Decibel Magazine exclusively premiered a new Anatomy of Habit song this week. It's the title track, "Paired Sentinels." The first song, "Always Arriving," is still streaming on Bandcamp, where pre-orders are available. See more information below, including updated details about a special launch/listening event we have planned. Note: new address is 5706 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL 60606. It's in Andersonville and it's not far from Twelve Ten Gallery.+++++
As we get closer to the July 31 release date, I’ve been thinking a lot about the final track and title song of the new album, “Paired Sentinels.”
The phrase itself suggests two entities standing guard, watching over something - or perhaps just watching each other. In life and in relationships, there is a complex dynamic when you try to lift someone up, operating on pure instinct and desire. You become acutely aware of the other person, but that intense focus can quickly turn into a trap. The initial excitement gets shattered, replaced by a strange tension between wanting to be completely known and wanting to hide behind a mask.
It easily feeds into a fantasy of escape, a desire to run away from the reality of what you’ve built. You find yourself trapped in a beautiful semblance - a gorgeous surface that covers up how fragile the connection actually is.
When you get that deeply entangled with someone else, or even with a creative obsession, your identity starts to fracture. You become a separated self, losing track of who you were before the dynamic took over. The very things that brought you out of isolation end up creating a deeper wreckage, turning a shared space into a ruin of ruins.
Ultimately, the song is about that specific tipping point where a profound connection shifts from a source of strength into your greatest source of pain. It’s the weight of standing guard over something that has already collapsed.
It can’t hurt to look closer.
+++++If you're looking for t-shirts, please check out my Threadless site. I'm letting my on-hand stock of many designs sell out.
Along with Bandcamp, you can always buy vinyl, CDs, cassettes, etc., for my solo work and all my bands from my webstore - which is up-to-date with in-stock items. I also have any BloodLust! releases that are still available.
I've been adding more items to my Discogs store (all in-stock releases, select out of stock items, used items, rarities, etc.) and maintaining my eBay store (all of my in-stock releases).
As always, thanks for reading!
Mark Anatomy of Habit
Formed in Chicago in 2008, ANATOMY OF HABIT has been described as a hybrid of doom metal, post-punk, death-rock, early-industrial, psychedelic, and shoegaze. Although they’ve experienced significant membership changes since forming, today’s band, which includes Alex Latus (guitar), Isidro Reyes (metal percussion), Skyler Rowe (drums), Mark Solotroff (vocals), and Sam Wagster (bass + lap steel), represents their longest-standing and most prolific lineup. The band credits their treasured chemistry to their intertwining histories as friends and collaborators. Rowe and Latus have made music together since they were teenagers, growing up in Indianapolis’ heavy music scene, while playing in the band Still. Rowe and Wagster create sweeping, pastoral instrumental music together in Mute Duo. Reyes and Solotroff are old friends who’ve played together for many years and they continue to record and perform in both BLOODYMINDED and The Fortieth Day. This deep connective tissue contributes to what the band describes as consistently effortless writing sessions and innately unified live performances.
Decibel Magazine premieres "Paired Sentinels" (song)
https://www.decibelmagazine.com/2026/07/15/track-premiere-anatomy-of-a-habit-paired-sentinels/
"a doomy, gothic dirge that feels almost meditational" — Adem Tepedelen
Remezcla
This Chicago outfit demonstrates a special talent for communicating a sense of desolation in a very accurate, immersive, and intense way, blurring the lines between different genres to deliver a pummeling yet elegant sound. “Paired Sentinels” sits somewhere between doom metal, industrial, post-rock, ritualistic music, and Swans-like atmospheric rock music, harnessing the best parts of these genres into something unique. The track builds from solemn, hypnotic verses where guitar lines and chiming metal percussion create an air of desolation before a heavy, rocking riff takes over, and a stark, soundtrack-like backing resolves the tension with evocative restraint. Anatomy of Habit creates moments rather than songs, and “Paired Sentinels” is a minimalist epic that sounds like few things out there. — Marcos Hassan
https://remezcla.com/lists/music/20-new-songs-to-listen-to-this-week-from-los-primos-del-este-to-roro/
Subsensor
"ANATOMY OF HABIT creates an explosive mix of post-punk, doom metal, industrial, noise-rock, and shoegaze. “Paired Sentinels” is the title track and second single anticipating their fifth album, *Paired Sentinels* , featuring darker themes with intense passages reminiscent of Swans. There's immense anticipation here already."
