Snail
DISCOGRAPHY
Fractal Altar
Released April 30, 2021
Snail's 5th Full Length Album
Fractal Altar picks up where their last LP Feral left off — heavy, fuzzy melodic tunes with floating harmonies and lyrics that explore both inner and outer space. But this time, the band comes recharged and rejuvenated, enthusiastically triumphing over their dark side and reveling in their power trio roots.
Nothing Left For You / Fearless
Released May 1, 2020
A Taste of the Upcoming LP
"Nothing Left For You," the advanced single from their forthcoming as-yet-untitled LP, is accompanied by a cover of Pink Floyd’s "Fearless". This is only the second time Snail has recorded a cover song in its existence. The two songs are available as a digital-only download from Bandcamp. "Nothing Left For You" will appear on the LP in physical form but "Fearless" will be an exclusive digital release.
Says Snail: "We've all had someone or something in our lives that were just toxic, and no amount of expended energy could turn that around. This song is a final kiss-off; a cathartic, scathing take down that is sometimes necessary to move past a relationship and regain a sense of self and power."
Why cover "Fearless"? "Having been Floyd fans forever, we have been talking about doing that tune for 25 years. It’s a great song, and seemed open for a heavy interpretation. When writing "Nothing Left For You," I actually used some characters from "Fearless" in the lyrics, so it only made sense to pair these two and finally realize the vision," says Matt Lynch, bassist/producer.
Feral
Released September 25, 2015
Continuing Evolution
After a 2-year gestation period, Snail returns from oblivion with their most diverse album of all time. 'Feral' conceptually embodies the resolve of existential angst as the individual self collapses and it will undoubtedly prove to be one of the most suitable soundtracks for mind-expanding activities. Don't freak out.
"Snail have been around since 1992, 20 years later they delivered their masterpiece."
"Snail’s sound drifts in and out of your head, prompting different feelings, different vibes, and pulls them all together in a swirl of well-crafted songwriting...Really, do yourself a favor and listen to this."
"I think this might be one of the most versatile stoner rock / doom albums I've ever heard...My fingers hurt from all the praise they had to write down but fact remains, this album kicks ass."
You are the source of all
the shaman of my pain
You are the murderer
stole my precious gifts
Your coward army stands
something like an oak
They're just some crazy words
I'm compelled to say
Your symbols decorate the halls
Above-ground coffins, grave remorse
You set events in ways
to guarantee my death
You took to wringing out
the joy from every day
From shadow you emerge
the quadrupedal twin
In terror we embraced
I screamed 'til I awoke
Your symbols decorate the halls
Above-ground coffins, grave remorse
With eyes so dry from shallow blinking
And breath the faithful sound of ticking...
I met a mystic
on down the road
He told me something
I'd always known
I recognized him
and he was me
He spoke in circles
of DMT
I can't say what he told me
language fails to clarify
let's just say he saw right through me
prophesied that I would die
Won't you fade out, come and smoke the deathless?
white vapor floating away
as you watch your world dissolving
who is left to be afraid?
He said to meet him
beside the sea
The water healing
from which we came
Toward the mountain
take highway one
Back to the garden
we'll smoke as One
Something tells me when I go there
I won't see your face the same
Why not trace the route that's taken
so we can find Us once again
I found substance that keeps me alive
watching my airplane fall from the sky
Too much focus on being alive
melting my ice cube, let's go for a ride
Cancel your research, delve into black
Chaos is funny and warm and reveals
the paradigm false and pillz are on sale
Shatter your filters, embrace the "unreal"
You go and I'll stay and pray
The cold grip, slow drip, now slip
I keep calling but the phone is crushed, your ears sewn shut
So come on deprivate, meditate and listen
Down in a hole
no way to speak – no hope
untie this venom
in loss – in lack
Pictures of Home
you thought you'd thrown away
now see them hanging
you put them there
You see It starting to unveil
Release and stillness will prevail
Like silence rendered by the snow
Evaporate, renounce, un-know
Faraway shore
You never left so you
can never go back
So say goodbye
Awareness restored
The hologram confess
how it is written
at One, at Rest
Freedom in being
A fractal's grace is more
than the external
Guilt falls away
Lunar extinction
Forsaking birth and death
Vibrating Prana
you burn in bliss
You see It starting to unveil
Release and stillness will prevail
Like silence rendered by the snow
Evaporate, renounce, un-know
In dreamless sleep awaken Now
in Now abide, embody Light
the Light vibrates its Unity
now Unified, no you or me
I want to build a mirror
I need to feel the other
If I don't seem alone
you might see that I'm a faker
Constant-thought catastrophe
all to feed the little me
cutting down the elder trees
all to extinguish their thought-bubbles
Superseded, overthrown
beast is showing great renown
all you see is what he's shown
all the warrior sees is adversaries
Mother Gaia testifies
burn the veil that covers eyes
see the inner paradise
be your Unified true nature
Why would illumined wells run dry?
Pain in separation
How will she gouge our plastic eyes?
She embodies Union
What gnosis borne from great abyss?
Fear creates the dark outside
What knowledge calls the lighted mist?
