New Jersey band Gatherers have announced the release of their 4th LP, titled "(mutilator.), set for release on November 18, 2022 via No Sleep Records. The band just shared their latest single “suffocator” the newest offering off their forthcoming LP. The new song bursts out of the gate with a driving force that pairs with the explosive vocals and subtle electronics bubbling in the background, providing another taste of the sound of the forthcoming project. “suffocator'' follows lead single “gift horse,” which features vocals from Geoff Rickly (Thursday), both of which can be streamed below.

Gatherers possess all the attributes that so many bands making heavier rock strive to master and incorporate into their sound. On ( mutilator. ), the five piece effortlessly blends melody with dynamic and fluid movements between guitars and drums that push the speakers to their limits, and softer reflective interludes that further highlight the incredible range of singer Weinberger’s vocals.

Gatherers don’t operate like most other bands. Since forming in 2011, the band has continually defied the constructs and constrictions of genre, and refused to succumb to convention. That’s something that’s been amplified on this fourth full-length, ( mutilator. ) While its 11 songs are another natural progression and evolution for the five-piece, it also marks something of a turning point for the band – after releasing 2015’s Quiet World and 2018’s We Are Alive Beyond Repair, they put out the single “Sick, Sad Heart” in April 2019 before parting ways with their label for those past two releases.

Yet while many bands might have balked at the uncertainty that being unsigned entailed, Gatherers took it as an opportunity to make the exact album they wanted to make, not least because they weren’t on anybody else’s timeline. As a result, it afforded them much more creative freedom while also allowing them to build on the sounds and textures they had begun exploring on that standalone track. “This is the first time in two albums that we were really just able to take our time with it, and do and hear what we wanted on a record,'' says guitarist Anthony Gesa.

“At the same time,” adds Weinberger, “our mantra for this record was to not overthink anything. We spent a lot of time listening and talking to each other – asking what kind of vibe we were imagining – and I feel that was very beneficial, because it kept us all dialed in to the same headspace.”

The result is a less a collection of conventional songs than of dark clouds of feeling and atmosphere – a set of bruised, desperate, searching songs that Weinberger refers to as “a panic attack in slow motion.” That’s accurate. There’s a gentle yet ominous grace to the likes of “boxcutter”, “black marigolds” and “our last days, numbered like a rotary dial”, and a scorching, ragged and visceral beauty to “ad nauseam, i drown”, while nefarious, nihilistic shadows hover over “twelve omaha solemn certainty” and “masalette” burns up in an apocalyptic, apoplectic rage. It’s proof that, while Gatherers may have moved away from the more traditional post-hardcore template of their earlier records, the swathes and swirls and layers of sound present on these songs are just as powerful.