Shane Perlowin • Ryan Oslance

On their seventh album and third for Cuneiform, Ahleuchatistas’ Heads Full of Poison is a sonic brew that reveals new flavors, new spices with every aural taste. Now a duo of charter member Shane Perlowin (guitar and bass) and Ryan Oslance (drums), Heads Full of Poison was developed over a two year period, road-tested and honed with numerous performances, including nearly 100 in Europe. The music was altered, edited, and embellished at nearly every gig with improvisational possibilities explored at length. The music combines highly detailed composition with a looseness that encourages a range of interpretation. Each track was recorded live in the studio. Oslance performed all the drums and percussion live with zero overdubs. Perlowin produced the various guitars and bass tracks to impart the richness and detail of a conceptualized studio album, but the basic tracks are performed live. By the time of the recording in January and February 2012, the music had been given ample time to ferment, so the performances captured are as close to perfection as possible, with technical hurdles surmounted, the sonic palette settled upon, each note and beat executed confidently and with nuance.

"Music doesn’t get much closer to the edge than this." – Alternative Press

“…remarkably tight, with the ability to turn complicated and seemingly unrelated phrases on a dime.” – NPR

“Formerly a trio the band…has pared down to a duo….The new sound…has…a much greater emphasis on ragged, high-tempo garage prog brutality and spine-chilling soundscapes.” – DownBeat

“…they lurch swiftly from speed metal to thrash punk to a kind of heat-stroke minimalism. There’s noise and fire in their playing, but most of these tunes are also studded with signposts, demanding close attention and clear execution. …” – NY Times

Heads Full of Poison Press Release

Shane Perlowin • Ryan Oslance

Leaving audiences slack-jawed in amazement at South by Southwest, punk-rock dives across the USA and jazz festivals in Europe, the Ahleuchatistas and their unique, high-energy, instrumental, technical, undefinable trio music for guitar, bass and drums continue to reach new heights as a performing and a recording unit. If they come to your town, you must see them; there is no one - and I mean no one - who can match them at what they do. Even in the Midst... is their fourth album and the years together playing hundreds and hundreds of shows have created one of the most amazingly tight ensembles that you will ever hear or see. This album widens their sound a little bit; there's plenty of the insane, over-the-top playing that we've come to expect, but there's more room for improvisation here and also for more quiet moments as well. The CD contains an 8 page, full color booklet of Courtney Chappell's beautiful and disturbing artwork. With this album, both in terms of the sonics of the album and the performance itself, the band have made their best recorded statement yet.

"...just great, fun music."– Lucid Forge

"...what innovative metal groups have been trying to do for some time – Ahleuchatistas finally makes sense out of the unexpected and extreme, giving up none of its ingenuity. (9.25/10)" – Maelstrom

"...they're astonishingly together even on passages where it seems impossible to stay in sync." – Pitchfork

"A wonder of complex rhythms, virtuoso musicianship and a name that's really, really hard to pronounce." – Go & Do

Even in the Midst... Press Release

Third and best yet from this amazing instrumental, post-Beefheart, avant-technical, improv-core, math-metal, art-damage, punk-rock power trio from Asheville, NC. Using the simple and classic skeleton of guitar, bass and drums, these three make powerful music that is undeniably 'rock' but is also undeniably much wider in musical influences than what one would imagine in such rock-based work. For example, the opening song is Remember Rumsfeld at Abu Ghraib; of course we all know what that title is in reference to, but, huge Charles Mingus fan that I am, I also immediately caught the reference to Charles' great work, Remember Rockefeller at Attica, which is not a reference I would expect from a rock band. But then, these guys are the most technically adept 'punk' band you will ever hear; they have chops growing on their chops, so surprises are to be expected! The playing from everyone is beyond powerful and while the term "Beefheartian" gets bandied about way too much, the complexity and directness of the playing here really does bear some comparisons. Their music has been developed over playing tons of shows and the sound on the CD reflects this with a very well recorded, but not so "produced", live feeling sound. If they come to your town, go see them. Having said that, if you can't see them live, this CD comes with 3 short, nicely shot QuickTime movies which you can watch on your Mac or PC, so you can see just what you are missing.

"This Asheville, North Carolina-based power trio's quirky cross between new music composition and raw punk energy will have the self-appointed genre limiters scratching their heads for the rest of the year. The rest of us can just enjoy it and hope there'll be more in the not-too-distant future." – New Music Box

What You Will Press Release