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Judas Knife Premiere “Hit it and Hit it and Hit It” from Death is the Thing with Feathers

Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on August 10th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

the judas knife

The Judas Knife have set a Sept. 24 release for their debut album, Death is the Thing with Feathers, through Translation Loss Records. The title is derived from an Emily Dickinson poem: ‘Hope is the thing with feathers/That perches in the soul/And sings the tunes without the words/And never stops at all.’ It goes on from there. The effect of replacing one word with the other — trading hope for death, literally — gives the 10-track/36-minute collection a grim cast from the outset, and I suppose between the pedigree of drummer Drew Thomas (Youth of Today, Into Another, etc.), and multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Joseph “Sid Jagger” Grillo (Garrison, the our-moniker-didn’t-age-well Gay for Johnny Depp, etc.) and the fact that they recorded with Converge‘s Kurt Ballou at Godcity and got him to guest on guitar for a track, there’s bound to be immediate interest. Not from me, to be honest. I’ve never really been big on late-’90s/early-’00s emo and post-hardcore, the Revelation Records and earlier Warped Tour stuff to me was just what replaced metal when WSOU changed formats when I was there. That’s my association.

So in taking on Judas Knife‘s tracks, I’m not thinking of the duo as a legacy band or something like that. I get that these dudes have both been in successful acts for decades — and that goes a long way toward explaining why they so very much have their shit together throughout this debut — but instead of putting into the headline above what they did 20 years ago, I’m taking Death is the Thing with Feathers on its own merits. And those are plentiful. The songwriting is varied and top notch throughout, and even the shortest of the sub-three-minute set of cuts like “Don’t Know Me” early on — sandwiched as part of a righteous opening salvo with “Lumbering Giant” before and “Hit it and Hit it and Hit It” (premiering below) after — or the later “Circus Circus” finds room for textures of keys and a sense of atmosphere that can only be purposeful. I’ve likened the record before to Cave In, and I stand by that, thinking in terms of the post-hardcore/heavy stylistic blend and some of Grillo‘s vocal melodies in highlights like “Dance in the Pale Glow” or the piano-led, melancholic stretch of the penultimate “New York’s Not My Home,” the latter of which is in fact so New York that it’s alienated by being there and wants to leave (which is how everyone feels about New York all the time) and sounds like John Lennon too. Though I don’t know the actual circumstances, it is easy to think of that song being composed last year among makeshift tent hospitals set up in various parks to accommodate the crush of COVID-19 patients.

Judas Knife Death is the Thing with FeathersBut before you go thinking of Grillo and Thomas coming together as a “pandemic project” — which has become kind of a dirty word cliché as though finding solace through creativity in a crisis is something to be looked down upon — I’ll note that Death is the Thing with Feathers was preceded by 2015’s The Coney Island EP, as well as a prior demo, and the band played their first show in 2012. So while this first full-length arrives perhaps after some realignment of thinking in terms of the band’s activity level, vis a vis doing anything, and certainly the pandemic may have and probably did play at least a passive role in that since it did in everything else for the last 18 months, they’re nonetheless not a new band. Fair enough. I’m still not sure why it matters, but now I’ve wasted a paragraph talking about it. Like the Judas Knife were otherwise short on cred. Kill me.

With “The Years Go by Like a Broken Record” following the memorable standout “Warm Hands, Cold Heart” as a presumed opener for side B, the context of Death is the Thing with Feathers begins to shift. Thomas holds the song together with quieter rim shots clicking and a jazzy wash of ride cymbal while the verses build to a chorus payoff, and an instrumental wash of psychedelic guitar ensues, somewhere between heavy post-rock and who-cares-about-genre-anyhow. They immediately complement with the 1:17 “A Moment of Clarity,” with keys accompanying stomping drums and a chugging riff, come and gone quickly en route to the more angular start of “Circus Circus,” but it’s a ruse since that song returns to the wash, this time adding vocal melodies atop, as it moves through its own 2:55, efficient and resonant in kind. After “New York’s Not My Home,” the two-piece, as well as Ballou on guest guitar, return to more progressive depth-making with “Her Feathers,” repeating lyrics over a flowing movement that borders on patient but still carries over the momentum of the album before it, even with the brick-wall-slam of the track immediately preceding represents in terms of volume drop.

Repeated lyrics overlap, turn and echo out into the breadth cast by the guitar, and a long fadeout leaves Grillo‘s voice as the final element to go, emphasizing the human root behind all that’s gone before. True to its name, Death is the Thing with Feathers is not an especially hopeful record, but it ends on a hopeful note, not so much giving the listener back to the realities of the world surrounding as offering a moment of otherness like staring at the intertwining colors of a painting and seeing them begin to move as your vision adjusts to the hypnotic effect. Maybe Judas Knife isn’t gonna be everyone’s thing. I don’t care. To my ears, taking it as it is, it’s one of the best debuts I’ve heard in 2021. A complete, concise and admirable execution of a stylistic vision likewise consuming in performance and engaging in craft. If you want to argue with that, I’ll be too busy with headphones on to hear you anyway.

PR wire info and preorder link follow the player below.

