''The Lucid'' is the debut studio album by American

Hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band

The Lucid The Lucid is an American hard rock group consisting of vocalist Vinnie Dombroski ( Sponge), guitarist Drew Fortier (ex-Bang Tango), bassist David Ellefson (ex-Megadeth), and drummer Mike Heller (Malignancy, Raven, Fear Factory). Background The ...

. It was released on 15 October 2021 in the United States by SpoilerHead Records. The album was recorded in June and July 2020; shortly after the band's formation. The bass and drums were tracked at Heaven and Heller Studio in Los Angeles, California with the guitars and vocals being remotely recorded by

Drew Fortier Andrew Lawrence Fortier (born July 14, 1987) is an American musician, guitarist, filmmaker, actor, and author. He is best known for his work with The Lucid; which he cofounded alongside Vinnie Dombroski (Sponge), David Ellefson (ex Megadeth), a ...

and

Vinnie Dombroski Mark "Vinnie" Dombroski (born December 4, 1962) is an American musician, best known as the lead vocalist and main songwriter for the American rock band Sponge. He also fronted the short-lived supergroup Spys4Darwin, and has been a member of se ...

at their respective home studios. It was produced by the band's drummer,

Mike Heller Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documenta ...

and mixed and mastered by Lasse Lammert.

Background and recording

The initial ideas for the album began in April 2020 during remote demo writing sessions between guitarist

and drummer

(

Fear Factory Fear Factory is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1989. Throughout the band's career, they have released ten full-length albums and have evolved through a succession of sounds, all in their main style of industrial metal. ...

Raven A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned t ...

). Fortier brought in frequent collaborator

David Ellefson David Warren Ellefson (born November 12, 1964) is an American musician, best known for his long tenure as the bassist for thrash metal band Megadeth. Ellefson initially became an accomplished bassist and honed his songwriting skills while leadin ...

(ex

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along wit ...

) to track bass for the demos which were presented to

Sponge Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through t ...

vocalist

, completing the lineup. The band began recording the final album tracks in June 2020 with the album being mixed and mastered by Lasse Lammert in August 2020.

Release

On September 8, 2021, the band put out their first single, "Maggot Wind", along with the announcement of a October 15 release date for the album. Late September saw the release of their second single "Damned"; and early October the band released their third single "

Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and f ...

". January 2022 the band put out their debut music video for "Deaths of Despair" along with the announcement of their first live dates for May 2022. April 2022 saw the release of the music video for their single "Hair". The video was directed by and stars

Hannah Fierman Hannah Rose Fierman (born 8 September 1987 in Trowbridge, Wiltshire) is an English-born American actress best known for her role as Lily the succubus in ''V/H/S'' (2012) and ''Siren'' (2016). Biography Hannah Fierman began acting at the age of t ...

. In May 2022, it was announced that guitarist Drew Fortier had been diagnosed with testicular cancer resulting in the cancellation of the band's live dates to promote their debut album. The band released the music video for their track "Maskronaut".

Track listing

Personnel

The Lucid *

– vocals *

– guitars *

– bass *

– drums, percussion Additional musicians * Ally Storch – orchestral arrangement and strings performer on "Maskronaut" Production * Mike Heller – production * Lasse Lammert – mixing and mastering * Tiago Carvalho – pro tools prep * Jakub Maggi Malasek – pro tools prep Artwork * Alex Sarabia – artwork illustration and album design * Karl Munster – artwork colorist * Vinnie Dombroski – artwork concept

References

{{reflist 2021 debut albums