Southern California staples ALIEN ANT FARM have released the official music video for their new song called “So Cold”. The track’s title is fitting after the band’s musical hibernation. It calls to the fans who have been around since the beginning, with classic ALIEN ANT FARM guitar riffs leading fans into a blistering chorus. The track is taken from ALIEN ANT FARM‘s upcoming album, “~mAntras~”, to be released April 26, 2024.
“~mAntras~” is a record that will not only challenge your preconceptions of the band, but will also firmly reassert their place in the world. The band’s sixth full-length, it was shaped by personal change and growth, and it represents as close to a new beginning as a band first formed in 1996 can get. At the same time, it’s not a record that dismisses and disregards the past. Far from it. A record of deep contemplation, “~mAntras~” was born out of various trials and tribulations — its songs don’t just take the listener on a musical journey, but, as its title suggests, also on a personal and spiritual one.
ALIEN ANT FARM have encountered a lot of adversity since blowing up in 2001 with two iconic songs — first their own composition “Movies” and then their classic, generation-defining cover of Michael Jackson‘s “Smooth Criminal” — but none more so between the release of “Always And Forever” and this record. It’s no surprise, then, that a lot of it has been captured on the 11 tracks that make up “~mAntras~”. As guitarist Terry Corso puts it: “Growing up, divorce, children, family, death, band break-ups, surgeries, illness, health—everything is in this record. It’s literally a product of all the fucking shit, good and bad, that we went through.”
All of it, though, was channeled into crafting the most confident and self-assured album of the band’s career (“The manure makes the flower grow,” quips vocalist Dryden Mitchell). And despite the false start, when ALIEN ANT FARM felt they could pick things up again in terms of making new music, they did just that. What’s more, they found themselves thoroughly reinvigorated and re-inspired. Older and wiser and no longer as eager to please the music industry, the band really leaned into what it meant to be themselves on this album.
“~mAntras~” track listing
01. The Wrong Things
02. Last dAntz
03. Fade
04. No. 1
05. Storms Over
06. So Cold
07. What Am I Doing
08. Prosperous Futures
09. Glasses
10. Everything She wAnts
11. ~mAntras~
“~mAntras~” comes after a nearly decade-long hiatus and finds ALIEN ANT FARM re-energized and ready to take on the world. As the band says in a joint statement: “The new album might not be for the faint of heart, but it might be for the heart broken…”
The newest installment of songs flexes moments of intricate metal, to haunting acoustic ballads that might make Ray Lamontagne shiver. The band continues: “If you’re an ALIEN ANT FARM fan true and true, you won’t be disappointed, and if you’re just a visitor from another planet, we hope you enjoyed your extra terrestrial visit.”
ALIEN ANT FARM is confirmed to perform at Welcome To Rockville 2024 with the likes of FOO FIGHTERS, EVANESCENCE, DISTURBED, SLIPKNOT, FLYLEAF and more. The band will also perform in Ashland, Kentucky on June 8 at Paramount Arts Center.
ALIEN ANT FARM formed in 1996 with the raging singer/songwriter Dryden Mitchell, guitarist Terry Corso, bassist Tye Zamora, and drummer Mike Cosgrove. All were bored with their day jobs and sought something else to break them from corporate norms. Music allowed them to freely express themselves, and a friendship was born. They independently released their quirky debut, “Greatest Hits”, toward the end of the ’90s and soon enough noise surrounded the band. It won the award for Best Independent Album at the 1999 L.A. Music Awards.
Two years later they made their major-label introduction with “ANThology”, issued in March 2001. Debut single “Smooth Criminal” was a funky metal mix of Michael Jackson‘s original song, and pop kids of the “TRL” generation loved it. The song hit number one on the modern rock charts, and the album eventually went platinum. The song was recently profiled with the Los Angeles Times as it went viral again in 2022.
ALIEN ANT FARM is vocalist Dryden Mitchell, guitarist Terry M. Corso, drummer Mike Cosgrove and bassist Timmy Pee. They have released five studio albums, and have sold over five million units worldwide.