Atlanta’s Now After Nothing gives us a fiery story of propaganda and mass manipulation with “Criminal Feature.” The song’s gritty guitar work, brooding bass line, swirling and bright synths and melodic vocals are reminiscent in a way of the pace and mood of “Celebrity Lifestyle” by Swans and how that song unites dark themes of human belief and internalized psychological manipulation with surprisingly catchy songwriting that is a bit of an outlier in the Swans catalog because of that. But Now After Nothing’s sound is steeped in a driving darkwave with great, ascending dynamics and socio-political commentary crafted to make heady themes palatable without sacrificing the essence of the content. The accompanying music video is especially effective in its evocation of the legacy of religious trauma many people know too well. Fans of the more New Wave-inflected end of Killing Joke will definitely find much to like about the song and what Now After Nothing has to offer. The group’s new album Artificial Ambivalence was released on September 13, 2024 is now available for streaming, digital download and as limited edition colored vinyl.
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Queen City Sounds and Art 
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