Three years after their monumental split record with SANGHARSHA, ominous metallic hardcore pack BLANK are back with an epic new record, their second full length offering after 2011’s “Calix” and first band release since 2013’s “Suspiria“. Recorded at the Tonmeisterei in Oldenburg (ALPINIST, PHANTOM WINTER etc.), the self-titled opus is out June 30th via Holy Goat Records (vinyl limited to 200 black/100 silver copies), but we’ve got an early stream today! Dive into its thick, intense sound and hear the band refining all elements of their bleak songwriting, and scroll down to learn their story and find out about the path that led them to this record.
The band will celebrate it on two record release shows in Karlsruhe and Cologne (Germany) with I NOT DANCE from Austria. See the flyer below.
Before the five of us started BLANK in 2011 we all had already played in numerous different bands for years. From these experiences each of us had developed a pretty good idea of what they wanted in a band. These ideas turned out to be largely compatible, that’s why we’ve lasted as long as we have without any line-up changes. We’ve also had a rather coherent vision of how we wanted BLANK to sound right from the start, and we’ve spent the last seven years working towards this goal.
It’s been almost exactly six years since the release of our first LP ‘Calix’, so the majority of the band’s development took place after that: We’ve released an EP called ‘Suspiria‘ as well as a split LP with NYC-based Nepali Hardcore band SANGHARSHA and played over a 100 shows in Europe and the US. All of this helped us further refine our sound and formula.
Our new LP is the direct result of that process and it feels like we’ve never been closer to our musical ideal. It took us about two years of meticulous work and preparation. Many of the eight songs have also been part of our live set for a while. Playing live is a crucial part of this band, as it teaches you a lot about the songs you write, the way you play them and your overall sound. You gain an insight that is impossible to achieve in the practice space. We also had the chance to perform ‘Break Out’ – a song featuring Mike McTernan from Damnation A.D. on guest vocals – live with him twice last fall when we played two shows with Battery. That was an amazing experience, because Mike is not just one of the fiercest vocalists in Hardcore, but also an incredibly nice and gentle human being.
In January 2018 we hit the Tonmeisterei in Oldenburg to record with Roland Wiegener (ALPINIST, OMEGA MASSIF and many more). We’ve worked with him on all of our releases, but this is the first time he handled all recording, mixing and mastering. Once we entered the studio everything fell into place and the record turned out exactly the way we wanted, striking just the right balance between transparency and rawness.
Bottom line is we made something we’re very happy with and hope somebody else might enjoy it as well. You’ll be able to stream and download the entire album on blankhc.bandcamp.com after its release on June 30th. Vinyl is limited to 200 black and 100 silver pieces available exclusively through the band and HolyGoatRecords. Ralf – who runs the label has been with BLANK as merch guy, driver and first and foremost as a friend right from the start and it was very important to us to work with a label we have a personal connection to.
BLANK live dates:
Friday, June 29th 2018 at the P8 in Karlsruhe/Germany (also with Scavengers from the US)
Saturday, June 30th 2018 at the Privat in Cologne/Germany (also with Minutes)
