LA alternative metal band GEMINI SYNDROME has released their long-awaited, and highly anticipated new studio album, 3
rd Degree – The Raising, today. The album was released worldwide via Century Media. Special album configurations (limited edition vinyl, deluxe CD sets, etc.) along with special merchandise are available now via the band’s official website:
www.GeminiSyndrome.com.
In celebration of the album’s release, a brand new video and single, “Absolution,” were also released today to all major digital retailers, streaming services, and video platforms. Watch the “Absolution” video here:
https://youtu.be/wNP_6kF2JpA.
The album release also comes mere weeks before the band heads out on their Initiation US Tour with support coming from Rochester, New York’s Ovtlier, who will be on the first half of the tour (Oct. 28 – Nov. 13), and Sacramento, California’s Oh! The Horror, who will join the run for the second half of the dates (Nov. 14 – 27). Additional support comes from pop-punk rock powerhouse Pushing Veronica (
https://linktr.ee/pushingveronica) and hard rock wrecking machine Them Damn Kings (
www.facebook.com/themdamnkings).
3rd Degree – The Raising is the long awaited, mind-bending final chapter of GEMINI SYNDROME’s debut trilogy of albums, the first being 2013’s Lux and the second being 2016’s Memento Mori (which hit #1 on Billboard Heatseakers Album Chart and spawned five singles). Wherein Lux, meaning “Light,” was concerned with birth and Memento Mori, meaning “Remember That We Must Die,” dealt with the finite nature of life, 3rd Degree – The Raising celebrates the extreme rituals of rebirth.
Produced by Matt Good (Asking Alexandria, Memphis May Fire, Hollywood Undead) and featuring the singles “Die With Me,” “IDK,” “Abandoned,” “Broken Reflection,” “Absolution” and “Reintegration,” 3rd Degree – The Raising is undeniably the heaviest, and darkest album of the band’s career.
“The album is about death and rebirth. Finding your true self and fostering its growth so as to help build the world better than we inherited it,” says GEMINI SYNDROME vocalist Aaron Nordstrom. “In the process of this record I made some major life choices. Mainly to stop killing myself slowly with alcohol. Two years without a drink, and a couple near death experiences later, I think I have ample experience to talk about a subject as elusive as death.”
Drummer Brian Steele Medina adds, “The twist to the 3rd and ‘final’ degree is that it’s not the end at all. Rather, it’s a rebirth contingent upon our growth and lessons learned from the suffering of our past mistakes. A spiritual growth that can only be attained through baptism by fire. A metaphorical, yet very real resurrection — THE RAISING.”
Nordstrom continues, “Our hope is that through sharing our experiences, lessons learned, and battles overcome, that we can help others to examine their own consciousness. Their role in the world in its almost infinite capacity, and to help remind each other that we are ALL in this together. We are a family, and when we are United in our commonality, we can achieve things worthy of the attention of the GODS. If you want to change the world, quietly go to work on yourself.”
When asked about the process of initiation, and how it relates to GEMINI SYNDROME’s music, band drummer Medina reveals, “There’s something deeper under the surface of our music, and it’s designed to allow the listener to resonate and wake up to their potential. See, when an initiation is done properly, who the person was before, and who they are after the initiation, are two different people. Essentially being raised to a higher degree of consciousness. So, when you listen and actually attend to our music, and understand the intention, the same principle applies. Who the listener was before they hear the album and who they are after are different. They become a changed person. They’ve transmuted to a new state of being, and the lyrics that they carry with them after the fact become a mantra, which allows them to sustain that new state of being. Looking back, I recognize that music has always sustained me. It’s been a constant and transformative alchemical force, and it continues to save my life, even today.”
Vocalist Nordstrom explains how the incorporation of symbols further illuminate an additional layer of insight. “I see the use of symbolism as a way to make people think in ways they are not accustomed to or even aware of. Symbols communicate to our subconscious and collective unconscious minds, and can invoke changes in our thoughts not only in a conscious fashion, but also on a subtler, deeper level. This album is more than a collection of songs, it’s a representation of our final initiation. First, birth by the Waters of the One Current; next, life by the Breath of Our Collective Soul; and finally, resurrection through Baptism by Fire. This trilogy is a testimony and a firsthand account of the twists and turns of Chapel Perilous, thus it’s proof that it’s possible to find our way Home — no matter how lost we might find ourselves.”
GEMINI SYNDROME spent the better part of 2018-2019 writing 3rd Degree – The Raising. They retreated to Brian Steele Medina’s Las Vegas home studio, where they meticulously crafted song after song, relentlessly reworking and rearranging the musical arrangements until they were fully satisfied. After an exhaustive writing process, GEMINI SYNDROME relocated to Good Sounds Studio in Tempe, AZ, where producer Matt Good would help realize the collection of songs. Medina recalls, “We absolutely loved working with Matt and he completely understood where we wanted to take this album creatively and what it was going to take to bring the third chapter of this trilogy to light. Our actual collective blood, sweat and tears went into its creation.”
