One would be hard pressed to overstate Earth’s legacy. The long-running and relentlessly creative Seattle drone unit led by guitarist Dylan Carlson have, over the last 20-plus years, amassed an outstanding discography of influential work – from 1993’s Earth 2, which helped solidify the grooves now inherent to riff rock, to 2005’s Hex: Or Printing in the Infernal Method, which found a reformed Earth infusing their sound with elements from Americana the ripples of which are felt today in indie rock, dark folk and alternative metal. They didn’t do it alone, but they did it. In 2011, Earth followed 2008’s jazzy and defiant The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull with Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light I (review here), which moved further out of the shadow of Hex, bringing in Lori Goldston’s cello as a major focal point musically alongside Carlson’s guitar, the drums of Adrienne Davies and Karl Blau’s bass, and beginning to shift Earth’s attentions toward improvisation. The 20-minute closing title-track of that album was all improv, and with Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II (Southern Lord), Earth continue to expand on the ideas they presented in the first half, while also revealing more of the ever-changing band’s personality in this incarnation. Sonic congruencies abound – as one would expect, considering the two parts were recorded in the same sessions with Stuart Hallerman (who also helmed Earth 2) – but Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II does more than just continue the strain of its predecessor.

Goldston’s cello, again, is in a featured role, and superficially, the two Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light albums don’t vary much in mood or overall tone. Earth’s patience is just as prominent throughout the centerpiece “Waltz (A Multiplicity of Doors)” as it was on “Father Midnight” on I. The drive toward juxtaposition in track titles – songs like “Descent to the Zenith” and “Hell’s Winter” – seems to have dissipated on Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II, however, as “Sigil of Brass,” “His Teeth Did Brightly Shine” and “The Corascene Dog” are working, linguistically, in another vein. Perhaps it’s ironic or nitpicking to talk about language on an album that’s entirely instrumental, but titles and themes are an important part in how Earth sets the mood for a record or even a single track. One reads the minimalist interplay between Carlson and Blau differently as “Sigil of Brass” opens the album because of the track name. It’s also among the album’s moodiest pieces, and the shortest by nearly five minutes; the last could also lead to one seeing it as an introduction, but there’s enough substance to it to argue to the contrary as it gives way to the nine-minute “His Teeth Did Brightly Shine,” which, however “jammed” it might be – the quotes there to mark the distinction between what Earth are doing here and the usual ebb and flow of guitar-led jamming – still retains some clear compositional elements. If they’re improvising, they’re working from a base of prior construction – a starting point to get them going – and on “His Teeth Did Brightly Shine,” they’re doing so without Davies. As the song develops, that lack of clear drums can leave it feeling somewhat unhinged, but it’s hard to imagine that isn’t what Earth were going for, or at very least, that Carlson was pleased with the outcome when it was over.

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Tomorrow, Jan. 24, Seattle noise rock four-piece Brokaw will issue their debut album on Good to Die Records. The eight-song release is only 27 minutes long, but there’s no question it’s anything but a full-length. True to the AmRep legacy that seems to have birthed it, Interiors does a lot with a little. By the time “Time Ain’t Now” comes on to send up ’90s-style sub-hip-hop rock late into the record, the intensity and rawness feel as much a part of the band as the guitars, bass, drums and vocals.

Those who’ve smelled the flower of disease might recall Brokaw bassist G. Stuart Dahlquist from his tenure in Goatsnake, or perhaps Burning Witch before that, or Asva‘s ongoing run. Brokaw is certainly a departure from any of those bands’ aesthetics, but there’s something characteristic to Dahlquist‘s bass as it plays off the bombast of Rich Medic‘s drumming and Rick Troy‘s guitars. Vocalist Mike Henderson is part Iggy Pop and part Page Hamilton, both early; he recites his lines in various slurs and shouts that always seem to fit the music happening behind, whether it’s the bass-rumbling of “Politicians by the Pool” or the churning riffy groove of closer “You Didn’t Invent Sex.”

