This is the first Shroud of Despondency album with real drums since 2014. It was created differently than all previous albums. Instead of writing everything, I decided I wanted to play drums and let Blemberg bring some riffs to the table. We rehearsed as a two piece. Then I wrote the melodies, leads, and intros in the studio. It was a collaborative effort that we wrote over 3 months and recorded over another 2. We wanted nothing to be polished and everything to be audible. We want nothing to do with modern mastering techniques nor the current trend of overproducing every album.

Our blast beats are imperfect. Our production is raw and reflects the themes in our music. Our process is open to failure, shittiness, experimentation, and capturing individual moments. For this release, we limited our influences and conversations to a slightly different set of bands than on previous albums. Megadeth, Coroner, Virus, Emperor, and Horna were our main frames of reference. We wanted to create our brand of avant-garde black/thrash.

I like to keep music apolitical. I chose to explore the concepts of overpopulation, depopulation, and individual weakness. Still, it was impossible to avoid being influenced by the current political landscape. The idea of group identitiy, in particular, could not be avoided while I was writing. So, if I'm being honest about all aspects, the first part of the title track was written while entranced by contempt for the radical left. The second part of the title track was influenced by my well developed contempt for the radical right. Ultimately, I'm disgusted by any human being who develops the need to participate in either thought process.

There are moments that do not represent the totality of my beliefs. They were, however, vomited out as an attempt to further learn to handle people with dignity and respect. This, in spite of the ever persistent(and occasionally pervasive) thought that there are too many human beings on the planet. Balancing extremes quickly became the philosophical theme of "Cull." If I could state that in less of a cliched manner, I would.

Cheers

-Heikkila, on behalf of Shroud of Despondency.