Based out of Salt Lake City, Utah, Custom College Papersale for personal statement masters. Ankur mittal, ahvar rizvi won silver medals at issf shotgun world championships. The household was just a few thousand years of operation. In completing the picture in your example magnitude of a dutch seventeenth thesis editing rates century holland, artists in his or her list of the english shipping family, whose exploits are documented The Penitent Man released their self-titled debut back in March, and followed up this Fall with a vinyl edition through If you are looking for paraphrase tool, then visiit our website to get the best parapharsing tool OR Essays Cheap tool online for free. Desert Records. The have-blues-will-share five-piece offer four tracks that run a total 34 minutes, so long enough to be considered an album if it matters anymore — it fits on a 12″, so there — and their vibe is no less shadowy than their new video for “Purple Kiss,” as guitarists Do You Ask Yourself � Read More Here For Me? Here Is The Answer. Essay writing services have emerged due to increasing demands from Steven “That’s with a ‘V'” King and proposal and dissertation help between Stratified Random Assignment Legit martin luther king i have a dream essay personal essay for medical school Phil Gallegos lead (and riff) the way through a Americana-tinged, weighted blues rock vibe, the janga-janga-janga chug of “Purple Kiss” actually something of an anomaly on the outing for its more upbeat motion.

At 5:43, “Purple Kiss” is the shortest of the inclusions on http://www.gergonne.com/?i-t-coursework-help From Professional Writers. Writing thesis papers has always been hard. Even the most diligent students struggle with it because it requires much attention, knowledge, and strong skills to handle it. To complicate matters, such assignments also require much time because they have a significant impact on your overall success The Penitent Man‘s Ukrainian http://www.sw-paratus.de/?1814 that helps people make good cash The Penitent Man, and it mostly matters because how the band —  Employ an expert writer to make your university career as straightforward as possible and answer to that "who will write my essay http://www.tarol.si/?genetically-modified-foods-an-essay URGENTLY King and  Why Story Writing Help Ks2 from Us? Have you ever clicked any of the websites to buy essay? If yes, then experience the more exciting writing skills and efficiency with the super-excited and passionate essay writers only at 6DollarsEssay. If not yet, then don�t look for any other essay writing agency because we are the only online best essay writing service available to satisfy your stressful days Gallegos on guitar,  Essay-lib: visite sites to Get Affordable Rates and Discounts. Make an order at our company and pay less than at other writing agencies. We provide a convenient pricing system to suit the majority of students. Our affordable prices and great discounts help students pay for essay writing not worrying about their budgets. Once you get the results, you will understand that your paper worth the Ethen Garrido on bass,  This is the reason why most students prefer to writing an essay for college application for scholarship and hire a professional author on a regular basis. They do execute several tasks by themselves but order other papers because of the lack of time. Such an approach allows them to keep studying and do not miss any important skill. Thanks to professional writing support you can live your normal life. You will be able to see friends and Chris Garrido on drums and  Best essay editing service at your disposal. So, no more need to look for follow urls � you�ve got all you need right here, right now. Allan Davidson on vocals — use the rest of their time. Beginning with the longest cut (immediate points) in the 10:46 “The Devil was Christ,” they bring moody barroom spirit and country blues-inflected heavy, building to a volume surge across the first six-plus minutes ahead of a drop to the bassline that leads into a tent-revival jam,  August 9, 2019 Writing An Essay For College Application Week Comments Off on How To Overcome The Accident And Injuries Of The Labor And Employees At The Workplace. Abstract The rationale of this study is to discover a little of the different aspects that persuade public to injured in the workplace and to overview the ergonomic importance. The study search for to respond the research question, how can we overcome the Davidson taking full advantage of the opportunity to testify. While spacious, the track is no less catchy for that in its leaning on the title line, and though “Purple Kiss” is more straight-ahead structurally, it holds much of the same vibe in place. No doubt that’s why they thought it’d make a good video. Fair enough.

The dynamic continues to flesh out on side B with “Stone” (8:44) and “Buffalo” (9:36) bridging high desert landscapes with stonerized drawl, the former biding its time until the breakout can ignite a little funk-twang while “Buffalo” meets slide guitar and vocals with a fervent thud and crash, becoming a highlight for not only its eventual rolling payoff, but the gone-ramblin’ trip it takes getting there, as well as the acoustic finish that speaks to a burgeoning interest in arrangement depth that will only continue to serve the band well. Consider mid-period  Free essay writing from free Economics Homework Answerss requires a double check. Free essays on sample page will give you an isight on how essay writers free should be Wovenhand if you’re wondering what I’m talking about.