Good to Die was kind enough to give me permission to host Interiors in its entirety for your streaming pleasure, and you’ll find it below, followed by some PR wire-type info about the release. Please enjoy:

The word “Brokaw” stirs up all kinds of connotations. There’s the stern voice of reason held by news anchor Tom Brokaw, the expressive and colorful guitar playing of former Come/Codeine member Chris Brokaw… and now, the sound of one of the meatiest and meanest rock groups to emerge from Seattle, Washington.

But what makes the band so vital and so compelling how obviously they gel both on record and on stage. The members of Brokaw have been playing together “on and off for a very long time,” says Dahlquist. “I have been playing music with Rick for around 35 years, the two of us have worked with Mike since meeting at music school in 1984, Rich has been in and out of the picture for at least 10 years. We’ve been friends for a long time and have a great chemistry together, we all love playing music and it comes easily for us.”

You’ll hear right from the start of the band’s debut LP Interiors, to be released this fall on the new Seattle label Good To Die Records. Recorded with Greg Norman at Electrical Audio in Chicago, Illinois, Brokaw fed off the live current that runs through the band and the studio. Their hyperdriven barrage of sound pulls from the influences of the Amphetamine Reptile family, while acknowledging a wide variety of interests like the freeform ’70s work of Miles Davis and the swing of cheeky, literate Britpop band The Fall.

Live, on record, and in person, Brokaw put their backs, their hearts, and their balls into everything they do. They don’t ask you to do the same, just to pay your respects and enjoy every sweat-drenched minute of it.

If modern science has shown us anything, it’s that the next best thing to an album that’s one long song is an album that’s two long songs, and that’s just what Seattle-by-way-of-Kansas doomers Samothrace have promised to deliver with their sophomore full-length, due out next year on 20 Buck Spin. It’ll be four years since they released Life’s Trade, but if the included live footage is anything to go by, they haven’t lost sight of what’s important.

This came in on the PR wire a couple days ago, but I wanted to make sure it got posted, timely or not:

After nearly four years without a new release, ambidextrous sludge purveyors Samothrace were in Soundhouse Studios in their hometown of Seattle with producer Brandon Fitzsimmons (ex-Wormwood) to begin the recording of their second LP.

Samothrace issued the following collective statement about the recording process: “Working on this album at Soundhouse Studios with Brandon Fitzsimmons is amazing. We were fortunate enough to use the Rolls Royce of analog tape machines. The sound of rolling thunder was an inspiration during the whole process. The songs are as soaring and turbulent as the last album, but a bit more mature. We can’t wait for its release and imminent touring to follow.”

The LP will tentatively bear two side-long tracks, “When We Emerged” and “A Horse of Our Own.” The hymn “When We Emerged” originally appeared on the band’s 2007 demo in a much shorter and raw form, and has here been completely reworked and extended into a new song.

The album — its title still TBA — will be released by mid-2012 via 20 Buck Spin, who also released Samothrace‘s praised 2008 debut full-length, Life’s Trade. More info on the new album will be available in the coming weeks.

I’ve been waiting for this one ever since I interviewed Earth mastermind Dylan Carlson earlier this year. Though the band’s original intent had been to release two albums the same year, it’s looking currently like Feb. 14, 2012, will see the materialization of Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II. Nothing like a little drone on your Valentine’s Day.

In any case, here’s looking forward to it, and here’s (in a much more literal way) the news off the PR wire:

The second half of Seattle drone icons Earth‘s Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light is being prepared for release on Southern Lord in North America this February 14 on CD, LP and digital download formats.

Recorded in the same two week session as 2011′s lauded Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light I by Stuart Hallerman at Avast and mastered by Mell Detmer, Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II carries on in the freely and folkloric vein of the last release and invokes even more improvisational and unrestrained energy than its predecessor.

Angels Of Darkness, Demons Of Light II is striking in many ways, not least in the wildly improvised nature of this particular recording. The songs “Sigil of Brass” and “The Corascene Dog” perfectly emphasize how the interplay between the foursome has evolved even further since the first installment. Meanwhile, the track “His Teeth Did Brightly Shine” veers further into an entirely other direction, recalling sounds of the great British Acid Folk generation. This new material brings forth some highly original and deeply mesmerizing tones throughout, at times more hopeful and less dark and death oriented than previous work. Angels Of Darkness, Demons Of Light II is ultimately a completely unanticipated direction for Earth, and a very welcome one at that.

