The Electric Mud Premiere Video for Title-Track of Ashes and Bone LP Out Oct. 4
Floridian heavy rockers The Electric Mud will release their new album, Ashes and Bone, on Oct. 4 through Small Stone Records. Named of course after the classic Muddy Waters album, Electric Mud (discussed here), the band made their Small Stone debut with 2020’s Burn the Ships (review here) and there and on the subsequent Black Wool EP (review here), they fostered a markedly bluesy heavy rock sound. That’s still definitely a factor on Ashes and Bone‘s 10-track/43-minute span, most notably in the vocals of guitarist Peter Kolter — joined in the band by guitarist Constantine Grim, bassist Tommy Scott and drummer Pierson Whicker — but change is clearly afoot in their sound.
In the twisting lead riffing of “The Crown That Eats the Head’ or the rhythmically tense chug behind “The Old Ways” and “Manmade Weather” later on, The Electric Mud transpose an early-Mastodon influence into a more aggressive form of their own heavy blues. This, coupled with a sharper attack in the grooves of pieces like opener “Silent Gods” and the careening “Top of the Tree” in the album’s initial salvo, changes the scope of Ashes and Bone coming off of Burn the Ships, and while that record wanted nothing for energy, the direction in which that manifests is notably shifted from where it was. Whether that was conscious or not as the band set themselves to the task of writing, I don’t know, but they’re at least aware of it after the fact as a characteristic of the
album — the PR wire info below attests — and even as they make their way from the taut craft of “Manmade Weather” and the angularity of the penultimate “Pillars” into the nine-minute progressively-structured semi-metallized “Ace” to round out, they seem to revel in the new without entirely letting go of who they were last time around.
“Ashes and Bone,” the title-track with a lyric video premiering below, is somewhat anomalous in its construction. It follows the organ-laced meld of presumed side-A capper “Wrath of the Mighty,” which brings in a bit of dogmatic fire and brimstone, and brings together fluid melody and more complex rhythms, and keeps the organ behind a brooding verse en route to building to a chorus delivering the album’s titular line. It is bluesier than some of the album that shares its name, but its ebbs and flows resolve in a solo-topped crescendo that’s precise enough to tie it to the surrounding pieces. It’s a somewhat mournful lyrical perspective — fair enough — shared with the likes of “The Old Ways” and “Gone Are the Days,” but “Ashes and Bone” is a standout for highlighting both how anchored in roll The Electric Mud are and how much they are able to work around that solid center.
Moreover, Ashes and Bone serves as a reminder that the lines between microgenres are imaginary in the first place, that music is music, and that part of the function of art is to be a showcase for new ideas and interpretations. For someone like me, sitting at a keyboard after the fact of the album’s making and trying to convey some of its intent to anyone who might take it on, this notion is crucial to keeping an open mind. It may be that The Electric Mud are in a transitional moment on their way to become a metal band. If so, all the better that they’ve managed to capture that process as it’s happening rather than simply showing up next time around as basically a different band. Whether that’s the case or not, I obviously have no idea, but with as much motion as there is throughout Ashes and Bone, however post-apocalyptic it may be, it’s hard to think of The Electric Mud resting on these laurels any more than they did after Burn the Ships.
If it needs to be said, that’s a good thing. As a niche, blues rock could use a kick in the ass and a refreshed perspective. The Electric Mud would seem to be providing both.
Enjoy the video:
The Electric Mud, “Ashes and Bone” video premiere
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.
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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