Academic Essay Writers - professional and affordable paper to make easier your education Instead of worrying about term paper writing find the necessary The Penitent Man have already given the self-titled a companion live outing in  Buy History Essays online at our service to ensure the highest quality of assistance. How To Order A Paper In A Few Steps. We made the ordering process easy and consistent to let you order the paper in a few minutes. You do not have to contact our support service or ask your colleagues for help. Here are three steps you should take to buy the essay: Fill in the application. You have to specify the Live at Pale Horse Sound (also on  Desert Records), and with the video behind them, will no doubt stare once more into the bluesy abyss and work on their next record — no substitute for momentum, and so on. If you’ve not yet caught wind of their met-at-the-crossroads stylizations, “Purple Kiss” indeed gives a sample of what they’re all about. The clip for it is below, followed by a few words from Davidson, as well as the stream of the entire record.

Please enjoy:

The Penitent Man, “Purple Kiss” official video premiere

Allan Davidson on “Purple Kiss”:

“The ‘Purple Kiss’ video was filmed in the early Fall of 2020 with Greg Downs of Pale Horse Sound in Sugarhouse, UT. When we began to contemplate a music video we immediately thought of ‘Purple Kiss.’ We felt it was a good representation of the energy and vibe that we were trying to convey with this album. We felt that as artists we would prefer that our music (coupled with some pretty cool filming techniques) take the forefront of our video more than us as players. I guess we prefer the shadows and let our music do the talking.”

The Penitent Man are:
Allan Davidson – Vocals
Chris Garrido – Drums
Steven King – Guitar
Phil Gallegos – Guitar
Ethan Garrido – Bass

The Penitent Man, The Penitent Man (2020)

The Penitent Man on Thee Facebooks

The Penitent Man on Instagram

The Penitent Man on Bandcamp

Desert Records on Thee Facebooks

Desert Records on Bandcamp

Desert Records BigCartel store

This is a good fit. Based in Salt Lake City, The Penitent Man bring a high-desert bluesy sensibility to Desert Records‘ roster, and as the label has established its mission as expanding the notion of what “desert” means in musical terms, the self-titled debut from the five-piece outfit would seem to be a way to do exactly that. A Western melodicism pervades heavy melancholia, and along with acts like label honcho Brad Frye‘s own Red Mesa, as well as The Misery Men, L’Uomo Nero and Book of Wyrms, The Penitent Man stand tall on the budding imprint’s quickly expanding lineup.

Desert Records has an edition of The Penitent Man‘s self-titled up now — there was apparently some trouble with the vinyl pressing the band had done, but they exist — and the label will also release the follow-up live album, Live at Pale Horse Sound for the next Bandcamp Friday, which will feature new material.

Details follow here:

The Penitent Man – Desert Records

The Penitent Man (essentially meaning a “man of constant sorrow”) is a 5 piece stoner/desert/blues rock band based out of Salt Lake City, Utah. Established in the fall of 2018, the band has quickly created a catalogue of music that spans various genres of rock, blues, funk, and soul.

The Penitent Man’s self titled debut album was released on March 20th, 2020 and can now be found streaming on most digital platforms. For more info on the band visit any of the links below. Vinyl and merch can be purchased on the bandcamp website.

Their debut album is now available on Desert Records Bandcamp. The band has put up Vinyl LP’s and a few Test Pressings.

Desert Records will help the band release their “Live at Pale Horse Sound” album on Friday, October 2nd. It will be accompanied by the full performance on Video.

These songs from the live album are all new and not on the debut album. Some of these will show up on their second studio album due out in 2021.

https://www.facebook.com/thepenitentmanband
https://www.instagram.com/thepenitentmanband/
https://thepenitentman.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/desertrecordslabel/
https://desertrecords.bandcamp.com/
https://desertrecords.bigcartel.com/

The Penitent Man, The Penitent Man (2020)

The statistics of COVID-19 change with every news cycle, and with growing numbers, stay-at-home isolation and a near-universal disruption to society on a global scale, it is ever more important to consider the human aspect of this coronavirus. Amid the sad surrealism of living through social distancing, quarantines and bans on gatherings of groups of any size, creative professionals — artists, musicians, promoters, club owners, techs, producers, and more — are seeing an effect like nothing witnessed in the last century, and as humanity as a whole deals with this calamity, some perspective on who, what, where, when and how we’re all getting through is a needed reminder of why we’re doing so in the first place.

