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THE FLENSER

Father Murphy, one of the most mysterious and enigmatic musical entities to emerge from Italy in recent years, presents their fifth full-length via The Flenser. This dark psychedelic / industrial cabaret is a religion-themed concept album titled Croce (“Cross” in Italian), one side representing suffering and sacrifice and the flip reflecting what comes after—the end of suffering, resurrection, or perhaps oblivion. The work was recorded by John Dieterich in Albuquerque, NM, and mixed by Greg Saunier.

From the shadowy atmospheres of Croce spring forth unexpected blurts of impossibly catchy noise pop, at times operatic like some twisted musical detailing the trials and tribulation of the crucifixion. Male and female vocals by Freddie Murphy and Chiara Lee intertwine over distorted blasts of guitar crunch, anchored by stuttering, homebuilt percussion. This sound is textural and nuanced yet noisy and chaotic, carefully sculpted into jagged shards of fragmented pop.

A-side closer “In Solitude” is an appropriately dour slab of murky miserablism that sounds like a slow sonic death, a haunting dirge that dissolves into that ineffable space between the record’s two sides; the netherworld, the afterlife, Purgatory. But Father Murphy erupts from this stygian blackness with the second half of Croce—the light to the A-side’s dark. “Long May We Continue” retains a doom-like approach at first, stringing a field of metallic shimmer and junkyard percussion together into a spare framework over which dramatic male vocals soar. The female counterpart responds like some demonic Greek chorus, delivering a sense of warmth. Finale “They Won’t Hurt You” is all majestic pipe organ, a stirring and stately court music, lush and lovely and epic, the sound of rebirth: redemptive and restorative, a return from the beyond, arisen from the grave, ascended into the heavens, the sounds drifting upwards, beyond the galaxy, the universe, into the unknowable infinity.

“… a fascinating listen… an unapologetic venture into head music and contains some powerful compositions. It’s steeped in a sense of reverence, but one that looks below, rather than expecting anything from above.” —Drowned In Sound.

“The oddball psychedelic chamber pop the Italian duo exhales will creep you out with drones, lullabies, and anguished vocals all competing for frontrunner spot in your next nightmare. Perfect.” —Terrorizer.


TRACK LISTING

1. Blood Is Thicker Than Water
2. A Purpose
3. So This Is Permanent
4. In Solitude
5. Long May We Continue
6. All The People Yelling Fire
7. We Walk By Faith
8. They Won't Hurt You

Sannhet

Revisionist

    Revisionist is the second full-length from Brooklyn avant-post-metal outfit Sannhet (the word means “truth” in Norwegian) and their first for The Flenser. Founded in late 2010, the instrumental trio has amassed a diehard audience within the borough’s broad underground music circuit through their numerous live performances, always choreographed with electrifying visuals. Sannhet released their sprawling debut full-length Known Flood in February of 2013 on Sacrament, the record label run by the co-owner of legendary Brooklyn bar / venue St. Vitus.

    Continuing where Known Flood leaves off, Revisionist delivers an epic, trance-inducing concoction of math-metal intricacy, prismatic pop shimmer, and dense metallic crush. Dynamic indie rockisms and the metal-gaze sound of like-minded combos Deafheaven or Alcest are distilled into concise song structures. At the same time, Sannhet offers the powerful emotiveness of instrumental post-rock acts like Explosions in the Sky or Godspeed You! Black Emperor, packing just as many musical ideas and majestic heights into a compact blast.

    Revisionist was mixed by Andrew Schneider (Unsane, Converge, Red Sparrows) and mastered by Carl Saff (Forest Swords, Guided by Voices, Pygmy Lush).

    “Sannhet makes music that largely defies categorization—it’s epic, cinematic stuff; its complex instrumentation is employed in the service of soaring, breathtaking music.” —Stereogum.

    “… welds the power of black metal, sludge metal, and grindcore to the structures and orders of post-rock and post-punk.” —Pitchfork.

    “…Sannhet’s tools are dynamics and texture, deployed over simple melodic arcs… Instru-metal succeeds when it remember that it’s metal.” —Decibel.

    “… soaring post-rock with elements of black metal tremolo-picking, hardcore, and more. Think Russian Circles meets Altar of Plagues.” —Brooklyn Vegan
    .

    • Sophomore album from cornerstones of the influential Brooklyn metal scene
    • Mixed by Andrew Schneider (Unsane, Converge, Red Sparrows) and mastered by Carl Saff (Forest Swords, Guided by Voices, Pygmy Lush)
    • For fans of Deafheaven, Alcest, Explosions in the Sky, or Godspeed You! Black Emperor.


    TRACK LISTING

    1. Revisionist
    2. Lost Crown
    3. Enemy Victorian
    4. You Thy __
    5. Sinking Forward
    6. Atrium
    7. Empty Harbor
    8. Mint Divine
    9. False Pass


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