Otep Look to Recapture Roots on Social Change-Inspired New Album

The year may be 2018 and the piled up discs may suggest this is her eighth release, but there will be something reminiscent of the early days for Otep on her next disc. The vocalist has entered The Lair, a Los Angeles recording studio, where she's hoping to recapture the roots of the Sevas Tra era.

In a new release, Otep reveals that she's recording her still-untitled eighth album with the exact same equipment they used on their debut disc, all the way down to her original SHURE Beta 58 vocal microphone, in order to help find that sound. The Lair studio is also where the band recorded their fourth studio album, Smash the Control Machine.

While the lineup has changed since those early days, Otep, who is also co-producing the disc with her guitarist Aristotle, is confident in the current lineup that includes Justin Kier on drums and Drew Barnes on bass. "Each musician has a powerful voice on this album," she stated.

From a lyrical standpoint, Otep states, "No one is safe, no one escapes. It's powerful, poetic, patriotic protest music. One could say it's an activist album hoping to incite social change and support those who are at the barricades, who are marching in the streets for justice, who are demanding our government protect our great nation from enemies foreign and domestic -- this includes the bloated colostomy bag disgracing the White House, Traitor Trump, and his loafer licking cronies ... but I digress."

Speaking about making it to eight albums, she adds, "Writing our eighth album is not only a blessing for which we are forever grateful but the number itself is said to have magical properties. In Norse mythology, the horse of the god Odin has eight legs. The Pythagoreans considered the number eight the 'little holy number.' The eighth day of the Chinese New Year is the annual gathering of all the gods in Heaven. In the Tarot, eight is the card for Justice which seems appropriate considering the current political climate we are suffering through. The mathematical symbol for infinity is an eight on its side. There are eight festivals observed in the Wicca Wheel of the Year. There were eight gates surrounding the ancient city of Babylon. The eighth gate was named the Gate of Ishtar. Ishtar is the goddess of love and war, the Queen of the Earth and Heaven. She is the morning and evening star. Qualities I certainly relate to. And finally, I'm a Scorpio and Scorpio is the eighth astrological sign in the Zodiac."

While the album is first and foremost on her mind at the moment, look for Otep back on the concert stage later this year. She was recently announced as one of the performers at the Rock Fest, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this summer in Cadott, Wis. The music weekend takes place July 12-14 and additional ticketing information can be found here.

Stay tuned for news on Otep's next album as it becomes available.

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