Canyon Of The Skull: With prog-doom

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Canyon Of The Skull is a blackened doom band of the southwest of USA, more specifically from Chicago in Illinois. The band was founded by guitarist Erik Ogershok in the winter of 2006. After a few line up in the winter of 2018, the band now consists of Erik Ogershok on guitar, his close friend and brewing colleague Todd Haug (Powermad) on bass and Mike Miczek (Broken Hope, The Atlas Moth) on drums. The band will release the album Sins Of The Past, the band’s third album, on November 20. 

In terms the musical style, the band’s aesthetic is formed more specifically by black metal, funeral doom, and classic heavy metal. Guitarist Erik Ogershok offers a fuller description of what Canyon Of The Skull have accomplished on Sins Of The Past,

«I try to do different things with each record and this one is no exception. This record is visceral and immediate, like the self-titled, while being highly conceptual and dynamic like The Desert Winter. The Ghost Dance is probably the best thing that I have written to date. The Sun Dance is unlike anything that I have ever written before. It incorporates my basic philosophies of composition but applies them differently, one that I jokingly call prog-doom».

«The main aesthetic and themes that Canyon Of The Skull was founded on remain unchanged. This band has always been focused on telling the stories of Indigenous Americans and their environments, specifically those of the American Southwest. I am still surprised at how many people have never met an Indigenous American, but we are not extinct, and this band exists to tell our stories both past, present, and future. This record is a bit more broad with the subject matter since it involves the rituals of tribes far from the land of my people. Also, this record is more influenced by recent events that have an impact beyond Native communities. I don’t like to talk specifically about the deeper meaning of any of my compositions as I want people to discover their meaning in our music. These two pieces have very specific meanings to both me and the wider world and googling the titles is my recommendation for people that want to delve deeper for the literal meanings».

The musicians of Canyon of the Skull are a varied, creative bunch. Bassist Todd Haug is also the guitarist for Minneapolis thrash legends Powermad. He most recently performed as the second guitarist for Norwegian black metal legends 1349. Dummer Mike Miczek is well respected in the Chicago metal scene and has made a name for himself with both Broken Hope and The Atlas Moth. He also plays drums with Todd Haug in Powermad. Both Ogershock and Haug are brewmasters for metal-centric breweries.  Haug is one of the brewmasters at the ground-breaking 3Floyds Brewing Company. Ogershock is the brewmaster for WarPigs USA.

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