C L E R I C

.E.s.s.e.n.t.i.a.l.s.



"When we here at WoM ran across Cleric's music it almost seemed as if some kind of prophesy 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. Yet somehow the seat of that destiny has remained ever vacant until this particular band came along. Like everything good, it took the tireless commitment of people unifying behind a vision which for some reason always ends up having to fight against every stream, every atrophy, every regression into easy answers, in order to reach its goal. There's no accounting for how "niche" bands are perceived, even when they are fulfilling a destiny as clear as the one Cleric has taken on. It's for this reason that lowly WoM is once again graced by one of the finest and well-honed musical expressions to emerge from any music scene in the last decade.

A four piece from Philadelphia, Cleric's music mixes elements of grindcore, avant garde composition, doom and... something else entirely? Influenced by other metal pioneers such as Meshuggah, Converge, Fantômas, and Neurosis, their music zeroes in on a level of brutality and experimentation that a single band rarely maintains even for a few seconds. In their six years since inception, Cleric has released a number of EPs and a 12" picture disk through Sound Devastation Records (UK), all of which (for their very high quality and unique & intricate sounds and artwork) have garnered praise and die-hard underground accolade. Having been around awhile, and taken a lot of shit & not given up & built themselves up internally to handle whatever bullshit this world flings their way, this band is just beginning its walk down their shining path. "
-from Web of Mimicry

.P.r.e.s.s.
"The music this Philadelphia four-piece plays is a kind of metal the way 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. Imagine a billboard-size smear of Silly Putty pressed onto the incomprehensible infinite grid of a sinister Sunday crossword, then stretched, folded, and twisted till there isn't a single straight line left."
-Chicago Reader

"With nary a repeated passage and most major pieces measuring more than 10 minutes, Regressions sounds like a personalized soundtrack to death. Each track is meticulously arranged, and though it very much is for fans of musical complexity, the album has enough head-banging potential to ensnare lovers of “regular” metal. Undoubtedly, Cleric’s music isn’t quite like anything else."
-ALARM Magazine, "This Week's Best Albums"

"I watched Cleric in devastation, because I feared I might not be able to put to words what the hell was going on. Even though there is usually a roughness to the sound quality at a place as small and abused as Lit Lounge, Cleric sounded as clear as a freshly-mixed Pro Tools track. If you've been craving some experimental metal that is cohesive and dynamic, you need to check out Cleric."
-AOL Noisecreep

"In essence, Cleric is a band of mutual extremes. They splash their musical canvas with shades of grind, metalcore and prog with a constant background of experimental abandon. It's a mix that is relentless and unforgiving, yet remarkably open. Ambient transitions allow breathing space between sections, which serve to balance the attack and provide contrast. The aggressive passages are brutal and challenging, while the softer moments are stark and disquieting. But above all, this album disproves the tired theory that all music is necessarily contrived because there is nothing new to discover."
-The Apparatus

.M.e.m.b.e.r.s. James.:.Bass.&.Others... Larry.:.Drums.&.Percussion... Nick.:.Vocals.Keyboards.etc... Matt.:.Guitars.&.Things... .A.f.f.i.l.i.a.t.e.s. Web of Mimicry

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