Los Angeles-based band THE DARK has released their 2nd song, “Slip Away”, on independent record label Arising Empire – home to metalcore upstarts Thrown, and Future Palace, and a previous home to the likes of While She Sleeps.

Influenced by 90’s bands like Nine Inch Nails, White Zombie, Fudge Tunnel, and Filter,  singer Craig Johns Jr says: “This music comes from a very real place I’ve found myself in in the past. There have been times where I’ve wrapped myself in things like lust and drugs, rather than facing the harsh reality of living in poverty in a major city like Los Angeles. Sometimes it’s easier to obsess over what’s in front of you, an easy escape, whether it’s a partner or a substance, and end up willfully blind to the bigger picture. This band is our love letter to the dark side of our human nature.”

Our first song, “Chemicals” was about coping in an unhealthy way. “Slip Away” is the natural progression of that. It’s the next part of the story. It’s losing yourself in your habits until you become unrecognizable. It’s the pain when you come-to. It’s self awareness, and it’s hurt.

“Slip Away” is the struggle you face when you meet yourself where you’re at. It’s the pain when you look in the mirror honestly. It’s a rude awakening”.

When I wrote the treatment for the “Slip Away” video, it was important to me to tell the story of the song, whereas “Chemicals” was more a day-in-the-life sort of video. You have this person, bound to the injured version of themselves… connected as one and confined to a space they can’t escape. They separate and see their hurt before them. The bandages come off and it’s loud, it’s vulnerable…it’s unpredictable. Only through acceptance and embrace can they find peace, but even still, in a space they’ll never leave.”