Counting members of underground greats GNOD, Ghold and US experimental hip-hop legends Dâlek amongst its ranks, Holy Scum are back with a soundtrack for existence in uncertain times…
All We Have Is Never by Holy Scum is released worldwide on 6th June 2025
the Single from it “I Am The Land” is here
The Isle of Lewis is the largest of the Outer Hebrides archipelago, and a place where myth and folklore are abundant. The Callanish Stones, a cruciform circle reckoned by tradition to be the forms of petrified giants who refused to convert to Christianity, once prompted notable antiquarian Julian Cope to pronounce himself, “Lashed by wind and rain, but surrounded by vibe.”
It is in this unique and remote environment where Holy Scum, progenitors/agitators of some of the most visceral and compelling experimental noise released in recent years, decided to take a pilgrimage for the recording of their second album proper on Rocket Recordings, All We Have Is Never.
Where their 2022 debut, Strange Desires, had been largely centred around years of improvised sessions being sent to American-based vocalist and producer Mike Mare (Dâlek), the pathway to this new record involved a more organic approach. Frustrated by the physical and logistical challenges that had kept the band from collaborating, the decision was made to hole themselves up at Black Bay Studios on Great Bernera, a two hour plus ferry ride from anywhere and everywhere.
“Our isolation there was our salvation, and a much-needed cleanse after a year of relentless misfortune,” explains the band’s Peter Taylor (Action Beat). “This new record evolved from years of jams, developed collaboratively with Mike in the studio, but the period preceding this album was a true nightmare. We endured an eleven-month limbo. We were paralysed, unable to release music, replenish sold-out merchandise, or even perform live.”
Jamming, writing and recording together as a five-piece band for the first time, Holy Scum’s newly formed hive-mind helped produce their most focused work yet amidst these tranquil surroundings.
Despite describing the Holy Scum approach as ‘No riffs’, Taylor’s playful observation belies the band’s ability to carve abstractions and minimalism into monolithic and ominous shapes. Tighter, punchier songs were made manifest and honed down into lean, vicious blasts of sound and fury. With the vice-like rhythm section of John Perry and Chris Haslam (both of GNOD) focusing the assault, and recently recruited guitarist Al Wilson (Ghold/Shuck) providing crucial ballast – Taylor was left to “go off Pete-st’” as Haslam puts it – resulting in a record that is both the catchy and unforgiving. From the feverish guitar scree that underpins ‘Thieves’ to the vital charge of ‘I Am The Land’, the music here is as analogous to the ballsy kinetics of Fugazi as it is the overcast catharsis of Killing Joke and Voivod.
“On that island you could feel the energy of the land, you could feel its past. This record is about moving forward, letting go, being grounded in yourself and with the earth,” reflects Mare. “The title is a nod to the fact that everything ends – good, bad, ugly, beautiful. That it’s not a bad thing. It is a rebirth every time. We can spend a lifetime together having shared experiences but living separate realities.”
“I don’t think it is nihilistic,” he adds. “The despair turns into hope for sure.”
All We Have Is Never is released worldwide on 6th June 2025 and can be pre-ordered now on limited edition Yellow/Black splatter vinyl (here) via Rocket Recordings, and on limited edition Mauve vinyl from you local record store.
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