DARK MARK vs SKELETON JOE Premiere “Sanctified” Video With FLOOD Magazine

“… the sinister dance music of Dark Mark vs. Skeleton Joe is new territory for both the singer and his collaborator…”  – Rolling Stone

“A drastic leap into uncharted territory for both artists. It’s a dizzying, distortion-tinted techno thumper.” – NME

“Their lushly decomposing debut makes listeners want to dance while sinning, then collapse in agony from excessive joy” – Music Connection

“Bleak, pulsing intensity… it’s familiar ground for both artists, but with a distinctively new twist.” – The AV Club

“A strutting electro-goth banger.”  – BrooklynVegan

DARK MARK vs. SKELETON JOE
Featuring Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees) and Joe Cardamone (The Icarus Line)
Bloodsoaked and Giallo-Inpired “Sanctified” Video  Premieres via FLOOD Magazine

Self-Titled Debut Album Out Now via
Rare Bird/Kitten Robot Records

NOVEMBER 18, 2021 (Los Angeles) –  Following the release of their video for “Living Dead” earlier this month, DARK MARK vs. SKELETON JOE (featuring Mark Lanegan of Screaming Trees and Joe Cardamone of The Icarus Line) are premiering their provocative and eviscerating second video for “Sanctified” today with FLOOD Magazine. The music videos are taken from their brand new self-titled album, which was released earlier this fall via Rare Bird/Kitten Robot Records.

Reminiscent of Dario Argento’s brand of splatter horror, the video posits Lanegan and Cardamone in the standard giallo trope of dark woods at night while a woman runs barefoot, a trail of blood staining her white dress,. Chased by an unseen threat, the video comes full circle when it’s revealed that the killer is the mysterious masked figure from their previous video “Living Dead.”

“‘Sanctified’ is one of those tracks that almost never was. It came in and out of focus. It lived in the dead pile for most of the production of the album,” explains Cardamone to FLOOD Magazine. “At the 11th hour Lanegan expressed that there were a handful of jams that he wanted on the album that I had kind of pushed to the round file. Most of them had been near completion anyway, so resurrecting wasn’t too much of a chore. ‘Sanctified’ however had only a skeletal vocal idea and tons of space. He sent me a great vocal of that idea that felt like a final, but there were still huge gaps in the music. I had backed away from singing too much on the album. The idea was to build a temple or a field for Mark’s voice to live in. That’s when I realized what he was telling me. I hopped on the mic the day before turning in the record and spit out my verses. ‘Sanctified’ ended up being one of my favorite jams on the entire project.”

A project born from mutual respect, Dark Mark vs. Skeleton Joe mines electronic music and unearths an experimental sound for both of them. A prolific artist and author, Lanegan has collaborated with a host of bands and musicians, including UNKLE, Neko Case, The Duke Spirit and Queens of the Stone Age among many others. And while he’s worked with many legendary acts over his career, this marks a new band for Lanegan, not a guest spot or featured artist.  “The fact that it’s not like anything either one of us have done before is what makes this so interesting for me,” explains Lanegan. “When you have done as much stuff as Joe and I, you have to constantly search for the different and challenging to keep yourself engaged.”

“The project is called Dark Mark vs. Skeleton Joe because we both have assumed these alter egos over the years,” says Cardamone about the origins of the project. “The material we wanted to do together seemed to take well to the idea that our personas here are as if we’re now outcasts to our own creative selves.”

Dark Mark vs. Skeleton Joe is Mark Lanegan and Joe Cardamone. Their self-titled full-length record is out now via  Rare Bird / Kitten Robot Records.

WHAT THE PRESS IS SAYING
“A pulsing electronic sound paired with Lanegan’s imitably deep vocal delivery. Minimal dancefloor beats and synthesizers percolate beneath the grunge veteran’s mix of spoken word and singing” – Consequence (On “No Justice“)

“Across the album, the collaborative work radiates. It’s as if Mark Lanegan and Joe Cardamone have found both sonic and linguistic ways to enter into dialogues that would otherwise seem impossible. And they’re exquisite. This is dark and ethereal experimentation at its best.” – Louder Than War’

“Dark Mark Vs. Skeleton Joe is a dark electronic-driven album propelled by haunting digital textures and the juxtaposing warmth of Lanegan’s signature gravelly, throaty vocals.” – Spill Magazine

“… the duo’s new music breaks virgin ground for both men, occupying a sonic niche we’ve decided to call ‘gothic death disco.” – Louder Sound

“Here we have a team-up from legends of the music world, bringing a new kind of energy to dance music with a gothic twist.” – SoundSphere Magazine

“The tracks embrace an experimental electronic sound, spilling with beautiful darkness.” – God Is In The TV

‘”An interesting, immersive collection that will pull you back for repeat listens” – No More Workhorse

“A recipe for greatness.” – Pancakes & Whiskey

DARK MARK VS SKELETON JOE
1. Living Dead
2. No Justice
3. Lost Animals
4. Hiraeth 
5. Lay Me Down
6. No Way Out
7. Turning In Reverse
8. Burned
9. Crime
10. Sanctified
11. Traction
12. Red Morning Sun
13. Cold Summer
14. Skeleton Joe Maifesto
15. Sunday Night 230 AM
16. Basement Door