Locrian (band)

Did You Know?

• The band's music was described by Allmusic as an 'eclectic mixture of black metal, electronics, drone, and noise rock'.
• Allmusic writer Ned Raggett identified progressive rock influences on The Crystal World.
• The band have identified krautrock and 1990s death metal as influences.

History

Locrian began in late 2005 when André Foisy and Terence Hannum, former bandmates in Unlucky Atlas, joined forces. Foisy hails from Northern New York, while Hannum comes from Florida. Over a relatively short period, the group has put out more than twenty recordings through labels like Small Doses, Bloodlust!, and At War With False Noise, as well as their own imprint, Land of Decay. Their debut studio album, Drenched Lands, arrived in 2009 and earned praise from the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Reader, and Rock-A-Rolla magazine. That same year, they toured the U.S., including a Pitchfork Media-sponsored 'Show No Mercy' event in New York City. Also in 2009, Rain of Ashes offered two thirty-minute tracks recorded live at WMUC, the University of Maryland's radio station. A second album, Territories, came out in 2010 and shifted toward a rock sound, with guest spots from members of Nachtmystium, Bloodyminded, Yakuza, and Velnias. Later that year, they released The Crystal World, named after a J. G. Ballard novel. Drummer Steven Hess became a permanent member in 2010, making his first appearance on The Crystal World. The band also contributed the soundtrack to Scott Treleaven's film The Last 7 Words, which featured Genesis P-Orridge. Beyond music, Hannum works as an installation artist, with exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago in 2007 and the Peeler Art Center in 2010. Both Hannum and Foisy previously taught at Columbia College Chicago; Hannum now teaches at Stevenson University. In 2012, Locrian signed with Relapse Records, releasing Return to Annihilation in 2013 and Infinite Dissolution in 2015. After a seven-year gap in recordings, they returned in 2022 with the album New Catastrophism and the Ghost Frontiers EP, both out on August 12 through Profound Lore Records. A December 2023 Bandcamp EP featured a cover of Coil's Solar Lodge alongside three remixes. Their eighth studio album, End Terrain, dropped on April 5, 2024, via Profound Lore, and the band has called it a concept album about a future Earth overwhelmed by waste.