https://subsensor.substack.com/p/subsensor-17jul-this-lonely-crowd
Anatomy of Habit
"Paired Sentinels"
LP + 7-inch / CD / Cassette / Digital
Pre-order here:
https://anatomyofhabit.bandcamp.com/album/paired-sentinels
Read the announcement from EarsplitPR here
Album Tracklist:
1. Always Arriving
2. Conditions for Freedom
3. The Importance of Risk
4. Paired Sentinels
7-Inch Tracklist (exclusive to LP version):
1. Sentinel (One)
2. Sentinel (Two)
Twelve Ten Gallery is pleased to host a record release event celebrating Paired Sentinels, the fifth full-length album by Anatomy of Habit, on Saturday, July 18, 2026, from 6:00–9:00 PM.
Written and recorded by Alex Latus, Isidro Reyes, Skyler Rowe, Mark Solotroff, and Sam Wagster, Paired Sentinels issues from the band's longest-standing lineup. Throughout the album, in both formal expression and lyrical content, recurring images of complexity/compression, cause/conditions, possibility/inscription, desire/identity, appear as paired conditions that delimit experience while never exhausting it. Coupled with the group's agonistic treatment of rhythm and noise, the album demonstrates the tension between the object of the represented and representation, and the forms through which this excessive lack is expressed and negotiated.
The evening will begin with a conversation between Anatomy of Habit vocalist, lyricist, and co-founder Mark Solotroff and Twelve Ten Gallery Director Joshua Johnson, reflecting on the band's nearly two-decade history and the approach. The discussion will consider the conceptual and creative processes, influences, and collaborations that have shaped the group's practice.
Following the conversation, attendees will be invited to a listening session featuring selections from Paired Sentinels and the band's catalog, offering an opportunity to engage with Anatomy of Habit's music through sustained listening. A public Q&A and informal reception will follow.
Twelve Ten Gallery
NEW EVENT LOCATION:
5706 N. Clark St.
Chicago, IL 60660https://twelvetengallery.com/news/7-1-2026
+++++Website
Bandcamp
Instagram
Facebook
Spotify
Apple Music
BLOODYMINDED
BLOODYMINDED is a heavy electronic band, formed in New York, in 1995, after the dissolution of the pioneering American post- industrial noise group Intrinsic Action, founded by Mark Solotroff in Chicago, in 1984. BLOODYMINDED’s live shows are exceptionally energetic and are characterized by physical engagement, layers of abrasive analog synthesizer, aggressive vocals, and abundant feedback.
Recording work is back on and we're testing some mixes of the ten in-progress tracks. We have more synth to add and then we'll wrap it up with vocal sessions.
https://bloodyminded.threadless.com/designs/bloodyminded-synths-up-2024-design/
+++++Bandcamp
Threadless
Instagram
Facebook
Spotify
Apple Music
Ensemble Sacrés Garçons
Ensemble Sacrés Garçons is a post-industrial band split between Milan and Chicago and composed of Paolo L. Bandera, Andrea Chiaravalli, and Mark Solotroff. The three members are connected to numerous groups including Sigillum S, Sshe Retina Stimulants, The Sodality, Iugula-Thor, BLOODYMINDED, Intrinsic Action, Anatomy of Habit, The Fortieth Day, etc.
 
For US orders, please visit: https://ensemblesacresgarcons.bandcamp.com/
For EU orders, please visit: https://paololbandera.bandcamp.com/
Rest of world based on proximity to USA/Italy
No shows currently booked.
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The Fortieth Day
The Fortieth Day is the duo of Isidro Reyes and Mark Solotroff, both key players in the heavy-electronics outfit BLOODYMINDED, a band known for its aggressive and confrontational live shows. In The Fortieth Day, Reyes and Solotroff utilize guitar, bass, drum machine, and analog synthesizer to create epic, blackened, psychedelic-industrial drone soundscapes.
All of our albums, dating back to 2006, are available on all major streaming platforms.
A limited number of LPs, CDs, cassettes, and shirts can be found on our Bandcamp page.
There are also shirt designs available on Threadless.
No shows currently booked.
