THE OTOLITH (with SubRosa members) share « Andromeda’s Wing » video; new album out on Blues Funeral Recordings.
- NEWS
- 09/11/2022
Salt Lake City’s symphonic doom and post-metal unit THE OTOLITH (with members of SubRosa) share their brand new « Andromeda’s Wing » video exclusively on Metalsucks today. Their debut album « Folium Limina » is out now on Blues Funeral Recordings.
« If you only hear one doom record this year, make it this one. » – Decibel
“SubRosa are reborn, and this is a new transformative journey into the storm.” Metal Hammer
« Extremely heavy and tear-jerkingly beautiful, Folium Limina is a hell of a first record. » Metalsucks
🌹 Watch the « Andromeda’s Wing » video via Metalsucks 🌹
About the video, the band says: « We wrote this song in Levi’s [Hanna, guitar] basement during the winter, huddled in a circle of chairs next to his computer and his pinball machine. It came together over a couple of weeks, and at one point, Kim [Cordray, violin/vocals] had a beautiful idea for an outro vocal melody and some lyrics. Then I connected her idea with these recurring dreams I have about aliens. After that the lyrics sort of tumbled out. The protagonist is sleepwalking in the deep countryside, passing by nocturnal animals who watch as she journeys. She has the feeling of leaving her body and looking down at herself in the road. She comes to a natural spring and speaks with alien visitors about what can be done to slow the destruction of the planet.”
THE OTOLITH is the avant-garde doom and post-metal band formed by former SubRosa members Kim Cordray, Levi Hanna, Andy Patterson and Sarah Pendleton, alongside bassist Matt Brotherton. Following the same muse of cathartic and cataclysmic melancholy as their previous outfit, their debut album « Folium Limina » draws no line between beauty and doom, with ghostly symphonic strings interlacing with crushing bass, guitar and percussion, while all four vocalists conduct signals across time and space to arrive through cosmic storms to a sea of liquid stars. A cathartic and mind-elevating experience without a doubt!
THE OTOLITH « Folium Limina »
Available now on Blues Funeral Recordings
When Salt Lake City avant-garde doom juggernaut SubRosa announced its breakup in 2019, the heavy music community felt the loss of their uniquely elegant and intensely heavy atmospheric doom devotionals. Rather than wonder what velvet darkness might still await, however, SubRosa’s Kim Cordray, Levi Hanna, Andy Patterson and Sarah Pendleton swiftly emerged as a new entity called the Otolith, with the addition of Matt Brotherton on bass.
Given the band members’ shared history within SubRosa, it’s no surprise that THE OTOLITH‘s « Folium Limina » is both a continuation of an existing musical conversation and a herald of something entirely new. The album’s six songs are devastatingly heavy, but the band gives equal attention to speaker-rupturing riffs and to dark, immersive atmospheres. Levi Hanna’s guitar and bass steer the ship in a thick, rumbling tandem, while Kim Cordray’s and Sarah Pendleton’s violins push from the center out, sometimes painting the canvas with sharp, melodic leads and others sawing deep into parallel riffing. Andy Patterson’s drums are thunderous and thoughtful, and when the band hits a huge, all-hands-on-deck downbeat, it feels like a mountain tumbling into the hungry sea.
Those who loved SubRosa will find a familiar face of heaviness in THE OTOLITH, but with a more pronounced emphasis on darkwave and neofolk, calling to mind Amber Asylum or Worm Ouroborus. Cordray’s and Pendleton’s vocals are often a lilting dance or somber incantation in close harmony, while Hanna’s bellowing roar is used sparingly but to towering effect. Although the interwoven strings and vocals rush along with graceful intricacy, The Otolith’s primary approach is full-stop heaviness, and they will rattle our bones with the earth-churning tumult of Neurosis as well as the meditative trance of Om.
The overpowering feeling that emanates from the album’s tar-thick hymns is a stirring combination of exhaustion and determination as if THE OTOLITH took Samuel Beckett’s words to heart: “I can’t go on, I’ll go on.” Every wrenching emotion across the hour-long journey is honest and hard-earned, and you can feel the band digging deep to find a catharsis of collective release. The world is a heavy place, and sometimes it’s good to sit with an old friend and pick up where you left off. With « Folium Limina », The Otolith invite you to bring your burden and find it lightened – even a little – through the cleansing ritual of richly mournful atmospheric metal.
THE OTOLITH is
Kim Cordray – Violin, Vocals
Levi Hanna – Guitar, Vocals
Andy Patterson – Drums, Percussion
Matt Brotherton – Bass Guitar, Vocals
Sarah Pendleton – Violin, Lead Vocals
THE OTOLITH links
Facebook⎮Instagram⎮Spotify
BLUES FUNERAL RECORDINGS links
Website⎮Facebook⎮Bandcamp⎮Instagram | Youtube
