IDES OF GEMINI
Constantinople
Neurot Recordings
IDES OF GEMINI Unveil Debut LP, Constantinople,
via Neurot Recordings
Sera Timms’ voice is a national treasure. It’s a reverb-soaked choir of 4AD
ghosts floating over scratchy guitars. Burzum scoring a spaghetti western.
This stuff gives me chills.
—Cosmo Lee of Decibel magazine on IDES OF GEMINI
IDES OF GEMINI is a collusion of musical forces precipitated by the haunting and
inimitable vocal prowess of singer/bassist Sera Timms, also of Los Angeles darkpsych alchemists BLACK MATH HORSEMAN. The compositions are the longsimmering mental fallout of veteran music and film journalist J. Bennett
(guitar/backing vocals), who has spent most of the last 14 years writing for such
publications as Decibel, Terrorizer, Revolver, Alternative Press and Thrasher. The
third and final corner of the triangle is Kelly Johnston, whose martial drumming
techniques and soaring backing vocals literally brought IDES OF GEMINI to life as
a performing entity.
Last year, Timms and Bennett recorded and self-released IDES OF GEMINI’s foursong EP, The Disruption Writ, which was anointed “My Favorite Demo of 2010” by
the highly influential music blog Invisible Oranges. Lyrically, the songs detailed
the terrifying permanence of dismemberment in all its unsettling forms:
psychological, emotional and physical. Musically, though? Someone on the
Internet called it “dream doom.” Nobody likes to be pigeonholed, but IDES OF
GEMINI will gladly take up temporary residence in that particular nook for the
sake of shorthand. Which is to say that “dream doom” will do the trick for now.
And now is nothing if not fleeting. Mostly because IDES OF GEMINI are about to
unveil their full-length debut, Constantinople, on May 29th (May 28th in the UK) via
Neurot Recordings, the label owned & operated by members of the legendary
NEUROSIS.
NEUROT RECORDINGS
2900 North Government Way
PMB 271
Coeur d'Alene, ID, 83815
United States
tel/fax: 208.623.6402
email: [email protected]
www.neurotrecordings.com
The nine songs on Constantinople evince the light and shade of the IDES
dynamic: the vicious and the atmospheric mingling in a spacious panorama of
high white ether. Respected metal journalist Etan Rosenbloom described it best
on MetalSucks.net: “Guitarist J. Bennett lays down imperial metal riffs swathed in
so much reverb that they seem isolated from the rest of the world.
Bassist/vocalist Sera Timms layers her affectless voice in ghostly counterpoint,
turning tales of spiritual discord into disturbing lullabies…If something seems
missing from Ides Of Gemini’s sound, that’s exactly the point. Their accretion of
small musical gestures inverts metal’s normal use of space. They imply terror
without ever exposing it. Each song is an accumulation of outlines, a sort of sonic
daguerreotype.”
Produced by IDES OF GEMINI and engineered and mixed by Chris Rakestraw
(Danzig, Skeletonwitch) at Sunset Lodge Recording in Los Angeles,
Constantinople was mastered by James Plotkin, formerly of doom masters
Khanate and currently of Jodis. The artwork and design was conceived by Sera
Timms and J. Bennett and constructed by Sera Timms.
http://idesofgemini.com/
http://idesofgemini.blogspot.com/
http://idesofgemini.bandcamp.com/