LAE: Debut LP By Montreal Psychedelic Post-Rock Act To See Release Via The Compound/Battleground

Posted on 07/21/2014 by the compound

Bringing a decade-and-a-half of silence to an end, Montreal-based quartet, LAE, is eager to release the band’s official debut full-length release, and the entire reincarnation of the band.

Performing under their original moniker, LAE-TSEU, the band evolved out of the mid-‘90s post-rock/post-hardcore scene, seeking to distance themselves from the established conventions of rock music as well as the trappings of the various alternative subgenres. Not without irony, trace elements of many of those persist in their sound, itself a peculiarly familiar presence, as varied as it is satisfying. Nods to the likes of Three Mile Pilot, Swans, Sonic Youth, Unwound and Slint will surely not go unnoticed, but LAE‘s total is far greater than the sum of its influences. Scathing, desperate and heartbreaking vocal sentiments set against richly layered backdrops, amplified and acoustic, melodic and deafening.

After earning a solid regional fanbase and foundation, the band was dissolved in 2001, without having released an official album. Their regional peer acts would go on to receive massive attention just after LAE’s premature and unexpected demise, and it would seem that the band had missed the boat completely as these other hometown acts entered the international spotlight. Yet, perhaps there is more than one boat…

Having reformed with a diehard goal of finally bringing their unfortunately unsung anthems to fruition with more passion and dedication than ever before, LAE excitedly returns to active duty with their impending debut full-length LP coming together for release in late 2014. In mid-2013, LAE’s current lineup — bassist, Ronald Jean-Gilles, drummer Serge Nakauchi Pelletier, and guitarists Stephane Desgroseilliers and Marc Lucas Ablasou — set out to record their debut LP, Break The Clasp, bringing their anthems from two decades ago to new life, completely re-envisioned with incredible musicianship and finesse. To capture these anthems with the appropriately beautiful yet tortured tones, the band sanctioned the talents of producer Steve Austin of Today Is The Day, flying him along with some major pieces of recording equipment from his Austin Enterprises out to Montreal for the recording sessions. Yet, once the recording sessions were underway,Austin instantly became intertwined in the recording process full-on, in the end supplying lead vocals to the entire Break The Clasp LP. An incredible array of musical experimentation seamlessly coalescing into a more than fifty-minute-long, mesmerizingly psychedelic yet anguished style of post-rock, LAE’s mammoth sound is unlike anything else one can imagine; incredibly beautiful yet inescapably depressing.

Late this year, Break The Clasp will finally see its long-awaited dawn through a collaborative release between DIY labels The Compound and Battleground Records, on all digital formats as well as deluxe digitpak CD and deluxe 2xLP formats. The otherworldly cover art crafted by LAE’s longtime cohort Sonny Kay is viewable below.

Stay tuned for the official street date as well as samples of the album and more to be released in the coming weeks. LAE will also take to the highways of North America in support of Break The Clasp before the end of the year as well.

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https://www.facebook.com/pages/LAE-Band/614579391922975
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DIE CHOKING: Philly Hyper Grind/Thrash Squad To Deliver Second 7-Inch Via The Compound

Posted on 07/17/2014 by the compound

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based demolition union, DIE CHOKING, is prepared to shove their second wave of hyperactive, earthmoving grind/thrash down the world’s collective throat, with II.

Following its initial digital-only release, in April of this year, DIE CHOKING — comprised of Paul J Herzog (ex-Total Fucking Destruction) on bass/vocals, Joshua T. Cohen (Cop Problem) on drums, and Jeffrey V. Daniels (Burden) on guitar — unleashed a 7” vinyl version of their self-titled debut recordings through The Compound, the shredding EP blasting listeners with five point-blank tracks in under six minutes. In a repeat pattern, the trio is preparing deliver nearly the exact same thing, having completed their follow-up release, EP II, continuing in sequence to the first 7”.

Once again bearing five explosive new songs in less than six minutes, tracks VI through X show DIE CHOKING swarming with even more enraged and psychotic songwriting, and more of an ominous powerviolence approach, while stepping things up in the songwriting department and delivery on all levels. Most of the lyrics are a critique of society and self. The finger ultimately points back at itself. As with its predecessor, the new 7” was recorded and mixed at Mark It Zero Studios with Dan O’Hare (Brutal Truth) — harnessing all music in one day and all vocals in another — and mastered by Brad Boatright (Baptists, Code Orange Kids) at AudioSiege. While the first EP reigned in black and grayscale cover art and vinyl delivery, IIbears equally bleak scenery in a black and red layout by Jeffrey V. Daniels, and a run of limited red colors will be manufactured. Enclosed in the 7” will be a document that will function as a real, personal living will, in the theme of the closing track, “Tonsil.”

