Following their recent signing to Prosthetic Records and the release of their crushing new single, ‘L’Appel Du Vide’, Katie Davies from grinding mathcore band PUPIL SLICER has picked 3 tracks from 3 albums that influenced the composition of L’Appel Du Vide. Each choice cut has defining traits that the band really tried to capture and interpret in their own way on their new single.
Hailing from London, UK, PUPIL SLICER are the latest signing to the Prosthetic Records roster. Combining all the sharp edges of angular mathcore with the bone crushing intensity of grindcore, PUPIL SLICER are here to see 2020 out with a bang.
Their first single, L’appel du Vide, features guest vocals from Carson Pace of The Callous Daoboys and production from Pedram Valiani of Frontierer/Sectioned. Carson’s contributions provide an additional dynamic and an extra layer of discordant chaos, whilst Pedram’s mixing ensures a brutally pummelling finish. The frenetic energy of the track – and resulting sense of teetering on the edge – encapsulates the titular phenomenon – the call of the void.
Vocalist/guitarist, Katie, comments: “L’appel Du Vide is about the call of the void and the anxiety that results from having to deal those upsetting, intrusive thoughts. This track marks the start of a new chapter for us musically, finally at a point in technical and songwriting ability where I feel we can convey how I wanted this project to sound since inception. The song features guest vocals from Carson Pace of The Callous Daoboys, a friend that I met during the final Dillinger Escape Plan shows in New York a couple years ago. We immediately hit it off over a shared enthusiasm for all things mathcore. They had promised at the time to lend vocals to one of our tracks when we were ready and now we’re finally at that stage, I’m happy to say that Carson absolutely killed it.”
Having spent two years honing their craft and refining their sound, PUPIL SLICER set out to record new material in 2019 and the first results of those sessions are now emerging. With this standalone single paving the way for more new music to materialise in 2021, PUPIL SLICER have thrown their hat in the ring as ones to watch going forward. L’appel du Vide will be released by Prosthetic Records on October 30.
1. The Dillinger Escape Plan – One Of Us Is The Killer
First up is one that would probably come as no surprise to those who are into their mathcore and that’s The Dillinger Escape Plan‘s 2013 release, One Of Us Is The Killer. Whilst pretty much the entire TDEP back catalogue is a huge influence, I’d like to pick out this album and the song “When I Lost My Bet” in particular, as learning to play that track introduced me to incorporating a lot more jazzy chords in my writing. This most clearly translated to the chorus on our single where I tried to juxtapose the space-y and grand chords layered with clean vocals and the drop-tuned, more headbanging, riff lower down.
2. Inside The Beehive – Drink Bleach; Live Forever
Second is my favourite math-related release of all time, a ridiculously manic and intense album which seems to be overlooked by a lot of fans of the subgenre. The structures and motifs present on this album are a huge influence on everything I’ve written recently, with inspiration clearly displayed in our single during the spam of odd-metered dischords present after the first chorus of our single. These kinds of patterns are all over the Inside The Beehive album but a clear choice for a song that captures those things best is “Bio-Feedback”.
3. 156/Silence – Undercover Scumbag
Lastly is a band which also seems pretty slept on at the moment but appear to be gaining momentum recently, since their absolutely killer sophomore release – 156/Silence. I’ve been super into their whammy-laden breakdown-filled hardcore (not to undermine their fantastic cleaner tunes) since the first time I heard their track “Fake It”, which immediately caught my attention. The general vibe of the track and sheer power of the driving rhythms really urged me to try to capture that kind of feeling which is demonstrated on our track (L’Appel Du Vide) in some of the sections with more momentum and the breakdown before the second chorus.
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