The lineup again consists of Adrienne Davies on drums and percussion (on this release there is more percussion of all sorts), Lori Goldston (Nirvana, David Byrne, Black Cat Orchestra, Laura Veirs) returns on cello, and Karl Blau (K Records, Laura Veirs, Microphones) plays bass. This also marks the first time the band on the record has toured outside of the US West Coast in preparation for the album. As with the first part, it again has truly amazing artwork by Stacey Rozich.

Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II Track Listing:
1. Sigil of Brass
2. His Teeth Did Brightly Shine
3. Multiplicity of Doors
4. The Corascene Dog
5. The Rakehell

Salt the earth and screw the dragons — Sandrider has come. I reviewed the Seattle trio’s self-titled debut back in October, and it remains an upbeat balance of catchy and bombastic songwriting. The guitar of Jon Weisnewski (also vocals) jangles with unhinged swagger, and with Akimbo bandmate Nat Damm on drums and bassist/vocalist Jesse Roberts of The Ruby Doe, Sandrider emerges as a new band that sounds experienced.

Whether it’s the Americana sprawl of “The Judge” or the wailing screams of “The Corpse,” I’ve come to think of Sandrider, the album, as a natural extension sound-wise of what Akimbo did on their excellent and underrated 2008 album, Jersey Shores. With the Matt Bayles (Mastodon, Isis) production job, the songs are bright and engaging, but still unremittingly heavy heavy and dirty feeling. And the hooks speak for themselves.

So if you were a fan of that record, some of what Sandrider does on these tracks will be familiar, but with Roberts‘ contributions on bass, there’s a new personality beginning to form around the band, and this self-titled is hopefully just the beginning of that development. Like few records I’ve heard this year, it’s one to which I keep returning when I need a kick in the ass.

Seattle‘s own Good to Die Records is, after a couple delays, putting the album out next week on vinyl, and they were kind enough to give me permission to host not one song, not two songs, but the entire record for your streaming pleasure. You’ll find it on the player below. Hope you enjoy:

Sandrider‘s Sandrider will be released next Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011, via Good to Die Records. For more info, check out Sandrider on Thee Facebooks or at their Bandcamp page. Good to Die‘s website is here.

Put to press less than a year after the band played its first show in 2010, the Superwizard 7” is the first official outing for Seattle fuzzsome foursome Ancient Warlocks. The band offer no excuses for their stonerly ways on the self-released Superwizard, instead riffing with Fu Manchu-esque abandon on the two included cuts, “Into the Night” and “Superwizard.” A smattering of demo tracks preceded that one can hear on the band’s ReverbNation page, and the song “Killer’s Moon” – very much in the same vein as the material on Superwizard – is streaming at their Bandcamp site, but the 7” marks a physical debut nonetheless and is limited to 300 copies, hand-silkscreened and numbered with righteous cover art by Eric Pruyn. The music of the band itself is rudimentary in its form enough to match Pruyn’s inked lines, and similarly minded when it comes to lyrics about space wizards and mysterious creatures. The single’s lack of pretense in being anything other than what it is makes up a big part of its charm, but if you’re into familiar riffs and grooves, Ancient Warlocks have plenty of accessibility and appeal for the converted.

That’s not to say the songs don’t have their own personality, just that it’s a personality that you – if you’ve found your way to reading this – already know. The band already knows it as well, and that works much to their credit. Bassist Aaron Krause (also vocals) and guitarists Dan Beloit and Darren Chase provide amply thickened fuzz, with Beloit veering into lead lines throughout the longer “Into the Night.” Krause‘s bass underscores the janga-janga shuffle of that song’s main riff, with drummer Steve Jones keeping the march straightforward on the hi-hat and snare, until after halfway through the song, there’s a slowdown and solo section from Beloit that brings a bluesy side not yet shown. Interestingly, that shift happens at about 2:50, and since Superwizard’s title-track is 2:54 and doesn’t have such a break, you could almost say the structures of the two songs on the single are the same, but with the extra piece added to Side A to bring it to about five minutes. It doesn’t offend, in any case. The release in total is about eight minutes long, so Ancient Warlocks would have to work pretty hard to come off as more redundant than they mean to be in that time, and they don’t.

