ANATOMY OF HABIT: Invisible Oranges Premieres “Black Openings”

Repost from EarsplitPR

ANATOMY OF HABIT: Invisible Oranges Premieres “Black Openings” From Experimental Post-Punk/Doom Collective; LP Nears Release + Band To Play Record Release Show This Saturday

Invisible Oranges is currently streaming “Black Openings” from long-running experimental post-punk/doom collective ANATOMY OF HABIT. The track comes by way of the band’s fourth full-length of the same name, set to drop February 24th.

Elaborates vocalist Mark Solotroff, “‘Black Openings’ is the opening song, as well as the title track, of our new album. It could easily be a closing track, as its journey towards obliteration takes some of my more recent writing to a dreadful new space. This location is a terminus point. It’s a literal dead end. It’s a black hole. When we were composing the song in our practice space, I had a very cinematic image in mind of a life passing by in both forward and reverse order and crossing or maybe even crossfading, along the way. I wanted the song to progress to a point where it becomes a beckoning aperture, like a great mouth, which opens up and swallows you as you float into it. You’re in control of this trajectory, though. You made the decision. You are bound to the consequences. If it’s not already obvious to people who know our music, I have a thing for these long pieces that take up one side of a record. While the song ‘Then Window’ from Ciphers + Axioms blasts out into the atmosphere at the halfway point, this storyline resolves itself in a much different manner. The song starts out calmer, as the first section builds its way towards that crossfade, an undulating impressionistic instrumental segment, which then gives way to a mounting slab of colossal substance. In a live setting the song can go on and on and on. It can last as long as I last. It expires when I expire.”

Adds Invisible Oranges, “It’s power that truly defines the ANATOMY OF HABIT sound across time and personnel changes, and ‘Black Openings’’ own muscular sound, appended by junk percussionist Isidro Reyes’ rhythmic counterpoint with Rowe’s heavy pulsing and guitarist Alex Latus’ slack-tuned atmospheres, truly shines as one of Chicago’s finest active live acts.”

Stream ANATOMY OF HABIT’s “Black Openings” HERE.

Thematically, Black Openings continues to elaborate on Solotroff’s expressions of love and loss, the abstracted and vanishing self, and complexities within the creative process. It further explores the concept of obliteration, and it propels the idea to a dreadful new terminus point. The concept of the inner drive that keeps pushing a person forward, which Solotroff explored on Even If It Takes A Lifetime takes on a new meaning here, when the harrowing black hole of the title track opens up and swallows you.

Black Openings was recorded with Sanford Parker, who has been working with the band in the studio for over a decade, including on their 2014 Relapse Records-issued Ciphers + Axioms. Parker also handled mixing duties while Collin Jordan (Boiler Room Mastering) took care of mastering.

Black Openings, which comes adorned in the artwork of Solotroff, will be released on CD, LP, cassette, and digitally. Find preorders at THIS LOCATION where first single, “Breathing Through Bones,” can be streamed.

ANATOMY OF HABIT will celebrate the release of Black Openings with a record release show this Saturday, February 11th at Cobra Lounge in Chicago with additional performances to be announced in the weeks to come.

ANATOMY OF HABIT:
2/11/2023 Cobra Lounge – Chicago, IL * Record Release Show w/ Kill Scenes, Twice Dark [tickets]

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.

“…a long, lovely journey that you can settle into, trusting that you’ll be alternately unsettled, soothed, creeped out, pummeled, and exalted… Sheets of shimmering guitars appear like torrential rains, giving way to a quiet interlude and a sinister sense of ritual catharsis…” – The Chicago Reader

ANATOMY OF HABIT:
Alex Latus – guitar
Isidro Reyes – metal percussion
Skyler Rowe – drums, vibraphone
Mark Solotroff – vocals, analog synth
Sam Wagster – bass, lap steel, piano, keyboard

Anatomy of Habit announce new album

 

