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We get a lot of email at LAist. A lot.
We reply to almost none of it because then that would double the email, if not triple it. When people are patient, polite, and do us the favor of being persistent if something is truly special, they usually get what they want.
And although we might not reply, we do read everything that we get. Today we got something that was just so good As Is, we just had to share it with you even though we know nothing about the band in question.
Lesbian Announces Spring Tour Dates and SXSW Showcasemore after the jump...Seattle metal hybrid quartet Lesbian has announced select tour dates for March (see below), including the Holy Mountain label's SXSW showcase (appearing along with hyped-heavies Wooden Shjips.) The band will be promoting its eagerly anticipated Holy Mountain debut Power Hor, an ambitious mix of musical styles amounting to a massive album of classic proportions.
Why would an all-male heavy-rock quartet from Seattle call itself Lesbian? Well, equally-cool names like Black Sabbath, Venom and Pentagram were already taken. But also, the name Lesbian evokes pure, sexually-charged freedom -- and, that's what rock music is all about.
more from the brilliant Lesbian press release:
But, enough about the name, let's talk about the Lesbian sound...it's leaden, melodic, dramatic and dynamic. The group's multifaceted debut album Power Hör on Holy Mountain (Om, Six Organs of Admittance) is considered the birth of the New Wave of American Psychedelic Metal. Each of the four-song, 61-minute album's tracks flowingly shifts moods, dynamics and styles. In any given song, Lesbian deftly lunges from a Black Metal style blast-beat-and-16th-note-guitar-line into 70's style Stoner Rock riffing and then equally effectively leaping into a lush melodic passage reminiscent of Godspeed! You Black Emperor. The band brilliantly blends the best elements of many styles of metal: Doom, Thrash, Black, Progressive and -- yes -- even good old “Heavy” Metal. Fans of bands like Neurosis, Emperor, Skullflower, Boris, Pelican, Sleep and Isis will -- as they say -- lose their shit over Power Hör.
Lesbian formed in April 2004 on a whim for members of Pacific Northwest thunder-sludge bands Golgothan Sunrise, Asva and The Abodox who planned to play a one-off set at Seattle's Funhouse. The response was so overwhelming that guitarists Arran McInnis and Daniel La Rochelle (both of whom were then involved in Golgothan Sunrise) and bassist/vocalist Dorando Hodous and drummer Ben Kennedy (who both also pull double duty as the rhythm section in The Abodox) decided to continue on with Lesbian as their primary focus. The band's riffs are dissected and cut into vivid and imaginative parts that splinter and shift in shades of light and dark without coming across overly-technical and soulless. There is a cinematic quality to Power Hör that envelops a vast array of moods and ideas. It's entrancing and psychedelic while utterly pummeling at the same time.
In order to capture the dynamic force of its live sound, Lesbian enlisted the much-lauded ear of producer Randall Dunn, [Sunn0))), Boris, Earth], to help the band achieve its musical vision. Power Hör was recorded and mixed at both the legendary Avast! and Dunn's own Aleph studio. Stephen O'Malley [of doom duo Sunn0)))] designed the stunning cover art for the band's debut, befitting its sonic density and complexity. Incorporated into the layout is a striking logo design by John Santos (High on Fire, Kylesa, A Life Once Lost), whose artwork will also grace the cover of an upcoming split LP with Seattle black metallers Book of Black Earth.
Lesbian will be touring extensively in support of the album and has already begun writing new mind-expanding material. But, for now this is the Power Hör -- clock in and drop out.
Lesbian On Tour:
03/06 Re-bar Seattle, WA
03/09 San Francisco, CA TBA
03/10 San Diego, CA Scolari's Office
03/11 Los Angeles, CA TBA
03/12 Phoenix, AZ TBA
03/13 Tucson, AZ TBA
03/16 Austin, TX Spiro's - SXSW Holy Mountain showcase w/ Blues Control, Soushou No Fune, Wooden Shjips
03/19 Phoenix, AZ TBA
03/20 Los Angeles, CA Mountain Bar
03/21 San Francisco, CA Galaxies
* Final confirmations of venues for shows marked TBA will be announced soon.
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