After making their Relapse debut earlier this year with the Reflection of the Negative split with fellow Richmond, Virginia, natives Cough, ultra-doomed five-piece Windhand unleashed Soma (review here), their sophomore full-length behind a 2012 self-titled (streamed here). At 75 minutes long, it’s a formidable undertaking before you even get to the dark sensibilities the band proffers throughout in songs like “Woodbine,” the sprawling “Cassock” or half-hour-long closer “Boleskine,” varying in intensity and tension while toying with a grueling pace throughout, expanding beyond the relatively straightforward riff-led approach of the first album and into atmospherics that make Soma all the more individualized.

Windhand toured heavily for the first LP, which was released on Forcefield Records, and seem already to be keeping the ethic intact in support of Soma. Already they spent September into early October going coast-to-coast on a full US tour. Tonight, Nov. 1, they begin a run of dates in Europe alongside Pilgrim that will go for more than three weeks, and upon their return to the States, they’ll pick up five days later and do the West Coast and Canada along with Kvelertak and High on Fire. Both runs are a continuation of the momentum Windhand has established through consistent road-time, and the new album seems certain to receive its due as well. Here are the tour dates:

Windhand
with Pilgrim
01/11 BE Ghent Charlatan
02/11 NL Venlo Mudfest
03/11 FR Paris t.b.a.
04/11 UK Birmingham Asylum
05/11 UK Manchester Star & Garter
06/11 UK London Our Black Heart
08/11 ES Barcelona Rocksound
09/11 ES Madrid Rock & Pop
10/11 ES Bilbao Sentinel Rock Bar
11/11 FR Bordeaux Heretic Club
12/11 FR Paris Le Club
14/11 NL Tilburg Little Devil
15/11 DK Aalborg 1000 Fryd
16/11 SE Gothenburg Truckstop Alaska
17/11 DK Copenhagen KB18
18/11 DE Hamburg Rote Flora
19/11 DE Berlin Cassiopeia
20/11 DE Leipzig Zoro
21/11 AT Wien Vrena
22/11 DE Günzburg Donaustüble
23/11 DE Köln MTC
24/11 NL Amsterdam Occii

Windhand
with High on Fire and Kvelertak
11/29 Lawrence, KS Granada Theatre
11/30 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
12/02 Winnipeg, MB West End Cultural Center
12/04 Edmonton, AB Starlite Room
12/05 Calgary, AB Republik
12/07 Vancouver, BC Venue Vancouver
12/08 Seattle, WA El Corazon
12/09 Portland, OR Hawthorne Theater
12/11 San Francisco, CA Regency Center Grand Ballroom
12/12 Los Angeles, CA El Rey Theatre

As they’ve already been confirmed for Roadburn 2014 and the next installment of Heavy Days in Doomtown, you can expect much more to come on Windhand. The band is comprised of vocalist Dorthia Cottrell, guitarist/recording engineer Garrett Morris, guitarist Asechaiah Bogdan, bassist Parker Chandler (also of Cough) and drummer Ryan Wolfe. Cottrell recently took some time out to talk about the making of Soma and how their road ethic came into play in terms of putting the album together, plus the European dates — it’s their first time out of the country — prospects for 2014 and much more.

Q&A is after the jump. Please enjoy.

You guys did quite a bit of touring for the self-titled. Do you feel that changed your approach at all going into the writing or recording for Soma?

I think a few of the songs on Soma were actually written on the acoustic guitar while we were on tour for the first album, so that way, yeah. We had a lot of time to sit around and try to write new things.

Can you talk about the progression from the self-titled to Soma?

I know it’s really different, but I don’t really think it’s something we did consciously. We just have been doing the same thing we’ve always done, which is somebody brings in a riff and if we like it we try to build on it, and we just go with what we like at the time. We’re not ever trying to sound this way or sound (laughs) like any other band or, you know. It’s whatever we like at the time.

Was there anything in particular you were looking to develop or change coming off the self-titled?

Not really. We weren’t even really thinking about the first one. I mean, I think whether you realize it or not, things that are happening to you in your life affect the songwriting and what you want to listen to and what you end up playing, and I think it just happened naturally like that, because we were changing, so the songs changed.

