In just a few short weeks this year is already proving to be full of tectonic level shifts in the musical and metaphysical landscape of our lives. We often start looking at the calendar for the next year of releases in late fall with a mix of anticipation and at times, bracing anxiety. Before we hear one note of new music, the questions start gnawing at us. What new alliances are formed? What new music to pick up first? What about my old favorite bands? Will anything challenge the status-quo of typical sub-genre doldrums. If your tastes are anything like ours, these questions can all be answered with two words: Eight Bells. Hailing mostly from Portland, OR and made up of members of SubArachnoid Space, Curezum, Immortal Bird, and Thrawsunblat; their musical make up is an uncommon mix of spacey psychedelic rock and brooding, otherworldly heaviness. Eight Bells kicked off 2016 with a string of shows to support their new album Landless out on February 12th from Battleground Records, one of the must hear underground releases 2016. Melynda Jackson and Haley Westeiner trade riffs and parts intermingle like a dank, earthy swamp. When they sing together, it’s outright majestic. Recent addition Rae Amitay brings in her considerable range behind the kit. In the run up of west coast dates before joining up with Voivod and Vektor across the rest of the country, we caught the trio at The Yucca Tap Room in Tempe, AZ. Their intimate show was captured here by Melina Dellamarggio of Melina D Photography for Ghost Cult.
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