Description
This is a pre-order. It will ship on or around 9/25/26
They live! If summer's endless bout of heatwaves seems an odd setting for a new Altar Of Eden record, maybe consider that the fast-accelerating destruction of life on Earth is an appropriate setting for more deathrock. The eagle-eyed among you might recognize guitarist Ben Redman from recent lineups of symphonic noiseniks And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, while vocalist Albert Efraim has been making a thrillingly unholy racket with Texan hardcore faves like the Creamers and Nosferatu -- and they both played together in gothed-out sensations Altar Duata before that band's untimely demise. Altar Of Eden have thus far produced two mighty LPs of smartly chilling post-punk for Drunken Sailor, but now they return with a sequel to their debut: The Grotto Screams II. In keeping with their previous offerings, it's superb. Redman's guitar is brittle and minimal, but lurches into eardrum-lacerating strafes of deafening, brutal noise without warning, while Jake Cloud brings driving, pulsating basslines to the fore, dripping with the influence of Killing Joke's Youth as they hold it all together somehow. Efraim intones his lyrics solemnly over the top, drenched in reverb and tucked deep into the mix; as much a texture as a means of delivering hooks. He's cited the poetry of Jean-Pierre Duprey and Rene Daumal as influences in the past, and tracks like "The Erasure" and "Light And Shade" certainly contain their own suffocating sense of surrealism and obfuscated reality. It all builds to the epic finale of closing track "The Moon," which handles their signature tricks in moodily grandiose fashion -- a bleakly compelling version of post-punk that sears and soars even as it chills the heart.
Cancellations:
Because many payment processors no longer return transaction fees to sellers on cancelled orders, any orders or pre-orders that are canceled by the customer before shipment will be assessed a 5% cancellation fee.
Q: How do limited edition and exclusive releases work?
Limited and exclusive items are fulfilled in the order received and may be subject to availability. If we’re unable to fulfill your order, you’ll receive a full refund.
Q: When will my pre-order ship?
Pre-orders ship on or around the official release date. If your order includes both pre-order and in-stock items, everything will ship together once all items are available. All orders are charged at the time of purchase.
