NJ sludge band Sunrot sign to Prosthetic, release new song "21%"

NJ sludge band Sunrot have signed to Prosthetic and they’re working on a new album for the label, but first here’s a new single, “21%,” which comes backed with the noise track “The Garden” (ft. ErosLovesYou). The riffs are heavy as all hell, and Lex Santiago’s screams are as harsh as they come, but they also bring in soaring clean vocals — a first for the band — nailing a balance between underground extreme metal and something a little more widely accessible. Lex says:

“21%” was written a few years ago and has been played live – but we never got around to recording as it’s a bit experimental for us – and never saw it fitting on a previous release. We definitely tapped into some softer textures and tones and got vulnerable with it and it’s refreshing to us to try new stuff while still keeping true to ourselves

The song uses the story of Icarus as a metaphor for a bipolar cycle of depression, mania, and psychosis. The depression being banishment to the labyrinth, the mania being flying through the sky with wax and feather wings, and the psychosis being the moment he flew too close to the sun and burned up the wings and fell. I experienced this cycle myself in 2018, including hospitalisations which left me feeling like I was never going to be able to get out of institutions and the cycle of pain and terror I was in. It was a long road out of that and this song was really healing to finally put the words to it.

We really are just a bunch of goofballs with big hearts, that’s why we wanted to release it on Valentine’s Day! Let’s be honest, it’s a day that sucks for most of us so we wanted to remind anyone listening that we love you and will be your Valentine this year if you don’t have one.

Watch the video and stream the noise B-side below.