal blast beats and death-metal riffs, air guitars for the cocksure classic-rock swagger and, perhaps most importantly, Stetson hats and boots to match the lyrical content... SpiritWorld takes its name from a line of dialogue in 1988 Billy the Kid-based blockbuster film 'Young Guns,' and the Western influence pervades the material."
–Las Vegas Weekly


Out today: CITY OF INDUSTRY - False Flowers


City of Industry's new album, False Flowers, is out today on Amerikan Aesthetics.

Listen and buy, here:

Stream the music video for the title track, here:

From Seattle, WA, City of Industry mix earnest melody, crusty annihilation, and Seattle gloom –– for fans of Ceremony, Dystopia, His Hero Is Gone, Converge, and Pixies. The trio expands its sound into new realms of musicality on False Flowers –– anthemic hardcore is peppered with piano, viola, radio transmissions, and at least one majestic David Gilmour-esque guitar solo. Vocalist Ossa Humiliata pens remarkably poetic lyrics; he names Rainer Maria Rilke and W.H. Auden as inspirations. The album was recorded by Nich Wilbur at The Unknown in Anacortes, WA (Mt. Eerie, Sumac, Angel Olsen); mixed and mastered by Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Gouge Away).

"City Of Industry’s sound is a wracked, intense take on metallic hardcore; they’re the kind of band that would’ve fit just fine alongside Converge or Integrity on a late-’90s bill. But they’re not fundamentalists, and they also take inspiration from a few generations of scuzzy noise-rock."
–Stereogum

"A Seattle area power trio, City of Industry is as prolific as it is multifaceted. Guitarist and singer Ossa Humiliata pens tunes with a firm foundation of emotional and metallic hardcore, then bends those songs into other related-but-unexpected shapes: cherubic rock akin to early Smashing Pumpkins as well as hyper-melodic squatter anthems as distressed as Dystopia."
–Decibel

"Seductive metallic hardcore... City of Industry’s rage and despair-filled songs feel like they’re opening something in me so that I can see who’s really there and what I’m capable of. This is music that ceases all distractions and demands you feel something."
–CVLT Nation

"City Of Industry... rock your face off."
–Metal Injection

"City of Industry keeps up their furious pace with False Flowers... With a sound that has drawn comparisons to Ceremony, Dystopia, and His Hero is Gone..."
– No Echo

"False Flowers is a multi-faceted release, full of dynamic interplay, varying moods and judicious use of samples to create a deeper listening experience. Yet City of Industry does it all within the framework of punk and hardcore. Heaviness and cathartic emotion abound, and despite the surprising number of elements they incorporate, none of the songs exceed four minutes, and most of them are less than two. It’s a tightrope walk but one the group performs effortlessly. This album expands upon hardcore, without ever leaving it behind."
–Burning Ambulance

"Next to their dynamic and often brutal metallic hardcore, Seattle's City Of Industry have shown their partiality for other genres and aspects of indie rock... Broken Cisterns Hold No Water shows that exact tendency for expansion, and the trio's ability to blend inherent brutality with more emotive ways."
–Destroy//Exist

"The record twists and shakes with fist-pumping fury, and the rich dynamics that City of Industry have incorporated into their work give the album an off-kilter and somewhat demented feeling. City of Industry sound like they’d be exhilarating to see at a live performance, with an avalanche of hoarse emotional energy..."
–Captured Howls

"#27 Best Album of 2020."
–Heaviest of Art

BLACK SHEEP WALL - Songs for the Enamel Queen


BLACK SHEEP WALL: sludgecore kings return after five years with new album "Songs for the Enamel Queen"; new track streaming

Southern California's Black Sheep Wall returns with its first new album in five years: the magnificently intense and experimental Songs for the Enamel Queen, out February 26th on Silent Pendulum Records.

Stream the album's first single, "Concrete God," here:
https://silentpendulumrecords.bandcamp.com/album/songs-for-the-enamel-queen

From Moorpark, California, a small town nestled a few miles north of LA, Black Sheep Wall formed in the mid-'00s when the members were still in high school. "The band itself was bred from the sheer boredom of growing up in a place like Moorpark," says founder Brandon Gillichbauer, who began as the bassist and now fronts the band.

Through its first decade of existence, Black Sheep Wall made its name by way of glacial-paced nihilism and groove – a dark and hypnotic style of sludge-smeared hardcore – releasing music via Season of Mist and playing with the likes of Converge, High on Fire, and A Life Once Lost.

