Uniform hit us with their most powerful, most emotional and bleakest endeavour yet. Vocalist Michael Berdan and instrumentalist Ben Greenberg have joined forces with drummer Greg Fox (Liturgy, Zs) to perfect their vicious post-industrial dystopian cyber-punk. Today they’ve revealed a video for the album’s lead single “The Walk”. Created by Danny Perez, the video highlights the cynicism, absurdities and downright bloodlust of our current news cycle.
Berdan explains, “In Stephen King’s book, ‘The Walk’ is a shorthand colloquialism for an annual race ordered by a totalitarian American government called ‘ The Long Walk’. In this contest, 100 boys are made to walk south from the Maine/Canada border at a constant rate of 4mph until only one is left standing. The winner is granted anything he wants for the rest of his life, while a far more nefarious fate awaits the 99 behind him. It is one of the most cynical stories I’ve ever read and speaks volumes to many of the ugliest parts of the human condition.”
“Over time I’ve come to view aspects of the book as loosely parallel to feelings I’ve had towards organized religion and capitalism, where for some people an unattainable ideal is set as an absolute. We allow ourselves to be broken under rigidly defined norms regarding traditional strata, where lack of compliance leads to ostracization and success as dictated by religious and economic rule often leads to the disintegration of one’s own hopes and dreams. As someone existing in late capitalism who sees the beauty and personal empowerment in many of the basic tenants of all world religions, these are subjects that I wrestle with constantly.”
Check out the video for “The Walk” – BELOW:
Following the release of critically acclaimed LP Wake in Fright, which had two songs featured in the new season of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks, it was time for Uniform to return to the studio. The duo upped the ante and added a third member to round out their noise, pushing them into an entirely new dimension of their signature sound. Using a mix of triggered samples and real drums along with layered synths and good old electric guitar, the trio arrived at what would become The Long Walk after only a few short days in the studio.
Lyrically throughout, The Long Walk deals with paradoxes in spirituality and organized religion. Growing up in a devout Irish Catholic household in an Irish Catholic neighbourhood, Berdan went to Catholic school for most of his primary education and even was an altar boy. Fear of Biblical hell and damnation felt tangible. As Berdan grew and matured emotionally, he began to reject Catholicism bit by bit, viewing the church as a judgmental, repressive people who choose to live their lives dictated by hateful, fear-mongering dogma.
In the recent past, Berdan found himself slowly reconnecting with his Catholic background, observing how the faith that he found so repressive served as a great source of comfort and strength for so many. Eventually, Berdan began to view at the root of Catholicism and all major world religions a practice of love, tolerance, peace, and altruism. He began identifying as Catholic again, finding those basic tenets to be good guiding principles for daily life. Yet therein lay the contradiction that drove him from religion in the first place – many of the human traditions of the church also dealt in repression, intolerance, and bigotry, and some of mankind’s most hateful acts have been carried out in the name of God. Could one observe the rituals and practice of a faith while acknowledging and rejecting its ugliest elements?
The Long Walk is out August 17 on Sacred Bones Records. Uniform join Deafheaven on a full North American tour this summer. See below for a full list of dates.
Uniform The Long Walk Sacred Bones August 17, 2018
1 – The Walk
2 – Human Condition
3 – Found
4 – Transubstantiation
5 – Alone in the Dark
6 – Headless Eyes
7 – Anointing of the Sick
8 – Peaceable Kingdom
Uniform North America Live Dates:
# -w/ Deafheaven
JUL 11: Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom #
JUL 13: Dallas, TX – Gas Monkey #
JUL 14: Austin, TX – The Mohawk #
JUL 15: Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall #
JUL 17: Orlando, FL – The Social #
JUL 18: Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade #
JUL 19: Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle #
JUL 20: Richmond, VA – The Broadberry #
JUL 21: Washington, DC – 9:30 Club #
JUL 22: Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer #
JUL 24: Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Steel #
JUL 25: Boston, MA – Royale #
JUL 26: Montreal, QC – Theatre Fairmount #
JUL 27: Toronto, ON – The Opera House #
JUL 28: Detroit, MI – El Club #
JUL 29: Cincinnati, OH – The Mockbee
JUL 30: Chicago, IL – Metro #
JUL 31: Milwaukee, WI – Turner Hall #
AUG 01: Minneapolis, MN – Cedar Cultural Center #
AUG 02: Rock Island, IL – Rozz Tox
AUG 03: St. Louis, MO – The Ready Room #
AUG 04: Lawrence, KS – The Granada #
AUG 05: Denver, CO – The Oriental Theater #
AUG 06: Spokane, WA – The Bartlett #
AUG 07: Salt Lake City, UT – Metro Music Hall #
AUG 08: Boise, ID – Neurolux #
AUG 10: Seattle, WA – The Neptune Theatre #
AUG 11: Vancouver, BC – The Imperial #
AUG 12: Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom #
AUG 14: San Francisco, CA – August Hall #
AUG 16: Santa Cruz, CA – The Crepe Place
AUG 17: San Diego, CA – Brick By Brick #
AUG 18: Los Angeles, CA – The Wiltern #
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