Pretoria based, South African progressive punk rock band All This For Nothing return with an eclectic new album entitled Reverence.
After gigging intensely from their inception in 1998 through to 2005, the group gained loyal local support for their unique hybrid of punk, metal and progressive influences, delivered through intense live performances. During this time the band released one EP Today’s End Is Tomorrow’s Only Hope and one full length album, Casualties Of Thought in 2004.
Due to various circumstances, the band members parted ways in 2005 but did get together briefly in 2007 to perform several reunion shows.
When guitarist and vocalist Paul Gioia suffered the loss of his girlfriend Marne Esson in March 2018, drummer Francois Lessing reached out to him and suggested that they reform the band to begin to work on music as a means of healing through familiar, positive musical connections.
“When faced with an emotional abyss we jumped in with a dim flashlight and somehow the music led us on this pathway to becoming a band again!”– Francois Lessing
“Thematically, the album delves into issues surrounding love, loss, depression as well as the upliftment that the band tries to achieve through the respect and reverence of body, mind and spirit as well as the delicate balance between giving oneself to the people around you who are in need and the non-attachment needed to foster self-preservation in a trying time for humanity.”– Paul Gioia
Although they had no plans to release any of the new material they were writing and were doing it purely in homage to loved ones, it quickly became apparent that they were working on something special and needed to share it with the world. They were shortly joined by original bassist Chris Schutte, vocalist and lyricist Chani Brits, as well as by guitarist-songwriter and original co-founder Henk Lustig who penned several of the songs on the album and was deeply involved with the writing of new material, even though he currently lives in Australia.
“The new album showcases the band’s versatility of sonic styles – though always maintaining our essence which is rooted in a combination of punk rock and more progressive music.” – Paul Gioia
“It’s been – I believe to many bands, a very familiar journey towards creating the music we always wanted to hear, but nobody was making it. So, we started with what we knew and headed into the unknown.” -Francois Lessing
After six months of writing and recording the album started to come together, and talk began about possibly performing the material live. As both guitarist Mark Hinch and frontman Henk Lustig reside overseas, new members had to be recruited to fill their positions and to allow the band to start gigging again.
Fortune smiled on the band and they found their match in guitarist/keyboardist Wim Jansen Van Rensburg and singer/guitarist Werner Olckers, both of whom had been friends (and fans) of the band for many years.
Reverence was entirely self-produced by the band – led in this effort by recording scene stalwart, drummer Francois, at Asylum Studios which he co-runs with Paul in Pretoria.
The whole recording process was beautifully documented by local filmmaker Jonathan Purchase, aka Dizzy Khaki and can be seen at this location
Watch the video for first single Divine Contraption
Proceeds from the album sales will go to Marne’s mother’s foundation Sparrow’s Rescue Centre – a place of refuge and healing for people and animals, set up in Marne’s honour. A link to their Facebook group is available here:
https://m.facebook.com/Sparrows-Healing-Foundation-106907514062089/
Reverence is out now on all digital platforms.
Track Listing:
1. Existence
2. Sirens
3. Withdrawn
4. Reverence
5. Aurora Eyes
6. Divine Contraption