athousandangelsandseven
Photo Credit 📷 : @lucidnature
Take a deep breath. Now, if you’re ready to do a little sonic exploration today, then prepare yourself for a new single called Clipped Wings from Denver’s athousandangelsandseven forthcoming self-titled EP. The name may look familiar to those of you with a pulse for the screamo scene as the band debuted a track on Zegema Beach Zampler #24.
Clipped Wings picks up where the band left off — frenetic energy fraught with dissonance. The Denver quintet opens the track with homage to chainsaw riffs and d-beat drums, reminiscent the_network or Trap Them. The floor tom thunders as instrumentation syncs before it all falls to shit with a tasty slice of cacophony. Elle’s vocals teeter from snotty and sassy punk-esque vocals all the way to ear piercing screams that’ll call to mind Sawtooth Grin.
I make these comparisons not because the band apes these styles, but rather because the range and depth of the band members span nearly ten active projects and over ten dormant endeavors. For the self-titled EP, Mat (guitar) started building the framework for the tracks, building the songs in a digital audio workstation and presenting these ideas to the band, who were then tasked with composing their parts. With vocalist Elle noting that the writing progress for this project was different than past projects, that there was emphasis on impacting the sound of the song through “new and interesting rhythmic elements."
“LYRICALLY AND VOCALLY, THIS PROJECT’S A LOT DIFFERENT TO ANYTHING ELSE I’VE WORKED ON DUE TO HOW CONSISTENTLY CHAOTIC AND MATHY IT IS. THE PHRASING HAS TO BE MUCH MORE INTENTIONAL, SO I SPENT A LOT LONGER THAN USUAL HONING THE LYRICS FOR THIS EP.”
- ELLE @ATHOUSANDANGELSANDSEVEN
The tracks were workshopped over an extended period before live takes, real amps and drums gave way to the track you’re hearing today. Mat and Ryan (drums) were at the helm for recording the debut, recording and mixing at 140Audio. Elle (vocals), Alex (bass) and Kendrick (guitar) supplied ample riffing to cover the sonic spectrum that give the songs such energy. Mat and Ryan did an incredible job capturing a myriad of tones and dynamics in this 2-minute track. I’m blown away at the bass passage around a minute in that makes Alex’s sort of noise rock bass riff fit in so well. The tone on it is stellar.
Clipped Wings is a tour de force with regards to suffering. Lyrically we have a narrator against themselves, battling that which makes them “function” while still feeling impotent. The very thing that takes the edge off of the sharpest parts is holding us back, wings clipped just enough not to escape. The album will set its sights on our “culture of greed, violence, and fear, perpetuated by the [United States] and [Elle’s] feelings of anger, guilt, and trauma as a marginalized person existing within this country.”
The self-titled EP will be released on 01/27/27 by Zegema Beach Records, with an album release planned for the 28th, at Squirm Gallery in Denver. Personally, I can’t wait to get my hands on this record, it scratches the itch in a good way — a chaotic blend of bands like Cult Leader and Jerome’s Dream and a touch of Usurp Synapse.
Checkout their Bandcamp here : athousandangelsandseven
Writer : @garevthistle
Editor : @just_reidz
01/13/25