II Track Listing:
VI. Non-Yielder
VII. People Like You
VIII. Spent Fuel Pool
IX. Civilian
X. Tonsil

Pressing info, preorders, an official video for “Tonsil” and more on II, as well as new tour dates, will be released in the coming days. A more widespread US tour is being booked for this Fall following the release of the EP.

Copies of the self-titled debut 7” release from DIE CHOKING, pressed in a run of 300 copies on black wax with a high-gloss cover, are still available via The Compound/Earsplit Distro HERE.

New live actions for the unstoppable DIE CHOKING include a South Philly punk show tonight at Pariah House with Agitate and Deterioration, and a return to NYC this Saturday, July 19th, playing at ABC No Rio with East Of The Wall, Psyopus and Mary Todd.

DIE CHOKING In The Flesh:
7/17/2014 Pariah House – Philadelphia, PA w/ Agitate, Deterioration
7/19/2014 ABC No Rio – New York, NY w/ East Of The Wall, Psyopus, Mary Todd [info]
8/11/2014 TBA – Baltimore, MD
8/16/2014 Really Awesome Super Fun Fest – Wilmington, DE

DIE CHOKING’s maiden EP brought in blown-away reactions from renowned media outlets like Cvlt Nation, who issued, “this band scrambles your brain cells with their brand of high-octane grindcore laced with traces of rancid crust! What I dig about this record is the hidden grooves that are smashed against walls of aggressive speed & angst!” Decibel Magazine’s opinion had a fat 8/10 rating staked to it, the review stating,“You know, if this is the last record I review, I got lucky.” American Aftermath called the band out with, “These guys are ruthless. They produce some of the meanest grind I’ve heard from a young band in quite some time, and upon witnessing the band live, NYC technical death metal outfit Artificial Brain posted, “If there were a metal stock market, I would be dumping all of my (negligible) assets into the purchase of DIE CHOKING shares.”

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ENABLER Premieres Official Video From La Fin Absolue Du Monde LP Via Metal Injection; New August Tour Dates Confirmed

Posted on 07/15/2014 by the compound

Through an exclusive premiere with Metal Injection, ENABLER today releases their first official video, in the form of “Close My Eyes,” the opening track to their pounding second LP, La Fin Absolue Du Monde. The most straightforward track on La Fin Absolue Du Monde, the video for “Close My Eyes” was filmed and edited by Kaleigh Atkinson and Sam Bowman on ENABLER‘s Spring 2014 East Coast Tour preceding the release of the new LP.

Scope the “Close My Eyes” video at Metal Injection now AT THIS LOCATION.

ENABLER also takes this opportunity to unleash the latest batch of dates in their tireless, ongoing crusade in support of La Fin Absolue Du Monde. After a three-week headlining tour in the Spring, followed by a six-week tour in May and June — the latter including a month on the road with Eyehategod and Ringworm — ENABLER will hammer through the Midwest on a nine-date run. From August 1st through the 9th the trio will play Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Champaign, Chicago, Dubuque and Fargo on their way to take part in Arson Fest in Winnipeg, Manitoba, then hitting Minneapolis and Milwaukee once back in the US. Additional tour dates will undoubtedly be confirmed in the coming days.

La Fin Absolue Du Monde is available now, the first pressing of the LP version from The Compound available on black/white/Orange Crush splatter, limited to 250 copies, in a wide-spine, uncoated jacket with a digital download code included, the CD housed in a high-quality, six-panel digipak. Order the CD and LP HERE.

Listen to all of La Fin Absolue Du Monde courtesy of Stereogum RIGHT HERE.

ENABLER Tour Dates:
8/01/2014 The Foundry – Cleveland, OH
8/02/2014 Carabar – Columbus, OH w/ Mortals
8/03/2014 Blind Bobs – Dayton, OH
8/04/2014 The HighDive – Champaign, IL
8/05/2014 Beat Kitchen – Chicago, IL w/ Power Trip, Mammoth Grinder
8/06/2014 The Busted Lift – Dubuque, IA
8/07/2014 The New Direction – Fargo, ND
8/08/2014 Arson Fest – Winnipeg, MB
8/09/2014 The Rathole – Minneapolis, MN
8/10/2014 The Public House – Milwaukee, WI

Released at the end of May as a joint release through The Compound and Creator-Destructor, La Fin Absolue Du Monde is a thirty-six minute assault, the album tracked by Shane Hotchstetler at Howl Street Recordings (Expire, Northless), produced by Hotchstetler and the band’s founding guitarist/vocalist Jeff Lohrber, and mastered by Steve Austin (Today Is The Day) at Austin Enterprises. La Fin Absolue Du Monde showcases the new lineup, with bassist/vocalist Amanda Daniels and drummer Ryan Steigerwald joining Lohrber, displaying a raw, organic album with more diversity and attention to detail than all of their previous recordings, matched with their torrid, pissed-off vibes.

