Tomorrow, April 26, Indianapolis doomers Apostle of Solitude launch their 20th anniversary European tour at the Grand Paris Sludge festival, embarking on a 14-date run that culminates at the inaugural Desertfest Oslo. The last time the band traveled abroad was in 2018 — the Beforetimes! — and in addition to changes like drummer Corey Webb cutting his hair and losing his beard in favor of a fierce, nigh-on-authoritarian mustache, and bassist Marshall Kreeb joining in place of Mike Naish, let alone being on the other side of a global pandemic, etc., that’s also long enough ago to be before they put out their latest album, 2021’s Until the Darkness Goes (review here). If you were looking for an excuse to see them, the record alone should do it.

As one might when promoting the kind of tour that doesn’t happen every year, the four-piece of Webb, Kreeb, and guitarist/vocalists Chuck Brown and Steve Janiak have posted a new video, for the track “Deeper Than the Oceans” from Until the Darkness Goes. Made in DIY fashion with Kreeb filming and Janiak handling the edits, it’s duly watery in the visuals and a showcase for the song itself, which leads off the second half of the record and is resonant in both its overarching melancholic heft and the emotive crux in Brown and Janiak‘s shared and oft-harmonized vocals.

Over the course of their now-20 years, Apostle of Solitude have always excelled at conveying a sense of defeat or despondency without losing themselves in that musically, and “Deeper Than the Oceans” encapsulates this well. That’s not to say they’re pairing sad-sung verses and choruses with hard-charging thrash — it’s a doom song with water in the title; full-on “big nod coming” dogwhistle for the converted — but while they’re plenty depressive on Until the Darkness Goes and in “Deeper Than the Oceans,” they dwell in more than just that atmospherically, as the build in the midsection after four minutes in demonstrates. They’re never totally hopeless, as brooding or dark as their material might seem.

And believe it or not — and they might take this as an insult but I assure you it’s not meant that way — they’re fun live, too. Yeah, actual fun. Don’t tell them I said that, but if you’re in their path, this tour would be a fitting occasion to show up and find out for yourself as they move on toward a new full-length hopefully sometime in 2025.

Enjoy the video:

Apostle of Solitude, “Deeper Than the Oceans” official video

Apostle of Solitude’s music video for “Deeper than the Oceans” from the album “Until the Darkness Goes” available from Cruz Del Sur Music. https://www.cruzdelsurmusic.com

Filmed by Marshall Kreeb
Edits: S. Janiak
special thanks: Mike Naish

Recorded by Mike Bridavsky at Russian Recording, Bloomington, IN
Mixed by Mike Bridavsky
Mastered by Collin Jordan at The Boiler Room Chicago, Il

Apostle of Solitude 20th Anniversary European Tour:
April 26 – Paris, France @ Savigny le Temple, l’Empreinte Grand Paris Sludge
April 27 – Martigny, Switzerland @ Les Caves du Manior
April 28 – Torino, Italy @ Ziggy Club
April 29 – Bologna, Italy @ Freakout Club
April 30 – Viareggio, Italy @ Circolo ARCI GOB
May 02 – Osnabrück, Germany @ Bastard Club
May 03 – Berlin, Germany @ Slaughterhouse Berlin
May 04 – Vienna, Austria @ Escape Metalcorner
May 05 – Budapest, Hungary @ Robot
May 07 – Wiesbaden, Germany @ Schlachthof Wiesbaden
May 08 – Göppingen, Germany @ Zille
May 09 – Düsseldorf, Germany @ Pitcher
May 10 – Sebnitz, Germany @ Wonnemond Festival
May 11 – Oslo, Norway @ Desertfest Oslo

Apostle of Solitude:
Chuck Brown – Guitar, Vocals
Corey Webb – Drums
Steve Janiak – Guitar, Vocals
Marshall Kreeb – Bass

Apostle of Solitude, Full Band Interview, March 3, 2024

(L-R in video: Steve Janiak, Marshall Kreeb, Chuck Brown, Corey Webb)

Apostle of Solitude, Until the Darkness Goes (2021)

Apostle of Solitude on Facebook

Apostle of Solitude on Instagram

Apostle of Solitude on Bandcamp

Apostle of Solitude BigCartel store

Apostle of Solitude website

Cruz Del Sur Music on Facebook

Cruz del Sur Music website

Tags: Apostle of Solitude, Cruz Del Sur Music, Indiana, Indianapolis

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 25th, 2024 at 9:35 am and is filed under Whathaveyou. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.