SORCIA’S WESTERN U.S. TOUR The Seattle trio hit the road on 8/9 sharing legs with Tigers On Opium and Red Mesa.

Tour Poster by Misanthropic Art

With Tigers on Opium

8.09 • Portland, OR • The Fixin' To
8.10 • Grant's Pass, OR • The Sound Lounge
8.11 • Eureka, CA • Savage Henry Comedy
8.12 • Santa Cruz, CA • The Blue Lagoon
8.13 • Palmdale, CA • Transplants Brewing
8.14 • Long Beach, CA • Supply and Demand
8.15 • San Diego, CA • The Tower Bar
8.16 • Tempe, AZ • Yucca Tap Room

With Red Mesa

8.17 • Albuquerque, NM • Launchpad
8.18 • Denver, CO • HQ
8.20 • Salt Lake City, UT • The DLC
8.21 • Boise, ID • Realms
8.22 • Missoula, MT • Monk's Bar
8.23 • Spokane, WA • The Big Dipper
8.24 • Seattle, WA • Substation

A multitude of Desert Records bands will support including:

Nebula Drag
The Penitent Man
Spliffripper
Grim Earth
Droneroom

Photo by Jessie Brasch

We are very excited to announce that we are getting back on the road for another Western US Tour this August! For the first half we will be hitting the West Coast joined by our dear friends, Portland rippers Tigers On Opium. For the second half we will be linking up with our amazing Desert Records labelmates Red Mesa as we make our way through the desert and up through the Rockies, where we will end the tour by hosting them in Seattle for our tour homecoming. We are looking forward to hitting some new towns on this tour, and we have some killer bands lined up to support these shows, so stay tuned for individual show details. See you on the road!” - SORCIA

SORCIA BANDCAMP

Thanks to Desert Bloom PR for all of the info.

Sorcia - Lost Season (Album Review)

Release Date: July 21st 2023. Record Label: Desert Records. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl

Lost Season: Tracklisting

1.Miss Ann Thrope 08:20

2.An Axe Named Otis 06:58 

3.Faded Dune 06:54

4.Dusty 08:35

5.Entering the Eight House 09:29

Members

Neal De Atley – Guitars/Vocals

Jessica Brasch – Bass/Vocals

Bryson Marcey – Drums

Review:

Lost Season is the new album from Doom/Stoner Metallers Sorcia who bring a much more vibrant Sludgy melodic mix into this record compared to their 2020 debut album. Sorcia have a gloomier Blues and Doomed Out sound with the band exploring their hometown of Seattle grunge roots and pair this off with subtle flashes of The Doors Psychedelic Rock which perhaps comes through mostly with Neal De Atley’s vocals on the opening stages of the album.

Opening track Miss Ann Thorpe conveys a dark message with the Heavy Sludge Rock attitude and lo-fi distorted grooves. Add some classic Soundgarden and TAD based energy with Sorcia moving between the finer moments of trippy Doom/Stoner Metal extended jams. Teaming up with Seattle and Grunge legend Tad Doyle yet again for mixing and mastering duties, the album is a seedy and psychedelic nightmarish journey which this track shows amazingly well. Sorica employs a wide array of different Stoner based themes which gives more volume and weight compared to their debut album.

Second track An Axe Named Otis continues with the hybrid style of Doom, Sludge, Stoner and Grunge based heaviness. This song has a more PUNK RAWK attitude with raw sounding grooves and vocals allowing Sorcia to play a more violent and distorted style of music than we’re used to. The vocals from both Neal and Jessica are superbly different from each other. Neal’s delivery is perhaps slightly chaotic with Jessica’s style being more calm. There’s an extended drone based groove towards the end of the song which impressed me highly. As it calmed the mood down for a few moments before Sorica returned to their heavier Doomed Out roots. 

Third song Faded Dune has a vibrant High On Fire energy within the instrumental sounds Sorcia plays on this track. The song has a deliciously heavy and evil sounding level of FUZZ which is quite subdued whilst still behind freakishly heavy. The vocals are perhaps more Doom Metal based but the grooves are most definitely Stoner based with flashes of epic Blues Rock jams and first rate Classic Hard Rock energy. 

The final two tracks of Dusty and Entering The Eight House is my favourite parts of the album as Sorcia operate with a more Psychedelic energy and the influence of The Doors, Black Sabbath and Soundgarden reign supreme here mostly on Dusty but The Eight House offers a few creative surprises of its own. Sorcia do experiment more with their music on this part of the album with the heaviest moments appearing on The Eight House

Lost Season is a refreshing change of pace from Sorcia and one that sees them avoid the “sophomore slump” triumphantly. This is a wonderfully addictive album with exquisite production values that ranks as another first rate album from Sorcia.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Desert Bloom PR for the promo.

Lost Season is available to buy now on CD/DD/Vinyl via Desert Records.

