Wolvhammer expatriate Heath Rave has quietly released one of the most diverse heavy albums of the year under the Lotus Thrones moniker. Lovers in Wartime is full of bold surprises from the hard-hitting drummer, who metamorphosed into a frontman/bandleader during the pandemic, and “Liberate” is the kind of left turn we all need to be paying more attention to. Enlisting the haunting saxophone of Yakuza’s Bruce Lamont, the introspective, borderline ambient instrumental is an arresting change of pace from the Danzig/Killing Joke-influenced crush permeating Lovers. Today, Decibel is stoked to debut the David Brenner (Gridfailure)-helmed video for “Liberate.” Scroll down for some pertinent context from Lamont and Rave.
“When Heath asked me to collaborate I knew it wouldn’t be disappointing,” Lamont says. “Dark and ambient to start, building into a chaotic frenzy. As we say here in Chicago… real nice.”
“What does depression sound like?” Rave muses. “It’s different for everyone. Sometimes it’s quiet and even comforting. A dark, weighted blanket. Other times, it’s an inglorious din boiling in your synapses, completely overshadowing everything around you. I wanted to create an instrumental piece to simulate what it’s like to be drowning in your own head, longing for what it would be like to be able to ‘save yourself.’ I had spoken with Bruce before I even began composing it; I could hear him in my head for this idea, and I wrote it for his performance to be the centerpiece, more of him channeling my emotions out of the backing music. I have cherished my friendship with him for years, and I’m so grateful for the privilege of his presence on this. There was also no one else other than David Brenner to capture these feelings visually and eject them put into the world. This song felt truly finished after David completed the video for it. This is one of the greatest collaborations I’ve been lucky to have been a part of.”
Pre-order Lovers in Wartime, out July 30, here.
