Out today: LAMENT CITYSCAPE - A Darker Discharge

Lament Cityscape's new album, A Darker Discharge, is out today on Lifeforce Records. Incorporating elements of industrial-metal, sludge, noise, post-punk, and more, it is the band's 13th release in all. Comparisons can be made to Code Orange's merciless rhythms, Uniform's unhinged angst, and Jesu's melancholic grandeur.

Lament Cityscape mastermind Mike McClatchey, who relocated to rural Wyoming for the writing and recording of the album, credits that state's conservatism for the album's heightened angst and aggression. 

Stream the album and buy it, here: https://lamentcityscapelfr.bandcamp.com/

More info: https://thechainworld.blogspot.com/2022/02/lament-cityscape-darker-discharge.html

"Unhinged industrial metal... Breathtaking, like if Justin Broadrick fully reconciled Jesu’s heartbreak with Godflesh’s deathly lurch."
–SPIN

"This is one of the most powerful and interesting albums I've heard in some time. There is a bit of Author & Punisher vibes here combined with Uniform's intensity mixed with an early 00's cinematic score. It's like if Anaal Nathrakh was an industrial band."

–Metal Injection

"Industrial, metal, and the darker side of the synthpop spectrum converge in the world of Lament Cityscape... Their new album, A Darker Discharge, is being heralded as another gem in their discography."
–No Echo

"Lament Cityscape play from the belly of a burning machine. The distant production embellishes a sense of disconnectedness between the vocals, drums, and the grinding guitars. It's not so much punishing as it is enveloping."

–Invisible Oranges

"Lament Cityscape wrings resentment out of every second with heavy industrial squeezes and gothy synthwave twists. Emulsified in pulsing kickwork from the Streetcleaner school of pounding, McClatchey wastes no time rendering a clamor confit with the intro trio of grind-length industrial pulses... These towering moments of rage stand in stark contrast to the moodier showpieces that reek of purple fog and patchouli."

–Angry Metal Guy

"[Lament Cityscape] delivers a methodically brutal beating but its bizarre swirling melodies and harrowing vocals are scary as hell."
–No Clean Singing

"Some of the band's finest work to date, as hammering rhythms, plodding mid-paced churns, and crawling dissonance set the foundation for vocals that range from distorted snarls to subdued singing, alongside sinister drones and textural synth melodies aplenty."
–Aversionline

"Industrial-metal act Lament Cityscape flourishes on stunning new album A Darker Discharge."
–Idioteq

"From metallic ragers to industrial threnodies, this is an album that proves the breadth of Lament Cityscape's talent."
–Two Guys Metal Reviews

DEAD WAVES - "Wake Up in the Night"

DEAD WAVES: NYC duo reveals haunting new track "Wake Up in the Night" from upcoming, Martin Bisi-produced "Abandoned Children" EP

NYC duo Dead Waves has revealed "Wake Up in the Night," a track from its upcoming new Abandoned Children EP.

Stream the haunting song, described by CVLT Nation as "a dream unto itself," here: https://cvltnation.com/this-is-your-reality-on-dead-waves-wake-up-in-the-night-streaming-now

Engineered and mixed by Martin Bisi (Sonic Youth, Swans) at the legendary B.C. Studio in Brooklyn, NY, Abandoned Children is Dead Waves’ seventh release in all and will be released May 27th on Entheon Records.

Pre-order the EP, here: https://deadwaves.com/album/abandoned-children

Abandoned Children is an utterly authentic piece of art that leads and does not follow. As subdued as they are, Dead Waves' fragile guitars and distant vocals are loaded with memories of violence; the songs hit like fragments of past horrors, glimpsed through the fog of decades, or like slippery revelations received and lost within dreams. Through seven tracks, Teddy Panopoulos and his brother Nick conjure quiet intensity that cuts to the bone – a dark mix of psych, folk, and noise-rock.

Teddy states: “It's about feeling empathy for all the abandoned children who feel hopeless in our present day reality.

Early Dead Waves releases, including the Steve Albini-produced Oracles of the Grave/Promise 7", rocked in a heavy-garage fashion, sparking comparisons to Nirvana and Pixies. Over the course of its seven releases, the band has gradually severed ties with rock conventions and blossomed into an unfettered, experimental musical entity. Gone now are the drums and roars, but in this rawer state the music is more powerful than ever.

