Krupskaya tour and new album

Posted on 16 July, 2019
Krupskaya tour and new album

So the last couple of months have been another one of those ‘quietly busy’ periods.

They’re pretty much the exact same as the ‘noisely busy’ periods. The only real difference is I forget to overcompensate for my lack of real progress with distractionary, self-indulgent journal posts. Y’know, like this one.

In fairness, I have launched a couple of websites, made significant progress on a few branding projects, we’ve had two of our busiest months on the Internship in South Africa, I’ve submitted drafts for a couple of papers, won a grant with SharkStuff to host a workshop in September and am close to wrapping up massive upgrades to our Motion Capture Stage at the University, while also establishing our new 3D scanning facilities.

All of these things I hope to share some real news on soon, because they’re genuinely cool stuff. All that matters right now, is that Krupskaya is about to release our first full-length album in fifteen years. We’re also hitting the road once again.

Yes, I’m aware that I’ve still not finished the last tour diary.

Yes, I’m aware that I suck.

No, this won’t ever change.

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Remnants of a species now forgotten

Bleak, cold, harsh, brutal, face-removing noise

‘Remnants of a species now forgotten’ it the name of our new album, comprising sixteen songs that last just over forty five minutes. Our first/last full length album (Clouds Over Pripyat) came in at just under twenty minutes with the same number of tracks.

You could say we’re going for quantity over quality this time. I’d argue ‘quality’ isn’t something we’ve ever really concerned ourselves with.

I’m pretty happy with how it’s turned out. This is our first release with dual eight string guitars, which I think comes through in just how heavy the record is in places.

While it’s the gross indulgence of excess you might expect from us (at the very least in terms of violence, screaming and blast-beats), there’s a few elements that are totally new. With clean vocals and dare I say it, actual lyrics in places, there’s things here that true Krupskaya aficionados will be surprised by. Both of you.

Here’s a sample:

Krupskaya - Remnants of a species now forgotten (Teaser)

Time for more pretty pictures

New Krupskaya music of course means new Krupskaya artwork.

I originally had pretty ambitious plans for this one. I aimed to have a couple of months to really flesh out and execute the concept, incorporating a more ‘multimedia’ approach to the final product. Ideally, a short film to accompany all of the songs played from start to finish was the goal.

But the universe had different ideas and so, the whole thing was put together during the first weekend in July. Nevertheless, it’s looking pretty bad ass.

Remnants of a species now forgotten

Remnants of a species now forgotten, front cover artwork

As this is our first album in fifteen years, I wanted to adopt and approach which combined visual motiffs from every previous release, while presenting something new and distinct.

I will no doubt get into this in far more detail in the next couple of months, with a comprehensive case study.

For now, here’s a few teasers:

Two weeks jumping across Europe and Asia

This coming Saturday we’ll be heading off for our first tour since last year’s trek across Siberia. I promise I’ll finish the tour diary for that. One day.

It’ll be our first with second guitarist Mike and Krupskaya’s second visit to South East Asia, the first being almost ten years ago.

Our dates are as follows:

  • 20.07.2019 – Jezd u Cerhovic – Hella, Czech Republic
  • 21.07.2019 – Liberec – Azyl, Czech Republic
  • 22.07.2019 – Pod Brazy – Boss Bar, Czech Republic
  • 24.07.2019 – Jakarta – Indonesia
  • 25.07.2019 – Bangung – Indonesia
  • 26.07.2019 – Semarang – Indonesia
  • 27.07.2019 – Jogjakarta – Indonesia
  • 28.07.2019 – Kediri – Indonesia
  • 29.07.2019 – Malang – Indonesia
  • 30.07.2019 – Jember – Indonesia
  • 31.07.2019 – Bali – Indonesia
  • 01.08.2019 – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 02.08.2019 – Dubai – El Barrio Bar, UAE
  • 03.08.2019 – Beirut – Lebanon

If you live in any of these places and aren’t adverse to having your ear drums pummeled into sludge, please do come and see us.

I’ll be in the sea, looking for Thresher sharks.

See you on the road!