Photo Credit: Alexa Viscius
 

REZN – the Chicago-based band of Rob McWilliams (vocals, guitar), Phil Cangelosi (bass), Patrick Dunn (drums), and Spencer Ouellette (synth/saxophone) – announce their new album, Burden, out June 14^th via their new label Sargent House. In conjunction, they present its massive lead single/video, “Chasm.” Since their inception, REZN have mined the stark monochromatic depths of underground metal and fused them with the kaleidoscopic delights of psychedelia, prog rock, and shoegaze. With their latest album Burden, they plumb the deepest, bleakest trenches of their sound while retaining a lifeline into the cosmos. Staking a claim at the crossroads of the hazy dimensions of modern psych acts like Black Angels, the cavernous gloom and reverb-drenched guitar of bands like Spectral Voice, and the lurching low-end meditations of artists like OM, REZN have created Burden—an album of immense amp-worshipping weight and intoxicating instrumentation.

Burden was recorded simultaneously with their previous album Solace back in July 2021 at Earth Analog Studios in Tolono, IL by Matt Russell. Rather than release a double album, REZN divided the material into two separate records, each with its own distinct emotional timbre. Whereas Solace was meant to uplift and create a sense of narcotic dreaminess, Burden skews towards the themes of delirium, claustrophobia, and misery. Musically, Burden favors riffs over atmosphere, percussion over ether, dissonance over beauty, but there is still an undeniable cohesion between it and its predecessor. The marriage of brute force and sublime textures has always been a key tactic in REZN’s approach—a duality that may explain their touring history with fellow synesthesia-inducing metallurgists Elder and Russian Circles—but the spectrum of the band’s mercurial temperaments has never felt as clearly defined and fully explored as it does on Burden

Burden’s artwork is a literal continuation of Solace’s landscape painting, showing the fiery depths at the foot of the mountain range. Even Burden’s most reserved moments feel like the calm before the storm, a gathering of momentum before the punishing closer and lead single “Chasm,” a megalithic weedian crusher further bolstered by a scorching guitar solo courtesy of Russian Circle’s Mike Sullivan. “We wrote ‘Chasm’ to depict the final phase of an existential descent, when you're on the last few steps of the spiral staircase and realize there's no going back,” says Rob McWilliams. “We wanted it to sound like walls closing in on all sides and you're looking at the exit getting further and further away. Mike’s melodic finger-tapping style blurs the section into a kind of dizzying, infernal panic attack. In the final moment of the song you're faced with the repetitive churning of a molten, fuzzed-out wall of sound that builds until the audio itself starts to singe and catch fire, then abruptly self destructs."

 
Watch REZN’s Video for “Chasm”

 As knowledgeable gear heads, experienced sound engineers, and seasoned DIY veterans, REZN were able to create an early body of work devoid of any sonic compromises in their speaker-rattling dirges and heady lysergic forays. Their four self-released albums—Let It Burn (2017), Calm Black Water (2018), Chaotic Divine (2020), and Solace (2023)—have all gone through multiple vinyl pressings and the international underground heavy psych world has routinely selected the band for distinguished festival slots across North America and Europe. From their inception, REZN have been a fiercely independent band with a fully realized aesthetic and a fervent cult following. Now ready to take things even further, REZN have teamed up with Sargent House to release Burden unto the world.
 
This summer, REZN will tour across North America with Pallbearer. Following, they’ll tour in Europe with new label mates Russian Circles as well as performing at multiple festival. A full list of dates can be found below and tickets are on sale now.