Stereogum called La Fin Absolue Du Monde ENABLER’s “most textured, assured, and satisfying release to date,” continuing, “It’s jolting, physical music, but there’s a compelling emotional core that reveals itself in the melodies and especially in the vocals… and once revealed, takes hold.” Pitchfork said the album is, “a fierce follow-up that imbues what many consider to be a dying art form with a fresh, if still developing, sense of purpose.” About.com gave it a 4/5, issuing, “you get a racing hardcore energy chugging and rolling to a snarling vehement voice. Heavy-handed groove and grinding terror are cut with just the right amount of discord. Head-caving intensity, crushing riffs and crusted gnarliness work razor-edged melodies into the mix,” and Exclaim! Magazine agreed, their 8/10 write-up saying “it manages to simultaneously be as catchy as their last while increasing the aggression to previous levels.” Last Rites praised the material with, “Lohrber’s scream is formidable, and Daniels contributes snarling backgrounds, and there’s added power when the two overlap, an attack greater than the sum of its components,” and MetalSucks backs it all up with an enthusiastic, “GET READY TO HAVE YOUR FACE RIPPED OFF… RPGs are less destructive than this shit.”

http://enablermke.bandcamp.com
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http://creator-destructor.com

GODHUNTER & SECRETS OF THE SKY Tour Documentation Posted; Further Details On Split LP Confirmed

Posted on 07/01/2014 by the compound

Having just completed a co-headlining tour of the lower southwestern realms of America together, Oakland’s SECRETS OF THE SKY and Tucson’s GODHUNTER have released a post-tour account of their journey together, documenting some of the pros, cons, and random insanity two independent acts sometimes encounter on such a venture, via tour sponsor, American Aftermath.

Examine the day-to-day text, including a SECRETS OF THE SKY and GODHUNTER band-to-band video interrogation, via American Aftermath HERE.

On the recent Southwest US trek, GODHUNTER and SECRETS OF THE SKY were mongering the limited-to-100 copies, tour-only, cassette-edition of a new split release between both acts. On this combined effort, entitled Ghosts, both bands supply brand new material, showcasing even further experimentation into each of their respective crafts, with forty minutes of material, including a crushing new opus from each band, as well as a haunting, thematic accompaniment bearing the “Ghosts” theme. Through a joint effort between GODHUNTER’s Battleground Records and THE EARSPLIT COMPOUND’s label division, THE COMPOUND, Ghosts will see a more substantial release on September 9th through a deluxe LP version. In construction now is a 180-gram black/white vinyl swirl vinyl edition — limited to three-hundred copies, each including a digital download coupon — in addition to digital release via both bands.

Ultra-advance preorders for the GODHUNTER and SECRETS OF THE SKY Ghosts split LP can be placed HERE.

GODHUNTER / SECRETS OF THE SKY Ghosts Track Listing:
A1. GODHUNTER “Pursuit Predator”
A2. GODHUNTER “Ghosts”
B1. SECRETS OF THE SKY “Star”
B2. SECRETS OF THE SKY “Ghosts II”

Following the official release of the Ghosts split, both SECRETS OF THE SKY and GODHUNTER will take part in Southwest Terror Fest III: The Western Front. Conceived and organized by members of GODHUNTER and other local musicians and venues, the upcoming third incarnation of the fest sees the biggest lineup yet overtaking four days in Tucson, Arizona, and this year includes performances by Neurosis, Sunn O))), Goatsnake, Pelican, -16-, The Body, Baptists, Obliterations, Primitive Man and tons more.

Both bands are also performing regionally throughout the Summer months with new shows planned and more being devised. Additionally, both GODHUNTER and SECRETS OF THE SKY are forging new recordings and releases for late 2014/early 2015 release.

GODHUNTER Live:
7/11/2014 Club Congress – Tucson, AZ w/ Ghetto Blaster
7/25/2014 The Rock – Tucson, AZ w/ Castle
8/24/2014 Club Red – Phoenix, AZ w/ Corrosion Of Conformity, Bl’ast, Brank Bjork Lord Dying

Audio from the Ghosts split LP and more will be released in the coming weeks.

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http://godhunter.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/godhuntertucson666
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http://www.facebook.com/secretsofthesky
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