“Enveletration” is a word Sandrider vocalist/guitarist Jon Weisnewski came up with after pondering a question his friend asked him many years ago at a party: “Why is it always about penetration, and never about envelopment?” Everything from the power dynamics in sex, how things are built, the way we think about weapons and armor, and advertisements for new technology is described in terms of male-centric power fantasies. But who really holds the power: the one breaking through something, or the one engulfing it? Are you truly overpowering someone or something if the recipient of the action is choosing to absorb you completely?
Enveletration, the fourth album from Seattle’s wildly fun and hypnotizingly heavy loud-rock trio Sandrider (and its title track, for that matter), has absolutely nothing to do with the aforementioned concept. But the word, a portmanteau of “penetration” and “envelopment”, sounds cool as hell, right? And it gives you something to ponder as you spend 36 minutes in the ring with one of the heaviest, highest-voltage bands the Pacific Northwest has to offer.
Made-up words aside, Sandrider might be the perfect sonic backdrop for analyzing the dynamics of domination. With a primal combination of monstrously exultant riffs, soaring guitar solos, and catchy, triumphant choruses created by Weisnewski, Jesse Roberts (bass) and Nat Damm (drums), the band sounds like the soundtrack to victory. But as evidenced by many of the lyrics on Enveletration, Sandrider’s brand of victory is a defiant one – wherein fun is an act of cathartic resistance and escape. Under the album’s layers of metaphor and amplifier feedback, you will find themes of political anger and modern malaise: “Tourniquet” unpacks the bleak and overwhelming feeling of helplessness in the face of the unending and seemingly inevitable threat of mass shootings. “Weasel” laments the political success given to those who talk the loudest, despite lies and empty promises. “Circles” condemns the circular logic used by systemic power structures that divide rather than unite people, and asks: Is it possible for humans to evolve into a species that cares about each other and the world?
But despite the world’s madness and constant bad news, there are many ways to relish our own small escapes and victories in life. The band has consistently found inspiration in the dystopian sci-fi world of Dune, to which they pay homage in the song “Alia” and even the band name itself. And, as Weisnewski sings on Enveletration’s closing track “Grouper”, sometimes the most satisfying wins can be found during what Sandrider and their pals call “Warlock Hour”: that time of the night when everyone else in the house has gone to bed and you can finally sit down, put tomorrow off a little longer, pour a glass of whiskey, and just be you for a bit. Not all victories are loud; some are quiet and serene.
The sentiment of defiant victory is made even more real when you consider that the band was experiencing it themselves firsthand: Enveletration captures the utter relief the three members felt when returning to the practice space for the first time after a year of early-pandemic isolation and anxiety. The experience of waking their stacks of amplifiers from their dormancy, feeling the drums rattle their chests and the bass vibrate through the floor, and reveling in the indescribably euphoric return to writing music together in person is palpable. The end result is a nod to Seattle heavy-rock forefathers Soundgarden with their “break my rusty cage and run” attitude, mixed with the unrelenting, stage dive-off-the-bar energy of Refused and noisy noodling of Hot Snakes.
Across its 10 tracks, Enveletration proves that Sandrider’s adrenaline-charged fun and unconquerable spirit is yet again a sonic refuge where you’re temporarily invincible. Whether you listen at home, or you’re lucky enough to experience a rare live show while standing in the beams of their blinding yellow stage lights, it’s hard not to walk away feeling ready to take on any foe – real, imaginary, or within ourselves.
Enveletration was recorded at Litho Studios in Seattle by Matt Bayles (Soundgarden, Mastodon, Botch) and will be released on Satanik Royalty Records (who recently reissued Sandrider’s first two full-length albums, Sandrider and Godhead) on March 3, 2023. Vinyl color varieties will include black, black and white marble, and hand-poured versions in both black and yellow and blue and white. The band will play a hometown release show in Seattle on April 8 at Sunset Tavern.