East of the Wall announce new LP 'A Neutral Second,' share new video, playing NYC
NJ progressive sludge metallers East of the Wall have announced a new album, A Neutral Second, due June 9 via Translation Loss (pre-order). It was recorded by the band’s own Chris Alfano and mixed by Kowloon Walled City’s Scott Evans, and the first single is the nearly-eight minute “Detonator Gauntlet.” It’s a real journey that’s fall of twists and turns and you can check out the song and its video (by Mariette Connelly and Chris Alfano) below.
“The reason that this track made sense as the opening salvo is that it’s the first one we penned with our new guitarist Matt Keys,” Chris told Decibel. “Our previous record, NP-Complete, had a difficult and drawn-out development period since we lost our previous guitarist Ray Suhy halfway through and had to re-think a lot of the material as we briefly adapted to just having two guitar players (well, plus various overdubs). In contrast, A Neutral Second is the first full-length composed by one consistent lineup since the band formed. So by our standards, this three-year writing-period was breezy and joyful. Oh, and it has all the thickness of a three-guitar lineup again (everyone rejoiced except for our mixing engineer Scott Evans).”
Chris continues, “Lyrically, ‘Detonator Gauntlet’ touches on themes of indoctrination, radicalization and hate mobs—ruminating on how people get wrapped up in those movements, and ultimately deciding that their motivations are kind of irrelevant compared to the outcomes of their actions. But personally, I also wanted to make this song and record more hopeful than our previous ones which were lyrical dirges, so there’s hopefully an undercurrent of resistance and positivity in there as well – at least, as optimistic as you’re likely to get from this band.”
East of the Wall also have an upcoming NYC show on April 22 at Gold Sounds with Strega Nona, Semaphore, Lastima, and The Astral Cadence. It’s their only announced date at the moment.
Tracklist
1. Detonator Gauntlet
2. Fawning
3. Spite of Icarus
4. Momentum Mori
5. Reclamation Rites
6. Autosomal Recessive
7. Unfamiliar Glass Ceiling
8. Hegemony’s Dilemma
