Releases

Three of Cups

Listen on Ampwall
Listen on bandcamp
Direct download (wav)

Three of Cups is Sacral's third EP, and a companion piece to Ten of Swords. This release was more experimental than previous ones, containing songs of love and belonging. It's about the things that make the world worth fighting for. In keeping with the EP's themes, this release also saw more collaboration than previous releases. I worked with two other guitarists to record solos, and did group vocals with friends, my partner, and members of other bands.

"Cut Through the Dark" is something I've wanted to do for a long time--a black metal love song. Not a lusty, kinky song about my Dark Mistress ov Satan or something, but a more sincere and vulnerable song about the safety, security, and love that I feel around my partner. I wanted to take a page from Mountains Crave's album "As We Were When We Were Not," and create something heavy and intense, but free of anything resembling malice. I experimented with bouncy synths, low register tremolo picking, and heavy reverb to try and create a sense of wonder. The song should feel like an intense blast of light. Whether it does is up to you, but it sounds right to me.

"Smoke Weed Drink Beer Hail Satan" was written as one of Sacral's first songs, but didn't feel right as part of "Horrible Things." That's when I decided to release a pair of EPs, written in tandem, about both the fortunate and misfortunate aspects of living. When I wrote this song, I was thinking about going to a black metal show with a bunch of your friends, pounding beers and absolutely losing your shit to the sickest riffs and blast beats you've ever heard.

The third track, "Biking Metal Punks," is as simple as the last. It's literally about how much I love bicycles.

The closing song, "Endless Fields of Rock and Moss," is a love song to Iceland. I've been to a lot of places, but nowhere has made me feel as at home, and at peace. It's also where I proposed to my partner, on the black sands of Vík.

Vocals, instruments, and drum programming by Ash.
Guitar solo on track 2 by Ryan Coomey.
Group vocals on track 2 by Ash, his partner, and his fellow members of North Star the Wanderer.
Guitar solo and additional leads on track 4 by Charlie Honig (also from North Star the Wanderer).
Group vocals on track 4 by Ash, his partner, and their friends Liz and Jason.
Cover art by Amanda Boucher.

Released April 21, 2023.