Relapse Records this week officially welcomes Richmond, Virginia’s masters of ethereal doom metal, WINDHAND, to the label’s roster, having signed the quintet for the release of their forthcoming LP.
Stated the members of WINDHAND in response to their joining forces with the Relapse horde, „We’re all so honored to be in the company of so many amazing artists. To know that our next record will be alongside some of the albums that inspired us to play music is pretty incredible.”
WINDHAND has begun laying down tracks for the to-be-named upcoming LP in their home studio, The Darkroom, where the outfit will record and mix the entire album, and deliver it to Relapse for a Fall 2013 release date. More details will be made available as the album nears release.
Having formed in 2008 in the fertile Richmond, Virginia musical underground, WINDHAND’s incredible, organic style of low-end doom and trancelike occult/ethereal vocals helped the band catch immediate attention well beyond the region, drawing comparisons to everything from Electric Wizard and Pallbearer to The Devil’s Blood and Blood Ceremony. Continuous live shows and US tours have seen them share the stage with notable acts including Pallbearer, Tragedy, Balaclava, Iron Tongue, Bastard Sapling, Pilgrim, Elder, Pentagram, Sourvein, The Gates of Slumber, Graveyard, Thrones, Mares of Thrace, Coffinworm, Across Tundras, Primitive Weapons among countless others.
In the meantime, Reflection Of The Negative, a split album with WINDHAND and local scene brethren and now labelmates COUGH, will see release via Relapse in mid-April. COUGH leads off, delivering a characteristically electrifying down-tuned epic track, while their brethren in WINDHAND serve up two brand new epic songs for their half of the dirge, in the end bearing nearly forty minutes music from two prime acts in the contemporary doom/sludge circuit. An album trailer and preorders for the split LP are available here.
WINDHAND Lineup:
Asechiah Bogdan – guitars
Dorthia Cottrell – vocals
Parker Chandler – bass
Ryan Wolfe – drums
Garrett Morris – guitars