Cut from the same boundary-pushing cloth as their illustrious predecessors-turned-partners, Omerta – self-appointed “America’s most hated boy band” – releases their provocative new single, ‘Charade’ out via Blowed Out Records: the joint label venture between legendary producer, Ross Robinson, founder of SideOneDummy Records, Bill Armstrong, and genre-fluid pioneer, Ghostemane. This intrepid, 5-minute opus defiantly dances across classification with ease and reckless abandon, leaving absolutely nothing beyond its scope. The narrative of the track is communicated through an exhilarating, violent anime music video produced by renowned Japanese multimedia artist and musician, Miyashita Yuu. Stream the new track HERE and watch the video HERE below.
‘Charade’ is an unflinching critique of the facades that dominate our current milieu. Speaking on the new release, Omerta shares:
"The recent death of monoculture as we know it has torn art and culture asunder. This new paradigm presents both unique challenges and opportunities. On one hand, never before has humanity had the depth and breadth of connectivity that our increasingly networked world can afford us. On the other hand, in our infinite search for purpose, we’ve self-segregated into islands of seemingly arbitrary but precise distinctions.
Dressed in our tribal garbs, drunk off petty authority, comfortably smug in our circle jerks, posturing in our personal panopticons, we urge each other to repent at the feet of our flavor-of-the-month god. If the alternative is being “cringe” – tantamount to being banished to a lesser island or cast into the sea – surrender doesn’t really require second-guessing, but it does come at a steep cost: your self. The weak are those who recoil and shrink away from their screaming soul at the behest of the peanut gallery, only to be defanged, neutered, and lobotomized. The strong are those with the will to raze it all and the resolution to build anew atop the ashes, which we affectionately refer to as “violent art”.
“Charade” is cringecore. It’s avant-garde. It’s post-post-hardcore. It’s acid jazz. It’s K-Pop. It’s prog rock. It’s an anime opening. It’s neo metal. It’s an overture heralding the arrival of a sui generis cycle. It’s a bridge that we’ve built across a few of those aforementioned islands. The postmodern condition has relegated Sincerity, Love, and Beauty to vestiges of a bygone era, and, in their stead, Cynicism, Irony, and Ugliness abound. In this profound, suffocating darkness and loneliness, this song is our proposal for a vibe shift – a bullet through the skull of Nihilism. This is our love letter to you.
Speaking on Blowed Out Record's latest release, co-founders Ross Robinson and Bill Armstrong share
"This band takes ALL the creative paint and throws it into a fkg molten, dynamic, inspired, violent , beautiful & creative work of art that absolutely pushes me to become a better producer. We are so very proud of these guys and excited to help gift their violent art to the world" - Ross Robinson
“An unpredictable sonic ride into the future of modern music” - Bill Armstrong
Uninhibited by convention in any capacity, Omerta is beholden to nothing but the extent of their boundless imagination. Case in point, their video for ‘Charade’ with collaborator Miyashita Yuu reimagines both the appropriate visual medium for alternative music and, inversely, the appropriate soundtrack to score an original anime production.
Omerta announced last week that they will be joining the equally formidable See You Space Cowboy this summer on their Coup De Grâce Tour across the US. Full tour routing is listed below with tickets available HERE.
Omerta Tour Dates w/ See You Space Cowboy
07/16 Mesa, AZ @ Nile Theater
07/17 Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad
07/19 Dallas, TX @ Trees
07/20 San Antonio, TX @ The Rock Box
07/21 Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live Midtown
07/23 Orlando, FL @ The Abbey
07/24 Jacksonville, FL @ Underbelly
07/25 Tampa, FL @ The Orpheum (Inside)
07/26 Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade (Hell)
07/27 Greensboro, NC @ Hangar 1819
07/28 Nashville, TN @ The Basement East
07/30 Richmond, VA @ The Canal Club
07/31 Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar
08/02 New York, NY @ Elsewhere (Hall)
08/03 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East (Downstairs)
08/06 Pittsburgh, PA @ Preserving Underground
08/07 Lakewood, OH @ The Foundry
08/09 Detroit, MI @ The Shelter
08/10 Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
08/11 TBA @ TBA
08/10 Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
08/14 Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
08/16 Berkeley, CA @ Cornerstone
As many of their contemporaries continue to grapple with their identity in the clutches of increasing homogeneity and waning ingenuity, Omerta challenges the very notion of “alternative”. They forgo pandering to the style du jour and disregard cheap nostalgia bait entirely, instead offering a compelling, bleeding-edge vision as a bold, antifragile declaration of the future. To this end, they offer us their “violent art”
ABOUT OMERTA
Veiled in an impenetrable mystique true to their namesake, Omerta is as obscure as they are defiant. Despite their limited catalog,Omerta's brief lifespan has garnered a dedicated, cult-like following. The lineup consisting of Houston natives Gustavo Hernandez(vocalist), Han Kim (guitarist and vocalist), Carlos Pertuz (guitarist), Justin Zorn (bassist), and Daniel Garcia (drummer) deceptively resembles a 90’s pop quintet more than a metal band, but it seems like Omerta is already aware of that, even dubbing themselves “America’s Most Hated Boy Band”.
Their debut EP Hyperviolence, produced and co-written by Vincente Void, was released in February 2020 – a cacophonous opening salvo for both the band and a global pandemic that'd shape Omerta's future from their very inception. As the name suggests, Hyperviolence introduced the band's signature, in-your-face blend of metallic hardcore, rap, post-hardcore, math rock, emo, and grindcore.
Omerta continued to push the envelope in February 2021 with their chaotic single "i luv u 2" – another collaboration with producer and songwriter Vincente Void. With an active commitment to their local scene, busy tour schedule (opening for acts such as Loathe, Lil Darkie, and Knocked Loose), and a number of festival appearances under their belt, Omerta showed no signs of slowing down.
Fate would have it that the "nu metal godfather", producer Ross Robinson (Slipknot, Korn, Glassjaw) and the pioneering, "genrefluid" artist Ghostemane discovered Omerta in an encounter that seems closer to prophecy than chance. Sharing Omerta's disaffection with industry malpractice and maladaptation, their collective commitment to, and reverence for, art above all cultivated a partnership that sought to circumvent the obsolete standards of yesteryear. After enlisting Bill Armstrong of SideOneDummy Records fame to round out their team, newly-formed Blowed Out Records would be the Trojan horse delivering the band's dangerous art past the DIY glass ceiling and beyond.
In 2023, the band released their first new song in over 2 years: “Antiamorous”. Also produced and co-written by Vincente Void, the track saw the band revisiting their hyperviolent bag of tricks with the addition of some new and unexpected twists.
Now, with brand new single “Charade”, the band push these boundaries even further, leaving the door open for absolutely anything to come on their much-anticipated, yet-to-be-announced sophomore EP.
Ross Robinson has referred to the band as the “next generation”. Omerta’s ambition has certainly earned them this nomination, and it’s apparent that they fully intend to live up to it – razing anything and anyone that stands in the way of the accelerationist philosophy underpinning the band’s raison d'être, affectionately and appropriately called “violent art”.
Omerta are
Gustavo Hernandez - Vocals
Han Kim - Guitar & vocals
Carlos Pertuz - Guitar
Justin Zorn - Bass
Daniel Garcia - Drums