DRUGS OF FAITH: No Clean Singing Premieres âMicrochipâ By Grind/Rock Trio With Enemy Soil/Agoraphobic Nosebleed Member; Asymmetrical LP Nears February 21st Release On Selfmadegod Records/Malokul

February 6, 2025 Infrared Magazine Interviews, Music News, News, Press Releases 0

photo by Ivan Khilko

âA bruiser, a brawler, a napalm-sprayer, and a mosh-pit triggerâ¦â â No Clean Singing

No Clean Singing is hosting the premiere of a lyric video for âMicrochip,â the new single from Virginia-based grind ân roll trio DRUGS OF FAITH. The song can be found on the bandâs long-awaited third LP, Asymmetrical, nearing release this month through Selfmadegod Records and Malokul.

DRUGS OF FAITH embodies guitarist/vocalist Richard Johnson (Enemy Soil, Agoraphobic Nosebleed), bassist Ivan Khilko (Immanent Voiceless), and drummer Ethan Griffiths (Embra), who create a dense foundation of rock/punk intensified by grindcore elements. Itâs been nearly six years since their Decay EP dropped, and nearly fourteen years since the release of their second LP, Corroded, but DRUGS OF FAITH begins 2025 with the crushing new Asymmetrical full-length.

Asymmetrical packs ten tracks into twenty-one minutes, some of which date back to before the pandemic and others that were written and demoed during the lockdowns and since. Asymmetrical was chosen as the title since the record doesn’t follow a solitary mission statement or lyrical theme; rather, it encapsulates a variety of different directions and themes. Like the Corroded LP, Asymmetrical contains a noise track, an instrumental, and a cover song, yet the new songs and the production are quite varied from Corroded. The lyrics to “Desert War Eternal” were written by J.R. Hayes (Pig Destroyer, Enemy Soil). “Drones” contains ideas from an unreleased Enemy Soil song that were resurrected and put through the DRUGS OF FAITH filter. The song “Essential” is a cover of a defunct European band called DrDoom (pre- Teethgrinder), who DRUGS OF FAITH played shows with while touring Europe years ago.

Asymmetrical was recorded at Developing Nations by Kevin Bernsten (Integrity, Full Of Hell, Magrudergrind), who noted during tracking was that the record sounds like, “a deranged rock album.â

Richard Johnson writes, âLike ‘Gas Mask,’ the first song released from the new album, ‘Microchip’ has different tempos and some crunch to it. We like to get inspiration from different bands we love, and a little secret about âMicrochipâ is that it has a moment in it inspired by Autopsy. Lyrically, âMicrochipâ has a couple different themes in it, one of them presented sarcastically, but I guess the overall message can be summed up as: be wary about things you read online that are designed to make you angry.â

No Clean Singing writes in part, âThe words, delivered in raw and furious yells, pack a âwake the fuck upâ punch and so does the music. The bass sounds like an enormous cement mixer heard up-close. The clanging, quivering, and jolting chords are both grim and brazen. The drums rumble and bounce like bricks in an industrial dryer… A bruiser, a brawler, a napalm-sprayer, and a mosh-pit trigger, âMicrochipâ is an angry catharsis for every commercialized manipulation in daily life that tries to take our eyes off the ball, to divert us and reduce us to manure for someone elseâs money tree.â

DRUGS OF FAITHâs âMicrochipâ lyric video is now playing at No Clean Singing RIGHT HERE.

Asymmetrical will be released on February 21st. Find preorders for the CD and other merch at the Selfmadegod Records webshop HERE, preorders for the 12â grey vinyl limited to 100 copies on Malokul HERE, and digital preorders at Bandcamp where âGas Maskâ is streaming HERE.

DRUGS OF FAITH Live:
2/28/2025 Rhizome DC â Washington, DC w/ Witch’s Mirror, Stygian Mind [tickets]

Formed in 2002, DRUGS OF FAITH quickly released several demos and a song on a Terrorizer Magazine compilation CD before signing with Selfmadegod Records who released their eponymous debut album in 2005, which took them to Europe for their first tour with Blood I Bleed in 2007, the same year they released their split with Antigama.

In 2011, DRUGS OF FAITH released their second album, Corroded, which appeared on best-of-2011 lists from Decibel Magazine, Invisible Oranges, Pitchfork, and MetalSucks. Two years later, their Architectural Failures EP made it onto best-of-2013 lists including Washington City Paper’s Best Music Of D.C., Hellbound, American Aftermath, and more.

DRUGS OF FAITH landed a slot on Decibel Magazine’s flexi series with a cover of Sacrifice’s classic “Re-Animation” in 2014, then teamed up with labelmates Antigama for a tour of the U.S. East Coast in 2015, also releasing a split 7â with Cloud Rat that year. Their Decay EP was released in 2019. Decibel wrote, “think of them as the world’s blast-friendliest noise rock band,” while No Echo described, “sections that jump out at you with a twisted hookiness that only top-notch bands in the grind realm can create.”