Acclaimed UK metallic hardcore troupe Ithaca have released their stunning new single/video ‘Camera Eats First’, taken from their long-awaited second album, They Fear Us, due 29th July via Hassle Records.
Watch the incredible video here: https://youtu.be/8hk02Mf6SzE
Stream the single here: https://hasslerecords.ffm.to/camera_eats_first
Pre-order the album and stream the single here: https://orcd.co/theyfearus
The video for ‘Camera Eats First’ references Martin Scorsese‘s legendary short The Big Shave, with vocalist Djamila Boden Azzouz’s makeup design a nod to Marie Antoinette and her attributed quote ‘let them eat cake!’. The band comment: “With this video we’re using stark contrasts to create a sense of pure unease – rococo indulgence meets clinical experiment, luxury with grotesque gorging, beauty with violence. The discomfort is designed to hold up a mirror to ourselves; in an era of self-surveillance and constant presentation, who is in control, who is the aggressor and, ultimately, are you devouring or is the camera devouring you?”
Ithaca are one of the most exciting and vital voices in the UK heavy scene currently. Formed out of a mutual love of metallic hardcore but despair at its lack of ambition, Ithaca exist to challenge everything you thought a band that makes heavy music should look and sound like.
A glitter-covered nailbomb, Ithaca seamlessly blend the brutality of Relapse Records metalcore with blackgaze, 90s industrial metal, 70s prog and even tinges of 80s power pop. Their influences stretch beyond the musical – this album comes with a clear vision and aesthetic: drawing from members’ different ancestral heritage, queer/non-conforming identities and iconic figures in avant-garde, new wave and post-punk culture.
Their upcoming second album They Fear Us is the sound of a band healing from trauma – standing in their own, unapologetic voice. Furious and wildly inventive while also being more coherent and accessible, this album will introduce Ithaca to a wider audience than they’ve ever had before. In the words of the band: ‘those who oppose us; your sins will catch up to you. You will fear us’.
Ithaca‘s 2019 lauded debut The Language of Injury was followed by their early 2020 tour with Grammy-nominated indie-rock band Big Thief, starting at London’s Hammersmith Apollo.
Press support from The Guardian, Pitchfork, BBC R1, Metal Hammer, Kerrang!, Rock Sound, Revolver, Decibel, BrooklynVegan, and performances with Bleeding Through, Jamie Lenman, Anaal Nathrakh, The Number Twelve Looks Like You, at Boomtown Fair and ArcTanGent Festival position Ithaca as a great hope in the future of new UK music. Ithaca have also appeared on Ed Gamble’s Spotify podcast ‘Lifers’, Sky News and BBC3.
Watch Ithaca on tour:
03.08 The Deaf Institute, Manchester UK
04.08 Boston Music Rooms, London UK
05.08 The Victoria, Birmingham UK
06.08 Garage Attic, Glasgow UK
07.08 Rough Trade in-store, Nottingham UK
08.08 Rough Trade in-store, Bristol UK
27.08 V11, Rotterdam NL
28.08 Willem Twee, Den Bosch NL
29.08 Hafenklang, Hamburg DE
30.08 Bei Chez Heinz, Hanover DE
31.08 Die Trompete, Bochum, DE
01.09 P8, Karlsruhe DE
02.09 Le Desorde C’est Moi, Potsdam DE
03.09 La Zone, Liege BE
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