Tonight, Tucson, Arizona sludge trio, NORTH, kicks off their August live takeover on their home turf at Club Congress. From there the band will head north, marching through twenty-two cities including a stop at the second edition of Denver Black Sky alongside the likes Cannabis Corpse, Cattleist, Early Graves, Municipal Waste, Nails, Phobia and so many more.
Tonight's show marks the official vinyl unveiling of NORTH's newest EP entitled Metanoia, which was released independently earlier this year. Crowned "challenging and unsettling, but ultimately thrilling," by Tuscan Weekly, Metanoia was recorded and mixed by Dana Fehr Wavelab Studios in Tucson with additional engineering by Chris Shultz, mastered by James Plotkin (OLD, Scorn, Khanate, Khlyst) and boasts four tracks of thick, sprawling riff cascades, graveled vocal swells, epic climaxes and ethereal atmospheres. Describes Hellbound succinctly, "Suffice to say the Neurosis is quite strong with this one. These guys follow the path of the Oakland post-sludge leaders and their pursuant pack. 'Atrabilious' starts off slow and sparse before delivering some doomy downstrokes abreast a wave of crashing percussion. 'Nefelibata' is more mellow, airy and atmospheric-albeit with the same raw-leather vocals as heard throughout. 'Hiraeth' actually comes close to clean singing in its shimmering, drum-driven intro, but it's not long before they turn up the volume on another down-tempo number driven by stop-start riffage. 'Master' is actually relatively up-tempo from the get-go, settling into a steady pace that's somewhat speedy by post-sludge standards, and keeps a consistent chugging rhythm throughout." Adds Headbang N Buttonmash, "On Metanoia, NORTH is really finding the right balance between the softer dynamics of the instrumentals and the spectacular vocals of the heavier sections. Just about everything in the production and mixing of this EP is perfect; no one instrument tramples another, yet they all ring out loudly when they need to. The guitars carry a lot of warm tones, despite the well-defined attack to the picking of each note. And the blasts of distorted guitars sound like polished waves of fuzz. The drums also hold great attack and body with splashy, pingy and shimmering cymbals. The vocals come through loud and clear when playing a large role in the tracks. Reverberation and extra production effects are applied subtly, yet still have a great and noticeable effect on the listening experience."
Tonight's gala also boasts the long-awaited wax treatment of NORTH's critically-adored debut full-length, What You Were which sports new artwork by guitarist Matt Mutterperl and comes in a limited pressing of 250: 100 on white wax and 150 on black as well as the split cassette tape of their first two instrumental EPs, Siberia and Ruins. All releases are available at the official NORTH BandCamp pageHERE.
NORTH Metanoia Tour 2014:
8/01/2014 Club Congress - Tucson, AZ
8/02/2014 The Launchpad - Albuquerque, NM
8/03/2014 Denver Black Sky - Denver, CO
8/04/2014 FOKL Center - Kansas City, MO
8/05/2014 The Triple Rock - Minneapolis, MN
8/06/2014 Quarters - Milwaukee, WI
8/07/2014 The Empty Bottle - Chicago, IL
8/08/2014 Ottawa Tavern - Toledo, OH
8/09/2014 The Shop - Pittsburgh, PA
8/10/2014 King Fun Necktie - Philadelphia, PA
8/11/2014 The Knitting Factory - Brooklyn, NY
8/12/2014 Strange Matter - Richmond, VA
8/13/2014 Slim's Downtown - Raleigh, NC
8/14/2014 The Poison Lawn - Knoxville, TN
8/15/2014 Wallstreet - Murfreesboro,
8/16/2014 The Forge - Birmingham, AL
8/17/2014 Hey Café - New Orleans, LA
8/18/2014 Hi Tone - Memphis, TN
8/19/2014 Lindbeerg's - Springfield, MO
8/20/2014 The Conservatory - Oklahoma City, OK
8/21/2014 Holy Mountain - Austin, TX
8/22/2014 Lowbrow Palace - El Paso, TX
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