Swiss heavy progressive instrumentalists Monkey3 have already been confirmed for Desertfest Berlin 2024 and its UK co-flagship Desertfest London 2024, which implies at least a week of touring, so it’s not the craziest thing in the universe that the band are announcing the release of Welcome to the Machine today and streaming the visualizer for the first single “Rackman” that you can find at the bottom of this post, but it’s welcome news either way.

Their last studio outing was 2019’s Sphere (review here), and 2023 marks two decades since their self-released self-titled debut. “Rackman,” as the first I’ve heard of Welcome to the Machine to come — out Feb. 21, on Napalm — is duly mature and progressive but also somewhat surprisingly heavy. There are moments in the first few minutes where if you put a growl on there you’d have death-doom, but that’s only one element of the atmospherics Monkey3 present. They’ve never been an outfit to do the same thing over and over, but if the other four songs on the record stand up to “Rackman” tonally, it could be the band’s heaviest work.

The PR wire explores themes and more in the info that follows:

Instrumental Psych Rock Masters MONKEY3 Announce New Album Welcome To The Machine

Music Video For First Single “Rackman” Premiering Now!

New Album, Welcome To The Machine, out February 23, 2024 via Napalm Records

Pre-Order HERE: https://www.napalmrecordsamerica.com/monkey3

Following Live at Freak Valley in 2017 and their latest, much-acclaimed album, Sphere (2019), instrumental psych rock frontrunners MONKEY3 will herald 2024 with a true album highlight of the new year: The Lausanne-based four-piece has announced a brand new, cosmic studio offering, entitled Welcome To The Machine, set for release on February 23, 2024 via Napalm Records!

Once again, MONKEY3 envelops listeners in their unique, cosmic auditory haze. Welcome To The Machine not only marks their seventh and most epic, dark and captivating record to date, but will also clearly prove why they are one of the most exciting instrumental rock bands in the modern stoner and psychedelic rock scene.

Today, MONKEY3 has premiered a music video for their first album single “Rackman”. “‘Welcome To The Machine’ is a reflection on the future of humanity through the duality of man and machine,” the band explains. About the new single, they comment: “Are human beings becoming machines or machines becoming human beings?”

Welcome To The Machine’s musical themes are inspired by movies such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Matrix, Sunshine, Solaris and 1984, while unveiling an intense mankind vs. machines story that instantly launches the listener into deep space. Right from its first tones, the album immediately emerges as a perfect soundtrack to a journey into the unknown. Tracks such as “Rackman” perfectly showcase how MONKEY3, who formed in 2001, are one of only a few instrumental bands that know how to tell an enthralling story. Welcome To The Machine explores as much as it poses questions. It is dark and menacing; evoking melancholic destruction while somehow bursting with hope at the same time, moving between haunting passages and progressive breaks, mesmerizing grooves and colossal riffs.

The album was recorded and mixed by Raphaël Bovey at Blend Studio and MyRoom Studio, and was mastered by Lad Agabekov at Caduceus Studios in Switzerland. The incredible cover artwork was created by Sebastian Jerke.
Pre-Order Welcome To The Machine HERE: https://www.napalmrecordsamerica.com/monkey3

Welcome To The Machine track listing:
1. Ignition
2. Collision
3. Kali Yuga
4. Rackman
5. Collapse

Welcome To The Machine will be available in the following formats:
– Digipak
– 1 Vinyl Gatefold Black
– 1 Vinyl Gatefold Clear Orange
– 1-Vinyl Gatefold Crystal Clear Deluxe Version (incl. Slipmat & Art Print )
– Digital

MONKEY3 live:
May 24 – 26, 2024 (DE) Desertfest Berlin
+ many more live dates to be announced soon!

MONKEY3 is:
Walter – Drums
Jalil – Bass
Boris – Guitars
dB – Keys and Sounds

https://www.facebook.com/monkey3band/
https://www.instagram.com/monkey3band
https://monkey-3.bandcamp.com/
https://monkey3official.com/

www.facebook.com/napalmrecords
https://www.instagram.com/napalmrecordsofficial/
www.napalmrecords.com

Monkey3, “Rackman” visualizer

Tags: Lausanne, Monkey3, Monkey3 Welcome to the Machine, Napalm Records, Switzerland, Welcome to the Machine

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 19th, 2023 at 6:09 am and is filed under Whathaveyou. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.