13 October 2023 - 0 Comments

The Spectre Collective is a Poneke-based psych group formed by members Will Agnew, Lochie Noble (Mirror Ritual) and Jonathan Shirley (Soft Plastics, Goya) that has since expanded its live line up to include beloved musical treasures Oliver Devlin (Hans Pucket), Rachel Andie (Soaked Oats, Georgia Gets By) and Riley Dick (Mirror Ritual).

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The band’s first 4 albums were released in a rapid fire psychedelic 18 month blur. Late-2018 lo-fi debut Paleofuture teased elements of their taste for wonky grooves and sci-fi themes, and the sprawling follow up Cosmosis in January 2019 expanded on these ideas with featured guest artists including Gussie Larkin (Mermaidens, Earth Tongue), Emerald Rose (Linen), Jordan Edwards (EUG, Mothers Dearest), and Anita Clark (Motte). The band quickly followed up with instrumental collection Electric Waffle, utilising motorik beats and polyrhythmic melodies while drawing from the likes of Ethio-jazz, Turkish psych and krautrock. Their 4th album Delirium Imperium was released in March 2020, with a diverse collection of songs ranging between bubbly psych-pop, hypnotic drone, and abrasive noise-metal. Lead single Swamp Fling was the first track to introduce Oliver Devlin to the Spectre family.

While it’s been a longer wait than usual, next up is The Spectre Collective’s darkest and heaviest album yet, Neuro Death - a cyber-horror opus soaked in synths and distortion that sees the group experiment with industrial techno, trance soundscapes, metal and much more. Recorded, mixed and mastered by the band’s own Lochie Noble, it’s also the fullest and crispest sounding Spectre album so far, with a rich atmosphere that betrays the usual limitations of the band’s homemade DIY roots.

The 9 dystopian tracks in this collection explore humanity’s relationship with technology and the dissolving boundaries between mind and matter. Drawing upon aspects of strange history, folklore and occult traditions, these tales of telepathic terror elicit a sinister, creeping dread that hints at unseen forces beyond the veil. Neuro Death is a celebration of the spooky and strange, as exemplified by the music video for lead single God Helmet - a mind-melting visual feast that plays like a Lynchian X-Files episode. Serving as an homage to stories of alien encounters, UFO abductions and other tales of high strangeness, it’s the perfect way to bring on the spooky season this October.

Catch The Spectre Collective opening for Half Hexagon

Wellington - Saturday, November 4th @ MOON, Newtown

Tickets on sale from Undertheradar.co.nz

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