USA IMPORT
INFO: 12" black vinyl with gatefold jacket pressed by Cascade Record Pressing. Master lacquer cut by Amy Dragon at Telegraph Mastering in Portland, OR (USA)
"This is the final release from a trilogy of planned splits that Cosmic Reef Temple recorded back in 2018. After the original band to be paired with ‘Negative Gravity’ had become inactive before finishing their side a recording was exhumed from a now dormant project of a couple of the psychedelic priests of the Temple that was also intended as split with a band that ceased to exist before it was able to be released. That would be ‘Friar Mortis’ by the funeral doom band Death Monk, which was recorded by the band even further back in 2012. The Cosmic side was tracked and mixed by the esteemed Evil Wizard of Rock, Greg Wilkinson, at Earhammer. So the stems of the Death Monk side were sent to him for proper mixing and Wilkinson also mastered both sides to help keep a cohesive fidelity."
"For the Cosmic side the band delved deeper into experimentation for this one as well as into darker and more extreme metal influences which pairs nicely with the blackened funeral doom aesthetic of Death Monk resulting in both a common thread and some juxtaposition. ‘Negative Gravity’ takes you from dissonant jazz to black metal and beyond, layered with sax and synth, while ‘Friar Mortis’ is a brooding build of droning riffs adorned by synth and organ. Together they fill a full length LP on vinyl and will also be releasing on cassette, both featuring the first oil painting for an album cover by the talented artist, Cass Ransom. This closing of the trilogy by Cosmic Reef Temple brings the evolution of their songwriting from the previous splits back into the more esoteric territory of their debut album, ‘Age of the Spaceborn’ and this early song of Death Monk shows the more primal side of the band as compared to their improvised works or their more epic songwriting featured on ‘Live on KFJC’."