With Abandoned Children, Teddy and Nick continue marching to their own beat, making music that is soulful and strange and brimming with the confidence of true artists. As Dead Waves' volume continues to drop, its impact continues to soar.

More info: https://thechainworld.blogspot.com/2022/04/dead-waves-abandoned-children.html

Photo by Jeremy Balderson

CHAIN VI

Celebrating six years of The Chain today!

April 21, 2016, The Chain was founded by Curran Reynolds, Justin Pearson, and Brandon Gallagher. Musician, label owner, publicist, author, journalist, booker, promoter, graphic designer, and video director are some of the roles these three friends have each served over the years. Under the banner of The Chain, they joined forces to channel their expertise and passion into a new company, creating dynamic PR campaigns for artists they believe in.

thechainworld.com

GOD MOTHER studio diary

GOD MOTHER: Swedish hardcore phenoms reveal studio footage from the making of relentless new EP, Obeveklig

Swedish band God Mother has revealed a new "studio diary" video giving a behind-the-scenes look at the making of its new EP, Obeveklig.

Shot on location at Soundtrade Studios in Stockholm with engineer Staffan Birkedal, the video shows the jovial Swedes butchering "Sweet Child o' Mine" and the Super Mario Bros. theme, as well as tracking portions of their own new songs from the upcoming new EP.

Obeveklig was mixed and mastered by Cult of Luna drummer Magnus Lindberg. The EP will see a May 6th release (digital and 7" vinyl).

Stream the studio diary, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGpuk0rGfag

Pre-order Obeveklig, here: https://godmothersverige.bandcamp.com/

Obeveklig is Swedish for "relentless," and God Mother's approach on its new EP is indeed, relentless. The Stockholm four-piece barrels forth as if they have exhumed the most epic moments of early Converge and The Dillinger Escape Plan, boiled them down and used them as rocket fuel. Obeveklig is God Mother's first new work to be released in almost 5 years and it is startlingly lean and mean – the sound of a chained dog released from its cage.

The Dillinger Escape Plan founder/guitarist Ben Weinman, who released God Mother's 2017 album, Vilseledd, on his label, Party Smasher Inc, and who gave the band an opening slot on one of TDEP's final farewell shows in New York that year, delivered this endorsement: "After 20 years of touring the world and playing thousands of shows with thousands of bands, it is hard to impress me. But Sweden has done it again. God Mother is an undeniable 'force majeure'..."

Pitchfork's review of Vilseledd upon its release, read: "Sweden’s God Mother blend d-beat, grind, math rock, and more, contorting tradition rather than kowtowing to it... The quartet are miles ahead of their peers..."

In the years since 2017, God Mother toured the US with the likes of Cult Leader and The Number Twelve Looks Like You, played numerous festivals around the world (Obscene Extreme, Brutal Assault, ArcTanGent, and more), and wrote the songs that would become Obekevlig. "Musically, on this EP, we were influenced by bands that we toured with," states drummer Michael Dahlström. "Seeing other great acts live always inspires you to get better."

The experience of living in the COVID-19 era has been an influence on the band as well. Like most bands on Earth, God Mother was stopped in its tracks by the global events of early 2020; the ravenous energy heard on Obeveklig is that of a band raring to go after an unplanned hiatus. Furthermore, all four band members switched careers during the pandemic and half of them became fathers. The urgency of Obeveklig is the sound of a band with a heightened awareness of the fact that life is change, life is transformation, and all we have is the present day.

Photo by Annie Månsson

Out today: TRACE AMOUNT - Anti Body Language

TRACE AMOUNT: NYC industrial visionary releases debut full-length album via The Dillinger Escape Plan-affiliated Federal Prisoner label; mastermind Brandon Gallagher guests on reissue of classic Integrity album

Anti Body Language, the debut full-length album by Trace Amount, is out today on Federal Prisoner, the label founded by Greg Puciato (The Dillinger Escape Plan, The Black Queen, Jerry Cantrell) and visual artist Jesse Draxler.