Turbulence between band members led to lineup changes and eventually a long hiatus. Five years after the 2015 release of I'm Going to Kill Myself, Black Sheep Wall returns now, reformed and rejuvenated, with the most compelling work of its career: 
Songs for the Enamel Queen.

Almost 60 minutes of music, Songs for the Enamel Queen sustains white-knuckle intensity, from start to finish, and defies categorization through the entire ride. As if to announce the band's return with a bang, the album opens with the 2-minute slalom-to hell, "Human Shaped Hole," then follows up with a 13-minute epic, "New Measures of Failure." 
Four of the album's seven songs clock in above the 10-minute mark, yet every second drives forward with purpose. 

Black Sheep Wall's colossally heavy brand of hypno-dirge can be traced to bands like Neurosis and Isis, but the band brings a sense of savagery beyond what most peers in that genre possess. Nasty riffs surge like tidal waves, propelled by octopus drumming and raw, wrathful vocals. 
Of the album's lyrics, Gillichbauer says: "The lyrics are a documentation of my life during the five years between our last album and this one. Addiction and depression have been my most committed and intimate relationships to date, destroying my connections with my friends, this band, and myself."

Most notably, what separates Black Sheep Wall from the pack, is its musical freedom. On Songs for the Enamel Queen, the band expresses this freedom in new and wonderful ways. For example: a Slint-style, spoken word section on "New Measures of Failure"; a long, moody "waltz," led by a mournful trumpet, on "Ren"; demonic vocals, straight out of Hellraiser, on "Mr. Gone." Coloring far outside the lines, Black Sheep Wall has created a dramatic listening experience that is both unexpected and riveting, and shows itself to be a band with a unique identity all its own. Gillichbauer states: "This album was our first chance to be more dynamic than we had ever been in the past. We briefly flirted with other elements like melody and more intricate song writing on other records, but our bread and butter had always been the syncopated one-note style riff with a doom/sludge element. I think we felt married to that style and neglected truly expanding until now."

Songs for the Enamel Queen was recorded, mixed and mastered by Daniel Braunstein (Volumes) at DB Music Studios in Woodland Hills, CA.

Silent Pendulum Records, the label founded by The Number Twelve Looks Like You drummer Michael Kadnar, has released albums by The Number Twelve Looks Like You, Arsonists Get All The Girls, Into the Moat, and more. Kadnar states: "I've been very fortunate to be able to work with my childhood heroes and many of the musicians I grew up listening to and admiring. Today is another monumental and exciting day for me. I'm very proud to announce Black Sheep Wall's next studio album, Songs for the Enamel Queen. I'm so grateful that these guys trusted me to complete their vision for this album. We are also very excited to announce our partnership with our friends at Evil Greed, who will be offering a limited edition European vinyl variant. We will be offering our back catalog and more EU exclusives in 2021."

Pre-order US vinyl variants, here:

Pre-order EU vinyl variant, here:

Tracklist:
1) Human Shaped Hole
2) New Measures of Failure
3) Concrete God
4) Ballad of a Flawed Animal
5) Ren
6) Mr. Gone
7) Prayer Sheet for Wound and Nail

Lineup:
Brandon Gillichbauer - vocals
Andrew Hulle - guitar
Scott Turner - guitar
Juan Hernandez Cruz - bass *
Jackson Thompson - drums

* Bass on the album was performed by Jason Grissinger; Juan Hernandez Cruz replaced Grissinger after the recording of the album.

Discography:
I Am God Songs (2008, Shelsmusic)
No Matter Where It Ends (2012, Season of Mist)
It Begins Again EP (2013, Season of Mist)
I'm Going to Kill Myself (2015, Season of Mist)
Songs for the Enamel Queen (2020. Silent Pendulum Records)

Cover art by Jeff Rogers
Photos by Alex Brown

KANGA - "Godless"


KANGA: industrial-pop songstress announces new Artoffact Records album "You and I Will Never Die"; first single "Godless" streaming now

Los Angeles-based artist/producer/remixer KANGA has released "Godless," the first single from her forthcoming sophomore album, You and I Will Never Die.

You and I Will Never Die will be released March 26th on Artoffact Records. Written and performed entirely by KANGA, the album was mixed by Justin McGrath (Nine Inch Nails) and Brett Romnes (Brand New), and mastered by Nick Townsend (Dr. Dre, Garbage).

