With the anxiously anticipated Stranger To Violence – the second LP by NYC-based PSALM ZERO – nearing July release via Profound Lore Records, Spin Magazine has exclusively premiered the first single from the album, “Pay Tomorrow.”
With guest appearances by members of Epistasis, Black Anvil, and more joining the core delivery of bassist/vocalist/keyboardist/composer Charlie Looker and the (now ex-) guitarist Andrew Hock, Stranger To Violence was recorded by Caley Monahn-Ward and Charlie Looker, mastered by James Plotkin, and features art and design by Zev Deans. Bursting from the opening note with one of the most infectious hooks Stranger To Violence offers, “Pay Tomorrow” soars with PSALM ZERO‘s signature clean vocal approach and is wrought with penetrating standout synth and guitar elements, bells, and more. Offers Looker on the track’s weighty lyrics, “‘Pay Tomorrow’ is a song about a few different things at once: drug addiction, debt/credit, Ponzi or pyramid schemes, and financial collapse. In general, it’s about maniacally short-sighted, non-sustainable modes of being.”
Spin is now streaming “Pay Tomorrow,” offering, “PSALM ZERO‘s new song is ’80s metal the way it never actually happened in the ’80s: drum machines, stacked guitars, dolorous vocals, and whining keys– like if Iron Maiden, Killing Joke, and Psychedelic Furs had all splintered from the same source code. It’s dreamy, it’s bloody, and it’s certainly screaming for vengeance.”
Hear the song only at Spin RIGHT HERE.
A monolithic, cinematic experience with immense crossover potential, which blurs genre boundaries at every turn, as demented as it is socially relevant, Stranger To Violence promises to bring together fans from across multiple different scenes and orientations, and further proves that there is truly nothing out there like PSALM ZERO.
Stranger To Violence will see release through Profound Lore on July 15th, 2016. Stand by for preorders to be made available in the coming days.
PSALM ZERO has scheduled a record release show for the album on July 16th, at Trans-Pecos in Queens, New York, appearing with Kel Valhalla, Gnaw, and Kevin Hufnagel. Additional live actions will be announced shortly.
PSALM ZERO Live:
7/16/2016 Trans-Pecos – Queens, NY w/ Kel Valhalla, Gnaw, Kevin Hufnagel
With their sophomore album Stranger To Violence, PSALM ZERO takes the aesthetics, poetics, and spirit established with their 2014-released The Drain debut, and blows those elements up into an epic work of wide-screen drama. After two years of anticipation built by the gradual episodic release of the Birthright Trilogy of video/cassette singles, as well as a series of personnel shifts, the Queens, New York-based outfit finally delivers the next installment of a wholly unique vision of heavy music. Pummeling drum machine, lush swirling synths, razor-sharp guitar, and grinding bass, all provide the dramatic backdrop for the crooning baritone voice. While Stranger To Violence reflects the band’s roots in extreme metal, these seven new songs feature massive pop hooks, soaring choruses catchier and more emotionally direct than any of the band’s prior work. With harsh vocals now less frequent and only reserved for the highest ecstatic peaks, these melody-driven songs embody an accessible songcraft seldom heard in today’s metal landscape. The production style has evolved dramatically as well. In contrast to the band’s original murkier, more lo-fi texture, this album presents a far more detailed, crisp, and colorful, three-dimensional sound world of synths, samples, and percussive electronics.
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