Stream the album and read a track-by-track breakdown by Trace Amount mastermind Brandon Gallagher, here: https://www.brooklynvegan.com/stream-industrial-act-trace-amounts-debut-lp-read-a-track-by-track/

Buy the album, here: https://federalprisoner.shop/

First conceived in 2019, Trace Amount took shape during the early stages of the pandemic, inspired by the grim realities of life in New York City at that time, and has evolved at a lightning pace ever since. The sound is a harsh strain of industrial music, evoking apocalyptic dread through primal rhythms, layers of synth and noise, and Gallagher's distorted moans and screams.

Anti Body Language was co-produced by Fade Kainer (Statiqbloom) and mixed by Ben Greenberg (Uniform) and features a guest vocal by darkwave diva KANGA.

Of equal importance to the music is Trace Amount's visual dimension, expressed through graphic design and video work created by Gallagher himself and by collaborators of his choosing, illustrating a mix of real urban decay and sci-fi fantasy that intersects with the sonic assault to complete the picture. For the Anti Body Language album cover, he teamed up with none other than Federal Prisoner co-owner and world-renowned artist, Jesse Draxler.

A testament to the power of collaboration; an example of the ways in which sound and vision can complement each other; a beacon of sheer drive and work ethic; Trace Amount is an exciting new force in the scene of industrial music and beyond.

A drummer before embarking on the Trace Amount path, Gallagher was tapped by Integrity frontman Dwid Hellion to record fresh new drum tracks for the reissue of Integrity's classic first full-length, Those Who Fear Tomorrow, to be released in Summer 2022 on Relapse Records. Splitting the drum duties with Gallagher is none other than Iggor Cavalera of Sepultura.

“Trace Amount is the one-man project of Brooklyn's Brandon Gallagher, a prolific musician and visual artist… In just a few years, he's already unloaded a wealth of harsh, confrontational industrial material under the Trace Amount moniker, and on April 15th he'll release his debut album, Anti Body Language, via Federal Prisoner — the label owned by ex-Dillinger Escape Plan frontman Greg Puciato and visual artist Jesse Draxler... Glitchy vocals, pounding drums, screechy noise soundscapes and a pummeling atmosphere... If you're a fan of bands like HEALTH and Author & Punisher, and/or modern noise-core artists like Dreamcrusher and Machine Girl, then Trace Amount is right up your alley.”
–Revolver Magazine

"The album is abrasive, caustic, and emotionally taxing throughout, but Brandon's also got a more accessible side underneath all the noise. If you can picture the exact middle ground between The Downward Spiral and the death industrial/power electronics scene, this album might be it."
–BrooklynVegan

“Brooklyn-based musician Brandon Gallagher is aiming to create a new sonic language through aggressive industrial soundscapes that land somewhere between the solo experiments of Author & Punisher and the blistering horror-metal of Uniform (the latter group’s Ben Greenberg mixed the album)."
–Flood Magazine

“The destructive nature of Trace Amount’s music is that of grand proportions. As a prolific artist in the pandemic era, the New York City-based Brandon Gallagher is the mastermind behind the Trace Amount project…”
–Post-Punk.com

"Brandon Gallagher’s origins lie in the punk scene... Yet, the interests of the musician and visual artist would not be contained within a singular scene. So, lo and behold Gallagher started his personal project Trace Amount, through which he dwells in the darkest corners of industrial music..."

–PopMatters

"Gallagher has been kicking around collaborations and shorter offerings for the last couple years... The news of an album having materialized is right f*cking welcome."

–The Obelisk

"As the solo project of producer and visual artist Brandon Gallagher, Trace Amount has garnered acclaim since its foundation in 2019... Anti Body Language presents the dark and paranoid sound of urban technological decay."
–ReGen

"The hustle and bustle of a hyper-capitalized New York City is strongly felt throughout this comprehensive and gritty endeavor. It's not an easy listen, but it's a rewarding one."
–Heaviest of Art

"Immediately, you feel disoriented through mountainous reverb atop overdriven vocals in both left and right channels... The darkness of the themes come across through the distortion and choppy/glitchy drums and background SFX... Trace Amount succeeds in towing the listener through each track on his own timeline."
–Metal Epidemic

"This is intensity in sonic form."