When did Parker actually come in on bass?

First our old bass player graduated from college and he went off to be an engineer or try to find another job, so we needed a bass player, and Parker was available and familiar with the songs and he practiced in the same practice space as us, so it was really easy for him to move his stuff down and play with us and fill in. It just seemed like a good fit, and we like playing with each other and hanging out with each other. It seemed to work out.

You mentioned writing stuff on the road. When did that start?

I think we had a few of the songs while we were touring on the first album, and we wrote a couple on the road and when we got back, we just finished the rest.

Tell me about putting “Boleskine” together.

That one definitely started when we were on tour. It started on the acoustic guitar. Garrett started messing with it, and when we got back he added more riffs to it. I think originally it was only seven or eight minutes, but somehow when it got translated to the electric guitar, it just kind of grew, I guess. But we were pretty much still putting it together while we were recording. I don’t even think that we’ve ever played it all together as a band from beginning to end.

You wouldn’t do that one live, I guess. Eat up your whole set.

I hope we do. We haven’t yet. I hope we do. It’s my favorite song.

Was “Evergreen” written on the road?

No, actually, it was kind of an afterthought. We had finished recording and Garrett just asked me if I wanted to write an acoustic song and put it on the album, and I just kind of did it that night. I wasn’t sure if anybody was gonna like it, but I think it turned out alright with all the harmonies, which is like my favorite thing to do.

Tell me about working with Garrett as a producer, recording with him as he’s engineering the album.

It’s cool because you definitely know that we’re all on the same page and we’re all of the same mind a and have an idea for what we wanted the mood of the album to sound like. Garrett definitely had a strong idea for most of the songs. He’s amazing at what he does. He’s a perfectionist, which at times you feel bad, because you know how stressed out he gets, because he’s writing a lot of the music, then he records it all, then he has to mix it all. It’s a lot of pressure, but we definitely are lucky to have him and appreciate everything that he does for us.

How involved was everyone in the process of mixing?

He kind of holed himself up a lot. He would have several different mixes done that he would let us hear along the way, and we’d comment on it and have our input but then he’d go back to the drawing board and come up with a new mix and we’d all listen to it and tell him what we thought, but he basically just holed up in the studio for (laughs) several weeks.

That’s a hell of job. You’ve got so many layers and everything. To make that all make sense, I can’t imagine it was an easy time.

Yeah, I’m pretty sure he was sick of the songs when he was done (laughs).

How do you feel about how the album has been received? Do you notice the response at shows to the newer material or anything like that?

I think it’s been received pretty well so far. There’s been a couple funny negative reviews. Those are always the best to read. I think somebody said we were like their weird uncle in their underwear next door mowing the lawn, that you want to like but just can’t. That’s the best review we’ve ever had (laughs). For the most part, they’ve been really awesome, and this last tour, all the shows it seemed like everybody was more excited than ever before.

And of course you’re getting ready to go to Europe with Pilgrim.

Yeah, end of the month. We’re really excited. I’m excited about the whole thing. I’ve never even been out of the country before, so I’m excited about it all. We got our passports. I was the last one to get it, of course.

You also got confirmed for Roadburn next year. Can you talk about that?

I think at the beginning of this year, around March or so, we kind of had an idea we were gonna play it in 2014, but I guess Walter got ahold of Relapse and asked if we would be interested in it, and of course we were really excited when they asked us. Hopefully we’ll get to play some of the other festivals when we’re out there too. We’ve got the Heavy Days in Doomtown, which is right after it.

And you’ll have more US touring in the meantime?

Yeah. A couple days after we come back from Europe we’re going out with Kvelertak and High on Fire for the West Coast and Canada for a couple weeks. We’re really excited for that too, it’s great. We are definitely appreciative of all the things that have been happening lately.

Windhand, Soma (2013)

Windhand on Thee Facebooks

Relapse Records

 

Tags: Relapse Records, Richmond, Soma, Virginia, Windhand, Windhand Soma

This entry was posted on Friday, November 1st, 2013 at 12:38 pm and is filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.