ONI have had a kinship with Lamb of God for the better part of a decade. The Canadian prog-metal crew tapped go-to LOG producer Josh Wilbur to record their 2016 debut, Ironshore, and that album also contained a song that featured Randy Blythe on the mic. After a long six years of dropping scattered singles and one EP, ONI have finally announced their sophomore album, Loathing Light, which is due out June 17th and was also produced by Wilbur alongside Lamb of God guitarist Mark Morton. What's more, the record's new single, "Secrets" — following this month's collab with City Morgue, "War Ender" — yet again features vocals from Blythe, as well as a fascinatingly unexpected guest spot from punk pioneer Iggy Pop.
ONI's first record was characterized by proggy extreme-metal compositions and rubbery djent tones, and all of those aspects are largely absent on "Secrets." It's a blistering groove-metal track that actually sounds a helluva lot like Lamb of God, so Blythe sounds right at home bellowing atop the churning verses. Pop delivers a grizzled spoken-word intro and then dips away until an eerie bridge, where his haunting croak fills the empty space with throaty texture. Blast the song above via YouTube.
"Iggy's vocals are so iconic and instantly recognizable, his style is what we were after," said frontman Jake Oni. "But we figured, let's see if we can get the man himself to check it out?. . .He came down, we had some food and just chilled. And then he did his thing all over the song. He asked me for ideas about how to approach it, which was just crazy and cool. It all worked so well and came out sick."
"It was awesome to work with Jake again, and of course the usual suspects, my compatriots Mark Morton and Josh Wilbur — always a good time," Blythe added. "But to be on a track and film a video with one of my biggest influences as frontman, the OG godfather of punk and living legend Iggy Pop? Completely priceless."
Loathing Light is out June 17th via Ironshore Records and pre-orders are available here. See the cover art and tracklisting below.
Loathing Light tracklisting:
1. The Lie
2. Against My Sins
3. Secrets feat. Randy Blythe & Iggy Pop
4. Awaken
5. War Ender feat. City Morgue
6. Heart To Stone
7. Battery Tomb
8. Sequence Static
9. Gasoline
10. Golden
