This is the long-awaited release from the band featuring members of Christian Death and  Samhain. They had previously issued a single and one of the tracks, “Iced Out” also appears on  this record. From the opening notes it is obvious that the band isn’t just crawling down the path  of their past. With two members of Christian Death, you would expect the band to continue  with the elegant darkness they created on the Only Theatre Of Pain record. But this music is  much harder. While it still retains some bits of Christian Death DNA, songs like “Summon” slam  down the rhythm with a conviction that may seem more along the trajectory of Samhain. But  then they hit you with the song “Faded Wasted” and it sounds like something James and Rikk  may have conceived with Christian Death singer Rozz Williams in mind. But this band is not  either one of those bands and while drawing from the same dark reservoir as those bands, they  manage to carve out their own sound. 

Part of what sets them apart from past projects the rhythm section and guitarist have been  involved in is the singer they have chosen to work with. While most people who will find  interest in this band will already be familiar with the names Rikk Agnew (guitar), James  McGearty (bass) and London May (drums), Devix Szell has worked with some other bands and is  also an actor but has not trod the music highways his bandmates have. But you wouldn’t know  that from his performance on this record. For a band like this a singer who could hold his own  with the other three was mandatory. And Devix comes through like a champ. All singers work differently. I asked Devix how he approached contributing lyrics to the songs.  Did he work with the band on the words or separate from them? “Independently. They’re all  very personal,” he states. “One song was pre-written. ‘With a Razor’ is a dream song of mine I  wrote when I worked with my friends Paul Barker & Adam Grossman (ex-Ministry). The original  still exists, but so many years passed dying for that music to see the light of day. When we started working on the Symbolism record around 2018, it was slightly frightening how it all  happened. We played a few shows and all of a sudden our entire society was bound for lock down due to a global infection and the verse starts with the words ‘infection comes with a  razor’. Be careful of what you put out into the world.” 

Confidant that things were working well, Devix also looked to outside sources for lyrical  inspiration. “’ Voyagers’ and a handful of others I worked alone from demos on my studio rig,  but one new thing that I had never done before was transcribe outside material and turn it into  lyrics,” he says bringing up one of the best songs on the record. “Symbolism had a new  instrumental called ‘Summon’ and my friend Suzanne Landau Finch, she’s quite a genius writer,  wrote an apocalyptic poem about Earth or ‘Gaia’ taking her revenge on us pesky humans for  being the surface nuisance we are and washing us all out with tidal waves. So, I spiced her  words up for rock & roll, and added & subtracted a few things. And ‘The Rift’ was sort of  collaborative in the recording studio at the very end.” 

Like a lot of other creative people, the band’s momentum was slightly derailed due to the covid  lockdown. This created a large gap between the band’s single release and the release of the  album. “The delays were attributed to the record pressing plant,” James explains. “Due to 

supply chain issues, resource shortages, and a massive backlog of albums to press, the record  company took way longer than expected to release the album.” The record label is the band  themselves as they have released both the single and the album through their own resources.  

With the record finally out James sees the band getting back on track. “The band is preparing to  start rehearsing soon in preparation for playing live shows,” he says. “We are open to touring or  playing a few festivals if the opportunity presents itself.” 

With band members who have covered so much ground and had so many musical triumphs, you must wonder what the dynamic is like in the practice room. Does each member bring in  their own songs or are the songs created organically among the three players? “Definitely  collaborative. All of us,” says Rikk. “No keeping tabs or points.” 

One thing people will notice on this record is Rikk’s return to using effects pedals like he did  with Christian Death. With the new album out and the lockdown a thing of the past, will the  band get back up to speed as far as playing and recording new material? “There are still several  unrecorded songs for us to pull from, with the possibility of writing new songs,” says James. “A  combination of experimenting, getting back to our past and marching forward,” Rikk adds.