By Keith Walsh
Inspired by Russian Science Fiction and a video game called ‘Stalker,’ the new single “Call Of The Zone” by Stereo Christ criticizes Soviet era nuclear policy by way of a blistering three-minute tune. In Stalker, the Zone of Alienation is a 1000 square mile disaster area in Ukraine, created by the 1986 Chernobyl disaster (the zone is an actual place, though in the game it fictionalized and extended). In Stalker, available on Xbox, Playstation 4 and Windows, players fight monsters in the Zone while trying to collect artifacts and treasure. Stalker is created by the Ukrainian game developer, GSC Gameworld.
Located in Phoenix, Arizona, the duo of Moucha (drums, vocals) and Douglas Gluth (fuzzed out bass) have specialized in delivering intelligent post punk rock, leaning into a bit of noise, since their eponymous 2023 debut album. “Call Of The Zone” is from their second album, a work in progress. The songs of Stereo Christ are inspired by horror films and literature, B Movies, and a lifelong love of punk and other hard rock. I got the chance to ask Gluth and Moucha about the new single.
Punk Rock Beat: ‘Call of The Zone’ sounds like a criticism of mindless obedience and pursuit of gain while destroying environment? How close am I? Please elaborate.
Douglas Gluth: – It is about the Stalker video game series, which is inspired by the film of the same name by Andrei Tarkovsky. That film is in turn based on the novel Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky.
All versions of the story deal with an ‘exclusion zone,’ a place where impossible things start happening and the governments of the world lock it down to study it. In the case of the film and game series, a “stalker” is someone who illegally enters the Zone to gather artifacts for private buyers who have interests in the mysterious properties of these artifacts. I love the idea of a mysterious place you shouldn’t be. A place so fascinating you just have to breach its secrets, even if the danger is clear and present.
The first part of the song is about this, stalkers entering the zone for the greed of mankind. An integral part of the story is a faction called ‘The Monolith’ who are brain washed by an unseen force in the Zone to turn on their fellow stalkers and keep the Zone’s secrets unknown. That is what the second part of the song is about, the perspective of these mindless soldiers.
On top of all this juicy sci-fi, I find that setting the series in Chernobyl adds some real-world commentary to the overall themes. Chernobyl is already a place of mystery you shouldn’t go, but adding monsters and psychic forces makes it doubly interesting.
Moucha: Haha, yeah, it’s about Chernobyl!
Punk Rock Beat: Many of your songs have monsters in them. Who are the monsters in ‘Call Of The Zone?’ And why are they thought of as monsters?
Douglas Gluth: The monsters in the song are very literal monsters. The Zone is chock full of deadly mutants and nasty beasts.
Punk Rock Beat Doug’s bass on this has tons of harmonics. Are you playing two or three note chords?Douglas Gluth: In this song, no. I think on this album there’s only one song with any chords. I think what you’re hearing is my tone split between a bass and guitar amp. That’s how I get the ‘guitar’ sound through a bass.
Punk Rock Beat: Moucha, how like minded are you two? You seem to interpret Doug’s lyrics authentically?
Moucha: I feel like I try to deliver them authentically, as he intended them to be read. I try to sing what he’s written in my own voice.
Punk Rock Beat: Please tell some stylistic inspirations for the sound of this one?
Moucha: I really can’t say what I was trying to emulate. I just heard what he was playing on bass and knew it had to have high energy.
Douglas Gluth: I’d say this song has a lot of old school hard rock sensibility with strong driving rhythms that push you without breaking into outright heavy metal.
Punk Rock Beat: What’s the latest news on the upcoming album, and what’s with the label name ‘Christlike?’
Douglas Gluth: The album is mixed and we’ll probably release another single and then the entire album soon! The ‘label’ is just an arbitrary thing the distributor asks for — haha — it doesn’t mean anything. We’re indie!
Stereo Christ dot com
Stereo Christ on Bandcamp
Stereo Christ on Spotify
Stereo Christ You Tube
Stereo Christ Links
Stereo Christ Review At Punk Rock Beat
finis