The Electric Mud: New LP Ashes and Bone Out Oct. 4
By my count, Ashes and Bone will be the second full-length Floridian heavy blues rockers The Electric Mud — named of course after the landmark electrified Muddy Waters album released in 1968 — have issued through Small Stone Records, coming some four years after 2020’s Burn the Ships (review here) with 2021’s Black Wool EP (review here) in between. That makes the thanatos-themed offering due Oct. 4 the band’s third long-player overall, as they got their start with 2018’s Bull Gator, and if the lead single “Top of the Tree” is anything to go by, they haven’t forgotten where they come from in terms of vibe or the purposeful style of their songwriting. To wit, “Top of the Tree” is three minutes long, builds up to a central charge and still manages to underscore that with a bluesy, classic-heavy character.
That blend of urgency and swing serves well in the short sample, and a hook with some melodic flourish doesn’t hurt either, and I’m curious if the rest of the record bears out its relative immediacy. When I find out I’ll let you know, but in the meantime, if you’ve got three minutes to dedicate to no-nonsense heavy rock and roll — and I believe you do — the track’s down at the bottom, under the info sent by the PR wire. Note I’m not sure if Kozmik Artifactz is co-releasing this one or not. They did for Burn the Ships and have had a bunch of joint releases with Small Stone handling Europe, but yeah, that’s a thing I don’t know yet. I’ll try to find out by the time I review.
Here’s that info:
THE ELECTRIC MUD To Release Ashes And Bone Full-Length October 4th Via Small Stone Recordings; New Track Streaming + Preorders Available
Florida-based heavy rock unit THE ELECTRIC MUD will release their Ashes And Bone full-length on October 4th via Small Stone Recordings!
It’s been three years since the release of THE ELECTRIC MUD’s Black Wool EP and, encouraged by friends, family, and the brass at Small Stone, the band is excited to announce their return. They believed they had more to say, and that their best music was still in front of them. They believed the ideas and creative philosophy that brought the band to life and to the precipice of so many exciting things just a few short years ago had to be carried to the next point in their evolution. A new full-length album, it was decided, was the best way to make that statement.
During the writing sessions, a theme emerged: Mankind’s obsession with its own destruction. Where did it come from, and where will it take us? THE ELECTRIC MUD intended to examine some of the darker angels of our nature, and set it to a heavy, post-apocalyptic soundtrack. Decamping to Juniper Recordings in Cape Coral, Florida, and bringing Caleb Neff aboard not just to engineer the record but produce it created an open and creative environment in the studio that’s integral to the sound. There is a deep collaborative bond stitched into the fabric of the record, a collection of heavy sounds and ideas that are truly egalitarian in nature. The point is emphatically driven home with a fantastic mix by Ben McLeod, studio wiz by day, guitar demigod for All Them Witches by night. The resulting record, Ashes And Bone, has been a labor of love, and a reminder of what they love about music and each other.
Boasting a heavier, more aggressive sound that owes as much to the sludgy, prog inflected ferocity of Soundgarden or Mastodon as it does the eerie proto-metal riffing of Black Sabbath and soulful energy of Graveyard, Ashes And Bone is a firmly taken musical step forward into the future as much as it is the sound of a band taking care of unfinished business.
In advance of the record’s release, today THE ELECTRIC MUD unveils their first single, “Top Of The Tree.” Comments Constantine Grim, “‘Top Of The Tree’ was chosen for its pace, energy, and because it serves as connective tissue for the theme of the record: a look into humanity’s obsession with its own destruction through varying perspectives through our history. ‘Top Of The Tree’ is a look in on the end of the world from a position of plenty and privilege, set to an apocalyptic soundtrack for the ages.”
Ashes And Bone, which features album artwork and design by Alexander von Wieding, will be released on CD, LP and digital formats.
Find preorders at the Small Stone Recordings Bandcamp page at THIS LOCATION: https://smallstone.bandcamp.com/album/ashes-and-bone
Ashes And Bone Track Listing:
1. Silent Gods
2. Top Of The Tree
3. The Crown That Eats The Head
4. Gone Are The Days
5. Wrath Of The Mighty
6. Ashes And Bone
7. The Old Ways
8. Manmade Weather
9. Pillars
10. Ace
THE ELECTRIC MUD:
Constantine Grim – guitar
Pierson Whicker – drums, percussion
Peter Kolter – vocals, guitar
Tommy Scott – bass
Special Guests:
Joe Reppert – organ and keys on “Wrath Of The Mighty”
Jon Meek – synths on “Wrath Of The Mighty” and “Ace”
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