A concoction of noise, sludge, grindcore, and extreme metal, along with anything and everything the band feels like creating, Montreal’s Cell Press (a convergence of talent from well-seasoned musicians (The Great Sabatini, Biipiigwan, I Hate Sally, Architect)) unleashed their self-titled debut EP this past November along with limited editions cassettes released by No Funeral Records and Ancient Temple Recordings.
“This EP sorta sums up what we’re about at this particular moment. Genre people might not be satisfied with our lack of adherence to any one sound for too long, but we didn’t make these songs for those sorts of people. This EP is designed as a broad introduction to the band, and new listeners will hopefully anticipate what else is coming down the pipe in the future. It upholds the high standards Cell Press sets for themselves and each song is quite different from the others.” says the band.
Today, Cell Press shares their latest music video “Blacked Out In Verdun”, a song that can be described as a sort of mish-mash of Helmet and Keelhaul, along with their special list of top sludge / noise rock bands to check out in 2021 and top ten music videos of 2020. Check out the full feature below.
Guitarist Sean Arsenian elaborates on how the video came to be: “My co-worker Morgan Hunt walked into DFA Tattoos for Halloween wearing the llama mask you see in the video. I immediately recruited him to help me with the vague idea I had for it… and then we made him fall down a bunch of times. We paid for his wine, and that was the entire 20$ budget for the video. Morgan found the trash heap to lay down in at the end of the video and did so with zero prompting from us. He’d worked hard that day and deserved a rest.”
Super loud and vigorous, Cell Press is recommended for fans of Jesus Lizard, Converge, and Botch.
Top ten sludge/noise-rock bands to watch in 2021, by CELL PRESS:
junah
Top ten music videos of 2020:
Town Portal and Kowloon Walled City covering Solange and Kaki King, very well shot, recorded and performed.
Fuck The Facts: Pleine Noirceure
USA Nails: Character Stop
Gorlvsh: New City Vibe
Keeley Forsyth: Start Again
METZ: A Boat To Drown In
Blacklisters: Sports Drinks
King Krule: Hey World! This is a longer (15 minutes or so) collection of grimey looking and sounding solo live performances. Dark and pretty.
Yashira: Shards Of Heaven
Top Ten new bands from Montreal:
This is a tough one cos our main way to find out about new bands in town is to go to shows. And that hasn’t happened in about a year. But here are some of the more recently acive bands or artists we’ve been into, from Montreal: Gorlvsht, Maxx Power, TEKE::TEKE, Come And See, BK Brooks.
Cell Press are a Montreal-based band that formed in 2019. They play a sort of burly noise-rock that leans more on the hardcore and metal side of the swamp. They took their name from the 2001 Russian prison documentary “The Mark Of Cain”. The brutal humanity of that film is reflected in the music… on the surface, it’s raw and punishing but there are complexities and nuances revealed once the surface noise has been embraced. Members have played in a myriad of punk, metal, and hardcore bands such as The Great Sabatini, Biipiigwan, I Hate Sally, The Chariot, Animal Ethics, Architect, Swarm Of Spheres, and Angles. Their self-titled EP is the first offering of tunes.
Recorded pre-quarantine in Hamilton at Boxcar Sound Recording (Sean Pearson), mixed in Oakland at Anti-sleep studios by Scott Evans with the pandemic in full swing… 2 local shows have been logged but any further plans to gig have been halted by Covid-19.
Track by track explained by the band:
1 – Piss Police – We bookended this track with one riff which we play in different ways, as an intro and outro. The middle section was something guitarist Sean Arsenian had demoed at home for a different project. It found a better home with Cell Press. The bridge is a much noisier take on a Jesus Lizard type of riff.
2 – Desert Breath – This is sort of an inverted “Immigrant Song” type of riff, on steroids. The Refrain at the end is hijacked from a Woody Guthrie song.
3 – Blacked Out In Verdun – This song is sort of like a mish-mash of helmet and Keelhaul. The main riff has this elastic tempo thing towards the end of its phrasing that can be hard to achieve together, but its the most rewarding aspect of the song to guitarist Sean Arsenian.
4. Dead At OACI – This was the first song the band wrote together.
5. My Son Will No The Truth – Some folks don’t appreciate the “Filler” type of noise piece that some bands will have, but this track is as important to them as any of the other. They’ll never play it live (impossible to replicate), but they think it’s a really cool piece.
“From the grooves on “Piss Police” to the odd-timed melodic chords of “Blacked Out in Verdun,” everything moves in unexpected ways. All of this is perfectly set to the backdrop of PQ’s uniquely cackled screams… Cell Press is a great sludge metal EP that reminds the listener of the best aspects of this sub-genre. This EP makes the future appear bright for what is to come from this band. 8/10″ – Exclaim!
“You know that feeling, when you spin a new record for the first time and it just fucking destroys you? Well today I am happy to report, Cell Press outta Montreal have truly delivered the goods with their debut self titled EP. I mean fuck, is it any wonder this band rules, when they can boast members from the likes of The Great Sabatini, Biipiigwan, I Hate Sally, Architect. With their self-titled release, Cell Press give zero fucks about accessibility, instead they focus on delivering punishing aggression with a melting pot of sludge metal, noise rock, and grindcore.” – The Sludgelord
“Warm fuzzy guitar tones bring a touch of the Sabbath to “Piss Police” with broken chords and momentary pauses giving the kind of sound that Raging Speedhorn look for to accompany the rampant venting screams of the vocals that unapologetically roar along during the montage.” – Metal Noise
“Cell Press’s debut self titled EP is definitely an interesting listen. I didn’t expect it to take me on the journey which it did. An aggressive sound runs throughout showing that this band don’t play by the rules, they’re making music the way they want to.” – The Independent Voice
“Noisy and enjoyable, I give this Cell Press effort high marks. I am a Punk fan from the beginning, and I hear those roots here, certainly in the attitude, even if the category is technically off. The disenfranchisement is very appealing. Recommended.” – Flying Fiddle Sticks
