Hypnotic music from the doom folk band GEIST & THE SACRED ENSEMBLE
Pacific Northwest doom folk collective GEIST & THE SACRED ENSEMBLE will release their Waning Hymns full-length via Scry Recordings.
Among the Pacific Northwest’s hidden societies, GEIST & THE SACRED ENSEMBLE forges a doom-inflected folk ritualism; dirges tinged with Eastern psychedelia and meandering meditative trances. For the last several years, the group has shown the Washington state underground a clear vision for their sound and lyrics creating a shamanistic space for the listener, placing them into a trance, then building up the excitement. The overarching theme of their lyrical work is that of an idealist, a yearning for an end to the modern human condition, for destruction of the constructs and constraints of oppression.
Comments the band of their latest offering, “Waning Hymns is a study of Western consumer culture, attention spans, and empathy. This collection of ritualistic music asks us to redefine our self-worth. Using sonic and lyrical incantations, on ‘Advaita’ we yell out, ‘…with no source to trust, we get tricked and submit, our lives, to a fabricated future, that has no chance,’ over chains on drums and thick tones. These Hymns are a ceremonial call; a reminder that we alone have the power to define ourselves.”
Recorded and mixed by J. M. McNulty at Killroom Studios and mastered by Mell Dettmer at Studio Soli with artwork by Anima Nocturna, GEIST & THE SACRED ENSEMBLE’s Waning Hymns will be released on June 5th on digital and vinyl formats. For preorders visit THIS LOCATION.
GEIST & THE SACRED ENSEMBLE has shared the stage with acts as diverse as Oranssi Pazuzu, Insect Ark, Soriah, Six Organs Of Admittance, Pedestrian Deposit, Yonatan Gat, Father Murphy, and Jackie-O-Motherfucker, and have appeared at Thirst For Light, Missoula Psych Fest, PNW Folklife, Magma Fest, Dismal Fest and Escalator Fest. With tours from Maine to Virginia and California to Montana, their live shows are hypnotic and emotionally charged, often taking place at unique locations like a metal forge and foundry, forests and meadows, old schools, churches and more.
At their greatest, GEIST & THE SACRED ENSEMBLE’s tunes exist as an ever-changing pilgrimage, transforming their abstract drifts into apocalyptic folk hymns or private confessionals.GEIST & THE SACRED ENSEMBLE:
S. Yoder – percussion, gong, timpani
C. Segawa – electric guitar, metal spike
C. Howe – electric bass, bowed bass
M. Sauder – vocals, hollow body guitar, clarinet, piano
“GEIST & THE SACRED ENSEMBLE sound like the closet thing this city has to ’90s/00’s – era Swans: heavy, ritualistic rock that somehow straddles the moat between forlorn pastoral vibes and grim urban realms.” — The Stranger
“[They] do brooding, monolithic, and mystical like no one else, crafting out sand dried sonic psalms that howl like youthful godspeed ghost riders.” — The Sunday Experience
“Their music is both earthy and abstract, ancient and timeless. They truly opened a portal, infusing the blue-lit room with otherworldly vibes; slightly spooky, completely sublime.” — The Drainage
