I love the dissonant melody and sludgy heaviness of the MAGNATAR track we’re streaming today, “Crown of Thorns.” And I also love that they’re taking on the bullshit we’re taught about romantic relationships, the cumbersome transactional messages we’re forced to imbibe by religious institutions and capitalist patriarchy. Why are we encouraged to “tie ourselves down” to someone who we’ll eventually perceive as a “ball and chain”?
That’s what “Crown of Thorns” takes on, the martyrdom of modern marriage, the lies we’re encouraged to tell ourselves and our partners, the escalator of the marriage industrial complex, the expectation to prioritize work over time together, the obligation to produce another generation of little workers to be chewed up and spit out by the system. That leads me to the title of their new record, Crushed, which comes out on June 3rd via Seeing Red Records — pre-order it here. Do you like soaring doom and guttural sludge? Then you’ll love “Crown of Thorns” which we’re streaming below!
“Crown of Thorns” is a protest of the traditional romantic relationship archetype and the age-old idea that such relationships should be inherently difficult rather than enjoyable and mutually beneficial; the “ball-and-chain” mindset that I see present in so many people’s lives.
