13 years have passed since Swedish sludge rockers Signo Rojo formed back in 2009. That’s the year Mastodon cracked the skye and Baroness released their Blue Record. Signo Rojo’s thick, muddy tone and riffy approach to progressive sludge and hardcore punk might be a flashback for some. They sound like they could have blasted straight out of Athens, GA during the 2000 aughts. But like bands such as Anciients and Junior Bruce, Signo Rojo molded their own unique sound from familiar elements. Today Decibel Magazine shares the band’s first single since 2019’s End of Tether EP. “Enough Rope” will be on their upcoming record There Was a Hole Here, to be released by Majestic Mountain Records this autumn.
Since rojo is Spanish for red, the video begins with a fitting crimson glow. As the song’s contagious chorus swells, the video reveals a room of flickering TVs. But Jonas Nilsson’s bellow cuts through the static. Around five minutes into the song, a fragile segue of clean guitar ushers in a melodic stomp. Vocal harmonies carry the song to an ethereal finale to close out the eight minute epic. The band engineered and produced the record, prioritizing warm tones and sly textures to support the gruff guitars. The album was mixed by Johan Blomström and mastered by Jack Endino.
“”Enough Rope” is the first single from, and the opening track on, the new album,” the band shares. “It sets the stage for the rest of the album both lyrically and musically. The lyrics tackle the feelings of disenchantment and disconnection faced when growing up and being gradually forced to set aside more and more ideals and beliefs in exchange for a functioning place in society. That schizophrenic feeling of finding oneself being forced to contribute to the very system that consumes the world to be able to pay rent.”
Slack your rope a while and press play below to blast Signo Rojo.