EPK – Autocatalytica – Powerclashing Maximalism (2020)
Publicist – Jon Asher – asher[@]ashermediarelations[.]com
For fans of Devin Townsend, Meshuggah, Protest The Hero, Dillinger Escape Plan
Album Title: Powerclashing Maximalism
Release Date: October 16, 2020
Label: Self-Release
Facebook.com/Autocatalytica | Instagram.com/autocatband | Youtube.com/Autocatalytica
Spotify | Autocatalytica.bandcamp.com | Amazon
“With a bewildering, cross-pollinated sound that makes The Dillinger Escape Plan sound like Nickelback, the math-metal crew Autocatalytica are pushing the boundaries so far that they may just fall off the world’s edge… While the math-metal scene seems to have stayed in the same creative spot for the last 15 years, Autocatalytica’s music exists in its own psychotic realm, wherein jazz-tinged extremity and melodic mazes conjure a disorientating blur of psychedelic noise. The band have also earned themselves a formidable reputation as a truly mind-bending live act.” – Metal Hammer
“Crazy mathcore meets jazz-infused progressive music and avant-garde… Fabulously unique and always thrilling”- Metal Trenches
“Autocatalytica aren’t alone in bringing in so many outsides elements into a mathcore-focused sound, they are definitely one of the most ambitious and grandest groups I’ve heard do so to date.” – No Clean Singing
BAND STORY ANGLES / FUN FACTS
1. Autocatalytica has had upwards of 15 different members, so many so that at one point they printed T-shirts for all ex-members with “I used to be in Autocatalytica” printed on them.
2. Autocatalytica has always been extremely DIY for better or worse, with Eric Thorfinnson doing most of the mixing/production on every release.
3.Autocatalytica has a strong connection to classical music, with an arrangement of Claude Debussy’s “Tarantelle Styrienne” appearing on their first release.
4. At one point during the initial recruiting process, Autocatalytica would have potentially had 3/4 of its member’s named Eric(k)
5. Many of Autocatalytica’s lyrics are influenced by Eric Thorfinnson’s experience with meditation retreats & practice.
Pictured – Guitarist/Vocalist/Producer – Eric Thorfinnson
Photo Credit: Walker Esner
Autocatalytica is a bubbling cauldron of scatter-brained prog-metal insanity helmed by Guitarist/Vocalist Eric Thorfinnson.
Formed as a solo project in 2009, Thorfinnson has always drawn inspiration from a vast collage of different artists. From The Dillinger Escape plan, to The Mars Volta, to Bjork, to Devin Townsend, to 20th century composer Bela Bartok, Autocatalytica’s sound is sure to surprise and intrigue listeners of all persuasions.
Upon moving to Boston to study at Berklee in 2010, Thorfinnson recruited guitarist Erik Sorensen, Drummer Emmett Ceglia, and bassist Jon Anderson to flesh out Autocatalytica’s line-up. Over the next few years the band played its first shows and in April of 2012 released their debut EP “Horror Vacui”.
The group relocated to Brooklyn in the fall of 2012 and immediately began to rehearse and write a full-length record. In June 2013 the group began recording its eponymous LP, while continually playing shows along the east coast of the US. They released their Debut LP “Autocatalytica” in June 2014, and continued to play shows in and around Brooklyn, all the while furiously composing a follow-up record.
In early 2015, Thorfinnson found out he was going to have to move back to his native Toronto, ON, but despite this, the band decided to finish writing and recording the songs to their follow-up LP. In October 2015 tragedy struck the group when Guitarist Erik Sorensen suddenly passed away from an undiagnosed heart condition. Despite reeling from this massive trauma and coming to terms with Thorfinnson’s impending relocation, the group finished tracking drums to their next LP and played their final show as a Brooklyn-based incarnation on Nov. 21st, 2015.
Thorfinnson spent most of 2016 toiling away at the tracking and mixing of this next record at home in his native Oakville, Ontario, and December 9th, 2016 the group released the LP “Vicissitudes”, a 16-track maximalist genre-gauntlet of sporadic insanity.
