NYC post-metallers So Hideous have announced None But a Pure Heart Can Sing, their first new album since 2015's Laurestine, due December 3 via Silent Pendulum Records (pre-order). It was made with The Number Twelve Looks Like You's rhythm section of bassist DJ Scully and drummer Michael Kadnar, and engineered, mixed and mastered by The Dillinger Escape Plan guitarist Kevin Antreassian, and band leader Brandon Cruz said they were aiming for a more rhythmic approach this time around.

"I think we still have the foundation of what we laid before, being influenced largely by Japanese post metal bands Mono and Envy, and composers such as Arvo Part and Max Richter," he said. "We wanted more rhythm this time and we expanded outward to include influences from Fela Kuti and Tony Allen's Afrobeat percussion, James Brown's horn section, and the balladry of Otis Redding and Sam Cooke. It was also nice to finally experiment a bit with more Penderecki-style tone clusters and glissando on the more dissonant sections."

You can hear that coming through in lead single "The Emerald Pearl," which injects the band's usual orchestral post-black metal sound with some clear jazz and Afrobeat influence. "This was the first song we started working on after Laurestine," Brandon tells us. "It felt freeing to have it be based more on rhythms than sweeping melodies. I was listening to a lot of Fela Kuti and always wanted to see if we could filter that groove through the lens of our thing with the reverb/delays/distortions and screams. I was obsessed with the drumming of Tony Allen and wanted to tap into that feel with slightly more aggression. The concept was so indebted to him that we called this the 'Tony Allen song' for years as we demoed it. In keeping with that idea of rhythm and freedom we were thrilled to have the horns blow all over this thing almost like a James Brown live cut whereas I think on previous records we maybe would have buried them a bit."

"The song and video are both about the conflicting feelings of finally getting something you’ve wanted for so long or worked so hard for," he continues. "'The Emerald Pearl' is a stand in for whatever that is for you personally. You essentially killed yourself to get it and there is joy and a sense of accomplishment but also an empty, a 'now what?'. Then of course, you have to repeat the process again to complete whatever your next task is. There’s some bravery there…"

The video, which was directed by Brendan McGowan, premieres right here:

Tracklist
1) Souvenir (Echo)
2) The Emerald Pearl
3) Intermezzo
4) Motorik Visage
5) From Now (Til the Time We're Still)

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