Experimental doom unit EIGHT BELLS — featuring within their eclectic ranks guitarist/vocalist Melynda Jackson, formerly of SubArachnoid Space, the San Francisco psych rockers whose final album, released in 2009 on Crucial Blast, is the origin of the EIGHT BELLS name – is pleased to welcome SubArachnoid Space alumni Dan Barone and Melynda Amann of Portland’s Jamais Jamais to the fold.
Comments Jackson of the band’s new recruits: “I am super excited for this upcoming next chapter. I am thrilled to be playing again after five or so years with Dan Barone. He played a writing role as well as bass on the final SubArachnoid Space album, and I feel lucky to have reunited with him. Melynda — yes we have the same name spelled the same way — honors me by joining. She will be adding some keyboard and of course her amazing voice. To have our first performance in Portland be with our friends in SubRosa is amazing, and we can’t wait to travel with them, even if it is short but sweet!”
The trio-turned-quartet will play their first shows together this Fall supporting SubRosa with additional live appearances in the plotting stages.
EIGHT BELLS:
11/16/2016 Mississippi Studios – Portland, OR w/ SubRosa, Jamais Jamais
11/17/2016 Cobalt – Vancouver BC w/ SubRosa
11/18/2016 Highline – Seattle, WA w/ SubRosa
EIGHT BELLS released their sophomore full-length, Landless, via Battleground Records earlier this year. Captured by producer/engineer Billy Anderson (Agalloch, Tragedy, Demon Lung, Ommadon, Brothers Of The Sonic Cloth et al), the record is a defining evolution within EIGHT BELLS‘ perpetually shapeshifting sound explorations. Pitchfork calls the record, “Heartbreakingly beautiful,” further lauding the offering’s, “wraithlike vocals and numbed melodies hanging over pinprick prog fretwork… Dual vocal lines emanate from some unseen place, sometimes braided together in a conjoined plea for connection…” Noisey concurs crowning Landless, “a tour-de-force,” and hailing their,”out-there progression, ethereal atmosphere, and unexpected harmonies.” Elsewhere the sentiment echoes. Exclaim gushes, “EIGHT BELLS have created a veritable monument to yearning… Breathless, imbalanced genius,” BrooklynVegan notes, “There’s a classical doom feel… wedded to a modern sense of progressiveness, with reverb-y harmonies and organ melding creating a vivid contrast with the driving, powerful drumming of new member Rae Amitay,” while Outburn adds, “EIGHT BELLS has made a contender for one of the best records of the year for any genre.”
EIGHT BELLS was forged in 2010 by Melynda Jackson (SubArachnoid Space) and began as a songwriting collaboration with jazz-trained six-string bassist Haley Westeiner and drummer Chris Van Huffel. Based in Portland, Oregon, EIGHT BELLS explores dark sonic realms with a blackened dissonance combined with ethereal and haunting female vocals.
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