Marching Church Are Sullen but Stable in the ‘Lion’s Den’

Iceage frontman Elias Bender Rønnenfelt founded Marching Church as a one-man sanctuary where he could tinker with a full spectrum of creepy sounds, from harsh ambient to twisted neo-folk. But a successful religion requires the involvement of others, and by the time the Danish punk announced Marching Church's debut album, This World Is Not Enough, last year, it was solo no more — he had his gloomy peers behind him now, a band comprised of members from Choir of Young Believers, Lower, Puce Mary and Hand of Dust.

Judging from Rønnenfelt's comments in the record's press release, assembling a big band was all part of his master plan, the product of luxuriant imagery. “What I pictured was me in a comfortable armchair, adorned in a golden robe, leading a band while a girl kept pouring me champagne when I required it," he mused. "This raised the question, ‘What sort of music would go along with this picture?’”

On This World Is Not Enough, the decadent fantasy manifested in a chaotic mixture of free jazz-y experiments and post-punk swells. Now, a different picture emerges: Telling It Like It Is, Marching Church's sophomore effort, due out October 28 on Sacred Bones. Rønnenfelt speaks of the forthcoming record as a panorama of mirrors and dead discos. "We have here one world united under the sparks of one enormous disco ball hanging over us like the moon," he says. "In one fleeting moment in the light of its mirrored surface, we see human endurance; in the next, we see doom.” (Spooky.)

True to the frontman's remarks, Marching Church's latest work skews more streamlined and cohesive than their previous output — especially on "Lion's Den," which the band unveiled today. Despite the funereal, foreboding organ and woodwind arrangements, the cut ultimately marks one of the outfit's most stable moments, built upon a mournful, but insistent shuffle. Listen to it below, and scroll down for the album art, track list and Marching Church's upcoming European tour dates.

Telling It Like It Is arrives October 28 via Sacred Bones.

MARCHING CHURCH - TELLING IT LIKE IT IS TRACK LIST
1. “Let It Come Down”
2. “Up for Days”
3. “Heart of Life”
4. “Inner City Pigeon”
5. “Lion’s Den”
6. “2016”
7. “Achilles Heel”
8. “Information”
9. “Calenture”

MARCHING CHURCH on TOUR
Nov. 12 – Leipzig, Germany @ Transcentury Update Festival
Nov. 13 – Utrecht, Netherlands @ Le Guess Who Festival
Nov. 14 – London, England @ The Victoria