Album Premiere: Nuclear Dudes’ ‘Skeletal Blasphemy’ is a Whirligig of Unbridled Sound and Creativity

There are moments in time where an album comes around that manages to intrigue you withoaut overstaying its welcome. It’s such a potent combination when an album and its artist is able to make a statement by accomplishing what it set out to do and then getting the fuck outta there. Like a special forces unit taking down a target of opportunity, Nuclear Dudes’ forthcoming album Skeletal Blasphemy brand of electro-powerviolence hits hard, demands your attention, and then vanishes into the night as soon as you’ve regained your wits.

The brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Jon Weisnewski (Sandrider, Akimbo), this COVID-era project has grown into something more. It’s taken his influences of Gary Numan and Carcass and blended those sounds and styles into a unique package.

“Nuclear Dudes started as ‘something to do’ during the pandemic. Turns out it’s real sticky. It’s become a consistent project that is exploring metal/grind, synth, and collaborating with musicians I love and admire.”

Speaking of collaboration on this record, Skeletal Blasphemy features the percussive attack of none other than High On Fire and Melvins drummer Coady Willis. All throughout the record, you can hear the pummelling attack that exists as a thread throughout it all. It’s punky, it’s powerful, and at times sounds both primitive and futuristic in equal measures. It’s a wild listen by its very nature. Weisnewski explained how the melding of both styles came to be.

“Some songs I wrote isolated and Coady played to them (‘Skeletal Blasphemy,’ ‘Fully Clothed,’ ‘Still Afraid’), and some songs were a drum part that Coady put together that I layered music on top of (‘Tastes Like Medicine,’ ‘The Octopus’). It was a pretty creatively unrestricted project in that sense.”

At the end of the day, Skeletal Blasphemy accounts for just over 24 minutes of raw electro-powerviolence. And if you don’t have the time to commit 24 minutes for some exciting new tunes from a unique collaborative effort, maybe you gotta reevaluate things. I just know I’ll be playing this bad guy again.

Skeletal Blasphemy will be released tomorrow via The Ghost Is Clear Records, but you can preorder your copy today.