 
Pre-order Burden
 
Burden Tracklist
1. Indigo
2. Instinct
3. Descent of Sinuous Corridors
4. Bleak Patterns
5. Collapse
6. Soft Prey
7. Chasm
 
REZN Tour Dates
Sat. May 11 - Oslo, NO @ Desertfest Oslo
Tue. June 11 - Durham, NC @ The Fruit %
Wed. June 12 - Asheville, NC @ Eulogy %
Jun 13 - Virginia Beach, VA @ The Bunker Brewpub %
Fri. June 14 - Baltimore, MD @ Metro Baltimore %
Sat. June 15 - Lancaster, PA @ Tellus360 %
Sun. June 16 - Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts %
Tue. June 18 - Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom %
Thu. June 20 -Brooklyn , NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg %
Fri. June 21 - Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair %
Sat. June 22 - Montreal, QC @ Theatre Fairmount %
Sun. June 23 - Toronto, ON @ Velvet Underground %
Tue. June 25 - Milwaukee, WI @ Vivarium %
Wed. June 26 - Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall %
Thu. June 27 - St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club %
Fri. June 28 - Lawrence, KS @ Bottleneck %
Sat. June 29 - Little Rock, AR @ The Hall %
Wed. July 26  - Indianapolis, IN @ Post. Festival
Wed. Oct. 9 - Berlin, DE @ Astra $
Thu. Oct. 10 - Koln, DE @ Kantine $
Fri. Oct. 11 - Munich, DE @ Keep It Low Festival $
Sat. Oct. 12 - Prague, CZ @ Archa $
Mon. Oct. 14 - Vienna, AT @ Arena $
Tue. Oct. 15 - Bologna, IT @ Estragon $
Thu. Oct. 17 - Metz, FR @ La Bam $
Fri. Oct. 18 - Antwerp, BE @ Desertfest $
Sun. Oct. 20 - Gothenburg, SE @ Monument $
Mon. Oct. 21 - Oslo, NO @ Parkteatret $
Tue. Oct. 22 - Stockholm, SE @ Slaktkyrkan $
Thu. Oct. 24 - Copenhagen, DK @ Vega $
Fri. Oct. 25 - Aalborg, DK @ Lasher Fest $
Sat. Oct. 26 - Hamburg, DE @ Uebel & Gefaehrlich $
Tue. Oct. 29 - Birmingham, UK @ O2 Institute2 $
Wed. Oct. 30 - Glasgow, UK @ Slay $
Thu. Oct. 31 - Belfast, N-IRE @ Limelight 2 $
Fri. Nov. 1 - Dublin, IRE @ Button Factory $
Sat. Nov. 2 - Manchester, UK @ Damnation Fest $
Sun. Nov. 3 - London, UK @ EartH $
Tue. Nov. 5 - Paris, FR @ Le Trianon $
Wed. Nov. 6 - Rennes, FR @ L'Antipode $
Thu. Nov. 7 - Bordeaux, FR @ Krakatoa $
Sun. Nov. 10 - Madrid, ES @ Nazca $
Mon. Nov. 11 - Barcelona, ES @ Salamandra $
 
%= w/ Pallbearer
$= w/ Russian Circles
 

How To Dress Well has released singles “Crypt Sustain” and “nothingprayer” off of his upcoming album I Am Toward You. Check out the tracks/videos above and below and pre-order I Am Toward You HERE

Read about the tracks in Tom Krell's own words:

““Crypt Sustain” is about the cryptic origin of all artmaking, about my art and my brother’s art work (which is all over the I Am Toward You work, including a font of his beautiful handwriting). It's about Maria Torok's work on crypts and ghosts in the intergenerational psyche and intergenerational transmission of trauma (again Tom? lol). It’s about the hegemony of realism and the desire to disavow the graphomaniac origins of art-making. It's about non-verbal para-speech, Headbanger's Ball, and the origin of graffitti 40,000 years ago and in the Lascaux Caves 20,000 years ago. It references Abraham and Torok, Bataille’s The Cradle of Humanity, Puar’s The Right to Maim, and Metallica, and criticizes the historical use of the category of disability and the violent creation of the ‘upright’ subject across human history.”

"It positions neurodivergence in the history of profound human spiritual expression, rather than giving away the game to categories of policing and control. Ultimately, the chorus draws our attention to the simple elusiveness of the secret dream at the core of all human representation. If we could sustain ourselves in the retraction of meaning we’d have less atomic bombs, less restrictive categories, better art, more dreams."

