REFLECTIONS OF INTERNAL RAIN
Eight
Eight
artist: Reflections of Internal Rain
title: Eight
release date: 28 October 2023 ••• catalog number: GNGR129
available formats: single-sided black vinyl 12" / digital ••• released by: Geenger Records
tags: hardcore punk / neo-crust
album landing page: --> roirpunk.gngr.band
Info
"Is there a way to bring it back?"
The quiet and unglorified absence of Reflections of Internal Rain (ROIR), Serbia's premiere (and, arguably, only) neo-crust outfit, has created a vacuum no other band has been able (or probably wanted) to fill.
Emerging from the thick grey smoke of a small town too big for its shoes in a country with a rich history of trauma and a promise of more of the same to come, the band got its start in the young years of the new millennium. With their explosive mix of swirling guitar melodies, throat-ripping vocals, and relentless, unforgiving drumming, they quickly blazed a path across Europe, playing everything from scruffy squats to large festivals and sharing the stage with many bands you know well and many others you have forgotten (shame on you!). Along the way, they recorded an album and a couple of EPs which perfectly captured their manic punk rock energy that sounds urgent and impactful to this day.
And then they simply stopped.
Now, more than a decade since the last time they committed anything to tape, they are back with a new mic-dude, a new stick-man, and a new EP titled "Eight". The new recording finds the band revisiting its old stomping grounds only to wander off and push forward in new and unpredictable directions. It is the sound of a band aware of its past, but using it as a foundation on which to build further rather than simply recycling.
Lyrically, "Eight" is a soul-bearing exploration of the pain, grief, and fear of imminent separation. With the title referring to a band member's parent's 8-month-long battle with cancer, the songs on the recording dive into some of the most harrowing parts of the human experience and emerge with something that's not quite hope, yet so much more than despair.
"Eight" is a celebration of humanity and human fragility, of our ability to love, grieve, and carry on with the memory of what we left behind.
Album credits
This release was a labour of love, passion and perseverance. The music, recording and artwork were created by us with the help of our friends. We hope you will enjoy it as much as we enjoyed making it.
Reflections of Internal Rain are: Petar Žutić, Ivan Sabo, Nikola Crvenković, Nebojša Ćato and Ivan Gačević.
We would like to thank: Filip Vlatković, Igor Todorović Zgro, Pavel Rogala, Bojan Šovljanski, Danijel Sikora, Đorđe Miladinović, Zoran Džuklevski, Oskar Marko, Siniša Stojiljković, Marko Ercegović, Ozren Lazić, Dušan Mijolić, Željko Diklić, Anđelko Banić Đus, Milan Sinđelić, Dimitrije Čuturilo, Rebuild Collective, Omladinski centar CK13 - Crna kuća, Monohrom, Brutal Studio, Chemical Tomb and Uptown Recording Studio.
Special thanks goes to our longtime bandmates and friends Aleksandar Stojšić and Duško Bjeljac. Thank you for playing/living/growing with us for so long and for participating in writing Trail of Days, Ashes of Our Bodies and It's Not Time to Go, without you there would be no band and no music.
Mix & master: Filip Vlatković
Cover art: Ivan Sabo
Cover prepress & design: Dušan Mijolić
Vocal recording engineer: Anđelko Banić
Track list
1. Muscle Memory
2. Trail of Days
3. Ashes of Our Bodies
4. It's Not Time to Go
5. Overcoming the Silence
6. Barmy Army III