Stream first single "Godless" via Spotify, here:
https://open.spotify.com/album/0fUkgjSKEzNdWE7tQzBdLG

Stream first single "Godless" via Bandcamp and pre-order the new album, here (note: on Friday, December 4th, Bandcamp is waiving its revenue share so that 100% of sales go to artists):
https://kanga.bandcamp.com/album/you-and-i-will-never-die

As displayed on "Godless," KANGA's dark, danceable pop is marked by her commanding, ethereal vocals, and an undercurrent of industrial elements. An article at The Brvtalist humorously described the style as "Elvira meets Robyn." In KANGA's own words: "Nine Inch Nails and Skinny Puppy are probably my biggest influences and in terms of artistry I am a huge Fiona Apple, Cyndi Lauper, and Kylie Minogue fan. I like to exist somewhere between a dance floor and a brooding cityscape."

You and I Will Never Die follows KANGA's much acclaimed, self-titled, debut album, released in 2016. She states that the new album's lyrics illustrate "the emotional journey through a toxic relationship."

KANGA has toured the US, UK and Europe with Gary Numan, The Black Queen (Greg Puciato of Dillinger Escape Plan) and more. In addition to making her own music, KANGA is a producer and remixer whose credits include mixing the new Dalmation single (Kristina Esfandiari of King Woman) and creating remixes for 3TEETH, clipping., Danny Blu and more. She also composes for film, notably assisting horror composer Joseph Bishara on scores for the Insidious and Conjuring films.

KANGA will be performing new single "Godless" live for the first time during a special livestream performance on Thursday, December 10th at 5 pm Eastern Time, here: https://www.stageit.com/KANGA/92020

Photo of KANGA, by Michael Mendoza

Friday, November 27, 2020

EST - "Smoke Fetish" Video

 
"What I heard and saw is an ethereal dance with humanity’s literal smoke fetish – because it’s true, we do have one. It must be from the visions we see as it rises from the ritual fire... EST’s hypnotic, dreamy sounds allow me to see with my inner vision as they reverberate through my skull."
— Cvlt Nation

Watch the "dreamy post-punk visions" of EST with their new music video for track "Smoke Fetish," via Cvlt Nation, here:

San Diego trio, EST, embodies elements of truth, sorrow, existentialism, and the will to find a center in the chaos of the human experience through wispy, poetic, darkly-tinged and dreamy compositions. Shaped in part by bands such as The Cure, Bauhaus, Cocteau Twins, and Sunn 0)))), EST is comprised of Charlotte Noelle Miller, Christopher Ryan Braciszewski, and John Christopher Harris II-- plant scientists who absorb the dark and healing frequencies of nature to create a medium for communication. Described by publication Week in Pop as having a “sensibility that evokes the essences of throwback imprint institutions from classic 4AD, Creation Records, Sarah Records, Cherry Red, One Little Indian, vintage Flying Nun, retro Rough Trade and countless more,” the band takes on an experimental approach with varying degrees of shoegaze, darkwave, and goth influences that transmit philosophical beliefs rooted in feminism and post-modern feminist ideals. As for the acronym, the name holds many meanings-- a reference to Erhard Seminar Training via the allusion towards “Electronic Social Transformation”. Their sound combines this emotional manifesto with the language of technology to enhance the experience of what it means to be a participant in our ever-changing social scope of inner-self and outer exploration.

 

Audio/Video Produced, Edited, and Directed by EST.

 

The band’s most recent EP, The Everies, was released on March 21st, 2020. Digitally purchase the EP, here.

 

EST's  "Smoke Fetish" is the first of new music from the band since their recently released EP, The Everies. As explained by the band, “Smoke Fetish is a visceral dream state reflection of modern conflict within society and the corporate capitalist imposition into the human experience. From cigarettes, to smokestacks and tear gas to wildfires, there is always a distraction and an aggressor to uphold agendas the masses don't need or want while the natural world and most of society fall victim to its drastic results. We are on the precipice of much desired transformation and this social commentary is about the re-propagation of tactics used to suppress, re-written as vessels for positive change. The Electronic Social Transformation is upon us.”

 

EST Instagram

Bandcamp

SoundCloud

Spotify

Friday, November 13, 2020

PLOHO - "Forgive Me / I'm Sorry"


PLOHO: Russian post-punks release new single "Forgive Me/I'm Sorry" from upcoming Artoffact Records album

Russian post-punks Ploho have released new single "Forgive Me/I'm Sorry" from their upcoming new album Phantom Feelings.

