Maryland trio Faith in Jane will release their eighth album, Axe to Oak, through Grimoire Records on Oct. 7. Preorders are up, and just to clarify, yes, I said eight records. That tally depends on how you count their 2012 debut, which they list as an EP, but there’s also that four-part Trippin’ After Supper jam series they put out in the second half of 2020, so count it all up how you will. Whatever your own final number, the 39 minutes of Axe to Oak are a standout in the catalog and inarguably the most cohesive work the three-piece have done yet, working with engineers Greg Diener (guitarist/vocalist of Pale Divine) and Noel Mueller — he of Tiny Castle Recording and head of Grimoire Records — to wrangle a vision-serving version of the loose-swinging heavy pastoralism of what has always felt and still feels uncontrolled in Faith in Jane‘s sound.

That balance is essential throughout Axe to Oak, and as side A wraps with “Enter Her Light” — premiering below — as led into by the Irish folk ballad “She Moved Through the Fair,” Faith in Jane‘s wistful swing and the throaty vocals of guitarist Dan Mize, the album feels very much like a post-pandemic return. Faith in Jane have never really toured, but they’ve learned from the sphere of Maryland’s underground even as they’ve taken that influence and crafted their own jammy heavy grunge from it. I could go on, about the record’s construction, about how undervalued the trio of Mize, bassist Brendan Winston and drummer Alex Llewellyn have been over the course of their decade together, especially in these last four or five years, and how Axe to Oak sees them figure out their place not only in their scene, but in the broader scope of heavy rock — more sunshine-on-open-rolling-field than prairie country or desert, etc.; it might be the sound of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed if Maryland’s long history of doom isn’t — with two vinyl sides of expressive breadth and a sense that they are now the band they’ve been working to be. I could. Really. But October is a ways away, and I guess spoilers?

Maybe Faith in Jane are the kind of band who work best with a producer — someone to help them shape the raw material they bring into the studio — and maybe that’s the difference between Axe to Oak and 2018’s Countryside (review here), 2020’s Mother to Earth or their sundry other prior works, but whatever it is, cuts like the nodder “Heavy Drinker,” the fuzzy bounce and march of “Axe to Oak” itself, the quick jamm-with-two-‘m’s “How Many Ships Sail in the Forest?” and the warm tonality of closer “The Seeker,” make it so the band have never sounded more ready to take the stage at Lollapalooza ’92. I’ve spent the last three paragraphs trying to look for the right word, and here it is: vibrant. Faith in Jane‘s songs come alive here, in terms of they-play-in-studio-like-on-stage energy — which is both a cliché and true — their duly organic communion with natural elements and in the flourish of the interplay between Mize, Winston and Llewellyn, and the material itself reaps the rewards of the years that have gone into its making.

If you ever get to see them live, do it. Even if not, as a fan of stuff-that-doesn’t-sound-like-everything-else, I think this is worth your time.

Album info from the PR wire follows. Please enjoy:

FAITH IN JANE: Maryland Psychedelic Rock Trio To Release Axe To Oak Album Through Grimoire Records In October

Thurmont, Maryland-based psychedelic rock trio FAITH IN JANE will release their new full-length album, Axe To Oak, through Grimoire Records in October. Alongside the record’s cover art, track listing, preorders, and more, is a premiere of the lead single, “Enter Her Light.”

An incredibly prolific band, Axe To Oak serves as FAITH IN JANE’s eighth studio album in their ten years as a band, the record delivering a uniquely ’90s grunge element in their psych rock vibes. Packing seven extensive tracks into a dense forty-minute excursion, Axe To Oak was engineered by Greg Diener in July 2021, mixed and mastered by Grimoire Records’ Noel Mueller at Tiny Castle in June 2022, and competed with artwork by Austyn Sullivan and layout by Mueller.

With the album’s first single, “Enter Her Light,” the band’s Dan Mize reveals, “This song is loosely based around the demon Lilith in Judaic mythology. We bridged it together with ‘She Moved Through The Fair,’ a traditional Irish ballad. The dark marriage between the two came about as a one-off idea for a show but it ended up sounding so natural and powerful, we had to record them together.”

Axe To Oak will be released digitally and on limited edition CD via Grimoire Records on October 7th. Find preorders HERE: https://grimoirerecords.bandcamp.com/album/axe-to-oak

Stand by for additional previews of the album to be issued over the weeks ahead.

Axe To Oak Track Listing:
1. Whiskey Mountain Breakdown
2. She Moved Through The Fair
3. Enter Her Light
4. Heavy Drinker
5. How Many Ships Sail In The Forest?
6. Axe To Oak
7. The Seeker

FAITH IN JANE will support the release of Axe To Oak with a run of East Coast tour dates which are currently being booked for October. In the meantime, the band has confirmed a local gig on August 26th to celebrate the new vinyl release of their prior LP, Mother To Earth. Watch for new tour dates to be issued shortly.

FAITH IN JANE Live:
8/26/2022 Olde Mother Brewing Co. – Frederick, MD w/ Bailjack, Strange Highways

FAITH IN JANE was formed in 2008 by Dan Mize (guitar/vocals/lyrics), Brendan Winston (bass), and Alex Llewellyn (drums), who remain as the current lineup.

FAITH IN JANE newest album Axe To Oak features some of the tightest songs they have recorded so far, the product of two years spent refining unrecorded material and writing brand new songs; so many, in fact, that several songs recorded during the sessions have been set aside for future release. Their songwriting is more focused than ever, placing stronger emphasis on the vocals and lyrics while continuing to develop their trademark heavy rock sound.

