In the interest of honesty, I’ll tell you I’ve felt like I missed the boat on Sumac pretty much since their debut, The Deal (review here), came out in 2015, and now as they make public the first single from their four-song 2LP fifth album, The Healer, with all due ethereal presence amid its early, chugging post-metallic march, it’s much the same. I won’t deny the three-piece of guitarist/vocalist Aaron Turner (ex-Isis, Mammifer, House of Low Culture, etc.), bassist Brian Cook (Russian Circles, Botch, ex-These Arms are Snakes, etc.) and drummer Nick Yacyshyn (Baptists, Genghis Tron, etc.) were a force to behold on stage when I was lucky enough to see them in 2019, and I won’t deny that they have an individualized creative breadth of their own that’s vast enough to justify their not being called a supergroup despite the pedigree in parentheses above — you can hear it in the 12-minute course of “Yellow Dawn,” to be sure — I’ve just never managed to get all the way on board with the hype as I probably should have considering who these guys are and the work they’ve done in this band.

A personal failing, then. The American branch of the style in which Sumac loosely reside — post-metal, though there’s plenty of harsh noise in “Yellow Dawn” too if you want to go by genre elements, never mind the angular crush that resolves the lead single’s 12 minutes — could use a new figurehead. Maybe it’s these guys, though their ambitions or at least the framing of the promotion around them have always come across as less adherent to categorization. I don’t know. They’re touring. They’ll probably tour more than this. Fair enough.

The Healer is out June 21 on Thrill Jockey, who sent the following down the PR wire:

SUMAC announce new album The Healer, out Jun. 21st; share new track “Yellow Dawn”

Pre-order SUMAC’s The Healer: https://thrilljockey.com/products/the-healer

SUMAC, the Northwest-based trio SUMAC consisting of guitarist/vocalist Aaron Turner, bassist Brian Cook, and drummer Nick Yacyshyn have announced their new album The Healer, out on June 21st on 2xLP. Alongside the album’s announcement, the trio have shared the single “Yellow Dawn,” an epic that churns meditative organ by Faith Coloccia into a glacial stomp that the band obliterates into swirls of airtight riffing and untethered, intoxicating improvisations.

On The Healer, recorded and mixed by Scott Evans (Kowloon Walled City, Thrice, Great Falls, Autopsy), SUMAC deepens its multi-faceted exploration into the parallel experiences of creation and destruction. Over the course of 4 tracks in 76 minutes, SUMAC presents a sequence of shifting movements which undergo a constant process of expansion, contraction, corruption and regrowth.

This musical methodology reflects the thematic nature of the record – narratives of experiential wounding as gateways to empowerment and evolution, both individual and collective. The group’s interpolation of melody, drone, improvisation, and complex riffing becomes a transmogrifying act embodying the depth of human experience. In its highest aspiration it mirrors our ability to endure mortal and spiritual challenges, through which we may emerge with an increased capacity for understanding, empathy, love of self and others. Dismal though the subterranean pits of The Healer may at first appear, from them can be felt the unwavering determination to embrace life, acknowledge interdependence, and honor the gift of existence.

SUMAC – The Healer tracklist:
1. World of Light
2. Yellow Dawn
3. New Rites
4. The Stone’s Turn

In support of the release of The Healer, SUMAC will be touring throughout North America, including a set at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival alongside Moor Mother, whom they recently recorded with.

SUMAC tour dates
Jun. 21 – Vancouver, BC – Fortune Sound Club (Vancouver International Jazz Fest) ^
Jun. 22 – Seattle, WA – Clock-Out Lounge #
Jun. 23 – Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios #
Jun. 25 – Chico, CA – Naked Lounge Coffee #
Jun. 26 – San Francisco, CA – Bottom of the Hill #
Jun. 27 – Oxnard, CA – Mrs. Olson’s #
Jun. 28 – Los Angeles, CA – Zebulon *
Jun. 29 – Los Angeles, CA – 2220 Arts + Archives ~
Jun. 30 – Las Vegas, NV – Backstage Bar & Billiards %
Jul. 1 – Reno, NV – Holland Project %
^ w/ Moor Mother
# w/ White Boy Scream, Grave Infestation
* w/ White Boy Scream, Sulfuric Cautery
~ w/ Zachary Watkins, White Boy Scream

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https://sumac.bandcamp.com/

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Sumac, The Healer (2024)