black midi to unleash Hellfire album next month – watch the ‘(Eat Men Eat)’ video here

Album number three from the South Londoners drops next month

black midi – the UK-based trio of Geordie Greep (guitar, vocals), Cameron Picton (bass, vocals) and Morgan Simpson (drums)- present a new single/video, “(Eat Men Eat)’ from their forthcoming album, Hellfire, out July 15 on Rough Trade.

Described as a fusion of rock and flamenco, the latter being the working title found on early setlists, the track is accompanied by an eerie black and white promo directed by Maxim Kelly set in the era of slavery.

“The Red River Mining Company” first referenced in Cavalcade’s ‘Diamond Stuff’  reappears in “Eat Men Eat.” Picton elaborates: “The story starts in the desert with two men engaged in a desperate search for missing friends. Their quest leads them to a strange mining facility which, despite a dearth of natural resources in the area, opens its doors for even stranger hosts to welcome them.

“That evening, with zero sign of their friends, a massive feast is laid on by the mine’s cantankerous Captain, who performs a long speech encouraging all to indulge as this is to be the workers’ last night before returning to their families. With good reason for suspicion the protagonists feign gluttony and consume as little as humanly possible. Unfortunately, as they later find, even that’s not quite enough. Night falls, they hide and as the workers fall comatose the wardens, overseen by the Captain, make preparations to pump their poisoned stomachs. It turns out the purpose of the mine is to procure an excess of human stomach acid used in the production of a bastardized blood red wine, sold and loved in the region.

“After the wider conspiracy is revealed and upon realizing their friends must be long gone, the partners decide they must destroy the facility. A spanner plugs the works however, as one of the men experiences mild effects of the poison and the production of acid in his stomach goes into overdrive. As his chest literally bubbles he says what may be his final goodbyes to his partner and the other man is left to do the heavy lifting alone.

“He succeeds and as they flee, arm in arm, the demon Captain erupts from the burning embers and curses the two men to the hell of crippling acid reflux for the rest of their days. They see no reason to worry though, as they’re sure to return home hailed as heroes.”

Written in isolation in London after the release of last year’s Cavalcade, Hellfire builds on the melodic and harmonic elements of its predecessor,  while expanding the brutality and intensity of their debut, Schlagenheim.  AsGreep describes it: “if Cavalcade was a drama, ‘Hellfire’ is like an epic action film” that delves into overlapping themes of pain, loss and anguish. Whereas the stories of Cavalcade were told in third person, Hellfire is presented in first person and tells the tales of morally suspect characters. There are direct dramatic monologues, flamboyantly appealing to our degraded sense of right and wrong. You’re never quite sure whether to laugh at or be horrified. It is their most thematically cohesive and intentional album yet.

Following a European run, black midi will return to the US to play some of their biggest shows there yet. They’ll be joined by Seth Evans (keyboards), who helps fill out their explosive live performances. Black Country New Road will open on select dates. Tickets for all shows except those just announced in the UK and EU are on sale now. A UK pre-sale will launch on Tuesday, June 21 with general sale for UK and EU shows on June 23.

Pre-order your copy of Hellfire here

black midi play.. (new dates in bold)

Sun. Jun. 19 – Vilnius, LT @ 8 Festival

Sat.  Jun. 25 – Somerset, UK @ Glastonbury Festival

Thu. Jun. 30 – Budapest, HU @ Kolorado Festival

Fri. Jul. 1 – Bucharest, RO @ Club Control

Sun. Jul. 3 – Plovdiv, BG @ Wrong Fest

Sat. Jul. 9 – Trencin, SK @ Pohoda

Wed. Jul. 13 – London, UK @ Summer Series at Somerset House

Fri. Jul. 15 –  Riga, LV @ Positivus Festival

Sun. Jul. 17 – Dour, BE @ Dour Festival

Thu. Jul. 21 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club

Sat. Jul. 23 – Asbury Park, NJ @ Asbury Lanes

Sun. Jul. 24 – New York, NY @ Central Park SummerStage

Fri. Jul. 29 – Puglia, IT @ Sud Est Indipendente

Sun. Jul. 31 – Sesto al Reghena, IT @ Sexto’Nplugged

Mon. Aug. 1 –  Sestri Levante, IT @ Mojotic Festival 

Fri. Aug. 12 –  Rees Haldern, DE @ Haldern Pop

Mon. Aug. 15 –  Stockholm, SE @ Debaser

Wed. Aug. 17 –  Essen, DE @ Ruhrtriennale

Sun. Aug. 21 – Winterthur, CH @ Winterthurer Musikfestwochen 

Fri. Aug. 26 – La Tour de Peilz, CH @ Nox Orae 

Thu. Sep. 1 – Sun. Sep. 4 – Dorset, UK @ End of the Road Festival

Sat. Sep. 3 – Manchester, UK @ Manchester Psych Fest

Tue. Sep. 6 – Baltimore, MD @ Rams Head Live

Wed. Sep. 7 – Richmond, VA @ The National

Fri. Sep. 9 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel

Sat. Sep. 10 – Athens, GA @ Georgia Theatre

Mon. Sep. 12 – Birmingham, AL @ Saturn

Wed. Sep. 14 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall

Fri. Sep. 16 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk

Tue. Sep. 20 – Tucson, AZ @ Hotel Congress Plaza

Thu. Sep. 22 – Pomona, CA @ The Glass House

Fri. Sep. 23 – San Diego, CA @ Music Box

Sat. Sep. 24 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern Theatre

Tue. Sep. 27 – San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield Theatre

Wed. Sep. 28 – Sacramento, CA @ Harlow’s

Thu. Sep. 29 – Reno, NV @ Cargo Concert Hall

Mon. Oct. 3 – Boulder, CO @ Fox Theatre

Tue. Oct. 4 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre

Fri. Oct. 7 – Lawrence, KS @ The Granada

Sat. Oct. 8 – Omaha, NE @ Slowdown

Sun. Oct. 9 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue

Wed. Oct. 12 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall

Fri. Oct. 14 – Columbus, OH @ The Athenaeum Theatre

Sat. Oct. 15 – Louisville, KY @ Headliners Music Hall

Fri. Oct. 28 – Liverpool, UK @ Invisible Wind Factory

Sat. Oct. 29 – Newcastle, UK @ NX

Tue. Nov. 1 – Antwerp, BE @ Trix

Wed. Nov. 2 – Paris, FR @ Bataclan

Thu. Nov. 3 – Lyon, FR @ Marché Gare

Mon. Nov. 7 – Copenhagen, DK @ Vega

Wed. Nov. 9 – Utrecht, NL @ Tivoli 

Thu. Nov. 10 – Rotterdam, NL @ Maasssilo

Mon. Nov. 14 – Glasgow, UK @ Old Fruitmarket

Wed. Nov. 16 – Bristol, UK @ SWX

Sat. Nov. 19 – Mexico City, MX @ Corona Capital Music Festival

Sun. Dec. 4 – Tokyo, JP @ O-East

Mon. Dec. 5 – Osaka, JP @ Club Quattro

Tue. Dec 6 – Nagoya, JP @ The Bottom Line