Category: News

Review – Flicker Rate – Reframe EP – by Progradar

“The flicker fusion threshold (or flicker fusion rate) is a concept in the psychophysics of vision. It is defined as the frequency at which an intermittent light stimulus appears to be completely steady to the average human observer.”

Flicker Rate is an Instrumental, Guitar based Progressive, Post Rock / Math Rock Solo Project that fuses progressive ambient guitar playing with strong creative melodies and riffs to produce progressive songs that keeps the listener interested throughout due to the cinematic build that each song holds. Spencer Bassett played and recorded all instruments on this record, which was also mixed and mastered by John Bassett from the project Arcade Messiah.

Since then Spencer Bassett has been growing his fan base on social media, finished school and written his second EP ‘Reframe’ Flicker Rate fans have been looking forward to what Spencer Bassett has in store for 2017.

I reviewed Spencer’s first eponymous Flicker Rate EP and had this to say about this talented young man:

“What Spencer has done though is mould it into his own creation and it is something of which he should be very proud. Keep an eye out for Flicker Rate, this is a musical project that is definitely going places.”

He’s an unassuming, affable young man and has always been unfailingly polite whenever I have spoken to him and this is reflected in the meticulous creativity of his music. The opening and title, track Reframe is a wistful, cultured piece of music that brings to mind days of sepia tinged nostalgia. The hazy days of high summer when you had not a care in the world. Let the sun warm your back and the wonderful music wash over you.

There’s more of an edgy tone to Summit with it intricate riffing and stylistic drums. Inventive and intelligent, there’s a questing tone to the insistent beat, one that gets under your skin and won’t let go. Spencer has all the chops and is happy to let us see that but is never pretentious in any way and is also content to ply his own trade and not hang on to the coat tails of his illustrious father. Where John Bassett has become king of the incredibly dense wall of sound, Spencer is a whole lot more subtle and understated in his style. There’s a lovely about-face towards the end of the song where the music takes on a more sombre tone and feel, bringing the ambience low down and laid back and the song closes with an air of mystery and unfinished business.

Spectrum has a real world music, jazzy character from the start, the staccato guitar and drums almost reminding me of Flamenco at times. An uplifting melody but also one that has a serious undertone, a performer who is playing through some unknown pain or tragedy perhaps, it certainly touched a nerve with me in parts. Clever and creative.

The final track on this EP is Airspace, a thoughtful and contemplative piece of music that could have been taken from the soundtrack of a science fiction movie. It may just be me but, at times, I was getting transported back to 1981 and ‘Ghost In The Machine’, released by the legendary The Police. The repeated rhythm of the guitar and the sober, serious deadpan delivery just reminded me of tracks like Spirits In The Material World and Invisible Sun. It is a song that shows the growing maturity of this excellent musician.

Spencer has, once again, exceeded my expectations with his latest Flicker Rate release. Improving on the debut EP but still keeping his signature character, ‘Reframe’ is a composed and self-assured piece of work that showcases his talent brilliantly, we just need more of it!

Released 10th March 2017

Buy ‘Reframe’ from bandcamp

 

 

NAPOLEON IIIRD ANNOUNCES FIRST NEW ALBUM IN 6 YEARS / SHARES VIDEO FOR ‘THE SCRAPE’