Menacing yet swinging riffs balance dread and boogie in the best Black Sabbath tradition; the rumbling bass groove that carries the songs has been enhanced by a fresh layer of fuzz; and bluesy, whiskey-soaked leads soar over everything like an eagle flying over their native Appalachians. The unexpected inclusion of the traditional Irish ballad “She Moved Through The Fair” shows yet another of their diverse musical influences. The juxtaposition of Mize’s delivery of its ancient love-and-death melody with the wash of shimmering guitar, bass and trembling cymbals is spine-chilling, and it flows seamlessly into the original “Enter Her Light.”

The whole package is enhanced by their best production work to date, courtesy of Greg Diener (Pale Divine, Beelzefuzz) and Noel Mueller (Grimoire Records). With the release of Axe To Oak, FAITH IN JANE plans to continue playing shows in support of the album- they’ve made short runs through the southeast and mid-Atlantic states, as well as journeys to New York and New England, and are looking to spread their music and message to all lovers of rock and metal.

FAITH IN JANE:
Dan Mize – guitar, vocals
Brendan Winston – bass
Alex Llewellyn – drums

Faith in Jane website

Faith in Jane on Instagram

Faith in Jane on Facebook

Faith in Jane on Bandcamp

Grimoire Records website

Grimoire Records on Bandcamp

Grimoire Records on Twitter

Grimoire Records on Facebook

Grimoire Records on Instagram

Baltimore heavy prairie rockers Lathe release their debut album, Tongue of Silver, July 29 on Grimoire Records and Apt. 66 Records. “Vinegar,” which is the opening track premiering below, begins the record with an immediate Americana wistfulness of pedal steel and electric guitar, the trio of Tyler Davis, Eric Paltell and Flynn Diguardia working to convey an emotional presence as well as to gather spaces for their tones to inhabit. Instrumental for the duration, the eight-song/36-minute offering is outwardly heavy at times in a way that some other acts of this ilk don’t dare to be, but the vibe is maintained, both throughout “Vinegar” and what follows as “Drain” finds a midtempo roll, “Heat Wave” taps more countrified sounds ahead of “Rodeo Fumes” channeling rockabilly gallop before a noisy blowout leads to the sub-two-minute harsh noise interlude “351W” reminding of something The Body or Primitive Man would try to hurt you with — plus pedal steel. Meantime, “Cauliflower” honors that most noble of vegetables by diving into blues guitar via Earth‘s Hex: Or Printing in the Infernal Method for a different kind of drone, the six-minute penultimate “Journey to the East” seems to find water at last and closer “Morris” brings thicker tones and a less Western-tinged spirit on the whole, swelling in volume for Tongue of Silver‘s last march into residual amplifier hum, organ notes and feedback.

What was I talking about again?

Oh yeah. Paltell, Davis and Diguardia recorded with the esteemed Noel Mueller at Tiny Castle, whose one-stop-shop as an engineer, mixer and label continues to cross genres with ease and no dip in quality. To wit, Tongue of Silver is one of few Grimoire Releases to come this year, but it adds something that even the once-instrumental Cavern didn’t bring to the roster with its deep focus on atmospherics and the subtleties that inhabit therein. If we’re picking favorites, I might go with “Journey to the East” for the quiet urgency of the tempo in its bassline and the volume shift in guitar at around two minutes in, but the entirety that surrounds is evocative and feels like it’s telling a story, whether that’s the languid drawl of guitar in the midsection of “Heat Wave” — remember, Baltimore is humid in summer — before it breaks to tambourine-punctuated minimalism or “Morris” adding more than just a touch of Euro-doom style melancholy to the record’s final apex, something surprising but even more surprising for how out of character it doesn’t actually feel.

Which is to say, it works without pulling too far away from the world Tongue of Silver has worked diligently to create up to that point. It gives the ending that follows a sorrowful tinge, but especially with this being the trio’s first full-length, it seems fair to grant that they’re looking to set up future avenues of growth either consciously or not, and in terms of identity, that last track stands out as one of Tongue of Silver‘s most individualized. I won’t try to predict how their sound might develop over time, but that they put enough depth into this outing to make one curious in the first place says something.

This was supposed to be an album announcement, not a review, but screw it, here we are. Little bit of everything. “Vinegar” is streaming on the player below — or will be at some point soon; private Bandcamp embeds are hard — and you’ll find it duly immersive and transportive as you go. Keep your mind open, maybe close your eyes if you’re not driving or whathaveyou.

That album announcement follows, courtesy of the PR wire. Because there’s only one new song out as of now, I’ve also included Lathe‘s 2021 Cavalier EP at the bottom of the post should you be up for digging further.

Enjoy:

Baltimore, Maryland-based instrumental Americana-inspired drone/doom trio LATHE will release their Tongue Of Silver full-length debut via Grimoire Records with Apt. 66 Records on July 29th, today unveiling the record’s track listing, cover art, and first single.

LATHE’s sound can be found somewhere between sand and rust, where sparkling leads and pedal steel are met with blistering riffs and a pummeling rhythm section. Tongue Of Silver is a collection of songs that began as a studio project in 2018. After countless revisions and setbacks, a pile of demos were brought to producer and Grimoire Records owner Noel Mueller for a proper studio assessment throughout 2021. Now, nearly four years since most of these songs were initially composed, they are finally completed and pressed to vinyl!

