Uniform and The Body Collaborate on New Electronicore Single “Penance”

Decorated metal veterans Uniform and The Body are known, individually, for their fresh takes on metal that still manage to send shivers down spines. But together, on last year’s Mental Wounds Not Healing, they struck up something greater than the sum of its parts: a distinctive, eclectic soundscape that remained melodic even as The Body vocalist Chip King screamed and wailed all over it.

Now the bands are back together on new single “Penance,” which pushes their sound further into melody—almost into pop. The two industrial metal bands have created four minutes that sound like sludge poured over a Naked and Famous track. Accordingly, the bands cite not only Ministry and Whitehouse as touchstones for their collaboration, but also New Order and even Juicy J. There’s drum machines, warped cascading bells, screeching, noise, an austere synth outro, and even something resembling a pop hook.

Uniform’s lead singer Michael Berdan explains in a statement that the single:

has to do with an ongoing attempt to hold oneself to a higher standard than you did yesterday. Human beings are bound to mess up as often as not, which can lead to either teachable experiences or nihilistic resign. I grew up surrounded by religious types who could act like monsters six days out of the week as long as they were willing to say ‘sorry’ to some priest and pray a rosary on the seventh. Continuing in malicious behavior and demanding arbitrary absolution is a garbage way to live. However, if we take account of where we’ve done harm to others and ourselves and endeavor to learn and not repeat these actions, then maybe we can grow into empathetic and loving people.

The bands’ second collaborative album, from which “Penance” is culled, is called Everything That Dies Someday Comes Back, and it’s out Aug. 16 on Sacred Bones.

Listen to “Penance” below. Don’t miss the Everything That Dies Someday Comes Back album art and tracklist further down.

Everything That Dies Someday Comes Back Album Art:

Everything That Dies Someday Comes Back Tracklist:
01. Gallows in Heaven
02. Not Good Enough
03. Vacancy
04. Patron Saint of Regret
05. Penance
06. All This Bleeding
07. Day of Atonement
08. Waiting for the End of the World
09. Contempt