photos by Nell Hoving
Philadelphia-based LOTUS THRONES, the solo project formed by former Wolvhammer and Across Tundras drummer Heath Rave during the 2020 quarantine, presents a new video for the song “Fatigue,” through an exclusive premiere at Decibel Magazine. The song is the first single preceding the outfit’s debut album, Lovers In Wartime, nearing July release through Disorder Recordings.
Following a five-year hiatus from releasing music, Heath Rave launched LOTUS THRONES in the past several months, to stay creative and return to playing music during lockdown. With the advent of technology making it easy to work alone, he began investigating new instruments and recording methods, exploring styles and genres of music he grew up on, including post-punk, industrial, goth, post-metal, dream pop, shoegaze, and more with an occasional nod to his hardcore roots, merging influences from the likes of Killing Joke, Sisters Of Mercy, Neurosis, Danzig, Justin Broadrick, Portishead, The Cure, and more, and handling all instrumentation on his own.
After releasing several singles and cover tracks, Rave embarked on the production of the debut LOTUS THRONES album, Lovers In Wartime, recording the album himself in January of this year. With Rave performing all drums, guitars, synth, keys, and vocals, the emotive eight-track album showcases the wide range of musical inspiration and homage its creator attempts to harness within the project. Additionally, Bruce Lamont (Yakuza, Brain Tentacles, Corrections House) provides saxophone on the tracks “Lovers” and “Liberate” and Andy Schoengrund (Coagulate, Feral Light) provides the guitar solo on “The Quarry.” Lovers In Wartime was mixed by Sanford Parker at Hypercube, mastered by Collin Jordan at The Boiler Room, and completed with photography by Sally Mills and layout by Jeff Wilson, and includes a diversified cover of Bad Brains’ “I And I Survive.”
The video for Lovers In Wartime‘s lead single, “Fatigue,” was created by Chariot Of Black Moth. Rave reveals with its premiere, “‘Fatigue’ was the first real song I wrote for this project. It was during my second ten-day quarantine due to direct exposure, and I was just as over it as all of us have been and could ever be. I was thinking about how we could hide behind the masks, the same way people hind behind their computers and their manufactured personas and can safely antagonize from afar without fear or consequence. At the same time, thinking of old dangerous behaviors as rather dull compared the constant agony of being inside on top of the pain of venturing out into the world to do banal tasks and being disgusted if people would get too close. The video is meant to express that paranoia and heartache. If anything good can come from all of this, it would be people continuing keep their distance after all is said and done.”
Decibel writes, “There’s a bit of a metal edge to the music on Lovers In Wartime, but it’s the same kind of metal edge that Killing Joke and Nine Inch Nails could sometimes have. It’s a killer album that pays homage to its reference points while finding ample space to push beyond them, and Rave doesn’t sound like someone who spent five years away from music.”
Tune in and watch LOTUS THRONES’ “Fatigue” video first at Decibel Magazine RIGHT HERE.
Disorder Recordings will release Lovers In Wartime on CD and across all digital providers on July 30th. Find preorders now at THIS LOCATION.
Watch for additional audio premieres, official videos, and more to post over the weeks ahead.
http://www.heathrave.com
https://www.instagram.com/lotusthrones
https://lotusthrones.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/lotusthrones
http://disorder-recordings.com
http://disorder-recordings.bandcamp.com
http://disorder-design.com
https://www.instagram.com/disorderdesignco