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Thinning the Herd Premiere “Gaikatt Mountain” Video

thinning the herd

It’s been a while since the last check-in from New York-based heavy rockers Thinning the Herd. It happens. Their last album was 2013’s Freedom From the Known and after that came out they went through a few lineup shifts as a band will, and already in 2012 they’d lost drummer Rick Cimato in a fatal auto accident, so yeah, after something like that, you might need some time. Still, led by guitarist/vocalist Gavin Spielman, the band have a new video for the instrumental track “Gaikatt Mountain” from the aforementioned 2013 LP, made in homage to Cimato, and I’m happy today to host the premiere for it. You’ll find it below, followed by some comment from Spielman.

The track itself unfolds as a mellow jam, beginning with light strings strumming and gradually moving into fuzzier terrain. You can hear the live feel that Steve Albini recordings are known for in the rhythm section, even as acoustic and electric guitars intertwine, the bass punching through insistently all the while. Its easy flow is contrasted soon enough with a quick shift to a rushing riff and tempo-surge progression. You’ll see in the video it’s when the shift happens from landscape to cityscape, and there’s live footage spliced in as well, but later on the drone shots return and make a fitting cap even as the shift to quiet ends up more permanent. As these cats always were, it’s no pretense heavy rock with some metal oomph behind it that asks little indulgence beyond four minutes of your time.

The album’s seven years old, so absolutely, you can find it streaming in the places where streaming happens.

Enjoy the video:

Thinning the Herd, “Gaikatt Mountain” video premiere

Gavin Spielman on “Gaikatt Mountain”:

The inspiration for this song came during a shroom experience in my early teens. It was just a warm up technique, a riff that bridged spirit and technique for me, rudimentary but a melody I never stopped playing. I played this tune in bands before Thinning the Herd, and it went by “Hard To See” and had lyrics, but abandoned them. I feel the main riff is pure Thinning the Herd stripped down to its bare bones, and somewhat of a departure from our heavy tone. It’s the only instrumental song we’ve put out, and I’m glad we did because it’s a reminder of an angel flying overhead, watching us.

This new video signifies our drummer Rick watching us, looking down upon our journey into the unknown, blessing us with understanding of knowledge, showing us the simplicity of birth and death, capturing the ephemeral experience in between.

GAIKATT MOUNTAIN by THINNING THE HERD: The 9th Song off the third record (FREEDOM FROM THE KNOWN) by THINNING THE HERD (on St. Mark’s Records). This tune is an instrumental written in 2011 specifically for the record.

Available through all major online retailers including AMAZON and Apple Music, Bandcamp and Streaming on Spotify.

Recorded by Steve Albini in Chicago
Mixed by Wes Edmonds
Mastered by Tony Gillis in NYC
All lyrics and music G. Spielman
Video Production by Green Pine Tree Studio

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Thinning the Herd website

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