Photo by: John Mourlas
Official press release:
How can artists and musicians respond to an era when jackbooted thugs descend on U.S. cities, tech billionaires blithely deploy technologies calculated to wipe out the livelihoods of millions, and misinformation controls the rage of the masses? For Chicago’s grinding metallic hardcore misfits Nequient, the answer is to get even angrier and weirder.
Nequient’s second album Darker Than Death or Night was praised as, “a fusion of The Dillinger Escape Plan, Converge, and Combatwoundedveteran – if those bands were feral and sludgy,” by Decibel Magazine. The Heavyist called the album, “proper fuckin’ excellent weirdo hardcore,” and The Chicago Reader praised its, “menacing layers of hardcore, grindcore, thrash, and straight-up gnarly metal.” Invisible Oranges said, “Nequient is the soundtrack of our frustrations, this angry, chaotic sound of distrust, anger, and voicelessness now given a megaphone.” Since that release, the band has exhibited an undying dedication to the DIY way with a series of tours, including a run of dates alongside Psychosomatic and Black Mass.
Avarice is the quartet’s third full-length album, the culmination of more than a decade spent evolving their unique synthesis of extreme metal and hardcore in the depths of the aggressive music underground. Honing the adventurous songwriting and lyrical venom exhibited on previous releases like 2018’s Wolves At The Door and 2022’s Darker Than Death or Night, the unrelenting assault of Avarice blasts listeners out of complacency with withering screeds against the malignant forces ravaging our world.
Produced by Sanford Parker (Eyehategod, Yob, Wovenhand) and mastered by Collin Jordan (Harm’s Way, Windhand, Voivod), Avarice is the recorded debut of bassist/backing vocalist Aaron Roemig (Arbogast, Mine Collapse) who joins the band’s mainstays Chris Avgerin (drums), Patrick Conahan (guitar), and Jason Kolkey (vocals). The grotesquely intricate artwork by Arifullah Ali, design by Scott Shellhamer (American Heritage, Buried at Sea, Coffinworm), and guest contributions on synth from Kevin Kalay and Circa Tapes all contribute to an atmosphere of existential horror.
The album’s opening song “Mad King/Fool” arrives as the lead single for the record delivered through a video shot by Michael Rataj, edited by Patrick Conahan, with lighting by Danny Cardona. Vocalist Jason Kolley states with its release:
“‘Mad King/Fool’ synthesizes the eclectic elements that make up the Nequient sound into a focused burst of aggression. With our D-beat, grind, hardcore, mathcore, and thrash influences at the fore, it’s perhaps the closest we’ll get to a straightforward moshpit anthem. The lyrics attack the U.S. gerontocracy, particularly as embodied by our current president, and lean heavily on references to Shakespeare’s King Lear.”
Nequient’s video for “Mad King/Fool” is playing on YouTube below and the track is streaming everywhere linked HERE.
Avarice will be available on splatter vinyl, cassette, CD, and digital formats on April 24th. Find preorders through Nefarious Industries now at THIS LOCATION.
Nequient is booking tour dates surrounding the album’s release, having already announced a run of Midwest dates with Black Cross Hotel March 26th through 29th, and a hometown release show on the day of the album’s release. A Summer East Coast tour and more is also in the works.
Avarice track listing:
- “Mad King/Fool”
- “Christofascist Zombie Brigade”
- “Splenetic and Moribund”
- “Brain Worms”
- “Rintrah Roars”
- “Obsolete Machines”
- “Siege Mentality”
- “Enshittification”
- “Stochastic Terror”
3/26 Tolono, IL – Loose Cobra *
3/27 St. Louis, MO – Heavy Anchor *
3/28 Iowa City, IA – Frat House *
3/29 Omaha, NE – Reverb Lounge *
3/30 Minneapolis, MN – Memory Lanes *
4/24 Chicago, IL – Liar’s Club ^
* =w/ Black Cross Hotel
^ = Record Release Show w/ Something Is Waiting, Neverender