Links:

Official | Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

SORCIA - Death By Design (EP Review)

Release Date: July 16th 2021. Record Label: Desert Records. Format: CD/DD

Death By Design -  Tracklisting

Death By Design

Dusty (Bonus Track)

Members

Neal De Atley: Guitar/Vocals

Jessica Brasch: Bass/Vocals

Bryson Marcey: Drums

Review

SORCIA return with their latest EP - Death By Design - and it continues the dark creatie journey heard on their acclaimed debut album. Now signed to Desert Records, this time round sees the band offering an epic singular 16 minute plus track that runs across the darker aspects of the Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal world.

Sorcia has said Death By Design “delves into the most primitive concepts of human existence and death"

With that cheerful and upbeat description, this release is another excellent release that sees Sorcia remain true to their Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metal roots despite coming from the Grunge capital of Seattle and employing Tad Doyle on mixed and mastering duties like they did for their debut album.

The 16 minute song is progressive and dark in all the right places with the vocals coming mostly from Neal having a soulful aspect to them. The music draws a great balance between Fast and Slow parts with the title track becoming moodier and psychedelic when the slower moments appear. There’s a lot more music experimentation when SORCIA opt for a straightforward style of gloomy music that shifts them further into the world of Drone-eqsue melodies and grooves.

The faster parts of the title track feature the more straight-forward and riff-centric style of music. SORCIA offer a good balance and you’re never frustrated or bored with the style of music they play on the song. Everything is superbly put together and when Jessica’s vocals finally appear, the EP becomes a soulful blues rock environment before the final chapter of the song descends into Doom/Sludge Metal Amplifier style heaviness.

The bonus track Dusty is an acoustic track and whilst it’s a good track, there’s a lot of good instrumental work to be found here and it shows a different side to SORCIA. The song will keep you fully entertained for the entire 8:33 minute runtime and it feels like a darker exploration of the normal stuff that SORCIA are known for. The vocal performances and music arrangements are first-rate with SORCIA feeling inspired by the acoustic albums that have been released by their more famous Doom/Stoner Rock contemporaries over the last 20 years. This track has given me a craving for an acoustic SORCIA album if that ever comes off. It’s more of a Doom based Americana/Blues Rock song.

Death By Design is a must have release that leaves you wondering what musical avenues the band will go down for their future releases and makes me realize that the best is yet to come from SORCIA.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to SORCIA and Desert Records for the promo.

Death By Design will be available to buy on CD/DD via Desert Records form July 16th 2021.

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp

Sorcia - S/T (Album Review)

Release date: March 13th 2020. Label: Self Released. Format: CD/DD

Sorcia – S/T – Tracklisting

1.In The Head 05:09

2.Nowhere But Up 05:48

3.Coffin Nails 05:59

4.Sunburn 05:44

5.Stars Collide 09:01

6.Stoned Believer 07:01

7.Repression 07:00

Members

Neal De Atley: Guitar/Vocals

Jessica Brasch: Bass/Vocals

Bryson Marcey: Drums

Review

Sorcia self-titled debut album acts and sounds more like a statement of intent from the band. As this is one of the most self assured and highly confident debut albums I’ve had the pleasure to listen to for a very long time. The band are from Seattle and I was kinda expecting a “Grunge” based album but that’s furthest from the truth with Sorcia playing a dirty and heavy blend of Sludge Rock/Metal that branches out into other areas of Doom/Stoner Metal but still sounding quite original in places.

The album consists of 7 songs and each one allows Sorcia to expand their musical horizon with each passing moment. As the music becomes heavier, richer and even filthier in places.

Opening song – In The Head – is a good indicator on which direction the album ultimately goes upon but still allowing the band to try different things as well. The down-tuned heavy guitars is quite intense in places with an aggressive Sludge Rock/Metal groove dictating the action and Neal’s vocals having a slight “NOLA” feel to them. The music is played at a mid to slow pace which adds a more atmospheric edge to their overall sound.

Second song – Nowhere But Up – may have a slightly upbeat title but the music is anything but. As Sorcia continue their down-tuned and depressing journey into the Doom Metal darkness that has a distorted Blues Rock vibe holding everything together. The music speeds up slightly but the band impress the most when the music is played at a more slower pace. As you can soak everything in at your own leisure. The heavy pounding bass riffs from Jessica and intense drumming from Bryson allow them to have their own time in the spotlight and dazzle with the excellent musical skills.

Sorcia continue their bleak and down-tuned approach on the rest of the album with more epic sounding Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metal sounds moving further into the darkness.

Other cool songs to check out are: Coffin Nails, Sunburn, Stars Collide and Repression. As these are the songs where finally Sorcia impress the most with some of the heaviest grooves on the entire album especially the 9 minute epic of Stars Collide. Which is perhaps my favourite song on the album.

You have got to give Sorcia credit for getting Grunge Legends – Tad Doyle and Jack Endino – to work on this album and it shows. The whole album sounds excellent from start to finish and there isn’t a Grunge riff or influence in sight.

Overall, Sorcia debut album is one that demands respect from whoever listens to this album. Do yourself a favour and get yourself acquainted with this great band. You won’t be sorry….

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Sorcia and Leanne at Mettle Media PR for the promo. The album is available to buy now.

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp