Abrams to Release In the Dark Sept. 9
Denver’s Abrams aligning to Small Stone Records makes a lot of sense as far as matching bands and labels goes. The band have been belting out hooky, well-crafted and progressive-melody-edged heavy rock and roll since before their debut album, Lust. Love. Loss. (review here), and even the snare drum that begins album opener/first streaming single “Like Hell” seems like an instruction to stand up and take note. So be it. I haven’t heard the full record yet — it’s out Sept. 9, so yeah, plenty of time for these things — but the band’s penchant for songcraft is long since proven in my mind. Really, from that first record on, Zach Amster and company have delivered a professional-quality product while keeping an underground edge to their material. A band ready to make a mark and a label that might let them do it? As I said, a good match.
The PR wire brings details and streaming audio. Side note, I very much look forward to hearing “East Coast Dreams,” which I imagine is about finding good pizza and bagels while people are inexplicably rude to you. Or, if it’s the South, racism. Either way, dudes might want to start dreaming in the other direction, where the grass — at least until it gets consumed by an all-year-season wildfire or turned into a techbro billionaire’s compound– is genuinely greener.
Preorders are up now:
ABRAMS: Denver Rock Outfit To Release In The Dark September 9th Via Small Stone Recordings; “Like Hell” Streaming + Preorders Available
Denver rock outfit ABRAMS will release their new full-length, In The Dark, on September 9th via Small Stone Recordings, today revealing the album’s first official single and preorders.
Initially seeking to fuse melodic hooks with dissonance, ABRAMS began in 2013 in Denver, Colorado, with guitarist/vocalist Zach Amster and bassist/vocalist Taylor Iversen. Later joined by drummer Ryan DeWitt, ABRAMS has released an EP and three studio albums, all to critical acclaim. With each release the listener can hear the band evolving and maturing to what it has become today. A band dedicated to compelling songwriting, and energetic live performances, ABRAMS ups the ante with the moody, heavy, psychedelic rock venture of their forthcoming LP, In The Dark.
Adding Patrick Alberts (Call Of The Void) to the lineup, In The Dark serves as ABRAMS’ first release as a four-piece, following behind 2020’s Modern Ways. With the pandemic cancelling all touring plans for Modern Ways, ABRAMS immediately got to work demoing more than twenty-five plus songs for their next release. Given the world was in lockdown, Amster took a deep dive to learn the ins and outs of home recording to refine song structure, with a hyperfocus put on vocal hooks. There was a goal set to have as complete and polished songs as possible prior to entering the studio in Summer of 2021 with producer, engineer, and collaborator Dave Otero (Khemmis, Cattle Decapitation) at Flatline Audio who was the last piece in shaping the final soundscape.
The new collection is a fine-tuned, forty-five-minute sonic journey detailing the angers, fears, frustrations, and joys inherent in living in a world gone mad. With cinematic guitar riffs, brooding leads, and addictive vocal hooks, ABRAMS conjures a mature, polished, and intensely passionate craft, urgent but not at all rushed. There are hints of early AmRep mixed in with the larger sounds of ‘90s alt heroes Failure, Quicksand, and Hum. Combine that with the heaviness of recent Mastodon and stoner psychedelia of All Them Witches and you get In The Dark.
In advance of the record’s release, ABRAMS is pleased to unveil first single, “Like Hell.” Notes the band, “‘Like Hell’ was a no brainer decision for us when deciding what song should lead off the record. It’s one of our heavier songs that grabs your attention from the get-go. There’s a little something here for every rock fan – hooky vocals, heavy riffs, pounding drums, and even some HM2 [distortion] for those metalheads out there. I’d like to think if Queens Of The Stone Age played on Trap Them’s guitar rig, you’d get this song. Enjoy!”
In The Dark features cover art by Robin Gnista and will be available on CD, LP, and digitally. Find preorders at THIS LOCATION: https://smallstone.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-dark
In The Dark Track Listing:
1. Like Hell
2. Death Tripper
3. Better Living
4. In The Clouds
5. Fever Dreams
6. Body Pillow
7. Leather Jacket
8. White Sand
9. In The Dark
10. Black Tar Mountain
11. East Coast Dreams (Digital Bonus Track)
ABRAMS:
Zachary Amster – guitar, vocals
Taylor Iversen – bass, vocals
Ryan DeWitt – drums
Patrick Alberts – guitar
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