Shadow Limb Premiere “To Reclaim”; New Album Reclaim Out March 29
Chico, California-based atmospheric sludgers Shadow Limb will release their second album, Reclaim, on March 29 through Seeing Red Records. The four-piece of guitarist/vocalists Adam Scarborough and Chris Roberts, Mike Crew on bass VI and the programmed drums, and Dan Elsen on the I guess organic drums debuted in 2017 with their The King is Dead three-songer EP, and they followed that with Reclaim‘s predecessor, the 2019 long-player debut Burn Scar with its thoughtful, rawer post-metallic approach from which one might hear “To Reclaim” (premiering below) as an outgrowth. I don’t think that’s coincidence.
Reclaim is Shadow Limb‘s second album (they also had the “Soon” single out this past Fall), but Roberts, Scarborough, Crew and Elsen mark a decade together in this incarnation despite their history going further back to La Fin Du Monde, who got their start in 2006 and released three albums and an EP, the last, Embers, arriving in 2012 after 2009’s Monolith (review here), their debut having been 2007’s Life as it Should Be.
That tongue-in-cheek sneer has been a common thread across both bands — La Fin du Monde had “Nascar Santa Claus,” “Accidentally About Sharks” and “Castle Greyskull,” and with “Snake Mountain” and the Conan-referential title “Ridde of Steel,” as well as an apparent title-track for the debut at its finish, Reclaim positions Shadow Limb in a present informed by their past but not aping it. It’s been five years since Burn Scar, so fair enough to move forward. Maturity? Maybe. I haven’t heard the full album, so can’t really comment either way.
“To Reclaim” will lead off the LP that shares most of its name, and it begins with a tense build around a central drone before the undulations of hard-distorted riffing and the gutturalisms begin. The sense of churn is almost immediate, and the sphere Shadow Limb are (mostly) in is heavy in its influence from Neurosis and Isis, the latter showing itself particularly in the drop and sudden change to melodic singing from Scarborough and Roberts, though there’s a folkish spin on the guitar there that’s metal-rooted but reaching toward an almost Celtic vibe. It’s a brief break and the onslaught resumes, claustrophobic in a familiar-feeling manner but presented with its own expressive intent.
They crunch toward the finish with due intensity, bringing back the guitar solo near the finish to tie it all together with a subtlety that fills out underneath the outward crash and bash of aggro, barebones atmospheric sludge. The guitar steps back for a bit to give the vocals more room near the end, and the surge in the last minute is no less satisfying because you see (hear) it coming. Think of it as laying on the tracks. You know a train will be by eventually.
I don’t know that “To Reclaim” speaks to everything Reclaim has to offer sound-wise in its six tracks (though if it was, that’d probably work), but if you imagine yourself in the unknowable future that is the Spring to come, taking on the duly-mud-coated record amid the gorgeous rebirth of life that of course comes also mostly from mud, “To Reclaim” will at very least be the point at which your immersion begins. I hope you enjoy it on that level and in the spirit of more-to-follow.
Info under the player below. Dig:
Mike Crew on “To Reclaim”:
“To Reclaim” is one of those songs that came together pretty organically from a riff our guitarist/vocalist, Adam, just started playing out of nowhere at practice. It can be refreshing when an idea comes up like that and you leave with a good song skeleton at the end of the night. Lyrically, the song addresses the rebuilding of our hometown Paradise, CA, after the devastating Camp Fire in 2018. Our last album was called Burn Scar, but none of the songs were actually about the fire. This album has two songs that address it pretty directly. Chris Roberts (guitar/vocals) and I have been working as carpenters in the area for several years and it’s been nice to be a small part of the rebuilding process. So far over 2,000 homes have been rebuilt.
Stoked to share the album art for our upcoming album “Reclaim”! Huge thanks to our very talented friend @davesurrealneal for these rad paintings!!! And our other very talented friend @loomsville for the lettering!!! “Reclaim” will be released on March 29th on digital and vinyl by @seeing_red_records
Tracklisting:
1. To Reclaim
2. Snake Mountain
3. Destitute
4. The Maneuver
5. Riddle of Steel
6. Burn Scar
Shadow Limb are:
Mike Crew – Bass VI and drum programming
Dan Elsen – Drums
Chris Roberts – Guitar and vocals
Adam Scarborough – Guitar and vocals
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Tags: California, Chico, Reclaim, Seeing Red Records, Shadow Limb, Shadow Limb Reclaim