Enjoy:

Joseph Grillo on “Hit it and Hit it and Hit It”:

Hit It and Hit It and Hit It was written after listening to Funkadelic’s MaggotBrain in between rehearsals for Death is the Thing with Feathers and lyrically the song is discussing a bubbling sense of self loathing that exists in the artist’s mind as they construct and deconstruct in an attempt to make sense of the human condition.

Pre-order now HERE: https://translationloss.com/

JUDAS KNIFE, featuring members of YOUTH OF TODAY, INTO ANOTHER, GARRISON, GAY FOR JOHNNY DEPP, and more will deliver the bands debut album, Death Is The Thing With Feathers, on September 24, 2021 via Translation Loss Records. The NY duo features Sid Jagger (Joseph Grillo) on vocals, guitars, bass, and keys, and Drew Thomas on drums and percussion. Death Is The Thing With Feathers also features guest guitar contributions from Kurt Ballou (CONVERGE, GodCity Studios) and piano/keys from Justin Williams.

With Death Is The Thing With Feathers, post-hardcore veterans JUDAS KNIFE fuse grungy space-rock and emotive alchemy with dynamically catchy and moody cerebral psychedelia that digs deep into the scars of loss, abandonment, addiction, desperation, and loneliness. Dreamy, shoe-gazy textures and soaring vocals build the platform for the stories to shine through as personal anthems of recovery.

JUDAS KNIFE will release Death Is The Thing With Feathers on LP and digital on Translation Loss Records on September 24th. Two vinyl variants are available.

JUDAS KNIFE is:
Sid Jagger (Joseph Grillo) – vocals, guitars, bass, keys
Drew Thomas – drums, percussion

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Judas Knife Set Sept. 24 Release for Death is the Thing with Feathers

Posted in Whathaveyou on June 15th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

the judas knife

Not gonna claim any great knowledge of the pedigree here, but I dig what Judas Knife are doing on their debut album, Death is the Thing with Feathers, a lot. Yeah, of course I’ve heard Into Another — their Seemless full-length was required reading at the Academy — and Youth of Today, but mostly I’m appreciating these songs on their own merits, whether that’s the Cave In-but-mixed melodic post-hardcore of the earlier cuts or the purposefully Lennon-styled piano of “New York’s Not My Home.”

Translation Loss has the album out in September, and I’ve put in to do a review with a premiere — not sure I’m cool enough, to be honest — but you can read more about the two-piece and the record they’ve made below courtesy of the PR wire. I don’t always go in for this kind of thing but this one hit a nerve. Songwriting is songwriting, at the end of the day.

Preorders are up and all that whatnot:

Judas Knife Death is the Thing with Feathers

JUDAS KNIFE ANNOUNCE NEW FULL LENGTH – DEATH IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS

JUDAS KNIFE, featuring members of YOUTH OF TODAY, INTO ANOTHER, GARRISON, GAY FOR JOHNNY DEPP, and more will deliver the bands debut album, Death Is The Thing With Feathers, on September 24, 2021 via Translation Loss Records. The NY duo features Sid Jagger (Joseph Grillo) on vocals, guitars, bass, and keys, and Drew Thomas on drums and percussion. Death Is The Thing With Feathers also features guest guitar contributions from Kurt Ballou (CONVERGE, GodCity Studios) and piano/keys from Justin Williams.

JUDAS KNIFE have unveiled the first single from Death Is The Thing With Feathers titled, “Lumbering Giant”. The spacey and dynamic track is streaming now.

With Death Is The Thing With Feathers, post-hardcore veterans JUDAS KNIFE fuse grungy space-rock and emotive alchemy with dynamically catchy and moody cerebral psychedelia that digs deep into the scars of loss, abandonment, addiction, desperation, and loneliness. Dreamy, shoegazy textures and soaring vocals build the platform for the stories to shine through as personal anthems of recovery.

About the new album, vocalist Sid Jagger (Joseph Grillo) comments: “Half the reason I make records these days is to catch up and spend time with old friends, exchanging stories of the present and the past and remembering to check myself against some of the people I have respected for long periods of time. This time was no different. The intention for “Death Is The Thing With Feathers” was to make an LP where you could enjoy it if you chose to pay attention or not. something that feels cool and sexy, winding around your throat like a snake and something that can be considered if you have the time and the inclination.”

JUDAS KNIFE will release Death Is The Thing With Feathers on LP and digital on Translation Loss Records on September 24th. Two vinyl variants are available. Pre-order now HERE: https://translationloss.com/products/death-is-the-thing-with-feathers

Track Listing:
1. Lumbering Giant
2. Don’t Know Me
3. Hit It and Hit It and Hit It
4. Dance In The Pale Glow
5. Warm Hands, Cold Heart
6. The Years Go By Like Broken Records
7. A Moment Of Clarity
8. Circus Circus
9. New York’s Not My Home
10. Her Feathers

Album Details:
Recorded and mixed by Kurt Ballou in February of 2021 at GodCity Studio, Salem, MA.
Mastered by Magnus Lindberg at Redmount Studios.

“Her Feathers” features Kurt Ballou on guitar.

Album artwork and promotional photos by Nathaniel Shannon.
nathanielshannon.com

https://www.facebook.com/TheJudasKnife/
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http://judasknife.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/TranslationLossRecords/
https://www.instagram.com/translationlossrecords/
https://translationloss.com/
http://translationlossrecords.bigcartel.com/

Judas Knife, Death is the Thing with Feathers (2021)

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