Replacire is back with a new single "The Center That Cannot Hold" and an album of the same name due out June 21. "The Center That Cannot Hold" is dizzingly technical, but Replacire loaded it up with such catchy riffs and vocal patterns that you'd hardly notice.
On the album and the pandemic shutting out Replacire's plans to record in 2020, band founder and guitarist Eric Alper said: "I was stressed out from just trying to keep my head above water. When the pandemic shut everything down, I had to sell our tour van and give up our rehearsal space just to keep my finances together. There were a lot of writing sessions where all I could manage to do was hum a few chords".
Alper also touched on ex-Black Crown Initiate vocalist James Dorton's vocals on the record, noting he wanted Dorton to rival Corey Taylor's vocals on Slipknot's self-titled LP… and it damn near hospitalized the dude.
"James recorded the vocals for this song in one full take, with no stops, over and over, until we got it right" Alper said. "The next morning, he woke up shaking uncontrollably and his face was so pale. He came back to life after we got some fluids into him, but for a moment, I was worried that he needed to go to the hospital"
He continued: "The Center That Cannot Hold was a bitch to make. There were plenty of days when I doubted whether we would ever finish this album. But I'm glad we did. It was worth it, especially when you end up with songs that are this chaotic and heavy."
Pre-orders for The Center That Cannot Hold are available here.
