The Sleeping Shaman is hosting the exclusive premiere of “Opium Cyborg” by Chicago-based esoteric sludge/doom metal trio I KLATUS. The track precedes their corrosive fourth full-length, Targeted, nearing April release through their own Dead Sage label.
I KLATUS is embodied by drummer Chris Wozniak (Lair Of The Minotaur, Earthen Grave), bassist John Bomher (Yakuza, Indian), and guitarist/vocalist/visual artist Tom Denney (renowned artist for Soilent Green, Kylesa, Weedeater, Black Cobra, Rwake, Samothrace, among countless others).
Mixed and mastered by John E. Bomher at Berwyn Recording, with layout/artwork by Tom Denney, Targeted also features guest performances by Alison Chesley aka Helen Money (cello on “Solstice Of Wind), Valentina Levchenko (vocals on “Solstice Of Wind”), Joseph Starita (violin, cello on “Shitback And Halfway Damned”), Patrick Hamilton (gongs, robots on “Opium Cyborg” and “Targeted”), and guest lyricist Michael McEvoy on “Dance With The Skulls In The Church.”
I KLATUS John Bomher offers with the new single, “’Opium Cyborg’ is about losing your humanity and your soul to the opiates. Injecting the flesh with some sort of synthetic that replaces the viability of human consciousness. Thus, overriding any sense of humanity and replacing it with a cybernetic high of mind. No longer capable of independent thought. No longer viewing the abilities of human empathy or emotion. It is about literally being transformed into a robot while trying to find God, through substances. As if to say this attempt to find solace transforms you physically, mentally, and spiritually into a cybernetic automaton, going through the motions of being human but vacant of those sacred aspects which make up your ‘soul.’ As I sit here writing this, I’m looking over my brother’s ravaged and mangled body, destroyed by years of abuse, wires and tubes coming out of everywhere, limbs lost… a casualty of this opioid crisis.”
Writes The Sleeping Shaman with the premiere, “When a band states it features members who’ve plied their trade in Lair Of The Minotaur, Earthen Grave, Yakuza, and Indian, along with a renowned artist whose artwork has been used by the who’s who within the doom, sludge, and stoner genres, you really need to sit up, take a deep breath then take heed.”
Hear I KLATUS’ crushing new single “Opium Cyborg” first through The Sleeping Shaman now at THIS LOCATION.
I KLATUS will release Targeted through the band’s own Dead Sage imprint on April 1st, digitally and in a limited run of cassettes. Find digital preorders at Bandcamp HERE.
Immediately on the heels of their 2017-released Nagual Sun album, I KLATUS went into seclusion in the cold mountain town of Snoqualmie, Washington to write and record a follow-up. Fourteen sunless days went by and in stark contrast to the Summer-sun-filled experience of Los Angeles which inspired Nagual Sun, and the band forced themselves to write without any distractions from jobs or family, without any sunshine or warmth. Just cold rain and troll spirits.
The entire concept of I KLATUS’ Targeted is about fear, addiction, and psychosis, confronting the self-obsessed fears often faced by those with mental health challenges such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Often, these unfortunate victims of their own minds are terrorized by unseen entities which cause them to turn to drugs and other strange behavior to cope with the daily horrors which plague them. An irrational fear of being followed, tracked, and hunted. Fear of being implanted with microchips while unconscious; injecting shadow entities into their nightmares; nightmares which bleed into daytime realities. The psychosis is infectious, affecting who you’re able to trust. Here, the band confronts the harsh reality that we’re face-to-face with when these kinds of struggles affect our loved ones, and we find ourselves in a position of needing to protect ourselves from these unseen forces which are very real to the victims of such maladies.
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