Phal:Angst Released New Album “Whiteout” Via Noise Appeal Records

Long-running Vienna–based industrial/post-rock collective PHAL:ANGST will release their fifth full-length, Whiteout, January 13th via Noise Appeal Records/Rough Trade.

Whiteout was assembled over the course of five months. The band and a dream team consisting of Alexandr Vatagin (engineer for Kronos Quartett, Pauls Jets, Dives, Electric Indigo), Gerhard Potuznik (GD Luxxe, Mäuse, co-owner of Angelika Köhlermann, producer of Chicks On Speed), Alexander Lausch (engineer for Die Buben Im Pelz, Paul Plut, Mynth, The New Mourning), and Tobias Wöhrer (Leyya), were involved in producing, consulting, recording, mixing, and mastering the record. Remixes were made by industrial/dark ambient icons Brian Williams AKA Lustmord and Jarboe (Swans), two musicians who have had a fundamental impact on the work of PHAL:ANGST.

The music contained within Whiteout bears the hallmarks of an exceptionally individualistic, if not idiosyncratic, band. There are no “songs” in the traditional sense of the word; instead, there are sticky, cinematographic sound epics which meander through numerous atmospheres and temperaments. These are frequently dystopic, melancholic, but also hyper harmonic with a distinct penchant for romanticism. This time, distorted eruptions of rage have been reduced in favor of more reverbed Southern Gothic, dulcet metallophone, subtle dub breaks, and rhythmic vocal samples with stomping beats in slow motion. It’s a work that demands patience, quietude, and attention from its listeners… And possibly mental resilience. When the repetitive line, “So also ist das Sterben” (So this is what it’s like to die), from the album’s closing carries the listener beyond the realm of the living on a crescendo of noise and harmony, one can appreciate the cerebral magic of PHAL:ANGST’s sonic sphere. The artwork was designed using photos by Kurt Prinz, pictures that were partly featured in the book Sezierte Architektur (“dissected architecture”), only adding to the record’s disquieting vibe.

You can purchase Whiteout on CD, cassette, and digitally. Order now HERE.