Blue Heron Set May 27 Release for Ephemeral
Whether or not you know Jadd Shickler personally — and he’s an outgoing guy, so you just might — the greater possibility is you know his work. One of the original founders of the MeteorCity label and the perennially-missed All That’s Heavy webstore, he’s currently involved to some degree or other in Blues Funeral, Magnetic Eye Records and Ripple Music, in addition to having conceived and launched the PostWax vinyl subscription series.
That this lifelong passion for heavy rock and roll should extend itself to performing should be no surprise whatsoever. Blue Heron will release their debut album, Ephemeral, on May 27 — the news actually came in a bit ago and slipped through the rather large cracks in my PR wire system these days — and they’ve got a video up for the new single “Futurola.” That, of course, is not to be confused with Futurama, which I hear is coming back, and the song and the album it heralds will follow-up on the initial two-songer (review here) that the Albuquerque-based four-piece put out late last year.
Older heads will recall Shickler (in the blue shirt above and presumably the designated driver of the photoshoot since he’s the only one without a drink) as well from his time in the underrated Spiritu, whose lone, Jack Endino-produced self-titled full-length was released in 2002. Twenty years after the fact — and keeping plenty busy in the meantime — to have Blue Heron arrive with their own album only emphasizes the point. I don’t use the word “lifer” often, but sometimes nothing else will do.
Looking forward to the album:
Desert Rockers BLUE HERON Prepare to Release First Full Album Ephemeral
New Mexico stoner metal outfit to issue new LP via Seeing Red Records and Kozmik Artifactz on May 27th, with first single “Futurola” now streaming
New Mexico desert rockers Blue Heron will release their first full-length album, Ephemeral, via Seeing Red Records (US) and Kozmik Artifactz (Germany) on May 27th, 2022. The album’s first single, “Futurola” is now streaming on digital services, along with an interpretive animated video.
Ephemeral is an 8-track, 47-minute exploration of heavy rock at its fullest. Excavating the far reaches and connected strata of stoner rock, sludge, doom, heavy psych and post-metal, Blue Heron transmute years of engagement with rock and metal’s profuse branches into a singular, sand-scorching epic. With lyrical threads ranging from mortality and failed civilizations to mythic fables and cinematic re-imaginations, Ephemeral is stylistically diverse, thematically ambitious and unassailably relentless in its raw, desert power.
Ephemeral arrives May 27th, 2022 on limited edition vinyl from Seeing Red Records in North America and Kozmik Artifactz in Europe and on all digital services.
Preorders are available now via the labels and the Blue Heron Bandcamp.
Blue Heron will perform at Ripplefest Texas this July alongside scene heavyweights including Crowbar, Big Business, The Sword, Heavy Temple, Howling Giant and Eagles of Death Metal.
Blue Heron is:
Mike Chavez – Guitar
Ricardo Sanchez – Drums
Steve Schmidlapp – Bass
Jadd Shickler – Vocals
Ephemeral was recorded at Third Eye Studios by David McRae, except:
“Infiniton Field” recorded by Mike Chavez
“Where One Went Together” recorded at Tru-Art Media by Jose Martinez
Mastered by J.T. Schmidlapp
Produced by Blue Heron, David McRae and Lee Sillery
Art and layout by Mirkow Gastow
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