Lush, crushing, hallucinatory, at times, spiritually healing, MINSK's long-anticipated The Crash & The Draw full-length ' set for official North American unveiling next Tuesday via Relapse Records ' echoes with a pastoral elegance and tangible urgency that's difficult to dismiss. Each cascading movement a crucial sonic passage through dark and light, the record follows the eclectic collective's six-year hiatus and delivers eleven immersive movements that transcend far beyond the boundaries of post-metal, sludge and psychedelia.
Captured by the band alongside Sanford Parker (Twilight, Voivod, Eyehategod, Yob etc.), mixed by Parker and MINSK and mastered by Collin Jordan (Eyehategod, Indian, Wovenhand, Voivod etc.) with additional vocal tracking by Scott Evans (Kowloon Walled City, Old Man Gloom, Floor etc.) and further tracking, editing, and mixing by Kevin Rendleman and Aaron Austin, The Crash & The Draw is an instant contender for one of the most forward-thinking metal records of the year. In an early 4/5 review of the record, Revolver notes, "On its first full-length album in six years, this Illinois band still specializes in sprawling post-metal that ebbs, flows and pummels in a Neurosis and Pelican sort of way," crowning the four-part "Onward Procession" in particular, "an extreme-metal mega-statement that's both ferocious and haunting (especially when the chanting begins)." In an 8/10 score, Exclaim calls the band, "pretty untouchable," and "definitely on a plane of their own." Stereogum concurs, "The Crash And The Draw revisits and expands upon the features that made this band appealing in the first place, from their meticulously layered vocals to their masterful dynamic sensibility," further elaborating of 'When The Walls Fell," "Post-metal bands always get saddled with wave/tide metaphors, but the way that 'When The Walls Fell' gradually rotates between restraint and aggression until it reaches its emotional climax really does evoke some cyclical force of nature - a force that remains as powerful as it's ever been." In a 9/10 rating, Metal Storm applauds MINSK's ability to "craft songs that are unrelenting and crushing," calling The Crash & The Draw, "thoroughly engrossing," while MetalSucks adds of "The Way is Through," specifically, "it's arresting, gorgeous, brutal and mesmerizing all the same; a full journey throughout the song's nine-plus minutes."
Listen to 'The Crash & The Draw' via Terrorizer HERE
In celebration of its final descent, today Terrorizer delivers all eleven engrossing moments of The Crash & The Draw for your mental and physical enjoyment noting
In related MINSK developments, the band will bring their audio conjurings to stages throughout Europe next month commencing with an appearance at this year's Roadburn Fest with additional live ceremonies to be announced in the months to come.
MINSK:
4/09/2015 Roadburn Festival ' Tilburg, NL
4/10/2015 Doom Over Leipzig ' Leipzig, DE
4/11/2015 Hafenklang ' Hamburg, DE
4/12/2015 Cassiopeia ' Berlin, DE
4/13/2015 Hydrozagadka ' Warsaw, PL
4/14/2015 007 ' Prague, CZ
4/15/2015 P.M.K. ' Innsbruck, AU
4/16/2015 Feierwerk ' Munchen, DE
4/17/2015 Freakout ' Bologna, IT
4/18/2015 Lo Fi Club ' SoloMacello Fest ' Milano, IT
4/19/2015 Le Romandie ' Lausanne, CH
4/20/2015 Escape B ' Paris, FR
4/21/2015 La Scene Michelet ' Nantes, FR
4/22/2015 La Peniche ' Lille, FR
4/23/2015 FZW ' Dortmund, DE
4/24/2015 Desertfest ' London, UK
4/25/2015 Kavka ' Antwerp, BE
Scattered between the sleepy city of Peoria and metropolis of Chicago and drawing inspiration from a remote Belarusian city that has been burned to the ground only to be rebuilt like a phoenix rising from its own ashes, MINSK has been cultivating sonic exploration and alchemical outpourings since 2002. Rooted in the post-metal landscape that brought forth visionaries like Neurosis and Isis, with their latest opus, MINSK step out of the shadows of the giants of their genre to create a psychedelic blend of tuneful, trance-inducing heaviness. A thematic continuation of the group's long-standing attraction to alchemical and esoteric ideologies, MINSK's The Crash & The Draw will be released via Relapse Records in North America on April 7th, 2015, April 3rd, 2015 in Germany, Benelux and Finland and April 6th, 2015 in the UK and rest of the world and come available on CD, double LP and digitally. Preorder your copy today at THIS LOCATION. For digital orders, go HERE.
1. To The Initiate
2. Within And Without
3. Onward Procession I. These Longest Of Days
4. Onward Procession II. The Soil Calls
5. Onward Procession III. The Blue Hour
6. Onward Procession IV. Return, The Heir
7. Conjunction
8. The Way Is Through
9. To You There Is No End
10. To The Garish Remembrance Of Failure
11. When The Walls Fell
