Northern Virginia-based trio, Drugs Of Faith, have announced that their third LP, Asymmetrical, is to be released February 21st through Selfmadegod Records and Malokul. The band have also just shared the album’s first single, “Gas Mask,” with a visualizer video. Check it out below and find out more.
Stream “Gas Mask” here: https://selfmadegod.bandcamp.com/album/asymmetrical
Pre-order the Asymmetrical CD/merch from Selfmadegod Records here: https://selfmadegod-store.com/collections/drugs-of-faith
Pre-order the 12” grey vinyl limited to 100 copies from Malokul here: https://malokul.bigcartel.com/product/drugs-of-faith-asymmetrical-12
With the lead Asymmetrical single “Gas Mask,” guitarist/vocalist Richard Johnson writes, “This is one of the songs on the record that has a lot of elements, showing some of the different influences and styles we pull from. Lyrically, it starts on one path, jumps onto another one, and then skips back to the first path. We decided quickly that this should be the first track released from Asymmetrical.”
Drugs Of Faith embodies guitarist/vocalist Richard Johnson (Enemy Soil, Agoraphobic Nosebleed), bassist Ivan Khilko (Immanent Voiceless), and drummer Ethan Griffiths (Embra), who create a dense foundation of rock/punk intensified by grindcore elements. It’s been nearly six years since their Decay EP dropped, and nearly fourteen years since the release of their second LP, Corroded, but Drugs Of Faith begins 2025 with the crushing new Asymmetrical full-length.
Asymmetrical packs ten tracks into twenty-one minutes, some of which date back to before the pandemic and others that were written and demoed during the lockdowns and since. Asymmetrical was chosen as the title since the record doesn’t follow a solitary mission statement or lyrical theme; rather, it encapsulates a variety of different directions and themes Like the Corroded LP, Asymmetrical contains a noise track, an instrumental, and a cover song, yet the new songs and the production are quite varied from Corroded. The lyrics to “Desert War Eternal” were written by J.R. Hayes (Pig Destroyer, Enemy Soil). “Drones” contains ideas from an unreleased Enemy Soil song that were resurrected and put through the Drugs Of Faith filter. The song “Essential” is a cover of a defunct European band called DrDoom (pre- Teethgrinder), who Drugs Of Faith played shows with while touring Europe years ago. Asymmetrical was recorded at Developing Nations by Kevin Bernsten (Integrity, Full Of Hell, Magrudergrind), who noted during tracking was that the record sounds like, “a deranged rock album.”
Asymmetrical tracklisting:
01 Opening
02 Desert War Eternal
03 Drones
04 Microchip
05 Divestment
06 Gas Mask
07 The Void
08 The Next 100 Years
09 Essential (DrDoom cover)
10 Conspiratorial
More from Drugs Of Faith:
Formed in 2002, Drugs Of Faith quickly released several demos before signing with Selfmadegod Records, who released their eponymous debut album in 2005, which took them to Europe for their first tour with Blood I Bleed in 2007, the same year they released their split with Antigama. In 2011, Drugs Of Faith released their second album, Corroded. Two years later, their Architectural Failures EP made it onto best-of-2013 lists. Drugs Of Faith landed a slot on Decibel Magazine‘s flexi series with a cover of Sacrifice’s classic “Re-Animation” in 2014, then teamed up with labelmates Antigama for a tour of the U.S. East Coast in 2015, also releasing a split 7” with Cloud Rat that year. Their Decay EP was released in 2019.
Drugs Of Faith:
Ivan Khilko – Bass
Ethan Griffiths – Drums
Richard Johnson – Guitar, vocals
Follow Drugs Of Faith:
https://www.drugsoffaith.com
https://drugsoffaith.bandcamp.com
https://www.youtube.com/@drugsoffaith
https://www.facebook.com/drugsoffaith
https://www.instagram.com/drugsoffaith