Smashing Pumpkins have given two new songs – Neophyte and Harmageddon – their first live outing, debuting them onstage at their recent Dallas show on October 2.
Both of the songs are set to be included on their forthcoming album, Atum – a 33-track triple record that is billed as the sequel to the group’s 1995 album Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness.
Of the two new tracks, Harmageddon is the standout guitar number, built around a chunky thrash-like riff that sounds like something out of the Big Four’s late-80s playbook, though the repetition also lends it a distinctly industrial edge. It also represents the first taste of the album’s third act.
As you might expect for an album set to be a three-act rock opera, Neophyte offers something a little different, drawing in backing singer Katie Cole for the airy ‘it ain’t right’ refrain over a chiming synth and guitar bed.
The October 2 set, which was the debut performance of Smashing Pumpkins' North American tour with Jane's Addiction, also featured the band's September single, Beguiled, and Empires. Both of those songs are reportedly set for inclusion on Atum: Act Two, alongside Neophyte.
In a nod to the new record’s spiritual predecessor, the performance also leant heavily on material from Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness, with renditions of Tonight, Tonight, Zero, Bullet With Butterfly Wings, We Only Come Out At Night, X.Y.U. and 1979.
Atum: Act One is currently scheduled to arrive November 15, while the second and third acts are set for release in January and April of next year.
Head to the Smashing Pumpkins' website for more information on the albums.
