Chosen by Monk
The Northern Ireland scene has been very much at the forefront of our thoughts this past week, mainly due to this year’s epic Bloodstock Metal 2 The Masses competition drawing to an equally epic conclusion (more on that elsewhere on the site). Two of the competitors – Armagh antagonists Astralnaut and Belfast bruisers The Boat Sank – featured as Singles Club daily picks, and so it is perhaps appropriate that our latest audio-visual treat comes from a previous winner of the contest, in the form of County Down demolition mob Lock Horns, who are taking things down to the bare ‘Skin And Bones’ with this second taster of their forthcoming sophomore album.
The follow-up to last month’s crushing “comeback” ‘The Golden Mean’ (which was the band’s first new release in six years), ‘Skin And Bones’ reflects the diversity of the upcoming album, interjecting elements of metalcore and nu-metal into the band’s still distinctive and dynamic progressive groove sound.
Speaking about the song, vocalist Alex De Costa told me:
‘Skin and Bones’ is about falling into addiction, and self-sabotaging behaviour. The lyrics were written with the covid lockdowns in mind. The overarching themes are a lack of control and overindulgence.
With regards to the video, guitarist Junior Afrifa told me:
We thought a visualizer would work best to show all the different elements that are in the lyrics. Working with an editor, we sourced around 100 different clips, and together chose the best clips. Visual ideas for this album have been ongoing for a very long time and it is great to finally get it out into the world”.
- ‘Red Room’ is due for release on 31 May, via The Distortion Project and Code 7 Distribution.