photos by Luke Steffens
CHROME WAVES has issued the first single from their impending third album, The Rain Will Cleanse, nearing September release through Transcending Records and Disorder Recordings. An official video for the single “Sometimes” has been premiered exclusively through BrooklynVegan, as preorders for the album and more are issued.
With members hailing from across the Midwestern US, CHROME WAVES‘ current four-piece lineup entails founder Jeff Wilson (Deeper Graves, ex-Nachtmystium), James Benson (Amiensus, Comatose), Dustin Boltjes (Demiricous, ex-Skeletonwitch), and Zion Meagher (Anti-Human Thesis, ex-Nachtmystium). With six new songs further exploring the band’s blend of shoegaze/art rock-inspired post-black metal, The Rain Will Cleanse is the band’s boldest and most vibrant recording to date.
Recorded at Postal Recording by Tyler Watkins and Disorder Recordings by Jeff Wilson, and mixed and mastered by Watkins at Postal, The Rain Will Cleanse is completed with cover artwork by Rebecca Dunski and photos by Luke Steffens.
“Sometimes” features guest vocals from Darja Vaarsi, and the video was filmed and directed by Eddie Curran/Enterprise Films. With its release, James Benson offers, “‘Sometimes’ was written from the perspective of a person trying to handle personal growth without leaving their love behind because of it.”
Jeff Wilson adds, “‘Sometimes’ is one of those cliche, ‘I wrote this song in ten minutes’ kind of moments. 2am, a dozen cocktails into a writing session, I think this was the fourth demo I had finished that evening. It was honestly almost too easy to arrange and begged for a better melody than I personally could have given it. James totally murdered the vocals on this song and it’s the perfect first single for this album as it sets the vibe for what’s to come.”
BrooklynVegan writes, “The band started out in post-black metal territory but have been transitioning towards a more straight-up shoegaze vibe, and ‘Sometimes’ continues in that direction. It’s a heavy-yet-beautiful song and if you’re into the latest Deafheaven and Hum material, you should definitely give this a listen too.”
Tune in and watch CHROME WAVES’ video for “Sometimes” first only at BrooklynVegan RIGHT HERE.
The Rain Will Cleanse will see release on September 10th, with Transcending Records handling the CD and LP formats and Disorder Recordings handling the cassette and digital. Find preorders including merch bundles HERE.
Watch for additional audio, videos, and details on CHROME WAVES‘ upcoming mead, beer, custom reverb pedal, and more to post over the weeks ahead.
CHROME WAVES was formed in the summer of 2010 by Jeff Wilson with The Gates Of Slumber’s Bob Fouts, after which The Atlas Moth’s Stavros Giannopoulos was brought into the mix in early 2011. The band self-produced their eponymous debut EP in July 2012. The vinyl quickly sold out in preorder and received critical acclaim and mentions outside the typical metal media, appearing in outlets like SPIN, Billboard, and others. They headlined a tour of the Midwest and East Coast US in August of that year, performing alongside Skeletonwitch, Morne, The Gates of Slumber, and others.
CHROME WAVES began writing their debut album in 2014, however, the members’ other projects kept the band from becoming the full-time project as planned. While the band remained mostly silent behind the scenes, Foreign Sounds reissued the debut EP on cassette in May 2015, and then reissued it on vinyl in September 2016.
After departing Wolvhammer and Abigail Williams in 2018, Jeff Wilson set out to finally make CHROME WAVES a full-time endeavor and brought in new guitarist/vocalist James Benson alongside the returning Bob Fouts on drums. With a renewed sense of inspiration, the revamped lineup immediately released several singles and their long-awaited debut full-length, A Grief Observed, on Wilson’s Disorder Recordings in early 2019. Less than eight months after the debut LP, the band issued The Cold Light Of Despair, collecting several new tracks and cover songs. In March of 2020, CHROME WAVES released a split album with Gridfailure, and while they were immersed in the recording of what would become their second LP, the band tragically lost their friend and bandmate, Bob Fouts.
The group again revamped itself, welcoming drummer Dustin Boltjes and delivered their most powerful work to date on their second LP, Where We Live, released via Disorder Recordings in September of 2020. Yet, while the album was still in its pre-release promotion phase, CHROME WAVES was already in the studio, tracking album number three, The Rain Will Cleanse. The new album sees the lineup expanding to a four-piece, with the addition of bassist Zion Meagher.
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