In 2003, Brooklyn’s A Place To Bury Strangers emerged on the scene out of Oliver Ackermann’s psychotropic vision.  Often cited as ‘ the loudest band in New York’,  APTBS is known for their vicious live performances overloaded with all-consuming visuals, experimental sonic warfare, and treacherous stage antics.  

2021 welcomes a lineup change for A Place To Bury Strangers. New members John Fedowitz (bass) and Sandra Fedowitz (drums) of Ceremony East Coast cement the most sensational version of the band to date.  John and Oliver were childhood friends who had played in the legendary underground shoegaze band Skywave, crafting futuristic punk music together. This next phase is a sonic return to APTBS’s most raw and unhinged endeavors, pushed even further into a new chaotically apocalyptic incarnation.

During the on-going global pandemic, Ackermann spent his time building this new band, raising money and awareness for those in need, establishing the record label Dedstrange, designing futuristic space synthesizers for his company Death By Audio, and producing a brand new A Place To Bury Strangers EP.  The new EP, Hologram will be released July 16, 2021, on Dedstrange.  Watch out.

While bands usually require an element of compromise between its members, solo projects allow a musician to fully express their vision and draw from all facets of their life to make a representation of themselves in musical form. Take Stephen Lacy Sullivan, guitarist in post-metal band Alluvion and former drummer in Virginia sludge metal band Lord - his eponymous solo work is several steps removed from the aforementioned bands. Drawing from indie, gospel, and lo-fi electronica, the upcoming début release under the new name* showcases Sullivan focusing in on his faith on Portion in the Sky.
Lead single “Testimony” starts proceedings off on a relatively mellow note, pairing playful guitar work influenced by Townes van Zandt against the uhn-tiss of electronic drums, and Sullivan’s own strained tones on top. “I’ll disappear in your glory tonight,” he delivers in a melodic drawl, as one of many choice lyrics touching on Christianity throughout the record.
As we move further into the record, certain left-field elements emerge unexpectedly - turntable scratching in Lady Erin, unconventional percussion in “Within Reach” - but the cherry on the surprise-laden cake is the dark “Consuming Fire”, where tortured synths resemble screaming, and Sullivan practically snarls in his delivery to match the fire-and-brimstone style sermon that is chopped up and remixed into the meat of the track.
Portion in the Sky is a new chapter in Sullivan’s musical development, and one which will surely pique the interest of those who enjoy such genre-melding exercises - if 90s indie meets lo-fi electronica is of interest, then these 20 minutes are absolutely worth your time.

Jordan Galland is a filmmaker and musician, who founded the band Dopo Yume, and has released several albums of his own and collaborated on projects with Mark Ronson, Daniel Merriweather, Cibo Matto and Sean Lennon, and contributed music to films and TV shows like Lena Dunham’s Tiny Furniture and The Niestat Brothers’ HBO Original Series, as well an original score for the award winning Supporting Characters.

Benjamin Foley is following