EPK – Crawling Manifest – Radical Absolution (2021)
Publicist – Jon Asher – jon[@]ashermediarelations[.]com
For fans of Lamb of God, Megadeth, Power Trip, Testament, Exodus
“Our goal in writing music, in general, is to make our fans feel something. Make something they can connect with. This album, I think, did just that. You can listen to the album and feel the old-school influences we have, and you can also dig into the lyrics and hopefully connect with what we are saying. At the end of the day, the message that we are trying to get through with this album is that your voice can, and should be heard. All you have to do is make sure it is.” – Crawling Manifest
Album Title: Radical Absolution
Release Date: May 14, 2021
Label: Self-Release
Distribution: CD Baby
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“The band has cut their teeth playing live with Fleshgod Apocalypse, Soulfly, Soilwork, Carach Angren, and Kataklysm, with founding members remaining members Andrew Gladu and Trevor Layton still driving the band since 2014. Fans from bands like Havok, Warbringer, Lamb of God, and Power Trip will love Crawling Manifest!” – Ghost Cult Mag
“The album is politically charged and there is a solid level of aggression in the vocals that means you can clearly hear that Gladu is fired up here, he’s not just spitting venom for the hell of it. The aforementioned “World War III” is a prime example being a f*** you to Billionaires who got there by exploiting the people who work their fingers to the bone to earn a crust from them, “Right To Refrain Silence” is a straight up fight song about the right to speak freely without being violated by the powers that be in response.” – Metal Noise
“Single “World War III” and its follow up “Nothing to Lose” then gives us something more traditionally Thrash, bringing them into line with the current wave of bands like Hazzerd, Thrasherwolf and Wreck-Defy that have more than a lethal dose of 80’s nostalgia to them. Both deliver the killer solo that puts the band firmly into the Megadeth bracket of styling with Gladu’s gruff bark giving everything a clenched fist approach, a neat tempo change in the later bringing the house down with a full throttle onslaught.” – Metal Noise
“Radical Absolution has plenty of blistering songs – forceful, aggressive, and potentially explosive to charge up the right patrons.” – Dead Rhetoric
“The overwhelming triumph of this record are the quality of riffs. They come thick and fast and we are never far away from a fresh one.” – The Razor’s Edge
“You want thrash, you get no-frills thrash. This record also feels very honest, and gives the listener exactly what’s on the tin. Speaking of those riffs, they bring great pleasure. Crawling Manifest reveal their talent in writing short, punchy statements and drilling them into the listener’s head.” – Metal Utopia
“If you are into blistering lyrics, masterful guitar riffs, seriously “sick” drum and bass this song is for you.” – EDGE Entertainment News
[Download Album Cover | Download Album Lyrics]
Album Title: Radical Absolution
Release Date: May 14, 2021
Label: Self-Release
Distribution: CD Baby
Track Listing:
1. Land of the Free (2:27)
2. World War III (4:42)
3. Nothing to Lose (6:11)
4. Right to Refrain Silence (4:27)
5. Radical Absolution (6:49)
6. Blood Born (4:08)
7. Revolution (4:08)
8. Onslaught (5:00)
Album Length: 39:01
Album Credits:
• All songs performed by: Crawling Manifest
• All songs written by: Crawling Manifest
• Produced by: Andrew Gladu
• Mixed by: Andrew Gladu
• Mastered by: Andrew Gladu
• Album Artwork by: Mirhisham
• Member of BMI
Album Band Line Up:
Andrew Gladu: Vocals/Bass/Drums
Trevor Layton: Guitars
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BAND STORY ANGLES / FUN FACTS:
1. With this new album, Crawling Manifest really dug deep into a current event/political mindset, with almost all of the lyrics reflecting on the struggles of the everyday person in the world of 2020. For example, the song “Right to Refrain Silence,” is nothing short of a fight song, with every line pointing out the failings of our leaders, and coming together in the chorus of “United we stand, divided they fall.”
2. At the beginning of the recording process for this release, “Radical Absolution” was supposed to be a four-song EP…. Then COVID happened. When we started coming out of lockdown, we met back up to go over what we had written, and how we wanted to move forward. During that we realized wait… we have way too many songs for this…. You wanna make this an album? And now we have an album.
