Pelagic Alert again! Keeping our tradition of talking to Pelagic artists who are about to release a new record on our Berliners’ label. This time this goes along with our love for the always-affable and feverish-favoritism of the UK-Post-scene, that we will never tire of promoting and pushing, be it labels (looking at you Ripcord Records!) or artists like the mighty Telepathy who are about to return with their new record “Transmissions” on March 28, so in just a few days. As you should get even more hyped about the album, we give you this interview and also a review on our website, so you see and understand even more why we love this record that much! Enjoy the interview - and tell us which record you love best by Telepathy?

An impressive release that swerves and weaves in a number of interconnected elements.

Five years and a day since their last release, Telepathy delivers the world an astonishing accomplished instrumental album merging heavy atmospheric Sludge music with dense and soaring synth-based sounds. It becomes a widescreen cinematic listening experience with twists and turns, layered and textured sonics and thus they expand the musical scope of the genre into what they themselves have called Cinematic Sludge Metal.

A riff-based opening sets the sonics in motion with the track “Oath”, but the riff comes after an element that is repeated through the album; indistinct sampled spoken words; this trait strengthens the listener´s sense of “transmissions” over time. The riffs form a captive melodic theme pushed by a hard rhythm section while cymbals drizzle bright sounds among the tight music. With a subtle shift, the sonics get heavier as a sparkling synth begins to add to the already dense sound, and so does the soaring tremolo guitar, too. Towards the end, the tempo slows down, and the music widens out and embraces the hammering drums until turning into dark ambient sounds floating around for a bit before the drums take the lead and hammer the song forward towards translucent guitars soaring above the rhythm section and the song fades into the next track, ”Augury”.

This song develops the final theme and further induces the synths and electronics balanced with the other instruments lifting the dense sonics, driving it forward with a hard beat. The electronic´s glassy droplets make out the melodic theme while another darker line of electronica flows parallel, escorted by guitars. The bass lifts and supports the musical themes with its grooves and rumbles. The music turns once more with a bright guitar rising from the dense sonics.

The song ”Knife Edge Effect” has a strong whiff of the impactful German 70s Electronic scene as it consists mostly of synth bass, heavy sounds and beats, not forgetting about the Sludge genre’s demand of melodic heaviness. It develops further and becomes harder and heavier with lots of elements circling the rhythmic drum-based melodies and indistinct sampled voices are heard in the immense sound.

The album carries two long tracks, clocking in at around fifteen minutes, ”Tears in the Fibre” and “End Transmission”. On both songs, but also the others, the way the drumming is executed is as amazing as it is immaculate. It is a force of nature, heavy, diverse and inventive and often as if the drums find their own way through the dense music, energizing it to the full, sometimes contrasting, sometimes lifting and pushing, and sometimes holding the rhythm alongside the constant tumbling and pulsating bass. Both longtracks show the band at the pinnacle of its career so far. They completely command these epic structures with diverse music, astonishing twists, and turns - heavy guitars mixed with soaring synths. There are parts where the music pans out just to surge and swell like crescendos. With every listen, you notice new parts, melodies, and new levels of instrumentation hidden deep within the layers.

There are two other tracks, one short - ”A Silent Bridge” with sampled spoken words in an Eastern European language that is swallowed by soft dark synths. And the closer ”Home” that opens with longing synths soon met by hard drums. The flow halts and it turns 180 degrees into heavy riff-based sludge before morfing into an end with fading synths.

The previous album was released on March 27, 2020. An unlucky time to release music. Nonetheless, with resilience and stamina, Telepathy is back stronger than before, ready to impact the genre with this gem of a release.

Transmissions, this giant leap for the Essex squad will be released this upcoming Friday, March 28, and you can still pre-order the record from Pelagic Records (for EU residents) or from A Thousand Arms (if you are living in the country reigned by idiots and megalomaniacs)!

But now enjoy our talk with Albert and Richard and do not forget to listen to Transmissions from Friday onwards!