Blacklist - Afterworld (2022)

Blacklist is an atmospheric modern rock band whose music has been described as "anthemic" (The Guardian), "darkly erotic, strangely sensual" (The Village Voice) and "a much-needed anomaly in NYC's music scene" (Other Music NYC). Starting out as the flagship band of artist Pieter Schoolwerth's Wierd Records imprint, their trademark sound is dense and dark, incorporating elements of shoegaze and heavy metal with coldwave. The members often cite influences like My Bloody Valentine and Motörhead alongside bands like Comsat Angels, Killing Joke, and The Sound, while singer Joshua Strachan's (Vaura) lyrics split the difference between the anthemic manifestos of Manic Street Preachers and Sisters of Mercy's "Vision Thing." Blacklist's debut LP, Midnight of the Century - produced by Ed Buller (Suede, Pulp) - was released in 2009. The album's main focus was a rejection of what Strachan described as a fear of looming new forms of fascism aided by the rise of various political and religious dogmas. After a long hiatus, the band returned in summer of 2020 with the "Disorder" single, inspired by the racial justice protests in the United States, and the B-Side "No Secret Islands" which takes aim at the dystopian fantasies of tech billionaires. In April of 2022 "The Final Resistance" was announced as the lead single from an upcoming LP, "Afterworld," due to be released in late autumn via Profound Lore Records. Post-punk.com called it a "captivating and dense explosion of coldwave and unfettered emotion," and Brooklyn Vegan said it "picks up where the band left off with widescreen scope and a call-to-arms chorus." The album, produced by Strachan and mixed by Sanford Parker (Darkthrone, Yob, BLOODYMINDED) explores the possible meanings of love in a time of political and environmental collapse.