Akron, Ohio’s Radian are ready to drop their highly anticipated third album, Subterfuge, this Friday, March 20, via El Burno Records in collaboration with Third House Communications.
Frontman Corey Staley describes the record as “a pill to be swallowed by those coping with frustrations of loss, self-doubt, grief, and anxiety… all the while, this album is packaged with a fictional concept to escape real-world commentary, exploring timeless motifs such as tyranny, collapse, despair, and survival to create immersive imagery in the lyrical content. This approach lent more weight to the psychological space created on the album.”
Subterfuge is set in a reimagined, modern-day Egypt – a world that never fell to Roman conquest. The album follows a man determined to protect his home, people, and culture from a cabal of overlords bent on erasure. While steeped in alternate history, Staley notes the story resonates with contemporary themes of exploitation, manufactured collapse, and rebellion against systems designed to consume rather than sustain.
Musically, the album finds Radian blending groove-laden sludge with oppressive atmospheres, delivering a narrative arc that mirrors both the protagonist’s struggle and the band’s own journey.
The album was recorded and engineered by Mike Burns, with bass tracked by Brian “BeZo” Zorich. Sanford Parker (Voivod, Darkthrone, YOB) mixed the record at Hypercube, while mastering was handled by Collin Jordan (Ministry, Eyehategod, Spirit Adrift) at Boiler Room Mastering. Artwork and layout were crafted by Radian and Derek Vaive, respectively.
Get Subterfuge here and make sure you catch the band at the Tampa Doom & Gloom Fest this November.
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