. Produced by Sanford Parker and the band,
burns slow through twisted, psychedelic post-rock with equal parts bombast and deliberation. Songs unfold like the cosmos before collapsing inward under the crushing weight of Minsk's signature wall-of-sound. In the end Minsk succeeds where other bands fail by marrying the range of human emotions with a vast sonic tapestry to create a provocative, stirring and supremely heavy album experience.
Scattered between the sleepy city of Peoria and metropolis of Chicago, Illinois, and drawing inspiration from a remote Belarusian city that has been burned to the ground only to be rebuilt like a phoenix rising from its own ashes, MINSK is an enigmatic collection of opposites. The music is at once modern, organic, and other-worldly; songs are stirring sonic journeys channeling the rhythms of the earth and the resonance of the human voice with the synthetic sounds of machines, amplifiers, chaos, and effects.
Founded in Peoria in 2002, Minsk has been cultivating sonic exploration and deeply spiritual and emotional outpourings since its inception. The early years were furtive; harboring a locally produced demo,
Burning, with the help of Peoria-based
Lisa Falzone Recordings, an appearance at the inaugural
Templars of Doom Festival in Indianapolis in 2004, and a contribution to a
Thinker Thought Records Peoria-themed compilation,
If It Plays.
In early 2005, while recording it's first full length album,
Out of a Center Which is Neither Dead Nor Alive at Volume Studios in Chicago, the band's producer Sanford Parker (Nachtmystium, Rwake, Pelican, Unearthly Trance) joined on bass guitar, and the final lineup fell into place.
Out of a Center… was released later that year on
At A Loss Recordings.
2006 saw the band continuously touring from coast to coast in support of the new album. Overwhelming press coupled with the band's work ethic and ground-shaking live shows generated an excitement that carried over into
South by Southwest 2006 and the
Emissions from the Monolith Festival. By mid-year, Minsk signed with
Relapse Records, and the sophomore full length was underway. The summer and fall found the band pouring over new material and hammering out their Relapse debut,
The Ritual Fires of Abandonment, again at Volume with Parker at the helm.
The Ritual Fires..., released February 2007, moved Minsk further into the world of the psychedelic and the progressive. Perhaps more organic and musical than the previous efforts, the album delves deeper into sophisticated tribal motifs, vocal melodies, and psychedelic passages. Deeply passionate lyrical ruminations about personal struggle, mental illness, societal and generational guilt, the suicidal urge, and philosophical destruction and re-growth echo the sentiments of the varying moods and textures of the hour-long journey.
Throughout 2007 and 2008, Minsk continued touring in support of the Relapse debut, along the way making appearances again at the South by Southwest and Emissions from the Monolith Festivals in Austin, and Indianaoplis'
Dudefest. Other highlights of the two year span included a CD release show in Chicago with Pelican and Sweet Cobra, humbling appearances with Neurosis and Woven Hand, Kuma's Doom Fest, a final hometown Peoria show for Planes Mistaken for Stars, and many great times on tours with Middian, Baroness, Rwake, Coliseum, Zoroaster, and Trouble.
Recently, the band has seen the vinyl release of it's first album,
Out of a Center Which is Neither Dead Nor Alive, again with At A Loss Recordings, as well as a split 7" of
Roky Erickson covers with friends and labelmates,
Unearthly Trance, on
Parasitic Records. Minsk recently returned home from a European tour that included appearance at the
Roadburn Festival in The Netherlands and
Asymmetry Festival in Poland.
The new full length album from Minsk,
With Echoes in the Movement of Stone, is out now on
Relapse Records.
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