Void
by SCALER
©ough©ool
©ough©ool
Such an emersive coaster of a ride , dark soundscapes with crepuscular pins of light breaking through
Favorite track: Cloak & Dagger.
Darknight
Darknight
Amazing electronica and stunning noise merged with dark bass lines and industrial guitars. Void really packs a punch, the synth sounds are out of this world making SCALPING one of the coolest bands in metal. There's influential parts in the songs from bands like Massive Attack, The Prodigy.
Favorite track: Tether (feat. DÆMON).
graham63
graham63
Love this new album by SCALPING it’s so versatile and includes my favorite bass lines and keyboard sounds and distortion too! Masterpiece from Bristol 😎
Favorite track: Over The Walls.
Camxcjb
vnderwxrld
jhweller
Jfiv3
Mas_n
mattia81
tmhglnd
Michael Gosney
Mancvso
Allison Clift-Jennings
Scott Butler
Michaël Ball
Simon Ghahary
Olento™
Mark Swan
rhuarib
yamcha4
AvantWalrus
Michael Textbeak
David Lakatos
mark evans
B08 rpldng
parmaviolets
superbloke
Christopher D Stacey
circuital
Erik Gibbels
D-.
Digital Decay
Jettenbach
Gareth Dyton / DJ Chunky
iridescent_cicada
amccalman
Daniel Arthur
minorlight
KHORUMI
jenakemi
paulhood76
nininininananana
althrioan
Matthew Barry
funky_nomad
jakeley
fuall
IvánDB
AL2
njbarmstrong
michael
perfect dissonance
nunyabeezwax
endirico
Eric Bashirian
Gugai
m9dcm00
Jason O
Icehaus
deadmanjones
junkazamas
drew wingate
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Record/Vinyl + Digital AlbumBleep - #6 Album of the Year
Rough Trade - Best Albums of the Year
Resident Brighton - Best Albums of the Year
Bandcamp - Album of the Day
Norman Records - Album of the Week
#2 Official Dance Albums Chart
Amazing Radio - Album of the Week
Loud & Quiet - 8/10
Pitchfork - 6.8/10
Louder Than War - 8/10
Gigwise - 8/10
The Line of Best Fit - 8/10
Rolling Stone - 'Must Listen'
"Bristol's next national breakthrough" - The Guardian
Includes unlimited streaming of Void via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.ships out within 3 daysPurchasable with gift card£20 GBP or more
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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital AlbumCD
Includes unlimited streaming of Void via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.ships out within 3 daysPurchasable with gift card£10 GBP or more
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Streaming + DownloadIncludes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.Purchasable with gift card
£7 GBP or more
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Record/Vinyl + Digital AlbumIncludes unlimited streaming of Void via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.ships out within 3 daysPurchasable with gift card
£30 GBP or more
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Record/Vinyl + Digital AlbumIncludes unlimited streaming of Void via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.ships out within 3 daysPurchasable with gift card
£30 GBP or more
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Record/Vinyl + Digital AlbumIncludes unlimited streaming of Void via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.ships out within 3 daysPurchasable with gift card
£15 GBP or more
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Record/Vinyl + Digital AlbumIncludes unlimited streaming of Void via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.ships out within 3 daysPurchasable with gift card
£25 GBP or more
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Cassette + Digital AlbumCassette
Includes unlimited streaming of Void via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.ships out within 3 daysPurchasable with gift card£10 GBP or more
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1. |
Blood Club
02:44
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2. |
Caller Unknown
02:48
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3. |
Tether (feat. DÆMON)
04:07
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Scalping - Tether
Vocals and lyrics by DÆMON
I can’t take the safe route I’m always out the way
I can’t take the low route I got the right of way
I never take the short route but I cannot complain
I had to knock your lights out to see a brighter day
I just took the pain out when I went on a date
I just took the weight off my back and went away
Had to block the signal I’ve got the faraday
Had to knock the lights out to see a brighter day
He came round my way, ran out, he came and he saw
N**** start to violate, got hit he’s blaming his guard
In a winter climate get wet, it rains and it pours
In the valley of death, get split get cut with the saw
Held those back, shed a tear
On my better days I knew I’d make it out from here
All sounds nice, but I could not relate
Got the door closed in my face and I knocked anyways
Close door frames and I didn’t know but it could go both ways
Cut me loose and now I’m all riled up
Cut me loose and now I’m all tied up
All out, all out yeah there's no holds barred
Life in the ring has left me so so sad
She couldn’t find it, didn’t know what was lost
Trying to hold it but it’s falling apart
You still won’t let it out
Let it out
The shiver, tremble in the cold, the stutter
The step on a pavement stone I wonder,
If they would ever take it wrong I wonder
The SS tank they make through the thunder
The rain, the piss, the spit in your throat, the dribble
The blood, the wine, revenge comes to those who hate it
A glimmer of hope, like dew as it beads on a pipe in
Digital Breeze, refreshing the page we tether
From skinning the scalps, two courses and fine wine, villa in the alps
Get your hand out your mouth
Get your hand out your mouth
Still walking a fine line, I’m clearing you out
From skinning the scalps, two courses and fine wine, get your hand out your mouth
Take me to places I never have been to before
On a spot on the map that ain’t familiar
Took it upon myself to fill up my lungs,
Cause the feelings inside of me getting me way too involved
The feelings inside of me getting me over involved
Weight on my back what carries me blind through the fold
Took it upon myself to fill up my lungs
Cause the feelings inside of me getting me way too involved
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4. |
Silhouettes
03:26
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5. |
Cloak & Dagger
04:10
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6. |
Flashforward
04:18
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7. |
Desire
04:54
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8. |
Over The Walls
04:48
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9. |
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Scalping - Remain in Stasis
Vocals and lyrics by Grove
Time warps fast, continuum
Feel and move in this state of catharsis
This moment’s singular, feel as it passes
Feel and move in this state of catharsis
This moment’s singular, feel as it passes
Caught in the bliss of which I cherish
And in the throes of which I’d rather forget
Caught in the jaws of a menace
Mixed with the sanctuary of shedding regret
Is this the duality of our existence?
Or is there more?
I’ll shed the skin and go the distance
Sharp as I am hazy
Twists and turns of the maze
Sane as I am crazy
Morph as much as I remain in stasis
(x2)
Going, going
Keep it going
(x2)
I will not forget these trespasses,
You won’t forgive yourself
(x5)
You won’t forgive yourself
I know nothing yet, and everything
I know nothing yet, and everything
I know nothing yet, and everything
In the throes of which I’d rather forget
I know nothing yet, and everything
With the sanctuary of shedding regre
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about
Based in Bristol, UK, SCALER are a four-piece band: Isaac Jones on drums, James Rushforth on bass guitar, Nick Berthoud on guitar and Alex Hill on electronics. For the last five years, SCALER have been writing, recording and performing music together, trying to answer the question that guides their work; “How can a band bridge the gap between live guitar music and live electronic music?”
Starting in 2017, the band played live for two years, almost exclusively in Bristol, before releasing any music. Through their time in other bands, they hooked up with promoters they trusted and focused on doing fewer shows with better results. After a couple of years, Nick Berthoud was brought in, on guitar; a “fan first, member second” who was impressed by the developing live show and attuned to their conceptual frustration.
“As a live band, your entire output is dependent on your equipment, but guitar music is historically always so far behind electronic music, and how that technology and the language around it can change the music itself”, says Rushforth. “The ideas that people try to push with guitar band technology are naturally limited. We’re taking elements of guitar culture, like distortion and smearing, and inserting them into the technology and language of electronic music. We’d seen bands try to do this before, but it always felt too ‘arty’, happy, or unstructured. We wanted to do it but make it heavy, and create focused, structured songs.”
By sourcing band-centred equipment that pushes boundaries, they incorporate bass-amplifying techno elements into their repertoire. Rushforth’s bass guitar set-up comes with two octave pedals, subharmonic generators and two amps – “effectively bringing a soundsystem around with us” – to play basslines “one or two octaves lower” than a bass guitar traditionally can. Berthoud’s guitar is sidechained from Jones’s kick drum; “which everyone’s done in the studio for decades, but we found it difficult to find a single guitar pedal that would allow us to do it at gigs”, Berthoud says.
Their curiosity and resourcefulness has paid off. Since forming, SCALER have performed across the UK and Europe, at festivals such as Glastonbury, Visions, Green Man, Simple Things, Pitchfork Festival and End of the Road, and as support for Black Midi and Squarepusher. Live, the effect is immense. SCALER play continuously for the duration of their sets, generating a storm of metal-and-techno through a rising beats-per-minute count; starting between 80-90bpm, ticking gradually up to 140bpm – and then, for maximum dynamic impact, dropping to 70bpm and playing in half-time.
In the heat and darkness, it’s a swarm of low-end frequencies and ripping guitars, somewhere between Black Sabbath-esque psychedelica and The Bug’s sub-bass headfuckery. “Within each section of each song, we can push and pull it,” says Hill. “We have a setlist, and once we start playing we don’t stop…. we move through the various songs and tempos fairly seamlessly, and try to emulate the feel of watching a DJ.”
As the coronavirus pandemic stopped SCALER from playing together for over two years, their songwriting was transformed into a series of retro-fitting techniques that would leave most bands lost in an organisational fog. Their debut album, “Void”, out on Houndstooth this April, necessarily became a mammoth undertaking. “We wrote this whole album without playing a single note of it together,” says Hill.
“We produced all of the songs using the computer – as a blend of recordings and samples of our live drums, guitars and drum machines into production software – and then translated it all back into a live performance. And although there are structured songs on the record, there’s no explicit focus on exactly recreating those songs live, either,” he continues. “Everything is adapted to work into a set that flows well. A lot of album parts are rewritten during rehearsals for the good of the live set as a whole.”
On “Void”, SCALER are heavy metal in 4D; the sound is moody, distorted and rhythmic, but the use of electronic techniques gives the finer details room to breathe. Their early lust for “all loudness, no nuance” has cooled, too, making more space for experimentation. Tracks such as “Tether”, featuring Oakland rapper DÆMON, puts a modern, metal twist on Bristolian trip-hop, whereas album closer “Remain in Statis” features fast-rising artist Grove, a Bristol-based rapper and self-professed metalhead whose commanding presence sets the track alight. These songs also mark an additional new chapter for the band with the addition of vocals for the first time.
Starting in 2017, the band played live for two years, almost exclusively in Bristol, before releasing any music. Through their time in other bands, they hooked up with promoters they trusted and focused on doing fewer shows with better results. After a couple of years, Nick Berthoud was brought in, on guitar; a “fan first, member second” who was impressed by the developing live show and attuned to their conceptual frustration.
“As a live band, your entire output is dependent on your equipment, but guitar music is historically always so far behind electronic music, and how that technology and the language around it can change the music itself”, says Rushforth. “The ideas that people try to push with guitar band technology are naturally limited. We’re taking elements of guitar culture, like distortion and smearing, and inserting them into the technology and language of electronic music. We’d seen bands try to do this before, but it always felt too ‘arty’, happy, or unstructured. We wanted to do it but make it heavy, and create focused, structured songs.”
By sourcing band-centred equipment that pushes boundaries, they incorporate bass-amplifying techno elements into their repertoire. Rushforth’s bass guitar set-up comes with two octave pedals, subharmonic generators and two amps – “effectively bringing a soundsystem around with us” – to play basslines “one or two octaves lower” than a bass guitar traditionally can. Berthoud’s guitar is sidechained from Jones’s kick drum; “which everyone’s done in the studio for decades, but we found it difficult to find a single guitar pedal that would allow us to do it at gigs”, Berthoud says.
Their curiosity and resourcefulness has paid off. Since forming, SCALER have performed across the UK and Europe, at festivals such as Glastonbury, Visions, Green Man, Simple Things, Pitchfork Festival and End of the Road, and as support for Black Midi and Squarepusher. Live, the effect is immense. SCALER play continuously for the duration of their sets, generating a storm of metal-and-techno through a rising beats-per-minute count; starting between 80-90bpm, ticking gradually up to 140bpm – and then, for maximum dynamic impact, dropping to 70bpm and playing in half-time.
In the heat and darkness, it’s a swarm of low-end frequencies and ripping guitars, somewhere between Black Sabbath-esque psychedelica and The Bug’s sub-bass headfuckery. “Within each section of each song, we can push and pull it,” says Hill. “We have a setlist, and once we start playing we don’t stop…. we move through the various songs and tempos fairly seamlessly, and try to emulate the feel of watching a DJ.”
As the coronavirus pandemic stopped SCALER from playing together for over two years, their songwriting was transformed into a series of retro-fitting techniques that would leave most bands lost in an organisational fog. Their debut album, “Void”, out on Houndstooth this April, necessarily became a mammoth undertaking. “We wrote this whole album without playing a single note of it together,” says Hill.
“We produced all of the songs using the computer – as a blend of recordings and samples of our live drums, guitars and drum machines into production software – and then translated it all back into a live performance. And although there are structured songs on the record, there’s no explicit focus on exactly recreating those songs live, either,” he continues. “Everything is adapted to work into a set that flows well. A lot of album parts are rewritten during rehearsals for the good of the live set as a whole.”
On “Void”, SCALER are heavy metal in 4D; the sound is moody, distorted and rhythmic, but the use of electronic techniques gives the finer details room to breathe. Their early lust for “all loudness, no nuance” has cooled, too, making more space for experimentation. Tracks such as “Tether”, featuring Oakland rapper DÆMON, puts a modern, metal twist on Bristolian trip-hop, whereas album closer “Remain in Statis” features fast-rising artist Grove, a Bristol-based rapper and self-professed metalhead whose commanding presence sets the track alight. These songs also mark an additional new chapter for the band with the addition of vocals for the first time.
credits
released April 29, 2022
SCALER, Grove, DÆMON,
SCALER, Grove, DÆMON,
license
all rights reserved
tags
about
SCALER Bristol, UK
shows
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May 17Bristol, UK
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May 31Barking, UK
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Aug 14Compton Martin, UK
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Aug 16Compton Martin, UK
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Sep 19Edinburgh, UK
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Sep 21Birkenhead, UK
discography
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Oct 2023 -
Nov 2022 -
Apr 2022 -
Oct 2021 -
Jun 2021 -
Nov 2020 -
Sep 2019 -
Mar 2019
contact / help
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