Palisades announce new album ‘Reaching Hypercritical’

March 13, 2022 James Weaver

PALISADES have announced a new album!

Titled Reaching Hypercritical, the upcoming album from the New Jersey-based post-hardcore band is the follow-up to 2018’s Erase The Pain, and is scheduled to be released in July this year, via Rise Records.

“It’s a been a pretty drastic progression musically,” drummer Aaron Rosa notes of the upcoming album. “This album really captures how the band has matured while being brutally honest with ourselves about all the tough moments that were going through our heads while making the record. Reaching Hypercritical is a true demonstration of how the past few years have changed us as people, as a band and what PALISADES’ music stands for.”

Some of that change derives from the band’s recent line-up shift, which saw frontman Lou Miceli exit and vocalist/bassist Brandon Elgar step up on sole vocals. “The sheer talent and unique style Brandon brings to being a frontman really elevates our music,” guitarist Matthew Marshall comments. “His melodies, lyrics and his flair makes all of us continue to push ourselves and that was ideal for what we wanted to achieve with Reaching Hypercritical. A new beginning for PALISADES.”

Mental illness and divorce are two heavy topics that rear their head on the record, while Aaron took the opportunity on Reaching Hypercritical to open up about the death of his father, who passed away during the writing of the new LP. “In terms of both our mental health and our career, it very much felt like we were reaching a hypercritical point,” he says of the band’s recent experiences. “You have all of the uncertainty that was brought on by a pandemic while life continues to do what it does. My father was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer and died two months later. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to deal with, and in the middle of that, we were still trying to write a record. That moment in my life and some of the traumatic experiences of the other guys in the band really shaped this record. Ultimately, it altered the entire tone of the record and truly what the songs meant.”

Alongside the announcement of the new album, the band have released a new music video for a new song lifted from the upcoming album; Better. The new song is the second single to be released from the upcoming album, following on from My Consequences, which was released in December last year.

Speaking about the new song, Brandon Elgar says, “what I want people to get out of this song is, I want them to feel safe listening to it… especially if you suffer from these things. At the end of the day, it’s all that I want to feel, is better. And I think that’s why that became such a stamp in this song because I think that’s what everybody wants to feel… Awareness is important, being kind to people is important. So I hope you get satisfaction out of this song like it has done for me.”

Watch the official music video for Better here:

Also, you can view both the track list and artwork for the upcoming new album below:

Track List:

1. My Consequences
2. Reaching Hypercritical
3. Invincible (Die Down)
4. Your Misery
5. Without You
6. Better
7. Fray
8. Sick Of The Attitude 9. Fade Away
10. Sober
11. Closure