Bleached Cross first appeared on No Echo back in 2022, inspiring Adam Yoe to say the following about their debut album: "the collection is an, at times, jaw-dropping ride through post-punk, dark wave, and screamo."
With a split record with The True Faith called Columns of Impenetrable Light recently hitting stores, No Echo spoke with Bleached Cross guitarist/vocalist ZM (main vocals/lyrics, guitar) and AC (guitar, backing vocals, programming, addt'l synth) to learn more about the group.
"Myself and Alex have known each other since college and played in a band together previously," said ZM. "While I was living in San Diego, he and I had the idea of trying to start a new project via file sharing. Our initial ideas and collaborations became the Dark Ritual and Altar's Reap demos that we released in 2020.
"We knew our other bandmates from their main project, Frail Body, after playing quite a few shows with them with our old band. So once I moved back to Chicago in the summer of 2020, those guys hit me up and suggested us jamming together and trying to flesh the project out into a full live band vs just being a studio project with session musicians, which was what myself and AC had initially envisioned. Everything just kind of snowballed organically from there."
ZM broke down the Bleached Cross sound for No Echo: "I think nailing down a specific sound is tricky since we pull from a lot of different areas, but we've been calling it 'oppressive post-punk' because of our blending of more extreme musical influences within the post-punk/darkwave soundscape.
"Personally, some big influences for me musically with this band and writing my guitar parts are Soft Kill, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, This Will Destroy You, and maybe Drab Majesty or Choir Boy. Any band that has music that can take me on some kind of emotional journey is what I'm always drawing inspiration from."
Columns of Impenetrable Light was recorded by Andy Nelson, also known for his work in the band Weekend Nachos. "We've worked with him for a while now both with this band and our previous one, and always have had a great experience," ZM says. "Lyrically, I wanted all four songs to explore the different stages of grief, so that is very much the theme on our side of the record.
No Echo asks ZM and AC for their thoughts on the Chicago music scene Bleached Cross is part of. "The scene in Chicago right now is the strongest I think it has ever been since I have been playing in bands here," opined ZM. "It's not cliquey like I have experienced in the past, people genuinely seem like they are trying to help each other out and shine the spotlight on other projects/people doing cool things. It's been amazing to get to be a part of.
"It just feels like everyone is trying to boost everyone else, and mixed bill shows are way more commonplace now, which is how it should be. Bands locally as well as regionally that everyone should be paying attention to/are doing cool things for me would be Tragic Figures, Blackwater Sniper, Rest Assured, Sleepwalk, Bosses, Black Magnet, Urine Hell, World I Hate, Frail Body, and Pains."
AC offers up the following: "We have been really fortunate in getting to play with a lot of awesome bands in the short span that this band has been active, including some sick mixed bill shows. Playing with bands like Meth., Blackwater Sniper, Bongripper, etc. Those shows have been some of the most fun to play, and those heavier bands have been really open to playing with us, so we are really grateful for that."
Even though Bleached Cross just dropped a new record, they're already working on their next release as we speak. ZM also wants to let No Echo readers know they're also gigging to support Columns. "We'll be playing three regional shows as a belated celebration of the split in late September, the dates and cities are as follows: 9/26 Chicago, 9/27 Milwaukee, and 9/28 Indianapolis."
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Columns of Impenetrable Light is available now via Protagonist Music and à La Carte Records.
Tagged: bleached cross