““nothingprayer” is a prayer in the Via Negativa, an attempt to orient myself towards God or that level of reality that lies beyond any attempted contact. Ἀπόφασις in Greek, I try to reveal that even attempting to name God through stripping away, through holding onto nothing, still leaves God infinitely far from me. I believe this teaches a great lesson about reality and about love: we must offer our prayer against possession as a model of connection. I Am Toward You is what the nothingprayer says, fully recognizing the impossibly of naming God or possessing the beloved.”

The Armed have released a free, hour-long concert video featuring their performance at Metro Chicago. The full film is streaming above on YouTube. An hour of insanity. An hour of The Armed. Check it out.

Production: Worldfare
Director: Christopher 'Zoz’ Gruse & Aaron Jones
Producer: Erin Carignan 
DP/Color: Aaron Jones
Editor: Derek Swanson
Steadicam Op: Ray Rivard
AC: Rick Saliga
Camera Ops: Troy Bowman Jr., Luke Nelson, Jonathan Patterson, Jordan Payne
Mix: Derek Coburn
Lighting Director: Michael Castle
Tech: PJ 
Solo Photographer: Jacob Mulka

The Daniels:
Ryan Abrams, Cay Allan, Rasky Bukowski, Daniel Burns, Ben Busald, Kutin Corbath, Will Corbin, Patrick Dignau, David Ducasse, Josh Fields, Matt Flynn, Keagan Fuller, Zachary Fusinski, Logan Gochanour, Audrey Horst, Jesse Johnson, Anthony Lanzetta, Ernesto Laureano, Tyler LeClair, Francisco Lujan, Rohan Mahadeven, Jezzy Maloney, Natalie Marlin, Sean McDonald, Joseph Menchaca, Seth Menter, Megan Menter, Amelia Morse, Chris Neeson, Max Nestorowich, Mike Niecmczyk, Joseph Pace, Gregory Pence, Zechariah Perez, Chris Prunotto, Zander Rose, Dan Roth, Scott Roychel, John Silva, Rosemarie Smith, Brent Stoner, Timothy Sullivan, Julie Sumata, Jeff Taylor, Pato Thornycroft, Luca Torretta, Jonathan Venlet, Kyle Walker, Arya Woody

Russian Circles have just announced their European headline tour with REZN supporting on all shows except where noted *. We see you Ireland <3

RUSSIAN CIRCLES & REZN 
EU/UK/IRE TOUR 2024 
Oct 9 Berlin, DE - Astra
Oct 10 Koln, DE - Kantine
Oct 11 Munich, DE - Keep It Low Festival
Oct 12 Prague, CZ - Archa
Oct 14 Vienna, AT - Arena
Oct 15 Bologna, IT - Estragon
Oct 17 Metz, FR - La Bam
Oct 18 Antwerp, BE - Desertfest 
Oct 20 Gothenburg, SE - Monument
Oct 21 Oslo, NO - Parkteatret
Oct 22 Stockholm, SE - Slaktkyrkan
Oct 24 Copenhagen, DK - Vega
Oct 25 Aalborg, DK - Lasher Fest
Oct 26 Hamburg, DE - Uebel & Gefaehrlich
Oct 27 Maastricht, NL - Samhain Festival*
Oct 29 Birmingham, UK - O2 Institute2
Oct 30 Glasgow, UK - Slay
Oct 31 Belfast, N-IRE - Limelight 2
Nov 1 Dublin, IRE - Button Factory
Nov 2 Manchester, UK - Damnation Festival
Nov 3 London, UK - EartH
Nov 5 Paris, FR - Le Trianon
Nov 6 Rennes, FR - L'Antipode
Nov 7 Bordeaux, FR - Krakatoa
Nov 9 Porto, PT - Amplifest *
Nov 10 Madrid, ES - Nazca
Nov 11 Barcelona, ES - Salamandra

All tour info and 🔗 HERE

“How to Dress Well has announced his first album since 2018. The new album, I Am Toward You, comes out on May 10 via Sargent House. The Los Angeles musician is previewing his new project today with two songs, “New Confusion” and “No Light,” which he made with CFCF, Anarthia DLT, and Hundred Waters’ Trayer Tryon. Check them out below.”

