photos by Morgan Meredith
Chicago-area metalcore outfit MIASIS, who existed in the late-1990s/early-2000s, has remixed and remastered their crushing In And Out Of Weeks EP – featuring Sean Ingram from Coalesce on vocals – and the EP is now available on all streaming services for the first time.
MIASIS’ In And Out Of Weeks was recorded by Mark Sampson at Cadence Studios between July 2000 and April 2001, mixed by Andy Chavez May/June 2024, and mastered by Dan Coutant at Sun Room Audio (The Sword, Coliseum, Jawbox) June/July 2024. The cover photo, design, and logo were handled by Joe Chavez / Fire Eater Industries, with the cover dot pattern created by Aaron Turner (Hydra Head Records, Isis, Sumac).
A video for “001” by Ricardo Cozzolino was filmed at MIASIS’ performance at the Fireside Bowl in Chicago on 7/15/2002 opening up for Coheed & Cambria and From Autumn To Ashes.
Stream the remixed/remastered In And Out Of Weeks EP at Bandcamp HERE and other digital services HERE, and watch the “001” video HERE.
The ‘90s and ‘00s Chicago-area punk scene was the embodiment of a stereotype that Midwesterners revel in: scrappy, pure-of-intent underdogs; people who let their work do the talking. Incubated in a suburban-Chicago petri dish, MIASIS began in 1999; an era when the crossover of punk and metal was well established, and bold bands like Botch, Converge – and most importantly to MIASIS’ story, Coalesce – were tightening the screws on what would eventually be called metalcore.
Brothers Andy and Joe Chavez (bass and drums, respectively) and Evan Mallon (guitar) formed MIASIS to create jarring, heavy music. Without a screamer in their contacts, the band remained instrumental until that Midwest gumption kicked in: “What if we asked Sean Ingram from Coalesce to record vocals?” A scan of Coalesce’s 0:12 Revolution in Just Listening provided an AOL email address, contact was made. Ingram—a fellow Midwesterner from Missouri—reflects, “The Chavez brothers hit me up during one of the longer break-ups Coalesce had right after releasing 0:12. I was dying to be creative again, and I fell in love with how unique MIASIS sounded and immediately had ideas that sounded fun to do on the recording.”
The idea to contact Ingram was hatched in November of 1999; a demo was mailed. Shortly after Christmas, MIASIS heard back. The plan was to have Ingram record vocals on the demo he was sent. A full-length album was briefly considered before settling on an EP. Joe Chavez recalls, “Because of the distance between the band and Sean, we decided to record the instrumentation in Chicago and record vocals in Lawrence. By July of 2000, the instrumental tracks were complete, and we sent the tapes to Sean. After a few months of attempting to schedule vocal tracking in Kansas, it was decided that the easiest way to complete the project would be to shorten it to an EP and have Sean fly to Chicago to record.”
In March of 2001, Ingram did just that. Chavez continues, “We picked him up from the airport on Saturday morning, he stayed in my room for a night; we hung out, ate deep-dish pizza and Burger King. He recorded his vocals in Mark’s parents’ basement during a [short] session on Sunday [and then] we dropped him off at the airport.” This is about as Midwest as it gets.
The EP was initially self-released but was issued in 2003 on Undecided Records with a multimedia component, including a video by Ricardo Cozzolino (co-director and editor of Bane’s Holding These Moments documentary) and design by Aaron Turner (Hydra Head Records, SUMAC, Old Man Gloom). Like many projects before and after, MIASIS fizzled out around the same time.
Present day. Sampson facilitated a digital transfer of the original ADAT recordings for archival purposes. With a better transfer in hand than was possible two-plus decades ago, the decision was made to remix, remaster and release the songs to streaming services. The material is just as cutting as it was when it appeared as a blip on the scene and disappeared. Chavez says, “As a DIY garage band from the suburbs of Chicago, we’ve always been so proud of the material we recorded with Sean, and grateful for the opportunity to work with someone we respect so much as an artist. We wanted to share it with anyone interested in listening to this little bit of our history.” – bio by Dave Hofer
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