Breaking a three-year silence, Plastic Overlords are releasing an hour-long TV concert that includes never-before-heard songs from what the band plans to be the "ultimate headphones album" on triple vinyl.
Their concert film, "Plastic Overlords – LIVE Under the Mountain" on YouTube will be posted on October 16, 2015. Reminiscent of such classic rock shows as Beat Club, TopPops, and MusikLaden, "Live Under the Mountain" features vivid, surrealistic visuals as guitarist John Eades, drummer Brad Johnson, and vocalist/bassist/keyboardist David Noel perform "A Moment of Silence for Unsynchronized Watches," "You Crumble to Bits," and "Star Avenger vs. the Winged Hippopotamus" and a teaser of new songs from the group's epic work-in-progress, "Surrender, Capricorn".
The Overlords recently completed a demo version of "Surrender, Capricorn" and seek support to release the final version on vinyl. "We're surprisingly happy with the demos," said Noel, who produced the recordings. "It would be tempting to release them digitally, as our vision of a special triple record release is ambitious for a group as obscure as we are. But this album begs to be realized on vinyl and produced properly. We pushed ourselves beyond anything we've done before. It's taken three long years to develop. Only a few groups have ever attempted a triple vinyl studio release, but we feel these songs go together in a special way."
After 2012's well-received Sonic Astronomy earned them comparisons to classic Pink Floyd, Rush, Hawkwind, Genesis, and even David Bowie, the Overlords originally envisioned a massive follow-up concept album called "Whale Blubber." Intended as a tongue-in-cheek response to Brian Eno's now famous proclamation that "recorded music equals whale blubber," the group even conceived a special release with real whale blubber melted into the pressing. Coming to their senses, the group decided simply to make "the ultimate headphones album." The result is "Surrender, Capricorn" – an arresting blend of melody, power, trippy ear sweets, cryptic lyrics, and even a hidden message or two. The record's subtle and mysterious concept is likely to elude many, and begs multiple interpretations as to the overall meaning. But one thing is clear: it's a record that's meant to take you somewhere in your mind.
And the Overlords sincerely hope that doesn't equal whale blubber.
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Progressive Rock & Progressive Metal - E-Zine
