photo by Ligeia Black
PopMatters is hosting the exclusive video premiere of “I Believe In The Closed Fist,” the latest single from Australian post-industrial metal trio KOLLAPS. The band will release their demoralizing third album, Until The Day I Die, late this month through Cold Spring Records.
KOLLAPS’ Until The Day I Die has seen a tectonic shift in production methods compared to its predecessors and was entirely written, recorded, and mixed internally at the self-constructed ILoveHeroin Studios built above a sculpture museum in Lugano, Switzerland. All instrumentation was handled by Wade Black except for bass guitar by Andrea Collaro recorded at Hangar 121 in Lenate Pozzollo, Italy on all tracks except “D-IX” and “I Believe In The Closed Fist,” handled by Black, and additional sound design and percussion by Giorgio Salmoiraghi. The album was mastered by James Plotkin and completed with cover artwork by Nullvoid (Thomas Ekelund/Trepaneringsritualen).
A riveting, disturbing video experience, “I Believe In The Closed Fist” was shot in various locations including Lugano, Milan, and Wrocław. It is a mixture of found footage sourced from multiple mediums and also having been self-shot by the band’s Wade Black in various locations in the aforementioned cities such as churches, an ossuary, a mausoleum, and the home of the artist which is located above a private sculpture museum in Lugano – the same home in which Until The Day I Die was recorded and produced. The digital footage was then placed on a projector, re-filmed, and re-digitized to create a degenerated look after which it was sent to Australian associates Capital Waste Pictures where it was further manipulated and degenerated on analogue VHS tape.
Black reveals of the excruciating process, “‘I Believe In The Closed Fist’ was one of the earlier tracks written for the record and it is a track that I think is one of the strongest that we’ve presented. I had the intention of making a swift departure from KOLLAPS’ earlier, more static material. I suppose that the intent behind the video for ‘I Believe In The Closed Fist’ was to portray the madness of Western civilization and the broader world in which we inhabit and coming to terms with that. I had an urge to share my contradicting ideas of life, sexuality and religion and using the contrast of this with everyday mundane activities – such as having dinner with friends. Much of the footage both that was applied and that which was left unused was horrific beyond my initial intention and at times even my imagining and after having spent countless hours over the period of several months trawling through the relentless hideousness of the internet and making painstakingly short edits I finally felt that upon the completion of the video that I had reached a pinnacle in my disgust for humanity and our collective failure to function in a dignified manner.”
Writes PopMatters with the video’s premiere, “The return with Until the Day I Die sees them take even more extreme measures. Infatuated by William S. Burroughs’ cut-up technique, KOLLAPS present a work of dystopian decadence. To that end, grates and hoists are employed alongside musique concrete-inspired field recordings. Every edge, sharp as ever, and KOLLAPS are now outdoing themselves with a DIY ethic behind the new album’s production… We are proud to present the video for ‘I Believe in the Closed Fist,’ one of the most punishing tracks from Until the Day I Die…. it showcases the dark and fiendish vision of KOLLAPS perfectly. Extra kudos for the concept of taking the digital footage, placing it on a project, re-filming, and re-digitizing it to create this VHS quality.”
KOLLAPS’ haunting “I Believe In The Closed Fist” video can be experienced first through PopMatters’ exclusive premiere now at THIS LOCATION.
Until The Day I Die will be released by Cold Spring Records on LP, CD, and digital formats on June 24th. Find preorders where “Relapse Theatre” and “The Hand Of Death” are streaming at the label webshop HERE, Bandcamp HERE, and other digital providers HERE.
Having recently completed a tour across Europe with Brighter Death Now and Of The Wand & The Moon which culminated at the mighty Roadburn Festival this past weekend, KOLLAPS has announced additional tour dates for May and June including sets at Fusion Festival, Roskilde Festival, and more. Watch for new tour dates to be announced over the months ahead.
KOLLAPS Tour Dates:
6/22/2022 Gromka – Ljubljana, SI
6/23/2022 Instant – Budapest, HU
6/24/2022 FLUC – Vienna, AT
6/25/2022 Underdog’s – Prague, CZ
6/26/2022 Club Seilerstrasse – Zwickau, DE
6/27/2022 Urban Spree – Berlin, DE
6/29/2022 Fusion Festival – Lárz, DE
6/30/2022 Roskilde Festival – Roskilde, DK
Until The Day I Die is a merciless and visceral assault on the senses and continues the trajectory of the band’s idiosyncratic approach in their creation of sound. The album showcases an uncompromising force of harsh post-industrial music narrated by overarching themes of condemnation and redemption; of violence, romanticism, sexuality, and addiction. Much of the creation and lyrical conceptualisation of the record has been stylized and presented using William S. Burroughs’ cut-up method.
A wide variety of metals and raw materials were used in the creation of the album including metal grates, a rusted hoist, cement cylinders, field recordings, hammering of various decrepit objects, broken amplifiers, an exposed reverb tank, various synthesizers, and the infamous metal coil; a crudely self-constructed artifice that has become iconic in its use across KOLLAPS’ triptych of releases and lengthy touring history in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.
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