Photo by: April Pacarella
Official press release:
One of Prosthetic Records‘ newest signings – experimental doom band Livid – will release their upcoming album, Beneath This Shroud, The Earth Erodes, on July 14, 2017. The album will be available on all digital platforms, digipack CD and a limited edition transparent purple LP. The artwork was created by Cryptworm (Bell Witch, Cough) is available for pre-order now here.
To coincide with this announcement, Livid have teamed up with Decibel Magazine to reveal their brand new music video for “Sins Of God”. Watch here:
Guitarist/vocalist Cole Benson says:
“‘Sins Of God’ was just a rough idea just a few days before we went into the studio. I was concerned about using it for the album because we hadn’t even finished it. We got together at our space to practice and polish up some pieces the day before we went in. We still weren’t 100% we were going to use Sins on the album yet. We decided to just take what we had and start playing and see what happened. It all came together so smoothly. It still amazes me how easy it is to write music with these guys. Everyone just seems to get it. We went in and recorded it live and couldn’t have been happier. Cole went in a few days later and recorded vocals. When I got a copy of the roughs I was floored that after all this time that Cole could still surprise me with his ability. In a matter of a few days, ‘Sins Of God’ went from being an idea to one of my favorite songs we’ve ever performed.”
Beneath This Shroud, The Earth Erodes track listing:
1. “Descend”
2. “Nothing”
3. “Sins Of God”
4. “The Fire”
5. “Into Nothing”
Livid is:
Cole Benson – Guitar/Vox
Tim Leick – Drums
Chad Padelford – Bass
Swen – Guitar
Livid represents a means to play heavy and destructive music in an attempt exorcise all the anger, depression, and disgust with life and the world. Minneapolis dwellers Cole Benson, Chad Padelford and Tim Leick first got together in 2013 playing instrumental post rock. It wasn’t long after that the three’s influences of Eyehategod and the Melvins, Boris and Tool & Evoken and Mournful Congratulation began to manifest naturally through their music, creating a more sonically cathartic endeavor. Livid was born after that.
By 2015, the trio had been evolving their riffs enough to feel confident to lay them down to tape and teamed up with producer, Ali Jaafar at Ecstattic Studio to record their first demo. The two part, 22 minute opus, Sint, was released on Bandcamp in the summer of that year and was met with wide acclaim in the metal underground. Later, the band added local metalhead, Swen, to second guitar, making the live sound more powerful. The following year, the band met up with Prosthetic Records and shortly after that, signed a deal with the label.
By fall of 2016, Livid went back to Jaafar‘s studio and began work on their upcoming album. The political climate of that time, combined with various struggles each member were having, helped create and extremely dark, moody, heavy and angry sounding album. Padelford remarks:
“While each of us dealt with personal strife and success we found solace coming together to spill out what we had bottled up.”
Benson further elaborates on how the country’s state of affairs effected and changed the lyrical them of the album:
“We rewrote most of the lyrics in the studio the day after the 2016 presidential election. The lyrics paint a bleak image of the future. The track ‘The Fire’ underwent the most changes and addresses this issue most directly. We hope to open the listener’s eyes, and we hope for a better future.”
Livid will play a series of record release shows around the release of Beneath This Shroud, The Earth Erodes.