In the six years since his last album, ‘Christiana’, James Mabbett aka Napoleon IIIrd has covered a fair amount of distance, both emotional and literal. The culmination of that journey results in the release of his new album, ‘The Great Lake’ on 19 May 2017 (Hatch Records). A five track exploration of the possibilities of song structures within experimental soundscapes thematically wedded to James’ personal experiences of grief, ‘The Great Lake’ is paradoxically an album full of human warmth and emotion and a strident piece of abstract art, the collision point between the theory of Basinski and the melody of Northern Soul.
Now he has shared the first video taken from the album. James himself describes ‘The Scrape’ as ‘the point where sorrow becomes destructive’. The video for track was shot in a flood damaged, abandoned automotive silicon hose factory in Mirfield, West Yorkshire. The building was raised to the ground just weeks after this film was shot and a Lidl is to be built in its place.  He adds, ‘I think somehow and in some way, this might be kind of fitting. The price of love is grief and grief can be so hard we can forget what love is.I am a temporary carbon marker. I am merely conjoined space. Like death, the fight to survive consumes us.’
Watch ‘The Scrape’:
The genesis for the album came with James’ move to London from Yorkshire in 2011. Journeying through the centre of the metropolis by bus every day he found solace in immersion in ambient and noise experiments as a travelling soundtrack, recontextualising the chaos and thrum of the city around him into something more surreal and passive.
Returning to West Yorkshire and settling in the artistic enclave of Holmfirth, a town perhaps best known for light Sunday evening comedy but inhabited by a vibrant creative community, James set about reconstituting his band and inviting friends to join him on the recordings. The core group of Nestor Matthews (Menace Beach, Sky Larkin) on drums, John Leaman on guitar, Bob McDougall on bass and Oli Bentley on saxophone; an instrument that James had previously felt a strong aversion to but elected to place at the heart of the composition and use tonally to challenge himself, gathered together in March 2015 at Greenmount studios in Leeds and recorded the tracks in four weeks.
Additional contributions came from Joel Midden, aka Bastardgeist, on backing vocals, Tom Rogerson (Three Trapped Tigers) on piano, Neil Walsh (Smoke Fairies) on voila, Susie Gills on violin and Jasmine Neale on cello. Whilst James recorded the strings at Dreamtrak, a friend’s studio in London, the remainder contributed via the internet, their additions coming from locales as divergent as Berlin, New York and Brighton. The artwork for the album, an integral part of the concept alongside the films that will accompany many of the tracks, was created by Holmfirth resident Freya Stockford, a name on the rise in contemporary art and graduate of Glasgow School Of Art
The lyrical tone for ‘The Great Lake’ had been set during the demoing process in London but was brought into sharp relief by personal experience for James. Having settled on an album that dealt with the big themes of humanity, the death of his grandparents within one exact calendar year sharpened that theme into an exploration of the five stages of grief, travelling through denial, anger, bargaining and depression before arrival at acceptance. Which may not sound like the most fulfilling listen yet, from such dark subject matter, ‘The Great Lake’ creates a world replete with hope and transcendence.
Central to the album is track 4, ‘And the You in Between the Space’. Clocking in at 19 minutes and 25 seconds, this three-part piece embodies all the aspects of the album and is a stark example of the bravery of James’ approach to the recording, his desire to challenge both himself and listener. Dropping to almost silence at its midpoint before building to a glorious, joyful climax, the album’s markers of tone, structure, melody, ambience and mood are all displayed within its boundaries; a rejoinder to those who suggest that contemporary music has nowhere left to travel.
‘Channels influences as far-flung as Brian Wilson, Balearic house and space rock’ – The Guardian
‘Has the relentless, cycling industry and digital-soup density of Animal Collective’ – The Independent
‘Imagine if Springsteen’s soul had been captured by synth-wielding Europeans and sent on an odyssey by anarcho-syndicalists intent on breaking into Bletchley Park to hold a disco’ – NME
‘One of the most visionary artists in the world today’’ – Drowned in Sound

 

sleepmakeswaves share new track ‘Into the Arms of Ghosts’ / Added to ArcTanGent Festival

Post-rock trailblazers sleepmakeswaves have continued their massive start to 2017 by sharing another new track from their upcoming album “Made of Breath Only” set for release on Friday 7th April through Bird’s Robe Records. Speaking about ‘Into The Arms of Ghosts’ guitarist Otto Wicks-Green comments:
 
“This track was one of the last songs to come together on the record, despite comprising some parts that were amongst the first to be written (the lead melody for instance). It’s one of the darker and heavier moments on the album and deals more directly with feelings around loss and adjustment to that. The soaring lead lines made our producer Nick joke that it should be the soundtrack to someone jumping off a mountain in a parachute before landing in a stadium with a guitar. We should really try and get that happening.”

