New York City-based avant-grindcore/death-infused hardcore act MANIPULATOR presents its most ambitious work to date with its second album Drawing Secret Circles, an expansive record paired with its own video game, art book, and more. Alongside the record’s details, Decibel Magazine is hosting an exclusive premiere of a video for the lead single, “Annihilated Prestige.”
Somewhere between the shadows of NYC’s skyscrapers and rat-infested gutters, MANIPULATOR grinds forward as intensely as the city itself: fast, loud, and unrelenting. Created by Andrew Notsch – also of instrumental progressive/post-metal band This Is The Last Time and formerly of technical death metal outfit Sunless, among others – this solo project fuses death metal, hardcore, and grind into an explosive amalgam of decimating proportions.
Notsch brings forth music concepts from some of his past and current musical projects, sometimes paying homage to his time in Sunless with dissonant intricate passages but most often, listeners will envision his knuckles being worn to the bone from being dragged across the city’s unrelenting sidewalks. Beyond the music, Notsch also controls all of MANIPULATOR‘s visual identity including all music videos, media, layouts, and merchandise.
Longtime collaborator Tim Bradley (This Is The Last Time) supplies MANIPULATOR‘s lyrical narratives with an unyielding sense of urgency, brutalism, and commentary on the falsehoods and lies of mankind. Bradley also supplies the samples and sound work by manipulating and orchestrating their use much like an actual instrument.
MANIPULATOR isn’t redefining genres; it merely seeks to create a no-holds-barred auditory assault that is as brutal as it is fun. Catharsis through brutality. Release through aggression. With every blistering riff, every blast beat, and every scream, MANIPULATOR invites you to embrace the chaos to calm the soul.
Mercilessly unloading its salvo of twenty tracks in fourteen minutes, Drawing Secret Circles takes the MANIPULATOR attack to new levels of musical intensity. With Notsch handling the instrumentation and vocals, the record also features guest vocals from Derrick Karg, Tim Bradley, and Juan Vargas, and additional guitar on “Fear And Mystery Drown” by Lucas Wyssbrod (Monovoth). The final production and mastering were handled by Adam Tucker of Signaturetone (Ulthar, Thou, Sunless) and the record was completed with art by Notsch.
In addition to the vinyl and digital album, Drawing Secret Circles is paired with a music video that runs the course of the entire record. The album also features its own video game developed by SpaceMicroscope, the creator of SwordCar, where the listener can play along to the album, and each track is a level. An accompanying art book features companion art pieces which visually tie-in with the music video and video game, making for a fully immersive experience. In addition to shirts, patches, and more, the merch for Drawing Secret Circles also features a DVD version of the video and more.
Drawing Secret Circles’ opening track “Annihilated Prestige” is served up as the lead single. Notsch states, “‘Annihilated Prestige’ kicks this album off with a dose of pure insanity. From the blistering speed of the song to the samples collaborator Tim Bradley chose to start the album with, this song gives you an idea of what’s to come on the rest of the album. Lyrical content is pulled straight from a series of extortion scam emails Tim and I both received. Derrick Karg of Gordita Beach supplied additional vocals on the chorus.”
The song makes its public debut at Decibel, who writes, “…NYC grindcore outfit MANIPULATOR have made a video for every track on their upcoming second full-length, Drawing Secret Circles. Ergo, if we’re gonna do a track premiere, might as well peep the accompanying video, no? The ugly, twisted, and distorted black and white visuals accompanying the frantic, relentless track are an excellent visual representation of “Annihilated Prestige.’’
See MANIPULATOR’s “Annihilated Prestige” video first through Decibel Magazine RIGHT HERE.
Drawing Secret Circles will be released on November 3rd. The LP is a single-sided 12″ vinyl in two variants, with 100 copies each – Purple Splatter and Silver Swirl – in conjunction with multiple underground labels: Wise Grinds Records, Here Is Nowhere Records, Dead Red Queen Records, and Psychocontrol Records in Europe. Find preorders HERE.
Watch for additional audio/visual previews of Drawing Secret Circles to post over the weeks ahead.
Drawing Secret Circles Track Listing:
1. Annihilated Prestige
2. Tangled Insides
3. Drawing Secret Circles
4. Dumbed Down To Worship
5. Feast Upon It
6. Writhe (I)
7. The Mask You’ve Made
8. Wet Tourniquet (II)
9. Recoiled In Waiting
10. Darkness Derides You
11. No This Won’t End (III)
12. Rabbit (1st Offering)
13. Rabbit (2nd Offering)
14. Dripping Tourniquet (IV)
15. Severed (V)
16. Unleaded
17. Prestige Annihilated
18. Shit-Sided Die
19. Vomiting Thoughts
20. Fear And Mystery Drown
https://www.instagram.com/manipulatorgrind
https://manipulatorgrind.bandcamp.com
https://linktr.ee/manipulatorgrind
http://www.psychocontrol.com
https://wisegrindsrecords.com
https://hereisnowhererecords.limitedrun.com
https://deadredqueenrecords.limitedrun.com