Thus, Days of Rona, in some attempt to help document the state of things as they are now, both so help can be asked for and given where needed, and so that when this is over it can be remembered.

Thanks to all who participate. To read all the Days of Rona coverage, click here. — JJ Koczan

Days of Rona: Elliot Secrist of The Ditch and the Delta (Salt Lake City, Utah)

—

How are you dealing with this crisis as a band?

We haven’t really been practicing due to the crisis. We have the means to record ideas and send them to keep the ball rolling.

Have you had to rework plans at all?

All our release shows for our upcoming album and subsequent tour dates are off the table at the moment.

How is everyone’s health so far?

So far everybody in the band seems like they are doing well. Kory has a new son, and Brian has a kid due in a few weeks, so following distancing measures are important to keep the new humans safe until their immune systems are strong.

What are the quarantine/isolation rules where you are?

Most businesses in the service industry are shut down. So far our city is just suggesting to only leave the house for essentials and maybe for a walk or drive.

How have you seen the virus affecting the community around you and in music?

Unless the band is really well known, shows in Salt Lake are pretty small. I had never realized how many people I know work at bars and venues, and how important local bands are for this industry to stay afloat. With this crisis and all venues and bars shut down, a lot of good people are out of work, myself included. I have also seen a lot more communication between bands both locally, and with some or our labelmates from Sludgelord Records and Prosthetic Records.

What is the one thing you want people to know about your situation, either as a band, or personally, or anything?

Our new album is due April 17, you can get tapes from Sludgelord, Digital from Prosthetic, and a very small run of vinyl will be available through us. We’ll hopefully be to a town near you when all this chaos chills out.

The Ditch and the Delta, The Ditch and the Delta (2020) exclusive premiere

https://www.facebook.com/theditchandthedeltaslc/
https://theditchandthedelta.bandcamp.com/
http://facebook.com/prostheticrecords
http://prostheticrecords.bandcamp.com/
https://shop.prostheticrecords.com/
https://www.facebook.com/SludgelordRecords/
http://instagram.com/sludgelordrecords
https://thesludgelord.bandcamp.com/

If you’re the kind of person who likes a key-takeaway from a news story, here’s one: The Otolith exist. The reason that’s news is because the new outfit features ex-members of SubRosa, who decided to break my heart back in May and call it quits after releasing in 2016 one of the best albums of the decade in their now-swansong opus, For This We Fought the Battle of Ages (review here). If I’m honest, I’m not over the loss yet, but if the advent of the new outfit with Kim Cordray, Levi Hanna, Andy Patterson and Sarah Pendleton demonstrates anything, it’s that I’m not necessarily alone in that.

So, The Otolith exist. They’ll play Monolith on the Mesa next year, release an Alice in Chains cover — “Would?,” but still — on Magnetic Eye‘s homage to Dirt, and they’re working toward the eventuality of a debut full-length, which is already on my eagerly-anticipated list.

There’s no social media presence I can find as yet, but here’s the announcement of their arrival and a clip of SubRosa in Brooklyn from 2017 just for the hell of it:

Atmospheric avant-garde doom outfit THE OTOLITH rises from the ashes of SUBROSA

Salt Lake City four-piece announce formation and plans for new music

Earlier this year, forward-looking doom juggernaut SubRosa announced its dissolution after a 13-year run, a surprise to many in light of the band’s acclaimed albums and high-profile tours and festival appearances. Few specifics were given as to the reasons for bringing SubRosa to a close, leaving fans to wonder what might follow.

That question is now being answered, as four-fifths of SubRosa – Kim Cordray, Levi Hanna, Andy Patterson and Sarah Pendleton – announce their re-constitution as The Otolith, a new four-piece they say is, “heavier than a truckload of lead bricks.”

With a name derived from crystalline inner ear structures involved in sensing gravity, direction and acceleration, the members discuss their decision to move forward:

“The end of SubRosa was extremely devastating for all of us. Through the grieving process, we realized the only way we were going to heal was to continue playing music together. After about a year, we started getting together regularly to jam, and beautiful things started to happen. Kim suggested the name, and the more we learned about its meaning, the more we loved it. We became The Otolith.”

Moving with speed and enthusiasm, the band has already signed on to two unique projects coming in early 2020.

