Video Premiere: We Follow The Earth ‘The Cave’ – New Album ‘Extinct’ Drops 1st March
I was unaware of We Follow The Earth until our very own Josh Schneider catapulted their debut album Lightbearer to the number one spot on his Top Ten Of 2023. With an endorsement like that, only a fool would ignore it, so I rushed to check them out to see what I was missing but I was also left scratching my head as to why we never covered them previously.
So today, we’re setting the record straight as not only are the North Carolina trio preparing to release their latest opus Extinct on the 1st March featuring six spine-chilling tracks of heavy sludge, doom and post-metal, it’s also The Shaman’s absolute pleasure to bring you the second single in the form of a lyric video for the near seven minutes The Cave.
About the track, We Follow The Earth‘s guitarist and vocalist Matthew Crotts says, ‘This song, musically, is the best example of the direction I wanted to take the band when writing with this album’, so with that in mind, all that is left to do is click play below to explore the heavy wonders that is The Cave…
More On We Follow The Earth & ‘Extinct’
We Follow The Earth hails from the northern surrounding areas of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They combine monstrous low-tuned riffs, earth-rattling bass, and deep, heavy drum grooves, with powerful vocals to create their sludge and doom-based sound.
Originally started as a simple project between brothers, Matthew Crotts and Robert Crotts. Matthew wrote and performed all of the music/vocals, while Robert wrote the story/concept/lyrics. After months of writing, what emerged was the debut album Lightbearer in March 2023 – a heavy combination of thick guitars and pulsating synths which, over the course of five tracks follows the journey and eventual horror of an astronaut who awakens to find that he is the sole survivor on a derelict ship, barreling through space.
Three months later, writing began for a second album. Once again, with Matthew writing all of the music, and Robert conceptualizing the lyrics. The material took shape quickly, evolving from the atmospheric doomy vibes of Lightbearer, to a more straight-forward, in-your-face onslaught of pummeling riffs.
While writing was underway, Matthew began searching for other musicians in order to bring his music to fans live. That is where drummer Matt Osburn came into the fold. The two Matt’s took to the stage and performed as a two piece for several shows across the state. In December 2023, with writing finished, the two went into the studio to record tracks for the sophomore album Extinct.
The new album is a crushingly heavy fantasy piece from start to finish. A six-track concept album which tells the story of a Cyclops chieftain discovering that his entire tribe has been murdered and vowing revenge. Every track is an experiment on how to get heavier than the last.
It starts with a slow intro, which lulls the listener into a sense of calm, then the music kicks in and hits you like a brick wall. From there it never lets up, save for a short reprieve on the third track which will give the listener a chance to take a breath, but it is short lived, and the pummeling wall of sound picks up right where it left off.
As recording finished, which was captured and produced by Jamie King, the band finally rounded out their roster with bassist Matthew Pickard. In 2024, the trio are looking forward to tearing it up on stage in venues around North Carolina and beyond while Extinct will be released independently on March 1st.
Extinct Tracklist:
01. The Bloodshed
02. The Cave
03. The Defilement
04. The Hunter
05. The Oracle
06. The Ruined
We Follow The Earth is:
Matthew Crotts – Guitars, Vocals
Matthew Pickard – Bass
Matt Osburn – Drums
Extinct, the new album from North Carolina’s doom, sludge and post-metal’s We Follow The Earth is set to be released independently on 1st March and is available for digital pre-order over on Bandcamp.
Label: Independent
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