–Metal Injection

Photo by George Douglas Peterson

DEAD WAVES - Abandoned Children

DEAD WAVES: noise-rock outsiders drop the volume and create psych-folk greatness on "Abandoned Children" EP; new track streaming

New York City duo Dead Waves announces the May 27th release of its new EP, Abandoned Children. Its first new work since 2018's God of the Wild album, Abandoned Children is the band's seventh release in all.

Stream the EP's first single, "Torn Sheets" and pre-order the EP (digital and vinyl), here: https://deadwaves.com/album/abandoned-children

Abandoned Children was engineered and mixed by Martin Bisi (Sonic Youth, Swans) at B.C. Studio, the legendary recording space in Brooklyn, co-founded by Brian Eno and Bill Laswell, where Bisi has worked and resided since the late 1970s. One track, "Innermost," was produced by Victor Van Vugt (Nick Cave, PJ Harvey).

"They are both people whom we respect and admire, musically and their personality in general," says Dead Waves' Teddy Panopoulos, of Bisi and Van Vugt. "They get where we are going. We like to keep things sounding as real as possible and they help bring that out." The EP was mastered by Kim Rosen (Joe Henry, Billy Bragg).

Abandoned Children is an utterly authentic piece of art that leads and does not follow. A haunting, heartbreaking experience, the EP uses softness as its weapon. As subdued as they are, Dead Waves' fragile guitars and distant vocals are loaded with memories of violence; the songs hit like fragments of past horrors, glimpsed through the fog of decades, or like slippery revelations received and lost within dreams. Through seven tracks, Teddy and his brother Nick conjure quiet intensity that cuts to the bone – a dark mix of psych, folk, and noise-rock.

Speaking about the new EP, Teddy reveals, "It's about feeling empathy for all the abandoned children who feel hopeless in our present day reality. Even if they aren’t abandoned physically, just being abandoned mentally in one way or another, through shitty parents, upbringings, depressing school systems, or a society that doesn't really care about them, or questioning their true selves and feeling isolated and less than what they are."

Early Dead Waves releases, including the Steve Albini-produced Oracles of the Grave/Promise 7", rocked in a heavy-garage fashion, sparking comparisons to Nirvana and Pixies. Over the course of its seven releases, the band has gradually severed ties with rock conventions and blossomed into an unfettered, experimental musical entity. Gone now are the drums and roars, but in this rawer state the music is more powerful than ever. 

Of 2018's God of the Wild album, Burning Ambulance reported: "Bridging the gap between experimental rock and some sort of unknown, barbarous folk music... At times, one can picture Sonic Youth covering Neil Young’s iconic soundtrack for the movie, Dead Man." CVLT Nation proclaimed: "Dead Waves' music is like life itself – heavy, fragile, and full of cosmic pain!"

With Abandoned Children, Teddy and Nick continue marching to their own beat, making music that is soulful and strange and brimming with the confidence of true artists. As Dead Waves' volume continues to drop, its impact continues to soar.

With each release, the brothers' Greek heritage has also become a more significant force in Dead Waves – from the use of a traditional Greek lyre to the lyrical inspirations. "Abandoned Children refers to the hero's origins in Greek mythology," states Teddy. "A number of them were abandoned as children and their lives began in difficulties."

Tracklist:
1) Arcadia
2) Torn Sheets
3) Drinking with Jeff Buckley
4) Innermost
5) Hypnagogia
6) Wake Up in the Night
7) Abandoned Children

Lineup:
Nick Panopoulos - guitar, vocals, percussion
Teddy Panopoulos - lyre, guitar, vocals, bass, percussion

Discography:
Abandoned Children (2022, Entheon Records)
God of the Wild (2018, Entheon Records)
The Great Clock (2017, self-released)
Living Inside (2016, self-released)
Nature (2015, self-released)
Oracles of the Grave/Promise 7" (2014, self-released)
Take Me Away EP (2013, self-released)

Band photo by Jeremy Balderson

Cover art by Ana Belen Ruiz and Dead Waves

LAMENT CITYSCAPE - "The Under Dark"

LAMENT CITYSCAPE: Wyoming-based industrial-metal powerhouse explores trauma and vengeance in unsettling "The Under Dark" music video

Industrial-metal powerhouse Lament Cityscape has revealed the official music video for its new single, "The Under Dark." The song appears on the band's new album, A Darker Discharge, out April 29th on Lifeforce Records.

