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Scattered between the sleepy city of Peoria and metropolis of Chicago, Illinois, and drawing inspiration from a remote Belarusian city that has been burned to the ground only to be rebuilt like a phoenix rising from its own ashes, MINSK is an enigmatic collection of opposites. The music is at once modern, organic, and other-worldly; songs are stirring sonic journeys channeling the rhythms of the earth and the resonance of the human voice with the synthetic sounds of machines, amplifiers, chaos, and effects.
Founded in Peoria in 2002, Minsk has been cultivating sonic exploration and deeply spiritual and emotional outpourings since its inception. The early years were furtive; harboring a locally produced demo (enitled Burning and released with the help of Lisa Falzone Recordings), a West Coast tour, an appearance at the inaugural Templars of Doom Festival in 2004, and a contribution to a Peoria-themed compilation, If It Plays, on Thinker Thought Recordings.
In early '05, while recording it's first full length ('Out of a Center Which is Neither Dead Nor Alive') at Volume Studios, the band's producer Sanford Parker (PELICAN, UNEARTHLY TRANCE, RWAKE) joined on bass guitar, and the final lineup fell into place. Out of a Center… was released later that year on AT A LOSS RECORDINGS.
2006 saw the band touring from coast to coast in support of Out of a Center…, performing with acts as diverse and inspiring as BRUTAL TRUTH, HIGH ON FIRE, BORIS, SUNN0))), TORCHE, PIG DESTROYER, RWAKE, ASSCHAPEL, and BARONESS. Overwhelming press coupled with the band's work ethic and ground-shaking live shows generated an excitement that carried over into SXSW 2006 and the Emissions from the Monolith Festival. By mid-year, MINSK signed with Relapse, and the sophomore full length was underway. The summer and fall found the band pouring over new material and hammering out their Relapse debut, The Ritual Fires of Abandonment, at Volume Stduios once again w/ Parker at the helm.
The Ritual Fires of Abandonment bleeds MINSK's tribal convictions with an atmosphere of total psychedelic delirium. Hypnotic percussion thunders beneath thickly layered guitars as synths and samples provide a backdrop for searing melodies and deeply spiritual vocal ruminations. The forthcoming release has moved MINSK further into the world of the psychedelic and the progressive. Perhaps more organic and musical than the previous efforts, The Ritual Fires… delves deeper into sophisticated tribal motifs, vocal melodies, and psychedelic passages. Deeply passionate lyrical ruminations about personal struggle, mental illness, societal and generational guilt, the suicidal urge, and philosophical destruction and re-growth echo the sentiments of the varying moods and textures of the hour-long journey.
The Ritual Fires of Abandonment was released by RELAPSE RECORDS on February 20, 2007. Touring in support of the album has included appearances at Emissions from the Monolith and South by Southwest festivals in 2007, Dudefest 2008, and subsequent trips to both coasts and Canada with RWAKE, MIDDIAN, ZOROASTER, and TROUBLE. Dates have been announced for a November tour with Relapse labelmates BARONESS and COLISEUM.
The late months of 2008 will see the vinyl release of the band's first full length album, Out of a Center Which is Neither Dead Nor Alive, on AT A LOSS RECORDINGS, and a split 7" of Roky Erickson covers with UNEARTHLY TRANCE on PARASITIC RECORDS. Plans for a new full length album are underway.
