Article By: Taylor Waring ‡ Edited By: Leanne Ridgeway

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Attalla’s ‘Glacial Rule‘ is a monolithic, growling wall. Steeped in local mythos, Cody Stieg (lead guitar and vocals), Brian Hinckley (guitar), Bryan Kunde (bass), and James Slater (drums), have crafted an epic album that captures the spirit of a land – Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Don’t worry if you’re not into local geography – the barrage of shape-shifting riffs, creeping basslines, haunting vocals and lyrics, and tastefully executed solos of ‘Glacial Rule’ will leave you hungry for more. Released in March of this year, with recording done in Spring 2016 by Shane Hochstetler at Howl Street Recordings in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and then mastered by Carl Saff at his Saff Mastering.

If you’ve ever been blessed enough to see Attalla live, you’ll know how cohesive the group is; they always have a sense of unity, presenting themselves and their wall of amps as a solid, impenetrable mass.

This carries through into their presence on the album. Where many bands have a clear, identifiable leader, Attalla’s members each drag the glacier forward in their own way. The cover art was done by none other than Adam Burke of Nightjar Illustration, with the release layout by Joshua Wilkinson of The Company.

‘Glacial Rule‘ concludes with the title track, and shows what I’m talking about. Stieg’s melodies dominate the front of the track. Then we creep into a classic, Geezer-esque bass line from Kunde.

After a few brief licks from Stieg, Hinckley’s crushing riffs return to close out the tune. The whole while, Slater’s laid-back, but powerful, drumming drags “the creeping wall of doom” forward.

Started earlier this month (September), Attalla has been touring (mostly) the Midwest to support ‘Glacial Rule‘. There are still a few more dates left, so if you’re in the area, you should definitely catch a show off of the list of dates below.

This group is all DIY and worked damn hard to put this release out themselves, so go check it out and throw them some cash for this record. It’s worth it. ‘Glacial Rule’ is available digitally and on CD, Vinyl, and Cassette from their Bandcamp page.

Remaining Attalla Tour Dates:

9/13 – Moline, IN @ Bent River Open Jam (Bent River Brewery)

9/14 – St. Louis, MO @ Fubar

9/15 – Kansas City, MO @ Union Library (w/Keef Mountain, Orphans of Doom)

9/16 – Omaha, NE @ Wired Pub (w/Rift, Valley of Shadows)

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2017, Adam Burke, Album Review, Carl Saff, Doom, Heavy Rock, Howl Street Studios, Nightjar Illustration, Saff Mastering, Spotify Stream, Stoner Rock, The Company, Tour Dates, Wisconsin