sleepmakeswaves recently wrapped up a massive sold out tour with reunited alternative rock legends COG, as well as touring extensively across North America and their own headline tour in Australia, clocking up 54 shows in support of the single and video ‘traced in constellations.’
The band’s busy schedule follows their epic 55-date, 22-country ‘Great Northern’ tour of 2015 and 10 Australian tours, 4 European tours, 2 US tours and shows across Asia and New Zealand since their release of their debut album ‘…and so we destroyed everything’ in 2011. In 2014, they successfully raised $30,000 in pre-orders to help fund the recording of ‘Love of Cartography’. Currently on tour in China the band have also been added to the line-up for this year’s ArcTanGent festival in August.
New album “Made of Breath Only” is out 7th April in the UK.
sleepmakeswaves China headline tour
Thu March 9 – Mao Livehouse, Hangzhou CHINA
Fri March 10 – Mao Livehouse, Shanghai CHINA
Sat March 11 – Yugong Yishan, Beijing CHINA
Sun March 12 – Ola Space, Nanjing CHINA
Tue March 14 – Nuts, Chongqing CHINA
Wed March 15 – Little Bar Space, Chengdu CHINA
Thu March 16 – Vox, Wuhan CHINA
Fri March 17 – Fei Livehouse, Guangzhou CHINA
Sat March 18 – B10, Shenzhen CHINA
Sun March 19 – Hidden Agenda, Hong Kong CHINA
sleepmakeswaves Australian headline tour
Fri March 24 – Metro Theatre, Sydney NSW
Sat March 25 – Max Watt’s, Melbourne VIC
Thu March 30 – ANU Bar, Canberra ACT
Fri March 31 – Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle
Thu April 6 – The Gov, Adelaide SA
Fri April 7 – Badlands, Perth WA
Sat April 8 – Max Watt’s, Brisbane
sleepmakeswaves Australia & New Zealand tour w/Devin Townsend Project (CAN)
Thu May 18 – Powerstation, Auckland NZ
Sat May 20 – The Triffid, Brisbane QLD
Mon May 22 – Enmore Theatre, Sydney NSW
Wed May 24 – 170 Russell, Melbourne VIC
Fri May 26 – Capitol, Perth WA
Tickets for all shows from www.sleepmakeswaves.com
Pre-orders from www.sleepmakeswaves.bandcamp.com

Rikard Sjöblom’s Gungfly Sign To InsideOut For New Album ‘On Her Journey To The Sun’

Following last years disbanding of Sweden’s much-loved progressive rockers Beardfish, vocalist and driving force Rikard Sjöblom has turned his attention to his solo project Rikard Sjöblom’s Gungfly, and signed with InsideOutMusic for the release of their next album ‘On Her Journey To The Sun’ on 19th May 2017.

Rikard had this to say: “Gungfly was born out of necessity, songs came to life whenever there was downtime with Beardfish or if a song didn’t quite fit within Beardfish’s (otherwise quite broad and eclectic) frame of styles. I basically started recording songs, mainly pop-oriented material, but being the type of songwriter and musician I am, some prog slipped through the radar as well. With the break-up of Beardfish all of the prog-related material I write needed to go somewhere and Gungfly was ready and able for this step!”

Band photo by Peder Andersson.

TELEPATHY SHARE NEW VIDEO FOR ‘SMOKE FROM DISTANT FIRES’

UK instrumental titans, Telepathy who will release their new album Tempest on 31st March have shared a new video for their track ‘Smoke from Distant Fires’. Bassist Teddy-James Driscoll comments, ‘We wanted something that would embody the concept of the album and represent the fundamentals of it visually’.