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Bandcamp
Threadless
Spotify
Apple Music
Intrinsic Action
Intrinsic Action was an early American power-electronics band founded by Mark Solotroff in 1984.
Intrinsic Action albums and archival releases, dating back to 1984, are available to stream on all major platforms.
CDs and shirts can be found on our Bandcamp page.
There are numerous shirt designs exclusive to Threadless.
+++++Bandcamp
Threadless
Spotify
Apple Music
Mark Solotroff
Mark Solotroff formed the band Intrinsic Action in 1984 and he's a founding member of Anatomy Of Habit and BLOODYMINDED. His other bands include The Fortieth Day, A Vague Disquiet, Ensemble Sacrés Garçons, The Mercury Impulse, and Nightmares. He recorded 100 cassettes of analog synth music under the name Super Eight Loop and he releases synth-based and feedback system music under his own name.
 On Saturday, August 15th, I’ll be participating in Relative Intensity Noise, an immersive durational performance and sound art series at Elastic Arts.
This is not a traditional show. There are no openers, no headliners, and no set times. Instead, all six artists will perform simultaneously and continuously for the entire two hours, sharing the floor directly with the audience. I’ll be playing synth-based music throughout the night, providing a continuous sonic landscape while the other performers and movers execute their pieces. There is no stage and no seating, just an integrated, shared space where you are free to move, linger, and interact as the sound unfolds.
The organizer, Rin Peisert, described the vibe of these events as a “hyperreal goth rave haunted house dark colorful dungeon surreal vivid playground doom.”
The action starts before the doors even open. Come get lost in it.
The Artists:
Cynthia Post Hunt
Sungjae Lee
Carlos Salazar-Lermont
Joseph Ravens
Nikki Telegan
Mark Solotroff
Saturday, August 15th
8:30 PM – 10:30 PM (Performance starts promptly)
Elastic Arts (3429 W Diversey Ave, Chicago)https://elasticarts.org/events/relative-intensity-noise-8-15-26Note: This event features very low light, heavy fog, colored lights, loud sounds, and occasional strobe effects. The venue is on the second floor and accessible by stairs only.
I recently completed an interview conducted by Matthew Samways for Discipline Mag. I think that Matthew brought some great questions to the conversation. You can read it here:
https://disciplinemag.com/interviews/interview-with-mark-solotroff/
My next album is in-progress...
Mark Solotroff
"In Search of Total Placelessness"
CD/Digital
Bandcamp: https://marksolotroff.bandcamp.com/album/in-search-of-total-placelessness
Webstore: https://bloodshop.bigcartel.com/product/mark-solotroff-in-search-of-total-placelessness-cd
My contemporary recordings are available on all major streaming platforms. CDs, cassettes, and shirts can be found on my Bandcamp page. There are numerous shirt designs available on Threadless.
Bandcamp
Threadless
Spotify
Apple Music
Soundcloud
The Mercury Impulse
The Mercury Impulse was created in 2024 by JR Robinson and Mark Solotroff. Robinson is well known for Wrekmeister Harmonies and Solotroff is best known for Anatomy of Habit and BLOODYMINDED.
Our debut album is available on CD and it's available on all major streaming platforms.
JR and I are slowly continuing to work on tracks for our next album.
No shows currently booked.
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Nightmares
Dark ambient trio, formed in 2009 by Jonathan Canady (Dead World, Deathpile, Angel of Decay), David Reed (Envenomist, Luasa Raelon, Imvixor), and Mark Solotroff (Anatomy of Habit, BLOODYMINDED, Instrinsic Action)
"Mouth" T-shirts are available via Bandcamp
https://synthnightmares.bandcamp.com/merch/nightmares-mouth-t-shirt
Band inactive.
No shows currently booked.
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The Sodality
Originally created in 1984 by Andrea Cernotto and Pierpaolo Zoppo, The Sodality bloomed under Andrea‘s guidance across seminal works in the 80's and 90's. The project was revived by original members Paolo Bandera and Eraldo Bernocchi for a 2014 concert in Rome, with Mark Solotroff on vocals, and again in 2023, for a live show in Dresden, and new recordings with that line-up, along with founding member Andrea Cernotto.
I have copies of our "Unburdened Underpass" CD via my webstore.
All of The Sodality's albums and singles - including remastered versions of all older releases - are available via Bandcamp.
No shows currently booked.
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