Photograph courtesy of Derision Cult
Mercenary Notes Pt. 2 is the second EP from Derision Cult, launched through Glitch Mode Recordings this previous March. Produced by Sean Payne at Glitch Mode Studios, the EP options tracks written and recorded over the course of three years. Derision Cult, identified for mixing industrial, rock, and experimental sounds, continues to push sonic boundaries with this newest launch, delivering an introspective but aggressive physique of labor. Right here’s what they needed to say about every track from the document.
Observe 1: The place Are You Now?
Heavy thrasher with heavy guitar riffs/solos and aggressive beats. Options vocals from each Dave McAnally and Sean Payne. That is the quickest observe on the album.
The lyrics deal with the state of affairs people are within the face of the rise of AI.
This was the final observe written for Mercenary Notes Pt. 2 and serves as a lyrical sequel to “Yr Hope Failed,” the opening observe of Pt. 1. “Yr Hope Failed” was based mostly on quotes from a Microsoft engineer warning concerning the potential financial penalties of latest AI know-how. “The place Are You Now” flips the main target to humanity’s present state within the face of this doubtlessly society-altering tech. The observe’s anxious and aggressive tone displays the dire ramifications of this looming shift.
Observe 2: Joker’s Wild (Kings Are Lifeless)
This observe truly incorporates a Chicago blues-style name/response amped as much as 11 with huge industrial beats. It options two friends, together with Chicago cowpunk legend Pete Berwick delivering a gonzo-style beat rap for the refrain, and Brazilian organist Ronaldo Rodrigues, who lays down a Uriah Heep/Deep Purple-style organ solo harkening again to experimental sounds within the ’90s from industrial artists similar to Sister Machine Gun.
The narrator is wrestling with the which means of their existence, caught between rebel and submission, readability and confusion. It talks about revolutions within the sense that the narrative desires change or escape from these limitations. Phrases like “drowning within the doubt I sweat” and “pumps the blood proper via my veins” mirror the wrestle to keep up private integrity in a world that continuously tries to outline or misread actuality. Within the context of Mercenary Notes, it’s kind of addressing the psychological impression all of the overstimulation from social media and digital content material has on an individual. The narrator desires to confront illusions, false narratives, and inside contradictions.
This can be a track that I initially demoed 10 years in the past and it sat on a shelf. Once I introduced it to Sean, he instantly noticed the place larger drums might flesh out the sound. It wasn’t intentional, however we acknowledged that the observe kind of has the identical name/response that blues legends like Buddy Man and Albert King tended to put in writing with. We’d already explored some outlaw nation flavors on different tracks and determined to discover some conventional blues sounds, and moderately than a guitar, we tracked down Ronaldo to put down an organ solo. We met Pete Berwick final yr when he starred within the video for “Slaves Rebuild.” Pete is a little bit of a Chicago legend, pioneering numerous the cowpunk sounds that labels like Bloodshot have been identified for. Pete can also be a prolific creator, having not too long ago written kind of a gonzo-style biography of the ’70s Illinois band The Boyz. Within the curiosity of pulling in outdoors influences, we had Pete are available and do kind of a beat poet rap that we integrated into the observe. His lyrics spherical out the general really feel of the observe.
Observe 3: Warning Indicators
Industrial rockabilly-style observe within the vein of “Jesus Constructed My Hotrod,” “Blackshine,” or Sister Machine Gun’s “White Lightning.” It options jackhammer guitars, heavy beats, and spoken phrase vocals. This observe additionally options intense guitar leads from Reeves Gabrels harking back to his work with Tin Machine (early David Bowie collaboration). The observe is accompanied by an animated video which serves as kind of a sequel to “Deaf Blood,” which was on Mercenary Notes Pt. 1.
Lyrically, the observe displays on our present cultural local weather and means that warnings of what may very well be coming are throughout us. The refrain line “Is it getting actual sufficient but?” was impressed by a real story from Dave McAnally’s brother, a Naval EOD officer deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Throughout a raid, a Hollywood director was allowed to look at the aftermath of a firefight. As a Navy SEAL carried the corpse of a Taliban member previous the visibly shaken director, he remarked, “Oh, is it getting actual sufficient but?” This intense expertise serves as the muse for the observe, emphasizing the peril of ignoring warnings till they develop into plain.
We knew we wished to launch this observe first as a result of it’d been so lengthy since rockabilly and industrial had been intertwined (this was a standard factor within the late ’80s/early ’90s with KMFDM, Ministry, White Zombie, Screw, and so on.).
Observe 4: Radiation Blues
Sluggish, nearly Tom Waits-inspired beat poet observe with heavy beats. This observe is the non secular sequel to the observe “Slaves Rebuild,” which seems on Mercenary Notes Pt. 1 (it even weaves in a few of the similar samples—“What it’s, what it shall be, what it was”). It expands and goes into locations sonically that “Slaves” had not, nonetheless, including extra introspective lyrics. As soon as once more, as with Slaves, Reeves is again to supply an unsettling bombast of guitar pyrotechnics.
