With the release of An Unending Pathway, the haunting new long player from Pacific Northwest atmospheric death/doom alchemists, ATRIARCH, now less than a week away, today Pitchfork is streaming the record in its entirety.
Tracked at Type Foundry in Portland, Oregon, produced by Billy Anderson (Sleep, Eyehategod, Melvins et al) and the band, engineered and mixed by Anderson at Everything Hz, also in Portland, and mastered by Brad Boatright (Sleep, Beastmilk, Nails) at Audiosiege, An Unending Pathway boasts seven cataclysmic soundscapes made of cryptic atmospheres and droning floods of ritualistic sludge. Offering true purification through sonic ritual, ATRIARCH‘s third full-length fuses all the prime tenets of death rock, doom, black metal, post punk and psychedelic drone/noise, into something that is at once tempting and petrifying.
Cvlt Nation applauds the outfit’s, “arresting and welcome combination of doom metal, death rock, black metal, and Mid Eastern-influenced darkwave sound,” Noisey notes, “There’s a lurching, ritualistic feel to the proceedings, and a dire hopelessness in the vocals that doesn’t let up for a moment. It’s death rock that ODs on death… The end result is as dark and eerily atmospheric as an abandoned graveyard at midnight,” while Sea Of Tranquility commends, “An Unending Pathway is so out there at times that it’s almost puzzling. For some, this melting pot of sounds, mixed with the frightening tone of much of the album, is going to be very unsettling….” Elsewhere the sentiment echoes. In a 4/5 rating, Metal Riot elaborates, “‘Collapse’ breathes with terrific shifting drums Moonspell or The Cult fans could appreciate equally. There is a deranged charm to the vocal and unity in this song that owns the feeling coveted. Marching drums ring in ‘Revenant,’ a more interesting song that bridges military black metal and noise rock influences with some tortured screams before drooping into a death shuffle. The patience of the slow bass line and sustained notes paired with sudden bursts of black metal drumming is worth the whole record alone.” Adds Metal Storm in an 8.5/10 score, “If the third album of a band’s discography is typically held as the ‘make it or break it.’ point, these guys not only break through the wall, they pummel it into dust.”
Experience An Unending Pathway in full courtesy of Pitchfork at THIS LOCATION.
ATRIARCH will bring their audio extractions to the stage this November on a West Coast run of live rituals. Scheduled to commence November 7th in Seattle, the band will traumatize thirteen cities through November 21st with an included record release show with labelmates Usnea. See confirmed shows below.
ATRIARCH West Coast Tour 2014:
11/07/2014 Chop Suey – Seattle, WA
11/08/2014 Obsidian – Olympia, WA
11/10/2014 Slabtown Records – Portland, OR Release Show w/ Usnea, Muscle, Marrow
11/12/2014 Wandering Goat– Eugene, OR
11/13/2014 Cafe Colonial – Sacramento, CA
11/14/2014 First Church Of The Buzzard – Oakland, CA w/ Dispirit
11/15/2014 Black Castle – Los Angeles, CA w/ Cough, Invdrs, Sorxe
11/16/2014 Tower – San Diego, CA w/ Crowhurst
11/17/2014 Sweet Springs – Santa Barbara, CA w/ Crowhurst
11/18/2014 The Knockout – San Francisco, CA
11/19/2014 Catalyst Atrium – Santa Cruz, CA w/ Plague Widow
11/20/2014 Club 66 – Ashland, OR
11/21/2014 Wisp House – Salem, OR
ATRIARCH’s An Unending Pathway will be released via Relapse Records on October 27th, 2014. Preorder the record on CD HERE, via iTunes (which includes an instant download of “Collapse”) HERE or via BandCamp HERE.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/ATRIARCH/241062512127
http://www.relapse.com