SO HIDEOUS: post-metal visionaries return after six years with new album "None But a Pure Heart Can Sing"; surreal video for first single "The Emerald Pearl" now streaming
Silent Pendulum Records announces the December 3rd release of None But a Pure Heart Can Sing, the new album by So Hideous.
None But a Pure Heart Can Sing is the New York City band's first new album since 2015's acclaimed Laurestine, released on Prosthetic Records.
Stream the music video for "The Emerald Pearl" – a dazzlingly surreal slab of cinema by director Brendan McGowan – here: https://www.brooklynvegan.com/so-hideous-announce-new-album-ft-number-12-looks-like-you-members-watch-a-video/
Silent Pendulum Records announces the December 3rd release of None But a Pure Heart Can Sing, the new album by So Hideous.
None But a Pure Heart Can Sing is the New York City band's first new album since 2015's acclaimed Laurestine, released on Prosthetic Records.
Stream the music video for "The Emerald Pearl" – a dazzlingly surreal slab of cinema by director Brendan McGowan – here: https://www.brooklynvegan.com/so-hideous-announce-new-album-ft-number-12-looks-like-you-members-watch-a-video/
Described with words like "stunning" and "haunting," 2015's Laurestine is an album of post-metal tempests, augmented by a 30-piece orchestra. BrooklynVegan hailed the album as "devastating, end-of-the-world type sh*t, putting screamo, post-rock, and atmospheric black metal in a blender and really letting those modern classical influences shine with the orchestral parts." Mass Appeal called it "metal heavily influenced by the sound of film scores... atmospheric bliss."
In the six years since Laurestine, So Hideous founder Brandon Cruz and his longtime collaborators Christopher Cruz and Etienne Vazquez went their separate ways and devoted themselves to families and careers. So Hideous receded into the mist but Brandon Cruz never stopped writing. In 2020, with a new album's worth of music taking shape, the Cruz brothers and Vazquez brought bassist DJ Scully and drummer Michael Kadnar – the explosive rhythm section of The Number Twelve Looks Like You – into the ranks.
None But a Pure Heart Can Sing is a new and astonishing piece of work from this adventurous band. Still raging as hard as ever, still expressing the extremes of torment and beauty, None But a Pure Heart Can Sing sees So Hideous incorporate new sounds and rhythms into its approach.
Brandon Cruz describes in detail the new direction the band has taken: "I think we still have the foundation of what we laid before, being influenced largely by Japanese post-metal bands Mono and Envy, and composers such as Arvo Part and Max Richter. We wanted more rhythm this time and we expanded outward to include influences from Fela Kuti and Tony Allen's Afrobeat percussion, James Brown's horn section, and the balladry of Otis Redding and Sam Cooke. It was also nice to finally experiment a bit with more Penderecki-style tone clusters and glissando on the more dissonant sections."
Absolutely thrilling on a musical level, absolutely cathartic on an emotional level, None But a Pure Heart Can Sing is an example of the triumph of art created with open minds and open hearts.
Discussing the concepts behind None But a Pure Heart Can Sing, Brandon Cruz states: "The record is about rediscovering the freedom to share your passion, whether it be your art or your own voice, without any angst, anger or second thoughts. We talked a lot about the times we used to get into a room to play when we were 16 or whatever and the only barometer was if it 'felt right and sounded good.' When you see little kids they just extemporaneously break out into song and dance. They don’t care who’s watching. I had this idea of someone in some form of captivity, yearning to be free and sing her song."
None But a Pure Heart Can Sing was engineered, mixed and mastered by The Dillinger Escape Plan guitarist Kevin Antreassian at Backroom Studios. The vocals were recorded at Atomic Garden West by Jesse Nichols.
Tracklist:
1) Souvenir (Echo)
2) The Emerald Pearl
3) Intermezzo
4) Motorik Visage
5) From Now (Til the Time We're Still)
Lineup:
Brandon Cruz - guitar, keys, string arrangements, lyrics
Christopher Cruz - vocals
Etienne Vazquez - guitar
DJ Scully - bass
Michael Kadnar - drums
Strings:
SEVEN)SUNS
Earl Maneein, Adda Kridler, Blanca Cecelia Gonzalez - violins
Fung Chern Hwei - viola
Jennifer DeVore - cello
Horns:
Lynn Ligammari - saxophone
Nadav Nirenberg - trombone
Jackie Coleman - trumpet
Discography:
Last Poem First Light, self-released, 2013
Laurestine, Prosthetic Records, 2015
None But a Pure Heart Can Sing, Silent Pendulum Records, 2021
In the six years since Laurestine, So Hideous founder Brandon Cruz and his longtime collaborators Christopher Cruz and Etienne Vazquez went their separate ways and devoted themselves to families and careers. So Hideous receded into the mist but Brandon Cruz never stopped writing. In 2020, with a new album's worth of music taking shape, the Cruz brothers and Vazquez brought bassist DJ Scully and drummer Michael Kadnar – the explosive rhythm section of The Number Twelve Looks Like You – into the ranks.
None But a Pure Heart Can Sing is a new and astonishing piece of work from this adventurous band. Still raging as hard as ever, still expressing the extremes of torment and beauty, None But a Pure Heart Can Sing sees So Hideous incorporate new sounds and rhythms into its approach.
Brandon Cruz describes in detail the new direction the band has taken: "I think we still have the foundation of what we laid before, being influenced largely by Japanese post-metal bands Mono and Envy, and composers such as Arvo Part and Max Richter. We wanted more rhythm this time and we expanded outward to include influences from Fela Kuti and Tony Allen's Afrobeat percussion, James Brown's horn section, and the balladry of Otis Redding and Sam Cooke. It was also nice to finally experiment a bit with more Penderecki-style tone clusters and glissando on the more dissonant sections."
Absolutely thrilling on a musical level, absolutely cathartic on an emotional level, None But a Pure Heart Can Sing is an example of the triumph of art created with open minds and open hearts.
Discussing the concepts behind None But a Pure Heart Can Sing, Brandon Cruz states: "The record is about rediscovering the freedom to share your passion, whether it be your art or your own voice, without any angst, anger or second thoughts. We talked a lot about the times we used to get into a room to play when we were 16 or whatever and the only barometer was if it 'felt right and sounded good.' When you see little kids they just extemporaneously break out into song and dance. They don’t care who’s watching. I had this idea of someone in some form of captivity, yearning to be free and sing her song."
None But a Pure Heart Can Sing was engineered, mixed and mastered by The Dillinger Escape Plan guitarist Kevin Antreassian at Backroom Studios. The vocals were recorded at Atomic Garden West by Jesse Nichols.
Tracklist:
1) Souvenir (Echo)
2) The Emerald Pearl
3) Intermezzo
4) Motorik Visage
5) From Now (Til the Time We're Still)
Lineup:
Brandon Cruz - guitar, keys, string arrangements, lyrics
Christopher Cruz - vocals
Etienne Vazquez - guitar
DJ Scully - bass
Michael Kadnar - drums
Strings:
SEVEN)SUNS
Earl Maneein, Adda Kridler, Blanca Cecelia Gonzalez - violins
Fung Chern Hwei - viola
Jennifer DeVore - cello
Horns:
Lynn Ligammari - saxophone
Nadav Nirenberg - trombone
Jackie Coleman - trumpet
Discography:
Last Poem First Light, self-released, 2013
Laurestine, Prosthetic Records, 2015
None But a Pure Heart Can Sing, Silent Pendulum Records, 2021
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