Indie rock doesn't get much, uh, lighter than North Carolina's Mountain Goats, so it's always been a bit puzzling when leader John Darnielle has dropped references to extreme metal in song titles like "The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton" and "Marduk T-shirt Men's Room Incident." Now, Darnielle has dropped something even bigger: news that a legend in the death metal scene is producing the next Mountain Goats album.
Darnielle has revealed that Erik Rutan (Hate Eternal, ex-Morbid Angel) recorded four songs for the upcoming album at the producer's Mana Recording Studios, based in Florida. Rutan is known within the death metal scene for being a hot commodity as a producer, but this is the first time he's recorded something so, well, peaceful.
In a tweet, Darnielle said "I got to play my G&L ASAT through Erik Rutan's Engl Powerball amp. With Erik recording me. Can die happy now."
Earlier, he had tweeted that the band have finished recording 13 songs for the still-untitled album, and the sessions took place in four studios, from "FL to MA."
No release date has been announced for the album yet, but the video below finds Darnielle introducing the album's cast of contributors. Along with Rutan, they include bassist Peter Hughes, Superchunk drummer Jon Wurster and engineer Brandon Eggleston.
The Mountain Goats released The Life of the World to Come in 2009.
Thanks to Pitchfork for the heads-up.
UPDATE: Via a blog post, Darnielle has confirmed the album, giving us both an album title, All Eternals Deck, and a tracklisting. In fact, we even now have a release date: March 29 via Merge Records.
All Eternals Deck:
1. "Damn These Vampires"
2. "Birth of Serpents"
3. "Estate Sale Sign"
4. "Age of Kings"
5. "The Autopsy Garland"
6. "Beautiful Gas Mask"
7. "High Hawk Season"
8. "Prowl Great Cain"
9. "Sourdoire Valley Song"
10. "Outer Scorpion Squadron"
11. "For Charles Bronson"
12. "Never Quite Free"
13. "Liza Forever Minnelli"
Darnielle has revealed that Erik Rutan (Hate Eternal, ex-Morbid Angel) recorded four songs for the upcoming album at the producer's Mana Recording Studios, based in Florida. Rutan is known within the death metal scene for being a hot commodity as a producer, but this is the first time he's recorded something so, well, peaceful.
In a tweet, Darnielle said "I got to play my G&L ASAT through Erik Rutan's Engl Powerball amp. With Erik recording me. Can die happy now."
Earlier, he had tweeted that the band have finished recording 13 songs for the still-untitled album, and the sessions took place in four studios, from "FL to MA."
No release date has been announced for the album yet, but the video below finds Darnielle introducing the album's cast of contributors. Along with Rutan, they include bassist Peter Hughes, Superchunk drummer Jon Wurster and engineer Brandon Eggleston.
The Mountain Goats released The Life of the World to Come in 2009.
Thanks to Pitchfork for the heads-up.
UPDATE: Via a blog post, Darnielle has confirmed the album, giving us both an album title, All Eternals Deck, and a tracklisting. In fact, we even now have a release date: March 29 via Merge Records.
All Eternals Deck:
1. "Damn These Vampires"
2. "Birth of Serpents"
3. "Estate Sale Sign"
4. "Age of Kings"
5. "The Autopsy Garland"
6. "Beautiful Gas Mask"
7. "High Hawk Season"
8. "Prowl Great Cain"
9. "Sourdoire Valley Song"
10. "Outer Scorpion Squadron"
11. "For Charles Bronson"
12. "Never Quite Free"
13. "Liza Forever Minnelli"
Hey, America from JD on Vimeo.