Dark that opens third eye
You strive for the false
implanted occult
no meaning, no meaning
Conform to the world
close all channels in
no meaning, no meaning
More symbols arise
let drowning reprise
no meaning, defeated
The path is long and involved
that's why there is no escaping
Attached to the rail
that twists and sails
past all but the very last station
Derail that train
into the pain
Derail that train
The cage of your own design
has taken a life of its own
Grinding your keys
the ringmaster sees
the seeker is deep in the hollow
I can see your million forms
All your colors, shape inform me
Stolen from our forest home
Vedic hymns induce recursion
Glass onion, peel away
illusion veil, reveal The Way
the holy fractal is enduring
The tessellated sea
it burns without, yet it is me
I cease in psychedelic fullness
Sparks from charcoal indicate
Flavored smoke unravel skyward
Psilocybe perforate
Sacrament of cosmic scholar
As the celebration endures its own narcissism
as dry, cracked hands clap-slap with blood
as we all open our arms to devour each other
a lamb begins to roar
See the fractal permeate
Vishnu breathes the mystic lotus
Maya burn and transmutate
Godflesh, soma, utter Prana
Bitter and isolated
the long, dry tree
Nobody passes
the straw man pleads
Smitten you stare at the moon, she's grace
Oceans obey her appeal, levitate
So come home girl I need you
you calm the voice in my head
Saturday's near me and Sunday we're hiding in bed
Her shadow hides in phases
Her mirror shines me
Magnetic seeing
With vision she cleaves
Sinking you're calling her
Union drifts farther away
Eyes terror-fixated
smiling with irony's dread
Patient, she's pulling now
using your forces combined
Parallel hemispheres dancing
we're no longer blind
So see
See that we are One
Terminus
Released May 1, 2012
The End is the Beginning
"Terminus" showcases all fresh material, infused with the enthusiasm of newly minted collaboration. Influences that were not evident in past works come to the fore, steeped in early-eighties proto-metal and psychedelia. The subject matter is noticeably more mature, as the entire record delves into the themes of mortality and its implications in our modern world. The name Terminus is latin and translates as "boundary stone." It signifies both the death of the old Self/World and the birth of the new, as represented by the cover art depicting Nature blasting through one of the great icons of Civilization. From crushing doom to head-bobbing Camaro rock and hypnotic psych, “Terminus” is Snail’s most varied work to date, rife with meaning and hidden messages; but most importantly, IT ROCKS.
"High on my list of most-anticipated 2012 releases"
Blood
Released August 4, 2009
This was the album 13 years in the making. Armed with old cassette demos and a few new tunes Snail entered the studio in May 2008 to finally record the lost second album. They completed the basic tracks at Matt's studio in Los Angeles and over the next 5 months overdubs were recorded at Mark's home near Seattle. Gear was abused, tube amps were blown and the result was an album that embodied all of Snail's suppressed musical expression - with fury!
Analogous to the slow, relentless power of erosion, SNAIL melts mountains and reshapes earth with their latest offering, "Blood." A band that once shared the stage with Stoner/Doom contemporaries SLEEP, SNAIL embarked on a 13-year sacred journey to Sheol from whence they recently emerged. Crushing proto-metal psychedelic fuzz-fests march on with sweet melodies shrouded by psyched-out oscillations. This is an album that should be measured on the Geologic Time Scale.
"The path to a unique stoner sound is littered with seeds and stems, sick tones and thick riffs—and in this case, with cavernous clean vocals and catchy choruses. In 2009, Blood is an enjoyable departure from the social norms and mores of heaviness"
"I'm digging it...pretty heavy stuff."
"Heavy fuzz, psych undertones, grooves spreading over sunny fields and vocals that seem to retain a softness even when shouted"
"Where many stoner / sludge / doom bands are often stuck in a bombardment of riffs...Snail has a clear ear for dynamics and subtleties"
"Beatle-esque vocals, perfect songwriting and blazing distortion...Snail kills"
All Channels Are Open (EP)
Released 1994
All Channels Are Open was released about a year after the S/T album and did not receive much label support. It consisted of one song from the S/T album (Full-Acid), three original Snail tunes and a cover of Falling Over The Edge, which was originally performed by Mark's previous band P.A.S.T.E. Falling Over The Edge was created by playing the original P.A.S.T.E. vinyl 7" at the incorrect speed...slowing it down and making it heavier. Mark then laid backmasking and additional vocal tracks over the song. All songs were recorded on cassette 4-track except Full-Acid.
Snail
Released 1993
Recorded at Razor's Edge Studio in San Francisco, California - the birthplace of Sleep's Holy Mountain. Snail's Self-Titled album was released in 1993 and contributed to the early Stoner Rock era.
"Snail is a way psyched out interstellar mind feast...severely coated with lysergic residue and bongwater."
"Yes, Yes, YES! All blunt edges and slabs of pounding sound, buy or die"
"They fucking rock..."
"Distorted trippy fuzz...the kind of experimental lunacy you wish more bands would indulge their talents in."
"Big fuzzy guitars that crawl as slow as a big fuzzy slug."
"While Snail's full-throttle jams stand on their own, it's the beastly sludge-tones of the guitars that pulverize me every time. I'm pulp...and I love it."
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