Slow Wake Sign to Argonauta Records for Debut Album
So, the debut album from Cleveland, Ohio, atmospheric heavymakers Slow Wake, apparently titled Falling Fathoms, isn’t mentioned by name in the press release below, though the new video from it for the 10-minute simmerer “Controlled Burn” is. Meantime, if you pop over to the band’s Bandcamp, you’ll find the five-tracker streaming in its sprawling entirety with the release date of Feb. 21, 2023. If you’re keeping up, that was three days ago.
I don’t know if that was intentional, if it will still be true by the time this goes live, or if it’s just a matter of some miscommunication between promotional concerns around the band, but the record sounds cool — for some reason, their doom-adjacent, metal-rooted, progressive-leaning take on heavy reminds on first impression of Boss Keloid and Sergeant Thunderhoof, both UK acts and nowhere near the US Midwest at all; go figure — but I’ve barely started to dig in and with breadth as a focus I’m not prepared to define their aesthetic even just for my own purposes, so don’t quote me on that or anything. Maybe it’s just that there’s a lot going on, which is a common trait for all three acts. Slow Wake don’t seem to be shy about letting the guitars do a bit of dreaming either, which rests organically alongside the corresponding heft.
Maybe they decided to just put it all out there at once, and maybe they’ll pull the record off Bandcamp to allow the whole promo cycle to play out as it will. I have no idea and it’s not up to me. I take what I can get when I can get it. Later than you think, and all that.
Here’s what the PR wire had to say about the band signing to Argonauta:
US Psych Post-Doomsters SLOW WAKE sign with ARGONAUTA Records and share debut single and video
Says the band: “We are incredibly excited to partner with Argonauta Records to release our debut album! Being part of such a strong and passionate label with an incredibly rich and diverse roster – many of whom we’re big fans of – is simply thrilling. We’re stoked to work with Gero to bring you all our signature brand of beautiful heaviness!”
Slow Wake was conceived in Cleveland, Ohio amidst the chaos and turmoil of the Covid pandemic by guitarists Dan Simone (Black Spirit Crown) and Matt Merchant. As the world seemed to collapse around them, the two long-time friends convened to process what they were experiencing by finally starting that band they’d been talking about for years. What emerged from those first few jam sessions was an intriguing blend of styles, Matt’s post-rock/americana and Dan’s stoner doom offering compelling counterpoint to each other in passages that were simultaneously ethereal and psychedelic, yet powerful and cathartic.
The duo were soon joined by bassist Joe Fortunato (Sparrowmilk, Venomin James) and drummer Jeff Larch (Black Spirit Crown, Reginleif) and the riffs did flow. What emerged was a blend of post-rock, doom, heavy psych and outer space that’s been described as “Like staring out into the abyss of Lake Erie at sunset on a few hits of acid as the sun burns the water.”
The band hit the ground running with their first show in June of 2021 and proceeded to play relentlessly throughout the region with heavy hitters such as Lo-Pan, Frayle, Telekinetic Yeti, Heavy Temple, Caustic Casanova and Argonauta Records alumni The Lucid Furs, as well as an appearance at the Ohio Doomed and Stoned Fest. Independent label and co-organizers of the “Post.Festival” and “dunk!USA”, A Thousand Arms Music, included the song “In Waves” on their “Open Language: Volume VII” compilation to a wide audience of post fans.
Stay tuned for more news to be revealed soon!
Slow Wake is:
Jeff Larch – Drums, Backing Vocals
Matthew Merchant – Guitar, Guitar Synth
Dan Simone – Vocals, Guitar, Guitar Synth
Joe Fortunato – Bass, Bass Synth
https://www.facebook.com/slowwakeband
https://instagram.com/slowwakeband
https://slowwake.bandcamp.com/
www.instagram.com/argonautarecords
www.facebook.com/argonuatarecords
www.argonautarecords.com/shop
