CHRCH signs to Neurot

Local titans of funeral doom and sludge metal CHRCH recently signed with Neurot Recordings, as announced on December 5. The band—previously on Battleground Records—now joins the ranks of national and international legends such as YOB, Isis, UFOMAMMUT and Neurosis.

CHRCH’s current lineup is arguably stronger than ever, with Eva Rose on vocals, Chris Lemos and Karl Cordtz both on guitar and vocals, Ben Cathcart on bass and Adam Jennings on drums. As the band prepares to release its second full-length album Light Will Consume Us All on April 27, its members are gushing.

“It’s crazy awesome,” Lemos said. “It’s awesome to [be on a label] with people you respect for sure; people [we] have respected since all of us were young.”

In November, CHRCH released its (presumably) final record on Battleground—a split with the band Fister—including the new song “Temples.” They sold hard copies at a December 5 Blue Lamp show with Monarch! and Bell Witch. CHRCH delivered a classic performance, all band members building a wall of dark sound both somber and powerful, and Rose commanding the stage with a trance-inducing presence.

Though the music and tracks for Light Will Consume Us All are still under wraps, if CHRCH’s sneak preview at Blue Lamp is any indicator, this will be a fitting follow up to 2015’s brutally brooding Unanswered Hymns. Judging by the split album with Fister, CHRCH—already heavy beyond heavy—is getting darker and heavier. The music is expanding, Rose said. Lemos agreed and said the band is “seeing where we can take it.”

“The range seems wider,” Cordtz said. “Dynamic is kind of a shitty word, but the range of each part seems bigger.”

Signing to Neurot signals not only the fulfillment of personal dreams for Sacramento’s sludgiest doom band, but heightened interest in the local scene at large, CHRCH’s members said.

“The music’s translating correctly to the people we want it to,” Lemos said. “Also it makes it feel like all the hard work over the last four years is paying off. Hopefully it’ll bring more eyes to the city and to the music scene in general.”

Rose agreed with this sentiment and added that the scene’s location in a relatively small city acts as both amplifier and hindrance.

“There’s so many great bands that come out of Sacramento, and have for a really long time,” Rose said. “But we are still a small town—and that’s cool—a lot of people like that about Sacramento. But for music critics or whatever, they kind of shun that aspect of it. Hopefully [this deal] will bring more attention to some of the awesome bands.”

CHRCH is gearing up for a European tour supporting Light Will Consume Us All in May. Then the band will tour the Southwest. In the meantime, local fans of all things dark, fuzzy and doom-laden can catch CHRCH at Cooper’s Ale Works in Nevada City on March 8, playing with Khemmis and Aequorea.