Puscifer announces new music: ‘Apocalyptical’
Maynard James Keenan and Puscifer have returned to active duty with their first new music since 2015, an ominous synth-driven ode to the era of disinformation called “Apocalyptical,” complete with a robotic doo-wop chorus hook: “Be dumb, be doomed.”
Sample lyric: “Go on, moron/ Ignore the evidence/ Skid in to Armageddon/ Tango Apocalyptical.”
As you can see, it’s very timely, as is the accompanying video, which features what appears to be a model of the new coronavirus like a disco ball.
A message from Keenan accompanies the track.
“Manipulated information disseminated by kings, queens, dictators, socalled leaders, supposed professionals or outliers and conspiracy theorists living underground, or in basements, is not new or unique to this generation,” he says.
“Misdirection is power struggles’ conjoined twin but the speed at which it now travels in this digital age is dangerous and destructive on many levels. This rapid distribution of poison and its immediate impact will be the hallmark of our generation.”
Lest you think he’s lost his sense of humor, Keenan ends his message with a punchline.
“Even in light of all this, and all the noise the digital landscape generates,” he writes, “all I keep asking myself is, ‘What is it with the whole hoarding toilet paper thing?’”
“Apocalyptical” is a very promising first taste of Puscifer’s fourth full-length studio release, set to arrive this fall on Alchemy Recordings in partnership with BMG.
They recorded the song in Jerome, where Keenan moved in 1995, establishing a well-respected side gig as a winemaker with Caduceus Cellars and Merkin Vineyards.
As vocalist Carina Round says in a press release, “‘Apocalyptical’ was one of the very first musical ideas for the new record that we put our voices on out in Arizona in late 2019. It was simultaneously very fresh and also felt like we had never been apart.”
In that press release, guitarist/producer Mat Mitchell explains the musical direction it finds them exploring.
“For the initial writing process of ‘Apocalyptical,’ we relied heavily on a Fairlight IIx (an early musical computer using 8 bit samples) and a Synclavier II (another early digital workstation that relied on FM synthesis). These were heavyweights in early digital music productions and defined a generation of music. We decided to set modern computers aside by working within the limitations of these early computer technologies.”