As Flaming Wrekage’s brutal fourth album tickles your earholes, you know this is something special. …
Astrodeath is bringing the noise with their latest tune, Leviathan Rising.
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The track is yet another face-melter, and will both hit the stage this month and feature on their upcoming record. With so much in the works for the duo, we caught up with frontman Tim Lancken. He gave us the lowdown on the track, their tour and LP2. Stay tuned: huge times are ahead!
Hysteria: Tell us about the new single, Leviathan Rising.
Tim: It’s a pretty tongue in cheek song – a page in a wild, sci-fi comic book. We parallel these dumb stories we make up with things that are going on in the world around us. The leviathan is a biblical beast. What more is there to know, it’s fucking fire-breathing!
How’d you go putting the track together? Did you have any COVID setbacks or challenging moments?
We did a stupid thing and booked a launch tour before the single even existed – we were busting our guts to finish the album, pick a single and make a music video. Like most, we’ve learned the zen art of constant plan changing. It’s a mad limbo, nothing really matters. We’ve just pressed on like we know what we’re doing. We were lucky to have our mate, Nick Franklin, back on board. He produced and recorded the track and pulled some late, hot nights to get us over the line.
You’ve also dropped the official music video for the track. How was putting that together?
It was put together by the legendary Mitch Hertz (Hertzfist Productions) on a massive time budget – we had three days from conception to Youtube. It was filmed on a Samsung, in this spare room with a dragon poster on the wall. We filmed on a 40-degree day- I was looking at the poster thinking about how hot I was trying to rock out like there was a leviathan coming to eat me (laughs). I reckon it’s our best video yet- the funniest too. We’re not the funniest guys, but I think we might be nudging into the comedy market now.
It’s a pretty tongue in cheek song – a page in a wild, sci-fi comic book.
[ Tim Lancken ]
The track will feature on your forthcoming record, Astrodeath Vol. II. What can we expect to see there?
I had second album syndrome. I was constantly questioning whether the new songs were better than the old ones and whether they sounded like the same band. I questioned if any of that even mattered, it turns out for us it didn’t. We thought we were writing a wildly different record, but it came out sounding like you would expect an Astrodeath album to sound. With Nick Franklin producing, mixing and mastering, we sound like the best version of ourselves. The record will come out on comic book/download code first. We’ve got the artist Glenno Smith on deck again, so it’ll be next-level. It’s a proper sci-fi boogie; we can’t wait to unleash it later in the year.
Did you approach this record differently to your debut LP?
Our last LP was recorded live-to-tape at Linear Studios; it was luxurious. We really loved that place, but we couldn’t afford a big studio this time around. We recorded the drums at our practice space. Nick popped some mics on Yoshi’s drum kit; we just pretended like he was recording-to-tape. We’re lucky, Yoshi is a bit of a weapon on the drums so tracking for us is usually pretty easy-going- he just plays the song a couple of times and one of the takes is usually spot on.
Nick recorded the guitars and vocals for us at his studio Rolodex, a pleasure of a place to be. Our process there was pretty standard: the orange amps got bigger and louder, we did a bunch of screams- Nick is just an absolute legend.
Most excitingly, you’ll be touring to support Leviathan Rising. How keen are you to get back on the road?
Beyond keen, not just to play but to see some of our favourite interstate bands. Honestly, every single band we are playing with is dope.
What can punters expect to see at these shows?
Punters can expect some Astrodeath and a beverage! They can also expect to see some really dope bands. These shows might be louder, with more orange amplifiers, bigger drums and louder yells. There may or may not be more head-bangs, there will 100% be some new songs though.
What else is in store for the band in 2021?
Heaps! I think I’ve touched on all the things, who fucking knows though? Hopefully heaps of shows. We’re really excited to be putting out new music this year. We’d just like to thank all the Shredlords and Maddogs that help keep this train-wreck rolling, thank you sincerely for the headbangs!
ASTRODEATH Leviathan Rising 2021 East Coast Tour
SYDNEY // Friday, 12th February // Crowbar *SOLD OUT*
HUNTER VALLEY // Saturday, 13th Feb // Thrashville Festival
MELBOURNE // Friday, 26th February // Max Watts: Nights of the 666
FRANKSTON // Saturday, 27th February // Flippin’ The Bird Festival
GEELONG // Sunday, 28th February // Barwon Club
WOLLONGONG // Friday, 5th March // La La La’s
CANBERRA // Saturday, 6th March // The Basement: Nights of the 666
BRISBANE // Friday, 12th March // Woolly Mammoth: Nights of the 666
LISMORE // Saturday, 13th March // Gollan Hotel
GOLD COAST // Sunday, 14th March // Mo’s Desert Clubhouse
Tickets and full show info here.
