Premiere: Opium Lord & Under – Split – Releases Tomorrow, 10th August, via APF Records
Two of the finest UK heavyweights have teamed up after a chance challenge to a 5 a-side game of football, that’s soccer to our friends on the other side of the great pond. With the obvious unfair biased due to the number of band members and after a few minor grumbles, it was agreed that a split EP would benefit both bands and fans a hell of a lot more.
Featuring one track each from Birmingham’s sludge deviants Opium Lord, and Stockport’s noise-rock merchants Under, Salford’s APF Records stepped in to act as referee and release this near twelve-minute aural assault as a limited compact disc and digital download.
And today, prior to its official release tomorrow, 10th August, we at The Shaman are beyond chuffed to be able to bring you both tracks in their entirety, so ignore the red card and click on play below…
More On Opium Lord, Under & The Split EP
It seems fitting Opium Lord hail from Birmingham, a city famous for its smog, industrial, unpretentious and sometimes brutal façade. Opium Lord started life in 2014 and quickly released their first EP on Thirty Days Of Night Records, followed by their first album Eye Of Earth on Candlelight Records in 2017. A split 7 inch with Rhode Island’s Churchburn and most recently the album Vore on Sludgelord Records gained critical plaudits along the way from Vice, BBC Radio 6, BBC Radio 1 Rock Show, Terrorizer Magazine, Big Cheese and Metal Hammer. Since their formation Opium Lord has toured the UK, Europe and North America playing with bands such as Yob, Primitive Man, Weedeater, Swans, Black Cobra, Unearthly Trance, Will Haven, Conan, Oathbreaker and more.
Stockport residents Under are the kings of uneasy listening, purveyors of the finest angular noise-rock. Centered around doom and sludge, Under could have been just any other heavy band, but their willingness, perhaps even deep-seated need to splinter off into avant-garde and psych/prog elements thrusts them above most of the pack; that and a somewhat lopsided approach to time signatures – a trait which leaves an underlying nausea and unease on all recordings they find themselves involved with. There are clear nods to Melvins in Under’s approach, and that can only ever be a win. Under have released two albums and an EP on APF Records so far: Slick (2017), Stop Being Naive (2018) and Training Resource #5 (2020).
‘Opium Lord got in touch challenging us to a game of 5 a side’, says Matt Franklin of Under. ‘There being only 3 of us, we suggested a split instead’. The rest, as they say, is history.
Opium Lord‘s Sherpa was recorded and mixed by Wayne Adams at Bear Bites Horse Studio.
Under‘s The Ref was recorded and mixed by Simon Mayo at Spirit Studios.
Both tracks mastered by Dave Mitson at The Mitsonian Institute.
Tracklist:
01. Opium Lord – Sherpa
02. Under – The Ref
Opium Lord is:
Nathan Coyle – Vocals
Luke Bowers – Guitar
Adam Beckley – Guitar
Simon Blewitt – Guitar
Joe Parkes – Bass
Bruce Goodenough – Drums
Under is:
Andy Preece – Drums, Vocals
Simon Mayo – Guitar, Vocals
Matt Franklin – Bass, Vocals
APF Records will release this devastating Split EP with Opium Lord and Under tomorrow, 10th August. A limited edition compact disc is available now on the labels webstore, for digital downloads head over to Bandcamp as well as being available on all good streaming services from tomorrow.
Label: APF Records
Opium Lord: Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram
Under: Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram
