Metal Assault launches Record Label, announces Instrumental Doom band Goliathan as First Signing

After nearly 9 years of relentless hard work in the world of heavy music, Los Angeles CA based hard rock / heavy metal portal Metal Assault has launched its own record label, Metal Assault Records.

Established in 2010 as a blog, Metal Assault has published countless reviews, interviews and articles, covering the widest possible musical spectrum of all things heavy. The in-depth knowledge of the genre acquired from all this journalistic experience eventually led to Metal Assault branching out as an event promotion company and organizing its own events in the Los Angeles area, featuring the finest local, regional, national and international talent.

Having developed a well-earned reputation as curators of heavy music with special focus on unearthing the underground, it was only a matter of time before Metal Assault became a record label, and the day has finally arrived. Metal Assault Records is here to completely change the band-versus-label dynamic and present an artist-friendly approach like no other. At the heart of it all, the label’s ethos is based on doing it for the right reasons, for the love of the music, as fans more than anything else.

Metal Assault Records vows to follow the same principles upon which the blog and the event promotion has been revolving around since day one, i.e. presenting an open-mindedly broad range of heavy music, not narrowed upon any single sub-style or sub-genre, but covering the entire gamut of all things the label deems fit to classify as hard rock or heavy metal. The label’s roster will always reflect this trait, as the first few signings will indicate in the next few months. Get ready for a long line of fantastic bands to take you by storm!

To coincide with its launch, Metal Assault Records is extremely proud to announce its very first signing! Los Angeles based instrumental doom quartet Goliathan is a band Metal Assault has worked with frequently for its events over the past 12 months. Our first impression of the band was a long-lasting one, and even for us, having seen and listened to thousands of bands over the years, it is safe to say that there isn’t a band as powerful, bestial, stunning, spellbinding and mind-bending as Goliathan. When the band approached us with the possibility of signing with our label, it was a no-brainer and the most instant “Yes” decision from us. Metal Assault is thrilled to put out Goliathan’s second album Albion, set for release on November 16 2018.

About Goliathan:

Based out of Los Angeles, California, Goliathan is an instrumental doom quartet comprised of four unique artists who found common ground in an artistic expression of catharsis, doom, and rebirth.

The idea of Goliathan first came about in 2006 when Philadelphia punk veterans, childhood friends and longtime artistic co-conspirators Shawn Doster and Kevin Cogill found themselves living together in Los Angeles after their tour van broke down. It was then that the duo started to explore moodier and more mature frontiers, transcending the boundaries of the blackened crust music Shawn had been writing up to that point. After gestating for a full ten years, Goliathan finally found steady footing with Neal Gardner and Philip Bailey completing a perfectly balanced, permanent lineup. In 2016, the band released their debut EP Awakens, and began performing locally, garnering a unanimously awe-struck reaction from all who would bear witness.

Neal Gardner is an accomplished and versatile composer, producer, and educator, masterfully fluent in music theory who has found a home writing and playing bass in Goliathan. Drummer Phillip Bailey was a founding member of Systematic, discovered by Metallica’s Lars Ulrich, and signed to his Elektra imprint The Music Company before moving on to do session work in the Bay Area and Los Angeles. Shawn and Kevin (a.k.a. “Skwerl”) flank the rhythm section with dueling guitars and a telepathic chemistry refined over nearly 25 years of playing together.

Each song is a cinematic journey, evolving over months (if not years), a chapter of a sprawling, ongoing story. This story begins with mankind’s hubris and gluttony, and the ignorant, wanton abuse of a rich and resourceful planet. The end of human existence will not be lamented, nor celebrated. No words shall be heard, let alone remembered, and all monuments and constructions will crumble quickly to dust. The story ends with echoes of Goliathan’s crushing justice, reverberating for eons across a healthy, thriving planet.

The band often acknowledges its hemispheric approach to songwriting: Shawn and Skwerl are self-taught punks, “raised by wolves” as the story often goes, while Phillip and Neal are seasoned, surgical professionals. All four members contribute to a songwriting process through which feral sketches are refined, and textbook structures are tousled by just the right amount of chaos. While the aesthetic of the music is very much centered around doom in every sense of the word, Goliathan can be stylistically described as a blend of doom metal, stoner rock and post-rock. Fans of any of these sub-genres would find a lot to love upon first listen, and would discover multiple layers upon repeat listens and deeper exploration.

Following up their 2016 debut, Goliathan is now ready to release a 3-track monsterpiece called Albion, recorded in Lincoln Heights by Manny Nieto (Health, Trash Talk, The Breeders), mixed by Sean Beavan (NIN, Marilyn Manson, Slayer), and mastered by Maor Appelbaum (Faith No More, Rob Halford). Albion is releasing on CD, LP and digital formats on November 16 2018 via Metal Assault Records.

The beast that is Goliathan has come to life as an invincible force of nature, and is ready to crush everything in its path.

Goliathan is:
Shawn Doster (guitar)
Kevin Cogill (guitar)
Neal Gardner (bass)
Philip Bailey (drums)

Goliathan links:
https://www.facebook.com/thebeastgoliathan/
https://www.instagram.com/goliathansound/
https://goliathan.bandcamp.com/

SOURCE: Metal Assault Records – http://metalassault.com/