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Psalm Zero - "Not Guilty" (Obsequiae Remix)

Psalm Zero, the industrial metal via synth pop project of Charlie Looker, is releasing a limited cassette run of their single “Not Guilty” on Black Mass Productions, as part of the band’s “Birthright Trilogy” promoting their new album Stranger To Violence. The single contains the original “Not Guilty” along with a remix of the tune by Obsequiae, which we are premiering below.

The original “Not Guilty” is the kind of hard edged industrial jam that makes you want to chain smoke cigarettes in a dimly lit room, but it smartly incorporates some flashes of color with a subtle horn line and Looker’s well timed falsetto. Obsequiae’s take on the track ditches the original’s midtempo stomp for a blurry half-time. Looker’s vocals are pushed way back in the mix and drowned in reverb, the guitars don’t chug so much as they splatter, and the walls of syntheziers that played a supporting role in the initial mix are brought into the spotlight in this version. In the process “Not Guilty” has gone from sounding like a more gut-punching Depeche Mode to something that could show up on a Black Wing record. Hearing the two back to back is a fun exercise in how a similar mood, in this case that mood is a foul one, can be expressed by radically different arrangements. Pick your poison.

Psalm Zero will also be going a brief North American tour in August, dates below:

8/4 Dusk – Providence, RI w/ Tovarish, Hadean, Snowbeasts
8/5 Koto – Salem, MA w/ Sun Drifter, Phantom Glue
8/6 SPACE Gallery – Portland, ME w/ Purse, An Anderson, Clan of Dyad
8/8 Array Space – Toronto, ON w/ Ayahuasca, Gates, Manticore
8/9 UFO Factory – Detroit, MI w/ Casuistry, Olms
8/10 Subterranean – Chicago, IL w/ Cool Memories, No Ritual
8/11 Now That’s Class – Cleveland, OH w/ Nyodene D, Requiem
8/12 Alternative Gallery – Allentown, PA
8/13 Alphaville – New York, NY w/ MV Carbon

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