Brutal Minimalist Noise Rock BAT LEATHER’s New Album, Dark Arts
No List Records announces that brutal minimalist noise rock duo Bat Leather’s new album Dark Arts is officially available now on limited‑edition vinyl (150 white vinyl copies, 50 rare black editions). These runs capture the band’s confrontational, genre‑breaking sound, a collision of punk abrasion, noisy garage chaos, and sludgy heaviness that refuses to sit still or fit neatly into any box.
Bat Leather marks release day with a brand‑new video for “Technical Aggression”, a track that twists feedback into structure and pushes their hyper‑distorted aesthetic to its breaking point.
Hailing from Calgary, AB, and Vancouver, BC, the duo known as Bat Leather’s music hits in short blasts, overdriven vocals, feedback woven directly into the songwriting, guitars pushed past the red, and a heaviness that somehow keeps getting heavier.
Tracks like “Technical Aggression” showcase the band’s ability to weaponize noise, while “Dance Craze” drags listeners through a slow‑burn haze of pounding drums and smoke‑thick atmosphere. It’s punk, but not. It’s garage rock, but not. It’s sludgy, but not entirely. It’s all of it at once, and then noisier.
Bat Leather resists comparisons, scenes, and tidy genre labels. Their music is complicated, confrontational, and strangely addictive. If “heavy rotation” counts as a genre, Bat Leather owns it. Drop the needle, and you’re immediately confronted with something puzzling, uneasy, and addictive.
No List Records continues its tradition of supporting uncompromising, boundary‑pushing artists. The “Dark Arts” vinyl release reinforces the label’s commitment to music that challenges, confronts, and refuses to be simplified.
Bat Leather will support Dark Arts with a run of Alberta shows this September, bringing their confrontational, genre‑breaking sound directly to Western Canada. Tour dates listed below.
First off, care to introduce yourself to our readers?
I’m Cory, and I play Guitar in Bat Leather.
Tell us a bit about your recent release.
It’s a 5-song 7” titled “Dark Arts,” released by the infallible No List Records.
You can buy/listen to it here.
Walk us through your creative process when creating music.
I live on a farm in rural Alberta. I have a recording studio here, so it’s very easy for me to scratch something down the moment it hits me. I’m out here by myself a lot of the time, so there are very few distractions. Basically, when I have an idea for a guitar riff or whatever, I’ll go record it. If it’s something that I think is workable, I’ll record the rest of the instruments. Then I’ll send it to our singer Luke(who lives in Vancouver) to see if it’s something he can work with.
Now that the music is out, what does the ‘road ahead’ look like? Beyond tours and videos, what’s one ‘bucket list’ goal you hope to achieve with this release?
Oh, we just want people to hear the record, I guess, hahaha. But as for the road ahead, I’ve got some ideas for another batch of songs, so maybe we’ll do something weird with them.
Every artist has a ‘lightbulb moment’ where things just clicked. Looking back, what’s the one performance or milestone that made you realize, ‘Okay, this is what I was meant to do’?
When I was 15, my mom bought me a set of drums. I set them up in the basement of our 4-plex and played along to SNFU songs for months. That’s when I knew I was probably going to play music for the rest of my life.
We love championing Canadian talent. If you were curating a ‘Must-Listen’ playlist of emerging artists right now, who is the first person you’d add?
I’m entering my curmudgeon era of my life, so I don’t have my finger on the pulse of “emerging” artists, but here’s a list of relatively new Canadian bands that I dig..
Tunic
Big Brave
Cell Press
METZ
Nearly Dead
Blue Youth
Brass
Smashed Glass
If we’re talking about making an old-school Canadian playlist, I would include…
Kittens
Shallow ND
Nomeansno
There’s nothing like the energy of a live room. Where can fans catch you on stage next, and for someone seeing you for the first time, what should they expect from a Bat Leather live experience?
We just finished a small Southern Alberta string of shows, so no plans right now for live shows.
As far as what to expect…I’m told we’re very loud, so expect your friend to ask you for earplugs.
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