A sludge band hailing from Salt Lake City, Utah might feel frustrated by the environment they live in. For The Ditch And The Delta, their upcoming album, Hives In Decline, works through the suppression and alienation of everyday life.
“Dread Spectacle,” which is exclusively streaming below, hits like a ton of bricks. Thick, slow riffs pair with guitarist/vocalist Elliot Secrist and bassist/vocalist Kory Quist’s expressive lyrics, which they explain.
“‘Dread Spectacle’ is the last song we wrote for our album Hives in Decline, although the tuning and material for the bridge, had been written almost a decade ago,” Secrist tells Decibel.
“The lyrical content is based on two different lines and two ideas that are inextricably linked. The first line being ‘We can’t blame it on fire flung from hands of an angry god.’ This idea is simply noticing humanity’s effect on the world and everything in it. Being aware of impending doom and aware of how we contribute to it, no matter how ‘green’ we think we are.
“The second line of most importance is ‘Body of mine, don’t fail me now.’ This is the small scale version of the first idea. Speaking to myself about the destruction of my (Elliot) own body. I can’t blame it on anybody or anything else. It’s a realist and pessimist mantra, no god, no fate, just actions and the inevitable consequences.”
Hives In Decline will be released through Battleground Records on May 12. You can preorder it here.