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Fans of Seattle post-sludgecore outfit Akimbo’s 2008 Jersey Shores maybe-swansong will be happy to know that some of the same jangly-guitar groove that so well permeated that concept album also shows up on the self-titled debut from Sandrider. No mystery why, as two-thirds of the new trio (releasing their album via Good to Die Records) are culled directly from Akimbo’s ranks – namely guitarist/vocalist Jon Weisnewski and drummer Nat Damm, joined in Sandrider by bassist/vocalist Jesse Roberts (The Ruby Doe), who meshes with the established duo as well as anyone could possibly ask on Sandrider’s seven tracks. The songs aren’t exactly an extension of what Akimbo accomplished so well on Jersey Shores, marking a shift in the band’s methods from the raw bombast of their earlier work to something more grounded and melodically ranging, but the trio (who still call Seattle home) are definitely aware of where they came from, and mid-tracklist cuts like “Voices” and “Paper” share some similar turns and sparks. Part of any perceived similarity, though, could also easily be attributed to the consistency of tone through which Weisnewski finds himself in the lead position in Sandrider. His vocals and playing style will be immediately recognizable to anyone who heard and/or dug Akimbo (even though he serves as bassist in that outfit), and likewise, Damm’s snare has a similar pop on Sandrider as it did on Jersey Shores, if bolstered by the production here of Matt Bayles, who produced Mastodon’s best albums, Botch, Isis and several other landmarks along the way.

So if Sandrider marks a shift for Weisnewski and Damm, it’s more in the inclusion of Roberts and the overall presentation of their sound than in the style of their play. That said, Sandrider does have a more grounded feel to its material than did Akimbo; a maturation and natural next step from what they last presented. Songs vary in memorability, but each proves worthy in one way or another, and for the flow Sandrider establish across the album as a whole, nothing is out of place or unjustifiable. Roberts is an excellent complement for Weisnewski vocally, the two blending so well together that it’s hard to tell where tradeoffs are (other than backing spots), and Damm’s percussion adds a punk-ish sense of danger to the whole affair, whether it’s the rhythmic shifts of “Crysknife” or the driving finale of closer “Scatter.” Sandrider, because they’re not really a new band, don’t fall prey to what a lot of others might on their first record in terms of not fully realizing the vision of what they’re trying to accomplish, but at the same time, there’s a sense of potential in opener “Children” that speaks to the development of Sandrider as its own band and a hopefully ongoing project. The song has some surfy swagger and sway, and Weisnewski’s scream tops the cleaner singing excellently. His guitar is at the fore, but the balance of the mix is excellent, and Sandrider can strike into either accessibility or riffy abandon depending on the band’s whim.

It’s the latter with “The Corpse,” a song that gets underway with a minute of guitar groove in the intro and probably the best opening line I’ve heard all year – “Breaking bread with the dragon!” – from Weisnewski. Hard not to get into a piece of music that depends like that, and the overall live feel of Sandrider speaks to the band’s awareness of audience, but like a lot of the record, the ethic isn’t anything new for Weisnewski or Damm – or for Roberts for that matter, as The Ruby Doe’s punk-minded altern-art-ive rock has that kind of vibe as well. “The Corpse” benefits from Roberts’ crispness of tone, which doesn’t so much follow the guitar as run alongside it, and effectively. Amp noise serves as transition into “Crysknife,” but really, the tracks especially on the first side of the album stand on their own, the opening trio of “Children,” “The Corpse” and “Crysknife” showing some similarity of approach and a runtime between five and five and a half minutes. They’re not all the same sonically – “Crysknife” feels burlier than “The Corpse” and has a more impatient performance from Damm – but Sandrider aren’t shy either in their appreciation for structure or their handling of it. These are songs with a beginning, middle and end, and each unit in the best of them (I’d include “Crysknife” in that thanks in no small part to the bass line that underscores the bridge) makes the whole stronger. The whole song and the whole album. “Voices” closes out the first half of Sandrider with a quiet creeping-guitar opening and piercing lead line that leads to hits and stops in place of a traditional chorus and provides suitable change to the established modus of the record.