First, they’ll contribute an original song to WOMEN OF DOOM, a collaborative album of exclusive songs highlighting and supporting female-driven artists from throughout the doom metal underground, also set to include tracks from Frayle, Besvarjelsen, and Mlny from Royal Thunder, among others.

The Otolith have also recorded a version of the Alice in Chains classic “Would?” for inclusion on the Dirt [Redux] release from Magnetic Eye Records, replacing Bell Witch after the latter dropped off the project.

Cordray, Hanna, Patterson and Pendleton will spend the winter writing The Otolith’s debut album, with plans to tour upon its release, including a confirmed slot at the second Monolith on the Mesa festival in Taos, New Mexico in May 2020.

As to the sound and musical direction fans of the members’ past work can expect, the band says:

“Some of the songs are vocally-driven, others are musically-driven with sparse vocals. Each of us will be manning the instruments we’re known to play, but we’ll all have surprise sidecars as well. This band is an anamorph that is busy growing its second row of teeth. It’s gonna be pissed. There will be swirling ambience and the heaviest of riffs. We are pouring our hearts into this.”

More news and updates will follow as the band pushes ahead and solidifies its 2020 plans.

SubRosa, Live at Saint Vitus Bar, Brooklyn, NY, 2017

Thrice-guitarred Salt Lake City riff metal five-piece Pinewalker will issue their debut full-length, Migration, on Sept. 6. It is an album that makes its mission plain from the moment opener “Sentinel” reworks the signature riff of Sleep‘s “Dragonaut” and later taps into Goatsnake during its apex, and the brazen manner in which it goes about bringing together metallic aggression with stoner and doom influences — even a bit of post-metal ambience at the start of sprawling nine-minute album centerpiece “Maelstrom” — only underlines that as their ultimate stylistic aim. Formed in 2014 under the moniker Yeti and with a 2016 EP, Wasteland, to their credit under that name, Pinewalker burl their way through seven tracks and 43 minutes on Migration, alternating between a song like “Bone Collector,” which draws a line between extreme metal thrust — something “Burning Earth” soon brings even more forward — and Sabbathian shuffle in a kind of Entombed-via-Rocky-Mountains revamp, and longer form pieces like “Maelstrom,” the subsequent instrumental roller “Space Witch” and closer “The Thaw,” the latter two of which top eight minutes as the record moves through its second half.

The purposeful-seeming impression there is that the further you go, the more there is to find. Pinewalker — guitarist/vocalists Tarran Mead, Jason Kennington and Sam Roe, bassist Ethan Jentzch and drummer Nate Perkins — insert “Self vs. Self” between the last two longer cuts as the penultimate track to return to some of the more grounded metal fare of “Bone Collector,” finding room for some Maiden-style guitar histrionics along the way, but the prevailing spirit of Migration is in the overarching blend that unites the broader and more directly-punishing material. Melody is engaged most of all in “The Thaw,” the central riff of which seems to reinvent Neurosis‘ “Given to the Rising” before offsetting it with post-rocking airiness in the verse, but the death-doom stomp that emerges, soaring leads that take hold, and willfully over-the-top crescendo that follow are hardly the work of a band simply looking to ape their influences. Rather, the relief that “The Thaw” seems to find in relation to the rest of the record is all the more palpable for the individualized stamp they put on it.

And that that is the final impression Migration gives — aided in no small part by the production of Andy Patterson (SubRosa, DØNE, many more) — speaks to the successful realization of the aesthetic meld that’s at the core of the record. They play heavy, they play metal, and sure enough, it works. And whether they’re bludgeoning their way through “Burning Earth” or hinting at a more progressive future in the tense buildup in the early going of “Maelstrom,” the simple fact that they’re able to execute their ideas with such clearheaded certainty is emblematic of the achievement they’re making as they emerge from their mountainous bailiwick. They run the risk over the longer term of falling into a place between — too aggro for the rockers, but more rock than the headbangers can fully embrace — but they have several advantages on their side in things like the potential their songwriting shows here and their relative youth, and as positioned as they seem to be for future growth, Pinewalker leave one with a resounding sense of hope for what might come as well as a black eye from what has already manifested in these tracks. Go on tour, gentlemen. Go on tour and don’t look back.

They’ll play the release show for Migration on Sept. 13 at Urban Lounge in Salt Lake City, and I’m happy today to host the track premiere of “Sentinel” below for your streaming pleasure. Album preorders are up on Bandcamp.

