ALBUM FEATURES MIMI BARKS AND SEAN BEAVAN (NINE INCH NAILS)
Ferocious four-piece Saint Agnes return with new album Bloodsuckers, set for release on July 21 via Spinefarm. Pre-save the album here.
Today, they have unveiled the video for the album’s raw title track.
Watch the video for “Bloodsuckers” here.
Hailing from the UK, Saint Agnes are all about honest lyrics and intense vocal performances, plus rage-fueled music intended to give a voice to those closer to the fringe than the center. With its violent riffs, venomous vocals, and punk attitude, the title track single serves as a no-holds-barred introduction to the Bloodsuckers album.
Vocalist Kitty A. Austen comments on the single and video, saying, “I wrote ‘Bloodsuckers’ when I couldn’t take it anymore — when I decided to stop allowing people to crush me, to diminish me. I took my rage and my pain and used it as fuel and I burned. We are not defined by what has been done to us. We decide who we are. We choose who we want to be. We are whole. We are worthy. The video is an introduction to Team Bloodsuckers. Join us.”
The band will then join Monster Magnet on their spring and summer European run, before returning to the UK to perform at 2000trees festival.
Saint Agnes are also excited to welcome new bassist Ryan Brown into the fold, replacing Ben Chernett.
As much gang as band, Saint Agnes seek to empower those who’ve been battered and bruised yet refuse to lie down, and it’s a thread that runs deep within Bloodsuckers — SA’s first album for Spinefarm and the follow-up to 2019’s Welcome To Silvertown, issued on the band’s own label.
In addition to … Silvertown, Saint Agnes have released a number of singles, videos, and EPs, embarked on headline tours in both the UK and Europe, and appeared at a host of festivals, including Download, 2000trees, Isle of Wight and Kendal Calling.
One thing’s for sure, it’s got nothing to do with rule-books or playing it safe…
From the title track onwards, Bloodsuckers is a genre-jumping body of work, taking in elements of metal, punk, industrial, and grunge, without being bound by any specific style; the 11 tracks here come straight from the source, largely self-produced and mixed (NIN collaborator Sean Bevan lends his mixing and production skills to “Follow You”), and this self-contained approach provides an extra emotional weight throughout, with doom trap provocateur and Kerrang! cover artist Mimi Barks further fuelling the chaos on the short, sharp shock that is “Body Bag.”
Created in the months following the unexpected and untimely death of Kitty’s mother, Bloodsuckers explores a number of themes, including mental illness, pent-up rage, undying love and, of course, grief; from the trash-metal howl into the night that is “Bloodsuckers” right through to broken ballad, “This Is Not The End,” a poignant reflection of Kitty’s still-raw emotions, this is a call to outsiders everywhere…
Concludes Kitty, “Creating this album gave me a reason to get to my feet at a time when I really wasn’t sure if I could. I’ve tried to put everything I’ve been feeling into it, all the pain, the rage, the grief, even the unexpected moments of beauty and belief. I hope it makes you feel less alone. I hope it makes you feel bigger, badder, and stronger. We might be damaged but that doesn’t mean we’re worthless. This is a record for the defeated, the crushed. We might be broken but that doesn’t mean we’re not whole. Bloodsuckers forever, Saint Agnes forever.”
SAINT AGNES ARE:
Kitty A. Austen — Vocals, Guitar, Bass
Jon James Tufnell — Guitar, Vox, Bass
Andrew Head — Drums
Ryan Brown — Bass