“It was a long, treacherous road to get here,” continues Nordstrom. “First working out an insane amount of songs before arriving in Arizona to record with Matt Good, and then writing a slew more while in the actual recording process, we approached this album with high intentions to evolve musically and internally as people. But then, once we had finally finished everything, and were ready to start releasing new music… everything was put on hold due to the global pandemic.”
Medina adds, “These past few years have definitely been an exercise in patience and acceptance. We had everything mixed and mastered and ready to go in early 2020 before everything shut down. We’re just stoked to FINALLY put this album out and get this post plague show on the road.”
On the brand new single “Absolution” Nordstrom says, “Absolution is the formal release from punishment, obligation, or guilt. This song is a reminder that the present moment matters more than all others because it is shaped by what we have done and shapes what will be because of the decisions and actions we make now. On a cosmic level, we’re saying, ‘Act right. Otherwise there won’t be another opportunity to act at all.’”
To date, six singles have been released from 3
rd Degree – The Raising: “Abandoned,” “Reintegration,” “IDK,” “Broken Reflection”, “Absolution” and the Active Rock Radio hit “Die With Me.” Currently five of the six singles – including the newly released “
Absolution” feature visually stunning videos created by director Brian Cox (Bring Me The Horizon, The Struts, Starset).
GEMINI SYNDROME is Aaron Nordstrom (vocals, keyboards), Brian Steele Medina (drums, programming), Alessandro “AP” Paveri (bass), and Meegs Rascón (guitar). 3
rd Degree – The Raising is the first album to feature guitarist Rascón, formerly of
Coal Chamber.
3rd Degree – The Raising is available in CD, limited edition vinyl and digital download formats.
3rd Degree – The Raising track listing:
Reintegration
IDK
Die With Me
Baptized In Fire
Children of the Sun
Abandoned
Broken Reflection
Sum Quod Eris
Best of Me
Absolution
Hold the Line
Where We Started From
Fiat Lux
About GEMINI SYNDROME:
GEMINI SYNDROME is an American alternative metal band formed in 2010 in Los Angeles, featuring Aaron Nordstrom (vocals, keyboards), Brian Steele Medina (drums, programming) and Alessandro “AP” Paveri (bass). Their debut album, titled Lux, was released in September 2013. Four singles spawned from Lux: “Pleasure and Pain,” “Left of Me,” “Basement” and “Stardust,” which peaked at no.19 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
The band would go through several line-up changes before releasing their sophomore album, Memento Mori, on August 16, 2016. The album would go on to hit #1 on Billboard Heatseakers Charts. Five singles spawned from Memento Mori: “Eternity,” “Anonymous,” “Alive Inside,” “Sorry Not Sorry” and “Remember We Die,” which reached no. 24, and spent 20 weeks on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
The band would then go on to tour with numerous bands including Five Finger Death Punch, In This Moment, Sevendust, Avatar, Motionless In White, and perform at some of America’s largest rock and metal festivals before taking an extended hiatus from touring and recording.
In September 2017, the band announced that guitarist “Meegs” Rascón (formerly of Coal Chamber) had joined the band.
In October 2021, the band’s new radio single “Die With Me” climbed to #23 on the National Active Rock Radio Chart, and hit #1 on the SiriusXM Octane ‘Big Uns’ Chart.
GEMINI SYNDROME ‘Initiation’ USA Fall 2021 tour dates:
10/28 – Chippewa Falls, WI – Joel’s 4Corners *
10/29 – Green Bay, WI – EPIC Event Center *
10/30 – Racine, WI – Rt 20 (WIIL Rock Halloween Bash) *
10/31 – Battle Creek, MI – The Music Factory *
11/02 – Lakewood, OH – The Winchester Music Tavern *
11/04 – Flint, MI – The Machine Shop *
11/05 – Buffalo, NY – Buffalo Iron Works *
11/06 – Liverpool, NY – Sharkey’s *
11/07 – Poughkeepsie, NY – The Chance *
11/08 – New York City, NY – Mercury Lounge ****
11/09 – Albany, NY – Empire Underground *
11/10 – Reading, PA – Reverb *
11/12 – Johnson City, TN – Capones *
11/13 – Greensboro, NC – The Blind Tiger *
11/14 – Huntsville, AL – Sidetracks ***
11/16 – San Antonio, TX – The Rock Box **
11/17 – Dallas, TX – Gas Monkey **
11/18 – Baton Rouge – Basin Music Hall **
11/20 – Houston, TX – Scout Bar **
11/22 – El Paso, TX – Rockhouse **
11/23 – Scottsdale, AZ – Pub Rock **
11/24 – West Hollywood, CA – Whiskey a Go Go **
11/26 – Las Vegas, NV – Backstage Bar **
11/27 – Reno, NV – Reno Brewhouse **
* Direct support is Ovtlier
** Direct support is Oh! The Horror
*** Show with Smile Empty Soul, Ovtlier, Sunflower Dead, Pushing Veronica, Tommy Gibbons
**** GEMINI SYNDROME and Ovtlier only
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