NYC industrial duo Uniform recently linked up with extreme-metal mavericks the Body for an excellent joint album, On Mental Wounds Not Healing. On the heels of that release, they've expanded to a trio, bringing Liturgy and Zs percussionist Greg Fox into the shadowy fold; they've also announced a new album called The Long Walk. Arriving August 17th via Sacred Bones, the follow-up to last year's Wake In Fright LP gets its title and inspiration from Stephen King's 1979 novel of the same name (it was published under the author's pseudonym Richard Bachman).
Accompanying their announcement is "The Walk," a lo-fi ripper showcasing Fox's fervent percussion. Its music video takes a trippy, unsettling look at cable news, by way of cult imagery and absurd displays of violence. Be warned: There's a lot of blood.
Uniform vocalist Michael Berdan offers the following comments on the new album and song:
"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 4 mph 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 beauty and personal empowerment in many of the basic tenants of all world religions, these are subjects that I wrestle with constantly."
The Long Walk is out August 17 on Sacred Bones Records. Pre-order it here, and read on for the album artwork and track listing, as well as the band's upcoming tour dates with Deafheaven.
Uniform - The Long Walk track listing:
01. "The Walk"
02. "Human Condition"
03. "Found"
04. "Transubstantiation"
05. "Alone in the Dark"
06. "Headless Eyes"
07. "Anointing of the Sick"
08. "Peaceable Kingdom"
Uniform tour dates:
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. 30 — Chicago, IL — Metro
Jul. 31 — Milwaukee, WI — Turner Hall
Aug. 01 — Minneapolis, MN — Cedar Cultural Center
Aug. 03 — St. Louis, MO — The Ready Room
Aug. 04 — Lawrence, KS — The Granada
Aug. 05 — Denver, CO — The Oriental Theater
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 — Aug.ust Hall
Aug. 17 — San Diego, CA — Brick By Brick
Aug. 18 — Los Angeles, CA — The Wiltern
