Scard Premieres Enlivening New Dark Ambient/ Industrial Noise Single — Listen Here!

The Portland-based dark ambient/ industrial noise project Scard will be dropping their new full-length record Rusted Lock on Nov. 6 via Scry Recordings.

Get a first listen below to the project’s immersive and ferocious new single, “Fire in the Veins” — which feels quite aptly titled considering the pulsating track’s subtly incinerating tone.

The track centers on a strangely danceable and chilly yet thick-toned electronica rhythm coursing through a haze of grating and static-textured whirs. There’s both a familiarly industrialized vibe in the song and something that feels more esoteric, as if the central perspective of the track hinges on running through trash-strewn alleyways while soaked in rain and grime — and trying to flee some kind of demented and otherworldly force. The shuddering rhythms feel grueling and soaked in viscous tension, with a decidedly angular and erratic texture to the oddly more danceable components. It’s as if more pleasant-sounding sonic ideas are getting run through a blender in real time across “Fire in the Veins.”

In the track’s closing segment, the industrialized whirs fade in and out, leaving the demented dance tune standing on its own for brief yet poignant moments. The mix also includes some harshly shrieked vocals that feel like another tool on the sonic palette rather than the center of attention. There’s a persistent frigidity coursing through the song as a whole, like smacks of wind rushing through artificial wind tunnels in some abandoned factory. There’s an adventurous kind of nihilism in the song’s free-flowing tension.

“‘Fire in the Veins’ came together unexpectedly after writing some beats in Live with the 808 clone, and some of my own drum samples recorded in an empty oil drum,” the project’s mastermind, J. Huston, explains. “The idea for the synth melodies really brought me back to the 90s when I was on a steady diet of RZA produced albums.  I wanted to capture that same menacing feel of impending conflict.  For the remainder of the song, I employed several distortion units, Taurus re-amped through vintage tube amps, and a searing one-take vocal track to create this exercise in strength and discipline.  Lust for power.  Receive the fire.  Implement destruction.”

The track would probably appeal to fans of The Body. “Fire in the Veins” carries a dynamic abrasion that feels reminiscent of some of the work from that duo, with a foothold of accessibility alongside a steady stream of monumental waves of industrialized chaos.

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Featured image via Garrett Price

Listen to “Fire in the Veins” below!