Led by New York artist Carrie Schoenfeld, Energy Whores’ new single ‘Army of the Insane’ channels fear, propaganda and political division into an aggressive collision of industrial electronics, alternative rock and dystopian theatre. The project has long centred its work on subjects including power, technology, propaganda and social disconnection, and this new offering pushes those concerns into particularly confrontational territory.
Aggressive synths, distorted guitars and pounding electronic drums give the track a relentless physical momentum. There are echoes of Nine Inch Nails, Ministry and The Prodigy in the combination of mechanical rhythm and rock abrasion, but Energy Whores use that intensity to mimic the feeling of a crowd gaining speed after individual judgement has begun to disappear.
Schoenfeld frames the “army” as people consumed by fear, propaganda and collective certainty. Her stated inspiration includes anger over immigration enforcement, racialised political messaging and the broader manipulation of communities through fear; concerns the song deliberately exaggerates through horror imagery rather than presenting as documentary reportage.
The result is feverish rather than subtle, yet subtlety would almost work against the concept, as ‘Army of the Insane’ wants hysteria to sound hysterical. Its exaggerated darkness turns political anxiety into something almost cinematic, giving the track the atmosphere of a nightmare in which repetition, noise and group behaviour gradually become indistinguishable from one another.
Producer Grant and guitarist Attilio Valenti help expand that world around Schoenfeld, continuing the mixture of electronics, live instrumentation and visual-minded storytelling that defined 2026 album Arsenal of Democracy.
‘Army of the Insane’ explores what happens before obedience: the moment fear becomes persuasive enough that people stop questioning what they’re being told. Energy Whores turn that possibility into something loud, ugly and deliberately unnerving.
And the most frightening thing in their dystopia is not the monster giving the orders. It’s the crowd convinced that following them was its own idea.