Devil children unite: Following a cryptic billboard tease earlier this week, cult psychedelic-hardcore band Ink & Dagger have announced a series of Halloween-season reunion shows to celebrate the upcoming release of a career-spanning box set via archival punk imprint Trust Records.
The top of the week found a Dagger-coded billboard erected in the band’s native Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, advertising that a reveal from “The Philadelphia Society for Future Vampires” was to come on October 31st. It also features an old, quasi-corpse-painted photo of late vocalist Sean McCabe, who passed away in 2000.
Now, the band have formally announced they’ll rise again for three shows at the city’s First Unitarian Church, between October 30th and November 1st. These will mark the first shows from Ink & Dagger since a brief reunion run between 2010-11, which found the act performing with Thursday’s Geoff Rickly on vocals. It has not been announced who will be hitting the mic this fall.
The first night also features Philly melodic hardcore band Paint It Black, while noisecore legends Deadguy open the Halloween show, and Soul Glo take the honors for the final gig. Tickets for all shows go up for sale tomorrow (October 3rd) at 10 a.m. local.
Formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1996 by McCabe (Crud is a Cult, Mandela Strikeforce) and guitarist Don DeVore (Frail, the Icarus Line, Mandela Strikeforce), Ink & Dagger’s nocturnal sound merged hardcore with elements of psychedelic expressionism and electronic experimentalism — and did so through “vampire lore and blood-spattered theatrics.”
The band’s ranks ebbed and flowed over the years, and at times included comedian/musician Eric Wareheim (Elements of Need, Tim & Eric), drummer Dave Wagenschutz (Lifetime, Kid Dynamite, Paint it Black), bassist Gregg Foreman (Delta 72, Cat Power), bassist Josh Brown (Crud Is a Cult, Lenola), and Jennifer Layne Park, among many others. The act has been cited as an influence by American Nightmare, Thursday, The Murder City Devils, Botch, AFI and My Chemical Romance.
Ink & Dagger issued a handful of horror-laden 7-inches and two full-length releases between 1996-99, all of which having been remastered by David Cooley (M83, Tame Impala, Jimmy Eat World) for the impending Ink & Dagger: The Complete Works vinyl box set via Trust.
A deluxe box features vinyl represses of singles Drive This Seven Inch Wooden Stake Through My Philadelphia Heart, 1998 full-length The Fine Art of Original Sin, 2000’s posthumously-released Ink & Dagger, and a newly bound together rarities LP titled Experiments in Nocturnal Sound and Energy: Singles 96-99. The box is limited to 300 copies, comes in a slipcase, and includes a book exploring the band’s history.
All of the music will also be hitting DSPs by Halloween. You can pre-order and pre-save over here.
In addition to the concert and box set announcements, Ink & Dagger have unveiled a live-footage-loaded music video behind their “Full Circle”. You can see that up above, while an experimental short film from DeVore dubbed “The Order,” which merges shots of Philly with old concert footage and noise-spiraling snippets from early track “Newspaper Tragedy,” can be seen below.