The unsettling video, directed by Neil Corbin, explores the complexities of trauma and vengeance. In Corbin's words: "The video concept came out of the idea of trauma and what we do with it; how we construct worlds, both real and imagined, in order to function through the everyday. By the end, the project takes on the idea of failed catharsis and how outward rage offers temporary relief, but ultimately feels hollow."

Stream "The Under Dark" video, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj-spaMP_LI

Pre-order the album, here: https://orcd.co/lcs_adarkerdischarge

With a slew of recordings released over the past decade, the prolific Lament Cityscape project is the brainchild of Mike McClatchey. Past releases were hailed as “a mid-paced industrial/doom miasma” (Decibel Magazine), “simply devastating” (No Clean Singing), and "sledgehammer-level impact” (Invisible Oranges). The Wire Magazine warned: “Best jack your headphones up to their highest leakage levels.”

Incorporating elements of industrial-metal, sludge, noise, post-punk, and more, Lament Cityscape has evolved over the years to its present state. New album A Darker Discharge blazes forward like an electronics-heavy mix of Code Orange's merciless rhythms, Uniform's unhinged angst, and Jesu's melancholic grandeur.

McClatchey (who has since moved back to the West Coast) credits his relocation from Oakland, California to rural Wyoming, for the new album's aggression: "We moved from Oakland to Wyoming to stay as safe as possible regarding COVID. I instantly felt pushback from everyone here. Almost daily we would see 'Keep Your California Out of My Wyoming' shirts or bumper stickers. Trump flags being flown far after him losing. Homophobic and racist garbage everywhere. It set a tone for the album to be a lot angrier, faster, and more confrontational."

A Darker Discharge was written, recorded and mixed by Mike McClatchey at Underland Studio in Buffalo, WY. It was mastered by Zach Weeks at GodCity Recording Studio in Salem, MA.

More info: https://thechainworld.blogspot.com/2022/02/lament-cityscape-darker-discharge.html

TRACE AMOUNT - "Anti Body Language" video

TRACE AMOUNT: NYC industrial visionary reveals "Anti Body Language" lyric video; debut full-length drops April 15th via The Dillinger Escape Plan-affiliated Federal Prisoner label

NYC industrial visionary Trace Amount has premiered a new lyric video for the title track from his upcoming debut full-length album, Anti Body Language.

The album was co-produced by Fade Kainer (Statiqbloom) and mixed by Ben Greenberg (Uniform) and will be released April 15th on Federal Prisoner, the label founded by Greg Puciato (The Dillinger Escape Plan, The Black Queen, Jerry Cantrell) and visual artist Jesse Draxler.

Stream the video, here: https://floodmagazine.com/106002/trace-amount-anti-body-language-first-listen/

Pre-order the album, here: https://federalprisoner.shop/

As FLOOD reports: "Brooklyn-based musician Brandon Gallagher is aiming to create a new sonic language through aggressive industrial soundscapes that land somewhere between the solo experiments of Author & Punisher and the blistering horror-metal of Uniform (the latter group’s Ben Greenberg mixed the album). In fact, in the lyric video for “Anti Body Language”—the latest cut and title track from the project slated for an April 15 release on Greg Puciato’s label Federal Prisoner—Gallagher literally invents a new language to process his distorted lyrics through."

Gallagher discusses the creation of the unique new alphabet for the video: "I wanted to make something that was striking and bold and could represent the lyrics on another level without using an existing language. Every character was constructed within a hundred square pixel grid. It was one of those things that, as it came together, it made more and more sense with the music and overall vibe I was trying to achieve."

First conceived in 2019, Trace Amount took shape during the early stages of the pandemic, inspired by the grim realities of life in New York City at that time, and has evolved at a lightning pace ever since. The sound is a harsh strain of industrial music, evoking apocalyptic dread through primal rhythms, layers of synth and noise, and Gallagher's distorted moans and screams.

Anti Body Language is Trace Amount's first full-length but it follows a slew of other recent releases, including collabs with Pig Destroyer's Blake Harrison, Qual (William Maybelline of Lebanon Hanover), The Dillinger Escape Plan's Billy Rymer, Uniform's Michael Berdan, and more.

