Photo by Jonathan Lorange
Canadian chamber folk trio MUSK OX – featuring members of Leprous, The Night Watch, and The Visit, among others – today releases “Inheritance (Part 1 – Premonition),” the opening track to their forthcoming new full-length, Inheritance, scheduled for release on July 9th. The sorrowful track is currently streaming exclusively via Decibel Magazine.
Elaborates guitarist Nathanael Larochette of the moving hymn, “‘Inheritance (Part 1 – Premonition)’ is the opening song from our new album and the first song we’ve ever composed collaboratively as a trio. The piece came together over the course of a single day rehearsal with each musician offering their own melodic and structural contributions. After several hours we had unexpectedly laid the foundation for what would eventually become our third album Inheritance, though we were unaware of this at the time.
“Despite its somber nature and the fact that this is one of our most atmospheric pieces, the song emerged from the studio shrouded in a foreboding fog of heaviness that even we weren’t expecting. The structure of classic progressive rock albums such as Relayer by Yes provided an inspiring framework for the pacing of Inheritance, but as the mixing stage neared completion it became clear that the songs had intentions of their own. While our previous single ‘Memoriam’ was meant to be the album’s ballad, the finished piece ended up much heavier and grander in scope. ‘Inheritance (Part 1 – Premonition)’ underwent a similar evolution. While we simply envisioned it as the brooding opener, the piece became a much more captivating and dramatic musical statement despite our initially modest vision for it. Such is the experience of composing and recording music and we wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Adds Decibel, “There’s nothing precisely metal happening on Inheritance, but it’s exactly the kind of instrumental folk/classical music that tends to get open-minded black metal fans excited. Musk Ox have opened for both Agalloch and Wardruna, which should give you a pretty good idea of where to file them. If you love slow-building, atmospheric, nature-evoking black metal, but don’t always actually want to hear the black metal parts, Inheritance is for you.”
Stream MUSK OX’s “Inheritance (Part 1 – Premonition),” only at Decibel Magazine, at THIS LOCATION.
View the band’s previously released video for “Memoriam” HERE or stream it HERE.
Inheritance will be released independently July 9th on CD, LP, and digital formats. Find preordering options at THIS LOCATION.
Inheritance comes seven years since MUSK OX‘s critically lauded Woodfall offering. Despite the long wait between albums however, the musicians within MUSK OX have remained prolific. Since 2014, MUSK OX classical guitarist Nathanael Larochette released a solo double album, a collaboration with poet Conyer Clayton, and two acclaimed full-lengths with the instrumental chamber metal quartet The Night Watch, of which MUSK OX violinist Evan Runge is also a member, while cellist Raphael Weinroth-Browne’s staggering output saw the debut release of the haunting cello/voice project The Visit, three improvised world music albums with the duo Kamancello, a stunning solo album and two full-length records with Norwegian prog masters Leprous as well as continuous appearances as a session musician.
The trio’s combined stage and studio experience is on full display throughout Inheritance, a captivating set of compositions representing new levels of growth and maturity for MUSK OX. As with Woodfall, the original skeleton of the album was composed on guitar by Larochette before being handed to Weinroth-Browne for string compositions, restructuring and additional guitar contributions. The trio then spent hours workshopping, arranging, and rearranging parts in the rehearsal room, leading to a more refined and collaborative album. Once the material was ready to record, MUSK OX once again called upon long-time friend, collaborator, and studio wizard Dean Watson who engineered and mixed the self-titled debut as well as Woodfall. The material was then carefully tracked at his woodland studio The Workshop. Containing some of the group’s most ambitious as well as intimate material, Inheritance is a cathartic collection where wordless hymns of worry and wonder form the stirring soundtrack to an uncertain age of reckoning, reflection, and resilience.
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