ATALA: West Coast Desert Doom Trio Streams “Sun Worship” At New Noise As The Bearer Of Light Full-Length Nears Release Via Salt Of The Earth Records

photo by Zak Kupch

“Sun Worship,” the latest single from California desert doom trio ATALA is currently streaming at New Noise Magazine.

The gritty doom mantra comes by way of the band’s The Bearer Of Light full-length, set to drop May 21st via Salt Of The Earth Records. The seven-track desert voyage was captured and self-produced in just five days at Gatos Trail in Joshua Tree with engineer Jeff Thomas. Offers guitarist/vocalist Kyle Stratton of the band’s latest single, “‘Sun Worship’ is a song [drummer] Jeff [Tedtaotao] and I had previously recorded. We always felt we had some unfinished business with it. It was an important song for me both lyrically and musically. It has some dissonant chords I made up. The chords are so ugly and disturbing most players don’t get it. We decided to try a version with [bassist] Dave [Horn]. He came up with a driving bass line adding just the right touch the song needed. Jeff and I knew instantly it was how the song was meant to be. Together we built the jam on the end and decided to end in a drone.

“Lyrically,” he continues, “it’s a very heavy song. It’s an understanding that came to me on an acid trip through the desert, climbing over a ridge, staring into the sun. It is a contemplation; an ultimate understanding that all life stems from the sun. All living things on this planet are made up of mostly carbon waiting to one day return to the energy form we came from. I thought a sample from the late George Carlin was just what it needed. I also added some spiritual throat chants and a shamanistic vibe to the production.”

Sample ATALA’s “Sun Worship,” via New Noise at THIS LOCATION.

Check out ATALA’s previously-released video for “Desolate Lands” as well as “Won’t Subside” below.

The Bearer Of Light comes swathed in Stratton’s striking cover art and will be available on, CD, LP, and digitally. Preorders are available via Salt Of The Earth Records at THIS LOCATION or the ATALA website HERE.

Catch ATALA live in support of The Bearer Of Light on a near-three-week US tour this June alongside Sixes. The trek will commence June 14th in Mountain View, California and make its way through seventeen venues upon its conclusion June 30th in Fullerton, California. See all confirmed dates below.

ATALA w/ Sixes:
6/14/2019 O’Malley’s – Mountain View, CA
6/15/2019 Mummer’s – Sparks, NV
6/16/2019 Beehive – Salt Lake City, UT
6/17/2019 Streets Of London – Denver, CO
6/18/2019 The Riot Room – Kansas City, MO
6/19/2019 The Lift – Dubuque, IA
6/20/2019 Reggie’s Music Hall – Chicago, IL
6/21/2019 Mohawk Place – Buffalo, NY
6/22/2019 Café 611 – Frederick, MD
6/23/2019 The Drunk Horse – Fayetteville, NC
6/24/2019 Alabama Music Box – Mobile, AL
6/25/2019 Come And Take It Live – Austin, TX
6/26/2019 Bond’s 007 Rock Bar – San Antonio, TX
6/27/2019 Rockhouse Bar & Grill – El Paso, TX
6/28/2019 House of Bards – Tucson, AZ
6/29/2019 Yucca Tap Room – Phoenix, AZ
6/30/2019 Slidebar – Fullerton, CA

Conceived in a Tuff Shed in the desolate landscape of Twentynine Palms, California, sometime in the winter of 2013, ATALA is the conjuring of Kyle Stratton, an artist who has found his home among the rattlesnakes, scorpions, bobcats, and mountain lions. “I love to be lost in the wilderness out here. You can lose yourself and find freedom alongside the creatures who survive here. It’s a great place to escape the human world.”

Completing the trio is drummer Jeff Tedtaotao and bassist Dave Horn. Together the band released a self-titled debut in 2014 with producer and famed desert musician Scott Reeder (Kyuss, Unida). Their 2015 follow-up, Shaman’s Path Of The Serpent, a decidedly more atmospheric and drone-heavy affair, featured producer Billy Anderson (Sleep, Melvins, Pallbearer) who would again produce 2016’s critically-acclaimed Labyrinth Of Ashmedai full-length. Loudwire lauded the band’s “consciousness altering” abilities while Metal Nexus hailed the band for, “keeping heavy music alive and fresh!”

“It’s a true roller coaster of emotions: sad, angry, confused, lost… but, you can’t help but feel hope as you follow the journey,” notes Stratton of ATALA‘s upcoming The Bearer Of Light.

“After working with producers who I admired,” he continues of the decision to record The Bearer Of Light on his own, “I felt it was my time to do it my way while implementing some of the tricks they used. I wanted to record live and not overthink the process. I just wanted to capture the moment take by take. It was a learning process for both the band and myself as a producer. I literally had no idea what I was doing but I wanted the record to have a ’90s DIY feel like the stuff I grew up listening to and I think we achieved that.”

ATALA has toured both regionally and nationally sharing stages with countless household names including The Obsessed, Coven, Pallbearer, Baroness, and SubRosa. Additionally, the band has performed at various festivals including the 2017edition of Roadburn where they crushed three separate sets, the New England Stoner And Doom Festival, the SXSW Stoner Fest, and the Maryland Doom Fest, where they will be returning this June to play alongside the legendary Pentagram among so many others.

“…an angry, sorrowful trudge through the forests of doom with a promising glimmer of hope at the end.” — Metal Injection

“…a cornucopia of varying styles and sounds while still remaining in the confines of the doom world. ATALA is bearing the light and leading the way with a modern twist on traditional heaviness.” — Metal Nexus

ATALA:
Kyle Stratton – guitar, vocals
Jeff Tedtaotao – drums
Dave Horn – bass