Photo by: Shock Narcotic/Housecore Records
Official press release:
My Flesh Is Afraid But I Am Not is the long-awaited second album from Shock Narcotic, featuring Jeff Tuttle (ex-The Dillinger Escape Plan), Adam Jarvis (Pig Destroyer), Shawn Knight (Child Bite), and Don Slater (ex-Battlecross), out today on Housecore Records!
Shock Narcotic released its I Have Seen The Future And It Doesn’t Work debut full-length in 2019. The record’s whirlwind of dystopian dread and existential nihilism reaped critical accolades, with Decibel Magazine championing its, “quick bursts of frustration…,” and, “effective combination of past and present into one bowl of bitterness.” Metal Injection lauded the record’s, “great mix of blinding grind and sludgy, distorted-to-hell riffing…,” while Astral Noize wrote, “The savagery on offer here has to be heard to be believed. Every chord, blastbeat, and hate filled vocal is there for one purpose only, to cause maximum carnage in the shortest amount of time.”
Of their latest release, Tuttle offers:
“Like the duality that the title suggests, My Flesh Is Afraid But I Am Not revels in incongruence and its creation was powered by the collision of opposing ideals. On the outside, the recording process was meticulous and driven by perfectionism, but on the inside, it was equally full of artistic doubt and performative insecurities. It represents confidence versus anxiety and depression. Pride and self-deprecation. It was a labor of love as much as it was an act of compulsion stemming from that musical voice in my head that can’t be turned off. In the end, all of that dissonance birthed a beast of a record. I truly feel like we made something special.”
Notes Slater:
“Another masterpiece squeezed and distilled from the heads of Jeff and Shawn. Wisened from the first album, the songs on this album are unique in their own way yet retain the chaotic nature that I love about Shock Narcotic. The fact these fine gentlemen allowed me to play my bass-ic abilities to their amalgamated insanity is nothing short of an honor. Incredibly proud of this record and the freedom it allowed.”
Adds Jarvis:
“When first asked to record the drums for the album, it blew my mind from the first listen. A bit different and ‘out of the box’ for me and had an absolute blast recording it. Diverse, intense, and a cohesive journey of madness is the best way to describe it.”
In celebration of today’s release, Shock Narcotic has released a video for “Oblivion Licker”.
Elaborates Knight:
“The song is about feeling like everything is falling apart before your very eyes, accepting your reality and finding the strength to push through. It’s a pretty bleak, self-deprecating tune… but the takeaway is that in the end you are in control of how you react to life’s challenges. Embrace the absurdity of life, stop being your own worst enemy, laugh to keep from crying. Instead of bowing down to an early death, give it a smooch and move on.”
Shock Narcotic’s My Flesh Is Afraid But I Am Not is available on CD, LP, cassette, and digital formats. Find physical orders at the Housecore webshop HERE and digital orders at Bandcamp HERE.
In addition to a hometown record release show on July 24th, Shock Narcotic will join The Heaviest Tour Of The Summer featuring Pantera and Amon Amarth for a handful of shows. See all confirmed dates below.
My Flesh is Afraid But I Am Not track listing:
- “To Kill For Nothing”
- “The Benefits of Being Worm Food”
- “Wound Absentia”
- “Trash For The Pile”
- “We Are The Enemy”
- “Oblivion Licker”
- “Standard Issue Apathy”
- “Slurring Delirium”
- “A Mass Suicide In Progress”
- “Waiting For Life To Begin”
- “Cling To The Familiar”
- “Burial”
- “A Furred Grave” (Meathook Seed cover)
Shock Narcotic Live:
7/24 Detroit, MI – Sanctuary (My Flesh Is Afraid But I Am Not LP Release Show)
7/25 Hershey, PA – Hersheypark Stadium *
7/26 Wantagh, NY – Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater *
7/28 Saratoga Springs, NY – Broadview Stage at SPAC *
7/29 Gilford, NH – BankNH Pavilion *
* = w/ Pantera, Amon Amarth