Across its eight engrossing tracks, Tongue Of Silver seamlessly blends elements of doom, country, punk, swing, and black metal into a heavy wall-of-sound. A hearty array of instruments familiar to the spaghetti western landscape — organ, tambourine, and pedal steel to name a few — significantly alter the common tropes of stoner music. While each song has an independent story to tell, they are unified as a whole through driving bass lines and persistent percussion. This aesthetic comes to total fruition on “Rodeo Fumes,” as the d-beat track featuring field recordings of a monster truck rally climaxes into a full-on wave of distortion that drones into the dark oblivion of “351W.”

Tongue Of Silver will be released on limited edition 12″ vinyl and digitally. Find preorders at THIS LOCATION: https://grimoirerecords.bandcamp.com/album/tongue-of-silver

Fans of Earth, Sunn O))), David Lynch, Grails, Ennio Morricone, and the like, pay heed.

Tongue Of Silver Track Listing:
1. Vinegar
2. Drain
3. Heat Wave
4. Rodeo Fumes
5. 351W
6. Cauliflower
7. Journey To The East
8. Morris

Tongue Of Silver is the third vinyl release for LATHE. Their first, a 7” titled APT66 Split, was a distant collaboration with George Cessna after he moved away from Baltimore. LATHE’s second 7”, Cavalier, presented the band for the first time as a trio and was mixed by Matt Williams of Hell and Sub Odin Studios. As with those prior releases, Tongue Of Silver combines pieces of classic country twang with a roaring wall of amps; a fitting soundtrack to a demolition derby.

LATHE:
Tyler Davis – guitars, bass, organ
Eric Paltell – pedal steel, guitars
Flynn Diguardia – drums

http://www.facebook.com/lathe66
http://lathe.bandcamp.com

http://www.grimoirerecords.com
http://grimoirerecords.bandcamp.com
http://twitter.com/grimoiremetal
http://www.facebook.com/GrimoireRecords
http://www.instagram.com/grimoirerecords

https://www.apt66.com/

Lathe, Cavalier (2021)

The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.

Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.

Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Scott Brenner of Haze Mage

—

How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

I’m a web developer, bassist (Haze Mage), amateur photographer, and occasional local show booker/promoter. Most of that has just come naturally from my life experiences, personal hobbies, and desire to help support our vast local scene. My band exists because John made a Facebook post saying “I want to drum for a stoner metal band” we responded, started meeting shortly after that and have been playing together ever since! This band has solidified my already long standing appreciation for the vast Baltimore music scene and it’s why we do everything to showcase the local talent with our shows & annual event, Grim Reefer Fest.

Describe your first musical memory.

HFStival ‘99 was the first real concert I remember attending. It was wild for my first show to be a stadium event with a ton of my favorite bands of the time. Experiencing the sights, sounds, and smells of a large show for the first time was an eye opening moment for me. I’ve been hooked on concerts ever since.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

Until recently I would have said opening for Acid King, who is one of my all time favorite bands but we just played our first show in almost two years with some of our favorite bands to a huge crowd and the emotions from that experience are completely unrivaled to anything I’ve experienced. I didn’t truly realize the size of the void in my heart from not seeing or playing shows for so long. We all needed it. It was almost a bit overwhelming to see so many people that we’ve missed for so long and to play for them. Everything about that night was perfect and won’t be forgotten anytime soon.

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

I’m extremely non-religious and pretty much always have been. About 11 years ago I had a pituitary tumor diagnosis and needed to have that removed from my head (really not a fun experience, I don’t recommend it). There was a period before surgery where I contemplated death, God, etc., and perhaps looking for help from some sort of greater space deity but I didn’t and still don’t believe in that and never went down that path. I know that the only things getting me through that situation was the science, trusted doctors, and the will of my own body.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

I would say artistic progression leads to exploration and challenging yourself. It’s an important thing to drive yourself to push your own limits, to find your next sound or motif or piece of inspiration, and not just rely on what you’ve already done.

How do you define success?

Setting a goal and achieving it, it’s as simple as that. There will always be things I wish I could’ve done better or differently but that doesn’t make the things I’ve done any less of a success. Even as a musician, playing a show that’s smaller than maybe we would’ve hoped for I would still call it a success because if I’m out there playing for anyone other than myself and if one person is there and enjoyed it then that’s all that matters.

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

I’ve seen a pig eat a man. In fact, I’ve seen many pigs eat many men. It was a bloodbath.

In all seriousness though I’ve given this one probably more thought than I should admit and nothing specific really comes to mind. I’ve seen so much good and bad, joyful and sad, and I don’t regret seeing any of it because it’s all helped me become who I am today.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

I would like to create a platform for artists to share their shows, music, art, event photos, and live streams that doesn’t suppress everything the way some of the bigger platforms do these days. We should all do more to build our local scenes and keep them thriving.

Also I have a dream about turning the lore and story we’ve written into all of our music into a D&D campaign, because we’re that type of nerds.

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

To be enjoyed. Not everything has to be inspirational or have deep meaning (sometimes a song about a witch seeing the future in her magic bong doesn’t have that many layers to it) but as long as somebody out there enjoys it, even if it’s just yourself, is all that matters in the end.

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

There’s this bridge between my house and my main route into the city that’s being rebuilt and has been closed for three years now that’s finally going to reopen soon and that’s such a grown-up answer to this question but it’s been a giant pain in the ass and I cannot wait.

