Phantasm is a Philly-based heavy, alternative-rock band producing intricate, melodic songs in avant-garde stylings, reminiscent of Muse, Royal Blood, Tool, and The Dillinger Escape Plan. Their latest single Spirit Box (Tuned To You) is set to release Friday, June 10, 2022 on all major streaming platforms. The song was inspired by real life experiences using a spirit box to connect with the metaphysical in this dimension and the world beyond. The device receives messages of spiritual entities woven through a musical pattern, emitting rhythmic bursts with distinct chopping and fragmented AM radio signals. Although experimenting with the gadget may have been the original inspiration for the song, Spirit Box (Tuned To You), is a metaphor and commentary on the digital age we live in today.
Spirit Box (Tuned To You), is the first single and video from the forthcoming record, Shadow Work. “We started writing the songs for Shadow Work before COVID changed the world as we know it,” says singer and guitarist Steven Rosplock. “Several personal and global events have transpired since then; it led the band to reassess what we were willing into being, and what we were willing to be. The pandemic gave us a long pause to look at how things really were when you strip back the noise of everyday life. Uncertainty, injustice and inequality everywhere; it’s a time to come together against those things, for sure, but it’s also a time to look inward and do the hard work. True lasting change happens when you work with your shadow and examine the parts of yourself you would prefer to lose. To know and understand the roots of the things blocking your progress, is a powerful thing.” Shadow Work, the new album from Phantasm, will be released on July 23rd.
Originally hailing from western New York state, Phantasm toured heavily for Clever Cunning Actor, their 2006 debut album. They got a strong reputation as a powerful band for their explosive live shows with memorable stage antics, like the use of power tools on their instruments, along with various forms of percussion woven into an improvisational sonic jam in the midst of a song. In 2007 they moved to Philadelphia and immersed themselves in the city’s vibrant music scene, while touring cities along the east coast and opening for bands like Living Colour, Halestorm, Andrew W.K. and The Memorials, the band featuring drummer Thomas Pridgen from the Mars Volta. Phantasm were driven by grit and determination playing over 1000 shows on the road during that time.
The subsequent records released by Phantasm, Graph the Pulse (2010), Impossible Machines (2012), and Three Men Make A Tiger (2017), were all well-received, gaining a following of devoted fans, and earning the respect of their peers for the band’s sophisticated musicianship. Phantasm has become known for the high intensity of their live performance along with intricate yet catchy songs.
Phantasm definitely have a sound of their own. The band’s songwriting has evolved to the next level, as heard on Shadow Work, which represents their best artistic effort to date. Phantasm is poised to gain wider exposure by appealing to radio programmers and playlist curators to add the songs from Shadow Work to their repertoire of music. Phantasm is also seeking bookings for festivals and established rock bands looking for a seasoned band that still sounds fresh and new to open their shows.