Philadelphia genre-bending extremists Backslider announced their sophomore full-lengthalbum, titled Psychic Rot, set to be released on February 11, 2022 via To Live A Lie Records.
The unrelenting, high-energy, and riff-packed album shows the band masterfully fusing thrashy swagger with mangled hardcore punk, jarring powerviolence, occasional dark melodicism, and the grit and grime of sludgy, sonic devastation. With Psychic Rot, Backslider shows blatant disregard for the conventions of conformity, resulting in ferocious anthems of adrenaline pumping, mutated mayhem.
Backslider’s brand new single “Corpseflower,” taken from Psychic Rot, comes in the form of one tripped-out music video, full of dizzying and psychedelic visuals created by NYC video artist Frank Huang.
Vocalist and guitarist Logan Neubauer says of the new video single: “’Psychic Rot’ represents delusion and degradation, figuratively more so than literally. We wanted to make the nastiest record we could that balanced intensity and progression, something that grabbed your attention and held onto it. “Corpseflower” probably best represents the loose lyrical themes and musical intention of the record—a morbid barrage presented through a kind of degenerate art lens.”
He continues, “We’ve known Frank Huang for years and liked the work he’s done for other bands so it made sense to ask him to assist us with this video. I wanted it to feel like a bad trip, intense and overwhelming but visually engaging, like some of the scenes from ‘Altered States’ or something like that. Frank did a great job of capturing that feeling, when I hear this song the images I see in my mind are nearly identical to what is presented in the video.”
Since the bands formation in 2008, Backslider’s many moods have been on display through multiple EP’s, a critically acclaimed LP (Motherfucker, 2016), and a massive touring history that includes sharing the stage with the likes of Full of Hell, Wake, The Body, Infest, Despise You, Magrudergrind, and more.
Always evolving, Backslider draws influence from from obscure prog to The Melvins to ’80s death/thrash, West Coast powerviolence, the sonic textures of dark wave, chaotic excess of grind, all while exploring themes of psychological horrors, overwhelming dread, addiction/recovery, and the slippery slope of paranoia that comes from extreme isolation. While wearing these influences on their sleeves, Backslider have crafted their most deliberate, self-aware, and profound album to date.
Psychic Rot track list:
1. Asymetric Torment
2. Pseudomessiah
3. Collision of Desire
4. Bone Thief
5. Mortuary Art
6. Goat Snuff
7. Corpseflower
8. The Floating Door
Preorder Psychic Rot here.
For upcoming tour dates, follow Backslider on Bandcamp here.
