Chasms' Debut, 'On the Legs of Love Purified,' Finds the Beauty in Suffering

The San Francisco duo behind Chasms—Jess Labrador and Shannon Madden—are all about duality. Their sound swoops between bright and dark in the space of a looped note, trading angelic voice for gnawing noise and back again. The vocal harmonies' unbearable lightness melts into harsher electronic snaps and droning dirges; it's not quite doom, certainly not shoegaze, far from industrial, lightyears away from pop, and yet it's simultaneously all and none of them combined.

Chasms' new album (and full-length debut) On the Legs of Love Purified sees them nestle comfortably alongside not-metal-but-strangely-close artists like Muscle and Marrow, Chelsea Wolfe, or even Marissa Nadler and Holly Herndon in their bleaker moments. Labrador recorded the album herself while recuperating from a hand injury that made it physically painful for her to play guitar. She pushed through the pain, but its presence lingers in the darker corners of the album—there is beauty in suffering, but also suffering in beauty, and On the Legs of Love Purified illustrates that thought ever so elegantly.

It's out October 14 via Felte. You can preorder the album here, or buy a copy in the flesh when Chasms roll through your town. Scroll down for our exclusive stream of On the Legs of Love Purified and a list of the band's upcoming tour dates.

 TOUR DATES 
10.11 San Francisco, CA @ The Knockout
10.13 La Puente, CA @ Bridgetown DIY ~
10.14 San Diego, CA @ The Whistle Stop *
10.15 Long Beach, CA @ 4th St. Vine
10.16 Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex (Part Time Punks) +
10.29 Berkeley, CA @ KALX (Live Session + Interview)
11.08 Indianapolis, IN @ State St. Pub
11.10 Detroit, MI @ UFO Factory < 11.11 Chicago, IL @ Observatory 11.13 Montreal, QC @ Vitrola 11.14 Boston, MA @ Zuzu 11.15 Pawtucket, RI @ Machines with Magnets ` 11.16 Brooklyn, NY @ Shea Stadium = 11.18 Cleveland, OH @ Locker Room 12.10 Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo >

^ w/ Silver Shadows
* w/ Black Marble 
+ w/ Black Marble, Ritual Howls 
< w/ Ritual Howls 
` w/ Boy Harsher
= w/ Holy Wave
> w/ Merchandise, Gun Outfit

Photo by Kristin Cofer​