Red Mesa to Release “Forest Cathedral” Single May 6
Ultimately, it’s not such a huge surprise to find Albuquerque-based trio Red Mesa — who Desert Records founder Brad Frye and Monolith on the Mesa co-founder Roman Barham in their ranks along with bassist/vocalist Alex Cantwell, who I’m sure runs a record pressing plant or something likewise relevant — digging into doomier sounds. As much as the band are of the desert regionally, their 2020 full-length, The Path to the Deathless (review here), offered an array of sonic branchouts, demonstrating their will not to be pigeonholed in terms of style. The new single “Forest Cathedral” finds its equilibrium in chunky-style riffs and a classic nod that’s malevolent in atmosphere even as the lyrics offer a sense of worship for the natural world.
Red Mesa have live shows coming up starting tomorrow and running throughout Spring, including a brief stint with Cloud Catcher, and have already been announced for this year’s Monolith on the Mesa as well in September. If there are further recording plans (aren’t there always?), I’ve no specifics to offer, but I wouldn’t read “Forest Cathedral” as a radical shift in overarching direction for the band as much as the three-piece continuing to explore having multiple songwriters tapping into a greater swath of influence even than what they showed two years ago. Continued progression, heavy riffs. Claiming more territory and topography with their sound. I will not argue.
It’s not streaming yet, but info on what drove Cantwell into the forest follows here ahead of preorders starting next week. As per the PR wire:
RED MESA to release their new Doom Metal single “Forest Cathedral” on May 6th via Desert Records
The heavy desert trio will start preorder on April 1st (Bandcamp only) for limited edition 7″ lathe vinyl & merch bundle that will include Taos desert sage, t-shirt, patch, stickers.
A walk in the woods. That’s what inspired Red Mesa’s new single “Forest Cathedral” on Desert Records. Not to sound trite, but even saying that anything “inspired” the song is a misnomer. A more accurate way to explain how the song came about is that it was “revealed” to bass player Alex Cantwell during repeated hikes in the same area of Oak Flat in Tijeras, NM.
“In New Mexico where we live”, explains Alex, “there are different topographies within a short drive from each other including high desert landscapes, forested mountains, river valleys with old growth trees called the bosque, sand dunes, grass plains, salt flats, caves, etc. This provides an aesthetic variety and different perspectives. I spent 10 months renting a cabin in the mountains in the forest, and it was an amazing place to spend time. I especially loved my frequent hikes, and this song, riff by riff was all pieced together in my head as the muse provided it to me and made it available for me to snatch out of the air. The lyrics are simply an outpouring of simple gratitude for the forest itself.”
“Forest Cathedral” sees Red Mesa embracing it’s gratitude and reverence for something else as well; doom metal. While their 2020 album “The Path to the Deathless” saw the band branch out from a desert rock format with nods to Kyuss, but also Motorhead, east coast doom, and expansive soundscapes that would give way to quiet acoustic passages and death metal alike, this new single is a nod to true doom, but done in Red Mesa’s ever-evolving style.
RED MESA hit the road this spring for a mini-tour with Cloud Catcher, and shows with Earthless, Nebula.
3/25 LAUNCHPAD- Albuquerque, NM w/Destroyer of Light
3/30 LAUNCHPAD- Albuquerque, NM w/REZN
4/10 LAUNCHPAD – Albuquerque, NM w/Earthless
5/7 LAUNCHPAD – Albuquerque, NM w/Nebula, Year of the Cobra
5/14 TRINIDAD LOUNGE, Trinidad, CO w/Cloud Catcher
5/15 REVOLT GALLERY, Taos, NM w/Cloud Catcher
5/16/22 TUMBLEROOT BREWERY Santa Fe, NM w/Cloud Catcher
5/17 LAUNCHPAD – Albuquerque, NM w/Cloud Catcher
5/27-5/28 – THE FEST IN THE NEST- Eagle Nest, NM.
Red Mesa is (L to R): Alex Cantwell – bass/vox, Brad Frye – guitar/vox, Roman Barham – drums/backing vox
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