 Recorded, mixed and mastered at London’s Orgone Studios by lauded producer /engineer Jaime Gomez Arellano ( Ghost, Opeth, Paradise Lost, Altar of Plagues, Cathedral ), Tempest follows in the footsteps of Telepathy’s critically acclaimed 2014 debut 12 Areas and is very much a concept record.
Tempest depicts the harrowing journey of a person beset with grief and faced with total isolation after awaking from a great flood. The album guides the listener on a journey through awakening, desolation and finally acceptance.
Further showcasing the band’s no-holds-barred approach to songwriting, Tempest fuses elements of post-metal, sludge, doom and black metal with unorthodox and complex song structures, creating a cohesive and cathartic tapestry of unique instrumental metal. The inclusion of tortured vocals on the album’s centerpiece, Echo of Souls, shows a band un-afraid to travel into uncharted waters, further cementing their reputation as a forward thinking and unique group in today’s experimental metal
scene.
Where its predecessor 12 Areas was by intention a chaotic and furious exploration of sound, Tempest marks a shift towards a more balanced and open sonic pallette. More dynamic, spacious and refined than before, but with an added emphasis on sonic weight, unbridled heaviness, melody and emotional depth.
Telepathy spent the majority of 2016 stunning audiences up and down the UK with their immersive and intense live show, building upon their ever growing following. Highlights included appearances alongside fellow UK metal veterans Raging Speedhorn, Oathbreaker, American post-metal pioneers and labelmates Rosetta and most notably an appearance at the prestigious Desertfest in London.
The band recently completed a five date European tour in September 2016 which saw the band return to Incubate Festival in Tilburg for the second time. Tempest marks a brand new chapter in the band’s career, and with its definitive line-up in place — owing to the addition of new bass player Teddy-James Driscoll — Tempest showcases a ruthlessly punishing, heavy and emotionally demanding take on instrumental music.
The 2×LP comes with an etching on side D, download code and on 180 gr vinyl.
Released 31st March – Golden Antenna Records
Telepathy will tour the UK in April followed by an appearance at Roadburn Festival.
01.04 – MANCHESTER, Rebellion
02.04 – SHEFFIELD, Mulberry Tavern
05.04 – LEEDS, Temple Of Boom
06.04 – LONDON, The Black Heart
07.04 – BIRMINGHAM, Scruffy Murphys
08.04 – BRISTOL, The Louisiana
09.04 – NEWCASTLE, The Cluny
21.04 – TILBURG, Roadburn Festival

My Dying Bride Sign To Nuclear Blast

For 27 years, MY DYING BRIDE from West Yorkshire have been the voice of the hopeless and broken, combining haunting sounds with crushing misery and melancholy. With their signature sound they’ve shaped the doom metal scene like barely any other act and integrated both soft violin melodies and violent death metal growls into their music, whilst always staying strictly loyal to themselves. And since the early Nineties, the band’s masterminds and founding members Andrew Craighan and Aaron Stainthorpe forged beautiful grief into twelve studio albums with songs of epic length.

However for their 13th release, the band is now bound for new horizons and proudly announces their signing to Nuclear Blast Records!

Singer and lyricist Aaron Stainthorpe comments:

“It is with great pleasure that MY DYING BRIDE can announce they will be joining forces with the formidable Nuclear Blast Records in early 2017 and have already begun working on material for the next LP and singles. It is no secret that Nuclear Blast have continued to expand greatly over the years, signing epic bands from all corners of the world and giving them the chance they deserve to make something of themselves in the ever expanding metal scene. And it’s time that MY DYING BRIDE came along for the ride. We are hoping that this wedding between a very solid label and a well-established act will bear fruit of mighty proportions in the exciting years to come!”

 Since MY DYING BRIDE rarely leave their damp catacombs to perform live rituals, each show is a highlight in itself and on April 22nd, the group will expose their legendary album ‘Turn Loose The Swans’ in its entire length at Roadburn Festival. Together with Shaun ‘Winter’ Taylor-Steels on drums and a special backdrop lighting, the band will haunt the Dutch stage and deliver a truly unique experience.

MY DYING BRIDE live:
22nd April – NL, Roadburn Festival
15th July – POL,  Bolkow, Castle Party
1st October – UK, HRH Doom Vs HRH Stoner

More information:

Website
Facebook
Twitter

Mew share video for new single 85 Videos & European Tour Dates

Hot on the heels after the announcement of their seventh album, Visuals – released on April 28th – Danish art rock outfit Mew announce details of a brand new single 85 Videos.

Having made his directorial debut on 2015’s +- (plus/minus) album, 85 Videos, once again sees front man Jonas Bjerre take the helm whilst also creating videos for every single that follows on the Visuals album.

