I always forget how far back this band goes, but Mindrot formed in California in 1989, coming from somewhat more of a hardcore/punk background and eventually developing a punishing brand of midpaced material that was doomy without being doom. With plenty of thick power chords in tow, contrasted by soft clean passages and distant ambient soundscapes, the band provided just as much vocal variation in terms of singing and speaking working with hoarse low-end shouting or tortured screaming (check out the end of "Nothing" below). Often compared to Neurosis, which is mildly accurate both in terms of general dynamics as far as certain textural similarities with some of the vocal work and song structures and with regards to their darker outward growth from their hardcore/punk roots, the loads of bleak melody and direct lyrical content in Mindrot's material always achieved far more of a personal element for me. So while those comparisons are worthwhile, and also confuse me as to why Mindrot was never more appreciated in their day, they were absolutely their own entity.
In the latter half of the band's existence they dropped two killer full-lengths, "Dawning" in 1995 and "Soul" in 1998 (both on Relapse Records), the latter of which boasts my all time favorite Mindrot track: The brooding masterpiece "In Silence". Sadly the group called it quits very shortly after this record came out when their fucking amazing drummer Evan Kilbourne quit the band to join a horrendously terrible ska act by the name of Save Ferris. Remaining members John Flood and Adrian Leroux were to do some sort of project afterwards, but I'm not sure what happened there, if anything. Thankfully the other ex-members, Dan Kaufman and Matt Fisher, formed Shiva, which morphed into Eyes of Fire—a band that I highly fucking recommend since they basically continued right where Mindrot left off. Check this shit out and tell me these cats shouldn't have been more known seven to 10 years ago, eh?
Mindrot "In Silence"
Mindrot "Nothing"
I wouldn't have expected it, but I guess this disc is out of print? Even Relapse seems to be out of "Soul", and there aren't but so many used copies out there either. So... if for some odd reason you never picked up on these guys, you should grab one while you can:
Does anyone have the early Mindrot demos or 7" material? I never could find any of those over the years. Get in touch if you can lend a hand. Thanks.
Comments
i heard all about this band for ages and when i finally checked them out i was disappointed. time for another listen to “Soul” i think though
nice posts last couple of days.. more doom/black is appreciated!
11.10.2005 | By Anonymous
one of my all-time favorite bands. i first heard them on a Relapse sampler in ‘95 and immediately bought everything i could find from them. if i had to pick two tracks from them, it probably would have been “Forlorn”, and “Dawning”.
i was unaware of the Save Ferris connection though. gah!
11.10.2005 | By anders
save ferris probably paid his bills a little better
11.10.2005 | By GrindTylerCore
Both of these tracks are awesome. I’m seriously considering picking this up, it’s great.
11.10.2005 | By Fergus
Shit yeah, Mindrot - “Dawning” is a favorite of mine, and some of the non-LP stuff on the “Forlorn” single is good too.
11.11.2005 | By Anonymous
Shit, I’ve been listening to “in Silence” about four or five times a day for the past few days…Fucking GREAT song. Time to buy the cd.
11.16.2005 | By The Redeemer
JUst wanted to let any one who is interested in owning the bands relapse record releases they are on sale for real cheep. soul is six dollars forlorn is 3$ and dawning is 3 or 6 i cant remember but either way 15$ for there relapse catalog is not bad at all. soul has some really great stuff on it and i really have enjoyed eyes of fire’s releases. just letting people know if they are interested in this great band.
11.24.2005 | By Primal Void