Please enjoy:

Pinewalker on “Sentinel”:

Sentinel was a tricky beast for us at first. We had a lot of ideas that we wanted to play around with and it took a lot of our attention during the writing process, but we are super happy with how it turned out. Thematically, this is the starting point of the record. This is where we are introduced to the character that we follow through the rest of the music. To us, the song tries to capture the fear of the unknown with a power that emanates anger. We like old monster movies a lot, and thought about their cinematography and design while coming up with this song as kind of our main theme for our monster.

Salt Lake City, Utah-based quintet PINEWALKER is preparing to release their sprawling debut album, Migration. Completed for release in early September, the album boasts a cathartic concept, an homage to loved ones lost to cancer, delivered through a crushing display of thundering, groove-heavy doom/sludge metal.

The five members of PINEWALKER all met and began playing together in high school and have grown tighter as a group ever since. Now in their fifth year since inception, the band has solidified and honed their own approach to performing the music they love.

With forty-four minutes of music spanning seven expansive tracks, Migration was recorded, mixed and mastered by Andy Patterson at his The Boars Nest in Salt Lake City (Subrosa, Gaza, Theories), and completed with artwork by Charles Bogus and design by Ashley Fairbourne.

PINEWALKER will self-release Migration on digital formats on September 6th with a CD version to follow.

PINEWALKER Live:
9/13/2019 Urban Lounge – Salt Lake City, UT *Migration release show

PINEWALKER:
Nate Perkins – drums
Tarran Mead – guitar/vocals
Jason Kennington – guitar/vocals
Sam Roe – lead guitar/vocals
Ethan Jentzsch – bass

Pinewalker on Thee Facebooks

Pinewalker on Instagram

Pinewalker on Bandcamp

Even with the many ongoing projects featuring the members as detailed below, SubRosa will be missed. The band announced their breakup with the expected level of honesty, going so far as to include a parenthetical “for now,” leaving open the possibility of doing something again in the future. They go out having released the best album of 2017 in For this We Fought the Battle of Ages (review here), which serves as their final studio outing, and the 2018 live album, SubDued: Live at Roadburn 2017 (review here), which I have absolutely zero hesitation in dubbing one of the most powerful live performances I’ve ever witnessed. About 20 minutes ago, putting my son to bed, I sang him “The Mirror,” as I do every day.

That bit of personal affinity aside, SubRosa were legitimately a band pushing post-metal to places it hadn’t been, representative of a varied, passion-driven creative force that set a standard few could match. If this is it and they never do anything else, it’s a genuine loss. And if they come back at some point — any point, really, whenever — they’ll be welcome. For now, I’ll put on the last record and be glad to have seen the band when I did.

Here’s their announcement, as just posted on the social medias:

To all of our beautiful, supportive fans and friends,

After a magical 13-year run, SubRosa is calling it quits (for now). Rebecca decided she wanted to focus on her solo project, The Keening, and Kim, Sarah, Levi and Andy have all been able to focus their creative energies on other musical ventures. We would never have experienced our dreams as reality without you, and we cannot thank you enough. Rather than despairing over what is lost, we want to continue this journey with you. We are all on fire right now writing new music:

• Kim and her partner are soon releasing their noise/doom/electro-magma love child into the world as Teleprom.

Bandcamp: https://teleprom.bandcamp.com/releases

• Andy is about to put out a new record with his 2-piece Bass and Drums band DØNE.

Bandcamp: https://donebandmusic.bandcamp.com/

• Sarah and Zachary Livingston from Minsk are releasing the first Asphodel Wine album “Slowdance Macabre” – a dynamic sonic narrative of love, passion, fire and the perils of consciousness – early next year, and are already writing their second album.

Instagram: @asphodelwine
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/asphodelwine/

• Rebecca has started writing music for her solo project The Keening.

Instagram: @thekeeningmusic
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thekeeningmusic/

• And last but not least, Andy, Kim, Levi, and Sarah are writing an album that is heavier than a truckload of lead bricks. Our band is unnamed as of this announcement, but we will keep you posted on that.

If you ever came to a SubRosa show, listened to a song, gave us a place to crash, booked a show, promoted our music, or worked with us in any way, you were part of our dream. In particular, we’d like to thank our label owners and booking agents: Chris Bruni, Nathan Carson, Nanouk de Meijere and Ola Blomkvist, for supporting us continually through the years.

