King Buffalo Announce Acheron Album Details; Preorders Coming Friday
Also newly confirmed to appear at Desertfest Belgium 2021 for an exclusive one-off on Oct. 30 in Ghent, Rochester, NY’s King Buffalo have just announced the details of their next full-length release, the four-song Acheron. Due out Dec. 3 on CD and DL as previously noted, the offering goes up for preorder this Friday through the band and Stickman Records in Europe for those as well as the vinyl which is currently due in January. Here’s hoping.
King Buffalo were out with Clutch and Stöner recently on a somebody-got-Covid-shortened tour. Acheron was tracked earlier this year at Howe Caverns in New York. Way up the Thruway. I was there for a goodly portion of the day and will post my notes from the cave at some point before the record is out. I felt lucky to be there and hear some of the new material being put to tape (and video), and I was glad to have worn a hoodie. Cold in that cave. Also got a fridge magnet.
Below is the bio I wrote for the album, tour dates, tracklisting, all that PR wire stuff, plus a trailer for the record:
King Buffalo – Acheron – Dec. 3
Acheron – King Buffalo’s brand new record, recorded live in the Howe Caverns of eastern New York
Presales begin Friday, October 22nd
Release date: Dec. 3rd (CD/digital) / mid-January (vinyl)
Preorder ‘Acheron’ THIS FRIDAY 10/22/21 at 12pm EST via https://kingbuffalo.bigcartel.com
What will inevitably be known as ‘the cave record,’ Acheron is the second King Buffalo LP recorded in 2021. It follows this spring’s The Burden of Restlessness and finds the Rochester, New York, trio of guitarist/vocalist Sean McVay, bassist Dan Reynolds and drummer Scott Donaldson expanding their sound once again.
Both records – and an intended third in the series to follow in 2022 – were born of the pandemic-era touring shutdown, as evinced by the grim themes of The Burden of Restlessness. Acheron – named for the “river of woe” in Greek mythology – brings the tension and disquiet of the prior offering into a new context.
To put the four extended songs of Acheron to tape, the band traveled three hours east from Rochester to Howe Caverns in NY, recording with trusted engineer Grant Husselman and videographer Adam Antalek – who worked on their Quarantine Sessions early in 2020 – to document a day-long live session in a cave. In the cave. “Underground” in the most literal sense.
In sound, Acheron is likewise spacious and fluid. If The Burden of Restlessness showed the band’s sharper angles, Acheron add complexity to the shape of the whole. In some ways, the wash of tone in “Zephyr” will be familiar to those who took on 2018’s Longing to Be the Mountain or the band’s 2016 debut, Orion – let alone any of the four EPs they’ve done along the way – but in “Shadows” and “Cerberus,” the band’s intent becomes clear.
Available on 180gr. liquid blue LP + download code and on CD.
Tracklisting:
1. Acheron 10:21
2. Zephyr 09:25
3. Shadows 10:34
4. Cerberus 09:46
TICKETS ON SALE NOW!
10/30 Ghent, Belgium @ Desertfest Belgium
11/5 Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
11/6 New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
11/11 Pittsburgh, PA @ Club Café
11/12 Detroit, MI @ Loving Touch
11/13 Indianapolis, IN @ HI-FI
11/14 St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway
11/16 Madison, WI @ The Bur Oak
11/17 Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St. Entry
11/18 Milwaukee, WI @ The Back Room at Colectivo Coffee
11/19 Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
11/20 Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
1/20/22 Ottawa, ON @ Club Saw
1/21/22 Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz
1/22/22 Toronto, ON @ Velvet Underground
* w/ Clutch & Stoner
King Buffalo is:
Sean McVay – Guitar, Vocals, & Synth
Dan Reynolds – Bass & Synth
Scott Donaldson – Drums & Percussion
kingbuffalo.com
facebook.com/kingbuffaloband
instagram.com/kingbuffaloband
kingbuffalo.bandcamp.com
stickman-records.com
facebook.com/Stickman-Records-1522369868033940
Like most of the stoner/doom/psych community, I am really looking forward to this record. And not just because, once again, the world prevented me from seeing King Buffalo (the New Hampshire show was one of the rescheduled gigs with Clutch). While The Burden of Restlessness was a good record, and I am all for bands experimenting with their sound, I really love the languid sounds of Orion and Longing to Be the Mountain.
I’ll be interested to see how people compare these two, and of course the third when that happens. Haven’t heard that yet.
Some of those shows have been cancelled. I had tickets for the Toronto show and got a refund, plus a note from the band saying “Wait til you see who we’ll be touring with!”
Good to know, thank you!