This Friday, West Coast doom bringers CASTLE will unleash their anticipated Welcome To The Graveyard full-length via Ván Records. In celebration of its release, today Decibel Magazine offers up the record in its consuming entirety.
Reflects guitarist Mat Davis, “We’re extremely proud to finally stream Welcome To The Graveyard. We set out on a left hand path from the beginning with this beast of an album, right up until the final nails were put in its coffin. We looked to make this album work as a whole, with a stripped down rock element that hearkened back to our debut In Witch Order and infusing that with bursts of orchestrated melody. It’s our favorite record to date because it combines all the different elements of CASTLE and lets them shine equally; epic heavy metal, doom, ’70s rock, and [bassist/vocalist] Liz [Blackwell]’s vocals are more soulfully evil than ever before which adds to the haunted ride.”
Hear Welcome To The Graveyard now at Decibel RIGHT HERE.
Welcome To The Graveyard was captured by Billy Anderson (Sleep, Neurosis, Brothers Of The Sonic Cloth, Eyehategod, Ommadon et al) at Type Foundry Studios in Portland, Oregon this past Winter and finds CASTLE merging their crushing, doom-powered riffing with soaring 1970s rock. Preorders for Welcome To The Graveyard are currently available at THIS LOCATION.
CASTLE is currently road-bound on a massive North American live takeover. The mammoth trek, which commenced on June 15th, included a three-week run of tour dates surrounding their recent appearance at the Maryland Doom Fest followed by a month-long headlining tour set to begin July 17th and run through August 20th. From there, CASTLE will take a week-long pause before taking to the streets yet again for a month’s worth of Canadian dates through September 29th. Don’t miss them!
In the meantime, check out Part I of the band’s ongoing Roadside Graveyards Tour Diary at Cvlt Nation HERE.
CASTLE:
7/17/2016 Slidebar – Fullerton, CA #
7/19/2016 The Vibe – Riverside, CA #
7/20/2016 Elbo Room – San Francisco, CA #
7/21/2016 Hi Water Mark – Portland, OR #
7/22/2016 Funhouse – Seattle, WA #
7/23/2016 The Palace Lounge – Missoula, MT #
7/24/2016 Railyard – Billings, MT #
7/25/2016 Reverie – Minneapolis, MN
7/26/2016 Reggies – Chicago, IL *
7/27/2016 High Noon Saloon – Madison, WI *
7/28/2016 Franks Power Plant – Milwaukee, WI *
7/29/2016 Shakespeare Pub – Kalamazoo, MI *
7/30/2016 Corktown Tavern – Detroit, MI *
7/31/2016 Howlers – Pittsburgh, PA *^
8/01/2016 Now That’s Class – Cleveland, OH ^
8/02/2016 Rockin Buffalo Saloon – Buffalo, NY ^
8/03/2016 Geno’s – Portland, ME ^ w/ Hessian
8/04/2016 Ralph’s – Worcester, MA ^ w/ Pilgrim
8/05/2016 Trans Pecos – Brooklyn, NY ^ w/ Pilgrim
8/06/2016 The Fire – Philadelphia, PA ^ w/ Pilgrim
8/07/2016 1984 – Wilmington, DE
8/08/2016 Riffhouse Pub – Chesapeake, VA
8/09/2016 Pilot Light – Knoxville, TN
8/10/2016 The End – Nashville, TN
8/11/2016 Vino’s – Little Rock, AR
8/12/2016 The Grotto – Ft. Worth, TX
8/13/2016 The Lost Well – Austin, TX
8/14/2016 The Elbow Room – Wichita, KS
8/15/2016 The Blue Note – Oklahoma City, OK
8/16/2016 The Underground – Santa Fe, NM
8/17/2016 The Launchpad – Albuquerque, NM
8/18/2016 Flycatcher – Tucson, AZ
8/19/2016 The Merrow – San Diego, CA
8/20/2016 The Complex – Los Angeles, CA
8/27/2016 Doom Over T.O. Fest – Toronto, ON
9/07/2016 Katacombes – Montreal, PQ
9/08/2016 Envol at Macadam Fest – Quebec City, PQ
9/09/2016 Panic Room – St. John, NB
9/10/2016 Gus Pub – Halifax, NS
9/11/2016 Baba’s – Charlottetown, PEI
9/12/2016 Capitol Complex – Fredericton, NB
9/13/2016 Ti-Petac – Trois Rivieres, PQ
9/14/2016 House Of Targ – Ottawa, ON
9/16/2016 Black Pirates Pub – Thunder Bay, ON
9/17/2016 King’s Hotel – Winnipeg, MB
9/18/2016 TBA – Saskatoon, SK
9/19/2016 Starlite Room – Edmonton, AB
9/20/2016 Fernando’s – Kelowna, BC
9/21/2016 The Office Pub – Kamloops, BC
9/22/2016 Funky Winkerbeans – Vancouver, BC
9/23/2016 Logans Pub – Victoria, BC
9/24/2016 Palomino – Calgary, AB
9/26/2016 The Club – Regina, SK
9/28/2016 New American – Sault Ste. Marie, ON
9/29/2016 Call The Office – London, ON
10/07/2016 Old Grave Fest – Bucharest, RO
10/16/2016 Desertfest Belgium – Antwerp, BE
# w/ Disenchanter
* w/ Brimstone Coven
^ w/ Blizaro
In a recent review of CASTLE‘s stunning Welcome To The Graveyard, Slug Magazine notes, “Welcome To The Graveyard is evocative of the heavy music I grew up on. ‘Black Widow’ is almost as if Lemmy’s wraith returned to Motörhead for one last reunion track, epitomized through a youthful throat. Often, a doom metal group attempts to reach back into the Book Of The Dead and revive a slice of the style only to sound like a hopeless knock-off. CASTLE exemplify our generation’s appreciation for the metal genre’s foundation while providing a multitude of unique and eclectic intricacies that make their sound distinctive.” In a 4.5/5 rating, Metal Riot names Welcome To The Graveyard, “a must own heavy metal purchase for 2016,” furthering, “Through constant touring and refining of their bluesy witchy minimalist but raw powered thrash these champs of heavy metal bang for your buck have only gotten better with each release.” Angry Metal Guy points out, “If you haven’t caught onto CASTLE yet, you’re not taking a thing about your career as a metal fan seriously… Hear this, feel the power. and glory and put on the vest!” Offers Pure Grain Audio, “Welcome To The Graveyard is oozing with ’70s rock tones with a sprinkle of ’80s NWOBHM riffing. Comprised of eight spooky and boogielicious tracks, this album has enough variety to keep even the most stoned fan aurally stimulated.” Adds The Obelisk of their recent performance at the Maryland Doomfest, “They’re the kind of band who could make you believe in heavy metal… their righteously individualized blend of thrash, traditional metal, doom, heavy rock ‘n’ roll, etc., speaks to some mystical bygone era when metal was about not compromising, putting a fist in the air against expectation and going on tour forever. CASTLE were so deep into what they were doing that I think they could’ve been anywhere and it would’ve been the same, that trance taking hold early on as they locked in and holding sway for the duration of their set, which seemed short when it was over.”
For CASTLE coverage in North America contact liz@earsplitcompound.com.
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