Additionally, I’m looking forward to the new season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, more tattoos, the return of the Rattlesnake burrito, and Adam Page winning the AEW World Championship.

https://www.instagram.com/hazemage
https://www.facebook.com/hazemage
https://hazemage.bandcamp.com
http://www.grimoirerecords.com
http://grimoirerecords.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/GrimoireRecords
https://twitter.com/grimoiremetal

Haze Mage & Tombtoker, Split (2020)

The collaborative debut from Myopic and At the Graves, titled A Cold Sweat of Quiet Dread, is out March 12 through Grimoire Records. And look, I get it. Maybe you didn’t catch Myopic‘s 2018 self-titled LP when it also came out on Grimoire. Maybe you’ve never heard any of the material that the Baltimore-based Ben Price (also Foehammer, among others) has released under the solo moniker of At the Graves. If you want to be honest about it, I hadn’t either until the six-song/40-minute A Cold Sweat of Quiet Dread came my way with its roiling and extreme take on American black metal, doom and atmospheric sludge.

Breaking evenly into two three-track sides, the record begins with “Through Veins of Shared Blood,” for which you can see a recording session video premiering below. All I can do is suggest you watch that video, because it will give a sense of the process of these two parties — Price with the Washington D.C. of Sean Simmons (vocals and guitar), Nick Leonard (bass and vocals) and Michael Brown (drums) — coming together to create a work that represents both sides. “Through Veins of Shared Blood” is the shortest track on side A, but it still represents some of the tortured aspects of the vocals in its interweaving howls, growls and wails and the angularity of riff that underlies its more ferocious swells. On the record, “Gold Sinews” and “Reeling Between” follow and both top seven minutes but offer striking differences throughout as the former launches with blastbeats and clean vocals and screams in call and response form, conjuring a metal that feels ancient as much as forward-thinking, while “Reeling Between” offers an Opeth-style melodic break in its midsection before renewing a massive, charred doom lurch in its final stretch. Oh and somehow it’s grunge too.

Side B mirrors the first three songs in structure: shorter track up first, two seven-plus-minute cuts thereafter. “Oppressive Ruminations” (4:04) is the briefest inclusion on A Cold Sweat of Quiet Dread and more definitive in its scorch, verses and choruses swapping in and out in a manner almost catchy in its own, punishing way. “Stray Parasite” veers toward Paradise Lost-esque doom in its second half, but the setup that gets there draws from progressive death and black metal in kind, and Myopic & At the Graves are never anyone more than what would seem to be themselves throughout. That triumph — and it is one, make no mistake — is somewhat ironically underscored in the brazenly melodic “Resonating Loss,” which likewise draws together metallic traditions extreme and not and forges a path of its own essentially by shaping them to its will. They end melodic, and that feels telling.

Of what? I don’t know. Hard to guess whether A Cold Sweat of Quiet Dread is a pandemic-born one-shot deal or if it’ll be an ongoing thing. I hope the latter, and I’m almost sorry to say it, but the three-piece-plus-one-two-outfits-collaborating thing? Yeah, you guys might just be a new four-piece band. Certainly throughout A Cold Sweat of Quiet Dread, the melding of the two sides is complete to such a degree — the album does not feel disjointed as it might with disparate parties saying, “okay now let’s do this” with some out-of-place change or progression — that to seek out a name for this unit beyond Myopic & At the Graves seems appropriate if they’re going to continue. Considering the scope and cohesion in these tracks, it’s a thread well worth pursuing.

So maybe you’ve heard these two bands before, maybe you haven’t. If not, this is something new anyway, so don’t feel intimidated or weirded out by the idea or the (very cool) anatomical freneticism of the album art. Just go in with an open mind and you’ll be fine.

Enjoy:

Myopic & At the Graves, “Through Veins of Shared Blood” recording session video premiere

Studio session video shot/edited by Ben Price for ‘Through Veins of Shared Blood’ by Myopic & At The Graves during the recording of ‘A Cold Sweat of Quiet Dread’ available March 12th, 2021 on Grimoire Records. Pre-order here: https://grimoirerecords.bandcamp.com/album/a-cold-sweat-of-quiet-dread

“A Cold Sweat of Quiet Dread” was recorded, mixed and mastered by Noel Mueller in the Summer of 2020. Additional engineering by Nick Leonard, Ben Price and Sean Simmons. Art by Austyn Sullivan.

MYOPIC:
Sean Simmons – vocals, guitar
Nick Leonard – bass, vocals
Michael Brown – drums

AT THE GRAVES:
Ben Price – guitars, vocals, drums

Myopic website

Myopic on Thee Facebooks

Myopic on Instagram

At the Graves on Thee Facebooks

At the Graves on Bandcamp

Grimoire Records website

Grimoire Records on Bandcamp

Grimoire Records on Twitter

Grimoire Records on Thee Facebooks

Grimoire Records on Instagram

I held back posting about this one for a couple days hoping maybe a song would surface, but no dice. Not unreasonable for a March release that there wouldn’t be music up in mid-January, but still, especially for something that’s a collaboration, there’s a definite curiosity around what At the Graves and Myopic might come up with for a release. What’s particularly interesting here is how the two groups talk about how writing together forced them out of their comfort zones a little bit, changed their processes. If there’s any good that’s come out of the last year of, well, existence, it’s that people have been forced to push themselves to try new things and new means of expression because, I don’t know, it’s either that or implode with hopelessness I guess. Though there are plenty of days where it feels like that’s already happened too.

