That’s one hell of a headline up there, but then again, Uniform are one hell of a band. The New York City industrial metal band are set to head out on a North American tour next month, slinging their signature brand of noise at the Cambridge Elks Lodge on October 21, and to get us worked up into a holy lather, have today (September 30) unleashed a video for “The Shadow of God’s Hand.” The track is taken from their 2020 album Shame, released on Sacred Bones, and its theme is as heavy as the song itself. The black-and-white visual, directed by John Bradburn, only furthers the evil within.
“The central theme behind ‘The Shadow of God’s Hand’ are the inherent contradictions present in conventional Christianity,” says Uniform’s Michael Berdan. “I was brought up with this idea of ‘act right or you’re going to hell.’ I’ve listened to family members as they worried themselves to tears over the fate of a loved one’s soul. To me, the concept of a punitive God is antithetical to the comfort I derive from a spiritual practice.”
He adds: “Does God serve to comfort or chastise? Does following Christ’s teachings serve to create a kinder, more equitable world or have those teachings become so perverted that they simply stand as tools of control? For many, there is a fine line in their belief structure between salvation and damnation. This song attempts to touch on these paradoxes.”
Get all of Uniform’s upcoming dates after the video jump, and crank this one up so they hear it both upstairs and down. And make plans to travel to one of those destinations soon, because time’s up for most of us.
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