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January 8, 1806

“Proceed to the top of the mountain next to the which is much the highest part and that part faceing the Sea, from this point I beheld the grandest and most pleasing prospects which my eyes ever surveyed, in frount a boundless Ocean… we arrived on a butifull Sand Shore, found only the Skelleton of this monster on the sand.” Clark

The above quotation is taken from the collected journals of Lewis and Clark as they encountered the skeleton of a beached whale on the ocean shore. Given the fact that they traipsed around the Pacific Northwest and named a bunch of stuff after themselves, I could think of no better source for a podcast title saluting the scene in that region, which itself feels like it’s currently leaving its mark on the international heavy underground.

In our recent interview, YOB guitarist/vocalist Mike Scheidt discussed this as “a time when the music is really vital,” and that phrase in particular has stuck with me. It’s true. Seattle and elsewhere in Washington has been a musical hotbed for 20 years or more, but Oregon — with the seeming nexus in and around Portland — is just beginning to command respect when it comes to heavy rock and doom. The music is fresh, and that while that’s invariably something that won’t last forever (at least it never has in the history of geographically-centered scenes), if we can take a slice of it at this moment, there’s something really special happening.

Accordingly, you’ll find as you listen that a lot of the songs here are new. Of the 31 tracks included in this podcast, 25 are from albums released in the last half-decade. As I always say with this kind of thing, it’s not a complete document, and I’m limited to the CDs I can get my hands on at any given time, but I hope as you make your way through the almost four hours, you get a sense of the vitality Scheidt was talking about. Even among the bands who’ve been around for a longer time — Earth and the Melvins, for example — I tried to make sure I was as recent as possible.

I was also trying to give a sense of the sonic diversity the region has on offer, from the straightforward classic rock of Stone Axe to the cinematic ambience of Grails, the simplistic riffing of Witchasaurus Hex to Megaton Leviathan‘s massive dronegaze. There might be some abrupt changes from one song to the next as a result, but just imagine all this stuff happening in roughly the same place. It’s amazing.

Download audiObelisk Transmission 018 by clicking here, the banner at the top of this post, or the big link on the sidebar. If you’re more the streamy type, have at it via the player above. Full tracklist with timestamps and release years is after the jump, appropriately enough, we start with new YOB…

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Snail‘s 2009 reunion album, Blood, was among the best of that year’s surprises, and out of all the killer albums released that year, it’s one of the few that still keeps me coming back for more listens. In fact, today being sunny, warm and generally gorgeous, I think I’ll put it on now.

Good news came on the band update forum that the four-piece are set to hit the studio this week and record the follow-up to Blood, tentatively-titled Terminus. More to come on this one, but since the announcement made my Friday night (as you can see in the link), I thought it was worth sharing here in case anyone hadn’t seen it yet. Dig:

Snail will begin recording drum tracks at Mysterious Mammal Recording, Los Angeles for our third full-length beginning April 13. We will be recording all month and expect a release sometime mid-summer. The working title for the record is Terminus. The tone of this one is a bit more old-school metal, but the fuzz will be in full effect as well.

Here is the current track list:

Recursion
Galaxies Lament
Matchbook
Fast Woman
Hippy Crack
Try To Make It
Perilous Dandelion
Love Theme from Snail
Terminus
Ritual
Heavy Trait
Burn the Flesh

We’ll keep everyone posted via Facebook and this site. We’re very excited to get these new tunes out there. Thanks for all the support you’ve given us!

Mark, Matt, Eric, Marty

That the Melvins are touring is no big surprise. That’s kind of their thing. What’s different this time is that they’re taking the format of their recent Los Angeles residency shows on the road hitting a couple of the major markets, playing albums like Houdini and Stoner Witch in their entirety. That’s the new part, and good news all around, since at this point those records are classics.

