Game returns after their 2019 full-length No One Wins with the Legerdemain EP. Piercing the listener with nonstop aural carnage, the EP would be an apt soundtrack to the armageddon. Part Venom, part Death Side, all live and loud, Legerdemain offers no restful moments. An instrumental masterclass with blistering drumming from Jonah Falco, weird and wonderful guitar melodies conjured up by Cal Baird, and a rumbling and decapitating buzzsaw bass by Nicky Rat, the release's finishing move is an ever-changing vocal tone by Ola H. Legerdemain can be a rewarding, or punishing, aural journey depending on your perspective.
The new release, which was recorded and mixed by Jonah and mastered by extreme music legend Arthur Rizk finds Game leaning heavily into their metal influences, with sounds of early 80s UK steel given extra ferocity through the lens of Japanese hardcore punk from the same era. Having toured multiple times in Europe and North America, Game, which features members of Fucked Up, Arms Race and Violent Reaction, is equally comfortable playing to punks, metalheads and everyone in between.
‘Legerdemain’ is a magician’s term meaning sleight of hand, a key skill of deception. The term is used as a metaphor for our current post-truth society where governments, technocracies, and financial institutions use smoke and mirrors to create a farcical and bewildering existence where one cannot know if something is real or not in order to cover up social injustice and mechanisms that drive inequality. As Legerdemain progresses, one is being continually dragged along towards an apocalyptic ending on "Release", which reflects on this current predicament as a nuclear explosion approaches with nothing left to do except give into the madness. There is a constant cycle of rising again, fighting against wrong doing, exhaustion, and endings. The lyrics in Polish, English and a sprinkle of French, represent the multinational members of the band, who feel culturally in a no man’s land, which in fact is everyone’s experience in 2021. Legerdemain tries to answer this anomie with urgent metal punk that is hauntingly relevant.
Listen to the MLP here: https://qualitycontrolhq.bandcamp.com/album/legerdemain
Check out the music video for single "Atomowa Rekonstrukcja," from NYC punk freaks D4MT Labs here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gfjskicpnew
Credits:
Jonah Falco - Drums
Cal Baird - Guitars
Nicky Rat - Bass
Ola H - Vocals/Synth
Recorded at Holy Mountain by Stanley Gravett and Chris Fullard
Mixed by Jonah Falco
Mastered by Arthur Rizk
Artwork by Nicky Rat
Pressing Information:
This is QCHQ - 072
5 x Test Presses
300 x yellow vinyl (UK shop)
300 x white vinyl (USA shop - qualitycontrolhqusa.com )
400 x black vinyl (Worldwide distribution)
Comes in a red poly lined inner sleeve, matte card letterpress printed outer foldover sleeve, newspaper poster insert, crystal clear protective sleeve, and download code