Of equal importance to the music is Trace Amount's visual dimension, expressed through graphic design and video work created by Gallagher himself and by collaborators of his choosing, illustrating a mix of real urban decay and sci-fi fantasy that intersects with the sonic assault to complete the picture. The "Anti Body Language" lyric video is one prime example of this dimension.

Photo by George Douglas Peterson

THIS IS OBLIVION - "A Reckoning"

THIS IS OBLIVION: Brooklyn duo creates haunting new single "A Reckoning" using only vocals and percussion

Brooklyn duo This Is Oblivion has revealed new track "A Reckoning" from its upcoming, self-titled, debut album.

On “A Reckoning,” the commanding vocals of Lulu Black and percussion of Michael Kadnar fuse together into a deliciously dark and intense 3 minutes of anti-pop. With Black delivering a sort of "rap" in a coolly powerful monotone, Kadnar uses a mix of acoustic and electronic sounds to pound out a granite-heavy beat.

In the words of Everything Is Noise: “They effortlessly blend doom metal with post-industrial and electronic influences in this twisted folk-styled narrative, reminiscent of Lingua Ignota or Chelsea Wolfe.”

Stream the track, here: https://everythingisnoise.net/premieres/this-is-oblivions-a-reckoning-is-your-musical-introduction-to-the-paranormal/

Pre-order the album, ahead of its May 6th release on Kadnar's label, Silent Pendulum Records, here: https://silentpendulumrecords.bandcamp.com/album/this-is-oblivion

Black and Kadnar began This Is Oblivion in the spring of 2020. A classical music major in college, Black's interest in other genres – industrial, darkwave, doom, and more – led her to start creating her own music. "My biggest influence has always been Nine Inch Nails, especially Trent and Atticus' cinematic scores," she states. "I love gritty textures paired with gorgeous harmonies." Kadnar is known to many as the rhythm machine behind bands such as The Number Twelve Looks Like You, Downfall of Gaia, and So Hideous. Known predominantly as a metal drummer, Kadnar separates himself from the pack by bringing outside influences into his playing, from jazz, funk, world music, and beyond; in This Is Oblivion, he utilizes a whole palette of percussion and his approach ranges from the delicate to the colossally heavy.

The two are not only in a band together, but in a relationship. "Collaborating with a romantic partner is a first for both of us," says Black. "A relationship that then evolves into an artistic collaboration can be hugely positive but also very raw and vulnerable at times."

The self-titled debut album was recorded and mixed in 2021 by Seth Manchester (Lingua Ignota, The Body) and mastered by Brian Lucey (Depeche Mode, David Lynch).

Photo by Rose Callahan

Out today: IF IT KILLS YOU - Invisible Self

Invisible Self, the second full-length album by Bakersfield, California band If It Kills You, is out today.

Produced by Jim Ward of At The Drive-In and Sparta, Invisible Self is an immersive experience: nine intense, radiant songs whose emotional weight and ironclad songcraft bear traces of Ward's bands as well as Quicksand, Hum, and Drive Like Jehu (whose song "If It Kills You" inspired the band name).

Stream and buy the album, here: https://ifitkillsyou.bandcamp.com/album/invisible-self

More info: https://thechainworld.blogspot.com/2022/02/if-it-kills-you-invisible-self.html

"'Invisible Self' was produced by Jim Ward of Sparta and At the Drive In and opening track 'Parallel Lines' features guest guitar by Shelby Cinca of Frodus. They're clearly in great company, and it's no surprise that greats like Jim and Shelby wanted to work with them; 'Parallel Lines' is a genuinely great song with a big, soaring hook that really rivals the '90s bands who influenced it."

–BrooklynVegan

"The vocalist is reminiscent of Walter Schreifels [and] that last Quicksand record... Did you dig that record? I did, and I dig this."

–Decibel

“If you’re looking for atmospheric post-hardcore packed with dissonant guitar hooks and big vocal melody lines, If It Kills You should take care of that itch.”

–No Echo

“The new record by If It Kills You is post-hardcore at its most exuberant. It features nine chiseled, shimmering songs…”
–The Big Takeover

"Produced by Jim Ward of At The Drive-In and Sparta... Soaked in intensity and radiance."
–New Noise