Speaking of the video, Bjerre says:

“I’ve been working a lot with kaleidoscopes lately. You have an image, or a sequence of images, and you snip out an angle, mirror it, and repeat it in a 360-degree angle. It’s a beautiful thing, because almost no matter the state of the original image, it ends up a beautiful symmetrical, indefinable something. A picture of your messy desk turns into a strange flower. I like that you can’t really envision what it will look like until you see it. I think our music is a bit like that too, even as we’re working on it.

I made a bunch of sequences, and crafted them into these ever-changing ‘faces’ that I then video-projected on to our actual faces. It’s like wearing a mask made out of photons. You can say a lot of philosophical stuff about masks – but don’t worry, I’m not going to. Hope you enjoy the video.”

Visuals marks the band’s return to the fray following a relative short break (for them) since 2015’s + –. Having whetted the appetite with album closer Carry Me To Safety, Mew unveil the brand new single 85 Videos as they continue to inhabit their own dream-pop landscape of pop sensibilities enveloped in swathes of 80’s influenced synths.

From the outset 85 Videos exudes a familiar expansive backdrop, lush instrumentation coupled with rousing vocals and a euphoric pop brilliance that is part of Mew’s DNA. Twenty years into their career, Visuals sees the band retain the irrepressible ebullience of a band working on their debut album.

Visuals is released on 28th April though Play It Again Sam and available on CD, vinyl and digitally and is available to pre-order here.

Mew will be playing a short run of European shows as follows.

May 2017

 17  Paradiso  – Amsterdam, Netherlands

19  Point Ephemere – Paris, France

20  Trix – Antwerp, Belgium

21  Trinity – Bristol, UK

22  O2 Ritz – Manchester, UK

23  Shepherds Bush Empire – London, UK

25  Luxor – Köln, Germany

26  Knust – Hamburg, Germany

27  Immergut Festival – Neutrelitz, Germany

Visuals Track Listing:

Nothingness and No Regrets

The Wake Of Your Life

Candy Pieces All Smeared Out

In A Better Place

Ay Ay Ay

Learn Our Crystals

Twist Quest

Shoulders

Videos

Zanzibar

Carry Me To Safety

SLEEPMAKESWAVES ANNOUNCE NEW SINGLE, 2017 TOUR DATES & THIRD ALBUM

Post-rock trailblazers sleepmakeswaves have announced a massive start to 2017 with a new single, a plethora of tour dates and the news that their third album “Made of Breath only” will be released Friday 7th April through Bird’s Robe Records.

The first taste of the new record ‘Tundra’ was premiered on triple j radio this week, with the station opining “a masterful rise-and-fall of breathless riffs and breathtaking atmosphere, the track pivots on scintillating guitars and epic climaxes towards a reflective final act.”

Listen to ‘Tundra’ here: www.sleepmakeswaves.bandcamp.com

The band also participated in an AMA on Reddit ahead of the premiere and indicated that the new album will have the “up-tempo pace and intensity” of their previous album ‘Love of Cartography’, “but there are more straight up riffs and overall, it’s angrier, sadder, and heavier.”

To launch the record, the band have begun rolling out a series of tour announcements which will ultimately form part of their world tour in support of ‘Made of Breath only.’

In February, they kick off their touring as main support for reunited post-hardcore legends UNDEROATH at a series of sold out theatre shows around Australia.

In March, they will begin their headlining run in China with a 10-date tour playing their biggest clubs and theatres to date. During March and April, they will return home to launch the new album with a 7-date headlining Australian tour covering capital cities and regional areas.

In May, they will then continue on to New Zealand and another Australian tour, as direct support for Canadian progressive rock icon DEVIN TOWNSEND at theatres across the continents.

The band have also responded to fan requests on social media, indicating that further touring is in the works for the UK, Europe & North America.

In late 2016, the band put out a call to fans to help raise funds for their third album and a world tour through pre-orders via Australian crowdfunding site Pozible. They raised over $40,000 to cover the remaining costs of producing the record, which follows 2014’s ARIA-nominated & J Award-nominated ‘Love of Cartography.’

