CALIFORNIA SLUDGE CREW ARMED FOR APOCALYPSE RELEASE “LIVE THROUGH THE STORM” — WATCH + LISTEN RITUAL VIOLENCE OUT OCTOBER 7 VIA CANDLELIGHT RECORDS Californian sludge metal crew Armed for Apocalypse have released their tortured new single, “Live Through the Storm,” ahead of their third album release, Ritual Violence, which arrives October via Candlelight Records. Listen and watch the visualizer here. Vocalist Nate Burman comments on the caustic new single, saying, “At the time that I wrote this, I was in a pretty dark place in life and found myself being wildly self-destructive. It was right at the peak of the pandemic, so I was also pretty isolated from everyone which really started getting to me. I remember finding myself just trying to drink through the boredom and depression night after night. That’s also partially where the album title comes from. It felt like every night was a ritual of self-destruction. It’s a vicious cycle that’s hard to break.” Forthcoming new album Ritual Violence is an uncompromising aural onslaught and sees the band at their most aggressive. Both a product and expression of their never-die attitude, it’s the album Armed for Apocalypse always wanted to make, with the engineer they wanted to make it — Kurt Ballou of God City (Converge, High on Fire, Every Time I Die) — and the label they wanted to partner with — Candlelight Records. Featuring guest appearances from Andreas Kisser (Sepultura) on track “Foredoomed” and Trevor Phipps (Unearth) on “Suffer for a Living,’ it is Armed for Apocalypse refined to its purest form: 0 percent frills, 100 percent heavy riffs. Forming in California in the aughts, Armed for Apocalypse quickly released 2009’s Defeat (Ironclad Recordings). That’s where they laid out their mission statement: we are going to tune low, play riffs, and make heavy metal that makes you bang your fucking head. Real amps turned up, real drums hit hard, no bullshit. 2013’s The Road Will End (Ironclad) complicated their thesis, the band experimenting with new structures and incorporating a broader sonic palette. But member changes and new life directions led to a challenging five years before their next release, 2018’s Palm Reader EP. Now, in 2022, they return more focused than ever with their most potent and unwavering album to date. Ritual Violence is eleven tracks of bludgeoning skullf*ckery; a record from a band who are confident in who they are, and what they want to do. And who won’t let anything get in the way of that. Not the years. Not the heartache. Not an industry that devalues its creators. Nothing. Armed for Apocalypse has never done it the easy way. But on this latest record is a statement and a promise: they will do it their way. | 
