Usnea (band)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Usnea
General information
origin Portland , United States
Genre (s) Funeral doom
founding 2011
Website usneadoom.wordpress.com
Current occupation
Drums
 Zeke Optimo Rogers
guitar
 Johnny Lovingood
Vocals, guitar
 Justin Cory
Electric bass, vocals
 Joel Banishing

Usnea is a funeral doom band formed in 2011 .

history

The group was formed by drummer Zeke Optimo Rogers, guitarists Johnny Lovingood and Justin Cory and bassist Joel Banishing in Portland at the end of 2011. Banishing and Cory did the vocals together. The group debuted in February 2013 with a self-titled album on their drummer Rogers indie label , Orca Wolf Records . The album was received positively by reviewers and discussed as a "strong debut" as well as "imaginative Doom without blinkers".

Following the success of the debut album was released a split - EP with Ruins , which over the hardcore punk label Halo of Flies appeared. Following the release of the EP, the group signed a deal with Relapse Records . There appeared Random Cosmic Violence in November 2014. With the release on the renowned label, the band gained international recognition. It was random Cosmic Violence rated as mediocre to good album. In the following years, the band played international tours and festivals. Including appearances as opening act for Ufomammut and Inverloch , as well as at the Maryland Deathfest and the Roadburn Festival .

In September 2017, the third studio album Portals Into Futility was released . The album received particularly positive reviews and was voted third of the nine best Funeral Doom albums of the year by the editorial team of the webzine Cvlt Nation . The album was also highly praised in Metal Hammer .

“They delight with a hybrid of stylishly celebrated slowness, nasty blackness of death, filthy riffs and a small, fine beam of harmony. It is not the mixture as such that is impressive, but the arrangement of the individual elements. "

- Petra Schurer in Metal Hammer , September 2017

style

The musicians name Disembowelment , My Dying Bride , Neurosis and YOB as important influences. Especially in the funeral doom spectrum, the groups are located in a melodious and at the same time rough area. Usnea makes comparisons with Bell Witch and Ahab.

Usnea's music is mostly attributed to the Funeral Doom and the Death Doom , occasionally the Sludge . In Funeral Doom, the music is considered a style balancing act with influences from original Sludge, early Gothic Metal and Black Metal . Some releases are compared with the early representatives of Gothic Metal, but also with Disembowelment, Winter , Ahab and YOB .

The genre-typical slow guitar riffs are emphasized as a defining element of the music . Usnea's music is nevertheless geared towards decelerated dark melodies. The music is "[driven] by a relentlessly pounding, slow-motion drums and a rolling bass [whereby] individual guitar lines stand out again and again". With Portals Into Futility there were “delicate cello and paino inserts”. The vocals vary between growling , screaming and roaring .

Discography

  • 2013: Usnea (Album, Orca Wolf Records)
  • 2014: Ruins / Usnea (split EP with Ruins, Halo of Flies)
  • 2014 Random Cosmic Violence (Album, Relapse Recordings)
  • 2017: Portals into Futility (Album, Relapse Recordings)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Usnea: Bio. Usnea, accessed January 26, 2018 .
  2. ↑ a b Jamie Grimes: Usnea: Usnea. The Sleeping Shaman, accessed January 26, 2018 .
  3. ↑ a b Peter Wingertsches: Usnea: Usnea. OX fanzine, accessed January 26, 2018 .
  4. ↑ a b c d e Sven Lattemann: Usnea: Random Cosmic Violence. metal.de, accessed on February 13, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Grayson Haver Currin: Usnea: Random Cosmic Violence. pitchfork, accessed February 13, 2018 .
  6. ^ A b Peter Wingertsches: Usnea: Random Cosmic Violence. Ox fanzine, accessed February 13, 2018 .
  7. ^ A b Jacob Dawson: Usnea: Random Cosmic Violence. Metal-Temple, accessed February 13, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Dan Brownson: Usnea: Random Cosmic Violence. The Sludgelord, accessed February 13, 2018 .
  9. ^ A b c Petra Schurer: Usnea: Portals into Futility. Metal Hammer. Retrieved February 13, 2018 .
  10. ^ Spyros: Usnea: Portals into Futility. Cvlt Nation, accessed February 13, 2018 .
  11. ↑ Akerblogger: Usnea: Portals into Futility. Angry Metal Guy, accessed February 13, 2018 .
  12. ^ A b Peter Wingertsches: Usnea: Portals into Futility. Ox fanzine, accessed February 13, 2018 .
  13. ↑ Sean Reveron: CVLT NATION'S TOP NINE FUNERAL DOOM RELEASES OF 2017. Cvlt Nation, accessed February 13, 2018 .
  14. ↑ Teddie Taylor: CVLT Nation interviews Usnea. Cvlt Nation, accessed February 13, 2018 .
  15. ↑ Björn Backes: The engine stalls too often! Powermetal.de, accessed on February 13, 2018 .