| Holographic Violence | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | July 24, 2017 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 39:44 | |||
| Label | Hardly Art | |||
| Grave Babies chronology | ||||
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Holographic Violence is an album by American rock band Grave Babies. It was released on July 24, 2017, through Sub Pop-affiliated Hardly Art record label. [1] It is the band's first album to be recorded in a studio. [2]
Cameron Cook of Pitchfork regarded the album as a transition from band's previous garage rock sound in favor of gothic rock influences. [3] The A.V. Club critic Chris Mincher stated: "Documenting that exploration, Holographic Violence sifts through various ’80s dark-wave styles in the hunt for worthy concepts, finding serviceable elements of goth-rock, post-punk, grunge, alt-metal, and industrial electronica." [4] AllMusic's Paul Simpson wrote: "While still dark and dingy, the relatively cleaner production brings the group closer to sounding like its '80s deathrock heroes, while the overly dramatic bent and tongue-in-cheek song titles like "Pain Iz Pleasure" recall a less metal, lower-budget version of Type O Negative." Simpson also noted that "the group isn't stuck in the past (be it the goth '80s, the alt-metal '90s, or the late-2000s lo-fi cassette boom) by including a few up-to-date production effects, particularly the subtle influence of trap-style beats on the drum machine programming." [2] According to The Irish Times ' "Taking as their base of reference the still-in-fashion 1980s blend of post-punk (The Cure) and goth-rock (Sisters of Mercy) – with hints of Nine Inch Nails and Nirvana." [5]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| The A.V. Club | B− [4] |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| The Irish Times | [5] |
| Pitchfork | 6.4/10 [3] |
The album generally received positive reviews from music critics. AllMusic's Paul Simpson wrote: "The overall result is a forward-looking album drawing from dark, foreboding sounds from the past, and it's a decent, spooky listen, if a bit hard to take seriously at times." [2] The A.V. Club critic Chris Mincher commented: "Taking a more airy, atmospheric approach than its pummeling predecessors, Holographic Violence strives for melodic melancholy, yet can’t resist breaking out the occasional bright, shimmery hook or synth flourish" [4] The Irish Times's Tony Clayton-Lea stated: "Founding member Danny Wahlfeldt has taken it upon himself to tackle all of the songwriting, and while there are sci-fi concept themes here that are too oppressive if not ordinary (the usual unholy trinity of dystopia, nihilism and misanthropy), at least the music mostly makes up for it." [5] Cameron Cook of Pitchfork wrote: "In the end, though, Violence comes off as transitional, a building block for a bigger, darker, blacker record that may be in Grave Babies' future." [3]
Goth is a music-based subculture that began in the United Kingdom during the early 1980s. It was developed by fans of gothic rock, an offshoot of the post-punk music genre. Post-punk artists who presaged the gothic rock genre and helped develop and shape the subculture include Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus, the Cure, and Joy Division.
Gothic rock is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division, Bauhaus, and the Cure.
Closer is the second and final studio album by the English rock band Joy Division, released on 18 July 1980 by Factory Records. Produced by Martin Hannett, it was released two months after the suicide of the band's lead singer and lyricist Ian Curtis. The album reached No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart and peaked at No. 3 in New Zealand in September 1981. Closer was also named NME Album of the Year. It was remastered and re-released in 2007.
Horror punk is a music genre that mixes punk rock and 1950s-influenced doo-wop and rockabilly sounds with morbid and violent imagery and lyrics which are often influenced by horror films and science fiction B-movies. The genre was pioneered by the Misfits in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Subsequent bands formed in the Misfits' wake like Mourning Noise, the Undead and Samhain, solidifying horror punk's first wave. In the late 1990s and early 2000s the genre gained attention through the reunion of the Misfits and success of groups like AFI, Son of Sam and the Murderdolls. This popularity continued to the modern day with Blitzkid, Calabrese and Creeper.
