members of Racebannon

U.S. Christmas (USX) is a psychedelic | space-rock | post-metal collective originating from the Appalachian Mountains of Marion, North Carolina.
Led by guitarist/vocalist/lyricist Nate Hall, the band; BJ Graves (drums), Justin Whitlow (percussion, experimental sounds), Josh Holt (bass, drones), and Meghan Mulhearn (violin), enters their second decade of blurring the boundaries of heavy music and crushing dark blues.
While the music of USX has never been described as being jammy or amorphous, their brand of dirty & loose psychedelic rock originate from band members bringing their individually created musical parts into a room together and let the synergy between them form a singular collective groove.
USX’s musical influences range from guitar slingers, modern metal & doom to classic artists that include Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Hawkwind, Caustic Resin, & Neurosis.
With a droney sound suggesting lyrical themes dealing with outer space, USX’s lyrical content focuses more on themes of nature, earth, & terrestrial human history.
After a pair of self released CD-R’s (Bad Heart Bull & Prayer Meeting), USX released their third album (Salt the Wound) via Russia’s RAIG Imprint, and then signed with Neurot Recordings (home of Neurosis, Shrinebuilder, Across Tundras) to release the three long players, (Eat the Low Dogs, Run Thick in the Night & The Valley Path).
Play the Assassin will issue U.S. Christmas’s 2002 debut, Bad Heart Bull in a limited edition vinyl & digital package in early 2012.

Oh, so a quick description of what this is...

Racebannon seem to occupy a sort of awkward (and apparently not-so-popular) middle ground between metal and hardcore with roots in a sort of screamo scene. The main determining factor for whether or not anyone likes them is probably the vocals, but they aren't your typical screamy/whiny Blood Brothers et al. type of vocals. I really like the singer and think he's pretty talented and his style is pretty interesting and unique. But it might not seem that way at first.

Anyway, when they first starting making good records about nine years ago, they were sort of psychedelic hardcore verging on metal. They used to have a DJ in the band, but instead of doing the whole Limp Bizkit "wicky wicky" thing, he just added these noisy drones and stuff. Their sound was really dense and chaotic around that time. It's gotten a lot more streamlined and much tighter, I think, since they trimmed down to a four-piece, but I feel like they've kept the same spirit while moving a little more in the metal direction.

They took something like six years off between their second album from 2002* - Satan's Kickin' Yr Dick In - to their previous album, Racebannon IV: Acid or Blood. In that time it seemed like just about everybody either forgot about or lost interest in them. It didn't help that bands like The Blood Brothers became completely passe, and Racebannon was sort of lumped in with them, Song of Zarathustra and a handful of others that I can't remember. Racebannon always struck me as being heavier, weirder, and just way better than any of them, though. I'm really happy to have more music from them, and I hope they can start getting more attention and get some better distribution and promotion for their music.



*meaning the 2nd one they put out that year. It was their 3rd album.

a recent favorite....

Encoffination - O' Hell, Shine In Thy Whited - 2011

this is like the reincarnation of thergothon. so grim!

haha god call! it truly is. incredibly ugly stuff. love it.

How anti-Freudian!

I can't help but just laugh at most of this artwork. Can NEVER figure out if these guys are serious.

Pitchfork's Top 40 Metal Records of 2011

http://pitchfork.com/features/show-no-m ... s-of-2011/

first few racebannon records were put out by Secretly Canadian, which is interesting in and of itself

An orchestral blackened post-hardcore band So Hideous, My Love release an incredibly fascinating four-track EP that handily volleys between beautifully crafted string sections and chaotic, swirling noise. Like Deafheaven’s demo last year, To Clasp a Fallen Wish with Broken Fingers ably fuses disjointed ire with gorgeous, lyrical sadness.