Aussie blackened sludge veterans Lo! released their brand new album The Gleaners on Friday via Pelagic Records. A soul-ripping hell-ride across nine visceral anthems, Lo!’s third full-length album is an affair of raw violence, with a touch of sophisticated madness. Aimed at executing crushing judgment upon the tyrants who put the poor to powder, the long-awaited release is set over an overarching storyline with multiple characters, all set to a symphony of sonic death and destruction.
“We created an album of anthems without losing the groove or viciousness of performing live, using defined characters and themes that are revisited and interwoven across the record, while also experimenting with atmospheric and cinematic samples to breathe life into the recording,” shares Lo! guitarist and main songwriter Carl Whitebread. “The act of gleaning was a medieval practice where a lord or nobility would allow their lowest subjects to sift through the refuse of a newly harvested field for subsistence. Replace grain with truth and we ourselves are gleaning daily through media, relationships and our own myths to subside; hoping to harvest sense from the muck and mire.”
An album that rattles cages while also heralding the assured return from the Australian quartet, The Gleaners showcases Lo! Via a terrifying vision of the infernal madness of reality alongside some stellar sludgy blackened hardcore that’ll tickle the fancy of Converge, Baptists and Mastodon fans - and beyond!
In a Maniacs exclusive, Lo!'s Sam Dillon reveals five creative inspirations and influences behind The Gleaners.
Napalm Death
"The first one would have to be Napalm Death, especially the album Apex Predator - Easy Meat. Carl [Whitbread, Lo! guitarist] has always cited Napalm Death’s decisive experimental album Diatribes as an influence over the years. We love that this band, no matter what age, are still
able to inject something new and fresh into a well-trodden genre."
Pink Floyd
"For number two, I’d say Roger Waters’s xenophobic opus, Pink Floyd’s The Final Cut, and the Orwellian dystopia concept album Animals from the late 70s. I love the style of Roger Waters’ lyrics and his ability to paint a vivid picture of his surrounding environment."
Gallows
"At number three, it’s Gallows’ Grey Britain, but we have shaped our own uniquely Australian- centric, Eurocentric view of our environment on The Gleaners."
Daughters
"Next is Daughters’ You Won’t Get What You Want. A sort of autobiographical postcard of misery, so much loss and depression is also throughout those songs. It’s always a bit left of the field which also influences stuff that we can look to do to make it more sonically exciting."
Film & TV Scores, Nine Inch Nails
"Lastly, film scores like Dune and Nine Inch Nails, and volumes one, two and three of Watchmen on HBO. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ work is always wonderful too. And even when Trent Reznor goes rarely into a political realm, as he does on albums like Year Zero - those are
wonderful bodies of work."
The Gleaners is out now on Pelagic Records.
Listen to The Gleaners
