“…primitive stomps, destabilizing lurches, and beleaguered clawing toward heights of near-cacophonous frenzy and terrifying hallucination.” – No Clean Singing
Seville, Spain-based doom metal experimenters ORTHODOX will release their new LP, Proceed, through Alone Records tomorrow, and No Clean Singing is now hosting an exclusive advance stream of the entire crushing album.
Since 2014, ORTHODOX has operated as a duo, with bassist/vocalist Marco Serrato and drummer Borja Díaz handling all recording and live performances. However, Proceed sees the return of guitarist Ricardo Jiménez to the lineup for the first time since 2011’s Baal. To capture this mammoth album, in November 2021, Billy Anderson (Sleep, Melvins, High On Fire, Om, Neurosis, EyeHateGod) was flown to La Mina Studios in Sevilla, Spain, and recorded the album with assistant engineers Raúl Pérez and Nacho García. Anderson mixed the record at his Everything Hz back in Portland, Oregon, after which it was sent to Justin Weiss at Trakworx in San Francisco, California for mastering. Proceed was completed with artwork and illustrations by Fernando Rivas and layout/design by José Postigo.
Proceed represents ORTHODOX‘s return to its original essence, but also a step forward as a band. After a multitude of different projects around the band and a long way traveled, they are back to reel off heavy riffs like a three-headed juggernaut.
Marco Seratto writes, “This has been the most important album for us since Gran Poder, and without a doubt the most difficult to make. If we went back to the trio line-up, we had to prove to ourselves that we could do the best we had ever done. For this, we had two things very clear; first, that Ricardo contributed his ideas to the maximum. After more than four years out of the band, we understood that he should return to enjoy and develop ideas within the Orthodox framework. That’s why Proceed is the ORTHODOX album with more guitar prominence. We think he has done a great job. The second point that we were clear about was that if we wanted to take a step forward, we had to have a producer. We’ve never had a proper producer on our records before. But we were very clear that this producer should be Billy Anderson, for which we have had the invaluable help of Alone Records. We did our best and we hope that our old and new fans feel the same way.”
Alongside their advance stream of Proceed, No Clean Singing’s comprehensive critique of the album reads in part, “The skull-slugging drum rhythms also prove to be unorthodox, sometimes stopping, starting and jerking in ways that keep us off-balance instead of nodding along to their convulsive booming beats (as will happen often). The rhythms are persistently inventive, a big part of the adventure. Using these implements, the band move from primitive stomps, destabilizing lurches, and beleaguered clawing toward heights of near-cacophonous frenzy and terrifying hallucination. Sometimes brutally stripped-down and sometimes kaleidoscopically intricate, the band’s avant-garde visions of doom metal swirl and frighten the mind.”
Visit No Clean Singing and stream the crushing Proceed by ORTHODOX now at THIS LOCATION.
Alone Records will release Proceed on LP in two variants limited to 500 copies as well as digipak CD and digital formats this Thursday, June 30th. Find preorders at the label webshop HERE and Bandcamp HERE, and watch the psychedelic video for “Rabid God” HERE.
Stand by for further announcements from ORTHODOX to be issued over the months ahead.
ORTHODOX was born as a trio at the end of 2004. Starting from doom metal and absorbing influences from drone, jazz, and extreme metal, the band represents one of the most relevant but unpredictable bands of the Spanish metal underground. After breaking through the international underground with their Gran Poder debut LP in 2006, ORTHODOX has released another six studio albums, multiple EPs, splits, singles, and more, released through respected labels like Southern Lord, Utech Records, God Unknown, and long-running allies, Alone Records. The band has performed at international festivals such as Hellfest, Roadburn, Supersonic, Amplifest, Primavera Sound, and many others, has collaborated with artists as diverse as Julian Cope and flamenco dancer Israel Galván, and has opened for Voïvod, High On Fire, Corrosion Of Conformity, and countless more.
https://orthodoxband.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/orthodoxband
https://www.instagram.com/orthodoxband
https://www.instagram.com/alonerecords_alonerecords
https://www.facebook.com/alonerecords.spain
https://alone-records.bandcamp.com