Over the next few years, Thorfinnson spent most of his time on other projects, as the future of Autocatalytica remained uncertain. In 2018 he decided there was still more music to be had from Autocatalytica, and teamed up with his friend and drummer Neilroy Miranda (of local Jazz-math stalwarts “Dog Drive Mantis”) to rehearse and record a new record. The idea for this record was to be a much more collaborative effort than previous releases that had seen Thorfinnson handing all vocal and most guitar duties. The record features a smattering of collaborators including Parliament Owls / Telomere’s Devlin Flynn, Northern Heirs’ Scott Carruthers, and Plethora’s Gary Walsh to name a few. The LP “Powerclashing Maximalism” explores all corners of Autocatalytica’s sound in a tight eight tracks and 36-minute runtime, from the Meshuggah-esque stomp of “Borndun” to the Jazzy Math Rock of “Cheggo”. While at this time Autocatalytica exists solely as a recording project, but no one knows what the future holds!
Thorfinnson adds about the upcoming album:
“‘Powerclashing Maximalism’ is an expression of the many different facets of progressive and heavy music I am engaging at this point in my life, with little to no regard for thematic consistency between tracks. Each song is a fully realized island of uniqueness that expresses something totally different from the previous one. On the last record, I felt like I was really losing perspective with what was good and quality (especially in the vocal department) seeing as I did so much of it completely isolated. With this record, I really wanted to move away from that mindset and integrate as many collaborators as possible to create a sort of “Broken Social Scene” of metal type vibe. This was a fantastically inspiring experience and I am really grateful for having been able to work with so many different amazing musicians throughout the process.”
Autocatalytica’s third album “Powerclashing Maximalism” is due out October 2020.
Discography
2020 – Powerclashing Maximalism – LP
2016 – Vicissitudes – LP
2014 – Autocatalytica – LP
2012 – Horror Vacui – EP
Shared Stage With:
Bangladeafy, Impossible Voyage, Binary Code, Pyrrhon, Tippwerk, Oculescics, Knucklewagon, Sulene, Replacire, Bear Language, Das Muerte, The Fine Constant
Tours and Festivals:
Autocatalytica October Tour 2014
Album Artwork by Rachel Lindover & Eric Thorfinnson
[Download Album Cover | Download Album Lyrics]
Album Title: Powerclashing Maximalism
Release Date: October 16, 2020
Label: Self-Release
Track Listing:
1. Borndun (5:18)
2. Zippler (3:33)
3. Trash Serum (5:19)
4. Cheggo (4:35)
5. Dukka Dukka (6:00)
6. Bananas Have Potassium (4:05)
7. Crawboi (6:08)
8. Graveo (2:32)
Album Length: 37:34
Album Credits:
• Drums tracked / Engineered by Calvin Hartwick @ Dream House Studios Toronto
• Mixed by Eric Thorfinnson with help from Luc Chiasson
• Mastered by Reuben Ghose @ Mojito Mastering
• Artwork by Rachel Lindover & Eric Thorfinnson
• Drums on tracks 1,2,3,4,5 & 7 by Neilroy Miranda
• Screams on tracks 1,2,3 & 5 by Gary Walsh
• Clean Vocals, lyrics on tracks 1,3 & 5 by Scott Carruthers
• Clean Vocals, lyrics on track 2 by Devlin Flynn
• Clean Vocals on track 7 by Amy Beth Anders
• Saxophone on track 4 by Derek Serbin
• Violin on tracks 1 & 2 by Laura C. Bates
• Guitar Solo on track 1 by Jeffrey Corcoran
• Track 8 written by Erik Sorensen, arranged by Eric Thorfinnson
• All other guitar, bass, drums & vocals recorded at home by Eric Thorfinnson
• All songs written by Autocatalytica
• Canadian Content (MAPL)
Album Band Line Up: See credits
Live Band Line Up: TBA
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