Full Article: pitchfork.com

"The follow-up to 2018's The Anteroom features 11 tracks and has been almost four years in the making, with Krell starting the project in 2020. Work began on the album following a period of "clandestine and occult meditation" after intense touring, which saw him undergo two weeks of complete silence and multiple multi-day meditations, as well as the use of psychedelic medicine. "I had to reorient myself towards music in a purer and less restrictive way in order to retrieve what has made music one of the most heart-opening, instructive phenomena in my life," Krell said in a statement."

Full Article: thequietus.com

"It’s been six years since How To Dress Well’s most recent album The Anteroom. Since then, we’ve observed the 10-year anniversary of debut album Love Remains. Today, Tom Krell is announcing his new LP I Am Toward You and releasing the singles “New Confusion” and “No Light.”

Full Article: stereogum.com

‘I Am Toward You’ (out May 10th) is the first new How To Dress Well album in six years: with some of Tom Krell’s noisiest, most free, and most poetic music to date.

Check out the surreal videos for “New Confusion” and “No Light” below. Pre-orders for vinyl, CDs, and merch are also live HERE

"Some bands, it seems, can only be spoken about in hushed tones and reverential terms. Normally these are the artists who influenced a genre to the point where they basically invented a new one, or whose creative lifespan was so short but memorable that they left people wondering if there was any hope of a revival.

Botch did both of these things. A quartet of self-described "misfits" from Tacoma, Washington, with just two albums and three EPs they unintentionally changed the shape of punk to come for the next two decades."

Read the full interview HERE

BOTCH EUROPE + UK TOUR 2024
March 8 – Prague, CZ – Meet Factory
March 9 – Vienna, AT – Arena
March 10 – Chemnitz, DE – AJZ
March 12 – Berlin, DE – Festsaal Kreuzberg
March 13 – Copenhagen, DK – Vega
March 14 – Hamburg, DE – Uebel & Gefährlich
March 15 – Brussels, BE – Botanique
March 17 – Wiesbaden, DE – Schlachthof
March 18 – Esch-Sur-Alzette, LUX – Rockhal
March 19 – Paris, FR – Elysee Montmartre
March 21 – Bristol, UK – Marble Factory
March 22 – Manchester, UK – New Century Hall
March 23 – London, UK – Electric Ballroom
March 25 – Athens, GR – Gagarin 205

All tickets available HERE

Russian Circles will be playing Samhain Festival in October 2024. More European dates to come. Grab your tickets HERE.

EU/UK 2024
Oct 27 Samhain Festival - Maastricht, NL
Nov 2 Damnation Festival - Manchester, UK

The Armed were featured on Amoeba's “What's in My Bag?” today. From Wolf Eyes to mall goth music, the picks are all over the place. Check out the full video below.

RX Bandits ‘The Resignation’ 20th Anniversary shows are selling out. Support bands have just been announced. Make sure you pick up the 20th Anniversary vinyl repress before the show. All tickets, vinyl, and info can be found HERE

RXB ‘THE RESIGNATION’
March 7 - Crescent Ballroom - Phoenix, AZ (JUST ADDED) *
March 8 - Crescent Ballroom - Phoenix, AZ (SOLD OUT) *
March 9 - The Observatory - Santa Ana, CA (SOLD OUT) +
March 10 - 1720 - Los Angeles, CA ^
March 14 - Bottom Lounge - Chicago, IL (SOLD OUT)
March 16 - Oriental Theater - Denver, CO !
March 21 - Rams Head Live - Baltimore, MD =
March 22 - Union Transfer - Philadelphia, PA =
March 23 - The Brooklyn Monarch - Brooklyn, NY =

Supports:
Teens in Trouble *
Eureka Sound +
Disheveled Cuss ^
Rubedo !
Zeta =