Chico, California-based doom/sludge metal quartet AMAROK prepares for the late June release of their second LP, Resilience, just days prior to the launch of their North American tour with Mizmor. Today, the album’s first single, “Charred (X)” – which features guest vocals from Neurosis’ Dave Edwardson – makes its public debut through an exclusive premiere hosted by Metal Injection.
AMAROK’s Resilience was recorded and mixed by Greg Wilkinson at Earhammer Studios (High On Fire, Necrot, Vastum), mastered by James Plotkin (Khanate, Sunn O))), Isis), and completed with cover art hand painted by Adam Burke, and photography by Michelle Camy and the band members. The album features guest vocals on “Charred” by Dave Edwardson (Neurosis) and on “Penance (XII)” by A.L.N. (Mizmor), and cello on “Ascension” played by Jaed and recorded by Chris Keene at Cutters Cathedral.
With the release of the album’s massive opening song, “Charred (X),” bassist/vocalist Brandon Squyres reveals, “This song symbolically represents the near total loss of a ton of family and friends’ homes including our guitarist’s childhood home in the Camp Fire. The most deadly and destructive wildfire in California history. An experience that can’t really be put into words. Pain like this is hard to share even among friends, so we speak the truth of loss in this song. Like all the songs on this record, there is another side to loss. Grief can be empowering, fire is cleansing, and new growth emerges from the ash and ruin.”
He continues, “We were blessed to have Dave Edwardson (Neurosis) do guest vocals on this track. Dave is a good friend of the band, and someone we have all looked up to for inspiration musically. As someone who also lives in California, he is well aware of the tragedies and sorrow that can accompany the fires that plague California regularly. It’s hard to live here and not be affected by them. His voice being added to the track was really special, there is so much emotion in his vocal deliveries.”
Listen to AMAROK’s sprawling Resilience opener “Charred (X)” featuring Neurosis’ Dave Edwardson at Metal Injection RIGHT HERE.
Resilience will be released June 28th, digitally and on 180-gram 2xLP via AMAROK’s own Vulture Print in the US and Vendetta Records in Europe: 200 on Citrus (EU), 200 on Jade (US), and 300 Black. Find US preorders HERE and HERE and EU preorders HERE.
Less than two weeks after Resilience is released, AMAROK will join their allies Mizmor for an extensive North American tour. AMAROK joins several days into the tour, starting in Los Angeles on July 9th, with three weeks of shows on the trek, the tour ending July 31st in Oakland.
AMAROK w/ Mizmor:
7/09/2024 Knucklehead – Los Angeles, CA [tickets]
7/10/2024 Nile Underground – Phoenix, AZ [tickets]
7/11/2024 Sister Bar – Albuquerque, NM [tickets]
7/12/2024 Rockhouse Bar – El Paso, TX [tickets]
7/13/2024 Lost Well – Austin, TX [tickets]
7/14/2024 Cheapsteaks – Dallas, TX [tickets]
7/15/2024 Hi-Tone – Memphis, TN (no Mizmor)
7/16/2024 Drkmttr – Nashville, TN [tickets]
7/17/2024 Black Circle – Indianapolis, IN [tickets]
7/18/2024 Sanctuary – Detroit, MI [tickets]
7/19/2024 Garrison – Toronto, ON [tickets]
7/20/2024 Piranha (Upstairs) – Montreal, QC [tickets]
7/21/2024 Ralph’s Diner – Worcester, MA [tickets]
7/23/2024 TV Eye – Queens, NY [tickets]
7/24/2024 Johnny Brenda’s – Philadelphia, PA [tickets]
7/25/2024 Preserving Underground – Pittsburgh, PA [tickets]
7/26/2024 Cobra Lounge – Chicago, IL [tickets]
7/27/2024 Cosmic Eye – Lincoln, NE
7/28/2024 The Crypt – Denver, CO [tickets]
7/29/2024 Metro Music Hall – Salt Lake City, UT [tickets]
7/30/2024 Holland Project – Reno, NV (no Mizmor)
7/31/2024 Thee Stork Club – Oakland, CA [tickets]
AMAROK unites bassist/vocalist Brandon Squyres, guitarist/vocalist Kenny Ruggles–Alaniz, guitarist Nathan Collins, and drummer Colby Byrn. The band combines the sustained drones and driving rhythms of doom/funeral doom metal with the intricate melodic passages, layered guitar harmonies, and blasting percussion of black metal. The band takes their name from the giant wolf cryptid of Inuit mythology; a creature capable of ripping a person’s soul from their body, symbolizing their powerful wall-of-sound aesthetic, and signaling the band’s connection to the primal forces of nature.
Their eponymous debut EP, a monumental work of funeral doom, was released in 2012. In the following years, AMAROK collaborated with friends in the extreme metal community on a series of split releases, issuing split albums with Enth and Pyramido in 2012, and a split with Hell in 2013. In 2018, the band released their massive Devoured 2xLP on Translation Loss Records, cementing their position in the West Coast metal scene and reaching a massive spectrum of listeners with their unique sound.
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