Trance-inducing sound contortionists EIGHT BELLS recently wrapped up a short run of live ceremonies alongside Salt Lake City sludge collective SubRosa. The eclectic trio made their way through Seattle, Vancouver, Spokane, Boise, Salt Lake City, Oakland and San Francisco, dousing listeners with their ethereal hymns of jammy, majestic panic.
Comments Melynda Jackson of the journey: “We have returned to our lives and jobs. Our excitement for upcoming tasks is evident, and we are planning a couple of local shows and weekend trips for the Summer, although our focus is on writing for a new album. We thank everyone who was supportive, and that was pretty much everyone we encountered, and we also thank SubRosa for being amazing artists and road partners. I don’t really have any great crazy stories from the road so I will make a random list of disjointed ideas: peacocks screamed at me in Idaho way too early in the morning; there was an actual outhouse that was actually used; we visited and revisited the fact that Stevie Wonder’s song ‘Part Time Lover’ has a very uncomfortable and awkward drum beat. Canadians are very nice people. Wet wipes are a touring band’s best friend. People who spend 20 minutes telling you that your band is good, but just not what they would ever listen to as if their opinion matters that much and who distract you from talking with actual friends are hilarious; nothing makes napping more beautiful than the sound of tires droning on the surface of the interstate..”
EIGHT BELLS released their debut full-length in the form of The Captain’s Daughter earlier this year via Seventh Rule Recordings. Offering up four oceanic dreamscapes that are at once soothing, cerebral and often forboding, The Captain’s Daughter continues to captivate listeners globally. Sentire Magazine commends the band’s “black metal and drone tinged journey through psychedelic doom,” Metal Psalter calls The Captain’s Daughter, “a journey into the far reaches of one’s mind through sound that acts as its own wordsmith,” and Exclaim! opines, “Almost Victorian in its elegance and graceful complication, EIGHT BELLS have created a masterpiece that is part clockwork, part cameo and a little bit mad.” Willamette Weekly notes, “…everything locks in and works towards the simple goal of warping the fragile mind of whoever is listening,” while This Is Note A Scene adds: “EIGHT BELLS layer emotional sound upon experimental anguish, and come through the other side somewhat intact… in the physical sense at least. Join them for this tumultuous journey on the desperate waves of life.”
EIGHT BELLS features within its ranks SubArachnoid Space alumni Melynda Jackson and Christopher Van Huffel. Jackson’s EIGHT BELLS continues in SAS’ tradition of heavy guitar exploration, adding a blackened dissonance and minimalist vocals to the mix. Jackson is accompanied by classically trained six-string bassist Haley Westeiner who created the centerpiece vocals on “Fate and Technology” and also provides harmonic counterpoint to Jackson’s newly discovered vocalizations. Van Huffel resumes the throne he occupied for ten years, bringing his thunderous, nuanced double kick playing with him. With this power trio, Jackson has found a group that brings focus and support to her unapologetically expressionistic experimental metal music.
The Captain’s Daughter is available now through Seventh Rule Recordings. Order your copy HERE.
“…this release ain’t exactly cannibals in chainmail burning down churches, but it’s a dark, sometimes glassy-smooth, sometimes turbulent, often emotionally heavy trip that should appeal to anyone who digs great music – it’s as simple as that.” – Last Rites
“Psychedelic metal with an angry streak, The Captain’s Daughter is never short on exhilarating music. Minimal vocals pave the way for floaty riffs and spastic beats, spread across four tracks that range from a digestible four minutes to a gargantuan 12 minutes.” – About.com
“The Captain’s Daughter is a record you’ll listen to a good five times over and still be taken for a spin by that-one-part-you-forgot about.” – Invisible Oranges
“…a masterpiece… the music is so complex, and there’s so much going on in terms of song structures and the interplay of the musicians that it not only holds up to repeated listens, it demands them.” – Ironhops
“It took forty seconds for this album to drop my jaw…” – Echoes And Dust
“Perhaps the most tremendous achievement of The Captain’s Daughter is its ability to evoke atmospheric qualities of a multitude of genres without succumbing to the confines of any of them.…” – SteelForBrains
“Instrumental music is about journeys of the mind and emotion. Jackson has been on many journeys herself, as The Captain’s Daughter represents a resurrection after the dissolution of her former band, Subarachnoid Space. This pedigree and intensity of emotion is all over The Captain’s Daughter, to the benefit of most who will listen. Although the album is relatively short (just barely over 30 minutes), the musicianship and the amalgam of different genres makes time seem to slow down. The Captain’s Daughter is a worthwhile debut, but it is not for the faint of heart or people who want a quick sonic fix.” – SSG Music
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