Junius Premiere New Music from "The Martyrdom of A Catastrophist," Out This Week on The Mylene Sheath!

Martyrdom is a brooding opus of frenetic crescendos, sweeping vocals and celestial landscapes. MAGNET is proud to premiere “Letters From Saint Angelica,” which you can download below. - Magnet Magazine

The tireless and ever-touring bearded men of Junius have released their new record, The Martyrdom of a Catastrophist, this week on The Mylene Sheath. Preparation for the long-awaited album began in 2006, with month-long writing/recording sessions in such unconventional locales as a bank vault in California, a warehouse in Texas, a farmhouse in Vermont, and a shack in the swamps of Louisiana. The result is a full-fledged concept album, inspired by the life and theories of controversial scholar Immanuel Velikovsky.

From birth to death, The Martyrdom of A Catastrophist chronicles a man whose progressive theories on ancient history and the cosmos were widely challenged by mainstream academia during his lifetime. The album's ten songs are both cinematic and accessible, building to crescendos which echo some of Post Rock's most epic moments, but with vocals, hooks, and lyrics creating focus throughout. Actual quotes from Velikovsky's interviews and lectures are interspersed between songs, providing a sense of narrative to the proceedings.

While Junius' sound is sometimes tough to categorize, they have cited such artists as Bedhead (Junius singer/guitarist Joseph E. Martinez's uncle Trini was their drummer), Philip Glass, Hum, and M83 among a long list of inspirations. The band has been electrifying rapt audiences with their spellbinding walls of reverb-drenched guitars, haunting vocals and self-made lights since 2004.

Watch the trailer for "The Martyrdom of a Catastrophist" here!

* Junius produced The Martyrdom... at the legendary A&M Records studios in Hollywood (now known as Henson Recording) over the course of a year, somewhat guerilla-style, during off-hours when the studio wasn't booked (the band has joked that they were bumped out by everyone from Akon to Bruce Springsteen - literally). The album was recorded by Kevin Mills and Tom Syrowski (Weezer, AFI, Incubus) and mastered by Dave Collins (Danny Elfman, Black Sabbath, The Police). 2009 finds the members of Junius as tenacious as ever, continually touring Europe and North America (recently sharing stages with the likes of Pelican, Mare, Tombs, Wolves In The Throne Room, and Irepress, among others), headlining festivals, lending music to a series of short films by director Mary Lambert (Pet Semetary), and, of course, finally seeing the release of their new album. Click here for pre-order and check out the band's new Myspace page here! Junius will also be performing their new album in its entirety on all upcoming tourdates.

Junius Live!

Europe
Nov 13 2009 - Aachen, Germany @ AZ
Nov 14 2009 - Rotterdam, Netherlands @ Exit
Nov 15 2009 - Den Helder, Netherlands @ De Bliksem
Nov 18 2009 - Brighton, UK @ The Hope
Nov 19 2009 - Southampton, UK @ Hamptons
Nov 20 2009 - London, UK @ Barfly
Nov 21 2009 - Birmingham, UK @ Flapper
Nov 24 2009 - Liverpool, UK @ Korova
Nov 25 2009 - Leeds, UK @ Cardigan Arms
Nov 26 2009 - Edinbrurgh, Scotland @ Sneaky Pete's
Nov 27 2009 - Belfast, Ireland @ Auntie Annie's
Nov 28 2009 - Dublin, Ireland @ Academy 2

USA w/ Tombs and Irepress (Record Release Shows)
Dec 11 2009 - Boston, MA @ The Middle East Upstairs
Dec 12 2009 - New York, NY The Studio @ Webster Hall w/ Rosetta

www.juniusmusic.com
www.myspace.com/junius