Minsk (band)
| Minsk | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Peoria, Illinois, United States |
| Genres | Doom metal, post-metal |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Labels | At a Loss Recordings Relapse Records |
| Website | thesoundofminsk.com |
| Members | Christopher Bennett Timothy Mead Aaron Austin Zac Livingston Ryan Thomas Sanford Parker |
| Past members |
Anthony Couri Drew McDowell Brian Barth Jared Madigan Dustin Addis Jeff Hyde |
Minsk is a doom metal/post-metal band from Peoria, Illinois founded in 2002. Self described as "psychedelic metal", their songs tend to start out as slow and simple, and become heavy and complex towards the end. Their sound draws equally from sludge metal, doom metal, hardcore punk, ambient and noise music, with a highly psychedelic attitude achieved through tribal drum patterns, thick layers of synthesizers and keyboards, and echoing vocals. They are named after the capital of Belarus. The idea of survival through suffering is a recurring theme in the lyrics and musical style. In fact, regarding the origin of their name, their official biography states: "Drawing its nominal inspiration from a remote Belarusian city nestled deep amidst the in-betweens of the East and the West, a city that has been burned to the ground on several occasions only to be rebuilt like a Phoenix rising from its ashes." The sounds and atmospheres they evoke in their songs are complex and psychedelic.
Minsk was formed in 2002 between the cities of Peoria and Chicago. They soon produced a demo CD entitled Burning, released by Lisa Falzone Recordings around the time of a United States tour and appearance at the Templars of Doom Festival in 2004. In late 2004, Minsk was featured on the compilation If It Plays…, which consisted solely of artists in the Peoria region (hence the title).
The band's first full-length album, Out of a Center Which Is Neither Dead nor Alive, was recorded in late 2004 and released in 2005 on At a Loss Recordings, following appearances at the South by Southwest and Emissions from the Monolith festivals. During the recording of the album, Drew McDowell left the band leaving them without a bassist. Sanford Parker,a big fan of Minsk and the guitarist for doom metal band Buried at Sea, who was producing the album at the time, decided to join Minsk as a full-time bassist to replace McDowell and also resumed his production work. Soon after Parker joined, founding member and guitarist Dustin Addis left, leaving the band to record Out of a Center Which Is Neither Dead nor Alive as a four piece, with Cristopher Bennett solely in charge of guitar duties. To support the album's release, the band embarked on a nationwide tour supporting many popular metal artists, notably Brutal Truth, High on Fire, Boris, Sunn O))), and Pig Destroyer.
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