[Photo by Invisible Hour]
Seattle’s HE WHOSE OX IS GORED has been raising the brows of the underground masses with their eclectic, oft trance-inducing fusion of doom, prog rock, post hardcore and psychedelic shoegaze since their inception in 2009. Following the release of their critically-adored, Bleeding Light Records-issued Rumors 7″ last year which Echoes And Dust called, “a sonic journey of crazy, intense energy,” Cvlt Nation likened to a, “frothing, boiling cauldron of doom, spilling forth expansive riffs, pummeling beats and haunting vocals,” and Steel For Brains praised noting, “For all the hazy prog-doom pretenders clogging up those atmospherics, HE WHOSE OX IS GORED offers something uniquely theirs without sacrificing the muscle of the music to arbitrary and tired techniques,” the band will undrape their highly-anticipated full-length debut this Fall.
Titled The Camel, The Lion, The Child, the eight-track, near hour-long sound exhibition was tracked at Red Room and Ex Ex Audio in Seattle by Robert Cheek (Serial Hawk, Noise-A-Tron etc.) with additional recording taking place at Avast Studios with Randall Dunn (Sunn O))), Earth, etc). Matt Bayles (Isis, Mastodon etc.) handled mixing duties and frequent collaborator, Blake Bickel, mastered the album at Dynamic Sound Service.
Both sonically and conceptually engrossing, with The Camel, The Lion, The Child HE WHOSE OX IS GORED — Brian McClelland (guitar, vocals), Lisa Mungo (synths, keyboards, vocals), Mike Sparks (bass) and John O’Connell (drums) – transcend musical boundaries with their meticulous yet organically-executed amalgam of technical guitar compositions and atmospheric synth over a pummeling rhythm section manifesting a uniquely cinematic soundscape that paints a world ready to thrash and burn.
Elaborates McClelland of the band’s latest output: “The Camel, The Lion, The Child is a cup that runs over. From the writing process and through the studio, we made it a point to make the record that we wanted. The songs grow and breathe with their own lives and personalities, and unfold with layers that surprise us to this day. The excellent engineering and mixing of Robert Cheek and Matt Bayles raised the bar, and pushed us to make the best record we could. Now, we share it with you.”
The Camel, The Lion, The Child Track Listing:
1. Oathbreaker
2. Omega
3. Crusade
4. Zelatype
5. Alpha
6. Magazina
7. Cairo
8. Weighted By Guilt, Crushed Into A Diamond
HE WHOSE OX IS GORED will wage their sonic alchemy upon unsuspecting ears next month on a short bout of live dates sharing the stage with rock and roll juggernaut, Mutoid Man. Set to commence on August 22nd, the band will traverse seven cities (five with Mutoid Man) with additional live excursions in their plotting stages.
HE WHOSE OX IS GORED:
8/22/2015 Barboza – Seattle, WA w/ Mutoid Man
8/23/2015 Venue Nightclub – Vancouver, BC w/ Mutoid Man
8/24/2015 Hawthorne Theater Lounge – Portland, OR w/ Mutoid Man
8/25/2015 Starlite Lounge – Sacramento, CA
8/26/2015 Bottom Of The Hill – San Francisco, CA w/ Mutoid Man
8/27/2015 The Echo – Los Angeles, CA w/ Mutoid Man
8/29/2015 The Boreal – Eugene, OR
Tuned low and turned up, HE WHOSE OX IS GORED released their debut EP, Op Amps, in 2009 on their own Void Assault label. Featuring heavy guitars and atmospheric synth-centric soundscapes, the band managed to bend genres into a formidable crossover composite. In 2010, the obscure unit unleashed their Tad Doyle (TAD, Brothers Of The Sonic Cloth)-produced follow-up, Op Amps II: Into The Ethers. Through multiple tours and personnel shifts, the band continued to refine their sound and entered Seattle’s Red Room Studios with Chris Common. The resulting Nightshade EP was three tracks of crushing doomgaze, built on texture and aggression.
HE WHOSE OX IS GORED‘s The Camel, The Lion, The Child will be released digitally and on limited edition vinyl (500 double gatefold LP ) via Bleeding Light Records on October 9th, 2015 with Breathe Plastic Records (Netherlands) releasing a limited edition tape version of the production. Teaser tracks and preorders to be announced in the coming weeks.
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http://www.bleedinglightrecords.bigcartel.com