photo by Andrea Riva
Italian avant/cinematic noise rock act BARATRO – formed by current/former members of Unsane, Council Of Rats, and more – presents the second single from their impending second album, No Comply, nearing release on Supernatural Cat Records. Featuring Eugene Robinson (Buñuel, ex-Oxbow), the song is paired with a killer new video, now premiering on Metal Injection.
BARATRO’s No Comply delivers an absorbing cross-genre amalgam of sounds that could be described with stoner, doom, noise, psychedelic, experimental, cinematic, punk, and various other rock subgenre tags. With tons of grime and groove with more hooks than an armada of fishing vessels, all drenched in emotive energy and a filmic aura, the album infuses generations of outlier rock elements into a diverse but cohesive album that will grab fans of Oxbow, The Jesus Lizard, Swans, Shellac, Zeni Geva, Neurosis, Kayo Dot, OvO, Musk Ox, God Bullies, Tomahawk, Black Flag, and Unsane.
No Comply was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Fabio Intraina at Trai Studio, produced by BARATRO and Fabio Intraina, and like all Supernatural Cat releases, completed with artwork by Malleus. Curran’s former Unsane bandmate Vincent Signorelli performs additional percussion on the song “Not All There,” and Buñuel/ex-Oxbow vocalist Eugene Robinson attacks the track “120 On 280,” the latter of which now arrives through a mobbed-up video directed and edited by Giacomo Marchetti, produced at The Bakery.
A joint statement from the band and Mr. Robinson reveals, “When we finished laying down the basic structure of this song, we immediately realized it was trying to tell a story on its own. We’ve been lucky enough to cross paths with Mr. Eugene Robinson a few times in the past few years, and we couldn’t think of trusting anyone else with the task of bringing this story to life. But hear it from the man himself: ‘Octave Mirbeau said that some backs call out for the knife. I say that about some songs. This song, without my vocals, would have been a song that I felt like demanded my vocals. So, good thing that BARATRO asked me to do it. Even better that the final result kills as well as it does.’”
Metal Injection writes, “Blending elements of stoner, doom, noise, psychedelia and experimental rock, the record continues to expand BARATRO‘s cinematic and abrasive sound – drawing comparisons to acts such as Swans, Neurosis and The Jesus Lizard.”
Get dragged into BARATRO’s underworld through the “120 On 280” video, now playing at Metal Injection RIGHT HERE.
No Comply will be released on LP, CD, and digitally on May 8th through Supernatural Cat, operated by members of the Malleus Rock Art Collective and Ufomammut. There are two vinyl variants: the standard pressing on 180g marble vinyl, and a limited edition of 100 copies on 180g triple splatter vinyl w/ CD, download, and skate deck fold-out, designed, crafted, and hand-silkscreened in Italy by Malleus. Each copy is unique, featuring a hand-printed cover treated with metallic inks. Fully hand-assembled packaging, signed.
Find preorders for all variants and formats at the Supernatural Cat site where the “Pick A Side” video is playing HERE.
Additional videos, tour dates, and more are to be expected.
The genesis of BARATRO traces back to when guitarist Federico Hartridge (Council Of Rats) and bassist Dave Curran (Unsane) met at a show in legendary Milan squat Cox18 and began riffs and song ideas. Eventually these experiments grew into a proper band with the addition of Luca Antonozzi (Marnero) behind the drumkit to complete the lineup. The band quickly completed and rehearsed enough material to play a few shows across Italy, and within a few months of formation, they recorded first six songs in the empty concert hall of Cox18, which were later released as the Terms And Conditions EP via Sangue Dischi Records in July of 2021.
Given the worldwide shutdown of live performances through 2020/2021, BARATRO focused on writing new music, and that August, they started tracking their first full-length effort, The Sweet Smell Of Unrest, which was released February 2024 via Improved Sequence. That same year, BARATRO welcomed cellist Matteo Bennici to experiment as a quartet, both for composition and live. With this new formation and newfound chemistry, the band simply let the dynamics and trust in each other shape the outcome of the music. This new creative process led, about a year later, to the recording sessions of BARATRO’s second album, No Comply,
BARATRO:
Dave Curran – bass, vocals
Federico Hartridge – guitar, vocals
Luca Antonozzi – drums
Matteo Bennici – cello
https://baratro.bandcamp.com
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https://www.malleusdelic.com