Irist: Horizon-Pushing Heaviness From Atlanta

Sometimes, it’s brilliant to be blindsided. Few outfits get to step out into the world with a fully-formed vision, but with their staggering debut album Order Of The Mind, not only have Atlanta’s Irist done exactly that, but they’re already drawing comparisons to the deep darkness of metal heavyweights such as Gojira, Mastodon and Meshuggah. The time to take notice is now.

Fittingly, according to vocalist Rodrigo Carvalho, for his band, intensity is everything. “The rhythms are intense,” he grins. “The melodies are intense. The lyrics are incredibly intense. Our choice of words, our symbology, our imagery; it’s very deep, very heavy. I’m not sure we could write something chilled, even if we wanted to.”

The initial fire was lit a decade ago when Argentinian guitarist Pablo Davila connected with Chilean bassist Bruno Segovia to carve a mark on Atlanta’s Latin heavy music scene. Their invented name – abstractly evoking the ire and singular vision of its authors – became a “blank canvas” onto which influences as varied as Type O Negative, The Mars Volta, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Baroness and the Latin music of their roots could be merged. Soon, Adam Mitchell (guitar) and Jason Belisha (drums) came aboard, alongside Rodrigo, and an EP’s worth of material was mixed by producer Matt Bayles (Mastodon, Russian Circles). Quickly, they caught the ear of legendary Nuclear Blast and Roadrunner Records bloke Monte Conner (the man who signed no less a band than Slipknot) and work on their full-length debut revved into motion almost immediately, with no small amount of wind in their heaving sails.

READ THIS: 12 of the craziest concept albums ever

“I felt like I’d jumped aboard a moving train,” Rodrigo says. “I’d gotten a little jaded before I found this band. When I did, I realised they represented something new and unique.”

All the while, that intensity was building, and with the release looming, the band are ready to erupt. “This music has been ready to boil over for a while,” Rodrigo enthuses. Pablo agrees. “It feels like we’ve had it in a pressure cooker! This is where our minds have lived for the past couple of years. Now it’s time to take it out into the world…”

Brace for impact.

Irist's debut album Order Of The Mind is due on March 27 via Nuclear Blast

READ THIS: The 13 most essential sludge records