Official press release:
Minneapolis-based technical/avant-garde death metal outfit Sunless has completed the blistering Urraca, the band’s proper debut album, for independent release this February.
Formed in 2015, Sunless draws influence from pioneers of extreme, dissonant metal, such as Gorguts, Ulcerate, and Deathspell Omega, reinterpreting the sounds through an abstract lens that is all their own. Comprised of bassist Mitch Schooler (ex-Nerves, Modulus), drummer Ben Iburg (Not From Here, The Eye Unclouded), and guitarist/vocalist Lucas Scott (Australis, Pestifere), the band boasts a prominent rhythm section, a scattered assortment of time signatures, interwoven and complex arrangements, and bellowing death growls, akin to the output of Baring Teeth, Pyrrhon, and Artificial Brain.
Sunless spent most of 2016 performing across the Midwestern US in support of their demo with like-minded bands such as Plebeian Grandstand, Yautja, and Pyrrhon, while writing for their debut album, Urraca. Tracked by Adam Tucker at Signaturetone Recording in their hometown of Minneapolis (Thou, Mutilation Rites, Ambassador Gun), and mixed/mastered by Colin Marston at Menegroth, The Thousand Caves in Queens, New York, Urraca delivers a relentlessly engaging onslaught of complex and dissonant death metal, with nine tracks encompassing a dense forty-four minutes. The artwork was handled by friend, lyricist, and former bandmate Andrew Notsch (ex-Youwretch), appropriately presenting the album in a psychedelic, abstract visual manner.
Stream the opening track to Urraca below:
Urraca will be independently released by Sunless with digital, digipak CD, and cassette formats to be made available on February 24th. Preorders for the physical formats are live at Bandcamp.
Urraca track listing:
1. “Wishes Fallen On Deafened Ears”
2. “Gathering At The Skull’s Eye”
3. “Aberrant Clime”
4. “Born Of Clay”
5. “Obsidian Wing”
6. “Windswept Rock”
7. “The Ancient Ones”
8. “Magpie”
9. “Disintegration Of Man”
Sunless will support the release of Urraca with a two-week tour through the central regions of the US alongside Minneapolis cohorts, fungal death-sludge act, Grogus. The tour begins with a hometown record release show the day of the album’s release, Friday, February 24th, and runs through Saturday, March 11th, with shows in Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Illinois, and Wisconsin before returning to Minnesota.
See all confirmed Sunless tour dates below and watch for updates in the coming days as the final shows are booked, and further audio samples from Urraca are issued.
Urraca Central US Tour 2017 w/ Grogus:
2/24 – Minneapolis, MN | Reverie Café And Bar *
2/25 – Denver, CO | Bar Bar
2/26 – Colorado Springs, CO | Black Sheep
2/27 – Santa Fe, NM | The Underground
2/28 – TBA
3/01 – Oklahoma City, OK | Your Mom’s
3/02 – Dallas, TX | TBA
3/03 – Austin, TX | The Lost Well
3/04 – TBA
3/05 – New Orleans, LA | Siberia
3/06 – Birmingham, AL | TBA
3/07 – Nashville, TN | TBA
3/08 – Memphis, TN | Growlers
3/09 – TBA
3/10 – Chicago, IL | Underground Lounge
3/11 – Milwaukee, WI | Frank’s Powerplant
* = record release show w/ Faces Of The Bog, Aziza
Sunless is:
Mitch Schooler – bass
Ben Iburg – drums
Lucas Scott – guitar, vocals