New Jersey progressive/experimental outfit East Of The Wall announce the bands sixth and highly anticipated album, “A Neutral Second”. Due for release on June 30, 2023 via Translation Loss Records, the band presents eight new tracks packed with potently seismic labyrinths showing the band at their most complex – without being too heady.
East of the Wall has always been a song-first band, defying genre standards that fetishize technicality and showmanship. Their songs are long so they can crescendo and repeat themes, not to make room for extended solos or to stack riffs for the sake of it. “A Neutral Second” is solid but penetrable, intricate but catchy – made by people who push the music because they love it.
“For the first time in six albums, East of the Wall had a single, consistent lineup composing a record from day “one” through day “done”. The material flowed, well not effortlessly because these are still prog rock songs that can push the eight-minute barrier. But by the band’s standards, this was smooth sailing,” shares East Of The Wall bassist Chris Alfano.
East of the Wall built their own recording studio that doubled as their rehearsal space. While NP-Complete (March 2019) was mostly tracked by Alfano, it was started more traditionally with the band completing all of the songs first and then traveling to a studio to lay down drums for the record. In contrast, A Neutral Second was written as it was being recorded, in the room it was conceived in. The first two songs, “Detonator Gauntlet” and “Fawning”, were almost entirely put to tape (well, hard drives) before the next batch of songs were started. And even when tracking for a batch of songs was underway, they weren’t entirely finalized: guitar layers were developed, vocals were refined, transitional sections were hammered out. The album was mixed by Scott Evans at Antisleep Audio and then mastered by Brad Boatright at Audioseige.
The result is the band’s most adventurous and eclectic material. The aggressive sections hit harder than anything on NP-Complete, but the quieter sections are lower, or stranger, or both. And more importantly, songs are even more focused. The shorter timeline between idea and completion meant that the band could dedicate more time to finely crafting every moment without dragging out the process over a number of years like they did previously.
Today, along with the album announcement, the band have unveiled the first single from “A Neutral Second” titled, “Detonator Gauntlet.” The song, which is presented in the form of a music video by Mariette Connelly and Chris Alfano, is streaming now.
“A Neutral Second” will be released on June 30, 2023 via Translation Loss Records on an exclusive “Hand Poured” vinyl variant and a band exclusive vinyl variant (will be unveiled closer to release date). All pre-order, including digital pre-save is available now.
Recorded by East Of The Wall bassist, Chris Alfano at the band’s newly constructed recording/rehearsal space, Volume Fact, in August 2020 to August 2022. Mixed by Scott Evans (Thrice, Kowloon Walled City, Covet) at Antisleep Audio, August – September 2022. Mastered by Brad Boatright (Sleep, Mutoid Man, Torche) at Audioseige, October 2022. Album artwork by Bryan Olson. Promo Photo by Anne-Marie Caruso.
East Of The Wall is: Seth Rheam – Drums, Percussion, Chris Alfano – Bass, Guitars, Synths, Programming, Vocals, Matt Keys – Guitars, Synths, Matt Lupo – Guitars, Trumpets, Synths, Vocals, Greg Kuter – Guitar, Vocals
