GNOD SHARE KING TUBBY-INSPIRED TRACK “OLD GOLD“
THE TRANSCENDENTALLY HEAVY CHRONICLES OF GNOWT (VOL. 2)
ARRIVES 9TH OCTOBER VIA ROCKET RECORDINGS
Two decades have passed in the land of Gnod, yet the psychic travelogue only becomes more enthralling as it goes on. The page is turned, a new chapter begins… Chronicles of Gnowt (Vol. 2) will arrive via Rocket Recordings on 9th October.
Today, the band share the King Tubby-inspired “Old Gold“, taken from their transcendentally heavy middle installment in the Chronicles of Gnowt trilogy.
Paddy comments, “The words for ‘Old Gold’ have been floating around the Gnod universe since 2008 waiting for the right rhythm. 18 years later the right rhythm appeared. This track was further enhanced by our (sometimes) sound engineer Raikes jumping on guitar, wah and space echo and Spud Murphy approaching the mix like King Tubby.”
Chris adds, “The rhythm came from jamming in the rehearsal room on a one note riff / rhythm that I was playing on the bass. It was one of those riffs that stuck & became a track”
Video by Parlay Droner
Whilst this band has flourished via dauntless conviction, hive-mind magic and a fierce and uncompromising spirit, one ingredient has served as a crucial fuel for the fire – the monolithic singularity of the riff.
This second chapter of Gnod’s sort-of-anniversary trilogy also originates in the same six day sessions as the first, at Hellfire Studios near Dublin with producer Spud Murphy (Lankum, Black Midi etc). Yet the focus this time is on the transcendental heaviness and repetition that the band have often used as a primary fulcrum of their approach. This volume captures the sound of strings flayed, throats shredded, skins punished by the organic chemistry of this formidably powerful band in a room.
Operating as ever stubbornly adrift of all or any genre restrictions, the coruscating workouts chronicled here evolved on the road in the last two years before being honed and perfected in the studio setup by Murphy. “Spud was masterful –recording live, pushing us to do more takes and then when the right take was done, by the time we got to the desk from the live room he already had it sounding great for playback” relates the band’s Paddy Shine.
The results are amongst the most fearsome and kinetic material that Gnod have summoned to date. The opening “The Witness” takes a The Ex-ish groove and sets it in motion before driving a wall of incandescent guitar scree through it. “Ice Man” redlines an animalistic Melvins-style framework into the realms of dystopian burnout. “Old Gold” meanwhile centres on three-guitar interplay snaking around a muscular, taut groove, with Paddy’s feverish declamations acting as master of ceremonies.
As has often been the case for a band heavily driven by serendipity and intuition, the best plan is no plan at all. “We find quite regularly that spontaneity and the no thought approach works better than over analysis and detailed planning,” clarifies Chris Haslam, “Paddy’s stream of consciousness lyrical approach is another example of how when we remove our own will from the process, something purer, more real & more connected fills the void.”
13/11/2026 – UK, Newcastle, Gosforth Civic Theatre
14/11/2026 – UK, Birkenhead, Future Yard
15/11/2026 – UK, London, 100 Club
Chronicles of Gnowt (Vol. 2) album cover by João Alves
Yet the centrepiece of the record is “Strangled”, a quarter-hour weapons-grade Gnod tour de force on which a hypnotic, concrete heavy structure is wedded to dubbed-out abstraction, and all anchored by the spoken word sermonising of Manchester-based poet and ‘certified legend’ Lauren McLean. “We nearly always have a 15 minute banger on an album, we love that thing of a long repetitive groove that we can have some fun in the mix with,” Paddy notes. “Strangled finally gave us an opportunity to use an Air Raid Siren and get Lauren in, Lauren is a greatwordsmith and great performer, we have been waiting for the right opportunity to work with her. She smashed it”.
PRAISE FOR CHRONICLES OF GNOWT (VOL. 1)
“A generous inventory of everything they do best, held together by a logic that’s uniquely Gnod.”
– THE WIRE
“Gnod at their most Gnodlike”
– THE QUIETUS
“One of the most absorbing and exciting bands we have.”
– NARC
“A slow ritualistic groove worshipping a huge jangling riff.”
– THE GUARDIAN
