PRIDELANDS: set to release debut album LIGHT BENDS on January 14th via SharpTone, unleash new ripper ANTIPATHY.
“There can be no hope without despair, no love without loss.”
Aussie metalcore bruisers PRIDELANDS (Joshua Cory, Mason Bunt, Liam Fowler, Daniel Lohrey, Joe Lipsham) are set to release their highly-anticipated debut album LIGHT BENDS on January 14th, 2022 via SharpTone Records. To give the world another taste of their upcoming full-length, the Melbourne fivesome unleashed angst-ridden single ANTIPATHY.
Vocalist and lyricist Josh Cory opened up on the single as follows:
“Antipathy is a song that we wrote to channel and cleanse some of the more negative emotions that we had during the time. It’s certainly the most quote/unquote “angry” song of the album, but it is not that simple. The name itself means that you severely dislike something, or have a strong aversion to it, so the lyrics and instruments try to address this as a double entendre. We feel this deep-seeded anger towards a subject, and also to ourselves for letting it drag us down. It’s a song about the vicious cycle of anger, and how we may try to break that, praying that we and the subject both make it out.”
“There can be no hope without despair, no love without loss. The chaos is the balance and we must bend toward its will, accepting the shadow as part of the light.”
Speaking about the band’s upcoming record, guitarist and songwriter Liam Fowler commented:
“I never in a million years would’ve imagined that our debut album would end up this way. Being our debut album, we wanted it to be ‘perfect’.”
As spoilt for choice as Pridelands were in terms of choosing a lead single, they eventually decided on HEAVY TONGUE. Heavy both instrumentally and in terms of its message, this song shines a harsh spotlight on the corruption and mismanagement of the devastating bushfires that raged through Australia from 2019 to 2020. An ominous drone introduces the song, like a shame spiral spewing forth rapidfire riffs and pelting drums. Simultaneous clean and unclean vocals spit unanimous vitriol:
“By the time that you accept/ That we’re on fire/ The midnight oil spills out from the urn/ But all our beds are damned to burn away.”
Elsewhere, opening track I REACH INTO YOUR HEART mourns the devastating impact humanity has had on our planet and PARALLEL LINES boasts enough sonic ideas and seismic dynamic shifts within the one track to fill an entire album.
The arrangements throughout Pridelands’ striking 11-song collection are supple, lurching, unpredictable and exhilarating. Prepare to be blown away by sudden shifts in tone as serene moments are invaded, unexpectedly, by brutality and chaos. An undercurrent of unease simmers menacingly below the surface, but there’s a sense that catharsis is just out of reach. Pridelands take aim and really take it there on their debut record. Light Bends is one hellavu wild ride.
Listen to Pridelands – Antipathy off upcoming record Light Bends:
Pridelands – Antipathy lyrics:
Sacrifice the light
Sit here, watch it fade and splutter
I watch your eyes grow wide
Convince me, I don’t matter
Dog-eat-dog world, are you having fun?
Did you bark for too long?
Never gonna change
So won’t you leave me with a scar?
Yellow teeth break the skin
Two faces look the same
With a mouth speaking false truths
A ghost lives in your shadow
Broken, murdered in their youth
Cast your magic, weave your spells
Cage me, constrain me
Sinking fangs, a poison catalyst
You won’t even notice
I’d love to see you dig your way
Out of this fucking mess you’ve made
Shifting shadows prey
On everlasting doubt
I hope you’ve made your choice
I pray you make it out
Now, go, cut and run
Disappear like the others
Dog-eat-dog world, are you having fun?
And I can feel it all
A pulsating light
Triangulating now
But I need another sign
I’ve grown so selfish here
On my synthetic high
Won’t you drag me down?
I’d love to see you dig your way
Out of this fucking mess you’ve made
Shifting shadows prey
On everlasting doubt
I hope you’ve made your choice
And I never believed you’d be like this
Never dreamed you’d want me dead
Your reprieve, like shelter, for a time
Coward, no spine, no guts, no neck
How I would rather watch you slip
Up all over your own self-doubt
I hope you’ve made your choice
I pray you make it out
Pridelands – Light Bends tracklisting:
1. I Reach Into Your Heart
2. The Walls
3. Parallel Lines
4. Parted Time
5. The Lake of Twisted Limbs
6. Safer Here
7. Heavy Tongue
8. Antipathy
9.Translucent Blues
10. Evergrowth
11. The Sun Will Find Us
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