“Alp”

Mara is the soon-to-be-released seven-inch from Agalloch bassist/Self Spiller mastermind, JASON W. WALTON. Arranged during the Summer months of 2013, WALTON collected field recordings from places he would visit. He captured the din of humanity on the downtown Portland streets, the rush of ocean waves in Southern California, and the mysteriously comforting monologues emanating from an AM radio. During mid-2014, WALTON manipulated and processed these sounds into disturbingly haunting pieces which would become the basis of Mara.

WALTON decided to thematically compose these songs around his struggle with sleep paralysis – a phenomenon in which a person, either falling asleep or awakening, temporarily experiences an inability to move, speak, and react. Through self-imposed sleep deprivation, Walton recounted his episodes of paralysis within the two tracks contained in Mara. During his various episodes, WALTON sometimes feels like he has some kind of spiritual connection or “visit” from lost loved ones. Shortly after first track, “Alp,” was completed, WALTON lost his stepfather unexpectedly. A few months later, shortly after track two, “Yakshi,” was finished, WALTON‘s dear friend and former Metal Maniacs editor, Katherine Ludwig, passed away. Although these two songs are not about these people, they are wholeheartedly dedicated to them making this an intensely personal work.

Today Cvlt Nation offers up the first helping of Mara with “Alp”. Keep your eyes wide shut at THIS LOCATION.

JASON W. WALTON has been creating surreal and otherworldly soundscapes for over twenty years. In the ’90s he began working under the name Nothing and released four full-length albums and various EPs and singles. He performed live as Nothing in the Midwest and the West Coast before retiring the name in 2003. Since then, WALTON remained busy with other musical endeavors knowing that a return to ambient noise was imminent. WALTON is currently on tour with his primary band, Agalloch with future live solo outtings to be announced in the coming months.

AGALLOCH Serpens In Cvlmination Western Hemisphere Tour MMXV w/ Helen Money [remaining dates]:
6/12/2015 Hotel Congress – Tucson, AZ
6/13/2015 Sister – Albuquerque, NM
6/14/2015 Bluebird Theater – Denver, CO
6/15/2015 Urban Lounge – Salt Lake City, UT
6/16/2015 Neurolux – Boise, ID
6/17/2015 The Crocodile – Seattle, WA
6/18/2015 Venue – Vancouver, BC
6/19/2015 Victoria Event Center – Victoria, BC
6/20/2015 Star Theater – Portland, OR

Mara was recorded at Earth in Sound Studios Portland, Oregon with vocals on “Yakshi” performed by Tanner Anderson (Obsequiae, Celestiial) and recorded at HammerHeart Brewing Company Lino Lakes, Minnesota. Mastered by James Plotkin (OLD, Scorn, Khanate, Khlyst) with design and layout by Agalloch’s John Haughm, Mara will be unleashed on June 21st, 2015 via Red Orchard Records on limited edition (300) seven-inch black vinyl housed in a deluxe black arigato sleeve featuring silver debossed artwork. Preorders are available through www.redorchardrecords.com. Each copy comes with a free download code.