“Slaves Rebuild” was intentionally summary in its lyrics. The place “Warning Indicators” means that ignoring warning indicators in our social cloth till it’s too late is a hazard, the narrator ponders on this observe how a lot of these warning indicators are deliberate (at one level truly saying “The warning indicators are by design and that’s gnawing on my thoughts”). It addresses dwelling in a tradition the place the whole lot is communicated in soundbites and short-form, eliminating nuance and context. The narrator on this observe is older and extra road-weary, telling the listener, “If you happen to’re nobody will inform ya, gonna be the miles that kill ya.” (I took a while away from music within the 00’s to compete in endurance sports activities and Ironmans and at any time when we did races in significantly steep terrain, I had a coach that’d say “the climbs are robust, nevertheless it’s the miles that’ll kill ya” (the implication was to experience in such a method that you just weren’t burning all of your power climbing the hills as a result of Ironmans have 112-mile bike legs in them!). That analogy appeared to suit this observe as nicely!)
We wrestled with what to name this observe, and it was truly the artwork designer Jim Marcus who urged a blues theme. “Radiation Blues” is a line from an previous Chemlab track and it positively match the vibe!
Observe 5: Affect
Hypnotic bass line solely interrupted by a tough rock Rob Zombie-style refrain. The observe has a psychedelic vibe. As soon as once more Pete Berwick lays down some beat poet traces on the false life we current on social media. The observe, just like “Joker’s Wild,” was an previous demo and one of many earliest tracks Sean and I labored on (alongside all of the Mercenary Notes Pt. 1 materials).
The lyrics deal with the false narratives created on social media. As a mum or dad of two kids rising up in a world dominated by social media, they don’t have any idea of life earlier than the web. The track was closely impressed by a narrative a couple of non-public jet firm in LA that rents out planes by the minute for social media influencers to stage images, portraying a life-style that isn’t actual. With my 10-year-old daughter, I fear concerning the impression of filters and unrealistic physique expectations on her self-image. This observe calls out the rise of phony influencers and the dangerous impact they’ve on youthful generations coming of age on this period.
This observe has gone via many iterations earlier than this model. We experimented with quite a few beats and feels earlier than honing in on this extra psychedelic really feel. Its groove makes it an important observe to play mid-set!
Observe 6: Abdication Day
Frenetic rocker with nearly a Judas Priest-style guitar riff, with heavy stay drum beats and a number of vocal types from nearly robotic Skinny Pet to onerous steel to excessive octaves. Heavy guitars are pervasive all through.
The lyrics are about not going quietly into that good night time and the challenges of staying true to your self amid on a regular basis pressures in addition to all of the overstimulation and media manipulation we’re confronted with. The lyrics truly stemmed from a dialog I had with my stepson flying again from Eire a few years in the past. He was 15 on the time, and we received into speaking about how robust it will get to comply with your passions when issues like automobile funds, mortgages, and careers get in the best way. I distinctly keep in mind saying to him that “It’s as much as you to outline how individuals see you, so personal it,” and that turned a central theme of the lyrics.
This was one other demo from perhaps 8 years in the past. Of all of the tracks on each Pt. 1 and Pt. 2 of Mercenary Notes, it’s most likely the one that’s truest to the unique demo. I do some solo acoustic reveals right here within the Chicago space, and this observe is one which I play acoustic, and it interprets very very like an previous Kris Kristofferson tune on a guitar.
Conclusion
Mercenary Notes Pt. 2 is a becoming companion to Pt. 1. We set out engaged on 10 tracks and realized fairly shortly it might make extra sense to separate these up with a few remixes added on (Mercenary Notes Pt. 2 incorporates a remix of “Warning Indicators” by Justin Broadrick/Godflesh and “Radiation Blues” by Cyanotic). After we did that, it turned essential that these tracks had continuity. A number of the tracks actually perform as sequels like “Radiation Blues” or “The place Are You Now,” whereas others similar to “Affect” and “Abdication Day” increase on the concepts we explored in Pt. 1.
We got down to make an album that celebrated our influences, regardless if they’re overtly industrial. I really feel this was taken a step additional on Pt. 2 than Pt. 1 … significantly on tracks like “Joker’s Wild” (and “Kings Are Lifeless”) the place we’ve introduced in full-on blues organ solos. We flirted with thrash steel on “Yr Hope Failed,” however with “The place Are You Now,” we went whole-heartedly into that style. The tracks all deal with sure themes and considerations, nevertheless it caps off with “Abdication Day,” which is actually the “Effectively, right here’s what you do to outlive” handbook. All of it ends on a constructive notice, which was our intention all alongside.
Comply with the band or get the album right here.
