photo by Adam Tucker
Minnesota-based BLUE OX – formed by former members of Dead To Fall, Devilinside, Ambassador Gun, Coma Eternal, and more – will release their third LP, Holy Vore, this April. A new video from the thundering album is now playing exclusively at No Echo in the form of an in-studio video for “Left To The Drift” as preorders for the album and more are posted.
The third full-length BLUE OX LP Holy Vore showcases a thundering union of metallic hardcore, d-beat punk, catchy mid-paced chugging, mosh bursts, and fervent howling vocals, embodied by lyrical themes of despair and self-sabotage. The album was recorded, mixed, and mastered at Signaturetone Recording by Adam Tucker and completed with art and design by the band’s Luke Olson and Dennis Hanson.
The video for “Left To The Drift” was filmed in-studio by Tucker during the LP’s 2019 recording sessions before the pandemic hit. Writes BLUE OX vocalist Dennis Hanson, “This song lyrically is about being on board for the journey of terminal illness of a loved one and the futility of trying to keep something close that is leaving you.”
No Echo writes with the video’s premiere, “Over the course of two studio albums, the Minneapolis-based group has developed a sonic palette that features everything from metallic hardcore to sludge to crust punk-like speed runs. Yes, the gentlemen in BLUE OX clearly have great taste in underground music, but more importantly than that, they know how to write a great fucking song.”
Watch BLUE OX’s “Left To The Drift” video first only through No Echo at THIS LOCATION.
BLUE OX will independently release Holy Vore digitally and on limited pressings of vinyl and cassette on April 2nd. Find preorders where the LP’s lead track “It Doesn’t Work” is streaming RIGHT HERE.
Be on the lookout for additional videos and more from the album to leak over the weeks ahead.
Formed in Minneapolis in 2005, BLUE OX instantly became recognized for their pummeling and wild performances as they grabbed the attention of heavy music fans across several genres and like-minded bands to share stages with. In 2007, Lost Archives Records released their debut album, Wet Dreams & Nightmares, the record delivering a balance of hardcore, bluesy stoner riffing, tribal beatings, and drifting feedback voids.
Following lineup changes, BLUE OX began writing and demoing their second album in 2009 and once again hooked up with Minneapolis local studio owner and operator Adam Tucker in 2010 to record their second LP, Stray Dogs On Pity Party Island. This album saw the band expanding their sound with more elements of thrash, grind and punk while weaving in subtleties of psychedelic elements, and delivered all-out moshers, solid hardcore, and slow burners to satisfy any heavy music fan who demands a bit more. The album was self-released in 2011 and followed by a handful of US Summer shows in 2012.
More lineup changes in early 2014 saw BLUE OX once again taking their tone and delivery to the next level, with a revamped rhythm section and the expansion into ardent d-beat drumming and triplet-picking expanding their sound with more dynamics than ever.
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