It’s a pretty god damn complicated process to figure out who’s who when it comes to East of the Wall and Biclops, since the two bands have been basically sharing lineups, but now they’ve cleared it up and officially made it all under the banner of the former. Biclops‘ Resentiment, due out next summer, will now be an East of the Wall album, and everything else they do from here on out will be as well. Confusion be gone!

The PR wire has names and places:

East of the Wall is excited to announce its new lineup. Joining the band are guitarist Chris Alfano and drummer Seth Rheam. Both played in the band Biclops with East of the Wall bassist Brett Bamberger and guitarist Kevin Conway. Due to the merging of the two bands? lineups, all music created by the aforementioned collective, along with guitarist Matt Lupo, will be released under the name East of the Wall. This will include the release of the group?s next record, Ressentiment, due out next summer through Translation Loss Records.

With this lineup change, East of the Wall has parted ways with original drummer Mike Somers. The band would like to thank Mike for his outstanding musicianship and hard work since the inception of the band. Stay tuned for more info about the lineup change and other upcoming projects, and read more about the band merger here.

East of the Wall will also play a record release show in support of their three-way split with Year of no Light and Rosetta, to be released shortly on Translation Loss Records:

12/19/2009 Brighton Bar – Long Branch, NJ w/ A Fucking Elephant, Fake Gimms

A hearty way-to-go to New Jersey tech-experimentalists East of the Wall (featuring members of the defunct The Postman Syndrome), who according to the trusty ol’ PR wire, have just signed to super-hip indie Translation Loss Records. This is a good fit if ever there was one, since the label specialized in quality post- and artistic metal, and so does the band. East of the Wall‘s Farmer’s Almanac was a pretty kickass outing, so it’s cool to see good things happening to those who rock. Here’s the news:

Born from the dissolution of The Postman Syndrome and Day Without Dawn, East of the Wall has been hard at work crafting their complex and varied sound, drawing inspiration from a wide range of emotions and ideas. East of the Wall?s sound straddles the line between an engulfing ambience and crushing force that dissolves into beautiful melodies seamlessly. Translation Loss Records will be releasing a three way split release from East of the Wall, Rosetta and Year of No Light late 2009.? The material is the ultimate precursor to what will be their stunning Translation Loss debut. East of the Wall have released records on indie label Forgotten Empire Records.

Said Brett Bamberger from East of the Wall on the signing: “We are so fortunate to be on a roster full of artists who we respect and appreciate so much, not to mention having this excellent opportunity to do business with such a hard working operation of great people. On the road ahead we will be focusing extensively on writing, recording, touring, touring, touring. We have about half of our next full length written, which thus far in content is a bit more technically involved than our last LP.? We want to extend our thanks to all the people who have helped us along the way, most especially Brandon Helms, Dave Grossman, and Dave Witte. Looking so forward to our time ahead with TL. Cheers – East of the Wall“

Drew Juergens from Translation Loss on the signing and co-release: “We are very excited to have East of the Wall on the label and help them release their next opus. They are an amazing force to behold live and if their material on the three way split we are releasing at the end of this year is any indication of the level of musicianship we will all bear witness to for their next full length, I can only imagine what kind of greatness is on the horizon for the band.”

Some reviews write themselves. Some albums you sit and listen to and all it takes is once through and not only do you get the point, but you can write about it easily and feel you have developed as intricate an understanding as you’ll ever need of the material. New Jersey progressive instrumentalists East of the Wall (whose lineage traces back to the woefully unheralded The Postman Syndrome) are not one of those bands and their Forgotten Empire debut, Farmer’s Almanac, is not one of those albums.

It’s been days now that I’ve sat and sat with this record — and I’ve reviewed it before! East of the Wall have a sound that’s not the most unique in the world, it’s not like they’re reinventing heaviness or anything like that, but the four-piece offer music that has all the prowess of tech/jazz metal with the kind of presentation that it’s easy to step back from and just let wash over you. You can dig as far as you want into Farmer’s Almanac and it’s like a coal mine to the center of the earth, but you can also stand at the doorway and just look into it too. And it works equally well both ways.

Read more »