No stopping that PR wire:

The Melvins, who recently completed a sold-out residency at Los Angeles‘ Spaceland, are taking the idea mobile with two-night stints in six US cities this May.

The upcoming performances will feature the same setlist in each city with the first night kicking off with the band performing songs from Lysol and Egg Nog followed by a second set of music from Houdini. The second night in each mini-residency will be Bullhead for the first set and Stoner Witch for the second. There will be no opening artists for this tour.

The Melvins‘ next release is Sugar Daddy Live, a 13-track live recording set for release on May 31 via Ipecac Recordings.

The dates are:
05/13 Seattle, WA The Crocodile
05/14 Seattle, WA The Crocodile
05/16 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
05/17 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
05/27 Austin, TX Mohawk
05/28 Austin, TX Mohawk
05/31 Chicago, IL Double Door
06/01 Chicago, IL Double Door
06/03 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
06/04 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
06/06 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg
06/07 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg

I’d have done a 2011 list earlier, but honestly, after the massiveness that was the top 20 countdown, I needed a break from all the list-type stuff. Next thing I knew, January was more than halfway over and no predictions had yet been made about what some of the best things to come would be. Just shameful.

This is just going to be a two-parter, and I’m keeping it to five albums on each list for a total of 10 records to look forward to in 2011. If that’s not enough for you, well, stay tuned, because I’m sure there’s going to be plenty more than 10 reviews posted this year. Hell, I think there already have been, so there you go.

The reason these are “the sure bets” is because I’ve already heard them and know they rule. Let’s get to it:

Lo-Pan, Salvador: The Ohio four-piece’s Small Stone label debut full-length has “classic” written all over it. I heard some rough mixes back in December and I’ve heard some less-rough mixes now, and I honestly haven’t felt this way about a straightforward stoner rock record since I heard the first Sasquatch album in 2004. The songwriting is brilliant, the performances masterful and the production stellar. You’re gonna shit when you hear “Chichen Itza” and “Deciduous.”

Crowbar, Sever the Wicked Hand: It’s kind of funny, but Crowbar influenced a whole younger generation of bands and on Sever the Wicked Hand, it sounds like that younger generation has re-influenced Crowbar, or at least reminded them of what they do best. Some of the material on Sever the Wicked Hand is a little fast, but there are some real quality tracks, and at this point it’s been so long I’m just glad they have a new record out.

Earth, Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light I: Part one in a series of two new works by Earth , Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light I (review here) brings cello accompaniment to Dylan Carlson‘s trademark drone guitar, filling out the sound with a subtle and melodic lushness it’s never before had. Earth are never going to be for everyone, but their latest should delight longtime fans and catch a couple newcomers as well.

Weedeater, Jason… the Dragon: Sludge meets swampy Southern blues on the latest record from the North Carolinian outfit which, like Earth, will be released via Southern Lord in March. Their sound is as nasty as ever, but there’s evidence of stylistic branching out in songs like “Homecoming” and “Palms of Opium,” and it’s exciting to hear the band trying new things, especially when they work. Full review is here.

Six Organs of Admittance, Asleep on the Floodplain: I’ve been a nerd for this Ben Chasny solo project for a number of years now, and on his new record, which is due out on Drag City on Feb. 22, the Comets on Fire guitarist does away with some of the psychedelic and/or droning aspects of the last couple albums in favor of a return to acoustic solo-songwriter material. Translation: He’s right in his element. More to come.

Tomorrow we’ll do Pt. 2, which will be full of pure speculation, and thus a lot of fun.

I thought we’d end this week with something from MeteorCity in honor of the fallen StonerRock.com. I chose “Underwater” by Snail, because it rules and because it’s a little sad.

I put some feelers out about it and I’ve got a buddy coming over tomorrow to see if we can feasibly add community forums to The Obelisk and make it viable and reasonable to maintain. I’m not saying it’s going to launch tomorrow with a General Discussion board just like StonerRock.com used to have — because let’s not forget SR took 10 years to get where it was — but let’s start with that and see where it takes us. That’s kind of been my policy all along with this site. Please check in, because I’ll have updates over the weekend.