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The album as a whole (LYRICALLY & MUSICALLY):
Musically, the album is our modern take on our favorite types of thrash metal, and how we could best blend all of them and mold them to our own vision. It’s an aggressive, hard-hitting combination of riffs, topped with equally aggressive vocals and fast, piercing solos. The start of the album is an emotional instrumental build-up to the first track, and the last track fading out to a soft, bluesy groove really reminds me of taking a deep breath, letting everything that’s been build up inside out, and then starting fresh
Track by track expalined (LYRICALLY & MUSICALLY):
1. Land of the Free: This song was one of the last ones to be finalized. Because it’s an instrumental track, we were constantly back and forth about every note in the track. We ended up having this on here as a lead in not just because we thought it sounded cool, but because it built up an atmosphere that we wanted for the album. Something that sounded like it was struggling like it had to fight to stay alive.
2. World War III: World War III was the first song that we wrote for this album. When we sat down to talk about what kind of sound we wanted to go for, Trevor picked up his guitar and was like, “but how ‘bout this riff?” And started playing what is now the intro to World War III. We instantly fell in love and started fleshing it out more. Lyrically, this song is straight-up a “fuck you” to billionaires. People are exploited every day by people who just reap the benefits of the working class’s labor, so the only thing left to say there is, “Eat the Fucking Rich.”
3. Nothing to Lose: Nothing to Lose is one of my favorite songs on this release. It starts out with an in-your-face riff and gives you no time to recover before going right into the verse. My favorite part of this song by far is the bridge. Once it hits that groove, it hits. Both musically and lyrically. I think what really comes it up are the lines, “So have it your way, already used to abuse. Let’s have it your way, with you there’s nothing to lose.
4. Right to Refrain Silence: This is the album’s fight song, to give the listener that “get up and go” feeling. At its core, this song is designed to hit a nerve. Especially in this last year, we’ve seen far too much in the news about police violence, and that’s something that we as a band cannot support and feel the need to speak out against. We really wanted to capture this in both the lyrics and the music. There are drive and intensity in this song that pushes that sentiment. We needed this song to be just as heavy and gritty as the topic we’re singing about.
5. Radical Absolution: Radical Absolution is about how the media skews our perception of what’s going on around us and desensitizes us to the important happenings and issues of today. It all gets swept under the media rug by bullcrap, forcing us to have to look for these stories ourselves. In the foreground of this song, those who are supposed to provide leadership and guidance are handwaving everything important away. We can’t trust who we’re looking to for current events and leadership to keep us informed, and we have to truly fight for that information. The listener is meant to hear this struggle between the leaders/media and the people between the verses and the chorus.
6. Blood Born: Blood Born is a song written from the perspective of those incarcerated for petty shit. The current prison over-saturation exposes those arrested for quite often stupid “crimes” are exposed to similar or the same treatment and abuse that violent criminals live through and only contribute to a culture of “lock away and forget” that our country seems to be so fond of. The lyrics provide a pretty clear message. When the haves oppress the have nots, then this will be the start of a war.
7. Revolution: Revolution is the second single we released for this album. Functioning as another fight song for our listeners, the goal of this piece was to inspire others to make their voices heard. Being a musician makes it easy for us to speak up and be heard, but not everyone has that luxury. With Revolution, we wanted to motivate our listeners to speak up and use their own voices.
8. Onslaught: As the closer for the album we really wanted to make a statement. Onslaught at its core is a song about winning the war and seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. At the end of the day, we’re in this together, and when the enemy starts crawling away, we’ll be standing at the top. Together.
About:
Crawling Manifest was formed in 2014 on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, USA. The thrash metal band incorporates elements from death metal, modern metal and core.
After multiple line-up changes, live shows, and tours, playing alongside bands such as Fleshgod Apocalypse, Soulfly, Soilwork, Carach Angren and Kataklysm, remaining members Andrew Gladu and Trevor Layton made the decision to write new music taking influence from the bands they grew up listening to and combining a love of death and thrash metal into a powerful new sound.
It starts off with a beer, which turns into a riff and it just goes from there; Gladu and Layton work closely together on all aspects of the writing process, save for when they veer off to pay specific attention to lyrics and vocals.
So far, Crawling Manifest has released two EPs “Forevermore” (2016) and “Lords of War” (2019), and the full-length “Battlegrounds” (2016). In 2021, they will release a second full-length, the politically charged “Radical Absolution” on May 14th.
Discography:
2020 – Radical Absolution – LP
2019 – Lords of War – EP
2018 – Battlegrounds – LP
2016 – Forevermore – EP
Shared Stage with:
Fleshgod Apocalypse, Soulfly, Soilwork, Shattered Sun, Battlecross, Goatwhore, Starkill, Rivers of Nihil, Black Fast, Vicious Rumors, Carach Angren, Kataklysm
Tours and Festivals:
2019 – Fatemaker Music Fest – Baltimore, MD
2019 – Metal to the Masses Tour
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