Racetraitor have shared "Chamelecón,” the second song from their upcoming album, Creation and the Timeless Order of Things, set for release November 17th through Good Fight Music. The track sounds and reads intense, focusing on the gravity of the ongoing violence in Chamelecón, Honduras and the ignorance from government and corporations towards the locality. It also features guest vocals from Hera of black metal band Neckbeard Deathcamp. The video for the song showcases the town’s beautiful landscape amongst imagery of bloodshed and a performance from the band (footage provided by _ispent.a_long.time_dying_), creating a contrasting dynamic.
On "Chamelecón” the band expands:
“The second single from Creation and the Timeless Order of Things is called Chamelecón, it is a song about a town just outside of San Pedro Sula, Honduras. For many years Chamelecón has been one of the most violent places on Earth, though not really discussed by major news organizations or in public discourse. The context of Chamelecón is one of colonization, multinational corporation installed governments in the late 1800s/early 1900s, recent US-Backed coups involved in the drug trade, internal migration and displacement for international manufacturing companies to open up factories in ‘tax-incentive’ zones, reception of high numbers of deportees from the US, total police corruption, and extreme levels of gang violence.
The response of the state, US government, and the corporations to the crisis has been the usual repressive militaristic police measures while sealing off borders in neighboring countries and the US for families fleeing the situation. Never any real discussion about resources or justice. There have been few international protests or public outcry on social media about the situation in Chamelecón or Honduras. We (in the US) go on using products made in these factories and consuming fruit largely unaware of the heavy cost.
The lyrics of the song come from experiences from a band member who has worked on public health projects with community-based organizations in Chamelecón for the past 11 years. Some of the themes include public executions on the soccer fields, stories about folks involved in violence hearing demons on the roofs at night, and the unimaginable toll of historic and current violence on the community members.
Like our previous video ‘Eid,’ much of the video was shot on location by friends who live in Chamelecon. They filmed mostly empty streets in the areas where the events of the themes of the song have taken place.”
First formed in 1996, the band - Mani Mostofi (vocals), Dan Binaei (guitar), Andrea Black (guitar and backing vocals), R. Brent Decker (bass) and Andy Hurley (drums) - continue to be as sonically and politically charged as ever. The 13 songs on Creation and the Timeless Order of Things focus on fighting for liberation from the oppressive systems that destroy humanity and the earth, while creating a geographic autobiography of Racetraitor. With the album originally set to be completed in 2020, as the for-profit medical infrastructure failed to protect the populations of earth, the band like many others, didn't finish the record as planned. Instead, this inspired Racetraitor to look at what they wanted to achieve sonically in a new light, creating a sound that is heavier, more psychedelic, and more worldly all at once. The band also took this time to have friends record additional vocals on the album, including contributions from Dennis Lyxzen (Refused), Tim Kinsella (Joan of Arc, Cap'n Jazz), Stan Liszewaki (Terminal Nation), and Sanket Lama (Chepang) to name a few, plus Ethan Lee McCarthy (Primitive Man) contributing a noise track.
Creation and the Timeless Order of Things can be preordered now through Good Fight Music.
Creation and the Timeless Order of Things was written and produced by Racetraitor. Recorded at Electrical Audio by Greg Norman, Paint by Numbers by Stuart Sikes, and VoidDawn by Dan Binaei. Mixed by Greg Norman at Studio Greg Studios. Mastered at Audiosiege by Brad Boatright.