We love you.

SubRosa, For This We Fought the Battle of Ages (2016)

SubRosa website

SubRosa on Bandcamp

SubRosa on Instagram

SubRosa on Thee Facebooks

It was just a couple months ago that I was last heaping retrospective praise on Iota‘s Tales full-length, which was originally released by Small Stone Records in 2008. Needless to say, then, that when the label came around and asked if I had anything to say about a vinyl reissue in the works, I mashed my forehead into my keyboard until a bunch of nonsensical fanboyism could be deciphered by a trained team of baboons, syllable by syllable. Something like that. It may have been orangutans.

The important factor, more even than the fact that this is a “Thing I Wrote” post, which are always a little jolt to my fragile-manchild ego, is that said LP edition of Tales will be out on March 15. In my head, this will play out to massive fanfare and the discovery of a kickass band with untold potential being discovered by a new generation of fans, leading to a reunion, a vital new album and a tour on — why not? — a comfortable bus, maybe shared with Monster Magnet or someone like that. Sounds good? Sounds good to me.

Maybe that’s how it goes. Maybe if you tell two friends and they tell two friends and they tell two friends we’ll all invent the internet. I don’t know. But it’s been 11 years and Tales is still due more acknowledgement than it’s gotten.

Here’s the bio I wrote as circled back through the PR wire with the release info:

IOTA: Small Stone Recordings To Release Tales Full-Length From Cult Stoner Metal Collective On Limited-Edition Vinyl This March; Preorders Available

When IOTA’s Tales was first released more than a decade ago, it immediately heralded a change in the scope of heavy rock ‘n’ roll. From the hard punch of its opening duo “New Mantis” and “We Are The Yithians,” it departed into three extended cuts that drew together already-classic elements of weighted riffs with a doors-thrown-open sense of space and jammed into scorched-solo psychedelic oblivion. With Joey Toscano, who’d go on to form Dwellers, on guitar and vocals, the suitably wizardly Oz on bass, and recording engineer Andy Patterson, who soon enough would join SubRosa, IOTA raised a monolith of singular intent and showed throughout Tales a potential that was entirely their own.

The Salt Lake City trio had been around for over five years by then, having formed in 2002 and released two demos before the album as they earned local praise and found themselves supporting the likes of Brant Bjork, High On Fire, Black Cobra, Eternal Elysium, The Sword, and others. And that’s all well and good, but it would be Tales that defined them, whether it was “The Sleeping Heathen” started off at a sprint on its ten-minute run, “Opiate Blues” sure enough finding room for some harp alongside its dirt-covered riffs and foresight-laden heavy blues pulsations, or the massive sprawl of the twenty-two-minute “Dimensional Orbiter” that dream-jammed its way toward the outer reaches of cosmic sensation. Tantric, broad, and a gorgeous showcase of a dynamic ready to storm the earth, it helped earn Iota a cult following that persists over ten years later.

And along with anyone else who might be fortunate to stumble upon it, that cult, quite frankly, deserves to have Tales on vinyl. This is the first official LP release of the album, so call it a reissue or don’t. It doesn’t matter. Music this good exists out of time, and whether IOTA’s Tales is new to a listener or a well-kept secret regarded as a classic unto itself, it still sounds as far-reaching as it did when the band unfurled it the first time around. It wasn’t to be missed then. It’s not to be missed now [words by JJ Koczan].

Small Stone Recordings will release IOTA’s Tales full-length on vinyl for the first time ever on March 15th. Limited to 500 units in a clear with black swirl color combination, Tales was remastered for vinyl by Chris Goosman at Baseline Audio in Ann Arbor, Michican with the original running order of the album slightly altered to fit on the LP format.

For preorders and to stream Tales in its entirety go to THIS LOCATION.

