Knocked Loose have returned with a surprise new EP, A Tear In The Fabric Of Life, and a stunning accompanying 21-minute animated film. The Kentucky hardcore band’s vocalist Bryan Garris describes the six track concept EP as “our most challenging record to date.”
When the world shut down we did what we do best. We got a cabin deep in the woods of Tennessee and wrote our most challenging record to date. A concept EP paired with an animated short film. This is the hardest I’ve ever worked on anything. A Tear in the Fabric of Life pic.twitter.com/25XP0CBStEOctober 13, 2021
Written by Garris, the tracks on A Tear In The Fabric Of Life pivot around “extreme grief and the levels a person is willing to go through to get rid of it”, says the singer.
“The story follows a main character through a traumatic car crash late one night in the woods that leaves his partner deceased, and from there you spiral with him into the depression and guilt that comes with being the cause of something so detrimental.
“This is the first time we really dove in and tried to create something sonically that evokes a different range of emotions and over all something that introduces tension and anxiety with a massive pay off.
“The story is told not only through words but through the music as well, which proved to be our biggest challenge in writing. Lyrically this story ended up being much more personal than we initially intended.
“We started with the idea to tell a fictional story but throughout the process, I found ways to incorporate real feelings of loss and mourning, as well as anger and self doubt. I’ve always been a very personal writer and this was originally a step away from that, into something more artistic. But in the end, it was just as therapeutic as writing a regular Knocked Loose record, and I think you’ll be able to hear that.”
The short film’s director/animator Magnus Jonsson says of the piece: “I always want to create something that complements the music, works within its structures and hopefully enriches the experience for the audience. With a longer format around 21 minutes, covering six tracks, I knew this dark ghost story was a very interesting challenge to explore in animation. I took the story presented in the songs and anchored that into a visual world.
“I wanted to create an intense nightmare, focusing on the emotional states of Bryan’s main character. I created visuals that bring the audience deeper into this story of a spiralling descent into horror and destructive madness – taking a minimalistic and sometimes even abstract approach to many parts of the image making, creating unease and an eerie atmosphere.”
A Tear In The Fabric Of Life tracklist:
1. Where Light Divides the Holler
2. God Knows
3. Forced to Stay
4. Contorted In The Faille
5. Return To Passion
6. Permanent
