photo by Shannan Jessica
BrooklynVegan is hosting an exclusive premiere of “Black Air,” the caustic new single from New Zealand-based progressive death metal quintet, BLINDFOLDED AND LED TO THE WOODS. The song precedes the band’s impending third album, Nightmare Withdrawals, which is nearing release at the end of March.
BLINDFOLDED AND LED TO THE WOODS presents Nightmare Withdrawals, a record which sees the band taking their already unstoppable craft to the next level of technical decimation. Much like NZ peers Ulcerate, BALTTW often explores atypical terrain, no more so than on Nightmare Withdrawals. Fueled by trauma, yet wholly cathartic, Nightmare Withdrawals‘ sinuous songs exhibit technical mastery and raw emotionality. In recent years, the band’s hometown of Christchurch has suffered through natural disasters, a terrorist attack, and now a pandemic. 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.
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. The album features guest vocal contributions from Karl Sanders of Nile on “Atop The Wings Of A Magpie” and Callum Gay of Spook The Horses on “Lucid Visitations.”
With the new single, BALTTW vocalist Stace Fifield offers, “‘Black Air’ is a commentary on the commodification of the human condition. We’re on sale and everything must go! Nothing is sacred and this seemingly obvious disconnect with our human selves and the systems we frame and package our personal experience within is fundamentally wrong and we know this in our bones.”
Writes BrooklynVegan with the “Black Air” premiere, “The album boasts guest vocal appearances by Karl Sanders of Nile… and Callum Gay of Spook The Horses, and those names should help draw in some new listeners, but once you click play, BALTTW‘s towering music speaks for itself. We’re premiering second single ‘Black Air,’ which gives you a very good idea of what to expect from this LP: proggy, tech-y, and brutal but still with a ton of atmosphere — it makes sense that they’ve been compared to fellow New Zealanders Ulcerate.”
Ingest the “Black Air” of BLINDFOLDED AND LED TO THE WOODS first at BrooklynVegan RIGHT HERE.
BLINDFOLDED AND LED TO THE WOODS will independently release Nightmare Withdrawals on LP and digital platforms on Friday, March 26th. Find preorders/merch bundles HERE, and watch the “Atop The Wings Of A Magpie” video featuring Karl Sanders of Nile HERE.
Watch for additional audio samples, official videos, and more as Nightmare Withdrawals nears release.
With ten years of Australasian touring under their belt, BLINDFOLDED AND LED TO THE WOODS has supported juggernauts like Revocation, Cryptopsy, Aborted, and Psycroptic, as well as icons Sepultura, The Dillinger Escape Plan, and Cattle Decapitation. The band recently 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.
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