Hey, maybe that’s what the album sounds like!

I guess we’ll find out in March. The PR wire has the following in the interim:

MYOPIC & AT THE GRAVES To Release A Cold Sweat Of Quiet Dread Collaborative Full-Length March 12th Via Grimoire Records; Preorders Available

Washington, DC-based progressive doom trio MYOPIC and Baltimore, Maryland-based one-man doom/sludge unit AT THE GRAVES have united for the release of A Cold Sweat Of Quiet Dread, a full collaborative full-length set for release on March 12th via Grimoire Records.

Forged in 2010, MYOPIC released a blackened death metal demo in 2011, followed by their Vacuous EP in 2013, which showcased a darker, slower, and more introspective direction for the band. The band joined forces with Grimoire Records a year later for the release of the Beyond The Mirror’s Edge EP. A split release with Appalachian black metallers Torrid Husk — Crawling Mountain Apogee — would emerge later that year where MYOPIC continued their progression towards slower, longer, and more sprawling compositions. Bordering on concept album territory, their approach received critical acclaim nationally. MYOPIC released their self-titled full-length in 2018.

Ben Price (Immiseration, Elagabalus, Foehammer, Textile, ex-Revolta, ex-Xozo) has been playing music under the name AT THE GRAVES with various other members fulfilling band duties since 2009. Formed out of the desire to play guitar and a slower and more emotionally deep form of music, Price has been operating as a one-man-band since the release of 2016 full-length, Cold And True. Influenced by the likes of Neurosis, Godflesh, My Bloody Valentine, and Nirvana, AT THE GRAVES’ live performances heavily leverage the use of looper pedals, backing tracks and a live percussion set-up consisting of rack mounted toms and cymbals.

MYOPIC and AT THE GRAVES met in 2013 at the Velvet Lounge in Washington, DC, and have gigged together frequently since then. Having become good friends and sharing similar musical interests, the two bands have talked about collaborating on a project for years. In 2019, the bands began writing the material that would eventually become A Cold Sweat Of Quiet Dread.

Comments MYPOIC bassist/vocalist Nick Leonard, “We’ve been writing as a three-piece for all our releases, and AT THE GRAVES has been a one-man band for years, so it’s been a fun challenge to combine our sounds and write for as a four-piece with three vocalists. We’re very proud of the result and the new ground this album breaks for both of our bands.”

Adds Price, “Finally doing the collab with the homies in MYOPIC was deeply satisfying. It was the most collaborative and difficult writing process I’ve been a part of and I’m very stoked on the album.”

A Cold Sweat Of Quiet Dread will be released digitally and on limited edition CD
with teaser tracks to be released in the coming weeks. For preorders, visit THIS LOCATION: https://grimoirerecords.bandcamp.com/album/a-cold-sweat-of-quiet-dread

A Cold Sweat Of Quiet Dread Track Listing:
1. Through Veins Of Shared Blood
2. Gold Sinews
3. Reeling Between
4. Oppressive Ruminations
5. Stray Parasite
6. Resonating Loss

MYOPIC:
Sean Simmons – vocals, guitar
Nick Leonard – bass, vocals
Michael Brown – drums

AT THE GRAVES:
Ben Price – guitars, vocals, drums

http://myopicdc.com
http://www.facebook.com/MyopicBand
http://www.instagram.com/myopic_band
http://www.facebook.com/AtTheGravesBand
https://atthegraves.bandcamp.com/
http://www.grimoirerecords.com
http://grimoirerecords.bandcamp.com
http://twitter.com/grimoiremetal
http://www.facebook.com/GrimoireRecords
http://www.instagram.com/grimoirerecords

Myopic, Myopic (2018)

At the Graves, Pain After Pain (2019)

[Click play above to stream the premiere of ‘Eyes of Light’ from Yatra’s All is Lost. Album is out Oct. 9 on Grimoire Records. Says Dana Helmuth: “Athalon is a mythical place or kingdom I invented in the Yatra world, based off the Greek root definition of a major event or trial. ‘Sceptres seeking of Athalon’ pertains to these self righteous leaders and charlatans portraying their magical world that will exist if you bow down and follow their sceptre. ‘Eyes of light they shine, like broken diamonds of night.'”]

Maryland sludge upstarts Yatra will release their third album, All is Lost, on Oct. 9. The record reunites the three-piece with Grimoire Records, and even before you hit play and hear the opening squiggly riff of the title-track that launches the nine-song/34-minute beast, it is an offering of both the familiar and unfamiliar from the band. Being back with Grimoire means they returned to the studio with producer/engineer Noel Mueller, who of course helmed their 2018 debut, Death Ritual (discussed here), while the subsequent Jan. 2020 LP, Blood of the Night (review here), was recorded by Kevin Bernsten and released through STB.

They complement this return to roost with a sonic turn toward the extreme that one can only listen to and think of as the manifestation a band like Yatra has to be feeling during the course of this wretched waste of a year. Normally hard-touring and already plenty uncompromising when it comes to their sound, All is Lost lives up in terms of sound to the despair laid forth in its title. A group who’d put the time in to garner significant momentum in their favor over the last couple years, hitting the road on numerous occasions for stretches long and short — including a we-mean-business Fall 2019 European run — there’s a chunk of 2020 that should by rights have been theirs to devour as they saw fit on higher-profile tours supporting the second record.

