This Is Oblivion is the Brooklyn duo of Lulu Black and Michael Kadnar (drummer of The Number Twelve Looks Like You, Downfall of Gaia, So Hideous). Today they have released a video for their new single “Elegy.” The track is off their self-titled and Seth Manchester (Lingua Ignota, The Body) produced album This is Oblivion, now available via Silent Pendulum Records.

Black describes the concepts behind This Is Oblivion’s debut album: “It’s an exploration of the cyclical nature of connection; how every moment in time is paradoxically suspended somewhere between a moment of collapse and ascendance; how love can be an anchor when the world seems to be ending and love itself can feel like the end of the world.” This paradox is expressed in “The Truth” as Black sings, “I will ruin you / I will run to you / I want you to ruin me / I want you to run from me.”

A classical music major in college, Black’s interest in other genres – industrial, darkwave, doom, and more – led her to start creating her own music. “My biggest influence has always been Nine Inch Nails, especially Trent and Atticus’ cinematic scores,” she states. “I love gritty textures paired with gorgeous harmonies.”

Kadnar is known to many as the rhythm machine behind bands such as The Number Twelve Looks Like You, Downfall of Gaia, and So Hideous. Known predominantly as a metal drummer, Kadnar separates himself from the pack by bringing outside influences into his playing, from jazz, funk, world music, and beyond; in This Is Oblivion, he utilizes a whole palette of percussion and his approach ranges from the delicate to the colossally heavy.

Black and Kadnar began This Is Oblivion in the spring of 2020. The two are not only in a band together, but in a relationship. “Collaborating with a romantic partner is a first for both of us,” says Black. “A relationship that then evolves into an artistic collaboration can be hugely positive but also very raw and vulnerable at times.”

FFO of Swans, Nine Inch Nails, Chelsea Wolfe.

Order This is Oblivion by This is Oblivion HERE