It’s only a couple more sleeps until the world gets to hear Cast Down‘s A Deconstruction Of Self EP, releasing 22nd March via EVP Recordings. Today we’re excited to share an exclusive stream of the EP’s opening track: “Pantomime Villain”! It’s known as the heaviest track on the EP, so brace yourself.
Cast Down’s vocalist Jack McDonald spoke with us yesterday about “Pantomime Villain”, revealing that it was the very last song that the Melbourne band had written and recorded for the EP. Using inspiration from unreleased songs Cast Down had worked on, the EP opener ties in to media exposure and its impact.
“Pantomime Villain” reflects Jack’s experiences of absorbing media and how he has also unavoidably taken on responsibility. In Jack’s words, “The overarching idea is wanting to feel.. not innocent, but kind of vulnerable to the world again. Like you know how you’re a kid, and things just don’t really matter? You don’t think about all the shitty things that go on in the world. Every single day, people and animals are dying and it’s just a terrible place.
“It’s kind of just wanting to be back in that environment; not ignorant to the world, but just unaware. I think that being aware of these things and spending time reading about them and learning about them – you know, things I don’t actually want to know about but I have morbid curiosity, just wanting to learn – but it kind of makes me feel like I’m the ‘pantomime villain’ in that situation. Like I’m responsible for what I’m thinking. If I just don’t think about it, it won’t happen. But I can’t. It’s just not that easy.”
Describing the track as “The more moshy, more riffy, toughest one”, Jack affirmed that “Pantomime Villain” was deliberately placed at the start of the EP for this reason, to kick off A Deconstruction of Self in a big way. As we’ve heard with previous singles, Cast Down blend an appreciation for industrial and sampled sounds with hardcore intensity. If this mammoth piece of music doesn’t get people keen for the EP (and the band’s first headlining tour), I’m not sure what will.
Listen to “Pantomime Villain”, and pre-order A Deconstruction of Self:
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