Photo credit: Clay Lancaster
Black Map, the Bay Area trio Metal Hammer dubbed as a “progressive supergroup” and All Music described as “a muscular post-hardcore trio with an impressive pedigree,” return with their first album in over four years, setting a Nov. 5 release date for Melodoria (via Minus Head Records).
A preview of the 10-song album comes with today’s Consequence premiere of “Chasms” a song that reflects the distance experienced throughout this pandemic.
Album pre-orders are on-sale now with the collection available on both standard white vinyl and a limited-edition white vinyl with black and yellow splatter, CD and digitally with various limited-edition merch.
“Music and art, to me, has always been a kind of human binding agent,” singer/bass player Ben Flanagan explains of the album the band co-produced with Zach Ohren (Chelsea Grin, Machine Head). “Even amidst the pure chaos of our world, here is this thing that’s there to excite us, to comfort us, and to help us get through it.”
“We went for a very direct approach early on with the tunes on the first album (… And We Explode). The natural progression into In Droves was to branch out into other areas of our influences and music we enjoy,” explains guitar player Mark Engles. “Melodoria is yet another step out onto different limbs of our tastes and abilities.”
Following the 2017 release of In Droves, a sophomore slump-defying set which furthered the group’s incursion into rock radio without sacrificing an ounce of musical integrity, Black Map married themselves to the road. Major festivals extended invitations, resulting in head-turning sets at Chicago Open Air, Aftershock, Rock Allegiance, and Louder Than Life, plus a “Best New Artist” nomination at the first-ever Loudwire Music Awards in Los Angeles.
The trio will spend the bulk of their Fall on tour, with headlining shows planned in Los Angeles and San Diego leading into an appearance at this year’s highly-anticipated return of the Aftershock Festival. Following that, a month long run supporting Chevelle is on sale with shows in 2022 to be announced soon.
Black Map tour dates:
September 28 Los Angeles, CA The Whiskey
September 29 San Diego, CA Brick By Brick
October 8 Sacramento, CA Aftershock Festival
With Chevelle:
November 4 Milwaukee, WI The Rave/Eagles Club
November 5 Ft. Wayne, IN Clyde Theatre
November 6 Columbus, OH Express Live!
November 9 Raleigh, NC The Ritz
November 10 Atlanta, GA Buckhead Theatre
November 13 Myrtle Beach, SC House of Blues Myrtle Beach
November 14 Greensboro, NC Piedmont Hall
November 16 Charlotte, NC The Filmore Charlotte
November 17 Richmond, VA The National
November 19 Norfolk, VA The Norva
November 20 Newport, KY Promowest Pavilion at Ovation
November 21 Pittsburgh, PA Stage AE
Melodoria tracklist:
Chasms
Super Deluxe
Nothing Over Me
Capture the Flag
Madness
Witching Hour
Left For Dead
In The Wires
Burnout (Do You Mind)
Melodoria
Black Map formed in 2013, releasing a pair of full-length albums: In Droves (2017) and …And We Explode (2014) as well as two EPs: Trace The Path (2018) and Driver ( 2014). Alternative Press compared the band’s early EP to “Antenna-era Cave In” and “pure Quicksand-esque gold,” while Metal Injection called out the trio’s “interesting composition techniques,” calling Black Map’s music “compelling” and “powerful.” Engles, Flanagan and Robyn have spent the last several years touring internationally, both as an opener (Chevelle, Bush, Circa Survive), performing on a variety of festivals (Louder than Life, Rise Above Fest, Carolina Rebellion, and Aftershock), and headlining hundreds of their own dates.
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