Spiritual Poison Drops Debut Full-Length Album Incorporeal
As autumn continues to descend and the dark portals open, we are blessed and cursed with the debut offering from Spiritual Poison, the solo project of Ethan McCarthy from Primitive Man.
Combining drone, power electronics, weirdo noise, and tons of heavy layers, Spiritual Poison uses layers of intensity to craft something unique
Incorporeal will be out November 17 from Closed Casket Activities and can already be preordered).
“I wanted it to sound like a long journey through an otherworldly doorway,” McCarthy says. “I think of spirituality a lot, so some of those ideas are present. Musically, there was so much emphasis on different instruments and trying things outside of the typical worlds of metal and noise.”
In addition to Denver doom icons Primitive Man and this project, McCarthy is also in Vermin Womb and makes solo music as Many Blessings. In 2022, under the Spiritual Poison moniker, McCarthy produced music featuring a lot of exciting collabs, including Lawrence English and Tim Hecker.
“I play in some really heavy bands that are nasty and gritty,” he says. “I wanted to make a record that’s the opposite of everything I’ve usually put out. It’s still challenging and dark, but I’m relying on harmony instead of dissonance.”
The album was recorded and co-produced by Andy Nelson at Bricktop Studios and mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege.
“We’re experimenting with unconventional elements and drums,” McCarthy adds. “The album flows together by rising and falling. It’s a stressful journey … you leave with all of this knowledge, but it’s going to destroy you. Hopefully, that’s the vibe of the record. There are a lot of things in this world that poison you spiritually, and it was on my mind going into this. If you’re rotten spiritually, you’re unable to be good to people or decent to yourself. You need to know yourself and be in touch with the real character inside your spirit.
“I hope you can listen to it while you’re driving, walking, meditating, or thinking,” he leaves off. “The goal was to make a solid experimental record.”