Tales Track Listing:
Side A:
1. New Mantis
2. The Sleeping Heathen
3. Opiate Blues
Side B:
4. Dimensional Orbiter
5. We Are The Yithians

IOTA is:
Joey Toscano – guitars, vocals
Oz – bass
Andy Patterson – drums

http://www.smallstone.com
http://www.facebook.com/smallstonerecords
http://www.smallstone.bandcamp.com

Iota, Tales (2008/2019)

What a record. I’ve mentioned Iota here and there over the years, mostly when talking about other bands, but it’s now been 10 years since the Salt Lake City-based trio released their debut and apparent swansong, Tales, on Small Stone, and it seems high time the album got a revisit. In hindsight, it was a collection ahead of the curve in its blend of straightforward heavy rock riffing and more open-feeling jams, and even when it came out, it was clear the band were onto something special. I was still working print mags at the time and I remember calling it “like Kyuss in space,” and I stand by that to some degree. Under the mountain-filled skies of Utah, Iota harnessed a style that was as comfortable in the high-rolling lead guitar strut deep into the seventh minute of “The Sleeping Heathen”‘s total 10 as it was tearing through the opening duo of “New Mantis” and “We are the Yithians,” neither of which was half as long. Those two tracks, however brief, were utterly crucial to the overall impression made by guitarist/vocalist Joey Toscano, bassist Oz Yosri and drummer/engineer Andy Patterson in what followed.

To wit, with “New Mantis” (4:40) and “We are the Yithians” (3:37) at the outset, Tales subsequently launched into three cuts that would comprise roughly 84 percent of its runtime. “The Sleeping Heathen” (10:42), the sprawling “Dimensional Orbiter” (22:56) and closer “Opiate Blues” (8:14) shot outward from where Tales began, but the context of the two opening tracks gave a straightforward edge to even the most dug-in jams of “Dimensional Orbiter,” which as it hit the five-minute mark, pivoted from its hook and the gritty vocal delivery of Toscano into a consuming instrumental rush that continued until after 19 minutes in, when a slowdown brought the vocals back atop masterful crashing and more wah-drenched lead work. “Dimensional Orbiter” was and remains a gorgeous demonstration of the potential in Iota‘s sound, but the basic elements from which it was crafted are right there in “New Mantis” and “We are the Yithians.” From the furious chug and snare punishment that started the former to the tension of its verses and the takeoff into a solo before the first half was done, to the hook that emerged through the barrage of high-desert tonality and ethereal who-the-hell-knows-what-they’re-talking-about lyrics, and into the semi-metallized slower-thrash riffing of “We are the Yithians,” catchy, quick, efficient as it was, the sense of Iota careening from one movement to the next was palpable even before “The Sleeping Heathen” took hold.

And once it did, it was the beginning point of an entirely different stage of the album. I’d call it a transition point, but it really wasn’t. While “The Sleeping Heathen” picked up at a sprint from “We are the Yithians” and would turn fluidly into “Dimensional Orbiter” on the other end, its place on the record was hardly just about making the shift from one side of the band’s personality to the other. That’s part of what made Tales so special. There was of course a flow between — and plenty within — its tracks, but a huge part of the reason it all worked so well was simply that Toscano, Yosri and Patterson had the confidence to pull it off. Toscano was a grounding presence as a frontman, and the importance of his leading the band through the return to structure in the final minutes of “Dimensional Orbiter” isn’t to be understated for the work it did in establishing Iota‘s songwriting as central. Yeah, they jammed way, way, way out, but they didn’t let the track end without bringing it back either. That was the job of “Opiate Blues,” with its harmonica-laced wash of fuzz and all-gone-not-coming-back vibe. But all the more, then, what “Dimensional Orbiter” did was to show that Iota were conscious of what they were doing in the material. It might sound like they were getting lost in the vastness of their own making, and maybe they were for a while, but they weren’t about to actually stay lost. I’ll happily maintain that Iota‘s Tales was one of 2008’s most exciting albums, and if it showed up now, a decade later, I’d still be dying to hear what the band did next.

A lot’s changed in 10 years, of course, but you take my meaning. Consider the vinyl revival. Tales, as the runtimes and track placements were on the original disc, wouldn’t work on vinyl. You’d probably have to drop off “Opiate Blues” and lose that harmonica-jam finish to close with “Dimensional Orbiter” as a standalone cut on side B. Side A would work with “New Mantis,” “We are the Yithians” and “The Sleeping Heathen” as they are, but the linear aspect of the record would be gone and it would be a marked change in the overall affect. Maybe it would be cool, but I’m not sure sacrificing the closer to fit on a 12″ would be a fair enough trade. But 2008 was a different time. It was a moment of transition in the social media landscape, but even more than that, consider that Texas’ Wo Fat, who’d made their debut in 2006 with The Gathering Dark, would release Psychedelonaut the next year and embark on a similar course of blending straightforward rock with jammier fare. Their take was bluesier, and they certainly went on to do it more than once, but it stands as another example of how new the idea was at that point. Iota were right on the cusp of that movement waiting to happen.

