Isolation has many of us asking ourselves difficult questions. And that’s what TITHE asks on the song “Mantra” – do you care if you live or die? This song is filled with punishing, dark tones and beats that feel like lead rain penetrating your skin. It’s a journey into the recesses of our shadow minds, taking the paths of death metal, grind and sludge to discover your most disturbed thoughts. It’s off their album Penance that comes out via Tartarus Records on May 15th – pre-order it here. Right now, read the backstory behind “Mantra” as you stream it below…
Mantra is about having a death wish and slowly killing yourself with drugs. I wrote the song about a time in my life when I was addicted to meth and many other substances. I lived above a bar in the Tenderloin in San Francisco and worked at a nightclub that was a legendary after-hours dance club known for drugs and all-night partying. I worked and partied nonstop. To give you and idea, my work week started at 3:30am on Saturday morning and by Monday at 6am I had put in about 30 hours at the bar. I did that for about four years. I was also institutionalized when I was fourteen for two years and that fucked me up pretty bad. The last song on the album “Lullaby” is about that experience and how over 20 years later I still have nightmares every night. At the time of Mantra, I had an estranged relationship with my parents due to it and it seemed like no one cared about me. Drugs became a tool to abuse myself and delve into self pity. I did not care if I lived or died.
– Matt Eiseman, guitar/vocals
