Description
The heaviest and mightiest installment yet…
EAGLE TWIN is an American metal band formed in Salt Lake City, Utah by singer/guitarist Gentry Densley and drummer Tyler Smith. Eagle Twin’s music could be broadly classified as doom metal or sludge metal, but also touches on progressive rock, blues rock, jazz fusion and psychedelic rock, featuring lengthy instrumental passages and Densley’s gruff, half-chanted vocals, which occasionally veer into overtone singing.
“Well, a lot of it comes from “the riff” and the whole tradition of “the riff”. It’s something that I’ve become more conscious of – from Page and Iommi, down through people like Wino – the whole idea of people channelling “the riff”. I’m also interested in myths and mythology and the creation of myths, the scale of the universal consciousness and how these same stories pop up over the years – the whole idea of collective memory and looking at riffs the same way; the real language of “the riff”. I also wanted to do more storytelling so there are probably influences from a lot of blues artists and also a lot of Mahavishnu influences; harmonically, I just started thinking about putting some more of that in, and there are elements of fusion jazz as well.” – Gentry Densley
THE OTOLITH:
When celebrated Salt Lake City band SubRosa announced its breakup in 2019, the heavy music community felt the loss of their uniquely elegant and intensely heavy atmospheric doom devotionals. Rather than wonder what velvet darkness might still await, however, four of SubRosa’s members swiftly emerged as a new entity called The Otolith. Following the same muse of cataclysmic melancholy, The Otolith is here to encircle you in the fire of their passion for heavy music.
Levi Hanna’s guitar and Matt Brotherton’s bass steer the ship in a thick, rumbling tandem, while Kim Cordray’s and Sarah Pendleton’s violins push from the center out, sometimes painting the canvas with sharp, melodic leads and others sawing deep into parallel riffing. Andy Patterson’s drums are thunderous and thoughtful, and when the band hits a huge, all-hands-on-deck downbeat, it feels like a mountain tumbling into the hungry sea.
You will find a familiar face of heaviness in The Otolith, but with a more pronounced emphasis on darkwave and neofolk, calling to mind Amber Asylum or Worm Ouroborus. Cordray’s and Pendleton’s vocals are often a lilting dance or somber incantation in close harmony, while Hanna’s bellowing roar is used sparingly but to towering effect. Although the interwoven strings and vocals rush along with graceful intricacy, the Otolith’s primary approach is full-stop heaviness, and they will rattle our bones with the earth-churning tumult of Amenra as well as the meditative trance of Om.
LEGENDS OF THE DESERT series is the soundtrack to the New Wild West. The focus of the Legends of the Desert is to provide a modern perspective to the antiquated ‘Wild West’ we have etched in our brains. These songs and tales are not told by the same ol’ perspective of the white male Cowboy. These are narratives told by those who never got their stories heard. We will hear from musicians, artists, Natives, outlaws, desert rats, desert dwellers, cactuses and mesas, ravens and roadrunners, snakes and endless skies.
Joshua Mathus, the series artist, hails from Phoenix, AZ. Illustrator of album covers and comic books, and prints. www.instagram.com/joshuamathusart/
“UTAH SKYLINE” Limited Edition 12″ Vinyl LP.
Desert Records on blue and orange Side A/Side B
Limited pressing of 100 copies.
