Red Sky Mourning

It’s a new day for Soul Blind, and with the crack of dawn comes Red Sky Mourning, their second LP and debut for Closed Casket Activities. Not only is this the Hudson Valley, NY-based band’s spankin’ new release at a new home, it’s a snapshot of a band during exponential growth- musically, artistically and most importantly in maturity. When the alt-hard rock favorites took the world, and live stages, by storm in the wake of their critically loved and popular 2022 debut Feel It Around, fans cherished the band’s take on 90s alternative in droves. Now with a new sound and a new lease on life, Soul Blind might be utterly unrecognisable from their previous selves. That is until that unmistakable curtain of guitars starts to engulf like molten hot magma, coupled with subterranean melodies that apply a white-knuckle grip around the throat and don’t let go. In the best way, naturally. The first taste of Soul Blind’s new reign starts with “Hide Your Evil,” the band’s lead off single and the first track written for the record right after signing with Closed Casket. Opening with a ringing tone before evolving into a battering ram of stop-start guitars and swirling psychedelia, “Hide Your Evil” channels Helmet, Adrenaline/Around the Fur-era Deftones, and Quicksand among many others in its high-tension clobber. It’s the kind of song that can be sung sweetly or moshed to vigorously, which is exactly how they like it. “There are these two harmonics that start out the song that Finn has been playing over and over again with no intention of it really becoming something,” says guitarist Justin Sarica. “The whole song is around this one riff and collectively we were pretty pissed off and angry, so what came out was very hard and very fast. I think this song is also the closest thing to our previous stuff but is emblematic of the vibe we’re trying to catch with the record- anger coupled with heaviness while simultaneously opening up to these melodic and pretty sections.” Red Sky Mourning is Soul Blind’s highly anticipated sophomore effort, ten tracks spanning 35 minutes with big shoes to fill- the much loved Feel it All Around LP. And for this go around, Soul Blind enlisted Jon Markson and Adam Cichocki to capture the sound they cultivated after the extensive odometer clicks that came with the last offering. To harness the power of their live show, Soul Blind congregated at Animal Farm in Flemington, NJ for a month, a space that incubated recordings by Drug Church, Drain, KOYO and countless others. There the band explored their love for Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Melvins, mid to late-era Killing Joke, The Cure and all manner of early 90s alternative rock, boiling them down to an essence and passing them through Soul Blind’s hardcore and DIY-inflected sieve. The contained nature of the sessions yielded results that are a pensive, emotional journey through pain, isolation and darkness until eventual redemption and hope could be found with the rising sun.