Article by: Leanne Ridgeway
From the vast Northern land known as Canada comes an enormous sound: the sound of SONS OF OTIS. Toronto’s doom blues legends return from their smoke-filled lands with their first studio album since 2012. ‘Isolation‘ will be released on October 16th via Totem Cat Records.
Gargantuan, rumbling like the innards of Earth, the trio has been pushing aside entire star systems in its unstoppable path since the early 90s. The Otis seed was planted in late 1992, by the trio’s founder / guitarist / vocalist Ken Baluke. The band was originally dubbed Otis, in homage to the character from cult movie ‘Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer’.
The instant success of the six-track EP, ‘Paid to Suffer‘ as well as a prestigious reputation in the underground Toronto music scene led SONS OF OTIS to sign to Canadian label Hypnotic Records. Their first full-length ‘SpaceJumboFudge‘ (1996) was to be the only album to come out of the deal. An unusually long germination ensued, due to the fact that they went through ten drummers before ‘Templeball‘ was released in summer 1998, on Frank Kozik’s Man’s Ruin Records.
After a European tour, the band entered the studio for their debut release for The Music Cartel, ‘Songs for Worship‘, which contained some of the most organically dense and psychedelic riffage known to man and just happened to be released on Sept.11, 2001. Their last studio offering ‘Seismic‘ was released in 2012, on Small Stone Records, followed by an extra limited ‘Live In Den Bosch‘ album in 2018.
Standing strong as ever on their veterans feet, their new album ‘Isolation‘ delivers the heaviest stoner doom ever known to man, reminding fans and heavy lovers across the globe of the potency of the trio’s signature fuzz and über-stoned grooves. You can stream its crushing first single “Ghost” right now below.
Tracklist:
01. Hopeless
02. JJ
03. Trust
04. Blood Moon
05. Ghost
06. Theme II
The new SONS OF OTIS album was recorded in October 2019, by Greg Dawson at BWC Studios, and produced and mastered by OX / Ken Baluke. ‘Isolation‘ will be issued on October 16th, 2020 on vinyl, CD, and digital through Totem Cat Records.
The album will be available to pre-order as of September 14th at this location: [link]
SONS OF OTIS:
Ken Baluke – Guitar, Vocals
Ryan Aubin – Drums
Frank Sargeant – Bass
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