Photo by Rennie Elliot
New York/Portland instrumental duo, INSECT ARK, will bring their psalms to the live stage later this month on a North American tour en route to their performance at this year’s edition of Basilica Soundscape in Hudson, New York. The band will perform an all drone set August 11th in Salem, Oregon at Cemetary Soundscapes Fest before kicking of the first official leg of the tour with Belus August 15th in Olympia, Washington. The trek will run through August 19th in Los Angeles, California. The second leg of the trek begins August 29h in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and will find the band paired with Pandiscordian Necrogenesis through September 6th in Brooklyn, New York. See all confirmed dates below.
INSECT ARK released their Marrow Hymns full-length early this year via Profound Lore. An alluring fusion of horror-ï¬lm soundtracks, psychedelic doom, and atmospheric noise, INSECT ARK‘s intensely visual music weaves interludes of fragile beauty with crushing passages of swirling doom, spinning like a backwards fever dream.
View the band’s visual accompaniment to the track “Tarnish” and a tour trailer, as well as their previously release video for “Skin Walker,” below.
Marrow Hymns is now available on CD, LP, and digital formats. For physical orders, point your browser HERE. European customers can order the LP HERE. The digital edition can be purchased via Bandcamp HERE and iTunes HERE.
INSECT ARK:
8/11/2018 Cemetary Soundscapes Fest @ The Burial Grounds – Salem, OR (drone set)
w/ Belus:
8/15/2018 Cryptatropa – Olympia, WA w/ Eye of Nix, Vouna
8/16/2018 Highline – Seattle, WA w/ Eye of Nix, Forest of Grey
8/17/2018 High Water Mark – Portland, OR w/ Jason W. Walton, Dark Numbers
8/18/2018 Golden Bull – Oakland, CA w/ Ails, Apprentice Destroyer
8/19/2018 The Resident – Los Angeles, CA w/ Graf Orlock, Toke
w/ Pandiscordian Necrogenesis:
8/29/2018 Kung Fu Necktie – Philadelphia, PA w/ Dopethrone, Crud, Hellrad
8/30/2018 Atlas Brew Works – Wash DC w/ Crowhurst, The Holy Circle
8/31/2018 Full Pint Wild Side – Pittsburgh, PA
9/01/2018 Intersection Fest 2018 – Toronto, CA (free/all ages)
9/03/2018 Casa Del Popolo – Montreal, CA w/ Echo Beach
9/04/2018 Paulys Hotel – Albany, NY w/ Foisy-Hardiman
9/05/2018 Obrien – Boston, MA w/ Sea, Greylock
9/06/2018 Saint Vitus – Brooklyn, NY w/ Queen Elephantine
9/14-16/2018 Basilica Soundscape Festival 2018 – Hudson, NY * INSECT ARK only
Residing on opposite coasts, the two halves of the INSECT ARK whole – comprised of Dana Schechter (bass, lap steel guitar, synthesizers) and Ashley Spungin (drums, synthesisers) – converged to record the album with engineer Ethan Donaldson at Mozart St Studios in Brooklyn, New York over the course of eighteen months.
Overdubs and further writing/arrangements were done after Spungin’s return to Portland in the isolation of Schechter’s home studio. The sense of distance and vast emptiness remained intact in the songs, built out over many long nights. Marrow Hymns’ song themes of displacement, loss, and isolation are personal journals of that time period, as both members found themselves simultaneously experiencing existential crises. However, the album also tells a story of strength and determination, made from the marrow of these two women, a song for all things that struggle to survive.
Creating a soundtrack to the human psyche’s underbelly, INSECT ARK‘s psychedelic doom weaves a brooding, textural landscape, a starless night spiked with light and ash. The duo braids together delay-drenched lapsteel, drums, distorted bass and synths to create a sonic mural, both uncomfortably intimate and icy cold. For fans of: Earth, Tangerine Dream, Oranssi Pazuzu, Swans et al.
Formed in late 2011, INSECT ARK began in New York City as the one-woman solo project of Dana Schechter. Portland-based drummer and analog electronics builder Ashley Spungin joined in 2015 during the touring for Portal/Well. Both women have roots firmly in making work with no borders – they are DIY makers, multi-instrumentalists, gearheads, and visual artists.
“…it’s the living, breathing dread throughout that separates this from the growing crowd of imaginary film trackers.” – Decibel
“The record finds Schechter and Spungin taking cues from horror-movie soundtracks, leaden psych-rock, ambient noise, EBM, and above all, its creators’ existential crises, all blown up for maximum atmospheric impact. Consider the crushing, eerie, ‘Sea Harps,’ … a facsimile for what to expect from the upcoming effort: two women’s combined agonies trapped amber-like, examined through prisms both fantastical and frightful.” – Revolver
“…an album at once powerful and memorable. INSECT ARK touches the listener more profoundly than other metal bands, precisely because instead of hacking and smashing their way into our bones, they instead drift into their center.” – Slug
“…a strong example of how creativity and passion can transcend the genre labels that some of us have become somewhat too attached to, and how our inability to stick everything in a neat box need not be a problem.” – Ghost Cult
“Marrow Hymns embodies a slow stream of atmosphere more than a series of distinct songs, resulting in a mostly uniform whole of elegant minimalism that gradually shifts and transforms into varying shapes, like clouds adrift in the sky.” – Exclaim
“The music swims in psychedelic doom and atmospheric noise while also diving deeply into ’60s horror soundtracks for extra layers of mood and power. This is music that engages your mind and body while also creating moods that let your thoughts wander freely. I’m not sure how they do it, but they do it beautifully.” – Sea Of Tranquility
“A slow burner that you just can’t help but be drawn towards – even if you can’t sense the dread and hopelessness rising up to engulf you.” – Dead Rhetoric
“If you feel like you’ve entered a dark void while tackling Marrow Hymns, you’re not alone. The amount of time I’ve indulged in INSECT ARK‘s new record at night, while staring at dark blank walls or the sky are only multiplying, and each trip brings new discoveries. Words are nice, sure, but when you transcend the need to have to speak or sing, you’ve entered a ghostly existence, where INSECT ARK wait to greet you.” – Meat Mead Metal
“…an ode to minimalist composition, fiercely avant-garde while immediately accessible, always deeply atmospheric and dripping with character. The songs embark on meandering journeys, unconcerned with formal structure, steady meter or predictable chord changes, yet each decision made by the duo feels right in its context.” – Antihero
http://www.insectark.com
http://www.facebook.com/InsectArk
http://www.insectark.bandcamp.com
http://www.profoundlorerecords.com
http://www.facebook.com/profoundlorerecords
http://www.profoundlorerecords.bandcamp.com