Official press release:
In early 2016, Battleground Records will release a split LP uniting one side of slow burners from ORYX and the other of short grinders from Tucson-based Languish, the grueling pairing very much in the tradition of classic underground split releases of the ’90s where grindcore, powerviolence, punk, crust, sludge and noise acts saw each other on opposing sides of vinyl together.
Side A is dominated by three new bludgeoning tracks from Denver-based ORYX, who recently brought their gutter-dredging brew of doom/sludge metal to the Mile High City from Las Cruces, New Mexico earlier this year. The new split will be the first new material to see release since the band’s gnarly 2014-released Widowmaker debut LP. A meager duo, drummer Abbey Apple and guitarist/vocalist Tommy Davis deliver a full backline’s worth of damage live and on record, swelling with dynamic excursions through the slow-motion realms of demolition. ORYX floods the listener with a deluge of downtuned amplification, polluted quicksand, toxic garbage and broken hopes, bringing to mind the works of Eyehategod, Grief, Electric Wizard, Corrupted and Grime. The band has toured regionally and performed with the likes of Inter Arma, Yautja, Catheter, -16-, Mantar, Sea Of Bones, Mutilation Rites, Godhunter, Mothership, North and many others, and has performed at Southwest Terror Fest, Seven One Grind Fest and more.
Languish was started in early 2014 by drummer Zack Hansen and guitar player Matt Mutterperl of Tucson doom/sludge band North. Sean Mears of Tucson/Phoenix-based Territory and Gatecreeper was brought in for vocals followed by Gatecreeper guitar player Eric Wagner joining in on bass and backup vocals. The group recorded their debut album Extinction with local engineer/producer Ryan Bram (Sex Prisoner, Godhunter, Territory, Prom Body) in November 2014, the record released digitally and on cassette, after which Bram stepped in to play bass after Eric left. While sharing similar tonal devastation values as their A-Side counterparts on the split, Languish opts for a much more rabid delivery, deploying a caustic crust/grind attack with opposing guttural/scathing vocal attacks and waves of d-beatings for diehards of Excruciating Terror, Phobia, Disfear, Disrupt and Driller Killer, this split seeing Extinction pressed to vinyl for the first time. Languish has appeared alongside Ufomammut, Serial Hawk, Cult Leader, Homewrecker, Sex Prisoner, Nothing, Usnea, Cloakroom, and opened for Sleep at the 2015 Southwest Terror Fest IV at the historic Rialto Theatre.
View a trailer for the ORYX/Languish split LP featuring a sneak listen to some of the new ORYX is now playing:
The test pressings for the ORYX/Languish split LP have been approved and the record is under construction to arrive in early 2016 with 300 copies being pressed on 180gram black wax. A confirmed release date will be announced in the coming days.
ORYX will support Kylesa tomorrow, Wednesday, November 4th in El Paso, Texas, and will perform with North and more in their hometown of Denver on the 10th. Languish will also support Kylesa, this Thursday, November 5th, and will then play alongside Take Over And Destroy and labelmates Lament Cityscape on the 28th, both shows in Tucson.
Languish Live:
11/05/2015 Club Congress – Tucson, AZ w/ Kylesa
11/28/2015 Sky Bar – Tucson, AZ w/ Take Over And Destroy, Lament Cityscape
ORYX Live:
11/04/2015 The Sandbox – El Paso, TX w/ Kylesa, Communion Of Thieves, Collisions, The Stalk
11/10/2015 Bar Bar – Denver, CO w/ North, Ghosts Of Glaciers, A Light Among Many