The tradeoff, maybe, is that the great gnashing of teeth that songs like “All is Lost,” the lumbering “Tyrant Throne” and “One for the Mountain” — which show some of guitarist/vocalist Dana Helmuth‘s cleaner-singing approach as it seems to be developing in real-time; a mixture that still calls to mind Matt Pike but particularly in “Tyrant Throne” has an edge of Slough Feg‘s Mike Scalzi too — unfolding after “All is Lost” and the likewise sharp-edged, fucking-heavy-fucking-metal, someone-remind-me-to-send-drummer-Sean–Lafferty-a-thank-you-card-for-opening-up-that-groove highlight chorus of “Winter’s Dawning,” which follows. If progressive death metal is the new doom, and it is, then Helmuth, bassist Maria Geisbert and Lafferty will continue to walk their own path in dirt-coated metallic extremity — there’s very little one would call progressive here, apart maybe from an attention to the tightness of their songs on the whole.

“One for the Mountain,” which would seem to end side A while giving over to the sitar-introduced tracklist centerpiece “Blissful Wizard” — best sitar on a death metal cut I’ve heard since Amorphis‘ “Tuonela”; I think also the only, but still — is easier to read as catchy because of the relatively clear vocals, but “Blissful Wizard” has a strong hook of its own, and as noted with “Winter’s Dawning” above and pieces as well like “All is Lost” and side B’s “Talons of Eagles” and “Eyes of Light” that begin with their title-lines and immediately establish themselves in the listener’s mind through harshly-barked repetitions thereof, that hook is hardly alone. Extremity of purpose coinciding with a honing of craft. Brutality that refuses to relinquish nod for technicality or songwriting for aesthetic. “Eyes of Light,” blastbeats and all, is death metal. To be sure, much of All is Lost is. Even on the slower stretches of “Tyrant Throne” or in the penultimate plodder “‘Twas the Night,” there is a creeping-Slayer sinister feel to Helmuth‘s riff that Geisbert and Lafferty bring all the more forward through their accompanying lurch.

It’s not necessarily that the readjustment of priorities in Yatra‘s sound is a revolutionary act for them — I compared their last record to Carcass, doubt I was the first to do so, and even at its most primitive their output has to-date carried more than an air of bludgeoning, if at times primarily in the vocals — but it goes back to the blend of the familiar and the unfamiliar, and it’s the direct engagement with what were previously the darkest and harshest aspects of Yatra that, coupled again with the songwriting, makes All is Lost a moment of realization for the band. It is of course impossible to know now how much this one LP will define the path they follow moving forward from it as they inevitably will — or won’t, in which case the point is moot — but what Yatra forge in this material, from the title-cut all the way through the agonizing twists of “Northern Lights” at the album’s finish, is a sonic persona for themselves that rests more within its own individuality than in the conventions of genre.

That is, All is Lost is the point in their career at which Yatra have unveiled not just their best collection of tracks up to now, but a perspective through which they’re approaching the creation of those tracks in the first place. Once a band is pigeonholed as a thing, it can be nearly impossible to work against that — see “sludge upstarts” above; it just rolls off the keyboard, when in fact the record positions them as more stylistically than just sludge (nothing against sludge) and mature beyond “upstart” status — but on the back of All is Lost, Yatra have the potential to transcend niche genre and engage a broader metal audience.

And this is why, even among the hordes of bands unable to tour in 2020, one feels all the more sympathy for Yatra. Because, instead of sitting around, unable to get on tour, they pushed ahead and made a new full-length, and in so doing managed to end up right back where they started from in January: having just put together their best work yet and still be unlikely to give it the live support it deserves. Is all lost? No. But all is ephemeral. In addition to not knowing what Yatra might do next, I’ll also cop to having no idea what the world is going to do next — nothing good, if past is prologue — but as much as the momentum the band built behind them for Death Ritual and into Blood of the Night can be sustained through releasing All is Lost, if they’re going to return to playing live with their former fervency, that momentum will need to be fed at some point.

Or maybe they just become a studio band, play the odd socially-distant gig and make that work. Again, I don’t know. Who the hell does? But today, no, all is not lost. Yatra just made their best album yet. They’ll lose some heads with it, but probably gain even more, and the viciousness of their execution is a statement unto itself that just because it can’t be hand-delivered doesn’t mean punishment isn’t to be meted out. They went back home and found themselves. It’s like the start of a rom-com, only with deathsludge riffs and talons lacing into weak flesh.

So, fucking a.

Yatra on Thee Facebooks

Yatra on Instagram

Yatra on Bandcamp

Grimoire Records website

Grimoire Records on Bandcamp

Grimoire Records on Thee Facebooks

Grimoire Records on Instagram

Yo, anyone remember January? Me neither. That was the last time I went to a show. It’s also when Maryland sludgebringers Yatra put out their second album, Blood of the Night (review here) through STB Records on Jan. 31 of this wretched year, and before 2020 is out they’ll follow it with All is Lost, a third full-length aptly titled from a band whose business model was based almost entirely around touring.

Worth noting that after releasing through STB, the trio have gone to ground, as it were, and returned to work with producer/engineer Noel Mueller and his Grimoire Records label. Mueller also issued Yatra‘s 2018 debut, Death Ritual (discussed here), so it seems like a fair enough homecoming for them as a group.

