Original Coverage & Source Attribution: bluntmag.com.au
System Error: Humanity arrives on November 13, with Kurt Ballou producing and Randy Blythe contributing more than a guest spot. Detroit gets the release party eight days later.
Veteran Detroit metalcore outfit Walls Of Jericho have announced a hometown release show for System Error: Humanity, their first new studio album in a decade.
The band will play TSDMAAC in Detroit on November 21, joined by Escalation Of Force, Loveletters, Vigilante and Execute. Tickets are available through the official listing.
The record arrives on November 13 through Napalm Records, finally giving 2016’s No One Can Save You From Yourself a successor.
That gap covers studio albums, rather than a decade away from the stage. Napalm’s campaign biography lists appearances at Hellfest, Furnace Fest and Detroit’s Tied Down among the band’s intervening live activity.
For the new record, capturing that live energy was the point. Speaking in the July album announcement, vocalist Candace Buckingham explained: “We set out to capture the chaos, intensity, and raw energy of our live show rather than chase perfection.”
Randy Blythe’s Role Goes Beyond Guest Vocals
Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou produced the 15-track album and handled mixing. The band’s own credits also identify Ballou and Zach Weeks as its recording team at God City Studio.
Lamb Of God’s Randy Blythe joins Buckingham on ‘Broken Mouths Can’t Speak’, but his contribution extends beyond that appearance. He also receives an additional vocal production credit.
The Red Chord’s Guy Kozowyk features on ‘Humanity’. Between those two and Buckingham, nobody appears to have booked this session for a quiet catch-up.
The record’s lyrical focus is more personal than its title might suggest. Buckingham describes resistance to comparison, conformity and distraction, with reclaiming your attention and choices at its centre.
Three singles have already introduced that fight: ‘The Ascent’, ‘Agency’ and October’s ‘True Til’ Death’.
The latter also opens the album. In its release announcement, Buckingham described turning the turmoil that once helped you survive into fuel to keep going. It confronts the point where anger gives way to apathy, and the effort required to push through.
Listen to ‘True Til’ Death’ ahead of System Error: Humanity, out November 13 through Napalm Records.
