Publicist UK - Forgive Yourself (2015)

In the interest of clarity, Publicist UK are neither from the United Kingdom nor employed as publicists; rather, they are a post-punk band whose signature sound is a darkly atmospheric blend of indie rock, goth, metal, and hardcore, forceful but dynamic and artful without sounding pretentious. Featuring four seasoned veterans of the underground music scene, Publicist UK were formed in 2013 by guitarist David Obuchowski (a member of Goes Cube and Distant Correspondent) and vocalist Zachary Lipez (formerly of Freshkills); the two got to know one another when Goes Cube and Freshkills toured together, and they subsequently began collaborating on songs, exchanging notes via e-mail from Obuchowski's home in Colorado and Lipez's place in New York. Once the pair had enough songs that they felt the project had potential, Obuchowski invited his friend Brett Bamberger, who had worked with Revocation and East of the Wall, to play bass with the new band. Bamberger agreed, and a few days later the lineup was complete when the bassist approached Virginia-based drummer Dave Witte, whose résumé includes stints with Municipal Waste, Melt Banana, and Burnt by the Sun. Witte signed on, and the new band cut its first demo in the summer of 2104. Between the previous work of the various bandmembers and the rich, distinctive sound of the music, Publicist UK were quickly the talk of the metal music media, despite not being anyone's idea of a traditional metal band; Decibel Magazine and the music blogs Noisey and MetalSucks gave the new group enthusiastic write-ups, and soon the well-established metal label Relapse Records signed Publicist UK to a recording contract. While Publicist UK were working on their debut album with producer Dean Baltulonis, the small indie label Static Tension Recordings released two songs from Publicist UK's original demo as a single for Record Store Day 2015. Publicist UK's full-length debut, Forgive Yourself, was released by Relapse in August 2015.