Wilkes-Barre metalcore band Sleepsculptor takes on technology in concept album ‘Divine Recalibration’
From a press release:
Technology has become essential to the way humans connect with others, for better or worse. For experimental, mathy metalcore band Sleepsculptor, it has turned into a tool for pushing forward as a group and the subject matter of their new LP, “Divine Recalibration,” released today on all major streaming platforms via Silent Pendulum Records.
“Characterized by the band’s knack for almost surgical precision, coupled with frenetic volatility, the end result is a concise, caustic show of force that marks an emphatic arrival of Sleepsculptor as harbingers of boundless metalcore,” Knotfest wrote.
New Noise Magazine said their music “sounds like chaos unleashed,” while Distorted Sound added that, “‘Divine Recalibration’ is gloriously unhinged, but it’s also delivered with the machine-gun precision you’d normally expect of a band who’ve been playing together for decades.”
Originally formed in Wilkes-Barre in 2018, the up-and-coming mathcore act dropped their debut album, “Entry: Dispersal,” in 2019 but found themselves in the midst of a lineup change in 2021 that left them seeking out a new vocalist. They made the decision to put out a post on social media hosting virtual vocal auditions, and Florent Curatola of Canada (by way of France) heeded that call. Despite being thousands of miles apart, Florent meshed perfectly with Travis Antoniello (bass/backing vocals), Jake Moyer (guitar/programming), Kuyler Massam (guitar/programming), and James Slattery (drums), so they began piecing together what would be “Divine Recalibration.”
The full band met in person for the first time when they entered the studio with producer Matt Guglielmo (Cryptodira, Spite, Seeyouspacecowboy) in March of 2022 and things clicked instantly. Over a few weeks, they recorded 15 songs that are as infectious as they are technical. Pulling influences from a wide variety of metal alongside elements of post-rock and electronic music, Sleepsculptor has created a sound very much their own.
“We were hugely inspired by metallic/chaotic hardcore bands such as Converge, The Chariot, and The Armed, as well as some more rhythmic metal stuff like Meshuggah, Frontierer, and Ion Dissonance, and even some alternative/nu metal like System of a Down and Slipknot. We really wanted to meld those realms together to make something that was a fresh take on sounds we all knew and loved,” they explained.
“A lot of the time, music in our realm will forego hooks in favor of flashy instruments or over-the-top vocals, but we wanted to keep that reigned in as much as we could and focus on the song and its staying power first.”
The sonic chaos the band infuses is prevalent on tracks like “Venerate” and “Plaster Saint” as eccentric guitars mesh with biting vocals. “An Equivalent Exchange” leans into an Every Time I Die-like territory, while “Pry” makes a strong showing of pit-ready breakdowns. Built atop their massive sound are lyrics that tell a futuristic story based on esoteric thinking.
Sleepsculptor further elaborated on the entire concept album, which also features guests like Cameron McBride (Methwitch, Bleach Wave) and Chad Kapper (Frontierer, A Dark Orbit).
“It essentially follows a man who uploads his consciousness into a cloud system and, in doing so, he is able to relive/experience memories of all the other people also connected to the cloud. His goal here was to gain knowledge of humanity and ascend into some sort of godhood status. Upon seeing all of the inhumanity present in day-to-day life, he learns that he is incapable of correcting the course of humanity himself, and no regular person is capable of taking on a task of this caliber. It is meant to be a commentary on where things are headed in society today, where many people feel an increased sense of entitlement/importance and that their voice needs to be heard.”
Now available on both CD and vinyl, “Divine Recalibration” is, at its core, an evolution in sound with a focus on downtuned rhythm guitars, dissonant leads, energetic and manic vocals, and explorations into odd time signatures. In a broader sense, it’s a record of rejuvenation and building as Sleepsculptor starts their next chapter as a band and pushes toward being a staple act in the world of metal.
That includes their upcoming Recalibration Tour with labelmates So Hideous and Pound on select dates, beginning Saturday, May 6 at JB Lovedraft’s MicroPub (225 N. 2nd St., Harrisburg) and running through Ohio, Kentucky, Missouri, Texas, Louisiana, and North Carolina before returning to Pennsylvania for a hometown show on Friday, May 19 at Curry Donuts (178 S. Pennsylvania Ave., Wilkes-Barre).
