Literally one day short of a a year ago today, Californian metalcore staples Silent Planet released standalone mathy single ‘Signal:' a nod to their ever-constant grind of delivering new tunes to their fans. The track came soon after releasing their fourth record Iridescent with singles like ‘Trilogy‘ and ‘Anhedonia‘ back in 2021.
The Azusa four-piece are back in a big way with new release 'Antimatter'. Kicking off their next chapter, Silent Planet have unloaded an experimental hyper-mixed animal, dabbling in a post-metalcore space. Overrun by synths and uber-produced programming, the high-profile group have once again found something new that works, alongside their well-orchestrated heaviness that amplifies across the new sounds.
On the new single, frontman Garrett Russell comments extensively, following the horrific bus accident the band recently underwent:
"At approximately 5am on November 3, we were westbound on the I-80 through Wyoming when our driver hit a patch of black ice, causing him to lose control of our vehicle. Asleep in our bunks, we woke to the sound of our friend screaming as we felt the van start to tilt. We braced together as we spun off the road, van falling on its side, then sliding down a nearby embankment until we eventually flipped onto the roof. I was thrown across the vehicle and briefly knocked out, and remember waking to find my bandmates all miraculously safe inside their bunks."
"This song is an extension of this experience we shared while huddled in the wreckage together, my friends helping me to stem the bleeding of my head wound. Temporarily under the effects of a concussion, strange visual distortions began to form, inspiring many of the themes in this song: The fragility of life, the way we make sense of it all, and wondering what awaits us on the other side. While this track is part of a larger story of our upcoming concept album, this one was specifically inspired by this moment... and the moments inside of that moment when I entered that timeless space. This song is our response to the greater Silent Planet community, who donated to help us stay on the road and continues to believe in this project.
I went back to visit my family for the holidays and had a sobering conversation with my dad. I was telling him about the (likely) permanent hearing damage that causes a constant, inescapable, constant high-ringing in my ears. And I was scheduling an appointment to get an MRI of what turned out to be a small fracture in my frame. And my dad told me, "'Maybe you should do a cost-benefit analysis of this whole music thing,' and I think any good parent would say the same after seeing images of a wreck that could have easily taken the life of their child. My dad has this quiet intensity, and that conversation made me face a greater truth.
The risk has always been there. So many of the 40+ tours we've embarked upon have had those 'close call' moments where you breathe a silent prayer of relief, and then another pray to forget. Because we love to do this. Because we feel that this is a dream beyond our wildest and we are so grateful. Grateful enough to allow for the risk. But in that moment where we felt the full weight and force of our lives hurdling off the I-80... there wasn't time for fear and there was no space left in our van for regret. We figured that maybe the other side of this dream had pulled into the station. It wouldn't be until we were wreckage that the guilt would set in. Unable to find one of our family... I started to feel the weight of consequence. Guilt. Terror at the thought of loss. And that's the other side of this song... knowing that things can break and accepting that it's part of the beautiful whole. I was recently asked what part of my back I fractured. 'Pars Interarticularis,' I answered. 'Hmm... never heard of that,' they remarked. And that's when it occurred to me. We usually don't notice something is there until it breaks.
"So to sum it up, I suppose this is a song about revelation as an aftermath."
Words byRicky Aarons(@rickysaul90)
Stream ‘Antimatter‘ here
