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Immerse Exclusively Here In Vicious New Tracks From Gridfailure And Feel Happiness

The grippingly immersive New York City-area experimental noise project Gridfailure and the somewhat similarly styled but much newer mid-Texas project Feel Happiness are uniting soon on a split EP that’s set to precede a longer split release coming further down the line. In the meantime, you can dive in for the first time exclusively below to a pair of tracks off their split EP, which is set for release in full on September 13.

Gridfailure’s track “Swarming” feels like a sonic encapsulation of encroaching menace drawn straight from the natural world. Tones that clearly and poignantly evoke an expanse of darkness that proves not so empty after all under the weight of something like an oncoming torrential thunderstorm occupy front-and-center space here. The sheer force of this delivery ensures that this sonic darkness lands with a shivering thud.

Meanwhile, the Feel Happiness track “I’ve Cut Your Armies Down And Torn Your Heart” takes a somewhat different direction, revealing passionately sinister tones lurking around the corners of “normalcy.” There’s a driving riff pattern centered in the core of this track, but it’s absolutely drenched in noise and atmosphere patterns enough to pry carefully placed mental moorings right from their place and throw everything around.

Discussing “Swarming,” Gridfailure’s David Brenner offers:

’Swarming’ has been kicking around for a while; one of those songs that’s been set for several different titles over the past couple of years, but when this instrumental split was coming together, this track was the first one I decided to simply finish and sort of base my half of the record’s sound upon. I decided to just strip it down and boost everything. Mutant layers of buzzsaw blackened guitar, a post-industrial mech beat, divebombing banshee keys… It’s the sound of the earth opening up beneath you, of existential collapse, of paranoia swarming you.

Lane Oliver of Feel Happiness adds of “I’ve Cut Your Armies Down…”:

I recorded the main guitar riff with the intention of using it for my previous EP, The Inevitable Embrace of Earth, but it just didn’t feel right for that release. When Dave and I agreed on doing a split together with our respective projects, I decided to revisit the riff to see what could be done with it. I was drawing blanks creatively, so I decided to send it to my partner, Victoria Rose, to see what she could bring to the track. She totally went above and beyond, and sent me several layers of wailing violins, and ominous keys. She deserves full credit in shaping the track into what it is now; the theme song to a pagan ritual gone horribly wrong.

Don’t miss the wild experience of this full release, which feels poised like the psychological impacts of experiencing a torrential storm onslaught dialed up big time.

LISTEN:

Gridfailure have live performances coming up, including:

  • 9/01/2019 Saint Vitus Bar – Brooklyn, NY w/ meth., Horse Torso [info]
  • 9/25/2019 Century Bar – Philadelphia, PA w/ Oxx, Somnolent/Hallucinogenic Bulb, Warp And Weft
  • 9/26/2019 TBA – New Jersey
  • 10/25/2019 TBA – Brooklyn, NY

 

Gridfailure’s David Brenner