Red Sparowes: Shining T'wards the Red Sun

A wordless wail through an endless void, Red Sparowes are spearheading the post-metal genre - taking the post-rock tautology of using guitars for swelling textures rather than riffs, but instead of starting from acoustic twaddle, they leap from the head-crushing steamroller of metal.

And whilst the behemoth that is Neurosis have been paving this way for over 15 years, Red Sparowes are very much from the same stable, being led by Josh Graham, who creates and manipulates all the visual effects for Neurosis' current live shows. The Skinny caught up with Josh while he was in Hungary photographing for the new Neurosis album artwork to talk about the forthcoming Red Sparowes album, 'Every Red Heart Shines Toward The Red Sun'.

"This new record captures our live show better," Josh points out. "It's heavier, darker and little bit more erratic." Wholly instrumental, Red Sparowes waft a dense spell that refuses to be ignored. "Because we don't need to leave space for vocals, we have a chance to experiment with levels of being totally quiet or loud, or utterly pretty or chaotic," he enthuses.

And for this new album, Josh has crafted the songs around a story that took place in communist China in the 1950s: "Mao Tse Tung decided that sparrows must be exterminated in order to maximize grain production. So villagers were instructed to scream and bang pots, keeping the birds in flight until they died of exhaustion. But now the locust had no natural predator, and they decimated China's crops." The result was one of the worst famines in human history.

Josh continues, "Meanwhile the Government authorities falsified agricultural reports to avoid Mao's wrath, and he sent out soldiers out to find the grain that he believed the farmers were hiding. Thousands of villagers were tortured and murdered in pursuit of this false grain." This powerful story also inspired the album artwork which exudes a very pseudo-communist aesthetic.

I ask Josh if, as well as the element of grotesque human tragedy, the album was also informed by the very sonic aspect of the story, namely the farmers banging pots and screaming keeping the sparrows in flight. "The theme is basically to question what people tell you," he mutters. "Don't blindly listen to people, think for yourself."

Having created a visual flow to accompany the 'Every Red Heart Shines Toward The Red Sun' live show, Josh is confident that seeing them play is a completely immersive experience, quite removed from seeing just another heavy band.

"The visuals substitute for having a singer, or a frontman," he says. "The visuals and the music together create their own lyrical story, and people can zone out, they don't just have to look at five dudes playing. It's all just one piece of art to us. There are so many levels."

Excited about bringing the live show back to the UK, Josh is also upbeat about what the future holds for the Sparowes. "We've been discussing the idea of doing an album with all guest vocalists, which would be cool and take on a whole new meaning. "We're motivated and constantly working towards whatever happens next."