When I first hit play on Remote Viewing’s fourth album State Violence, it really tore my head off! This is record that isn’t just noisy and sludgy, but it felt like someone had just thrown acid onto my face. Formed from the ashes of Palehorse, Remote Viewing have really cooked up something special with producer and engineer Wayne Adams (Petbrick, Big Lad, Cower, Wasted Death). State Violence is also the band’s most ominous and outright angriest record to date, venting all their frustrations with the world’s many problems. Not long before State Violence was released, I saw Remote Viewing play an awesome set supporting Humanfly at Brudenell Social Club in Leeds, perhaps the greatest venue on Earth. And I very much look forward to catching their ArcTanGent Festival debut in 2027.
ACCOLADES
“State violence feels like staring into the pool of black vomit… a sludge metal basis so wretched it could curdle milk.”
~ Metal Hammer
“Sludge of the heaviest level. Five guys in a room making the most ear crushing and violent sounds they possibly can.”
~ Metal Epidemic – 4.5/5
“State Violence is noise-sludge of the premium variety. Drum-tight musicianship where the music ricochets constantly in different directions.”
~ Sun-13
FROM THE PRESS KIT
Studying Remote Viewing’s song titles and lyrics has always revealed a love for absurd self-deprecating humour and personal in-jokes, but the band are in less of a laughing mood on State Violence. “We’re aware of the state of the world around us and not everything is funny right now,” laments Bryant. The London based noisenicks consider it difficult to pinpoint one single world event when there’s such an overwhelming flood of global issues, but observe the exercise of control currently being operated over people, billionaires buying up social media platforms in an attempt to control the narrative, greater class division, authoritarianism, erosion of civil liberties, a rise in surveillance, the control of women’s bodies, and the denial of climate change all as unwelcome inspiration points across this record. In particular, the band pinpoint our ease of standing idle to such colossal issues as the crux of things. “Many still believe the atrocities they see on their phone screens occur only in faraway places, maintaining an ‘it couldn’t happen here’ mentality,” explains Bryant; “when injustice and corruption are already occurring at home, not just abroad.” Atkins sums it up even more bluntly, “The world is currently a veritable shit show of epic proportions.”
Released on September 18th on Vinyl, CD and Digital via Human Worth.
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