STONEBURNER "Life Drawing" CD

Stoneburner is one of the mainstays of the Portland, Oregon, underground scene. Formed in early 2008, the band’s familial roots reach back two decades. Drummer Jesse McKinnon (ex-Buried Blood) and guitarist Jason Depew (Buried at Sea) have rocked together in many incarnations. Though their other bands had similarly earth-choked names (a stone burner is a subterranean weapon from the novel Dune), it gets even more incestuous—McKinnon went to school with bassist Damon Kelly’s (Heathen Shrine) stepmother. Years later, McKinnon’s father would be Kelly’s high school government teacher. Today, most of the band shares a house and a musical outlet for their worldly frustrations. To describe Stoneburner’s music, one needs only look to the bands with whom they’ve shared the stage: YOB, Sleep, Eyehategod, Neurosis, Buzzov•en, Weedeater, Saint Vitus, Watain, Tragedy, Noothgrush, Graves at Sea, Lord Dying, Dropdead, Whitehorse, Windhand, Bastard Noise and so on. It’s all about domination through amplification and soul-cleansing catharsis. Stoneburner does not put on airs for anyone. According to guitarist Eli Boland, playing in Stoneburner “cleanses my soul, eases my demons, and fills my heart in a way that keeps me high for a good long while.” Life Drawing is the band’s second album and third overall release following closely in the tradition of 2012’s Sickness Will Pass (Seventh Rule). Once again, the tracking was done at Haywire under watchful ear and red-rimmed eyes of producer Fester “the fifth Burner,” and the same mastering engineer and cover artist were similarly re-employed. What’s new is the Neurot logo on the spine and a handful of close friends on guest vocals including Benjamin Caragol (Burials, Hang the Old Year), Joshua Greene (Bastard Feast, Ephemeros) and Krysta Martinez (Transient, Landmine Marathon).