Denver’s apocalyptic noise-bringers Primitive Man return with their most devastating launch but: Observance, due out October 31, 2025 via Relapse Records. Throughout six colossal tracks, the band dismantle each private and world wreck with a gaze that’s unflinching, cruel, and at occasions painfully intimate.
After twelve years on the forefront of underground extremity, Observance finds Primitive Man wielding their trademark heaviness in new, extra expansive methods. Vocalist/guitarist Ethan Lee McCarthy turns his lyrical lens inward and outward directly—chronicling disillusionment with the music business, battles with private demons, and the toxicities of late capitalism, authoritarianism, and technofeudalism. Drawing inspiration from poet Tongo Eisen-Martin (Blood on the Fog), McCarthy presents no options—solely an trustworthy howl of exasperation and grief towards a collapsing social order.
The primary single, “Social Contract”, captures this stress in full power. “It offers with a number of the common points that individuals are collectively dealing with by way of the rise of authoritarianism and the erasure of historical past. The hits initially of the music additionally recommend a clock ticking, as I consider our time with life as we all know it’s about to alter drastically,” says McCarthy. The observe arrives alongside a music video that underscores the looming dread and names the forces who stand to learn from collapse.
Whereas McCarthy‘s guttural roars and bleak imaginative and prescient dominate, Observance is a deeply collaborative effort with drummer Joe Linden and bassist Jon Campos. The trio started writing instantly after 2022’s Insurmountable EP, throwing themselves obsessively into the artistic course of.
Recorded at Bricktop Recording Studio (Chicago) with Andy Nelson, and mastered by Arthur Rizk, the report pushes Primitive Man into new territory. Psychedelic prospers, acoustic interludes, and digital soundscapes weave by the suffocating heaviness, drawing unlikely comparisons to Swans, Crowbar, Slowdive, and even U2.
Regardless of its crushing weight, McCarthy calls Observance the band’s “most optimistic” report: a dirge that carries inside it the faint glimmer of sunshine. You too can catch Primitive Man at one in all their many tour dates beneath, and with the corresponding openers on every date. Get your tickets here.
11/24 Salt Lake Metropolis, UT Aces Excessive Saloon (w/ Otay:Onii & Guiltless)
11/25 Boise, ID The Shrine (w/ Otay:Onii & Guiltless)
11/26 Seattle, WA Chop Suey (w/ Otay:Onii & Guiltless)
11/27 Vancouver, BC Astoria Pub (w/ Otay:Onii & Guiltless)
11/28 Portland, OR Star Theater (w/ Otay:Onii & Guiltless)
11/29 Eureka, CA Savage Henry’s (w/ Otay:Onii & Guiltless)
11/30 Oakland, CA Stork Membership (w/ Otay:Onii & Guiltless)
12/1 Los Angeles, CA Lodge Room (w/ Otay:Onii, At present is the Day & Guiltless)
12/2 San Diego, CA Brick By Brick (w/ Otay:Onii, At present is the Day & Guiltless)
12/3 Anaheim, CA Home of Blues Parish (w/ Otay:Onii, At present is the Day & Guiltless)
12/4 Phoenix, AZ The Insurgent Lounge (w/ Otay:Onii, At present is the Day & Guiltless)
12/5 Albuquerque, NM Launchpad (w/ Otay:Onii, At present is the Day & Guiltless)
12/6 Denver, CO Decibel Steel & Beer Fest
12/7 Kansas Metropolis, MO The File Bar
12/8 Dallas, TX Membership Dada (w/ Buffalo Nichols, At present is the Day, God is Struggle)
12/9 Austin, TX Empire Management Room (w/ Buffalo Nichols, At present is the Day, God is Struggle)
12/10 New Orleans, LA Gasa Gasa (w/ Buffalo Nichols, At present is the Day, God is Struggle)
12/12 Orlando, FL The Conduit (w/ Buffalo Nichols, At present is the Day, God is Struggle)
12/13 Atlanta, GA The Earl (w/ Buffalo Nichols, Nice Falls, God is Struggle)
12/14 Raleigh, NC The Pour Home (w/ Buffalo Nichols, Nice Falls, God is Struggle)
12/15 Baltimore, MD Metro Gallery (w/ Buffalo Nichols, Nice Falls, God is Struggle)
12/16 Brooklyn, NY The Meadows (w/ Buffalo Nichols, Nice Falls, God is Struggle)
12/17 Philadelphia, PA Underground Arts (w/ Buffalo Nichols, Nice Falls, God is Struggle)
12/18 Pittsburgh, PA Thunderbird Music Corridor (w/ Buffalo Nichols, Nice Falls, God is Struggle)
12/19 Lakewood, OH The Foundry (w/ Buffalo Nichols, Nice Falls, God is Struggle)
12/20 Chicago, IL Reggies (w/ Buffalo Nichols, Nice Falls, God is Struggle)
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