OLD IRON And VERDUN Unite To Release Crushing Split 12” Via Satanik Royalty Records; Preorders Available

December 8, 2021 Infrared Magazine Music News, News, Press Releases Comments Off

[cover painting by Jesse Roberts]

Seattle, Washington-based sludge behemoths OLD IRON and Montpellier, France’s doom/hardcore practitioners VERDUN have united to release a crushing four-track split 12”. Initially released in Europe earlier this fall, the four-track offering will see release in the US via Satanik Royalty Records February 25th, 2022!

OLD IRON aspires to weave sprawling psychedelic sludge tapestries. Jerad Shealey (The Helm, Heiress) and Jesse Roberts (Sandrider, Kid Congo Powers, The Ruby Doe) started writing music with original drummer Brandon Ramses during 2011 with the goal of getting loud, heavy, and weird. Later that year their first self-released full-length Cordyceps (2012) was recorded in Jesse’s basement. Current drummer, Trent McIntyre joined the ranks soon after. With McIntyre in the equation their second record came into focus. With Matt Bayles (Mastodon, Botch) at the engineering helm, Lupus Metallorum (2016) was recorded at The Red Room in Seattle and released on Good To Die records in 2016. Shealey crossed paths with Florien of VERDUN while touring with Kid Congo Powers and a lasting friendship was born. They kept in touch and eventually the idea of a split came up and the rest is history.

Forged in 2010, VERDUN made a name in the realm of slow and heavy music on the basis of a simple three-track demo, leaving a strong impression on every witness of the band’s thunderous live shows. The band has since released two full-lengths: The Eternal Drift’s Canticles (2016) and Astral Sabbath (2019). Far from simple amplifier worship, the band excels at tinting their sludge/doom roots with metallic hardcore toughness, burden-of-the-world melodies and charismatic vocals, switching between echoed screams from outer space, spoken words or mournful clean vocals. VERDUN develops its hybrid doom/hardcore through a composition of new track “Narconaut” and a very personal rendition of Morbid Angel’s classic “Dawn Of The Angry.”

OLD IRON’s tracks were recorded with Nick Wilbur at Anacortes Unknown and once again enlisted the mixing skills of Matt Bayles to bring everything into focus. VERDUN recorded their side with Cyrille Gachet (Year Of No Light, Fange, Chaos Echoes) at Chicken Coop Studio.

The split will be released via Satanik Royalty on vinyl (clear and orange smoke) and is available for preorder HERE. Find digital preorders at THIS LOCATION.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn2Znme6iDk]

OLD IRON/VERDUN Split Track Listing:

1. Planetesimal – OLD IRON
2. Strix Nebulosa – OLD IRON
3. Narconaut – VERDUN
4. Dawn Of The Angry (Morbid Angel Cover) – VERDUN

OLD IRON:
Jesse Roberts – guitar, vocals, vibraphone
Jerad Shealey – bass, vocals, percussion
Trent McIntyre – drums, percussion

VERDUN:
Geraud Jonquet – drums
Florien Celdran – bass
Jay Pinelli – guitars
David Sadok – vocals
Additional Musicians:
Said Merqi – guitar solo on “Dawn Of The Angry”
Benjamin Hameau – noise on “Dawn Of The Angry”