New podcast coming this weekend as well. That’s Sunday, I hope. So if you don’t normally check The Obelisk because there aren’t posts Saturdays and Sundays, this weekend is an exception. Plenty to do, lot of strands in the ol’ duder’s head.

In addition, I’ll be at Crowbar tomorrow night in Trenton and Black Thai on Sunday in Brooklyn. Tonight I’ll be doing homework for class Monday. Maybe having a drink or two to toast Dan and Melanie from StonerRock as well.

More soon.

Well, it happened. Roareth are done. All the physical copies of their album, Acts I-VI, sold out and they played their last show at The Comet in Seattle this past Sunday night, Oct. 24. The Maple Forum‘s first band is no more. The second Maple Forum release isn’t even out yet! This whole “starting a record label” thing is going great.

If you missed that news, it’s here. Submitted for your approval are the following shots of Roareth at their final gig, courtesy of Invisible Hour Photography. Dig it:

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It’s one thing to put out an awesome CD — which Roareth did in the form of The Obelisk‘s in-house label The Maple Forum‘s first release, Acts I-VI — sell out of it and not make any more. It’s another thing to put out an awesome CD and then break up, and of the two, Roareth (ballsy as ever) seems to have gone with the latter option. They played their first show June 18, and they’ll play their last Oct. 24 in Seattle. I won’t ever have gotten the chance to see them.

The band checks in with the following:

Our guitarist, Aaron Edge, was offered the Product Manager position at Southern Lord Records in Los Angeles… a job he simply cannot pass up. He and bass player/wife (Rachel) move to California on Nov. 1. Pam, Ben and Aaron have been playing music together for over three years now, most of that time in the thrashy punk band, Requin (in which Pam wrote most of the material). Roareth was started in order to have a method of release for Aaron‘s slower material that didn’t fit into Requin‘s bag of tunes. The three musicians found it easy to just change the style of music between Requin and Roareth, keeping the same band members and practice space. It is with great sadness that the band disbands, but all good things must end.

Roareth has two remaining Seattle shows:
10/14 The Rendezvous w/ Via Vengeance and Sod Hauler
10/24 The Comet w/ Physical Demon, NoiseATron and Shining Ones

Roareth‘s Acts I-VI CDs are all sold out, however, the digital download of MP3s is available here: www.secure.diystro.com/a/GZALQ

Roareth‘s Acts I-VI Revisited is an interesting remix of the CD, with extra layered instruments, limited percussion and different samples. The digital download of MP3s is available here: www.secure.diystro.com/a/O04RU

Aaron and Rachel have started a new band down in the Los Angeles area called Raw Umber. They are seeking a drummer to complete their new group. Aaron has also been working on a series of recordings with different vocalists (Eshas w/ Rob of 108, Stilled w/ John of Himsa and Les Gants w/ Greg of Trial), all to be released before the year’s end. He also continues to write and record his solo project, Hellvetika. Pam has started a noise band called Scyphozoa. Ben plays with Mark Sparkles and Shit Gets Smashed. There is no doubt in any of the band member’s minds that Ben and Pam will start a new, heavy project as well.

The group wishes to thank each other for months of great shows, friendship and the creative outlet that was Roareth. Many hugs go out to the bands and stages shared, friends who lent an ear-plugged ear at shows and those who made the whole band’s life so amazing. Special thanks to JJ and The Maple Forum for support and the release of the Acts I-VI CD.

A final shirt design (see pic) will be available at the last shows, and if not sold out, online as well.

I’m happy to report that all my copies of The Maple Forum‘s debut release, Acts I-VI by Seattle doom juggernauts Roareth, are gone. As far as the label (and by that I mean me) is concerned, the pressing is sold out. You can still get the album from the band or at the All That is Heavy webstore, but it’s no longer for sale on this site.

Thanks to everyone who made a purchase from this site or reviewed the album. Please continue to support the band and know there’s more to come from The Maple Forum this Fall with the Kings Destroy record, And the Rest Will Surely Perish, and beyond, so stay tuned for label updates and a lot more. In the meantime, Roareth have a couple shows scheduled for next month you’ll probably want to check out if you’re a fan of getting your ass kicked by music.