Events

[EXPERIMENTAL] Fans of doom and sludge metal will be blessed by a super intimate show from Wrekmeister Harmonies and Bell Witch this Monday, February 22 at Dreamland. The tour will make a stop here in Buffalo between shows at the Marble Bar in Detroit and St. Vitus in Brooklyn. Wrekmeister Harmonies, the Chicago-based doom collective led by J.R. Robinson are touring in support of their latest album, Night of Your Ascension, which made use of a host of musicians from the experimental and noise music scene including Lee Buford and Chip King, their Thrill Jockey label mates in The Body, German industrial band Einstürzende Neubauten, and psychedelic drone band, Cave. Robinson cites influences as varied as Werner Herzog, Igor Stravinsky, and the “Prince of Darkness” Carlo Gesualdo as the inspirational force behind Night of Your Ascension, which is a relentlessly driving gothic doom-metal record.

Wrekmeister Harmonies — Night of Your Ascension (Official Music Video) from Thrill Jockey Records on Vimeo.

Bell Witch, however, might be the highlight of this line up. Hailing from Seattle two-piece doom band creates mountainous sludge anthems that typically run 10 minutes or more, sometimes surpassing the 20 minute mark. Their slow-motion doom records can sound like an evil twin to Sigur Rós—in place of inspiring glacial beauty, there’s erupting, craggy melancholia. Their latest album, Four Phantoms picks up where 2012’s Longing left off, however it dives deeper into atmospheric nether-lands on tracks like “Judgement, in Fire: I — (Garden of Blooming Ash).” Though you’ll find the occasional major chord on songs like “Suffocation, A Drowning II: — Somniloquy (The Distance of Forever)” it’s just a set up for a cataclysmic downfall. The band works simply with bass, drums, and vocals, making keen use of each to maximize their range. 

They’ll be joined on Monday by the St. Catharines-based black metal band Vile Creature and Buffalo avant-garde noise band Cages.