[TO ENTER GIVEAWAY: Leave a comment on this post with your email address in the form. You’ll be contacted at that address if you win.]

Austin two-piece Canyon of the Skull self-released their self-titled debut EP at the end of October, and I presume the reason they didn’t call the two-song/35-minute offering a full-length album is because they’re reserving the right to make their next outing longer. Fair enough. Comprised of two massive, bleak instrumental dirges, “The Path (of Bear and Wolf)” (17:18) and “Canyon of the Skull” (18:03), the EP takes its blackened cues from an abiding rawness in the guitar of Erik Ogershok that shows itself particularly in the latter reaches of the title-cut. Beyond that, what guitarist/bassist Ogershok and drummer Adrian Voorhies ply throughout is a vicious nod, the longform and semi-exploratory pieces each unfolding with an overarching groove that feels culled from the darker regions of their region’s signature and at times surprisingly extreme take on doom metal.

Where the balance will ultimately lie between one side and the other, I’m not sure the band are interested in establishing so firm a definition, since as wide as the two included tracks range, they do so freely and without seeming forced. You can take my word for it or listen to the tracks yourself below and make up your own mind, but either way you decide to roll, you’ve got a chance now to win Canyon of the Skull‘s EP on CD if you enter by leaving a comment on this post. I’ve never had trouble getting rid of free music and I don’t expect this time will be any different. Thanks to all who enter, and good luck.

[TO ENTER GIVEAWAY: Leave a comment on this post with your email address in the form. You’ll be contacted at that address if you win.]

Canyon of the Skull, Canyon of the Skull EP (2015)

Canyon of the Skull on Thee Facebooks

Canyon of the Skull on Bandcamp

Tags: Austin, Canyon of the Skull, Canyon of the Skull Self-titled, self-titled, Texas, Unsigned bands

This entry was posted on Monday, December 21st, 2015 at 2:44 pm and is filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.