Plus, new 2022 US tour dates
black midi are ready to bring you to their post-punk netherworld with Hellfire, their third studio album. Before it’s out on July 15th via Rough Trade Records, the trio have shared the LP’s aptly-titled lead single “Welcome to Hell” today. Additionally, black midi have unveiled a list of 2022 tour dates in the US.
Hellfire, black midi’s follow-up to last year’s Cavalcade, is billed as a concept album of sorts that juggles “themes of pain, loss, and anguish.” While Cavalcade was more melodic and their 2019 debut Schlagenheim was brutal and grating, black midi find the balance on Hellfire, which the band wrote in isolation in London. As guitarist/lead vocalist Geordie Greep puts it in a press release: “If Cavalcade was a drama, Hellfire is like an epic action film… I don’t believe in Hell, but all that old world folly is great for songs.” Pre-orders for Hellfire are ongoing.
“Welcome to Hell” is epic, indeed. Many of the songs on Hellfire contain detailed stories told in the first person, and this one is no exception, with Greep assuming the role of a nihilistic, shell-shocked military soldier: “Bullets were made for men like you: The impotent idiots god forgot,” he sneers in his instantly-recognizable voice.
With a mathy rhythm section and a searing breakdown, it’s a black midi track through-and-through. Watch the 2D- and 3D-animated music video for “Welcome to Hell,” directed by Gustaf Holtenäs, below.
After they wrap up their current leg in Europe, black midi will begin their US shows on July 21st at Boston’s Paradise Rock Club. The 25-date leg of the tour includes stops at New York’s Central Park, LA’s Wiltern, Chicago’s Thalia Hall, and more before concluding on October 15th in Louisville, Kentucky. Tickets go on sale this Friday, May 13th, and they’ll be available over at Ticketmaster.
After the jump, see black midi’s 2022 tour dates, as well as the tracklist and artwork for Hellfire.
Earlier this year, black midi shared the three-track Cavalcovers EP, on which they performed their own renditions of King Crimson’s “21st Century Schizoid Man,” Taylor Swift’s “Love Story,” and Captain Beefheart’s “Moonlight on Vermont.”
Hellfire Tracklist: 01. Hellfire 02. Sugar/Tzu 03. Eat Men Eat 04. Welcome to Hell 05. Still 06. The Race is About to Begin 07. Dangerous Liaisons 08. The Defence 09. 27 Questions
black midi 2022 Tour Dates: 07/21 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club 07/23 – Asbury Park, NJ @ Asbury Lanes 07/24 – New York, NY @ Central Park SummerStage 09/06 – Baltimore, MD @ Ram’s Head Live 09/07 – Richmond, VA @ The National 09/09 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel 09/10 – Athens, GA @ Georgia Theatre 09/12 – Birmingham, AL @ Saturn 09/14 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall 09/16 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk 09/20 – Tucson, AZ @ Hotel Congress Plaza 09/22 – Pomona, CA @ The Glass House 09/23 – San Diego, CA @ Music Box 09/24 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern Theatre 09/27 – San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield Theatre 09/28 – Sacramento, CA @ Harlow’s 09/29 – Reno, NV @ Cargo Concert Hall 10/03 – Boulder, CO @ Fox Theatre 10/04 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre 10/07 – Lawrence, KS @ The Granada 10/08 – Omaha, NE @ Slowdown 10/09 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue 10/12 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall 10/14 – Columbus, OH @ The Athenaeum Theatre 10/15 – Louisville, KY @ Headliners Music Hall
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