"...over the course of five songs, ROMASA builds the crust-infected sludge, galloping d-beats, and rotten vocals into glorious crescendos and squalls of distortion and feedback." -- Decibel
Cheering Death, the impending debut full-length from New Orleans, Louisiana-based sludge/crust trio, ROMASA , will drop this Friday. Tracked in two days with James Whitten (Thou, The Body, Ossacrux et al) at his own Hightower Recording Studio and mastered by Brad Boatwright (Gatecreeper, Necrot), Cheering Death spews forth five vile hymns of sonic pessimism centered on a world of excess, apathy, disillusion, and suffering, all swathed in the twisted artwork of Ogi ( instagram.com/coffincrux ) .
Decibel Magazine is offering an exclusive premiere of the record before you can buy it, noting, "Sludge trio ROMASA are celebrating filth, misery, and excess on their aptly-titled new album, Cheering Death... over the course of five songs, ROMASA build the crust-infected sludge, galloping d-beats, and rotten vocals into glorious crescendos and squalls of distortion and feedback."
Adds the band, "Subject yourself to a torrent of unrelenting misery and uplifting filthiness. Wrap the chains of intoxicating stench around the limbs of the remnants of your soul and accept the oozing shower of sludge ridden emptiness that spews forth from the sky of your subconscious. No illusion of solace awaits you here, only the sound of cheering death."
Experience Cheering Death in its diseased entirety courtesy of Decibel Magazine at THIS LOCATION .
Cheering Death will be self-released March 1st on digital and cassette formats with a vinyl edition to follow. The cassette edition will be limited to 100 copies in random color variations with included lyric booklet. For preorders, go to THIS LOCATION .
Conceived in mid-2017 through a New Orleans Craigslist ad, ROMASA - an acronym for Reality Obscures Manic Assessment Sickening Action as well as an Arabic name meaning beautiful, suggesting there is a twisted beauty inherent in filth - was forged as an attempt to apply a unique filter to an amalgamation of crust, sludge, '90s hardcore, old-school death metal, and post-metal, among various other influences. After quickly recording and releasing a demo cassette in July 2017, the band - drummer Rob Lovell (Ossacrux, Witch Burial, Torture Garden), bassist Samael White (Witch Burial), and guitarist/vocalist Matthew Moorin - took the next year to focus on hitting the road for a handful of short DIY tours in between local gigs with touring acts such as Leeway, Yautja, Cave Of Swimmers, Withered, Ringworm, and Hoods, among others.
"Few aliases could be as fitting, as their name refers to the unlikely glitter that can be dissected from the grotesque. Indeed, performing the musical equivalent of street fights offset by carnivalesque wonder and an incoming rainstorm is a bit of an acquired taste, at least on paper. The experience of listening, however, makes for a treat for the senses as you feel yourself getting hypnotically pulled through the crowd in different directions." -- Invisible Oranges