I find it interesting that Yatra via the PR wire are highlighting more psychedelic aspects to their sound. You can read about it below. I can’t help but wonder if they aren’t perhaps following the path of Zoroaster in branching out to more expansive atmospheric fare after beginning their progression from a place of raw, primitive crush. In any case, the quick quick turnaround is welcome, even if their assessment of current circumstance via the title is grim.

To the PR wire:

YATRA: Maryland Psychedelic Doom Trio Completes All Is Lost Full-Length For October Release Through Grimoire Records; Album Details And Preorders Posted

Maryland-based psychedelic doom metal trio YATRA recently finalized work on their most ambitious and devastating release to date. The band proudly offers their crushing third album, All Is Lost, now confirmed for October release through Grimoire Records, who this week issues the record’s cover art, track listing, preorders, and more.

Upon release of their acclaimed Death Ritual debut LP, released in 2018 via Grimoire Records, YATRA immediately found a secure place in the doom metal scene, providing a devastating brew of crushing musicianship backed with an equally potent element of psychedelic prowess, inciting widespread reactions from media and fans alike. The band gigged and toured heavily on the album, while work was underway on their second record, Blood Of The Night, which saw release via STB Records in early 2020. Just as the band was primed to peak with a new round of international touring, the COVID-19 pandemic engulfed the globe, and alongside every other touring act worldwide, things came to a stunning halt for the band.

YATRA instantly went into full-on construction of the next phase of their journey, taking the ideas they had for the third album into a fresh dimension of instantaneous new reality. The elements of their third LP, All Is Lost, were born, and a new plan was implemented. Once the immediate lockdowns and quarantines of the virus crisis were lifted, the members of the band returned to Grimoire Records, and locked up with label/studio guru Noel Mueller to capture the new songs under the strictest social-distancing-friendly circumstances, to record the new album.

Undeniably the heaviest YATRA album to date, All Is Lost surges with nine new tracks that bring an enticing new level of quality and cohesiveness to the unit. Heavier and denser, with more vibrant psychedelic poise, All Is Lost devastates with nine new tracks that once again place the band into the upper echelons of the genre.

All Is Lost was captured at Tiny Castle between June 18th and 21st, 2020, engineered, recorded, mixed, and mastered by Noel Mueller of Grimoire Records, and completed with cover art by Paolo Girardi (Power Trip, Black Breath, Bell Witch).

YATRA’s All Is Lost will see release through Grimoire Records October 9th on CD, digital download, and in a limited vinyl run of 100 copies. Find preorders HERE: https://grimoirerecords.bandcamp.com/album/all-is-lost

All Is Lost Track Listing:
1. All Is Lost
2. Winter’s Dawning
3. Tyrant Throne
4. One For The Mountain
5. Blissful Wizard
6. Talons Of Eagles
7. Eyes Of Light
8. ‘Twas The Night
9. Northern Lights

YATRA’s founder Dana Helmuth divulges, “After three US tours, a successful European tour, many major festival appearances, a great second album, and two more future US tours ahead, as well as a return to Europe being booked, our future looked bright! Then, almost overnight, everything was cancelled and shut down and all that we had worked so hard for was abruptly halted with no idea when our life would resume as we had come to know it as a touring band.

We were literally packed and loaded to head out in mid-March for the start of a cross country tour, when across the country, things started shutting down and quarantine began. After the realization sank in, and then a forced break from playing altogether, as well as our band life in general, due to proximity and difficulty traveling in quarantine, I found myself back in a similar head space I was when I wrote our first album, Death Ritual. Of course, the band has evolved, but the atmosphere of being back in the woods, in that old house again, coupled with the darkness and fear in the world with everything so grim…

With what seemed like no hope for the future of mankind on earth, I started writing this album, All Is Lost, and it flowed out very naturally. With that return to nature and the dark spiritual introspection that follows, it seemed only natural to return to Noel [Mueller, of Grimoire Records] to record this album, back where we started, and I think that comes through strongly in this record. It was important for me to record this as soon as possible, during this time of the virus. Where on our earlier albums we flirted with subtle musical influences in different subgenres of Heavy Metal, we now fully embrace those sounds, and have become them.”

YATRA completed four US tours in 2019 alone, including Monolith On The Mesa, Electric Funeral, SXSW, New England Doom Fest, Grim Reefer, and Descendants Of Crom, as well as a three week European tour including performances for huge audiences at Desertfest Belgium, Hostsabbat, Into The Void, and Setalite among others. YATRA has shared the stage with Sleep, Eyehategod, Uada, Torche, Om, Conan, Big Business, Nebula, and countless others.

Now in 2020, when touring is one element in a questionable future, YATRA delivers their second album of the year with a monolithic statement of not slowing down.

YATRA:
Dana Helmuth – guitars/vocals
Maria Geisbert – bass
Sean Lafferty – drums

http://www.facebook.com/yatradoom
https://www.instagram.com/yatra_doom
https://yatradoom.bandcamp.com
http://www.grimoirerecords.com
http://grimoirerecords.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/GrimoireRecords
https://www.instagram.com/grimoirerecords/

Yatra, Blood of the Night (2020)

Ocean City, Maryland, four-piece Dirt Woman make their full-length debut through Grimoire Records on March 13 with the five-track collection The Glass Cliff. Riffs? Hell’s bells, it’s like they live in a riffy valley between two riff mountains cut by a river of riffs where they subsist on riffy agriculture and have enough left over to make a tidy living exporting them to other, less riffy regions. The nod runs strong throughout their massive, Noel Mueller-captured grooves, with guitarist/vocalist Zoe Koch and guitarist Gabe Solomon at the forefront of the surging tonal tide, pushed forward by the tectonic lumber of Kearny Mallon‘s bass and Avery Mallon‘s steady rolling drums. Shades of Acid King riding the electric machine and just a touch of Windhand-style foggy atmospherics make themselves felt throughout cuts like “Lady of the Dunes” and the joyously plodding “Creator” — one of the three cuts to top 13 minutes in length, along with the closing duo of “Demagogue” (13:30) and “Starhawk” (13:45) — which also finds Avery‘s drums in its later reaches looking to the rays of the red sun that was Chris Hakius‘ work in Sleep. In other words, it’s a all a big fuck yes in my book.

