Out today: KING YOSEF - Spire of Fear

Spire of Fear, the new album by King Yosef, is out today on Bleakhouse.

Stream Spire of Fear, here: https://kingyosef.bandcamp.com/album/spire-of-fear

Buy King Yosef music and merch, here: https://www.kingyosef.com/merch

Initially earning acclaim as a hip-hop producer, Oregon native Tayves Yosef Pelletier has been self-releasing music under the King Yosef name since 2017. Having worked with some of the most notorious rappers of the 2010s, he founded the King Yosef solo project as a space in which to explore his other musical obsessions. As King Yosef, he has gradually perfected a searing brand of industrialized hardcore that marries electronic and metallic elements in stunning fashion and seeks catharsis through deeply personal lyrics. 

Within the past two years, Pelletier has transformed King Yosef from a bedroom project into a formidable live act, completing North American tours with the likes of Converge and HEALTH and venturing to Australia, Japan, Europe and the UK.

Recorded at GodCity with Kurt Ballou, Spire of Fear marks the next chapter. Comprising King Yosef's most gentle and most lethal work to date, the album synthesizes Pelletier's wide array of influences, a list that includes artists ranging from Godflesh and Nails, to Portishead and The Stone Roses. Where the previous album, An Underlying Hum, dug into Pelletier's own personal story, Spire of Fear looks beyond the self, toward broader human experience.

With Spire of Fear out now, King Yosef embarks on the "Industrial Worship Tour," a coast-to-coast tour of the US, alongside Youth Code, Street Sects, and Insula Iscariot. Following the tour, King Yosef will perform at Bleakfest, the annual music festival organized by Pelletier in his hometown of Portland, followed by two West Coast dates with the mighty Author & Punisher.

Youth Code, King Yosef, Street Sects, Insula Iscariot:

Aug 16 - Seattle, WA @ Madame Lou's
Aug 18 - Midvale, UT @ The Pearl on Main
Aug 19 - Denver, CO @ HQ
Aug 21 - St Paul, MN @ Turf Club
Aug 23 - Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
Aug 24 - Ferndale, MI @ Loving Touch
Aug 26 - Cambridge, MA @ Sonia
Aug 27 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Meadows
Aug 28 - Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts
Aug 29 - Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar
Aug 31 - Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
Sep 02 - Dallas, TX @ RBC
Sep 03 - Austin, TX @ 29th Street Ballroom
Sep 05 - Phoenix, AZ @ Rosetta
Sep 06 - Las Vegas, NV @ Backstage Bar
Sep 07 - Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex

Bleakfest Vol. 2:

Sep 13 - Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre

Author & Punisher, King Yosef:

Nov 12 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo
Nov 13 - San Diego, CA @ Casbah

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"Always known for ambitious takes on industrial metalcore, King Yosef has perhaps never sounded more bold... With breakdowns through caverns of glitch, disgusting percussion and synthesisers that make guitars sound like pure parody, there’s every indication that Spire of Fear will be a watershed album for King Yosef."
–Boolin Tunes

"Portland industrialist King Yosef has announced a new album, Spire of Fear... The first single is the bone-crushingly heavy."
–BrooklynVegan

"King Yosef... is a powerhouse of industrial ferocity leading the pack of modern industrial acts and and has a league with the likes of HEALTH, 3TEETH, Poppy, and Author & Punisher."
–Brutal Resonance

"A brutal, genre-blurring sound, fusing the punishing intensity of metallic hardcore with the textures of industrial and modern electronica."
–Destroy//Exist

"Written, produced, and performed by Portland-based artist Tayves Yosef Pelletier, Spire of Fear represents a full turn in the evolution of King Yosef. Where earlier records filtered industrial and hardcore through the lens of personal trauma, this new work signals a broader, outward-facing gaze."
–Idioteq

"Showcasing hardcore DNA with a throbbing, electronic pulse, the album is a potent concoction of pummeling percussion, urgent glitch and assaultive electronic elements that strike like a molotov. Having the audacity to fuse the hostility of hardcore with everything from EBM, downtempo and Y2K-era metal, Yosef's ability to merge those worlds seamlessly makes Spire of Fear something extra special."

–Knotfest

"Experimental industrial noise artist King Yosef will release his new album Spire of Fear on August 15th through his own label Bleakhouse. The upcoming LP sees the hip hop-rooted producer continue his evolution into harsher sonic territory."
–Lambgoat

"5/5. This is a sonic boom of an album... This is an instant boner-maker. The sound of this album is ridiculous... Crushing, intense, dynamic, totally absorbing."
–Metal Epidemic

"A cult favorite in both the industrial and underground hardcore scenes, King Yosef—real name Tayves Yosef Pelletier — has built a reputation on merging savage metallic textures with deeply personal, emotionally raw lyrics... Performing at Roadburn 2024 and touring with the likes of Converge and HEALTH, his evolution into a commanding live force has been meteoric."
–Metal Injection

"Dark, heavy, discordant, the new track certainly hits hard. It’s a hell of an opening salvo for the new record."
–MetalSucks

"King Yosef, aka Tayves Yosef Pelletier, has done it all, from hip-hop producer to tearing it up with the likes of Converge and HEALTH."
–New Noise

"The album, recorded and mixed by Kurt Ballou, is an abrasive, disorienting and relentless listen with vocals that sound like they’re giving voice to the accelerated and amplified collective outrage over current world events with a direct personal resonance..."
–Queen City Sounds and Art

"Redefining the parameters of noisy industrial with a distinct hardcore punk edge."
–ReGen

"For the past several years, Portland based producer Tayves Yosef Pelletier has been releasing punishing rap metal under the moniker King Yosef. Released on his own Bleakhouse imprint, Spire of Fear leads with thunderous screams, crushing drums (live and electronic) and pulverizing distortion that feels a bit like a trip through an industrial meat tenderizer... Meanwhile the interjection of smooth sections with almost ballad-style vocals invite comparisons with Nine Inch Nails – with all the mastery of craft that implies."
–The Wire

"This is horror movie music. I’m not even gonna try to bullshit through this because there’s nothing I can say about King Yosef that comes close to conveying his essence better than his music does. You just have to experience it."
–VICE

"Independent artist, basically crafted his own sound, which is this combination of industrial metal and rock and hardcore and some electronic, ambient aspects... Very cool."
–Whatever Comes Next

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Photo by Harper King