The band posted the following message to social media upon the announce:

It feels like the last 12 months have been leading up to today, and we’re incredibly excited/nervous/eager about recording this material with Nick DiDia, and performing it for you all over the world from early 2017. Thanks for the support as always. Your friendly neighbourhood post-rockers, sleepmakeswaves

sleepmakeswaves recently wrapped up a massive sold out tour with reunited alternative rock legends COG, as well as touring extensively across North America and their own headline tour in Australia, clocking up 54 shows in support of the single and video ‘traced in constellations.’

The band’s busy schedule follows their epic 55-date, 22-country ‘Great Northern’ tour of 2015 and 10 Australian tours, 4 European tours, 2 US tours and shows across Asia and New Zealand since their release of their debut album ‘…and so we destroyed everything’ in 2011. In 2014, they successfully raised $30,000 in pre-orders to help fund the recording of ‘Love of Cartography’.

New album “Made of Breath Only” is out 7th April in the UK.

sleepmakeswaves Australian tour w/Underoath (USA)

Fri Feb 10 – Eatons Hill, Brisbane QLD Lic. All Ages

Sat Feb 11 – Enmore Theatre, Sydney NSW Lic. All Ages

Sun Feb 12 – 170 Russell, Melbourne VIC – SOLD OUT

Mon Feb 13 – 170 Russell, Melbourne VIC

Wed Feb 15 – The Gov, Adelaide SA Lic. All Ages

Thu Feb 16 – Metropolis, Fremantle WA

sleepmakeswaves China headline tour

Thu March 9 – Mao Livehouse, Hangzhou CHINA

Fri March 10 – Mao Livehouse, Shanghai CHINA

Sat March 11 – Yugong Yishan, Beijing CHINA

Sun March 12 – Ola Space, Nanjing CHINA

Tue March 14 – Nuts, Chongqing CHINA

Wed March 15 – Little Bar Space, Chengdu CHINA

Thu March 16 – Vox, Wuhan CHINA

Fri March 17 – Fei Livehouse, Guangzhou CHINA

Sat March 18 – B10, Shenzhen CHINA

Sun March 19 – Hidden Agenda, Hong Kong CHINA

sleepmakeswaves Australian headline tour

Fri March 24 – Metro Theatre, Sydney NSW

Sat March 25 – Max Watt’s, Melbourne VIC

Thu March 30 – ANU Bar, Canberra ACT

Fri March 31 – Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle

Thu April 6 – The Gov, Adelaide SA

Fri April 7 – Badlands, Perth WA

Sat April 8 – Max Watt’s, Brisbane

sleepmakeswaves Australia & New Zealand tour w/Devin Townsend Project (CAN)

Thu May 18 – Powerstation, Auckland NZ

Sat May 20 – The Triffid, Brisbane QLD

Mon May 22 – Enmore Theatre, Sydney NSW

Wed May 24 – 170 Russell, Melbourne VIC

Fri May 26 – Capitol, Perth WA

Tickets for all shows from www.sleepmakeswaves.com

Pre-orders from www.sleepmakeswaves.bandcamp.com

Telepathy to release sophomore album – Tempest

(Photo credit: Stephanie Pearl)

‘Tempest’ is the long awaited sophomore full-length from U K instrumental titans, Telepathy. Recorded, mixed and mastered at London’s Orgone Studios by lauded producer /engineer Jaime Gomez Arellano ( Ghost, Opeth, Paradise Lost, Altar of Plagues, Cathedral ), ‘Tempest’ follows in the footsteps of Telepathy’s critically acclaimed 2014 debut ’12 Areas’ and is very much a concept record.

‘Tempest’ depicts the harrowing journey of a person beset with grief and faced with total isolation after awaking from a great flood. The album guides the listener on a journey through awakening, desolation and finally acceptance.

Further showcasing the band’s no-holds-barred approach to songwriting, ‘Tempest’ fuses elements of post-metal, sludge, doom and black metal with unorthodox and complex song structures, creating a cohesive and cathartic tapestry of unique instrumental metal. The inclusion of tortured
vocals on the album’s centerpiece, Echo of Souls, shows a band un-afraid to travel into uncharted waters, further cementing their reputation as a forward thinking and unique group in today’s experimental metal
scene.

