Set to appear among the hordes in the enviable lineup for this year’s Ripplefest Texas, the Jadd Shickler-fronted — formerly of Spiritu, best known for his work with Blues Funeral Recordings, Magnetic Eye, ex-Meteorcity, and so on — heavy rockers from Albuquerque will issue their second full-length, Everything Fades. The band are rolling out the title-track — and I do mean rolling — to coincide with the album’s announcement, and the song’s gritty hook should pique the interest of anyone who caught onto the band’s 2022 debut, Ephemeral (review here) or the 2023 split they issued with High Desert Queen, Turned to Stone Ch. 8: The Wake (review here) last year.

I guess the theme of ephemerality is still represented in the new record’s title and lead single, and fair enough. The fleeting nature of reality as we experience it hasn’t dulled any in the last two years, and from where I sit, a sludge-blues-desert-rocking nod such as that on offer here is worth embracing while you can. I haven’t heard the record yet, so can’t comment on other shenanigans, but if you can dig it, by all means, dig it.

This info is from Bandcamp. I expect a proper press release in the inbox about 30 seconds after it gets posted [actually, I waited for it — ed.]. So it goes. If you have the art and song and release date and you can get to Bandcamp for preorders, you probably have what you need anyway, and I say that as a dude who writes band bios on the (too) regular:

New Mexico heavy rockers BLUE HERON announce new album “Everything Fades” on Blues Funeral Recordings; stream title track now!

Albuquerque, New Mexico’s desert rock torchbearers BLUE HERON have announced the release of their new studio album “Everything Fades” on September 27th through Blues Funeral Recordings. Listen to the debut single and title track on all streaming services today!

BLUE HERON expand on their unyielding desert sound with a new slab of propulsive, sun-scorched riff-heaviness. “Everything Fades” finds the band reveling in low-tuned roil and amplifier hum, churning out swerving grooves as if the primordial spirit of the desert itself compels them.

Stream Blue Heron’s new single “Everything Fades” at this location: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9oTcrcQAPc
+ listen to the single on all streaming services: https://lnkfi.re/blueheronfades

Balanced between laid-back, meditative atmospherics and heavier, more aggressive lunges, BLUE HERON’s cruising jams and gritty stoner romps call to mind echoes of Kyuss, Clutch and Monster Magnet, as well as modern contemporaries Valley of the Sun and Greenleaf. Full of rhythmic intensity, sledgehammer riffing, and vocals ranging from clean and moody to howling and raw, “Everything Fades” covers a wide expanse of musical ground that shows how familiar influences can always be molded into inventive, exciting new forms.

The album will be issued on vinyl, CD digipack and digital formats on September 27th, with preorders available now via Blues Funeral Recordings.

BLUE HERON “Everything Fades”
Out September 27th on Blues Funeral Recordings
Preorder on
Bandcamp: https://blueheronabq.bandcamp.com/album/everything-fades
Bluesfuneral.com: https://www.bluesfuneral.com/search?q=blue+heron
SPKR shop: https://en.bluesfuneral.spkr.media/en/Artists/Blue-Heron/Blue-Heron-Everything-Fades.html

Tracklisting:
1. Null Geodesic
2. Everything Fades
3. Swansong
4. We Breathe Darkness
5. Dinosaur
6. Trepidation
7. Clearmountain
8. Bellwether
9. Flight of the Heron

Blue Heron coalesced in 2018 around a compulsion to fill the wide New Mexico skies with massive volume, and saturate their piece of desert with thunderous riffs, drums that pummel and swing, deep, thrumming tones and vocals that rip and roar. Based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, their firsthand relationship with the desert is inextricable from who they are and how they sound.

BLUE HERON is
Mike Chavez – Guitars
Ricardo Sanchez – Drums
Steve Schmidlapp – Bass
Jadd Shickler – Vocals

https://www.instagram.com/blueheronabq/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5iNywSwnYX4eMwaQISEpzG
https://www.facebook.com/blueheronabq
https://blueheronabq.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/bluesfuneral/
https://www.instagram.com/blues.funeral/
https://bluesfuneralrecordings.bandcamp.com/
bluesfuneral.com

Blue Heron, Everything Fades (2024)