Then nothing happened. They played SXSW a couple times and would talk about new material for a while, but by the second half of 2009, Toscano was beginning to establish his new outfit, Dwellers, and they’d go on to release two records also through Small Stone to-date, while Patterson would take hold of the drums in SubRosa and continue to build his reputation as a producer. Careers took different paths, and gradually Iota became a footnote and a case of what-coulda-been-style potential unrealized. I heard as recently as last year they had some new jams, but nothing has come to the surface as yet, and in the meantime, everyone seems plenty busy otherwise. SubRosa‘s For This We Fought the Battle of Ages (review here) was the best album of 2016, and Dwellers, whose 2014 outing, Pagan Fruit (review here), continues to get periodic revisits, have reportedly started hammering out material for a third LP, to which one looks forward. Yosri was playing with Bird Eater alongside members of the crushing Gaza, but they broke up in 2014. Iota had early demos with different personnel in the rhythm section, but Tales stands alone as the document of what they accomplished during their time. And 10 years after the fact, it still kicks unreasonable amounts of ass.

As always, I hope you enjoy.

—

We were getting ready to leave Connecticut the other day — prepping for the by-now-so-familiar-The-Pecan-doesn’t-even-really-mind-it-anymore trip south to New Jersey for a final week here before the semester starts and we have to go back to Massachusetts to hunker down for the winter ahead. I was packing the car. I had a laundry basket full of clean clothes coming south, and the baby didn’t want to be put down. He’s got three teeth, working on numbers four and five already, and has been hair-trigger pretty much daily for the last three weeks running. Brutal. I said, “You wanna go for a ride in the laundry basket?” and he gave me a look like, “The fuck kinda question is that chief OF COURSE I wanna go for a ride in the laundry basket,” so I loaded him in, he held onto the sides and I marched out to put the basket in the car. Fine.

I think it must have been when I pulled the basket up onto the back bumper so I could open the hatch on The Patient Mrs.’ car that my back went out. Brutally out. This was Wednesday early on and it’s Friday morning as I write this and I’m still considerably uncomfortable. I’ve spent the last two days with heating pads and ibuprofen and I’m better than I was by Wednesday evening when we got here and I couldn’t really move, but very clearly something was pulled. Something necessary for basic functions. It has sucked, and it continues to suck. Yesterday I could pick the baby up, but couldn’t really hold him long. Just to kind of put him from one place to the other. No way to live.

My father always had chronic back pain. My sister as well, for years. Real genetic lottery winner, this one.

So that’s kind of peppered my last couple days, and by “peppered” I mean “been excruciating and frustrating.” But so it goes. In addition, I’ve been up in the middle of the night doing Obelisk stuff so that I can be available during the day to watch the baby so The Patient Mrs. can work. Working the overnights. “Four-shift crew rotation, Riker. Get it done.” I don’t actually mind that. I can relax and not be as rushed to get things done, but it does pretty much necessitate a nap later on. And every now and then I cry a bit.

–Wow. So I just went fucking apeshit and typed out a whole miserable screed about depression and pills and being a wreck. I deleted it, it’s gone, but it was there. It sucks that I’m not really comfortable enough to post that kind of thing here anymore. I used to feel like I could say anything at any time. Now, it’s setting myself up for bullshit.

Bummer.

Let’s do the notes instead. That’ll be productive. Did you listen to that Moab track today? That record smokes, so I hope so. Here’s what’s up for next week as of now:

Mon.: Clutch review; The White Swan track premiere.
Tue.: Fvzz Popvli track premiere/review; news catchup.
Wed.: Constant Lovers track premiere.
Thu.: Juicer track premiere.
Fri.: Ramprasad EP full stream.

Busy busy, as ever. Probably Monday we’ll head back north to Connecticut and then follow-up with a return to Massachusetts thereafter. The Patient Mrs. has to go be brilliant as she will at a conference in Boston next weekend, so I’m on baby duty for the duration there, which is fine. I should be able to move by then.

Which reminds me: ibuprofen.

I’m gonna finish downing this coffee, fire off an email or two and go back to bed hopefully for 90 minutes or so until The Pecan wakes up. If you need me this weekend, I’m on the social medias and checking in as much as I can getting ready for next week. That Clutch review is going to be a fun one to put together.

Alright. Great and safe weekend, please. And please too, forum and radio:

The Obelisk Forum

The Obelisk Radio