(Re-posting from Earsplit) ANATOMY OF HABIT: Chicago Experimental Post-Punk/Doom Collective To Release Even If It Takes A Lifetime Full-Length December 10th; New Track Streaming At Invisible Oranges + Preorders Available Posted on “…apocalyptically heavy and thoughtfully complex…” – Invisible Oranges Chicago-based experimental post-punk/doom metal collective ANATOMY OF HABIT is excited to announce their third album, Even If It Takes A Lifetime, set for release on December 10th, 2021. This will be the first of two new albums ready to be unveiled to the public. ANATOMY OF HABIT – Alex Latus (guitar), Isidro Reyes (metal percussion), Skyler Rowe (drums), Mark Solotroff (vocals), and Sam Wagster (bass + lap steel) — recorded both offerings with Sanford Parker, shortly before the pandemic, with mixing (by Parker) and mastering (by Collin Jordan) carried out during the long shutdown. Along with the band’s core instrumentation, listeners will hear piano, organ, analog synth, and vibraphone woven into the songs. Even If It Takes A Lifetime is comprised of three tracks. Opener “A Marginal World” is the shortest song that the band has ever released, clocking in at under seven-minutes, and showing a greater urgency than often seen from ANATOMY OF HABIT. Lyrically, it describes a distinctive bond between two people that ends with a sudden rupture. Things begin to stretch out with “Your Pure Breath,” a 14-minute song that ebbs and flows between calmer, slower passages and heavier sections that propel the listener into a more frenzied pace. The album then shifts gears, as the long, atmospheric beginning of “Now We Finally Know Ourselves” builds into a dense, psychedelic soundscape, from which the band emerges with their more familiar play with contrast, over the song’s 19-minutes. Thematically, the album continues band leader Solotroff’s reflections on love and loss, the creative process, the abstracted and vanishing self, and a sense of absolute obliteration. The potentially nostalgic album title may allude to a sense of hope and may indicate that all is not lost, or at least it may point to an inner drive to keep pushing forward. In advance of the record’s release, today the band debuts opening psalm, “A Marginal World,” now playing at Invisible Oranges. Elaborates SOLOTROFF, “When you release a new album, you never really think to yourself, ‘It’s going to be seven years until the next one comes out,’ but that’s what happened. After Ciphers + Axioms was released in late 2014, life happened, along with all of the things that involves, both good and bad. Add a global pandemic to the mix, to complicate things even further. So, we decided to take things into our own hands and get this album out into the world before another year or two suddenly passed us by. ‘A Marginal World’ kicks off the album. It’s the shortest song that we’ve ever written and it perfectly encapsulates some of the things that were absorbed into the black hole of these past several years, even if it only makes sense to me, or to us, or to a very small circle of friends outside of the band. My bandmates – my friends – and I are extremely happy that Even If It Takes A Lifetime is finally seeing the light of day and we hope that it clicks with some people out there, whether it’s the music, the lyrics, or the mood.” Adds Invisible Oranges, “On the band’s new album Even If It Takes A Lifetime, their first in seven years, it’s like nothing changed. Still apocalyptically heavy and thoughtfully complex, ANATOMY OF HABIT‘s lost time simply vanished. It’s 2013 again and I’m watching ANATOMY OF HABIT at the Cobra Lounge, completely leveling the place, my friends and I all damaging our necks and brains and minds to the swirling mass of volume.” Read more and stream ANATOMY OF HABIT’s “A Marginal World” at THIS LOCATION. Even If It Takes A Lifetime will be released on CD, handsomely packaged in a six-panel digipak designed by Jonathan Canady, a longtime creative associate of the band. A cassette version will also be released, with light blue shells and a four-panel insert. The packaging for all formats will incorporate a series of lush, corporeal cyanotypes by New York-based artist Alexandra Lerman, a close friend of Solotroff. A vinyl edition will follow at a later date. Find preorders at THIS LOCATION. Even If It Takes A Lifetime Track Listing: A Marginal World Your Pure Breath Now We Finally Know Ourselves ANATOMY OF HABIT will celebrate Even If It Takes A Lifetime with a record release show December 8th at The Empty Bottle with additional performances to be announced in the weeks to come. ANATOMY OF HABIT: 12/08/2021 The Empty Bottle – Chicago, IL * record release show w/ Human Impact, Child Bite [info] ANATOMY OF HABIT formed in Chicago in October 2008. Although the band has experienced significant changes since forming, this is their longest-standing and most prolific lineup. It’s no wonder that they’ve gelled the way they have. Rowe and Latus have known each other since they were teenagers, growing up in Indianapolis’ heavy music scene and playing together in the band Still. Rowe and Wagster have been creating a strong body of work together in the pastoral instrumental Mute Duo. Reyes and Solotroff are old friends who’ve played together in both BLOODYMINDED and The Fortieth Day, for many years. This deep connective tissue has contributed to consistently effortless writing sessions and solidly fused live performances. The band incorporates elements of doom metal, post-punk, death-rock, early-industrial, psychedelic, and shoegaze. The band’s last album, Ciphers + Axioms, was released by Relapse Records. Once Even If It Takes A Lifetime completes its full cycle, the band intend to follow up with their next album, Black Openings. ANATOMY OF HABIT: Alex Latus – guitar Isidro Reyes – metal percussion Skyler Rowe – drums, vibraphone Mark Solotroff – vocals, analog synth Sam Wagster – bass, lap steel, piano, keyboard http://anatomyofhabit.com http://anatomyofhabit.bandcamp.com http://www.instagram.com/anatomyofhabit htts://www.facebook.com/anatomyofhabit/

Wrekmeister Harmonies news

Two new Wrekmeister Harmonies items:

Invisible Oranges has a preview of the forthcoming album on Thrill Jockey that I participated in: 

http://www.invisibleoranges.com/2013/05/wrekmeister-harmonies-ready-new-lp/

Tickets are now on sale for a very special performance that I will be part of on June 22:

http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=3578264&REFERRAL_ID=twet110900

Invisible Oranges Recap with Anatomy of Habit

Anatomy of Habit also made our way onto the Invisible Oranges year-end list, too...granted, the supplemental list... http://www.invisibleoranges.com/2012/12/top-50-albums-of-2012-75-to-51/

Invisible Oranges on Wrekmeister Harmonies

Coverage of the recent MCA event on the Invisible Oranges site (with thanks to Carmelo Española!):
http://www.invisibleoranges.com/2012/01/live-report-wrekmeister-harmonies-at-museum-of-contemporary-art-chicago/