photos by Adam Tucker
MetalSucks is hosting an exclusive stream of Holy Vore, the mammoth third LP from metal/hardcore outfit BLUE OX – formed by former members of Dead To Fall, Devilinside, Ambassador Gun, Coma Eternal, and other bands from across Minnesota. The stream advances the album’s release this Friday.
The third full-length BLUE OX LP Holy Vore showcases a thundering union of metallic hardcore, d-beat punk, catchy mid-paced chugging, mosh bursts, and fervent howling vocals, embodied by lyrical themes of despair and self-sabotage. The album was recorded, mixed, and mastered at Signaturetone Recording by Adam Tucker and completed with art and design by the band’s Luke Olson and Dennis Hanson.
BLUE OX vocalist Dennis Hanson affirms of the new album, “Holy Vore thematically is an embodiment of living without the ability to stay out of your own way and wanting to cut your hands off but you’re unwilling to give up your seat. A reflection of self-sabotage and how it weighs upon your mind.”
MetalSucks writes, “Both Pity Party and its predecessor, 2008’s Wet Dreams & Nightmares, kick all kinds of ass… but neither one is quite as good as this. The band’s sound has only gotten more muscular, and their songwriting skills have only improved. The result is that Holy Vore is paradoxically the most fun listen the band has produced to date, even though they’ve sacrificed none of their viciousness. Holy Vore is metallic hardcore at its finest.”
Let BLUE OX’s Holy Vore consume you first at MetalSucks RIGHT HERE.
BLUE OX will release Holy Vore digitally and on limited vinyl and cassette runs this Friday, April 2nd. Find preorders HERE, and see the “Left To The Drift” video HERE.
Watch for news on the band’s upcoming livestream set from Signaturetone Recording in Minneapolis where they recorded Holy Vore, and more updates from BLUE OX to post over the weeks ahead.
Formed in Minneapolis in 2005, BLUE OX instantly became recognized for their pummeling and wild performances as they grabbed the attention of heavy music fans across several genres and like-minded bands to share stages with. In 2007, Lost Archives Records released their debut album, Wet Dreams & Nightmares, the record delivering a balance of hardcore, bluesy stoner riffing, tribal beatings, and drifting feedback voids.
Following lineup changes, BLUE OX began writing and demoing their second album in 2009 and once again hooked up with Minneapolis local studio owner and operator Adam Tucker in 2010 to record their second LP, Stray Dogs On Pity Party Island. This album saw the band expanding their sound with more elements of thrash, grind and punk while weaving in subtleties of psychedelic elements, and delivered all-out moshers, solid hardcore, and slow burners to satisfy any heavy music fan who demands a bit more. The album was self-released in 2011 and followed by a handful of US Summer shows in 2012.
More lineup changes in early 2014 saw BLUE OX once again taking their tone and delivery to the next level, with a revamped rhythm section and the expansion into ardent d-beat drumming and triplet-picking expanding their sound with more dynamics than ever.
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