"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" is a song by English pop rock band Tears for Fears from their second studio album Songs from the Big Chair (1985). It was written by Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley, and Chris Hughes and produced by Hughes. It was released on 22 March 1985 by Phonogram, Mercury, and Vertigo Records as the third single from the album. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" is a new wave and synth-pop song with lyrics that detail the desire humans have for control and power and centre on themes of corruption.
Gothic metal is a fusion genre combining the aggression of heavy metal with the dark atmospheres of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy metal music. The genre originated during the early 1990s in the United Kingdom originally as an outgrowth of death-doom, a fusion of death metal and doom metal. Lyrics are generally dark and introspective with inspiration from gothic fiction as well as personal experiences.
Dark Rift is a studio album by American electronic musician Pictureplane. It was released by Lovepump United Records on August 4, 2009. Music videos were created for "Trance Doll" and "Goth Star".
Chelsea Joy Wolfe is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Her work has blended elements of gothic rock, doom metal, and folk music.
Planning for Burial is the musical project of American musician and singer-songwriter Thom Wasluck. Based in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Wasluck started to perform as "Burial" in 2005 and released the debut album, Leaving in 2009. Wasluck plays all instruments during both his home recordings and live performances.
Abyss is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter and her eponymous band Chelsea Wolfe. The album was released on August 7, 2015 through Sargent House and was produced by John Congleton. It also features guest contributions from Mike Sullivan of Russian Circles and Dan Phillips from True Widow.
Dark Energy is the debut album by American electronic music producer Jlin, released in 2015 by Planet Mu. It received acclaim from critics and was named the best album of 2015 by The Quietus and The Wire.
What One Becomes is the second studio album by American post-metal band Sumac. It was released on June 10, 2016 through Thrill Jockey. The album was recorded at The Unknown studio in Anacortes then mixed and produced by Kurt Ballou at GodCity Studio in Salem.
Not the Actual Events is the fifth extended play (EP) and tenth major release by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. It was released physically on December 23, 2016, under Trent Reznor's own label The Null Corporation, while those who had pre-ordered received a download link a day early. The second Nine Inch Nails EP of original material following Broken (1992), it marks longtime collaborator Atticus Ross's first appearance as an official member of the band. The digital pre-orders included a "physical component" that was shipped in early March 2017. The EP is the first in a trilogy released in 2016–2018, preceding Add Violence (2017) and the band's ninth studio album Bad Witch (2018).
Tourist in This Town is the debut solo album by Allison Crutchfield, a former member and co-founder of the bands P.S. Eliot and Swearin'. It was released on January 27, 2017 on Merge Records, and produced by Jeff Zeigler.
Grave Babies is an American rock band formed in 2009 in Seattle, Washington. The band consists of Emily Gorman, Alex Noelke (bass), and Danny Wahlfeldt. The band released its latest album, Holographic Violence, in 2015 through Sub Pop-affiliated label Hardly Art.
Add Violence is the sixth EP and eleventh major release by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. Issued through the Null Corporation and Capitol Records on July 19, 2017, it is the second in a trilogy of releases, following the EP Not the Actual Events (2016) and preceding the band's ninth studio album Bad Witch (2018). It was produced by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
"It's Not Living (If It's Not with You)" is a song by English band the 1975 from their third studio album, A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships (2018). The song was written by band members Matty Healy, George Daniel, Adam Hann and Ross MacDonald, and produced by Daniel and Healy. It was released on 18 October 2018 by Dirty Hit and Polydor Records as the fifth and final single from the album. Contributions are featured from the London Community Gospel Choir, who provide the choir vocals, and Amber Bain–known professionally as the Japanese House–who performs several instruments and provides the background vocals. Healy was reluctant to write a song about his former heroin addiction, which prompted him to develop the narrative around Danny, a character meant to represent Healy's struggle with heroin.
The Long Walk is the third studio album by American industrial rock band Uniform. It was released on August 17, 2018 by Sacred Bones Records. Produced by the band's guitarist, Ben Greenberg, it is the band's first record to feature a live drummer: Greg Fox of Zs and Liturgy contributed to its recording. The lead single from the album, "The Walk", was released in June 2018.
