Virginia’s Digital Negative, the industrial/electronic unit composed of Richard Johnson (Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Drugs Of Faith, Enemy Soil) and Daniel Euphrat (Timmy Sells His Soul, Person918x, Bodied), return July 11th with their third EP, Intersect. Built on layers of distortion, structured chaos, and rhythmic agitation, Intersect furthers the band’s sonic and thematic trajectory—disillusionment baked into electronics, metal and noise.
The five-track release follows their self-titled debut and EP2, both documents of alienation, glitch-ridden anxiety, and post-pandemic introspection.
The debut was made remotely during lockdown; the second was a step toward cohesion, done in person and accompanied by live shows in the Northern Virginia/Washington DC area. Intersect builds on that groundwork, threading socio-political commentary through guitars, samples, and mechanical rhythms.
Johnson handled vocals and field recordings; Euphrat took on guitars, electronics, and mixing. Mastering was done by Angel Marcloid (Angel Hair Audio), a choice that sits well with the record’s dense and harsh texture.
According to Euphrat, the material here leans further into a hybrid of metal and electro-industrial: “I think my philosophy for samples was pretty similar to the other EPs: samples that in some way feel artificial/futuristic (especially in an alienating/dystopian way). I slowly acquire them over time and store them in a folder until I reach a critical mass. I think there is a bit more of a metal influence on this EP, but some of the songs also have more of an electro-industrial sound than previous EPs.”
Lyrically, the focus has shifted. “I purposefully arranged most of the lyrics in a different way for this EP, trying to go for more agitation,” says Johnson. “Most of them have a hint of, if not a narrative, a unifying thought behind them, as opposed to simply trying to communicate alienation and anxiety on the last two EPs. The lyrics this time around vaguely reflect a little more of the current state of the first world.”
That pivot in structure and message is at the core of Intersect. Still dystopian, still alienated, but with sharper edges, more deliberate jabs. Below is the band’s full commentary, offering a window into the process and direction behind each track.
Extensions
“The opening riff was inspired by slam death metal, though I think it ended up sounding pretty different from that.” – Daniel
Growth
“It’s a long story, but with these Digital Negative EPs, we’ve been upcycling ideas I demoed for my Agoraphobic Nosebleed solo EP that never happened. There’s been a handful of songs across the EPs that contain seeds from my demos in them and ‘Growth’ is one of those songs.” – Richard
Oligarchy
“This one features a sample from one of my demos that I talked about above.” – Richard
“As well as the only good riff from an abandoned industrial project of mine from a decade ago.” – Daniel
The Blanks
“This is the track that we did a homemade music video for. We weren’t sure which track we should use and settled on this one. We came up with the concept and Daniel did the video editing, and it works somehow, I think.” – Richard
Trapped
“The danciest track.” – Daniel
“This is the oddball track on Intersect. ‘The Floor’ was the oddball from EP2. The first EP doesn’t have a track like that.” – Richard
Intersect pushes—rhythmically, thematically—against complacency, while keeping the textures intentionally jagged and off-balance. Euphrat’s loops and riffs carry the structure forward, but it’s Johnson’s clipped, agitated vocal delivery and disruptive sampling that ties the material to its themes.
Everything here has been chiseled, hacked, and arranged to emphasize tension over release.
The EP is out July 11th.
