When lead guitarist Eric Clausen left West Coast heavy rockers Snail last summer, he did so with the announcement of his new project, Division Process and its debut album, The Jesus Horses. Recorded by his former bandmate Matt Lynch at his Mysterious Mammal Studios, Clausen is now ready to release The Jesus Horses on May 20 through Dragonwolf Records.

The long-player takes a decidedly darker, more metallic direction than did Snail‘s last outing, Terminus, and as Clausen explains in recapping some of the themes of the record below, that’s no coincidence when it comes to his influences and the point of view from which he was working.

The PR wire has it thus:

DIVISION PROCESS to Release “The Jesus Horses” May 20th

The debut album by DIVISION PROCESS, “The Jesus Horses”, is a narrative of one man’s decent into, and eventual rise out of, his own darkness.

Division Process is the creation of one man: Eric Clausen. Formerly lead guitarist of Snail, Clausen has been a studio heavyweight for years, and now he’s unleashing his fever dream of crank and nicotine on us all. “It’s about drugs. Or, rather, it’s about my journey through heavy drug use.”

It’s a black portrait of personal loss and disassociation including the inevitable spiral into self destruction. Clausen elaborates: “It’s a very personal record for me as it deals with my former drug use and my excuses for using — disillusionment with my surroundings, the loss of my mother to disease and just how everything suddenly seemed to fall apart. While there is no ‘happy ending,’ there is hope by the end when our hero decides to follow a better path rather than seek his own demise.”

The result is an album that is at once heavy, melodic and dark with big guitars and expansive, layered vocals. Says Clausen: “I’m a huge fan of bands with big vocals, be it Queen, ELO, Alice in Chains or whomever. I also love the guitars of TOOL, High on Fire and Cheap Trick and the writing of Trent Reznor.” This eclectic mix comes together in a potent stew of crushing rock.

Enlisting the help of drummer Darby Todd (Gary Moore, The Darkness) and bassist Collyn McCoy (OTEP, The Ultra-Electric Mega Galactic) ensured that the album’s impressive musical prowess would be evident while retaining musicality. “It was important to me that the music groove and swing and be listenable but still have some moments that just drop your jaw. I wanted it to be aggressive on all fronts, including the players’ abilities, without it being a shredder thing. Those boys definitely pulled that off.”

The first release from Dragonwolf Entertainment’s new label, Dragonwolf Records, “The Jesus Horses” is officially released on May 20 on CD and digital and is available on Amazon.com, iTunes, CDBaby and all the usual digital outlets.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Division-Process/176224029137769

Division Process, “Annex Mecitrocity” from The Jesus Horses

And then there were three… again. Lead guitarist Eric Clausen joined up with Snail founders Mark Johnson (guitar/vocals), bassist Matt Lynch (bass) and Marty Dodson (drums) when they reformed in 2008 to release the stellar sophomore outing, Blood (review here), the next year on MeteorCity. A fully reformed four-piece, if one spread somewhat geographically between California and Seattle on the West Coast, Snail issued their worthy follow-up in the form of third album, Terminus (review here), and today, even as their fourth is in progress — more on that below — the band announced that Clausen has left to focus on his own projects, one of which, Division Process, has a new record of its own in the can.

I’m not sure where in the process of making that fourth offering, titled Feral, Snail actually are, but having been fortunate enough to see them with Clausen in the lineup, I know he added a considerable amount to the band. Nonetheless, there’s a certain amount of enjoyable symmetry to them winding up a trio after starting out that way with the release of their self-titled debut (review here) back in the early ’90s.

Here’s how it is:

It is with heavy hearts that we must announce that our friend and bandmate Eric Clausen will be leaving Snail. We will continue to support him in his many musical endeavors and wish him the success that he deserves.

Says Eric – “I’ve decided to devote my time to my own projects. I loved my time with my bros and wish Snail all the best and will continue to show my support of them.”

You’ll be able to hear more from Eric soon as he will be releasing a new CD under the name Division Process.

In other news, Snail have revealed the songs that will appear on Feral when it is released:

Snail, Feral tracklisting
Smoke the deathless
Derail
Born in captivity
Thou art that
Fast woman
A mustard seed
Psilocybe
Building a haunted house
Come home

Snail, The ’93-’94 Blood Demos (2012)

Currently in the recording studio with bandmate Matt Lynch, Snail guitarist Eric Clausen has announced a new project featuring Collyn McCoy of The Ultra Electric Mega Galactic and London-based drummer Darby Todd of The Darkness. L.A.’s a weird town, man. But the band sounds cool and Lynch‘s studio, Mysterious Mammal, can be relied on for a full, thick sound, so I’ll be interested to hear how Division Process‘ debut, The Jesus Horses, turns out when the time comes.

Lynch sent the announcement down the PR wire:

Members of Snail Embark On New Project — DIVISION PROCESS

Eric Clausen, lead guitar player for Snail, has entered the studio with Snail bass player and producer Matt Lynch to begin recording his solo project the Division Process. The album, entitled The Jesus Horses, is being recorded at Lynch’s Mysterious Mammal studio in Los Angeles and features some heavy players, notably Darby Todd (The Darkness, Hot Leg) on drums and Collyn McCoy (Otep, Trash Titan, The Ultra Electric Mega Gallactic) on bass.

Division Process is the sole vision and songwriting of Clausen, who plays all guitars and performs all vocals. The Jesus Horses will fuse many styles of heavy music and rock — slow and heavy with melancholy and beauty, sludge and butt rock with experience and searching. Heavy down-tuned instrumental beds with gritty, melodic metal vocals and intensely personal lyric imagery. The songs sound like they emerge from a heavy haze of nicotine and crank.

Some band signposts for reference: Snail, early Metallica, DIO, Motorhead, Tool, Kiss, Alice in Chains, Melvins, Nirvana.

The current track list:

The Acts Of The Apostles
Annex Mecitrocity
Night Of The Sleestak
Pills For Breakfast
Paper Covers Stone
Something With Protien
The Daze Of Lines And Doses
The Jesus Horses (Dear Mother Interlude)
Dope Hope mp3
Stone (BHT)
The Sweet Goodbye