Choke Chain announce new EP ‘Decomposition’ on Negative Gain
Choke Chain release the EP “Decomposition” on July 10, 2026, via Negative Gain Productions, on CD, vinyl LP and digital. Dark electro meets hardcore punk.
Choke Chain
Choke Chain (aka Mark Trueman) releases the EP “Decomposition” on July 10, 2026, via Negative Gain Productions, on CD, vinyl LP and digital. The “Decomposition” EP combines 1990s-style dark electro with hardcore punk.
Choke Chain describe the EP as raw, with no moment of relief. The release draws on the dark electro of Leæther Strip, :wumpscut: and Mentallo & The Fixer, set against hardcore punk aggression.
“The EP was mostly written during a time where I was very close to giving up,” said founder Mark Trueman. “Everything felt completely hopeless, and still does to some degree. I really tried to put all of that feeling into these songs.”
“Decomposition” can be previewed and ordered on Bandcamp ahead of the July 10, 2026 release on Negative Gain Productions.
About Choke Chain
Choke Chain is the dark electronic project of Milwaukee, Wisconsin musician Mark Trueman, founded around 2018. The act combines the dark electro of the early-1990s European scene – the Zoth Ommog and Wax Trax! lineage of EBM and industrial – with the energy of Trueman’s hardcore punk background. The sound is built on pounding rhythms, harsh textures and frantic vocals.
Side-Line covered the project with a review of its debut EP “Chain Tactics” in October 2020. Our reviewer Inferno Sound Diaries described it as “old-school EBM made in America and reminding me the golden years of Wax Trax! and more specifically Revolting Cocks; the mix of European EBM and American Industrial music,” adding that “even if this is old-style Electro, it has something refreshing.” Choke Chain followed with “Endless Death” and “Invoking Shadows” (both 2021) before collecting its material into the first full-length, “Mortality” (2023).
The project has performed at Chicago’s Cold Waves festival (Cold Waves X, 2022) and at Roadburn in 2025, plus the Substance and InFest festivals. The new EP, “Decomposition,” arrives on July 10, 2026, on Negative Gain Productions.
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