The extremely sick Hudson Valley group Age Of Apocalypse arrived on the scene with a novel sales-pitch: What if a heavy hardcore band had a frontman who could actually sing? They weren't the first band to present an idea like that, and you could hear the inspiration that they took from '90s bands like Life Of Agony. But singer Dylan Kaplowitz's megaton bellow really sets the band apart these days, and you can truly hear the difference in the lead single from the band's upcoming album.
Age Of Apocalypse's first full-length, 2022's Grim Wisdom, kicked a lot of ass, but they look like they're about to make a big leap with its follow-up. For the past few years. AOA have been on the backburner, and band members have been busy with side projects like Sentinel and Pillars Of Ivory. Now, Age Of Apocalypse unveil plans for their new album In Oblivion, which they recorded with heavy-music mastermind and Twitching Tongues/God's Hate member Taylor Young. Taylor's brother Colin Young sings on the album, as do High Vis' Graham Sayle and Demonstration Of Power's Shaun Alexander. But the main focus seems to be Dylan Kaplowitz's voice. That guy is going off.
In Oblivion kicks off with the grand-scale epic "Mortal Coil." It starts out quiet and tingly, and Kaplowitz really leans into his eerie whine-croon. When the song gets heavy, Kaplowitz's voice surges and soars with multi-tracked grace. The end result sounds less like the work of a hardcore band, more like Pallbearer back when Pallbearer sometimes got heavy. Kaplowitz also directed the song's moody video, which gets into occult-biker territory. In a press release, Kaplowitz says:
"Mortal Coil" deals with the themes of loss and how one navigates grief or betrayal. It expresses that we all have to follow these paths of life, however difficult, but we don't have to navigate these hardships alone... The music video follows a mother retelling the story of how she met the father of her daughter. Her retelling is kind of mythic and embellished, which I feel we tend to do when we tell stories to kids. I definitely just ripped off some of my favorite directors shot-wise, and just had a lot of fun with it. Jack and I were adamant about shooting on 16mm. I think it pays homage to the music videos we saw as kids from the '90s and how vibrant and textural they were.
This spring, Age Of Apocalypse will play some dates with the heavy hardcore bands Desize and Cross Of Disbelief, and they'll also open a bunch of shows on High Vis and Militarie Gun's upcoming tour. Below, check out the "Mortal Coil" video, the In Oblivion tracklist, and the band's tour dates.
TRACKLIST:
01 "Mortal Coil"
02 "Maximum Suffering"
03 "Gilded Hatred"
04 "In Oblivion"
05 "Equalizer"
06 "Apocalypse Intro"
07 "Impulse"
08 "Snake Oil God"
09 "Symbol Of Mourning"
10 "Over Mine"
TOUR DATES:
4/04 - Newburgh, NY @ Untouchable
4/05 - Hollywood, FL @ American Legion Post
4/07 - Pensacola, FL @ The Handle Bar $
4/08 - Houston, TX @ White Swan $
4/09 - Dallas, TX @ Haltom Theater $
4/10 - Albuquerque, NM @ Ren's Den $
4/11 - Phoenix, AZ @ Kingdom Boxing $
4/12 - Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Underground $
4/13 - San Francisco, CA @ Neck of the Woods $
4/15 - Seattle, WA @ Neumo’s %
4/16 - Vancouver, BC @ Pearl %
4/17 - Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall %
4/18 - Boise, ID @ Shrine Ballroom %
4/19 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge %
4/20 - Denver, CO @ Marquis Theater %
4/21 - Des Moines, IA @ Lefty’s Live %
4/22 - Kansas City, KS @ Bottleneck %
4/23 - St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway %
4/24 - Nashville, TN @ Basement East %
4/25 - Louisville, KY @ LDB Fest
4/26 - Detroit, MI @ Lincoln Factory %
4/27 - Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge %
4/29 - Philadelphia, PA @ TLA %
4/30 - Boston, MA @ Middle East %
5/01 - Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw %
5/02 - Baltimore, MD @ The Ottobar %
5/03 - Durham, NC @ Motorco %
5/04 - Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade %
$ with Despize & Cross Of Disbelief
% with High Vis & Militarie Gun
In Oblivion is out 5/23 on Closed Casket Activities.
