Earthless have announced their forthcoming new album Night Parade Of One Hundred Demons, due out January 28 via Nuclear Blast.
The San Diego psych rock trio's sixth studio album is compiled of just two songs, but each are of monstrous length – the title track weighs in at 41 minutes while the second, Death To The Red Sun, is half the length, but still comes in at a giant 20 minutes long.
Night Parade Of One Hundred Demons, otherwise referred to as Hyakki Yagyō, depicts an ancient Japanese legend in which a throng of demons, ghosts and other spine-chilling paranormal creatures descend on sleeping villages at night, once a year. According to one tale, anyone who witnesses this supernatural procession will perish instantly or be abducted. To avoid being taken away by the otherworldly beings, villagers hide in their homes.
Bassist Mike Eginton — who was also responsible for creating the album artwork — explains, “My son and I came across the Night Parade Of One Hundred Demons in a book of traditional Japanese ghost stories. I like the idea of people hiding and being able to hear the madness but not see it. It’s the fear of the unknown.”
Eginton also produced the artwork for the cover. "He really dedicated himself to the project,” drummer Mario Rubalcaba says of Eginton's work. “He’d be drawing in the studio with, like, a coal-miner’s lamp on his head while we were doing overdubs. He really knocked it out of the park.”
“I basically wanted to draw my interpretation of the folk story,” Eginton explains. “I started researching the different Yōkai—the demons—and really got into it. It was really cool reading about where they came from and what their interactions with humans were. Then I tried to create what I imagined the event might look like. I didn’t get a hundred in there, but I got quite a few.”
Noting the album's change in direction from previous works, Rubalcaba says "It definitely has a darker, almost evil kind of vibe compared to stuff we’ve done in the past.
"There’s more paranoia and noise, and some of Isaiah’s whammy-bar stuff kind of reminds me of these Jeff Hanneman moments in Reign In Blood, where it just seems like everything is going to hell. It’s pretty fun.”
He continues, “With Isaiah here, we were able to get together once or twice a week to work on these jams. We got back to our original songwriting process of just playing and building off each other little by little.
"And we actually had the time to do that, which was creatively inspiring. Black Heaven was outside our comfort zone. I think it was a good record, but it was challenging to write songs in a more traditional verse-chorus-verse format. This one was more enjoyable."
"This album actually has the very first Earthless riff in it,” Eginton adds. “We just recorded it 20 years after we wrote it. But we’re really happy with how this record came out. We feel it might be our finest to date.”
Earthless have also shared details of a UK/European tour, kicking off April 28 in Manchester with Maida Vale as special guests.
Pre-order Night Parade Of One Hundred Demons now.
Night Parade Of One Hundred Demons tracklist:
1. Night Parade Of One Hundred Demons
2. Death To The Red Sun
Earthless 2022 tour dates:
Apr 28: Manchester Gorilla, UK
Apr 30: London Desertfest London, UK
May 01: Bristol Thekla, UK
May 02: Dublin Whelan's, IE
May 03: Glasgow Stereo, UK
May 04: Birmingham Mama Roux's, UK
May 05: Brighton Chalk, UK
May 06: Hasselt Nox Tumultum, BE
May 07: Nijmegen Sonic Whip Festival, NL
May 08: Cologne Volta, DE
May 09: Wiesbaden Kulturzentrum Schlachthof, DE
May 10: Rouen Le 106, FR
May 11: Paris La Maroquinerie, FR
May 12: Lyon CCO, FR
May 13: Bordeaux Krakatoa, FR
May 14: Madrid Kristonfest, ES
May 15: Porto Hard Club, PT
May 17: Montpellier Victoire 2, FR
May 18: Savona Raindogs, IT
May 19: Monthey Pont Rouge, CH
May 20: Munich Feierwerk, DE
May 21: Berlin Bi Nuu (without MAIDA VALE), DE
May 22: Leipzig UT Connewitz, DE
