Oslo-based post-punkers Damokles will be releasing their second full-length, Swing, Pendulum, Swing, tomorrow, October 6 through Vinter Records. Sonically, the band muster up an emotive blend of atmospheric melancholia drenched in ’80s post-punk gloom, mixed with a discordant and cathartic fury.
While digging into themes that circle around the fragility of our existence, Damokles channel their creative madness into 11 tracks that explore soundscapes that know no bounds. Swing, Pendulum, Swing contains just as much beauty as it does punk-rock aggression, capturing the listeners attention through the use of both shimmering melodies and a sludgy heaviness. Well-crafted riffs and a nice amount of lead shred merge with a variety of wailing vocal work, to further add different dynamics to the bands sound.
Of the new record, Damokles vocalist Gøran Karlsvik states: “I wouldn’t say that our second album is a concept album or something of that sort. You might expect that on our third album instead, but I will say this: there is an undercurrent of a common themes throughout all of the songs, of course. A bleak realization; over all of our heads hangs the sword of Damokles, from a horse’s hair, as we’re sat on our forced seats. Imminent danger and peril is all around us. You’re never safe. You never were safe. Stay awake. Face your fears. Expect the worst, but do your best. Or worst, see how that works out for you. Swing, Pendulum, Swing is an existentialist record. The pendulum of fate swings day and night, mercilessly, and it harvests us all. Death is the great equalizer and nullifier. What we do in the meantime, is up to us, and our notion of free will.”
Swing, Pendulum, Swing Tracklist:
1. Our Eyes Upon You In Dreams
2. Marks VS. Wounds
3. Let’s Build A Fortress
4. Swing, Pendulum, Swing 05:32
5. Futile Feast
6. Downpour For Lifetimes 04:06
7. Don’t Forget The Fear
8. Something’s Amiss At The Hive
9. Our Words As A Warning
10. On Being Lazarus
11. My First Mugshot
Damokles is Kristian Liljan, Ronny Flissundet, Gøran Karlsvik, Fredrik Ryberg, and John Birkeland Hansen. Swing, Pendulum, Swing was recorded at Mir & Bingen, in a cabin, mixed by Kristian Liljan at Crystal Island Studios, and mastered by Alan Douches at West West Side Music.
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Listen to “Swing, Pendulum, Swing” by Damokles here:
Purchase Swing, Pendulum, Swing here, and follow Damokles here
Photo courtesy of Damokles
