Thoughtcrimes Offer Final Preview Of Altered Pasts With Today’s Release Of “Mirror Glue”

Thoughtcrimes, now just nine days away from the release of their eagerly-awaited debut album, Altered Pasts (Aug. 26, Pure Noise Records), offer fans a final preview of the 11-song album with today’s release of “Mirror Glue”.
 
“’Mirror Glue’ feels like the most natural extension of the Tap Night EP,” explains singer Rick Pepa. “Also, I’d be remiss to not mention my little brother Nick Picerno of Godseyes. He lent his talent for a guest vocal performance on the track.”
 
Drummer Billy Rymer adds: “I’ve always been a fan of anthemic drum intros. It’s something that when done right, will always give a song an unmistakable identity. That was the intention when putting this one together. It started with the drums. Everything after that was a linear progression of tension and release, blindsided curve balls and scene changes. There was no jumbling around with parts. It was all written as is in sequence. It’s also the only song we have ever auditioned live prior to tracking.”
 
Pre-orders for the 11-song collection, which include several limited-edition vinyl variants and a CD, can be found here: https://lnk.to/thoughtcrimesmusic.  The band has released two videos in advance of Altered Pasts’ release: the frenetic, multi-color clip for “Keyhole Romance” (https://youtu.be/tjiI4Kw7xbw) and the grittier performance video (with robots!) for “Panopticon” (https://youtu.be/fjKs4eaLcWE). Rymer also created a playthrough video for “The Drowning Man” (https://youtu.be/JvJr7ZmnoKo).
 
Altered Pasts is the perfect soundtrack for the quasi-dystopian times we find ourselves in. At times an intensely savage listen, at times gracefully gentle, the songs flow together to create one of those rare records that takes you – literally, metaphorically, spiritually – on an actual journey. It’s an album that creates its own world, an alternative universe, a monochrome vision of reality where the air is heavy with despair and the weight of human existence. That’s conveyed with brutally violent, visceral explosions of noise such as “Panopticon,” “Dare I Say,” and “Deathbed Confessions” as well as through more elegant and hypnotic swirls of sound such as “New Infinities” and closer “Lunar Waves,” all propelled by singer Pepa’s cathartic and visceral vocals, guitar player’s Russ Savarese dynamism and the propulsive playing of bass player Cody Hosza – which don’t just match the dynamics of the music but elevate them. There’s also the spoken word track “Hai Un Accendino,” which features poet and Michael Clarity reading a poem he wrote specifically for the band as he found himself stuck in Vietnam at the very beginning of the pandemic. Sometimes, as on the monolithic and majestic “Deathbed Confessions,” those two extremes combine to create something that sounds like the slow-motion end of world and all existence, powerful and nuanced, soothing and terrifying, in equal measure.