photo by Shannan Jessica
With two full-length releases and ten years of Australasian touring under their belt, Christchurch, New Zealand-based progressive death metal quintet BLINDFOLDED AND LED TO THE WOODS presents the band’s third album, Nightmare Withdrawals, a record which sees the band taking their already unstoppable craft to the next level of technical decimation. Now confirmed for late March release, the band has issued the cover art, track listing, preorders, a brief teaser and more on the new record.
Nightmare Withdrawals features the strongest work from BLINDFOLDED AND LED TO THE WOODS to date. Much like NZ peers Ulcerate, BALTTW often explores atypical terrain, no more so than on Nightmare Withdrawals. Vocalist, Stace Fifield, notes, “We’ve learned from our previous releases and produced our most mature and refined output yet. Groove-based movements feature more heavily than before, and coupled with our signature feverish and frenetic approach, Nightmare Withdrawals is a ‘coming of age’ for the band, both creatively and personally.”
Fueled by trauma, yet wholly cathartic, Nightmare Withdrawals‘ sinuous songs exhibit technical mastery and raw emotionality. The band’s hometown of Christchurch has suffered through natural disasters, a terrorist attack, and now a pandemic. However, as Fifield points out, “We’re resilient people, and although it would be easy to channel our negative responses into counterproductive behaviors, BLINDFOLDED AND LED TO THE WOODS create music as a vent for our feelings. Our songs journey through a range of ideas, both lyrically and musically. Aggression, sadness, humanity, and beauty are all to be found within.”
In a coup for the band, legendary Nile founder Karl Sanders contributes vocals to the Nightmare Withdrawals track “Atop The Wings Of A Magpie,” which saw release in late 2020 as an advance standalone single and now appears on the new record. Impressed by BLINDFOLDED AND LED TO THE WOODS‘ ability to “capture and convey real emotion,” Sanders felt “Atop The Wings Of A Magpie” was, “bursting with feeling and atmosphere [and] a real sense of disorientation, despair, fear of the unknown, and a loss of humanity.” Additionally, the track “Lucid Visitations” features guest vocals from Callum Gay of Spook The Horses.
Nightmare Withdrawals exorcises traumatic emotions in a cathartic eruption of tense, textural, and altogether fearless metal. BLINDFOLDED AND LED TO THE WOODS is a crew of passionate musicians determined to capitalize on a decade of hard work and relentless artistic drive.
See a brief teaser for BLINDFOLDED AND LED TO THE WOODS’ Nightmare Withdrawals RIGHT HERE and view the Zev Deans-directed “Atop The Wings Of A Magpie” video featuring Karl Sanders of Nile HERE.
Nightmare Withdrawals was recorded at The Sitting Room Studio, mixed by Samuel K Sproull, mastered by Alan Douches at West West Side Music, and completed with cover art by Agreatmass and additional artwork/design by Nina Morice.
BLINDFOLDED AND LED TO THE WOODS will independently release Nightmare Withdrawals on LP and digital platforms on Friday, March 26th. Find preorders including merch bundles and more HERE.
Nightmare Withdrawals Track Listing:
1. The Inevitable Fate Of The Universe
2. Black Air
3. …And You Will Try To Speak
4. The White Of The Eyes
5. Atop The Wings Of A Magpie (featuring Karl Sanders of Nile)
6. Lucid Visitations (featuring Callum Gay of Spook The Horses)
7. Nightmare Withdrawals
8. The Obscured Witness
9. Rorschach And Delirium
10. Sic Mundus Creatus Est
Watch for additional audio samples, official videos, and more as Nightmare Withdrawals nears release.
BLINDFOLDED AND LED TO THE WOODS‘ blistering, top-tier technical metal doesn’t buckle on stage, as the band is as widely revered for their intense live show. The forward-thinking group has supported juggernauts like Revocation, Cryptopsy, Aborted, and Psycroptic, as well as icons Sepultura, The Dillinger Escape Plan, and Cattle Decapitation.
While international touring is still not an option due to the ongoing global pandemic, BLINDFOLDED AND LED TO THE WOODS just completed a four-city New Zealand tour with Organectomy and Depths, and they’re ready to hit the stage harder than ever as soon as possible.
“BLINDFOLDED AND LED TO THE WOODS play death metal with a crazed edge … a helping of mathcore insanity leaves everything sounding unhinged. Following in the vein of bands like The Dillinger Escape Plan… hectic riffs are airtight and fluid.” – Decibel Magazine
“…expertly crafted on both a musical and technical level.” – Toilet Ov Hell
“An ultra-aggressive onslaught backed by truly accomplished musicianship. BLINDFOLDED AND LED TO THE WOODS deliver multi-faceted songs with machine-like precision, but that all-important human factor is always front and center.” – Six Noises
“…brutal death metal, tech-death, and grindcore, all mixed together with doses of off-planet weirdness.” – No Clean Singing
BLINDFOLDED AND LED TO THE WOODS:
Ben Atkinson – guitars
Stace Fifield – vocals
Stuart Minchington – guitars
Nick Smith – bass
Tim Stewart – drums
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