Phantom Feelings will see a February 5th release via Artoffact Records, home to Bootblacks, ACTORS, Kælan Mikla, and more of today's most vital post-punk bands from around the world.

Stream the new single, here:

Pre-order the album, here:

Ploho frontman Victor Uzhakov says: "This song is about a situation that everyone knows. About the moment of saying goodbye to someone very close, with whom you lived for many years and thought that you would live your whole life. But it did not work out and now you will have to go through a long and difficult period of humility. Your house is unfinished and falling apart, and the birds have flown south without you and you look sadly after them."

Based in Novosibirsk, Siberia, Russia, Ploho is one of the most prominent purveyors of a “new wave of Russian music,” reflecting its homeland by way of a cold, wistful style of rock. Wielding melancholy guitars, minimalist beats, and deadpan Russian vocals, Ploho draws inspiration from the aesthetic and sounds of the late Soviet era of the 1980s, just before the collapse. The band's bleak rock references Russian bands of that time period, such as Kino, as well as post-punk royalty like Joy Division. 

Formed in 2013, the trio has emerged as a household name in its native Russia, and has slowly built up a dedicated fanbase in Europe and abroad. To date, Ploho has recorded four albums and several EPs, as well as more than 10 singles, which they supported by touring more than 40 cities in Europe, several times. The band has appeared at prominent festivals including Боль in Russia, Kalabalik in Sweden, and Platforma in Lithuania. In 2019, they teamed up with 
Belarusian band Molchat Doma (Sacred Bones Records) to collaborate on a song titled "Along the Edge of the Island."

Photo by Artur Mamleev

OUT TODAY: Red Fiction - "Visions of the Void"

 

Red Fiction, formerly known as Atomic Ape, is the hellishly noisy jazz-tinged metal band headed up by multi-instrumentalist Jason Schimmel... everyone needs to experience this level of brilliant insanity at least once."
— Metal Injection


"frenetic... combines all different styles of music and atypical rhythms"

— BrooklynVegan


Red Fiction (formerly Atomic Ape) was founded in 2012 by Jason Schimmel in Los Angeles, CA. The band has two prior releases under Atomic Ape: a full length album, Swarm, and 7” vinyl, Rampage, were both released in 2014 on Web of Mimicry. Jason Schimmel, who plays guitar, keyboard and bouzouki in Red Fiction, is a former member of Secret Chiefs 3, a band founded by Trey Spruance (Mr. Bungle, Faith No More). Jason is also a founding member of the defunct band, Estradasphere, and has performed concerts throughout the world with John Zorn’s Masada project. The band is also made up of Ryan Parrish (tenor and baritone saxophone), Max Whipple (bass), and Shawn Baltazor (drums). Atomic Ape has toured and connected with experimental artists of all kinds, including Mike Watt, Behold the Arctopus, INUS, Neil Hamburger, Fartbarf, Duk, Burning Ghosts, Qui, Corima, and Major Entertainer.

 

Visions of the Void was composed, recorded and produced by Jason Schimmel at The Bunker LA. Mixed by Justin Phelps (past clients include Mr. Bungle, Dead Kennedys, The Mars Volta, Poison Idea, Amanda Palmer, Cake) and Jason Schimmel.

 

This album is now available on John Zorn’s label, Tzadik Records. Order, here:

https://www.roughtrade.com/us/red-fiction/visions-of-the-void

 

Cover art by Ryan Wade. Layout by Heung-Heung Chin.

 

Visions of the Void includes guest appearances from Eyvind Kang on viola, whose past credits include Bill Frisell, Sunn O))), Mr. Bungle, Animal Collective, Beck, Secret Chiefs 3, Laurie Anderson, John Zorn, Sun City Girls, Blonde Redhead. It also enlists the voice of Jessika Kenney, who has worked with Wolves in the Throne Room, Sunn O))), and Hossein Omoumi.

 

Visions of the Void LP:

  1. Kerberos

  2. Ophiocordyceps

  3. Pratfall II

  4. Clone 13

  5. Selket

  6. Narrows

  7. Laceration

  8. Chromatopsia

  9. Antilla

  10. Witch of Brunswick

  11. Poisoned Sky

 

RED FICTION Website

Instagram

Facebook

(For more info: ATOMIC APE Website | Facebook)