Chicago, Illinois emotional cybergrind mainstay BLIND EQUATION has announced their much-anticipated sophomore full-length, Death Awaits, set for release on September 15 via Prosthetic Records. On their Prosthetic debut, BLIND EQUATION plummets the depths of self-loathing, interpersonal betrayal, anxiety and death itself.
Having become a staple name in the burgeoning modern cybergrind scene,BLIND EQUATION has seen sole songwriter James McHenry nurture his talents for the better part of a decade in the form of various split releases, EPs and 2021 full-length Life Is Pain. Abandoning genre confines, McHenry’s unique amalgam of grind, hardcore, extreme metal, chiptune and electronics has come to define BLIND EQUATION’s unique sound, with praise from the likes of Bandcamp Daily and Metal Injection along the way.
Following Life Is Pain’s warm reception in online circles by fans and critics alike, the intervening years have seen BLIND EQUATION amass numerous live performances and US tours – with shows alongside HEALTH, Author and Punisher, Tallah and The Callous Daoboys having taken place in 2023 alone – picking up a dedicated following for the band along the way.
In rare moments of downtime from the road, Death Awaits was conceptualised as a meditation on real world anxieties and largely negative lived experiences. Retaining complete creative control of BLIND EQUATION’s musical and lyrical output, Death Awaits was self-produced and mastered by McHenry for streaming and CD before being placed in the hands of audio engineer Steve Perrino for vinyl mastering duties.
Unflinching accounts of mutilation, deception and depression appear repeatedly throughout Death Awaits, be it the pulsating 8-bit electronics and blastbeats of lead single never getting better that explode into positively anthemic proclamations of the title in the chorus, or the desiderium of you betrayed the ones you love’s electronic strings that give way to scathing rebuttals of broken trust. Death Awaits presents interpersonal disarray and suffering in its rawest and most confessional form, summarised best on suffering in silence’s one-two vocal trade offs and glitched-out hardcore pandemonium featuring New Zealand artist DEATHTRIPPA.
Death Awaits’ fatalistic worldview is captured in blurred neon pinks and grainy black by visual artist Angel Gasm, with light leaking effects on the symbolic flower as a beacon of hope among the hurt. For all the anguish BLIND EQUATION pulls from for the latest full-length there is sure to be those who find solace and comfort here, and Death Awaits may well prove to not only be a watershed moment in modern cybergrind but also the beginning of a limitless creative incline for the band.
