Self Neglect
Photo Cred 📷 : @demonicaarts666
Today we’re presenting “Gently,” the two minutes and seventeen second track that distills “the power, horror, compulsion, and inevitability of love.” This banger comes to Not Just a Phase courtesy of the Albuquerque quartet, Self Neglect.
The opening floor-tom roll into drum fill kicks things off in a way that feels anthemic. When the guitar tracks come in you can nearly feel the next chord in progression before it hits and drags you along. The vocals hit, with hints of bleakness. They raw screaming evokes the ilk of blackened screamo artists like, Portrayal of Guilt or Infant Island. That hint of reverb that smears the pained and panic wailing of vocalist Alex gracefully blurs the abrasion into the croon of Cody Votolato (Blood Brothers).
The back and forth, dueling vocals of Alex and Cody ties together the three distinct phrases of the first minute of the song before we descend into the briefest display of madness. The drums go fast, the riffs go fast, and it all goes hard. This is a six second snapshot before you get brief hints of some white belt breakdown. Spinning out of this in a whirlwind we get fantastic guitar leads, courtesy of Cody Votolato.
“WE DO EVERYTHING WE CAN TO MAKE OUR LIVE SHOWS A PLACE WHERE LOSERS, FREAKS, WEIRDOS AND OUTCASTS CAN COME TOGETHER, HAVE FUN, AND EXPLORE. WE DON’T JUST WANT PEOPLE WHO FEEL LIKE THEY DON’T BELONG IN SOCIETY AR LARGE, BUT ALOS PEOPLE WHO STRUGGLE TO FIND BELONING IN HARDCORE AS WELL.”
The quick, dynamic chan1ges, the pain, the panic, the emotion crammed into this track has me absolutely pumped for this release. This is a testament to the efforts that Leon, Matt, Derrick, and Alex have put into their craft. Before you dive in, here's what Self Neglect had to say about this track: "Gently is about the tension between our desire to love and be loved and the primal fear we have around surrendering to that experience."
So enjoy "Gently" and wait with me so that I am not alone in craving the rest of the tracks Self Neglect will release on February 2nd, 2025.
