"They Have Names," the new song from the Washington, DC hardcore/screamo band NØ MAN, is extremely heavy in all sorts of way. The heaviest part of the song, spiritually if not musically, is the end. The song itself is a fast, furious rager that bandleader Maha Shami, the daughter of Palestinian refugees, delivers with overwhelming passion and conviction: "Deny our death! Doubt our count! Three hundred thirty-five bullets, six bodies found!" As the song winds down from its thunderous conclusion, we hear recordings of loved ones saying the names of people who were murdered in Israel's ongoing campaign of genocide. I get so sad and so angry when I hear it.
Maha Shami started NØ MAN with three ex-members of the pioneering Richmond screamo band Majority Rule back in 2017, and they've been on an urgent blitz ever since. Today, they announce plans to follow 2024's Glitter And Spit with a new album called Between The Sword And The Neck. The title, quoted on "They Have Names," comes from a point that the Palestinian poet Ghassan Kanafani made in a 1970 interview, about how the oppressed cannot truly negotiate with their oppressors.
Between The Sword And The Neck includes contributions from Maha Shami's daughter and mother, as well as the HIRS Collective's Jenna Pup and FAIM's Kat Lanzillo-Hidalgo. "Moan," the single that NØ MAN released a few months ago, is on there. The band produced it themselves. Below, check out "They Have Names," which is just an enormously powerful song, and the tracklist.
TRACKLIST:
01 "In Spite" (feat. FAIM & the HIRS Collective)
02 "Zoo"
03 "Moan"
04 "Pregnant Hearts"
05 "They Have Names"
06 "Murmur"
07 "Run Faster"
08 "In Tongues"
09 "نزيف على الورق"
10 "Blood And Paper"
Between The Sword And The Neck is out 10/1 on Iodine Recordings.
