Portland doom quartet USNEA have announced the full details of their third full-length album entitled Portals Into Futility. Inspired by dystopian science-fiction and the painful intersection of today’s crushing reality, Portals Into Futility is 5 songs and 56 minutes of expertly crafted and elegantly depressive doom/sludge. With an evolved sound of strength and dynamism, USNEA delve more into the worlds of dissonant death metal, varied vocal structures and cinematic composition, all while maintaining the monumental heaviness, brutality, discord, anger, and mournful melodicism of their previous work. Across dark and brooding peaks and valleys, USNEA remind us that no matter how many doors are opened to the human species, our self-aggrandizement and hubris all lead to futility.
Portals Into Futility is due out September 8 on CD/2xLP/Digital via Relapse Records. A complete tracklisting is included below.
Hear USNEA’s new song “Lathe In Heaven” via YouTube below:
and Soundcloud HERE.
USNEA Commented on the new song: ““Lathe of Heaven” was inspired the eponymous book by Ursula K Le Guin. It is a meditation on the blurred line between cognitive reality and delusion wherein the protagonist can change reality through dreaming. A well-intentioned psychologist attempts to corral that power but ends up creating more chaos and suffering. In the end, human arrogance and greed are shown to be the leading contributors to our own doom.”
Additionally, USNEA will tour throughout Europe dates this Fall as direct support for Ufomammut. The tour commences on September 30 in Paris and ends October 22 in Munich while hitting 19 different cities. The tour includes appearances at multiple festivals including Up In Smoke, Doornroosje Festival and Keep It Doom. The band will also perform an exclusive US set at Psycho Las Vegas on August 18. A complete listing of dates is available below.
Portals Into Futility will be released worldwide September 8 on CD/2xLP/Digital via Relapse Records. Physical pre-orders and exclusive bundles are currently available via Relapse.com at this location and digital pre-orders are available via Bandcamp HERE.
Album Art Credit: Orion Landau and Justin Cory
Portals Into Futility Tracklist:
- Eidolons and the Increate
2. Lathe of Heaven
3. Demon Haunted World
4. Pyrrhic Victory
5. A Crown of Desolation
USNEA Tour Dates:
Aug 18 Las Vegas, NV Psycho Las Vegas
— All dates Sep 30 – Oct 22 With Ufomammut —
Sep 30 Paris, FR La Boule Noire
Oct 01 Nantes, FR Le Ferrailleur
Oct 03 London, UK Borderline
Oct 04 Brussels, BE Magasin 4
Oct 05 Wiesbaden, DE Schlachthof
Oct 06 Pratteln, CH Up In Smoke
Oct 07 Nijmegen, NL Soulcrusher Festival @ Doornroosje Festival
Oct 08 Bielefed, DE Forum
Oct 10 Oslo, NO Blitz
Oct 11 Stockholm, SE Klub Undergangen
Oct 13 Helsinki, FI Korjaamo Blowup VOL 3
Oct 14 Tampere, FI Olympia-Kortelli
Oct 16 Copenhagen, DK KB 18
Oct 17 Berlin, DE Lido
Oct 18 Hamburg, DE Markthalle
Oct 19 Leipzig, DE Werk 2
Oct 20 Wroclaw, PL Firley
Oct 21 Prag Checkt, DE 007
Oct 22 Munich, DE Keep It Doom
Biography
Usnea formed in late 2011 when Zeke Rogers moved to Portland, OR from Chico, CA leaving behind his posts in The Makai and Amarok; and Justin Cory and Joel Williams decided to collaborate in the wake of the demise of their previous projects Absence of Light and Dopesmoker. After rounding out the line-up by adding recent Portland transplant Johnny Lovingood on second guitar, they fine-tuned the material they'd thus compiled for a debut record.
Their eponymous debut was recorded in mid-2012 at Haywire Studios with Fester (Stoneburner, Nux Vomica, Atriarch, Burials, Knelt Rote, Rabbits, etc) and mastered by Adam Gonsalvez at Telegraph Mastering. Zeke's own label Orca Wolf Records released the first edition of the S/T LP in February of 2013 as a single two song LP with a download of two additional tracks that the band decided not to press to vinyl at the time. Eternal Warfare released a cassette version of the S/T album containing all four songs in late 2013. The album was met with favorable reviews, the only gripe being that the other two songs did not find their way to vinyl. In response, the band teamed up with Germany's Vendetta Records for a collaborative release of a second edition as a 2XLP featuring all four songs with Orca Wolf Records in early 2015.
Usnea embarked on a West Coast tour in May 2013 to support their first record followed by a short tour to Dead Fest in Oakland later that August with Stoneburner and Bastard Feast. In January of 2014, Usnea returned to Haywire to work with Fester again for a split 7” EP with Bielefeld, Germany's Ruins; co-released stateside by Halo of Flies Records and in Europe by Germany’s Twisted Chords Records in June 2014.
After negotiating a record deal with Relapse records, Usnea went back to Haywire and close friend Fester to record their 2nd full length LP titled "Random Cosmic Violence" for their Relapse Records debut. In August 2014, Usnea toured the West Coast with Boston's Fórn and their Oakland best-friends Augurs in anticipation of the new record's release. "Random Cosmic Violence" was released in November of 2014 and was met with positive reviews and a growing fan-base within the doom and black metal global communities.
In May and June of 2015 the band embarked on a 40 day US tour to support "Random Cosmic Violence" as the support act for Italy's UFOMAMMUT (Neurot Recordings). The tour also brought Usnea to Maryland Deathfest XIII for a memorable night there with Yob, Conan, Jex Thoth, Mantar, Primitive Man and Iron Man.
Next up for the band are plans to tour Europe in April 2016 with Australia's INVERLOCH (Relapse label-mates) and play several festivals including Roadburn while there.
USNEA online:
http://www.facebook.com/usneadoom
http://usneadoom.bandcamp.com/album/random-cosmic-violence
http://usneadoom.blogspot.com/