Amid Koch‘s cavernous vocals come tales of modern disparities and the disaffection one might also see portrayed on the cover art for The Glass Cliff by Hayden Hall, which turns wealth inequality into the stuff of science-fiction without really departing the truth of our age. Songs like “Fades to Greed,” the eight-minute centerpiece, find Dirt Woman exploring these ideas lyrically, but the power of their presentation is such that should one be seeking escape and/or hypnotic immersion, that’s certainly a route available. That is, there’s no sacrifice of modus to message, and the band is more than a vehicle for political editorializing — though, frankly, the heavy underground is pretty content to disengage a lot of the time and maybe some editorializing would do it some good — while still addressing the concerns of those inheriting a planet that’s pretty much screwed on multiple levels. But hey, at least… it’s… easy to buy stuff? Sorry y’all.

The Glass Cliff has the honor of being my first entry on what throughout the next 12 months will become my list of 2020’s best debut albums, and while those familiar with either Mueller‘s production work or the outlet for it that Grimoire Records is shouldn’t be the least bit surprised at the organic fuzz molasses that oozes from the bass in “Demagogue,” that does nothing to make it less glorious. For a record that runs 56 minutes long and borders on unmanageable, it holds the listener rapt as “Starhawk” rounds out in bounding fashion, its central riff touching on Witch-y bounce as Koch layers vocals effectively in such a way as to make one already look forward to what Dirt Woman do next two months before their first album actually comes out. Yeah, I’m gonna have to see this band live. Gonna have to get this CD. I might need to buy a t-shirt. They got me on this one. Count me in.

Along with the album announcement, which you’ll find below courtesy of the PR wire, you’ll find the premiere of “Lady of the Dunes” at the bottom of this post. Please consider it strongly suggested that you dig in.

And, of course, that you enjoy:

DIRT WOMAN: Maryland Psychedelic Doom Bringers To Release The Glass Cliff Via Grimoire Records; New Track Streaming + Preorders Available

Maryland psychedelic doom bringers DIRT WOMAN will release their The Glass Cliff debut full-length this March via Grimoire Records.

Recorded, mixed, and mastered in the fall of 2019 by Noel Mueller at the Tiny Castle in Baltimore, The Glass Cliff’s five tracks bulge with gargantuan riffs, thundering rhythms, and lyrics speaking directly to the cries of today’s youth; a fittingly titled record that’s equal parts enraged and dejected by a world whose once great promise has been decimated by the pursuit of power and material wealth.

DIRT WOMAN’s The Glass Cliff comes swathed in the trippy cover renderings of Hayden Hall and will be released on limited edition CD and digital formats March 13th. For preorders, go to THIS LOCATION.

Forged in Ocean City, Maryland in the summer of 2017 as a duo featuring vocalist/guitarist Zoe Koch and drummer Gabe Solomon, DIRT WOMAN is named in honor of the late Donnie Corker. Better known as Dirtwoman, Corker was a cross-dresser living in Richmond, Virginia known for involvement in Richmond politics, arts, music, and food banks as well as being the human floral arrangement of the annual Hamaganza holiday rock ‘n’ roll charity benefit show that, for twenty-years had paired Dirtwoman with a revolving cast of politicians, luminaries, and journalists.

“His story was truly inspiring to us,” notes Koch. “His charitable work and activism make him forever an icon in our eyes.” Koch and Solomon wrote casually and played sporadic shows. By the spring of 2018, they expanded their lineup to include bassist Kearny Mallon and his twin brother, drummer Avery Mallon, shifting Solomon to guitar. With the twin rhythm section and a dual guitar attack, their thick, quaking sound had truly begun to shape itself into what would become The Glass Cliff.

“The Glass Cliff” was recorded between October and December of 2019 by Noel Mueller in the Tiny Castle. Mixed and mastered by Noel Mueller. Cover art by Hayden Hall. © 2020 Grimoire Records.

“The Glass Cliff” is released via limited edition CD and digital download through Grimoire Records on 3/13/20.

1. Lady of the Dunes – 07:23
2. Creator – 13:08
3. Fades to Greed – 08:25
4. Demagogue – 13:30
5. Starhawk – 13:45

DIRT WOMAN:
Avery Mallon – drums
Kearny Mallon – the big guitar
Zoe Koch – guitar, vocals
Gabe Solomon- guitar

https://www.facebook.com/dirtwoman.band/
https://www.instagram.com/dirt_woman.band/
https://dirtwoman.bandcamp.com/
http://www.grimoirerecords.com
http://grimoirerecords.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/GrimoireRecords
https://www.instagram.com/grimoirerecords/

Dirt Woman, “Lady of the Dunes” official premiere