Where its predecessor ’12 Areas’ was by intention a chaotic and furious exploration of sound, ‘Tempest‘ marks a shift towards a more balanced and open sonic pallette. More dynamic, spacious and refined than before, but with an added emphasis on sonic weight, unbridled heaviness, melody and emotional depth.

Telepathy spent the majority of 2016 stunning audiences up and down the UK with their immersive and intense live show, building upon their ever growing following. Highlights included appearances alongside fellow UK metal veterans Raging Speedhorn, Oathbreaker, American post-metal pioneers and labelmates Rosetta and most notably an appearance at the prestigious Desertfest in London.

The band recently completed a five date European tour in September 2016 which saw the band return to Incubate Festival in Tilburg for the second time. ‘Tempest’ marks a brand new chapter in the band’s career, and with its definitive line-up in place — owing to the addition of new bass player Teddy-James Driscoll — ‘Tempest’ showcases a ruthlessly punishing, heavy and emotionally demanding take on instrumental music.

The 2×LP comes with an etching on side D, download code and on 180 gr vinyl.

Released 31st March – Golden Antenna Records

The Vicious Head Society Announce Details Of Debut Album – ‘Abject Tomorrow’

The Vicious Head Society, the brainchild of Irish guitar virtuoso Graham Keane today reveals that debut album ‘Abject Tomorrow’ will be finally released on 24th March 2017. Featuring guests such as keyboardist Derek Sherinan of Alice Cooper fame, fellow Irishman and bass player Pat Byrne, and drum machine Kevin Talley ‘Abject Tomorrow’ is sure to please the ears of progressive metal fans and those with a taste for all things guitar.

Having initially started as a pet project around 2010 after returning to the Emerald Isle from music school in the UK, Keane was tutoring aspiring musicians when he decided to start writing original material purely as a self gratifying project. He figured that living in a remote area of Ireland with not many musicians interested in his style of music, metal, hard rock and prog, he would be best to forge ahead alone. As with many creative types Keane had a very laid back attitude about the whole thing and on many occasions just sat there noodling on his guitar while life passed him by. It wasn’t until his wife’s cancer diagnosis in 2013 that he started to take things a bit more seriously. The shock of realising his own mortality threw Keane into action.

Writing and recording became an asylum, from the emotional turmoil and with nothing to lose, the project began to grow in scope. Virtual instruments wouldn’t cut it anymore, as had been the norm to that point, and so Keane began to contact musicians worldwide to help bring it to life. Of course this brought with it several new challenges, not to mention the financial burden, the main reason it has taken this long to complete!

The vast majority of the album was recorded in Keane’s home studio with vocals, drums and other guest musicians being outsourced to their own recording facilities. The album was then mixed and mastered at Dark House Estudios in Mexico.

“It was a somewhat challenging process,” Keane comments, “financing being one of the major difficulties. There were times when it seemed like releasing the album would be impossible but I’m delighted to have overcome these obstacles and with the help of some really amazingly talented people, it is now complete!”

As with most progressive records ‘Abject Tomorrow’ is no different in the sense that it is a concept album. The story is based in a dystopian future in which all humans are required to have emotion inhibiting implants implanted from birth. One man’s implant fails and it chronicles his journey of discovery and reconnection with his humanity. Musically, it draws from a huge range of influences; from classic prog acts that influenced Keane growing up, such as Yes, Genesis, ELP and Rush to metal acts such as Death, Meshuggah and Megadeth.

Keane adds, “I hope it finds some kind of audience and that people enjoy it. For me, it’s a very emotive album. Even though it’s a concept album on the surface, there’s a lot of personal experience in it and there’s sure to be some people out there who can connect with it on an emotional level.”

Tracklisting
1. The Sycophants
2. Abject Tomorrow
3. Downfall
4. Agenda
5. The 11th Hour
6. Psychedelic Torture Trip
7. Gods Of The New Age
8. Analogue Spectre

‘Abject Tomorrow’ will be self released on 24th March 2017 on CD:

You can pre-order from this link here

www.facebook.com/theviciousheadsociety