-(16)- : Guides For The Misguided Full-Length Out Today On Relapse Records!

Stream -(16)- s Guides For The Misguided HERE.

Guides For The Misguided, the latest full-length from San Diego’s -(16)- , is out today on Relapse Records!

Nearly thirty-five years on, -(16)- remains one of the most enduring, hardest sounding rock and metal entities from North America. Bobby Ferry returns at the helm as the band’s visceral vocalist and guitarist, and in true -(16)- fashion, belts out stories of pain and unhinged anguish. Ferry is absolutely seething while the band plows through a virulent mix of rock, metal, and sludge. Dion Thurman’s pounding drum set, Ferry and Alex Shuster’s heavier-than-anything-else guitars, and the lowest low end from bassist Barney Firks herald tones so low they’re nearly apocalyptic.

Stream -(16)-’s Guides For The Misguided via Youtube HERE or all streaming services HERE.

Watch -(16)-’s previously released video for “Proudly Damned” HERE and a visualizer for “After All” HERE. 

Guides For The Misguided will be released on CD, LP, and digital formats. Find preorders at Relapse.com HERE.

Ferry further comments on Guides For The Misguided, “The album came together after we wrapped the final mix of our last one, Into Dust. It’s all about harnessing creative momentum when it strikes and we’ve been in a kind of creative autopilot for about a decade. When inspiration is there, the rest seems to fall into place effortlessly. Thankfully, we’re still driven to write and perform even after all these years. There’s no grander meaning behind it than simply following that primal urge to create — put your head down and just make something.

“Age has of course given us a fresh perspective,” he continues. “In the eight years since Lifespan Of A Moth, our lineup has shifted. We lost a singer, gained Alex Shuster on lead guitar/producer, and I slid into the lead vocalist rhythm guitarist spot. Lyrically, we’ve moved beyond the personal and inward grievances of our earlier work and embraced broader themes of conflict, like the hypocrisy of religion and its negative effects on the psyche.

“There’s a song called ‘Blood Atonement Blues’ that delves into the story of Ervil LeBaron, often referred to as the ‘Mormon Manson,’ while ‘Proudly Damned’ explores addiction and how it turns into a Pagan Ritual with a witch-like character posing as the opiate – both in substance abuse and the spiritual realm – in parallel. In many ways, this album might be the closest we’ve come to creating a concept record. Including the two covers on the album is meant to lessen this heavy hand and lighten the focus.

Then there’s “Hat On A Bed.” The lyrics present a stark dichotomy between simplistic existence and the chaos that accompanies a life marred by vice and superstition. Lines such as, ‘You can call us simple-minded,’ suggest a self-awareness about the pitfalls of easy living, while simultaneously acknowledging a penchant for forgetting and falling into oblivion. This ongoing struggle is articulated through refrains like ‘never again,’ hinting at a desire to break free from the addictive patterns that trap individuals in a loop of regret and repetition. The mention of ‘the son, the mother, the Holy Ghost’ introduces religious imagery, critiquing how faith can be manipulated to exploit human weakness, and highlighting the ironies inherent in seeking solace from such cycles.”

“Musically, we are still grasping for the perfect riffs married to the most ideal arrangements. We’re not afraid to lean into the stuff we love: noise, classic rock, hardcore, doom metal, and thrash. We are well aware we are not reinventing the wheel but lovingly fashioning something from us and basically for us, first and foremost.”

Guides For The Misguided closes with the soberingly titled “Kick Out The Chair.” While the track sounds like a culmination of a thirty-five-year career, the band shows no signs of stopping; although the road ahead looks bleak, -(16)-‘s unrelenting trajectory continues upward.

-(16)- Live [remaining dates]:
2/07/2025 Liverpool Club – Wroclaw, PL
2/08/2025 Rockhouse – Salzburg, AT
2/09/2025 7er Club – Mannheim, DE
2/10/2025 V11 – Rotterdam, NL
2/11/2025 Gasttatte Ziller – Goppingen, DE
2/13/2025 Kuudes Linja – Helsinki, FI
2/14/2025 Raindogs House – Savona, IT
2/15/2025 Blah Blah – Torino, IT

“Some of the most misanthropic, miserable, and black-hearted metal this side of a thrice-divorced, needle-sharing, scrapyard-squatting suicidal junkie…” – Decibel Magazine

“Riffs. This is big, big riffs. Sounds like a meandering mammoth in the best way.” – Metal Injection

“Guides For The Misguided, with a familiar aggressive underpinning and a fresh sense of exploration and purpose, marks a step along a vibrant-if-destructive creative path. If you can get to it, it’ll bring you along. If not, it’ll be there waiting for the rest of the world to catch up.” –  The Obelisk

“‘Proudly Damned’ begins like a big, shaggy, pounding beast, but laced with quivering and glittering fretwork. It brings grim clawing chords, head-butting and gut-slugging blows, and utterly rabid vocal intensity that occasionally segues into morose singing. Before it ends, the music also becomes slowly slithering and sinister, as a prelude to a hell of a wah-pedaled guitar solo.” – No Clean Singing on “Proudly Damned”

“-(16)- are true to their sound from their outset and flat out rocking out and crushing their expectations right from the very first riff on the album. This album has a backbone heavily rooted in the blues rock foundations of metal, the general melancholy and pain that usually accompanies sludge and the raucous, top tapping and headbanging of the best stoner rock. This album has it all. Having sacrificed nothing in their sound, Guides For The Misguided is easily -(16)-’s most accessible album yet.” — Heavy Music HQ

“…crushing. Sludge metal is at its best with bluesy guitar riffs that still feel massive, raspy vocals, and lyrics covering depression, drug addiction, and overall hatred. The San Diego four-piece violently checks off all of those checkboxes. They do so for over forty minutes with minimal to no filler.” – Ghost Cult

“Thirty years in, and this band still sounds driven, hungry, and pissed off!” – Metal Digest

-(16)-:
Bobby Ferry – guitar, vocals
Alex Shuster – lead guitar
Barney Firks – bass
Dion Thurman – drums

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