"My general association with death metal deals with the notion of false perceptions, and how great individuality can be smothered by the weight of an overwhelming environment. This idea is ever-present throughout all my work. Each of the players in this album played key roles in their respective bands, facing difficult challenges, and yet taking their bands to higher levels. Their talent as well as their tenacity has always intrigued me. As such, they fit perfectly in this project."
New York-based visual artist Nader Sadek has announced his collaboration with Steve Tucker (ex-Morbid Angel), Rune Erickson (ex-Mayhem/Ava Inferi), and Flo Mounier (Cryptopsy) for the upcoming full-length album "Nader Sadek: In The Flesh" to be released on January 11th via newly launched Greyhaze Records (with worldwide distribution through a renowned metal label tba). An audio manifestation of Sadek's acclaimed visual work (Mayhem, Sunn O)))), the project also features Krallice bassist Nick McMaster on the entirety of the album as well as guest performances from Attila Csihar (Mayhem, Sunn 0))), Tony Norman (X-Terrorizer, Monstrosity), Travis Ryan (Cattle Decapitation), Mike Lerner (Behold... the Arctopus) and Destructhor (Morbid Angel, Zyklon, Myrkskog).
A Sadek-directed video for the song "Nigredo In Necromance" (the first of several visual accompaniments to the project) recently made its premiere recently and a live performance is scheduled in New York City around the albums January 2011 release date.
Watch the video for "Nigredo In Necromance" here!
About Nader Sadek
Through his association with Attila Csihar, Sadek gained considerable exposure as the artist responsible for the stage imagery on MAYHEM's 2009 U.S. tour. The stage sets featured silicone-based sculptures, which resembled entrails and impaled heads, with the centerpiece being a fully detailed flesh-like rendering of the MAYHEM logo. Sadek's work has also included the costumes and silicone "earth masks" worn by Csihar on all his bands as well as a new mask for Ava Inferi frontwoman Carmen Simões. Sadek's use of petroleum-based raw materials is not just an effect. His work revolves around the notion that all petroleum energy originates from death and, in a morbid vicious cycle, also ends in death, where human lives are expendable and sold for the support of an unending addiction to money and power.
Before his work with MAYHEM, Sadek had implemented two very successful interconnecting art projects: "B'Doun Wag'h," a live performance event; and "Faceless," a drawing exhibit featuring recorded music.
Born in Cairo, Nader Sadek is an emerging conceptual artist. His installations and performances aim to blur configurations of private and public, while exorcising the holy and profane and evoking ritualistic restraint and impulsive aggression. He has exhibited in the US and abroad and has toured with some of the most influential death metal musicians in the world, having contributed original installations and costumes to Mayhem and Sunn O))). Sadek's performances debuted at the SculptureCenter in Long Island City, NY. He has also shown work with internationally acclaimed and award winning artists Louise Bourgeois, Emily Jacir and Ghada Amer. His previous works have been reviewed by the Village Voice, The Guardian, The Herald Tribune and the New Yorker.
"In The Flesh" Album Concept
Nader Sadek invites you on a journey to the depths of the earth, where materials of a repulsive nature dwell. These materials are known as petroleum and have been a major contributing factor in cross-cultural conflict, environmental pollution and economic distress. Cooking in the depths of the earth for nearly millions of years, former living creatures have disintegrated and decayed to become this fought-over commodity. Sadek's new work "In The Flesh" takes the audience to several aspects of the source we find ourselves fatally dependent on. With a visual and aural assault, nine songs and coinciding drawings, re-interpret what petroleum's role has become in our society. More often than not, Sadek enlists the help of songwriter/vocalist Steve Tucker, with the new addition of drummer extraordinaire Flo Mounier and the blistering guitars of Rune Eriksen. Together the four individuals have created a multi-cultural symphonic abyss where melody and corrosion meet, exposing their utmost talents.
The use of death metal music is not coincidental. Sadek explains that heavy machinery such as automobile and airplane engines, which run on gasoline, have a similar tone/sound to that of death metal. This concept is further emphasized with how the songs were written and structured. The first song, titled "Petrophilia," kicks in with a sound that clearly resembles an engine starting up. Another song, titled " Of This Flesh (novus deus)," follows the sonic structure of gears of a car engine changing. While the concept remains consistent, not each song is dedicated to cars//engines, The outro to the album "Nigredo in Necromance" of which the video has already been released, takes a different approach where an individual decides he must die in order to reunite with his deceased loved one, creating a transformation to petroleum, which reunites all formerly living creatures together. In the Tucker-penned song, "Mechanic Idolatry," the idea of machine transforming to flesh is a perfect representation of Sadek's work, where in this fantasy-based world, live human beings are used as fuel.
Furthermore, an art/music video will be created for each song. This gives Sadek the opportunity to re-interpret this sonic composition into a different visual media.
Says Sadek: "The process was no different than my usual sculptural work in which I create a sculpture, make a mold of it, then cast in new compounds, and the result is the new and final piece. For this, I created a frame work, we worked on the demos, then brought in all the musicians and elements with the set parameters to create the final album."
More details including album art, track list, live performance dates and more coming soon!
For more information, visit:
www.nadersadek.com
www.myspace.com/greyhazerecords
