REZN • ORYX
Sat 06/10/23
9:00PM
18+
music
$12 ADV // $15 DOS
Show Lineup
REZN
(Chicago, IL)
Genre: Doom Metal, Drone, Heavy Psych
For the uninitiated, the music churned out by the Chicago ethereal heavy psych quartet REZN manages to convey both crushing mass and cosmic weightlessness. With their fourth upcoming full-length entitled Solace, the band once again blurs the boundaries of their psych and doom labels by exploring more delicate and introspective emotions in the lyrics and instrumentation, using the feeling of empty space to build into towering moments of maximalist density. The appearance of piano, flute, and acoustic guitar are intricately woven throughout the record, and their dynamic range seems expanded even at the heavy end with odd time signatures and thicker, more colossal walls of sound built by the rhythm section.
“This was the first time we were able to immerse ourselves 24/7 in the studio,” says guitarist and vocalist Rob McWilliams, “and it was essential in giving us the headspace to take risks with the songs. After a week straight of recording for twelve or more hours every day, you start to go crazy in a good way. We wanted it to push us into new territories musically, but also transform the record into something much bigger than what we initially envisioned.”
Solace was recorded at Earth Analog in Tolono, Illinois by producer/mixing engineer Matt Russell, and mastered by Zach Weeks at God City Studio. Featuring cover art by the prolic Portland-based painter Adam Burke / Nightjar Illustration, Solace will be released March 8th on vinyl, CD, and digital formats.
ORYX
(Denver, CO)
Genre: Black Metal, Doom Metal, Sludge Metal
Celebrating 10 years as a band, ORYX continue to deliver their own brand of unrelenting sonic assault seamlessly blending layers of blackened doom, sludge, death metal, and black metal. As a three-piece, ORYX masterfully integrate contrasting dynamics between brutal hypnotic doom and feather-light contemplative dirges, engaging the listener at every turn.
Their third and most recent release, Lamenting a Dead World (2021), was recorded at Juggernaut Studio and mastered by Greg Wilkinson of Earhammer Studio. Since their inception, ORYX have completed multiple headlining US tours, served as direct tour support for Electric Wizard, shared the stage with numerous well-established acts such as Sleep, Eyehategod, Ufomammut, Old Man Gloom, and Kylesa, and performed at a variety of festivals in the US, thus carving a name for themselves in the metal underground.
It Is Dead
(Milwaukee, WI)
Genre: Black Metal, Doom Metal, Sludge Metal
IT IS DEAD is the solo cryptsludge project of Kevin Pappas, a Milwaukee, WI based artist who creates a uniquely-honed musical vision which they describe as a “wall of existential dread”. Having played in a handful of crushing bands in the past (Gravedirt, Old Resolution), Pappas is no stranger to sounds heavy and loud, and on this project performs all guitar, vocals, synths, and other instruments himself. It’s easy to think “heavier = more evil” when it comes to music, especially metal, but IT IS DEAD proves that’s not always the case. Sometimes it takes getting lost on a journey through the catacombs of darkness to uncover the truth about yourself.