“The simple answer is that I have the time to do so. I have missed tweaker,” says Chris Vrenna about why he’s taking his band out of hibernation since 2004 and releasing the new album call the time eternity via Metropolis Records. Partnering up with programmer/guitarist collaborator Jesse Hall, Chris left his post as drummer for Marilyn Manson last fall and returned to focus on his own career. “tweaker has always been my passion project,” he explains. “I've been fortunate enough to have been overly busy in the last several years and had to repeatedly back-burner the new record.” His third album and first since the critically-hailed 2 a.m. wake up call eight years ago, call the time eternitysounds like an electronic journey through darkened paths, themed by machine-gun staccato percussion, strings and synths and occasionally punctuated with ethereal guest vocalists.
“Every tweaker record is a mix of instrumental music and vocal songs,” Chris describes. “During the writing and recording process, tracks will naturally evolve into one or the other.” Feverish and dreamily pitched in impenetrable shades of black,call the time eternity offers aural texture to the seedy underbelly of a dark and dank environment. From the midnight stylings of the instrumental intro “ponygrinder” that incorporates found samples into elongated drum n’ bass rhythms, to the creepy industrial soundtrack of a serial killer’s basement in “areas of the brain” to the gauzy and pastoral “grounded (feat. kaRIN)”, the album blends multiple atmospheres alternative pop/rock and electronica into a densely cohesive mix.
TThe almost sunny and cheekily named,“this is ridiculous” would be the perfect lead-in to a surprising cover of Phil Collins’ “i don’t care anymore”… had it been done tongue in cheek and not with reverence. “I do love Phil's drumming! He really broke new ground both in the grooves he created, but also in the way his drums were recorded and sounded,” he explains with nary a wink or a nudge. “I especially loved the darkness and sadness he explored lyrically in his solo records. While working on tweaker, ‘I Don't Care Anymore’ began haunting me. For a few weeks every time I got in the car, it came on the radio. It happened so many times that I took it as a sign.”
Garnering a name for himself in the early days of Nine Inch Nails, Chris Vrenna added his indelible mark into the industrial and underground music scene by producing or co-producing various artists including Marilyn Manson, Rasputina, Cold, providing remixes for U2, Nelly Furtado, and Rammstein, among many others, and soundtrack work. In 2001, for example, Vrenna composed the dark, eerie instrumental soundtrack of the icon-breaking American McGee's Alice. And it was also in 2001 that Vrenna unveiled his tweaker project. Now, he’s ready to unleash it again… Chris explains about the album and its title, “I have gone through several serious losses or 'goodbyes' over the last several years...the passing of my father, a bitter divorce, leaving Manson. And my close friends have all had similar experiences. Whether positive or negative, good or bad, happy or sad, final 'goodbyes' are always difficult and bring up many conflicting emotions. call the time eternity explores all of those things.”
Tracklisting:
01. ponygrinder
02. nothing at all (feat. Jessicka Addams)
03. a bit longer than usual
04. areas of the brain
05. hoarding granules
06. getting through many a bad night
07. grounded (feat. kaRIN)
08. this is ridiculous
09. i don't care anymore
10. wasted time
11. fine (feat. Abhorrent Derelict)
Source: Press Release
