TRACK PREMIERE: Rot Forever with Paranormal Doom Cult EERIE

The members of bi-coastal horror rockers EERIE have joined forces from the darkest corners of the loud ‘n’ heavy soundscape for their eponymous crypt-corrupting debut (out July 29th on Tee Pee Records). Formed by bassist Dave Sweetapple (Witch), guitarist/artist Tim Lehi (Draugar, ex-Twilight), and drummer Moses Saarni (Futur Skullz), the trio soon recruited Alaric vocalist Shane Baker to belt out tales of zombified revolutions and Abominable Snowmen.

Eerie seamlessly blend the elements from each member’s catalog that bump loudest in the night. There’s the spell-casting psychedelia of Witch, Alaric’s cavernous reverb, and the primordial spirit of black metal that’s informed much of Lehi’s work. But this isn’t some monster haphazardly stitched together with the thread of ’70s prog. All of those eclectic influences support Eerie’s colossal riffs, which carry the same torch of haunted hard rock and doom passed from classic Sabbath to Saint Vitus and The Obsessed. Thanks to both the dusty production and Lehi’s visceral cover art, the entire album conjures the four-color nightmares illustrated in Tales From the Crypt/EC Comics. (Suitably, many consider Eerie Comics to be the first illustrated horror serial.) That makes “Immortal Rot” a perfect track to represent the album’s pulp horror-story via tragic acid-trip vibe.

Succumb to your undead hunger and feast upon the denim-jacket majesty of Eerie’s “Immortal Rot” below, followed by comments from the band.

What was the songwriting process like for “Immortal Rot,” and how did the song change over time?

Dave Sweetapple: I’ve known Tim [Lehi] for a long time through the art/tattoo world, and he’s done graphics for Witch. Then, a few years ago we worked together on a music project called Vardlokk, along with Grutle [Kjellson] from Enslaved. Ever since that happened, we’ve been talking about doing another band. One day, he sent me a bunch of demo ideas that he and [drummer Moe Saarni] were playing around with.

The structure was fairly black metal in parts, as well as the style of the guitar and drums. Similar to the Witch songs, I figured out a bunch of Scooby Doo-style bass lines and then flew to Oakland to start recording the full-length with the guys and producer Greg Wilkinson. The basics were recorded for almost a year before Shane [Baker] came along and added the vocals. Once that happened, the sound began to move away from the black metal realm with vocals that were quite clear and, in my opinion, channeling an early-Killing Joke style mixed with Shane’s other band Pins of Light. We are all pretty pleased with how it turned out.

What’s the song’s narrative or lyrical theme, and what inspired it?

Shane Baker: “Immortal Rot” is a simple description of the formerly-living bodies who erupt from the earth to feed on the living in a quest to maintain their rotten existence. Like all such stories, it is about the darkness and insanity that seethes just under the surface of our mundane existence. Like the rest of the songs on the album, we were interested in exploring classic themes of horror and dread.

Eerie’s self-titled debut will be conjured into our mortal realm by Tee Pee Records on July 29th. Order it HERE, and don’t forget to prepare for both the zombie apocalypse and the inevitable Yeti uprising.