Premiere: Blasted Heath - “Ape”
6/29/22 | J. Proust
Headquartered in Indianapolis, the four-piece black/thrash operation Blasted Heath have apparently worked for some time in clandestine solitude constructing a most ambitious and frighteningly realized full-length. With Vela, they seem to have broken some sacred and elder seal, unleashing a hitherto unknown hybrid into our world.
According to Blasted Heath’s guitarist/vocalist Kyle Schumaker, Blasted Heath formed like a dark-half on the side of their former band. That band, a sludge band called Crown Hill Vulture, fell victim to the same pandemic that seemed to spawn both Blasted Heath’s sound and existence. Taking their name from Lovecraft’s “The Colour Out of Space,” a story about a spaceborne blight wreaking havoc on a small countryside town, it’s fitting that the quartet would find prosperity at such a time as the ongoing pandemic.
Schumacher tells us “a persistent theme” throughout his band’s debut album is humanity’s insignificance. Exhibited in tonight’s track premiere, this idea fills the band with ire and spite, fueling their seemingly rocket-powered attack on the modern scene. —That’s not to say Blasted Heath are unchecked speed and monochromatic scenery. On the contrary, the Indianpolis-based quartet explore unknown spaces and hurtle through them at dynamic speeds. Within tonight’s track premiere alone you will be disappeared however briefly into transmundane dimensions and at varying speeds.
“‘Ape’ represents a lot of my misanthropic feelings,” says Schumaker. “Driven by a lot of current issues and events, I look around at humanity in general and I’m filled with disgust. I look to the optimistic future you see in something like the Star Trek universe and I’m disappointed how far, far away from that we are as a species."
Vela comes out Friday, August 12 from house of dark worship Wise Blood Records. Get Vela on digital, tape, CD and vinyl formats.
