Gauntlet News

New Music: Mine Collapse EP out Jul 22

By Sevine E. Levine
Nefarious Industries will release the self-titled debut EP from Chicago-based MINE COLLAPSE this Summer.

Nefarious Industries will release the self-titled debut EP from Chicago-based MINE COLLAPSE this Summer. Formed in the Fall of 2015 by two-thirds of now defunct punk/metal ensemble arbogast, also part of the Nefarious Industries family, MINE COLLAPSE picks things up where arbogast left off, with Aaron Roemig and Mike Rataj continuing a nearly decade-long collaborating streak. Roemig and Rataj hurl a ten-ton mass of experience onto the Chicago music scene with their newest endeavor—having served time in other Chicago notables Lord (Asian Man Records), Modern Advances (Baldy Longhair Records), Retro Morning, and Still Machine. Rounding out the sound on the EP and live is Ed Sanchez-Gomez, the mastermind behind the Latinoamericano Shoegaze project, Umbra Sum (Acuarela Records).

On their self-titled debut, MINE COLLAPSE delves into a uniquely heavy, jagged, sludge-punk sound featuring reverb-soaked vocals. Clocking in at twenty-two minutes, the four-song EP shows layers of frantic noise rock and doom riffage stacked atop Rataj’s signaturejazz-infused pummeling drum style. Influences range from contemporary heavy bands — think Torche, Queens Of The Stone Age, Don Caballero, Boris, and The Austerity Program — to old-school nineties AmRep bands à la Helmet, Jesus Lizard, and Unsane.

Mine Collapse was recorded with Andy Nelson (Weekend Nachos, Lord Mantis, Harm’s Way) at Bricktop Recording in Chicago over three days in March 2016. Mastering was completed by Carl Saff who has put the final magic to recordings by a slew of amazing bands and noteworthy labels including Coliseum, Sofy Major, Young Widows, and many more. The EP will see release on CD and digital on July 22nd through Nefarious Industries.