HARLOTT have released "The Joyful Stain", the latest single and video from "Exsequiis", the Australian thrashers' first album in six years. It arrives September 11 via Metal Blade Records.
The song is not a love letter. "'The Joyful Stain' is an homage to 'the lucky country' that we call home," the band said, "a second-rate first-world dystopia governed by corruption, stupidity, and indifference."
"Exsequiis" is the boldest step HARLOTT have taken — denser, harsher and more self-assured than anything in the catalogue, built on world-class guitar work, relentless momentum and lyrics that squint hard at a bitterly divided world.
"'Detritus Of The Final Age' (2020) was a great experience in digging out sounds and ideas that we would have been too trepidant to explore," guitarist/vocalist Andrew Hudson explained. "For 'Exsequiis', we went further into that, but with the confidence that it would work as it had done before."
Hudson has described his songwriting rule before: "Whether it's lyrics or riffs or breakdowns, I always make sure that every song has at least one bit that makes you go 'fuck yeeeeah.'" On "Exsequiis" the band tripled down, keeping those moments continuously overlapping across 46 minutes.
HARLOTT have their own identity, but there is sport for the dedicated thrasher in spotting the lineage — a pinch of "Arise"-era SEPULTURA here, a '90s OVERKILL groove there, the odd touch of TESTAMENT technicality or a crossover gang chant. Asked to name thrash metal's gold standard, the answer was flat: "Does anyone ever answer this question with something other than 'Reign In Blood'?" Rick Rubin's razor-sharp production on SLAYER's 1986 benchmark is a fair pointer to how "Exsequiis" sounds. Bassist/vocalist Tom Richard is especially well served, his bass taking tonal dominance in certain passages, but every layer is rammed to the front for maximum impact.
The lyrics stay in the depressingly real world rather than reaching for supernatural phantasmagoria. "It's been a pretty interesting time to live through politically and socially," Hudson admitted. "Disinformation appears to be the new normal, and a population obsessed with content creation and online participation has really exposed some things that I think we were all probably happier being ignorant of."
"Exsequiis" comes on CD, digital and vinyl, with a "Coagulation" A-side/B-side variant limited to 500 copies for Europe.
"Exsequiis" track listing: 1. Incipiam / 2. Void / 3. Messiah Simplex / 4. Trial By Liar / 5. The God That Knows No Name / 6. Kleptogenesis / 7. A Still More Glorious Dawn Awaits / 8. The Joyful Stain / 9. Endling / 10. Vice Borne / 11. Exsequiis
HARLOTT tour Europe through September:
| Date | City | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| September 11 | Burghausen, Germany | Juz |
| September 12 | Kadov u Blatné, Czechia | Nuclear Intervention Fest |
| September 13 | Kraków, Poland | Garage Pub |
| September 15 | Graz, Austria | Music-House |
| September 16 | Vienna, Austria | Escape |
| September 18 | Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg | MK Bar |
| September 19 | Bonn, Germany | Namenlos |
| September 20 | Nuremberg, Germany | Zentralcafe |
| September 23 | Hamburg, Germany | Bambi Galore |
| September 24 | Leeuwarden, Netherlands | Mukkes |
| September 25 | The Hague, Netherlands | Musicon |
| September 26 | Bruges, Belgium | Hellfort |
Stream "The Joyful Stain" and pre-order "Exsequiis": metalblade.com/harlott