No one sleeps
before I’m done
marked by his abuse
my soul is gone
In recent years, China’s goth and darkwave scene has exploded. Included in the scene is Shanghai’s EBM vanguard, Poison The Vicar. The artist, also known as Brandon Gordon, takes influence from Cabaret Voltaire, Front Line Assembly, and Italo disco. Poison the Vicar’s latest single, Affront, melds the former with a post-punk edge.
The cacophony of Affront matches the dark energy of evil dynamics power play, violation, loss of agency, and the fallout of PTSD. It is a full-on assault on the senses, recreating the sensations of confusion, rage, and grief with a sharp sonic palette and abrasive vocals. This is an exorcism of emotion.
“Affront is about the brutality of nonconsensual domination of another’s body,” Gordon explains. “It’s not just an attack – it’s an affront to the soul.” With stabbing basslines and metallic drums of early industrial and EBM, Affront makes a full throwback to the early days of industrial. With Affront, Leæther Strip’s Claus Larsen takes centre stage on vocals.
Previously, Poison The Vicar collaborated with Corrosive Candy and Qual (aka William Maybelline of Lebanon Hanover), who created a remix. (Poison the Vicar has also appeared on Vox Sinistra’s weekly dark synth night on Twitch, Strict Tempo.)
‘The reflection in the mirror calls back to you with word you didn’t know you needed to hear,” says Gordon. “This album is just like that, finding a voice for the thing I needed to hear myself say.”
Listen to “Affront” below:
Affront is currently out on all major streaming services. Buy the single on Bandcamp. The new single will be included on the self-released debut album Necrotic Pose, due April 29th.
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