It’s an extraordinary time for Secret Chiefs 3. Busy like never before. The band just completed a tour of Russia, Israel, the UK and EU. A central piece of this tour was a performance with the Russian Traditional Philharmonic Orchestra of Krasnoyarsk, Siberia. The repertoire consisted mostly of SC3’s music orchestrated by SC3 bandleader Trey Spruance in collaboration with the ensemble and music director to adapt this music to adapt this music to a 61-piece Russian orchestra — that’s balalaikas, domras and bayans, not violins etc. In this event SC3 also became the rock/metal band blended into this ensemble for the performance of some Russian traditional music. It was beautiful! The event was recorded, there is talk of a DVD, and even more exciting, of taking this event outside of Russia.
 
Hot on the heels of this tour, SC3 embarks now on an extensive 5 week USA/Canada tour in support of their brand new album “Perichoresis”. You can read more about this intense new explosion of music on the attached write-up.
 
The band configuration of composer/band-leader Trey Spruance (Mr. Bungle, Faith No More), composer/multi-instrumentalist in his own right Toby Drive (Kayo Dot), versatile violinist/trumpeter/guitarist Timba Harris (Estradasphere), master John Zorn-beloved drummer Kenny Grohowski (Dapp Theory, Abraxas) and polymath maestro keyboardist Matt Lebofsky (Moe tarr, Mirthkon) is seasoned beyond all reason, at a peak of music power, with a massive repertoire that can easily span 3 shows without repeating a note (this includes the music John John Zorn assigned SC3 in his Masada series). Astonishingly, if one begins counting from 2007, this tour will see the band passing the 400-show mark! Having amassed an impressive worldwide following, visiting over 40 countries in the last few years, Secret Chiefs 3 shows no signs of slowing down (despite Spruance breaking his foot falling down the stairs in Siberia! ooops!)

Cleric official site | Cleric on Facebook | Cleric on Bandcamp | Cleric on Twitter | Cleric on Instagram

Founded in Philly in 2003, Cleric resides in the circle of bands like The Dillinger Escape Plan and Car Bomb – elite musicians playing avant-metal that wows on both a cerebral level and a gut level. Cleric’s brand of metal is marked by dark, cinematic atmospheres and free jazz-informed forays, bursting through a base of highly technical, mathy shred. As a review in Chicago Reader phrased it, the sound is “a kind of metal, the way [David Lynch’s] Lost Highway is a kind of movie. It’s an elastic tissue of creepy electronic noise and barely-human screaming, impregnated with patches of riff-salad grind and hypercube mathcore.”

On Retrocausal, Cleric has pushed its style to new heights. Meshuggah-esque hypnosis, doomful synths, spastic skronking, and blastbeats weave together into highly unpredictable, kitchen-sink epics, many surpassing the 9-minute mark. An ominous vibe, straight off a movie screen, underlies everything; lurking in the shadows are mysterious samples and field recordings evoking deep sea and outer space.

None other than John Zorn is a fan and collaborator who lent his talents to Retrocausal. Elder statesman of musical freedom, a man whose massive body of work incorporates jazz, classical, metal, klezmer, film scores, and more, Zorn guests on Retrocausal’s closer, “Grey Lodge.” Cleric’s relationship with Zorn began in 2013 when he invited the band to work with him on his ongoing Masada project, and continued with his tapping guitarist Matt Hollenberg to join his band Simulacrum (along with John Medeski of Medeski, Martin, and Wood).

In addition to Zorn, Retrocausal features guest appearances by Mick Barr (Krallice, Orthrelm, Ocrilim) and Timba Harris (Secret Chiefs 3).

A concept album, Retrocausal is an adventure story set in a dystopian future. Cleric vocalist/keyboardist Nick Shellenberger explains: “Lyrically, Retrocausal opens a window into a bleak sci-fi landscape plagued by environmental fallout, in which corrupt governments send their citizens to die, and centers around one submarine crew that learns of their intended fate and chooses to pursue the beyond, despite the terrors that await. Told from different perspectives throughout the record, it’s a story of hope, fear, uncertainty, and constant struggle in the face of failure and death, and in search of something that may never be.”

The album was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Colin Marston (Gorguts, Dysrhythmia) at The Thousand Caves in Queens, New York.

The artwork was created by Cleric’s Nick Shellenberger.

Label boss Spruance states, “When we here at Web of Mimicry ran across Cleric’s music it almost seemed as if some kind of prophecy was being fulfilled. The music registered in our minds as a kind of missing link, like an inevitable stage in metal-oriented music that has needed to happen for a long time now.”